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 http://www.archive.org/details/divineoriginauthOOneil 
 
DIVINE ORIGIN AND AUTHORITY 
 
 CHRISTIAN RELIGION, 
 
 IN A CONNECTED SERIES OF FAMILIAR DISCOURSES, GIVING 
 
 A CONCISE VIEW pF THE HISTORICAL ARGUMENT 
 
 FOR THE TRUTH OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 WILLIAM*NEILL, D. D. 
 
 ; - Be ready, always, to give an answer to every one that asketh you 
 a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear." 
 
 i; We have not followed cunningly devised fables." 
 
 Peter, the Apostle. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 WILLIAM S. YOUNG, 50 N. SIXTH STREET. 
 
 SMITH & ENGLISH, 36 N. SIXTH ST. 
 
 1854. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 18-54, 
 BY WILLIAM S.' YOUNG, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United 
 States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
 
TO THE 
 
 YOUNG MEN'S 
 
 CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, 
 
 OF PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 This little volume is respectfully dedicated, as a 
 token of the author's high appreciation of the be- 
 nevolent design of that institution. Young men 
 everywhere, particularly in cities, are exposed to 
 temptations and dangers that prove, in many in- 
 stances, disastrous to their best interests. A little 
 friendly and seasonable attention, therefore, may, 
 through a divine blessing, be the means of rescuing 
 them from the unsuspected snares of death, and 
 of securing to them success and happiness in this 
 life, and glory, honour and immortality in the life 
 to come. Honest efforts in the cause of truth and 
 
IV DEDICATION. 
 
 humanity, are never in vain in the Lord. The so- 
 cial principles of our nature, under the sway and 
 .sanction of religion, are of prodigious potency. The 
 redeeming influence of the gospel is divine and in- 
 finite: — Let none, therefore, be weary in well- 
 doing; for the promise is sure and steadfast; IN 
 
 DUE SEASON YE SHALL REAP, IF YE FAINT NOT. 
 Philadelphia, September 1st, 1854. 
 
TfiKOLQG" 
 
 ^rrfntnrq it nil IpnlngHir, 
 
 What! Another work on the Evidences o* 
 Christianity? Has not the subject been long, and 
 largely, and lucidly discussed by men of note and 
 acknowledged ability? Yes; but still there are 
 skeptics, and doubting Christians. Let there be 
 variety. There is some truth in the saying, that 
 "The more writers, the more readers." We have 
 a diversity of gifts, to suit our various tastes and 
 circumstances. Besides, the subject is momentous, 
 — it cannot be exhausted. Old arguments can be 
 presented in new forms, without end; and be 
 adapted to different capacities. The writer of this 
 manual has had in view a numerous class of per- 
 sons, that cannot command time to read extensively 
 on any subject : — Young men in business, and 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 youth of both sexes in schools, academies, and Bi- 
 ble classes, where compends of this kind should 
 have a prominent place. Colporteurs, and other 
 distributors of religious tracts, it is hoped, will find 
 this little book suitable for distribution, where 
 books of a serious character are scarce. To all such 
 co-workers in the Lord's vineyard it is respectfully 
 commended. May divine favour attend it, and 
 make it a blessing to many ! 
 
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 -•■ 
 
 PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS ON THE NECESSITY AND 
 DESIRABLENESS OF DIVINE REVELATION. 
 
 We propose to lay before our readers a 
 condensed view of the grounds upon which 
 the scriptures of the Old and New Testa- 
 ments are regarded as a revelation from Ood ; 
 or, in other words, to exhibit briefly, and in 
 a connected form, the chief points of evidence 
 in favour of the divine origin and supreme 
 authority of the Christian religion. 
 
 The subject, as will be readily conceded, 
 is of vast importance, not only to our own 
 peace and happiness, but to the best interests 
 of mankind. Let us, therefore, attend to it, 
 divested as much as possible of prejudice — 
 with minds open to conviction, and with a 
 sincere desire to know the truth, and a firm 
 determination to bow to its decisions, and 
 carry out its principles at all hazards. In 
 2 
 
*6 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 treating of the evidences of revealed reli- 
 gion, we of course take for granted the ex- 
 istence and perfections of God ; for when a 
 supposed communication from him is the sub- 
 ject in question, his being and essential attri- 
 butes are necessarily pre-supposed. Besides, 
 the being, wisdom, and power of God are 
 primary truths in religion, which are written 
 as in letters of light on the face of the visi- 
 ble creation. The Creator and Lord of the 
 universe has had, and now has, every where 
 his silent but impressive witnesses: "The 
 heavens declare the glory of God, and the 
 -firmament showeth his handy-work: day unto 
 day uttereth speech, and night unto night 
 showeth knowledge There is no speech or 
 language where their voice is not heard."' 
 
 We ought, perhaps, to remark here, that, 
 although there are some very important reli- 
 gious truths common to the book of Xature, 
 and the inspired volume; yet, in regard to 
 many subjects of the deepest interest td us 
 in our fallen, sinful state, we can get no ade- 
 quate and satisfactory information from the 
 former, but are wholly indebted (as we shall 
 have occasion to show more at large in the 
 progress of these Lectures) to the announce- 
 
LECTURE I. / 
 
 merits and assurances which we find in the 
 Bible. Natural religion is good, so far as it 
 goes. It perhaps might have been sufficient 
 for man in his primitive, unfallen state; but 
 to man as he now is, with his mind beclouded 
 and his heart alienated from the source of 
 bliss, the religion of Nature is insufficient to 
 meet and relieve his necessities. It announces 
 to him no remedy, no ransom, no forgiveness, 
 no heaven. To ascertain, therefore, the au- 
 thenticity, the credibility, and the divine au- 
 thority of this latter book, which professes to 
 bring us good tidings of great joy, from the 
 very bosom of truth and love, and through 
 the interposition of a Mediator, fitted by the 
 constitution of his person to guard the rights 
 of God, and at the same time provide for our 
 necessities, will surely be regarded as a be- 
 nevolent undertaking, even if it should not 
 be accomplished to the satisfaction of all 
 minds. 
 
 If any persons question the utility of such 
 discussions as we are now entering upon, as 
 if they were calculated to raise doubts where 
 they did not before exist, or to diminish that 
 reverence for the sacred scriptures in which 
 we have been educated, and which ought to 
 
S EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 be cherished, we would say, in reference to 
 the suggestion, that true religion — the reli- 
 gion of the Bible — is founded in evidence; 
 and the more fully that evidence is brought 
 out and perceived, the stronger, the more in- 
 telligent, the more comfortable, and the more 
 productive of good fruits, will be our faith in 
 the doctrines of the gospel. We do not hold 
 to the maxim that "Ignorance is the mother 
 of devotion." The truth has nothing to fear 
 from discussion. She courts the investiga- 
 tion of her claims. Our blessed gospel has 
 sustained unscathed and triumphant the scru- 
 tiny of ages. Besides, we learn from high 
 authority that we should "be always ready 
 to give a reason of the hope that is in us" — 
 not indeed in the spirit of debate and boast- 
 ing, but with meekness and fear, and from a 
 benevolent desire that others may embrace 
 the truth, and participate in its blessings. 
 
 As to doubts, they do and will spring up at 
 times in every mind that thinks at all on the 
 subject of religion. They come occasionally 
 into pious minds, as "fiery darts from the 
 wicked one." Skeptical surmises and insinu- 
 ations are afloat in a great variety of forms; 
 so that you cannot escape them if you would. 
 
LECTURE I. 9 
 
 You find them inwrought into the literature 
 of every country — in newspapers, books, re- 
 views, and public lectures. You hear them 
 whispered or proclaimed in the fashionable as- 
 sembly, on exchange, in the schools of science- 
 in the halls of legislation— ^indeed, in all your 
 ordinary intercourse with men. And how 
 shall we best prepare to meet these annoying 
 assaults upon our religious hope? Not by 
 closing our eyes and ears against them, but 
 by a pertinent reference to the cloud of wit- 
 nesses — the numerous testimonies that concur 
 in demonstrating that Jesus is the Christ, the 
 Son of God, and the Saviour — the only Sa- 
 viour of the world. I know, indeed, that there 
 is an internal evidence — the witness of the 
 Spirit with our spirits, which, with a just sense 
 of our guilt and weakness, and a clear per- 
 ception of the exact adaptedness of the pro- 
 visions of gospel grace to our wants and mi- 
 series, may be quite satisfactory to the expe- 
 rienced Christian; but to the great majority 
 of non-professors, who have not felt the re- 
 newing power of the Holy Spirit, the exter- 
 nal evidence, or historical argument for the 
 truth of the Bible, is their best protection 
 from the practical atheism of the world, and 
 
10 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 the seductive influence of a false philosophy. 
 At a time, too, when so much pains is taken 
 to divorce religion from the primary educa- 
 tion of the youth of our country, shall we not 
 endeavour to show them the grounds upon 
 which we wish them to be the disciples of 
 Christ? Will it not be safer for them to 
 meet the objections to religion in the pre- 
 sence of the answers to them, than to en- 
 counter the poison in the absence of the an- 
 tidote? 
 
 We live in an inquiring and adventurous 
 age. Every subject, in any way connected 
 with human happiness, is freely and publicly 
 discussed. No subject is deemed too sacred 
 to be looked into, as to its facts, and results, 
 and bearings upon the interests of mankind. 
 The arts and sciences, history, and secular 
 literature, have their professors and public 
 lecturers; and why should not Christians in- 
 stitute and sustain lectures on the stupendous 
 facts and distinguished personages that form 
 so large a share of the subject-matter of the 
 gospel narrative? If Jesus of Nazareth has 
 indeed done for the world what his historians 
 declare, and his followers believe ; if he has 
 come the accredited ambassador of Heaven ; 
 
LECTURE I. 11 
 
 if he has answered the great end of the types, 
 and sacrifices, and prophecies of ancient times; 
 if he has fulfilled all righteousness, and 
 opened a fountain for the moral cleansing of 
 our polluted race ; if he has set up a kingdom 
 which is to prevail in spite of all opposition : 
 in a word, if, as his apostles affirm, he is our 
 only Hope and final Judge, we are most ex- 
 ceedingly concerned to know it, and acknow- 
 ledge his claims, without wavering or any at- 
 tempt at compromise. But how can we know 
 these things without looking at his creden- 
 tials, examining his witnesses, marking his 
 spirit, his acts, and the effects of his embassy? 
 But, you say, We have ministers of the gos- 
 pel to expound and apply its truths. True; 
 and very "beautiful upon the mountains are 
 the feet of them that bring good tidings and 
 publish peace." But your ministers, as in 
 duty bound, draw their messages from the 
 Bible, as their book of instructions; and they 
 would misapply their energies and pervert 
 their office, were they to spend much of their 
 time about the foundations and outworks of 
 the Christian system. Their main object is, 
 and should be, to win souls to Christ, by ma- 
 nifestation of his truth and grace. But why 
 
12 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 are not the glad tidings, which thej bring, 
 more generally and joyfully embraced? May 
 it not be owing, in some measure at least, to 
 the fact that many of their hearers are in 
 doubt in regard to the divine origin of our 
 book — whether it be, indeed, from God, and 
 by his inspiration and authority? There is 
 room, then, for the evidences of revealed re- 
 ligion in Christian education. They are not 
 only auxiliary to the ministry, but fundamen- 
 tal to its grand and godlike design. Convince 
 men's understandings that God has spoken by 
 his Son from heaven — that miracles have been 
 wrought and prophecies fulfilled, in attesta- 
 tion of the truth of our gospel — and, so far 
 as means are concerned, you prepare the way 
 of the Lord to their hearts. Mere evidence 
 has no power to convert sinners unto God; 
 but it keeps conscience awake, and in many 
 instances holds men back from embracing de- 
 structive error, inclines them to search the 
 scriptures, and inquire for the way of life; 
 and while the eye rests on the Saviour's as- 
 surance, " I am the way," how often is the 
 same blissful truth, re-echoed in a still, small 
 voice, from the excellent glory, " This is the 
 way; walk ye in it" — made effectual to win 
 the heart and save the soul ! 
 
LECTURE I. 13 
 
 Our next remark is, (for you see our intro- 
 ductory is to be composed of preliminaries to 
 the main question,) that a revelation from 
 God has been expected and desired in all ages 
 of the world. Now this expectation is rea- 
 sonable, and the desire natural. We are re- 
 ligious beings; i. e., we were made for reli- 
 gion, and religion was designed for us, as es- 
 sential to the consummation of our happiness, 
 and to secure the chief end of our creation. 
 When we say that man is a religious creature, 
 we mean that he was originally endued with 
 the moral image of God, and favoured with 
 divine communications, so that he would in- 
 stinctively adore the Creator, and regard him 
 as his chief good. This we can say in the 
 light of reason, without going to the Bible 
 for the information; for a holy Creator could 
 not produce an unholy creature, and would 
 not withhold what he knew to be necessary 
 to its well-being. This is in accordance with 
 the doctrine of scripture on the subject. — 
 And in the mournful wreck of our nature, by 
 our apostacy from God, we did not lose our 
 religious susceptibility; we are still capable 
 of being restored to divine favour and fel- 
 lowship. We still feel disposed to adore and 
 
14 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 confide in something above and beyond our- 
 selves. We are conscious of weakness and 
 exposure, and look about for something strong 
 and enduring to lean upon. All men have 
 some sense of religion and moral obligation, 
 however much it needs to be instructed and 
 strengthened. This is a distinctive charac- 
 teristic of mankind — distinctive, we mean, in 
 reference to the various orders of living crea- 
 tures that inhabit our world. Other animals 
 have sagacity, docility, and something like 
 reason; but they have no conscience: they 
 know no difference between right and wrong; 
 they offer no homage or praise to the Crea- 
 tor except that which is passive and involun- 
 tary, by exhibiting specimens of his wisdom 
 and munificence in making them what they 
 are. And as to their capability of improve- 
 ment, it is quite limited : you soon get to the 
 end of all that you can teach them. They 
 make no new discoveries — their habits are 
 unchangeable. They wear the style of dress, 
 build their nests, get their living, and defend 
 themselves now just as the generations before 
 them did; whereas, to man's capacity for in- 
 vention and improvement, we can assign no 
 limits. And, by the appropriate appliances, 
 
LECTURE I. 15 
 
 he is improvable in his religious and moral 
 qualities, as well as in his genius and intel- 
 lect. Witness the superiority of the devout 
 and intelligent Christian to the roaming, un- 
 tutored savage. Now from these and the like 
 considerations, we infer — and may we not in- 
 fer, independent of what we learn from the 
 sacred scriptures? — that God, the fountain 
 of knowledge and goodness, will make such 
 communications to our race, as are needful in 
 our circumstances, to enable us to fulfil our 
 duty to him and to one another, and thus at- 
 tain to the high end and design of our being? 
 It is reasonable, then, to believe that a reve- 
 lation has been made. 
 
 But is it necessary? Would not man be 
 able, by the efforts of his own reason and re- 
 flection, to find out enough of his duty to God 
 and his fellow-men to answer all practical 
 purposes? To this we have only to remark, 
 at present, that the experiment has been made ; 
 and however we may conjecture about what 
 man might do, if he would, there is no good 
 sense in resisting the testimony of experience. 
 The Baconian philosophy — the philosophy of 
 induction from observation and facts — is bet- 
 ter than all theory. Now let us see how it is 
 
16 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 and how it has always been in the absence of 
 the light of divine revelation. What is the 
 history of religion in the pagan nations, from 
 the earliest times, but the history of idolatry 
 — idolatry multiform, stupid, debasing, and 
 impure? Not only the heavenly bodies, as 
 they showed forth the Creator's glory by their 
 movements and splendour, were worshipped, 
 but deceased men — heroes and warriors — 
 thieves and strumpets — evil passions and evil 
 spirits — yea, rivers and reptiles: and that, 
 too, not only among the most rude and uncul- 
 tivated tribes, but in Greece and Rome, and 
 in the land of pyramids. All this was ut- 
 terly aside from men's duty to the living God ; 
 and it clearly demonstrates one of two things 
 — either that mankind had no right concep- 
 tions of the only proper object of worship, 
 or that they did not like tb retain him in their 
 thoughts. In either case, who does not see 
 how exceedingly they needed divine instruc- 
 tion? Of the principles of morality there was 
 gross ignorance. Selfishness, revenge, fraud, 
 and inhumanity prevailed to a shocking de- 
 gree. A man might steal, if he could do it 
 adroitly and elude detection. The marriage 
 relation was scarcely recognized, and its du- 
 
LECTURE I. 17 
 
 ties were generally neglected. Concubinage 
 was common. Women were slaves, and chil- 
 dren might be put to death whenever it was 
 deemed inconvenient or unprofitable to raise 
 them. There were no asylums for the poor, 
 and the insane were treated as mad-dogs. — 
 All government was despotism, and the only 
 liberty licentiousness. Of man himself, in 
 his origin and destiny, there was no satisfy- 
 ing knowledge. The immortality of the soul 
 and a future state of retribution were re- 
 garded as fit subjects for speculation, but of 
 no controlling influence or practical use. Of 
 sin and its forgiveness, their notions were 
 vas;ue and visionary. Under a consciousness 
 of ill-desert, they felt that sacrifices were 
 necessary to appease the gods ; and not only 
 inferior animals, but human victims, in nu- 
 merous instances, bled on their altars. These 
 and the like facts impelled some of the wisest 
 of the ancients to acknowledge that there were 
 no human means of reforming the world, and 
 constrained them to express an earnest desire 
 and hope that the Supreme God would shed 
 down light from heaven, to disperse the clouds 
 in which they felt themselves enveloped on 
 the most momentous subjects. We give you 
 3 
 
18 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 a specimen or two from their well-authenti- 
 cated sayings. Thus Cicero, the distinguished 
 orator, and perhaps the wisest moralist of an- 
 cient Rome : " Utinam tarn facile vera inve- 
 nire possim, quam falsa convincere I" — (" Oh ! 
 that I could discover truth with the same 
 ease that I can detect error!") And in an- 
 other place, on the weakness of man, he says, 
 " Nemo vir magnus, sine aliquo afflatu divino 
 unquam fuit;" i. e., " Xo man was ever truly 
 great without some divine influence." And 
 Plato, the disciple of Socrates, and the wisest 
 philosopher of Greece, concludes an essay on 
 prayer in terms to this amount: "We cannot 
 of ourselves know what petition will be plea- 
 sing to God, or what worship we should pay 
 him : it is necessary, therefore, that a Law- 
 giver be sent from heaven to instruct us; and 
 such a one," he adds, "I do expect; and Oh, 
 how greatly I do desire to see that Teacher, 
 and to know who he is!" He goes further, 
 in another of his works, and affirms that the 
 desired Lawgiver must be more than man; 
 "for," says he, "as every nature is governed 
 by some superior nature, as birds and beasts 
 by man, so he who is to teach man what man 
 could not know by his own nature, must be 
 
LECTURE I. 19 
 
 of a nature superior to man; i. e., of a divine 
 nature. 7 ' Thus we have strong presumption 
 in favour of Divine Revelation, and its rea- 
 sonableness, necessity, and desirableness. 
 
 That God can, if he see fit, reveal him- 
 self, and make known his counsels to us in a 
 way more effective, and more adapted to our 
 wants, than he has done in the visible crea- 
 tion around us, is what cannot be denied, 
 without impeaching his power, or virtually 
 denvino: his existence. Now there are two 
 modes in which this may be done. He may 
 either address his communications to each 
 individual of the race in succession; or he 
 may select a few as his ministering agents, 
 and furnish them with the requisite qualifi- 
 cations and credentials to make known his 
 will to their fellow men; not only to the ge- 
 neration for the time being, but to all suc- 
 ceeding generations, with such evidence as 
 shall be satisfactory to unbiassed and honestly 
 inquiring minds. This latter is the method 
 which has been adopted, according to the 
 book which we are going to examine: for 
 you will bear in mind that we have to do 
 here with recorded facts and documentary 
 evidence, — written testimony. We shall 
 
20 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 have but little to say of opinion, theory, or 
 hypothesis. Here is a book — a wonderful 
 volume, — called The Book, by way of emi- 
 nence, — not large in size, though of vast 
 scope and high pretensions, — not the produc- 
 tion of one writer, but of some twenty-eight 
 or thirty, — not of one country, or of one age, 
 but of various countries, and extending 
 through a period of at least fifteen hundred 
 years. This book, we should also observe, 
 is not in the form of a dissertation on the 
 general subject of religion, but miscellaneous, 
 composed of sixty-six distinct pieces, in di- 
 verse sorts of style, prose and poetry, doc- 
 trinal, historical and prophetic; relating to 
 manners and customs, rites and ceremonies, 
 laws and governments, wars and revolutions, 
 types and symbols, providential dispensa- 
 tions and angelic visits and interferences, the 
 most extraordinary that can be imagined. 
 This volume, moreover, relates to matters 
 and events coeval with the world; and all 
 bearing directly or remotely on the redemp- 
 tion of mankind by Jesus Christ. And we 
 may further remark concerning this volume, 
 that it is strikingly analogous to the book of 
 nature, where wq find no digested system, 
 
LECTURE I. 21 
 
 but a rich profusion of miscellaneous matter : 
 with enough on its surface to attract the no- 
 tice and call forth the admiration of the be- 
 holder, but in many of its facts and details 
 sufficiently profound to exercise the inge- 
 nuity, and demand the diligent scrutiny and 
 patient observation of the strongest and best 
 cultivated minds. So here, the truths and 
 beauties of our book of revelation are spread 
 over its pages as with a bold and liberal hand, 
 and as if the treasures of divine wisdom and 
 goodness were herein disclosed to mankind, 
 on purpose to make us wise, holy and happy. 
 But we find no systematic arrangement of 
 these riches; it is u here a little and there a 
 little," in various forms, and suited to all ca- 
 pacities, plain lessons for plain people, and 
 deep mines of knowledge for such as have the 
 ability and inclination to work them. Now, 
 from the strong resemblance which these 
 books bear to one another in the particulars 
 just named, we feel warranted in referring 
 them to the same authorship. The God of 
 nature is the God of the Bible. There is no 
 collision, no discord between them; so far as 
 they go together, their teachings are perfect- 
 ly consistent. True, the manner of instruc- 
 3* 
 
22 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 tion is different, and the latter goes much 
 further in its disclosures than the former, 
 making us acquainted with things which we 
 are deeply concerned to know, " which things 
 the angels desire to look into." Now to 
 whichever of these sources of knowledge we 
 direct our attention for useful information, we 
 may be assured that our proficiency will de- 
 pend very much on the temper of mind with 
 which we open the book and examine its 
 contents. We must go to these teachers to 
 learn, not to cavil at what we do not fully 
 comprehend. We must take the lessons as 
 they are dealt out to us, and not be in haste 
 to reach conclusions before we have studied 
 the premises. In brief, we must, in all our 
 researches, cherish an humble, teachable 
 spirit, acknowledge our ignorance, and pray 
 for light and guidance to the Author of our 
 being: for "no man becomes great or good 
 without divine influence. 7 ' 
 
 With such views and feelings we respect- 
 fully ask your candid and patient attention 
 to a cursory examination of the reasons upon 
 which the Bible claims to come from God, to 
 furnish us with a perfect rule of duty, and 
 point us to the way, the only way of salva- 
 
LECTURE I. 23 
 
 tion provided for our fallen race. Our dis- 
 cussion must be brief, for the subject is ex- 
 ceedingly great; and topics for consideration, 
 growing out of the general theme, crowd 
 upon the thoughtful mind. Indeed, so ex- 
 tensive is the subject, and so numerous the 
 trains of thought that lead to the same result, 
 that our main difficulty will be, in selecting 
 and condensing wisely, and so as not to impair 
 the force of an argument, strong and conclu- 
 sive in itself, when rightly apprehended, by 
 presenting it in a partial and feeble manner. 
 To keep within moderate limits, we shall, for 
 the present, confine our remarks chiefly, 
 though not exclusivelv, to the New Testa- 
 ment: not that we deem this part of the sa- 
 cred volume any more authoritative or wor- 
 thy of reverential regard than the Old Tes- 
 tament, but as a matter of convenience, and 
 to preserve as much unity and distinctness in 
 our observations as possible. Besides, Christ 
 and his apostles give their unequivocal sanc- 
 tion to the writings of Moses and the pro- 
 phets, so that if the judgment of the former 
 be correct, it settles the question as to the 
 authority of the latter. The connection be- 
 tween these two grand divisions of our sacred 
 
24 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 book is intimate and indissoluble.. Together, 
 they constitute what we call the Bible, com- 
 prising the principles of revealed religion, 
 imparting mutual light and support to one 
 another. They stand or fall together. If 
 you give up the one, you surrender more than 
 half the testimonies in favour of the other. 
 If you can substantiate the claims of one, 
 you prove the divine origin and authority of 
 both. We regard them as the joint, harmo- 
 nious, undying witnesses for God, that he is 
 the Creator, Lawgiver, Judge and Saviour of 
 the world. 
 
 Restricting ourselves thus, we hope to get 
 through with what we have to say in this 
 series, in about eight lectures, of ordinary 
 length; and, to save time, we shall indulge 
 but little in quoting authorities, except what 
 is indispensable, when we come to the early 
 witnesses. Authorities we have, indeed, of 
 the most trustworthy character, both ancient 
 and modern: but they are so numerous, and 
 each so excellent in his department, that it 
 seems invidious to cite from our favourites, 
 and pass by others of perhaps equal worth. 
 If any should suspect us of speaking with- 
 out book, they can go to the sources of in- 
 
LECTURE I. 2D 
 
 formation, and satisfy themselves at their 
 leisure. Such epitomes as we offer in this 
 little volume, are not designed to supersede 
 more extended reading; but to rouse the 
 mental energies, to mark out the most advan- 
 tageous lines of thought, and give dense 
 views of large subjects, as the result of care- 
 ful research, for the benefit, particularly, of 
 those whose circumstances and avocations 
 allow them but little time for the perusal of 
 books. 
 
 Another remark, we beg leave to submit. 
 Our subject is a trite one. It has been tho- 
 roughly canvassed, in all its ramifications, and 
 presented in all conceivable aspects. The 
 Xew Testament is a volume of long standing 
 and deep interest, with a large portion of ci- 
 vilized men. It is not only, in itself, a book 
 of some antiquity and attraction from its sin- 
 gular features seen at first glance; but it 
 professes to contain the elements of a reli- 
 gion, — the true religion, which is as old as 
 creation. Xo book extant has been the text 
 of so much comment and criticism. It has 
 been assailed and vilified, expounded and 
 defended, for nearly eighteen hundred years, 
 by men of the first order of intellect: so that 
 
26 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 nothing new is to be expected here, on either 
 side of the question. The most that can be 
 done, now-a-days,is to compile and compress, 
 and exhibit old arguments in a modified 
 form; to re-arrange and work into a new fa- 
 bric, materials long since collected, and much 
 of which lies stowed away in old store-houses, 
 the food of moths. But truth, unlike many 
 other things, suffers no deterioration by age. 
 Like its Divine Author, it is the same yes- 
 terday, to-day, and for ever. To bring it out, 
 therefore, from its retirement, and place it 
 in contact with minds capable of appreciating 
 and feeling its benefits is a laudable design, 
 though not always popular. Novelties may 
 be harmless and entertaining; they tickle 
 the ear, and beguile the tediousness of a dull 
 day: but truth, perceived and embraced, 
 makes its votaries free and happy. The 
 search for truth, on any subject, is a noble 
 and ennobling employment; but the question 
 about the truth of religion is transcendency 
 momentous. When we set ourselves down 
 to examine the pretensions of a book which 
 professes to bring " good tidings of great joy 
 to all people," we should observe every link 
 in the chain of argument till we see its issue. 
 
LECTURE I. 
 
 27 
 
 A sound judgment can hardly be formed 
 without a patient hearing of the testimony 
 in the case.' You take the meaning of this 
 paragraph. If you would receive the full 
 benefit of a course of instruction such as we 
 propose in these brief lectures, you must 
 read the whole with care and candour. If 
 we cannot give you new dishes, highly spiced, 
 we shall endeavour to give you what is bet- 
 ter for health, nutritious and plain fare. 
 
 Another remark may be made here, as il- 
 lustrative of the importance of our subject. 
 There is a strong tendency in human nature 
 to extremes; and every extreme is error. 
 Thus you find simple, well-meaning people, 
 induced by the representations of ignorant 
 or designing men, throwing their earthly 
 goods into a common stock, living in a com- 
 munity by themselves, turning their backs 
 upon many of the relative duties of life, em- 
 bracing religious notions, and practising re- 
 ligious rites, said, without evidence, to have 
 been received from above, in some mysterious 
 way. Such projects, as time always demon- 
 strates, are visionary and often disastrous. 
 Others you see, just now and all around you, 
 very decent, industrious, and many of them 
 
28 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 quite serious people, possessed by the belief 
 that the world is very soon coming to an end. 
 Their leaders fix the day, time after time; 
 their fears take the alarm, they throw up 
 their worldly business, dispose of their pro- 
 perty at an under-value, or give it away, 
 cease to provide for their children, and be- 
 take themselves exclusively to watching and 
 prayer. The consequences of these extrava- 
 gant movements need not be portrayed here: 
 they are notorious, and deeply to be lament- 
 ed. But for these and the like evils, flow- 
 ing from the same prolific source, what is the 
 remedy? Not law, not physical force; you 
 cannot, and perhaps you ought not to under- 
 take to coerce fanaticism, except in so far as 
 it violates the rights of others, or disturbs 
 the public peace. What then would be the 
 appropriate and effectual remedy or prevent- 
 ive? Some intelligible, divinely accredited, 
 and authoritative standard of belief and 
 practice. I know the teachers, in some of 
 these sects, profess to take their texts from 
 our Bible. But what interpreters they are ! 
 Our book says, in plain terms, that before 
 the termination of the present dispensation, 
 the gospel is to be preached to all nations, 
 
LECTURE 1. 29 
 
 — that war shall cease to be waged, — that 
 peace, like a river, is to flow forth and bless 
 the world, — that all kings and rulers shall do 
 homage to the king of Zion. Surely the end 
 is not yet, for these predictions are not yet 
 accomplished. And again, our Teacher from 
 heaven says, with emphasis, in reference to 
 the end of the world,—" Of that day and 
 hour knoweth no man; no, not the angels of 
 heaven; but my Father only." And a little 
 onward in the same chapter, Matt, xxiv., it 
 is asked, "Who, then, is a faithful and wise 
 servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler 
 over his household, to give them their meat 
 in due season? Blessed is that servant whom 
 his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so 
 doing." That is, to be ready for our Lord's 
 coming, is to be at our post, and engaged in 
 the business which a wise Providence has as- 
 signed us. Now the Bible purports to be a 
 sure word of prophecy,— a light to our feet 
 and a lamp to our path, — to be of divine in- 
 spiration, to the end that the man of God may 
 be thoroughly furnished with the true prin- 
 ciples of religious faith, and right rules of 
 conduct in all circumstances. And were this 
 blessed book more generally known and re- 
 4 
 
30 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 ceived as the sure basis of hope and the fixed 
 law of duty, the ravages of fanatical wildfire 
 would soon be stayed, and the fable of the 
 golden age would be realized in the universal 
 reign of the Prince of peace. 
 
 One thing more by way of bespeaking at- 
 tention to this brief view of the evidences in 
 favour of our common Christianity. How is 
 it, and why is it, we ask in the name of com- 
 mon sense and reason, that men — rational 
 and intelligent men — can consent to live, as 
 many do, from youth to old age, in a state of 
 indecision about the true religion, while they 
 find it so painful to be undecided in matters 
 of confessedly inferior moment? See how it 
 is in a political contest: what rigid scrutiny 
 into the claims of the candidates, their cha- 
 racters and policy ; what frequent meetings, 
 mass meetings; and how eager to hear; what 
 thrilling appeals from the platform and from 
 the press; what searching of documents and 
 witnesses; what rapid running of expresses, to 
 bear the news from state to state ; what libe- 
 ral contributions to meet the expense; what 
 promptness and generosity in clearing the 
 course for the bashful, and aged, and invalid 
 voter! Now we are not condemning all this, 
 
LECTURE I. 31 
 
 nor any of it. Our point is, the dispropor- 
 tion between the zeal manifested about mat- 
 ters which, after all, are temporary and tran- 
 sient, and that which is generally evinced on 
 the great questions, — What is the true reli- 
 gion? What the published law of Heaven? 
 Who is Lord of all ? Who has the words of 
 eternal life? Who is the Saviour? To 
 whom may we with confidence commit our 
 spirits when we die? These are questions 
 of transcendent interest to every human be- 
 ing. And they are questions that cannot be 
 settled without serious inquiry. Now, if you 
 would be consistent and decided, and not ex- 
 pose yourselves to be driven about by every 
 wind of doctrine, you will improve the oppor- 
 tunities which Providence affords to hear the 
 witnesses for the truth; and benevolence 
 will move you to use your influence with your 
 families and neighbours to join you in your 
 endeavours to find the truth, and the deep 
 foundation of a hope that maketh not 
 ashamed. 
 
32 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 THE GENUINENESS, AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY OF 
 THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 As was stated in the introduction, we con- 
 fine ourselves, in this series of lectures, main- 
 ly to the New Testament; not because it is 
 deemed of higher authority, or more import- 
 ance than the Old Testament, but for conve- 
 nience, and to preserve as much unity as pos- 
 sible in our remarks; and, also, because 
 Christ and his apostles have placed the seal 
 of their sanction upon the writings of Moses 
 and the prophets, so that the divine authority 
 of the one involves that of the other. They 
 are integral parts of the same book of re- 
 vealed religion, and ought, we think, gene- 
 rally to be bound up in one volume, to pre- 
 vent diversity of opinion, which will, other- 
 wise, arise in the public mind respecting 
 their comparative value. 
 
 This latter portion of our sacred book, 
 called the New Testament, or New Covenant, 
 
LECTURE II. 33 
 
 in the Greek language, in which it was writ- 
 ten, <h kainh AIA0HKH, consists of twenty- 
 seven pieces, composed on various occasions, 
 and at different times, but all within the first 
 century of the Christian era, and about sixty- 
 five to seventy years after the Saviour's as- 
 cension. Of these pieces, five are, for the 
 most part, historical; viz., the four gospels 
 and the Acts of the apostles; twenty-one are 
 doctrinal, and in the form of letters, ad- 
 dressed to churches and individuals; one, and 
 the last in the volume, as we now have it, 
 prophetical, called the Revelation, or Apoca- 
 lypse, reaching, as we have reason to think, 
 to the end of time, the close of the present 
 dispensation. 
 
 These narratives were received by the 
 churches, not simultaneously, but gradually, 
 and after a careful investigation of their 
 claims to divine authority ; for spurious works 
 were put in circulation, which roused the 
 jealousy of the disciples, and rendered them 
 exceedingly cautious in filling up the sacred 
 canon. Nothing was admitted that did not 
 bear on its face the strongest marks of ge- 
 nuineness and inspiration. And this accounts 
 for the delay that took place in completing 
 4* 
 
34 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 the rule of faith — the statute book of the 
 kingdom of Christ. It was, completed, how- 
 ever, with the exception of a few of the mi- 
 nor pieces, which were held under considera- 
 tion and finally adopted, early in the second 
 century; and as several sound critics believe, 
 in regard to the greater part of the Xew Tes- 
 tament, under the eye, and with the sanction 
 of the Apostle John, who lived to a great age. 
 The authorship of the several manuscripts 
 which make up the matter of the volume in 
 question, was determined with similar circum- 
 spection. To most of them the names of the 
 writers were attached, and where these were 
 withheld, for prudential reasons, the ques- 
 tion was settled by circumstantial evidences, 
 such as allusions to persons, places and usages, 
 and certain characteristics in style, which be- 
 tray an author to a discerning reader, in 
 spite of all his efforts at concealment. Mat- 
 thew, Mark, Luke and John penned the four 
 gospel narratives and the Acts. Two of 
 these were of the primitive twelve apostles: 
 viz., Matthew and John; and the other two 
 were among the first evangelists. Mark was 
 a disciple of Peter, and wrote under his in- 
 spection; and Luke, who wrote the mission- 
 
LECTURE II. 35 
 
 ary journal,, called the Acts of the Apostles, 
 as also the gospel which bears his name, was 
 the companion of Paul, and acted as his ama- 
 nuensis or clerk. Of the twenty-one epistles, 
 Paul wrote fourteen, to churches and distin- 
 guished individuals, to each of which he an- 
 nexed his name, except that to the Hebrews, 
 from which he withheld it, no doubt, that 
 their prejudices might not be immediately 
 awakened against it, as coming from him, 
 who was eminently the apostle of the gen- 
 tiles, with whom they were not yet dis- 
 posed to hold fellowship. The other seven 
 epistles, called catholic, because not ad- 
 dressed to particular churches or persons, 
 were, as is well known, by Peter, James, John 
 and Jucle. The Apocalypse was revealed to 
 the Apostle John, while in a state of banish- 
 ment, on the isle of Patmos. Xow the obvious 
 design of all these written documents is, to 
 give a history of Jesus of Nazareth: — his 
 person, his doctrines, his works, his sufferings 
 and death, his resurrection and ascension, — 
 the nature of his kinsrdom, and the effects of 
 the ministry and institutions which he ap- 
 pointed before he left the world. And the 
 writers all profess to have had personal 
 
36 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 knowledge of the facts which they narrate. 
 They were, most of them, among his early 
 disciples and followers; became such at his 
 call, which was, in no. instance, attended by 
 flattering prospects of a worldly nature. 
 They straightway dropped their wonted oc- 
 cupations and engaged in his service, prompt- 
 ly, and at the expense of great sacrifices, un- 
 der the frown of all the existing powers of 
 church and state. They heard him preach, 
 — put questions to him for solution, — ex- 
 pressed their doubts and fears about many 
 of his movements and teachings. They wit- 
 nessed his extraordinary works, — saw him, 
 now, taking notice of little children and bless- 
 ing them, — and then confounding and si- 
 lencing the expounders of the law, — casting 
 out devils, — raising the dead, and quelling 
 the storm at sea. If, then, these men are the 
 real authors of the narratives and letters to 
 which their names were affixed, — if they were 
 men of common sense and honesty, — no facts, 
 one would suppose, could be more satisfac- 
 torily attested than those which are recorded 
 in the New Tesfament. They were in the 
 best position conceivable, to know the truth 
 of the matter about which they undertake to 
 
LECTURE II. 37 
 
 write; and the relation which they bore to 
 Christ, enhances the value of their testimony; 
 for it is the witness of constant, close obser- 
 vation, and, in the case of some of them, it is 
 the unsolicited suffrage of persons who, from 
 enemies, had become friends, th rough the 
 power of evidence addressed to their senses, 
 and a full persuasion of the validity of his 
 claims. 
 
 But have we sufficient reason for believing 
 that these writings are the genuine produc- 
 tions of the authors whose names they bear? 
 We will endeavour to give to this question 
 an affirmative and satisfactory answer. But 
 suppose, for a moment, that this could not be 
 done. Would you feel bound, in reason, to 
 give up the documents as unworthy of credit? 
 Does a fictitious or assumed name vitiate, or 
 impair the intrinsic value of an essay, or 
 any communication to which it is affixed? 
 How many excellent pieces have been pub- 
 lished under the names of Franklin, Penn, 
 Knox, Calvin, &c. Are the letters of Junius 
 any the less just and true, on account of the 
 dispute which so long existed about their 
 real authorship? Certainly not. It is the 
 matter, the doctrine, the force of argument, 
 
38 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 that give weight and worth to the book. If 
 the "Life of Washington"' by the late Chief 
 Justice Marshall, had been published as the 
 work of his son Thomas, would that circum- 
 stance have rendered the history less true, 
 or less worthy of a place in your library? 
 How, then, would the Epistle to the Hebrews 
 be affected, either in its force of argument, 
 or its authority as a part of divine revelation, 
 if it should be discovered, in this age of re- 
 search and discovery, that not Paul the apos- 
 tle, but some other disciple of Christ, pro- 
 foundly learned in the Jewish ritual, and fa- 
 miliar with the Christian plan of salvation, 
 was the real author of that admirable letter? 
 Would it be less worthy of the place which 
 it now occupies in the sacred canon? Not 
 at all. 
 
 But we freely acknowledge there is some- 
 thing rather unnatural and improbable in all 
 this; and we return to the question about the 
 genuineness or true authorship of our book. 
 When asked why we believe Matthew Levi 
 to be the writer of the first evangelical nar- 
 rative in the New Testament; we answer: — 
 for reasons such as to satisfy us that Thomas 
 Jefferson penned our Declaration of Indepen- 
 
 
LECTURE II. 39 
 
 dence, seventy-eight years ago ; or that Milton 
 wrote the " Paradise Lost;" or that the Em- 
 peror Justinian, of the sixth century, is the 
 author of the famous Law Institutes which 
 have come down to us, connected with his 
 name; or that Eusebius, of the fourth cen- 
 tury, wrote the Church History distinguished 
 by his name. These works have been gene- 
 rally ascribed to the persons just named, as 
 their authors. They have been quoted, com- 
 mented on, translated, and referred to as the 
 genuine productions of the men whose names 
 are attached to them, severally. It is the 
 prevalent opinion, — the testimony of history, 
 — the judgment of those who lived when the 
 works first made their appearance. And 
 why should we hesitate to concur in the de- 
 cision which has come down to us with the 
 consent of so many competent judges? Now 
 to apply this reasoning to the case in hand : 
 — It is not at all likely that the early Chris- 
 tians would have admitted into their book of 
 faith and rules of duty, any writings under 
 wrong or fictitious names. We find, more- 
 over, that the sacred writers themselves fre- 
 quently refer one to another as the authors of 
 their respective productions. Thus you will 
 
40 EVIDENCES OP CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 find Peter referring to Paul as a beloved bro- 
 ther, who, in some of his epistles, had written 
 things hard to be understood : and by looking 
 at the marginal references, in jour Bibles, 
 you will see in Paul's letters to the Romans 
 and Corinthians, the very things referred to, 
 Read the speech of Stephen, the protomar- 
 tyr, recorded in the seventh chapter of the 
 Acts, in which he alludes to many facts and 
 predictions of Moses and David, as you find 
 them recorded, under their names, in the Old 
 Testament. And if you will take the pains 
 to look into the writers of the first three cen- 
 turies of our era, you will be surprised at the 
 frequent and full quotations which they make 
 from the evangelists and apostles, by name, 
 as we have them in our version. The same 
 thing is done by several of the bitterest ene- 
 mies of Christianity, such as Hierocles, of 
 Bithynia, Porphyry, Celsus, and Julian the 
 apostate. These adversaries of our religion 
 quote freely from Matthew, Luke, John and 
 Paul; and in the whole drift of their objec- 
 tions, go upon the concession that the Chris- 
 tian scriptures were the works of the author? 
 to whom they were ascribed. What reason- 
 able ground of doubt, then, can we have, in 
 
LECTURE n. 41 
 
 regard to the genuineness or authorship of 
 these books? But a more important question 
 about these writings relates to their authen- 
 ticity; that is, whether the writers relate 
 matters of fact as they really happened, and 
 are, therefore, worthy of confidence as histo- 
 rians. To answer this inquiry, we arrange 
 our remarks under two heads, or two subor- 
 dinate questions, viz. : 1. Were these writers, 
 who are also witnesses, competent? 2. "Were 
 they honest, and disposed to tell the truth ? 
 
 1. In regard to their competency, we ob- 
 serve, without assuming at present their in- 
 spiration, a point which shall receive atten- 
 tion in its proper place, that from all that we 
 can learn of their characters, they appear to 
 have been, with the exception of Luke and 
 Paul, who were evidently men of learning, 
 plain, uneducated men, but men of good com- 
 mon sense, and of a respectable share of prac- 
 tical wisdom. And they were placed in cir- 
 cumstances, as constant attendants on the 
 ministry and movements of Christ, altogether 
 favourable for knowing what he did and said, 
 and what others did and said in his name, or 
 in opposition to his designs. And, then, the 
 occurrences which they relate were of such a 
 5 
 
42 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 nature, as that they could hardly be deceived 
 in relation to them. Every thing was done 
 openly, and, for the most part, in the presence 
 of opposers, as well as adherents. We for- 
 bear to mention the miraculous works in this 
 connection, because they will be noticed in 
 their proper place, when we come to the sub- 
 ject of miracles. And as to the Saviour's 
 birth, and the events that transpired under 
 the brief ministry of John the Baptist, which 
 took place before our evangelists were called 
 from their secular employments to serve in 
 the Christian cause, these were recent events, 
 and could easily be recollected, or obtained 
 from the lips of living witnesses. The me- 
 morable occasion, the taxing, or registering, 
 which drew Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem 
 — the angelic announcements, and tl^e report 
 of the shepherds — must have been matters 
 of public notoriety. In brief, from the cha- 
 racter of the men, situated as they were, and 
 from the nature of the things attested by 
 them, it does seem that they were competent 
 witnesses. But — 
 
 II. Were they honest, and disposed to tell 
 the truth? We should always presume upon 
 men's honesty until they are convicted, or 
 
LECTURE II. 43 
 
 give strong indications of fraud or deceit. 
 We have looked into all the best and most 
 impartial memoirs of these men that have lain 
 within our reach, and can find no charge of 
 unfairness, in any respect, brought against 
 them, except the general, sweeping allega- 
 tion, of professed enemies to them and their 
 religion, of their having clubbed together for 
 the purpose of palming upon the world a cun- 
 ningly devised fable as a communication from 
 God. This we take to be gratuitous and un- 
 supported; and we are not disposed to believe 
 anything, without evidence of some sort; 
 certainly we will not give credit to an evil 
 report of any man, or any set of men, with- 
 out good reasons. Sneers and inuendoes we 
 let pass as the noxious breathings of enyj or 
 malice. Plain, labouring men, such as car- 
 penters, tent-makers, and fishermen, are not 
 apt to engage in wild schemes, especially com- 
 plicated projects, open at many points to de- 
 tection, on purpose to deceive the world, par- 
 ticularly where the prospect of advancing their 
 own interests, by imposing on others, is dull 
 and doubtful. Indeed, the gospel scheme is 
 too complex in its machinery, and too vast in 
 its design, to have originated in an untutored 
 
44 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 mind; and, we will add, it is too good and 
 godlike to have been conceived in a depraved 
 heart. If we take our ideas of the character 
 of these witnesses from their writings, we 
 must think them unsophisticated and candid 
 to a proverb. They do and say every thing 
 above board: there seems to have been no 
 caballing or concealment among them. They 
 tell us of their own faults and foibles; of their 
 mistakes, for they pretend not to inspiration 
 or infallibility, except when employed directly 
 as the messengers or amanuenses of the Holy 
 Spirit. On ordinary occasions they were as 
 liable to err, and as open to temptation, as 
 other men in like circumstances. Let this be 
 borne in mind, and it will enable you to solve 
 many difficulties which you find in reconciling 
 some parts of their conduct, as men, with their 
 pretensions as the accredited ministers of God. 
 Had they banded together to accomplish some 
 sinister end, under the garb of religion, would 
 they have told us of their ambition, intole- 
 rance, and, in some instances, treachery and 
 falsehood? of their prejudices and faithless- 
 ness, which drew upon them the rebuke of 
 their beloved and faithful Master? What an 
 humbling tale they give us of Peter's beha- 
 
LECTURE II. 45 
 
 viour in the hall of Pilate, under the power 
 of temptation, when, for a little season, his 
 fear got the better of his faith, and overcame 
 his usual boldness and courage ! Does not 
 all this look like a scrupulous regard for truth? 
 Does it not bespeak a frankness and an ho- 
 nest simplicity such as you rarely or never 
 meet with in other writers? How can you 
 account for these things without supposing 
 that they were conscientiously rigid in de- 
 claring the whole truth, and that they wrote, 
 not for any selfish purpose, but for the ho- 
 nour of their Lord, and the good of mankind? 
 Are Ave not bound in justice, then, to regard 
 them as faithful witnesses? and ought we not 
 to receive their statements as a true account 
 of facts and events as they really occurred ? 
 Had they been in conspiracy for the ac- 
 complishment of some evil design, we think 
 they could not have kept the secret so long. 
 To sustain this opinion, take the case of Ju- 
 das Iscariot, one of the Twelve. Here was 
 a case of defection among themselves, in which 
 the collusion, had there been any, would most 
 assuredly have been divulged. This misera- 
 ble man had been with them from the begin- 
 ning, and was undoubtedly acquainted with 
 5* 
 
46 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 their design. But, being actuated by wrong 
 motives, his hypocrisy was, in due time, de- 
 tected and disclosed by the heart-searching 
 Saviour. How was he affected, and how did 
 he behave, on occasion of his exposure and 
 abandonment? Did he make any disclosure 
 at all affecting the character and intentions 
 of the body with which he had been so inti- 
 mately connected? Not a syllable. Why? 
 Because, as we have a right to infer from 
 what we know of human nature, he had no 
 tales to tell. How apt are men, when they 
 withdraw in disgust, or are expelled from a 
 society or club with which they have been 
 associated, to reveal and proclaim, with an 
 air of triumph, every thing within their know- 
 ledge, which will be likely to vindicate them- 
 selves, and blacken the character of the body 
 they have left, or from which they have been 
 excluded ! This is a matter of very common 
 experience. Now here is a man, in circum- 
 stances of strong temptation, leaving the apos- 
 tolic college, instituted as some wise men after 
 the flesh would persuade you, to deceive the 
 world ; and yet he utters not a word against 
 it. On the contrary, he gives decisive though 
 involuntary testimony in its favour. Stung 
 
LECTURE II. 47 
 
 with conscious guilt, and overwhelmed with 
 self-abhorrence, he rushes out of the Chris- 
 tian brotherhood, dashes down, at the feet of 
 those who had bought him, the price of his 
 treachery, and commits a felo-de-se by hang- 
 ing himself. Had there been fanaticism, re- 
 bellion, vanity, ambition, misanthropy, or any 
 other evil purpose, in the counsels of these 
 first ministers of the gospel, then the core and 
 nucleus of the Christian system — that it did 
 not come out on this occasion, we aver, was 
 contrary to all experience and reasonable ex- 
 pectation — a mystery — ^miracle, may we not 
 say, as incomprehensible as any recorded in 
 the evangelical narrative? 
 
 TVe pass to another consideration, showing 
 the authenticity and credibility of these his- 
 tories; for, in regard to matters of fact, not 
 of doctrine, the distinction is not worth pre- 
 serving, because a fact, which is authentic, is 
 also credible. We refer to the harmony or 
 substantial identity which the narrators main- 
 tain throughout, in all the leading and essen- 
 tial particulars of their history. Here are 
 four writers and five narratives, two of them 
 having been composed by Luke, who, though 
 they differ in style and arrangement, and par- 
 
48 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 ticularity, just as witnesses in the same case, 
 examined separately, would differ, and just 
 enough to show that they had not banded to- 
 gether for the purpose of carrying a point, 
 yet agree in the main, so as to satisfy any im- 
 partial and intelligent judge that all their 
 depositions are faithful, and founded in truth. 
 This is worthy of special notice, inasmuch as 
 they did not write in the same place or at the 
 same time. Feigned accounts, even if there 
 had been concert among writers thus situa- 
 ted, would with moral certainty have crossed 
 each other, and been found in serious colli- 
 sion. Nothing of this kind, of any importance, 
 is to be found in our historians. I know there 
 is a seeming discrepancy between Matthew 
 and Luke, in regard to the genealogy of 
 Christ, which has been worked up into a 
 frightful bugbear by certain skeptical critics, 
 whom we forbear to name, but which is easi- 
 ly reconciled, by observing that the one takes 
 the pedigree of Joseph, and the other that of 
 Mary. Besides, these genealogies were ma- 
 nifestly taken from Jewish tables, acknow- 
 ledged by the scribes as substantially correct, 
 and therefore answering the purpose of the 
 evangelists, which was, to prove that their 
 
LECTURE II. 49 
 
 blessed Master was of the tribe of Judah, and 
 of the family of David. And, after all, it is 
 a matter which does not touch one essential 
 doctrine of the gospel. An inspired writer 
 may quote the sayings or statistics of others, 
 without impairing his own veracity, or com- 
 promitting the cause which he advocates in 
 the least. The facts and events that constitute 
 the materials of these historical pieces, were 
 being developed, from time to time, during a 
 period of more than three quarters of a cen- 
 tury, including the Acts of the Apostles, and 
 the writers made their notes at various points; 
 yet how well they harmonize in all the main 
 features of their narrations! What but an 
 intimate knowledge of facts, with an inflexi- 
 ble love of the truth, could have produced 
 this harmony? That they did not copy from 
 one another, is evident from the fact that they 
 do not all give the same particulars. To get 
 a full history of Christ and his divinely-com- 
 missioned ambassadors, you must read the five 
 narratives. And then, when you go on to the 
 epistles, or, as you may call them, the doc- 
 trinal letters, you meet with numerous and 
 seemingly incidental coincidences with, and 
 allusions to, the histories, as written by the 
 
50 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 evangelists, confirmatory of the statements, 
 and evincing, not only the genuineness and 
 authenticity of the several journals, but a 
 complete and wonderful agreement between 
 the facts and doctrines of our religion. Such 
 harmony — such entire, yet unstudied concur- 
 rence and agreement in so many particulars, 
 among so many writers, spread over so much 
 time and space, tending to establish the truth 
 of any system of religion or philosophy, we 
 venture to affirm, cannot be found in the re- 
 cords of the world. Truth tends powerfully 
 to union and consistency, while error and 
 false pretensions are devious, multiform, and 
 divisive. 
 
 Think, in the next place, of the extreme 
 difficulty, nay, we might say, impossibility, 
 of passing off as a true account, such a his- 
 tory, or journal rather, as that which we 
 have in the New Testament, abounding, as it 
 does, in thrilling and memorable incidents, 
 among the very people, or their immediate 
 successors, some of whom must have been 
 living when the said events are alleged to 
 have taken place, if it was all a sheer fic- 
 tion. How could it be done by any set of 
 men; especially, such plain, unlettered men 
 as were our evangelists? Think what they 
 
LECTURE II. 51 
 
 report as notorious matters of fact; the birth 
 of Jesus, and its attendant circumstances, 
 with a specification of the town where it took 
 place, the visit of the distinguished strangers 
 from the East, the date fixed, by naming the 
 emperor and the governors then in power : 
 the flight of the holy family into Egypt and 
 the reason of it; and, subsequently, the bap- 
 tism of Christ, by the famous baptizer John, 
 at the river Jordan, amid a vast concourse of 
 people, the voice from heaven, by which the 
 Saviour was recognized as the Son of God, 
 and the great Teacher who had peculiar 
 claims to be heard; then the sermon on the 
 mount, the greatest that ever was preached; 
 his parables, so skilfully constructed, so 
 pointed and cutting, some of them, to the 
 Scribes and Pharisees; and his marvellous 
 works, multitudes, thousands fed with a few 
 loaves and fishes, when the fragments left far 
 exceeded the original provision; so many 
 cured of inveterate diseases ; some deceased 
 persons were raised to life, whose names and 
 families are given ; then, his persecution, ar- 
 raignment and condemnation by Pilate, well 
 known by his office; the crucifixion and burial 
 of the Holy One in the tomb of Joseph, a 
 
52 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 man of note about Jerusalem; the resurrec- 
 tion; and the ascension near Bethany, at- 
 tested by witnesses in great numbers. Now, 
 how could such stories obtain any credit or 
 currency among the inhabitants of Palestine, 
 if unfounded and untrue? It is impossible. 
 But yet the skeptic takes refuge in the gra- 
 tuitous assertion that these accounts of Christ 
 and his religion, in the incipient stages of its 
 progress, must have been prepared and pub- 
 lished long after the date usually assigned 
 them. To this supposititious theory we have 
 several objections, one or two of which we 
 will state very briefly. In the first place, 
 we have not only the testimony of the earliest 
 Christian fathers, Barnabas, Clement, Her- 
 nias, Ignatius and Polycarp, three of whom are 
 named by the apostle Paul as his cotempora- 
 ries, but we have also the witness of heretical, 
 and of Jewish and heathen writers, as Cerin- 
 thus, Marcion, Josephus, Porphyry and Cel- 
 sus, &c. , to the existence of the New Testament 
 Scriptures. We have, in fact, an unbroken, 
 close succession of writers of various creeds, 
 and some of no creed, whose citations from our 
 books, and comments upon them, and objec- 
 tions to parts of them, satisfy our minds, be- 
 
LECTURE II. 53 
 
 yond all doubt, that our gospels and epistles 
 were in being and repute, as standards of the 
 facts and doctrines of Christianity, from the 
 apostolic age down to the end of the fourth 
 century, when it became the established re- 
 ligion of the Roman empire; after which 
 time, spurious gospels could scarcely by any 
 artifice of man be introduced to public favour, 
 under the assumed names of our apostles and 
 evangelists. The time would fail us to give 
 the testimony of a tithe of the witnesses on 
 this point. Let a brief notice of one of the 
 bitterest and most acute enemies of our faith, 
 suffice for the present. Celsus lived in the lat- 
 ter half of the second century, and early in the 
 third. None of his entire works are known 
 to be extant; but Eusebius, of the fourth cen- 
 tury, has recorded, in his history, copious 
 fragments of them, which you will find in 
 Lardner, Michaelis, Home, and other modern 
 writers of well known repute. He mentions 
 the names of most of the apostles and evan- 
 gelists, and quotes from them pretty largely 
 by name, so as to leave no doubt on any un- 
 biassed mind, of their existence, in his time, 
 as we have them now. He never questions 
 the gospels as histories, — and speaks of the 
 6 
 
54 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 persecutions of Christians on account of their 
 religion. He charges them with altering the 
 gospels, but obviously refers to the Mar- 
 cionites, Yalentinians and other heretics. 
 He says he derives his arguments against 
 them from their own acknowledged stand- 
 ards, and in no one instance from spurious 
 writings. He speaks in flattering terms of 
 Christ, which it is not easy to reconcile 
 with his avowed hostility to his religion and 
 followers; acknowledges the truth of his na- 
 tivity, his flight into Egypt, his miracles; 
 states, as we find it, substantially, in our gos- 
 pels, that he was betrayed, scourged and cru- 
 cified, that he drank vinegar, and that, after 
 his death, he appeared among his friends, 
 again, several times; mentions that he was 
 regarded as divine and worthy of being wor- 
 shipped. True, he does not profess to believe 
 most of these things; but his concessions 
 clearly establish our position, that the sacred 
 writings were then what they are now, and 
 that they were universally ascribed to the 
 same authors. He never pretends to deny 
 that our sacred books were written by the 
 men whose names are attached to them, or 
 that the facts which they narrate are unwor- 
 
LECTURE II. 55 
 
 thy of credit; yet his opportunities were good, 
 and his inclination to do so. if he could with 
 any colour of reason, will not be doubted. 
 His acuteness and learning are extolled by 
 gentlemen of his way of thinking in modern 
 times. They say he was a prodigy in litera- 
 ture, and a genuine, a profound philosopher. 
 Where, then, is the evidence, or shadow of 
 an argument, that our gospels and epistles 
 were foisted in upon the world in after ages, 
 to deceive men? Yield yourselves to such 
 surmises and gratuitous assertions, and you 
 inevitably sap the foundation of all histori- 
 cal belief. 
 
 Another thing going to prove the authen- 
 ticity of these records is, the absence of any 
 motive that could have induced the writers 
 to falsify or invent a fictitious story. Men 
 do, indeed, in some cases, act from impulse 
 or whim for a little while; some will tell lies 
 for sport, or for gain; but you will not find 
 them sitting down and gravely writing a 
 long, complex account of visions and impres- 
 sions which nobody but themselves can know 
 any thing about. You do not find men en- 
 gaging in unpopular or unpromising projects 
 without motives, and at the risk of fortune, 
 
56 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 fame, and life itself. Now, assuming the ex- 
 istence of Jesus of Nazareth about the time 
 specified, which we have authority to do, 
 from the testimony of cotemporary and disin- 
 terested historians, what motive could have 
 actuated these first Christians, and great 
 numbers of intelligent people that soon joined 
 them, in magnifying their new Master, and 
 identifying themselves with his cause? Was 
 it gain? Why, according to their showing, 
 he advertised them that his kingdom was not 
 of this world, that he had neither wealth 
 nor places of power to offer them. He states 
 candidly that he has no home, not a place to 
 lay lys head when weary or aching: and he 
 admonishes them that, if they would become 
 his disciples and adherents, they must expect 
 to be put out of the synagogues, and driven 
 from their secular offices, — that they must 
 count upon the loss of all their present 
 worldly advantages; that they must deny 
 themselves and take up their cross, as he was 
 soon to bear his, and follow him to martyr- 
 dom. Was it fame ? But what of this could 
 they expect, either present or posthumous, 
 from enlisting under the standard of an ob- 
 scure individual, of humble parentage, with- 
 
LECTURE II. 57 
 
 out friends, without power, and with no show 
 of Jewish lore or Grecian polish? How 
 could such men foresee the growth of the 
 mustard seed, or the working of the leaven, 
 destined of God to leaven the whole lump? 
 How could fishermen, and tent-makers, and 
 collectors of taxes, interpret and proceed 
 upon the prophetic symbol of the little stone 
 cut out of a mountain, and designed in due 
 time to fill the world? It was quite beyond 
 their mental vision, unless taught and in- 
 spired by the only wise God; and, if they 
 were taught and influenced by him, they were 
 neither knaves nor madmen; and their mo- 
 tives must have been as pure as their doc- 
 trines, — the love of truth, and of souls, and 
 of God. 
 
 Again, look at the fearless way in which 
 these authors write; how many snares they 
 lay for themselves; how freely they give us 
 the names of persons and places; how un- 
 guardedly they talk about manners, and cus- 
 toms, and institutions; how many things they 
 assume, as well known to their readers; what 
 wonderful events they narrate, without a 
 note of exclamation, and with no effort to 
 6* 
 
58 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY 
 
 meet objections. This looks like truth and 
 honesty. 
 
 Observe, also, the style in which they 
 write. It is not florid, or in any respect po- 
 lished, but simple, and plain, in some in- 
 stances almost to baldness: so little drapery 
 do some of them use, that their bold state- 
 ments may well be called the naked truth. 
 Their language is figurative, as we would 
 expect from their oriental habits and associa- 
 tions; but their figures and illustrations are 
 taken from common scenes and occupations, 
 mountains and valleys, rivers and pools, 
 rocks and caves, the harvest field, and the 
 vineyard, the garden and the fishing-boat, 
 with the correspondent employments of keep- 
 ing the flocks, using the net, ploughing, sow- 
 ing and gathering the fruits. All this is in 
 good keeping 'with the character of the 
 writers, who were obviously more intent on 
 things than words, and who were anxious to 
 awaken and instruct men, rather than to 
 please them, and catch their applause. This, 
 also, looks like honesty of purpose, and chal- 
 lenges confidence in their communications. 
 
 The sort of Greek which they use, is ano- 
 ther mark of the truth and authenticity of 
 
LECTURE II. 59 
 
 their writings; for, except the gospel by 
 Matthew, and the epistle to the Hebrews, 
 which some critics think were originally 
 written in a dialect of Hebrew, but soon 
 translated into Greek, our authors wrote in 
 the Greek language, that being more exten- 
 sively known at the time than any other. 
 But they use not pure, classical Greek, such 
 as was spoken at Athens, but a dialect of it, 
 which might be called Chaldaic- Greek, re- 
 sembling the language of Judea, after the re- 
 turn from the Babylonian captivity. We are 
 often told, what no scholar denies, that the 
 New Testament is not pure Greek, and for 
 this reason some exclude it from our classical 
 schools. Be it so. We had rather have it 
 so, than want the evidence it affords of the 
 truth and honesty of the sacred writers. Their 
 Greek abounds in Hebraisms; phraseology 
 and allusions which prove that the writers 
 were more familiar with the language and 
 usages of Palestine than of Attica. This pe- 
 culiarity in their language gives proof that 
 they were, what they say they were, plain 
 men, and raised among a plain, industrious 
 people. Had it been otherwise, had our 
 Testament been written in the beautiful style 
 
60 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 of Plato or Aristotle, it would have thrown 
 a shade of suspicion over it. We should 
 then have been told, with triumph and taunt- 
 ing, that it must have been a compilation by 
 some artful Grecian scholar, for that it could 
 not be the production of such men as Mat- 
 thew the publican, and John and James, the 
 sons of Zebedee, the fishermen of Galilee. 
 
 Another question, and we will dismiss this 
 branch of the subject, and conclude our pre- 
 sent lecture : are these writings the same now 
 as when they were first admitted into the sa- 
 cred canon? Have they come down to us 
 entire and unadulterated ? Here a wide field 
 opens upon us, had we time to survey it, but 
 we have not at present. We may look into it 
 on another occasion; but a brief remark or 
 two will suffice, in this connection. We re- 
 mark, in the first place, that as the autographs 
 of these documents were in manuscript, for you 
 know the art of printing was then unknown, 
 copies could not be multiplied anything like so 
 rapidly as they can now, by means of the press. 
 To transcribe such a piece as the gospel by 
 Matthew, for instance, was a work of consi- 
 derable labour, and would hardly be under- 
 taken on individual responsibility. It would 
 
LECTURE II. .61 
 
 be under the eye and auspices of some church, 
 and it would undoubtedly be subjected to 
 strict scrutiny and comparison with the ori- 
 ginal, before it would be allowed to be read 
 in the religious meetings. Adulteration, 
 therefore, was not likely to take place. A 
 copy of the gospels, to say nothing of the Acts 
 and Epistles, was a matter of heavy expense. 
 A cow or a horse could be procured at much 
 less cost than a copy of the New Testament. 
 It should be recollected that within twenty 
 years after the Saviour's ascension, churches 
 were formed in most of the chief towns in the 
 Roman Empire. In these societies, each gos- 
 pel or epistle that made its appearance under 
 the seal of the inspired writer, was regarded 
 as of the highest authority, and would, of 
 course, be guarded and preserved from cor- 
 ruption with religious care. During the au- 
 thor's life, an imperfect copy could scarcely 
 get into circulation, for every one would na- 
 turally be submitted to his inspection. 
 
 We remark, secondly, that the early Chris- 
 tians were deeply concerned to guard against 
 any mutilation or change in the text of the 
 sacred books. They clung to these writings 
 as communications from God the Saviour; 
 
62 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 they viewed them as the ground of their faith, 
 and the charter of their most precious hopes; 
 so that even after the death of the apostles 
 their adulteration is scarcely conceivable. 
 The primitive disciples were cast off. and 
 every where spoken against by the world 
 around them. Persecutors and gainsayers 
 were on the alert for occasion against them 
 and their new religion, as it was called. Had 
 they permitted mutilated and conflicting co- 
 pies of their sacred books to get abroad, it 
 would have placed in the hands of their ad- 
 versaries a weapon which would have been 
 used with prodigious effect to impair their 
 credit, and to arrest the progress of their prin- 
 ciples. They must, therefore, have watched 
 the purity of their inspired records with all 
 imaginable jealousy and care, and to this ef- 
 fect, we have a mass of testimony which we 
 have not room here to recite. 
 
 And, when, in process of time, heretics arose 
 and began to take sacrilegious liberties with 
 the sacred books, rejecting some, and inter- 
 polating their own glosses in others, the 
 many correct copies in use in the churches, 
 would furnish the ready means of staying the 
 corruption. Tertullian, who was born about 
 
LECTURE II. 63 
 
 sixty years after the death of the apostle 
 John, tells us that some of the autograph ma- 
 nuscripts, i. e. the originals, were to be seen 
 in his day. In his work* on heresy, he uses 
 this spirited exhortation : " Come, thou who 
 wouldst exercise thyself profitably about thy 
 salvation, go through the apostolic churches, 
 in which the very chairs of the apostles still 
 preside, in which their authentic letters are 
 recited, sounding forth the voice, and repre- 
 senting the countenance of each." 
 
 When we come to the middle of the fourth 
 century, and find the churches divided into 
 two great sects, the Eastern and Western, 
 here we find a mutual preventive to the mu- 
 tilation of the revealed word. The parties 
 were a check upon one another. How won- 
 derful is the providence of God ! And from 
 this time, downward to our own time, what a 
 shield do we see held over, what a strong 
 wall erected around, the holy writings, in the 
 numerous sects into which Christendom has 
 been riven by the pride and self-will of her 
 ministers, chiefly. Let us, then, revere the 
 Lord's hand in the preservation of his own 
 
 * Chap. 36. 
 
64 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 truth. The preservation of our blessed book 
 through the lapse of eighteen centuries is it- 
 self one of the many and decisive evidences 
 of its divine origin. No human production on 
 earth, of so remote an age, can produce a 
 tenth part of the proof of its genuine author- 
 ship, that supports the claims of this Book of 
 books to a divine source. 
 
 We have seen that its immediate writers 
 were in a situation to judge of the truth of 
 the facts and doctrines which it details — that 
 they were honest and truthful men, — that 
 they could have no rational inducement to 
 falsify or veil the truth, — that they sacrificed 
 all temporal advantages, and counted not 
 their lives too high a price to pay for its 
 maintenance. We have marked the harmony 
 of its parts; we have seen the hand of God in 
 its transmission to us, without material altera- 
 tion, and with his seal and sanction upon it; 
 we will, therefore, by God's help, receive it, 
 and use it, and send it, if we can, to all man- 
 kind, not as the word of man, but, as it is in- 
 deed, the word of God, that liveth and abideth 
 for ever. It is not the work of men, to de- 
 ceive their fellow men. It is the word of sal- 
 
LECTURE II. 65 
 
 vation from the God of truth and love ; or, in 
 the language of the poet: 
 
 •' Whence, indeed, 
 But from Heaven, should men unskilPd in arts, 
 In different ages born, in different parts, 
 Weave such agreeing truths'? or how? or why- 
 Should all conspire to cheat us with a lie ? 
 Unask'd their pains, ungrateful their advice; 
 Starving, their gains, and martyrdom, their price. 7 ' 
 
 (Dryden.) 
 
66 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 LECTURE III 
 
 INSPIRATION. 
 
 Haying seen, in the preceding lecture, that 
 the sacred writings are the genuine produc- 
 tions of the authors whose names they bear, 
 and that they are authentic and worthy of 
 credit, we will now proceed to the considera- 
 tion of their authority in all matters of faith 
 and practice : for a book may be genuine and 
 authentic, and entitled to belief as to its his- 
 torical statements and the doctrines taught 
 by public teachers whom it undertakes to 
 celebrate, and yet have no just claim to con- 
 trol our judgment, regulate our conduct, or 
 bind our conscience in questions of morality 
 and religion. Honest and intelligent writers 
 may err; they may form erroneous opinions 
 respecting matters that have come under their 
 observation; they may be influenced by pre- 
 judice unconsciously, and may misunderstand 
 or misrepresent facts, or the characters of 
 
LECTURE III. 67 
 
 persons of whom they have occasion to speak, 
 through the weakness and fallibility of the 
 human mind, without special divine guidance. 
 It is inspiration, therefore, that gives to these 
 writings their peculiar authority over the 
 faith and practice and conscience of mankind. 
 Of this we are now to speak; and our remarks 
 apply to the Scriptures of the Old Testament 
 as well as to those of the New Testament, 
 although we shall confine ourselves mainly to 
 the latter, for reasons heretofore stated. 
 
 By inspiration, we " mean such a communi- 
 cation, by the Spirit of God, to the minds of 
 the sacred writers, of those things which 
 could not have been otherwise known, and 
 such superintendence in regard to particulars 
 concerning which they might otherwise obtain 
 information, as was sufficient to preserve them 
 from error, in all things which could in the 
 least affect any of the doctrines or precepts 
 contained in their writings, or mislead any 
 person who considered them as a divine and 
 infallible standard of truth and duty." It 
 may be divided, for the sake of convenience, 
 into the inspiration of suggestion and that of 
 supervision: suggestion, in reference to what 
 could not be otherwise known, and supervision 
 
68 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 or guidance, in regard to what might, with 
 some degree of certainty, be known by other 
 means. This distinction, however, is not es- 
 sential. What we want is, satisfactory evi- 
 dence that God so enlightened, guided and 
 guarded the writers, that we have in the Bible 
 an infallible and sufficient rule of faith and 
 practice, or, in other words, that its contents 
 were dictated and secured to us by the Crea- 
 tor in his infinite wisdom and goodness, so 
 that, in placing full confidence in its teach- 
 ings and promises, we are in no danger of 
 being deceived or disappointed. 
 
 Now that such a communication is possible, 
 necessary, and desirable, was demonstrated 
 in our introductory remarks; and, in our 
 second lecture, we endeavoured to show that 
 the writers of the New Testament are worthy 
 of credit; that they were men of good sense 
 and pure intentions, and that their statements 
 respecting Christ and his doctrines may be 
 relied on, as true and faithful. If, then, we 
 believe them in other matters, we must, to be 
 consistent, believe them in what they say 
 about inspiration. Let us hear how they talk, 
 and how they make their Master speak on this 
 subject. But, before going directly to their 
 
LECTURE III. 69 
 
 avowal of special divine influence, let us ob- 
 serve, that Christ and his apostles do une- 
 quivocally and repeatedly recognize and cite 
 the writings of the OM Testament, as in- 
 spired and authoritative. We learn from Jo- 
 sephus and other reliable sources, that, the 
 Jews, in the time of Christ, regarded the 
 books of Moses and the prophets as the ora- 
 cles of God. They did, indeed, misinterpret 
 them, and place their oral traditions, practi- 
 cally, on a par with them ; but they acknow- 
 ledged them as the statutes, the testimonies, 
 and laws of the Lord : calling them by the 
 most honourable names, as the Scriptures — 
 Holy Scriptures, &c. Josephus says that 
 they were universally believed to have been 
 written by men who received them from God 
 himself by inspiration, and were justly be- 
 lieved to be divine. "How firmly we have 
 given credit to these books, he adds, is evi- 
 dent from what we do; for, during so many 
 ages as have passed since they were given to 
 our nation, no one has been so bold as to add 
 any thing to them, or take any thing from 
 them, or make any change in them; but it is 
 natural to all Jews, even from their birth, to 
 esteem those books to contain divine doc- 
 7* 
 
70 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 trines, and to persist in them, and, if occasion 
 be, to die for them. " Now, while Christ fear- 
 lessly rebuked the Jews for making the word 
 of God of none effect, through their tradi- 
 tions, neither he nor his apostles drop a hint 
 that they were in error in esteeming the Old 
 Testament Scriptures to be divinely inspired, 
 or allowing them too much authority. On 
 the contrary, the Saviour exhorts them to 
 search their Scriptures, because they testified 
 of him, and contained the words of eternal 
 life. What Moses wrote in the Pentateuch, 
 Christ says, was spoken by God. "Have ye 
 never read that which was spoken to you by 
 God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and 
 the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?" 
 So, what David wrote in the Psalms, and 
 Isaiah, in his prophecies, are said to have been 
 spoken by the Holy Ghost. And what says 
 Peter respecting the Jewish prophets? Does 
 he not assert, that, what they uttered was by 
 the Spirit of Christ speaking in them ? And 
 that they wrote, not according to their own 
 will, but as they were moved or inspired by 
 the Holy Ghost, "Searching what, or what 
 manner of time the Spirit of Christ, which 
 was in them, did signify, when it testified be- 
 
LECTURE III. 71 
 
 forehand the sufferings of Christ and the 
 glory that should follow." "The prophecy 
 came not, in old time, by the will of man; 
 but holy men of God spake as they were 
 moved by the Holy Ghost." And the decla- 
 ration of Paul is, if possible, more full and 
 explicit. In one of his letters to Timothy, 
 after reminding him, that, from a child, he 
 had known the Scriptures which were able 
 to make him wise unto salvation, through 
 faith in Christ Jesus, he says, "All Scrip- 
 ture is given by inspiration of God, and is 
 profitable," &c. These testimonies are surely 
 sufficient and conclusive, as regards the Scrip- 
 tures of the Old Testament. Pass we, then, 
 to the consideration of the New Testament. 
 And, here, we might fairly infer the inspi- 
 ration of the latter from that of the former, 
 by reasoning from analogy. The two Testa- 
 ments constitute the sacred canon. Is the 
 one part inspired, and the other nbt? Can 
 it be, that the communications made under 
 the former dispensation, which was tempo- 
 rary, and in great measure shadowy and typi- 
 cal, were dictated by God, and that those of 
 the present dispensation, which is to continue 
 to the end of time, stand on mere human au- 
 
72 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 thority? It is, to say the least, highly im- 
 probable. But we have more than analogy 
 in support of the divine authority of the New 
 Testament Scriptures. 
 
 I. We have large promises of Christ to his 
 apostles, of ample qualifications for their mi- 
 nisterial work ; and, especially, the promise 
 of the Holy Spirit, as a Spirit of truth, by 
 whose influence they should be able rightly 
 to understand, and faithfully to publish the 
 gospel message. Look at these promises, how 
 full and comprehensive they are. Fear not, 
 says the divine Master to the timid and feeble 
 band of disciples, as they go forth to the res- 
 cue of a world lying in sin, "I will give you 
 a mouth and wisdom which your adversaries 
 can neither gainsay nor resist. The Spirit 
 shall take of mine and show it unto you; 
 shall bring all things to your remembrance, 
 whatsoever I have said unto you ; he shall 
 teach you all things, and show you things to 
 come, and abide with you for ever." Thus, 
 the Spirit is guarantied to them, to enlighten, 
 encourage, and sustain them in the mighty 
 conflict; and he is to abide with them, to be 
 at hand in all emergencies, and unfold to them 
 the mysteries of the kingdom, as they could 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 73 
 
 bear it: "I have yet many things to say unto 
 you, but ye cannot bear them now; howbeit, 
 when the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide 
 you into all the truth." Mark another pro- 
 mise, adapted to an occasion that often oc- 
 curred : " When they bring you unto tie syna- 
 gogues, and unto magistrates and powers, take 
 ye no thought how, or what thing ye shall 
 answer, or what ye shall say; for the Holy 
 Ghost shall teach you, in the same hour, what 
 ye ought to say: for it is not ye that speak, 
 but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh 
 in you." Here we have "the nature of in- 
 spiration incidentally disclosed; it is the 
 Spirit of God speaking in or by an apostle." 
 II. Let us notice the fulfilment of these 
 ample promises, particularly on the day of 
 Pentecost, at the opening of the evangelical 
 dispensation; and, let us recollect what the 
 apostles were before this memorable day of 
 their endowment; how full of doubts and 
 wrong notions about their Lord's kingdom; 
 and mark the sudden change which they un- 
 dergo, both as to their views of the gospel 
 plan and qualifications for the arduous work 
 to which they had been called. The twelve 
 are assembled, waiting for the fulfilment of 
 
74 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 the promise. The day arrives, the room, 
 where they were holding a prayer-meeting, is 
 suddenly shaken; the Spirit descends upon 
 them, in his miraculous power, under the sym- 
 bol of a lambent flame of fire; they instantly 
 begin to speak in new tongues ; unlettered as 
 they were ; they publish the glad tidings in 
 the various dialects of the congregated mul- 
 titude, with a freedom and boldness entirely 
 superhuman. New and enlarged views of 
 the stupendous scheme of redeeming love 
 open upon their mental vision ; the gifts of 
 healing, and the power of discerning spirits 
 attend their labours, as the credentials of 
 their embassy. Here you see the apostles 
 fully endowed for the work of the ministry ; 
 and can you suppose that, when they sat down 
 to write their narratives and epistles for the 
 instruction of mankind in all future time, 
 they were left to their own erring judgment 
 and unaided powers? It is not credible. The 
 word preached, if unheeded, passes away; 
 but, written, it abideth for the use and bene- 
 fit of generations. If it behoved to be first 
 preached by divine inspiration, surely it is 
 reasonable as well as scriptural, to believe 
 that it was recorded under the influence and 
 by the dictation of the same infallible guide. 
 
LECTURE III. 75 
 
 3. Take the case of Paul, who, you know, 
 was soon added to the little band of primitive 
 ministers of the word. According to his own 
 account, he was arrested miraculously and in 
 mercy, while on his way to Damascus a blas- 
 phemer of Christ, and a persecutor of his 
 disciples. He saw the Lord Jesus, in a divine 
 vision — heard his voice of rebuke, and felt 
 his saving power — he was not disobedient to 
 the heavenly vision — having received a full 
 revelation of the Christian system, from the 
 Saviour himself, without consulting flesh and 
 blood, he bears it straightway to the Gentiles 
 — goes, in due time, to Jerusalem — joins the 
 church on examination — is soon called of God 
 into Europe — visits Philippi of Macedonia, 
 where he is arrested and imprisoned unjustly ; 
 but is soon released by an earthquake — goes 
 forth in all directions, preaching the gospel 
 and founding churches, the Lord attesting 
 and sealing his ministry, by signs and won- 
 ders surpassing all the skill and power of 
 man. 
 
 Now are we to believe that, when this man 
 of God wrote his fourteen Epistles, which 
 form so large and so important a portion of 
 the sacred rule of Christian faith and duty, 
 
76 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 the Spirit left him to lean upon his own re- 
 sources, at the imminent hazard of mixing 
 up human error with divine truth, designed 
 for the edification of the church to the end 
 of the world ? It would be contrary to rea- 
 sonable expectation, and in the face of all 
 the known analogies of God's government of 
 mankind. Divine assistance is usually adapted 
 to man's necessities; and if, in any thing, spe- 
 cial inspiration was needed, we would suppose 
 it was in preparing a book according to which 
 men are expected to believe, and live, and be 
 finally judged. 
 
 4. But let us, in the next place, see what 
 the apostles themselves claim for their writ- 
 ten communications, whether narrative or 
 epistolary. Take the decision of the council 
 or synod at Jerusalem, on the question car- 
 ried up from Antioch, respecting the obliga- 
 tion of certain Mosaic rites upon Christians. 
 In the brief preamble of that decision, Acts 
 xv. 28, you find these words: " It seemed good 
 to the Holy Ghost and to us" &c. This writ- 
 ten decree, then, which is incorporated with 
 their other writings in the New Testament, 
 was enacted under the sanction and with the 
 approbation of the Holy Spirit; that is, it is 
 
LECTURE III. 77 
 
 inspired. Now turn to the close of Paul's 
 epistle to the Romans: "Now to him that is 
 of power to establish you, according to my 
 gospel" that is, my gospel written in this let- 
 ter, for he goes on, " and the preaching of 
 Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of 
 the mystery, which was kept secret since the 
 world began; but now is made manifest, and 
 by the scriptures of the prophets, according 
 to the commandment of the everlasting God ; 
 made known to all nations for the obedience 
 of faith; to God only wise, be glory, through 
 Jesus Christ, for ever ! Amen." This is plain 
 enough; Paul's gospel in this epistle is on a 
 par with the scriptures of the prophets, and 
 in accordance with the commandment of the 
 everlasting God, and, therefore, inspired. 
 
 Look at his epistle to the Galatians, i. 6 — - 
 8, 11, 12. "I marvel that ye are so soon re- 
 moved from him that called you into the 
 grace of Christ unto another gospel : which 
 i3 not another; but there be some that trouble 
 you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 
 But though we, or an angel from heaven, 
 preach any other gospel unto you than that 
 which we have preached unto you, let him 
 be accursed. But I certify you, brethren, 
 8 
 
78 EVIDENCES OP CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 that the gospel which was preached by me is 
 not after man ; for I neither received it of 
 man, neither was I taught it, but by the reve- 
 lation of Jesus Christ. 11 Here Paul asserts 
 that he received his gospel directly from 
 Christ, — that it is the only true gospel, — and 
 denounces a curse on the man who would 
 pervert it, or introduce any thing in its stead 
 among the churches, and most emphatically 
 declares that by means of his gospel, the Ga- 
 latian Christians had been called into the 
 grace of Christ. But where is his gospel, if 
 not in his epistles? Surely he would not 
 preach one doctrine and write another. Does 
 not this show his persuasion that he wrote 
 under the moving of the Holy Ghost, and that 
 his letters, no less than his preaching, were 
 inspired ? 
 
 Read the epistles of John, and you will 
 find similar claims to divine authority, for 
 what he wrote. Read in his Apocalypse the 
 short but powerful letters to the seven Asiatic 
 churches, which you will observe he was com- 
 manded by Christ to write. " To the angel 
 of the church in Bphesus, write these things," 
 &c, and at the conclusion of each letter we 
 have this solemn charge : " He that hath an 
 
LECTURE III. 79 
 
 ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto 
 the churches." The Spirit, then, dictated 
 what the apostle wrote to these churches; but 
 the dictation of the Spirit is inspiration, and 
 these epistles are embodied in the New Tes- 
 tament. We may not protract this article by- 
 further references; you see the design: it is 
 to show that the*sacred writers deemed them- 
 selves inspired, and claimed for their produc- 
 tions the respect and reverence due to the in- 
 fallible oracles of God. 
 
 This subject of inspiration is one on which 
 we keep within the leaves of the Bible, in 
 search of evidence. It is a doctrine, or rather 
 a matter of consciousness to the subjects of 
 it, about which no other person can give any 
 testimony of much value. No man can be 
 absolutely certain that another is inspired. 
 We may, however, arrive at a high degree 
 of moral certainty, by attending closely to 
 the general character, the motives, the ends, 
 the spirit, the truthfulness, the intelligence, 
 &c.,ofthe individual professing to be inspired. 
 We have a right, too, to demand his creden- 
 tials, if he come to us with an alleged mes- 
 sage from God, and if these be submitted to 
 our inspection, and appear to be full and 
 authentic, we are obliged, by the laws of evi- 
 
80 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 dence, to recognize him as an ambassador. 
 Now all these favourable indications meet in 
 the case of the men under consideration. We 
 have not yet looked into their credentials; 
 but we have found them, on examining their 
 writings, and hearing the testimony of some 
 of their cotemporaries concerning them, to be 
 worthy of confidence in other matters, and 
 there appears no good reason why we should 
 not give them credit, when they tell us that 
 they were employed and moved by the Holy 
 Spirit to write a book which has come down 
 to us through the hands of many generations, 
 and all along been regarded by many com- 
 petent judges as containing a revelation from 
 God. And if upon examining the evidence 
 of their mission, as we purpose doing in our 
 next two lectures, it appears to be clear and 
 unsuspicious, we shall certainly feel under 
 moral obligation to receive their communi- 
 cations, as the oracles of divine truth. 
 
 Of the nature of inspiration, we know no- 
 thing but what the scriptures teach us. Of the 
 mode, or process of operation, we know lite- 
 rally nothing, for we are taugh tnothing ; and, 
 in our present imperfect state we are, perhaps, 
 incapable of being taught anything more than 
 
LECTURE III. 81 
 
 the fact. This we can believe on testimony; 
 and the belief of it seems essential to the idea 
 of a perfect book, in which we may repose 
 entire confidence. Without such a guide, we 
 are out at sea, with neither pole-star nor com- 
 pass, and must be in doubt and jeopardy every 
 hour. " If," in the language of Dr. Knapp, 
 " the apostles did not enjoy that high divine 
 influence called inspiration, we might be 
 easily disturbed by the doubt, whether they 
 rightly understood, and taught this and the 
 other doctrine of the Christian religion; whe- 
 ther, for example, their faithful attachment 
 to Christ, their love to his person, and pro- 
 found reverence for his character, did not be- 
 tray them unintentionally and unconsciously 
 into mistaken and exaggerated views con- 
 cerning his person, his divinity, and his glory, 
 in his state of exaltation. It would be easy, 
 in this way, if no inspiration of the Bible were 
 admitted, to render doubtful the most impor- 
 tant doctrines of Christianity. This is what 
 has been done, especially in modern times, by 
 those who deny inspiration." Some things in 
 the scriptures, it is plain, could not have been 
 known, but by the direct teachings of the 
 omniscient God. The work of creation, for 
 8* 
 
82 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 instance, its order, and the time occupied in 
 that prodigious effect of creative power, could 
 not, possibly, be known to Moses or any other 
 writer, but by suggestion from the Creator 
 himself; for there were then no living, hu- 
 man witnesses to attest the fact: and all mo- 
 numents must have been swept away by the 
 universal deluge. Neither could future, and 
 far distant events — many of them quite be- 
 yond human calculation, and unlikely to occur 
 in the ordinary course of nature, have been 
 foretold, without the like divine teaching. 
 In the former case, our confidence in the nar- 
 rative rests entirely on the fact of the writer's 
 inspiration, &c.; so also, in the latter, except 
 in so far as the predictions have been fulfilled; 
 and, then, we infer the inspiration of the pro- 
 phets from the accomplishment of their an- 
 nouncements. So in regard to doctrines, be- 
 yond the reach of man's unaided powers of 
 discovery; such as redemption by the incar- 
 nate Son of God, a future state, and a final 
 judgment. In all these, and the like cases, 
 where the ordinary means of information fail, 
 the ideas, certainly, and the language, pro- 
 bably, must have been conveyed to the minds 
 of men by the suggestive inspiration of God. 
 
LECTURE III. 83 
 
 In regard to historical matters — facts and 
 events, which come under the cognizance of 
 our senses, but which may be misunderstood 
 by erring mortals, even when their intentions 
 are pure, the inspiration of superintendence 
 seems indispensable, in order to secure a sys- 
 tem of truth worthy of the faith and obedience 
 of mankind. In such a mass of various mat- 
 ters as the Bible contains, how could we ex- 
 pect to find truth unmixed with the faults 
 common to all human productions — just what 
 we need — enough — and none too much to 
 afford us the means of a right faith, and a 
 proper regulation of our conduct in all the 
 relations of life, without supposing the super- 
 vision and guidance of unerring wisdom and 
 infinite goodness? Indeed, the doctrine of 
 inspiration is so interlinked with all the ar- 
 guments and evidences in favour of divine 
 revelation — it is so inwrought into the entire 
 web of revealed religion, that if you erase 
 it, you will find the mutilated fabric that re- 
 mains, will not shield you from the harass- 
 ing doubts and tormenting fears, which must, 
 at times, disturb your peace and mar your 
 happiness, upon finding yourselves here, and 
 such as you are, without knowing, of a cer~ 
 
84 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 tainty, whence you came, and how you became 
 such creatures as you are — whither you are 
 tending, and what will become of you when 
 you go hence. Now in our sacred book we 
 find a religion that suits us; that lets us know 
 our origin; the reason of our sorrows, &c; 
 points out a way in which these sorrows may 
 be cured; a religion which certainly bears 
 some strong marks of truth; a religion which 
 spreads light across the valley of death, and 
 cheers us with a hope of life and glory be- 
 yond the precincts of time, through a media- 
 tor. The writers of this book claim for it 
 divine authority; they assure us they were 
 moved by the Holy One to pen this volume 
 for our use and guidance: and, finding them 
 competent and truth-telling witnesses in other 
 respects, we believe them in this; and there- 
 fore receive their writings as the inspired 
 word of God, till we see good reason to lay it 
 aside, or find something better to put in its 
 place. This is the sum and substance of all 
 that we know and profess, on the subject of 
 inspiration. Let us, next, attend to a few of 
 the difficulties which, at first blush, seem to 
 lie in the way of our reception of this book, 
 as a communication from God, for the govern- 
 
LECTURE m. 85 
 
 ment and salvation of our race. To some, 
 
 these difficulties have appeared insurmount- 
 able, and been regarded as furnishing good 
 reasons for turning away from the subject 
 altogether, or for waging war against its pre- 
 tensions, as futile and deceptive. 
 
 1. The first that usually meets the inquiring 
 mind, is its partial and limited bestowment. 
 The Almighty, they tell us, is no respecter 
 of persons; if, therefore, he meant to give to 
 his great family of mankind any instruction, 
 or means of moral and religious improvement, 
 beyond and above what he has given in the 
 light of reason and the book of nature, he 
 would have given it to all and every one; he 
 would have written it on the face of the sky, 
 using the stars, or some such brilliant lights, 
 for letters; so that all, not only might, but 
 must read his law and learn his grace. Now 
 there is a plausibleness in this supposition, 
 at first glance; but it is urged generally with 
 more confidence and positiveness than either 
 reason or observation will warrant. How is 
 it, candid objector, in your book of nature, 
 with which you profess to be so well satisfied? 
 Is there nothing there that looks like divine 
 sovereignty, on the part of the author ? Are 
 
86 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 the endowments of individuals and the allot- 
 ments of nations alike rich and advantageous? 
 All minds are not equally vigorous and ca- 
 pable; and, if they were so natively, they 
 are not favoured with equal means and op- 
 portunities of culture. Some are weak, in 
 various degrees, even down to idiocy. Some 
 are born geniuses; and the hand of cultiva- 
 tion is about them from their cradle, onward 
 and upward to the high places of science and 
 literature, of statesmanship and professional 
 distinction. Others of humble origin, are 
 picked up as a pearl from the mire, and che- 
 rished by charity, or are obliged to work 
 their own way into usefulness and comfort, 
 oy the sweat of their brow; yea, and in in- 
 stances not a few, at the cost of health and 
 life itself. 
 
 The allotments of tribes and nations are 
 also very different. Some have a balmy atmo- 
 sphere, and a fertile soil, with a profusion of 
 the finest fruits ; others occupy the frozen re- 
 gions, or the burning sands. Some enjoy the 
 conveniences of art, and the luxuries of re- 
 finement; others remain in a savage, or bar- 
 barous state from age to age. Some are 
 blessed with a well balanced and free govern- 
 ment; others writhe under the rod of des- 
 
LECTURE III. 87 
 
 potism, the slaves of tyrants. Some have 
 navies and armies, of force enough to keep 
 the world in awe; others, as the tribes of 
 Africa, are hunted down, captured, and sold 
 into perpetual bondage, like the beasts of the 
 forest. These inequalities we can bear with- 
 out charging God foolishly, with injustice or 
 partiality ; because he teaches us, in the book 
 which we regard as from him, that this world 
 is but the vestibule of the world to come, 
 where wisdom, and justice, and goodness will 
 shine forth in united splendour; and every 
 murmur against the King eternal will be 
 hushed, by a full conviction, in view of the 
 final result, to which he will conduct his dark 
 and mysterious dispensations, that all his way? 
 are right, and his judgments just. But how 
 will the mortal Deist dispose of these appear- 
 ances of partiality and injustice, which he 
 cannot but read in his bible of nature? Let 
 him think well, and ponder his path, lest he 
 find himself, when too late to retrace his steps, 
 pressing on the breaking margin of the deep, 
 dark gulf of hopeless Atheism. But the 
 objection is utterly unfounded, in our view, 
 as regards special divine revelation. We 
 hold that it teas given to ail mankind, in the 
 
88 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 progenitors of our race ; but that, being mu- 
 tilated and corrupted by human depravity, it 
 became necessary to renew and enlarge it, 
 and present it in a more permanent form. 
 Dim glimmerings of primitive revelation 
 reached the nations around, and far beyond 
 the limits of the Holy Land: else, how can 
 you account for the origin of animal sacri- 
 fices, so extensively and profusely offered in 
 pagan nations? "Was this a dictate of nature? 
 Could it have entered the mind of man, with- 
 out a divine suggestion, that the blood of 
 animals would be of any avail for the pardon 
 of sin? To us it seems very unlikely. In 
 our blessed book we are assured that no such 
 offerings can possess any inherent efficacy; 
 and here we learn the meaning and design of 
 these inferior sacrifices. They shadowed 
 forth, and held up to the view of mankind, in 
 impressive and significant symbol, the shed- 
 ding of that blood, without which there is no 
 remission. In every lamb that bled on Jew- 
 ish altars we see a type of the Lamb of God, 
 virtually slain from the foundation of the 
 world, whose blood cleanseth from all sin: 
 and some dim traditional knowledge of this 
 divine appointment must, we think, have 
 
LECTURE III. 89 
 
 given rise to the use of bloody sacrifices 
 among the gentile tribes. Again, we ask, 
 how can you account for the hebdomadal or 
 weekly division of time, so extensively ob- 
 served by several of the ancient nations, with- 
 out supposing them to have derived it from 
 the divine institution of the weekly sabbath, 
 immediately on the creation of the world? 
 What right have we, then, to object to divine 
 revelation that it has been but very partially 
 bestowed? The fact is, as we verily believe, 
 it has been given, and renewedly given, with 
 increasing light and evidence to mankind; 
 but it never has been, and never will be 
 forced upon them. Religion is a voluntary 
 thing, and man is a moral being. If a people 
 reject the Bible, it will leave them. There 
 were seven churches in Asia Minor of apos- 
 tolic planting; but they degenerated, and 
 heeded not the Lord's faithful counsels, and 
 the gospel left them, and the hand of desola- 
 tion has been upon that once beautiful land 
 ever since. And, now, the sacred scripture 
 is read in upwards of a hundred and seventy 
 living languages; so that it is difficult to find a 
 country, or any considerably peopled isle of 
 the sea, where Christianity has not lighted up 
 9 
 
90 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 the lamp of hope, and shed forth her peaceful, 
 holy influence. The partial and limited be- 
 stowment of the precious boon, ought not, 
 then, to be regarded as a formidable objection 
 to its cordial reception by those to whom it 
 is actually offered. But 
 
 2. The obscurity, the mystery, the great dif- 
 ficulty of understanding it, is alleged as ano- 
 ther objection to the Bible, and to its accept- 
 ance as a heaven-inspired volume. Now we 
 meet this with considerations very much re- 
 sembling those which have just been present- 
 ed in reference to the preceding objection. It 
 lies against the book of nature as forcibly as it 
 does against the Bible. There are many facts 
 in the former as well as in the latter which 
 we cannot comprehend, although we believe 
 and act upon them every day, and without 
 scruple. God manifests himself in his works, 
 and in his word, in such way as is best 
 adapted to call into exercise man's active 
 powers, and improve his moral character. 
 Nothing is made so plain as to supersede 
 thought, and some degree of investigation; 
 and we are so constituted, that a large pro- 
 portion of our happiness arises from exertion 
 and careful observation. The process of ve- 
 
LECTURE III. 91 
 
 getation, the harmonious movements of the 
 planetary system, the ebbing and flowing of 
 the ocean, and a thousand things in nature, 
 are mysteries to us. We see and enjoy their 
 beneficial effects; but the causes or innate na- 
 ture of these things we cannot fully compre- 
 hend: we, therefore, refer them to the un- 
 searchable wisdom, power, and goodness of 
 the Creator. But, in regard to the most im- 
 portant matters in revelation, they are easily 
 understood, and may be readily and reason- 
 ably believed on testimony. What difficulty 
 do you find, for instance, in getting at the 
 meaning of the ten commandments, — the ser- 
 mon on the mount, — the precept of doing as 
 you would be done by, — of doing justly, 
 loving mercy, and walking humbly before 
 God? Is there any thing very mysterious in 
 repentance, faith, and turning from our evil 
 ways? These are certainly practical duties. 
 And as to the great fundamental doctrines of 
 our religion, the incarnation, the atonement 
 and intercession of Christ, they are matters 
 of belief, not of comprehension. They do not 
 contradict reason, but transcend its grasp; 
 and their blissful effects are known only by 
 experience. Keep these precepts, and make 
 
92 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 yourselves experimentally acquainted with 
 these doctrines, and you can study the dark 
 and deep things of the Bible at your leisure. 
 If you should not get to the bottom of them 
 here, you will have more light, and more 
 time, and more mental vigour hereafter. 
 "What I do thou knowest not now; but thou 
 shalt know hereafter." 
 
 But you find some things written and en- 
 joined, of which you can see no use. Well, 
 bear in mind that the Bible is a book for the 
 world, in its successive ages and generations. 
 What you may not find very useful to you, 
 may have been, or may be, in future time, 
 very useful to others. Still, there are bad 
 things, and, often, a bad spirit manifested, by 
 persons who hold a conspicuous place in the 
 Bible. Be it so. But are these bad doings, 
 and this wrong spirit commended to you by 
 God for imitation? No, verily. They are 
 detailed, for truth's sake, and to show you 
 what human nature is. You should recollect, 
 also, what was stated in a preceding lecture, 
 that the subjects of inspiration were not al- 
 ways, or in their private character, under the 
 infallible guidance of the Holy Spirit; but 
 only when directly employed in making 
 
LECTURE III. 93 
 
 known the will of God. If David, and Peter, 
 and others, were left for a time to commit of- 
 fences, for which they were, afterwards, hum- 
 bled to the dust, it is a lesson to us and to 
 all men : " Let him that thinketk he standeth, 
 take heed lest he fall.' 7 But you will remind 
 us, perhaps, that 
 
 3. The Bibles are not all exactly alike, — 
 there are various readings, as they are called, 
 in the old manuscripts, from which the nume- 
 rous versions are made. It is true there are 
 various readings; Mill, Wetstein, Griesbach, 
 and others, have, by prodigious research, 
 found and collated some thousands; but, after 
 all, to what do they amount ? They are seized 
 with avidity by fault-finders; but really, and 
 according to some of the soundest critics and 
 best judges in such matters, that ever lived, 
 they do not affect a single doctrine, or falsify 
 any material fact in our sacred book. If they 
 were all given up, you would still have the 
 whole gospel, as well of the Old, as of the 
 New Testament. They relate, chiefly, to 
 grammar, the transposition of sentences and 
 the collocation of words. Our view of inspi- 
 ration is, that God so aided and guided the 
 writers, that we have a volume under his sig- 
 9* 
 
94 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 nature, and by means of his special providence, 
 comprising the facts, and doctrines, and insti- 
 tutions, which are able, by his blessing, to make 
 us wise unto salvation, through faith in Christ 
 Jesus, the only Mediator and Redeemer. 
 You say you reject modern pretenders to in- 
 spiration, and demand why you should not re- 
 ject the ancients of the same class? We an- 
 swer in few words, because our ancients came 
 with credentials, miracles, and prophecy, 
 which we purpose examining in our next two 
 lectures. 
 
LECTURE IV. 95 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 THE EVIDENCE OF MIRACLES. 
 
 As we progress in the general argument 
 for the truth and divine origin of our religion, 
 it is important to bear along with us, and 
 hold in remembrance the steps taken, or the 
 points proved. If this be neglected, the re- 
 sult, or conclusion, at which we shall arrive 
 in due time, will be less clear and convincing 
 than it would have been by due attention to 
 the progress of the reasoning. As in mathe- 
 matical science, what has been proved is not 
 expected to be proved over again; so it is in 
 regard to any given point in morals or reli- 
 gion. It is true that moral arguments are 
 not so closely connected, or so dependent on 
 one another, as are the successive steps in 
 the solution of a problem in mathematics; 
 less or more proofs may be sufficient and sa- 
 tisfactory in the one case; whereas in the 
 other, if a single link be broken or lost, the 
 whole chain is sundered, and the demonstra- 
 
96 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 tion fails. But jet, in moral reasoning, espe- 
 cially when the question to be settled is com- 
 plicated and attended with seeming difficul- 
 ties, the more arguments we can adduce tend- 
 ing to the same conclusion, the stronger it 
 will be, and the deeper will be our conviction 
 of its truth and soundness. Arguments may, 
 indeed, be multiplied beyond what is neces- 
 sary or useful; — some may be inappropriate 
 and of doubtful bearing, and therefore injure 
 a good cause. Our aim is to select a few of 
 the most obvious and indisputable, arranged, 
 according to our best judgment, so that their 
 applicability may be perceived and their 
 united impression be felt by the candid and in- 
 quiring mind: but the connection, — the links 
 in the chain of reasoning, must not be over- 
 looked or forgotten. We have aright to as- 
 sume now and proceed upon what has been 
 demonstrated; viz.: that the sacred Scriptures 
 were penned by the writers whose names 
 they bear, or to whom they have long been 
 ascribed; that they narrate facts and events as 
 tney really occurred, and are therefore en- 
 titled to the credit due to all authentic his- 
 tory; we have seen that some things in these 
 writings could not have been known to men, 
 
LECTURE IV. 97 
 
 but by divine teaching; such as the creation 
 of the world, when there were no human wit- 
 nesses, the radical doctrines of Christianity, 
 which transcend the line of reason, and far dis- 
 tant events, plainly, beyond the ken of mor- 
 tals; we have seen reason, also, to conclude 
 that, in regard to matters that might be 
 known, to some extent, without divine sug- 
 gestion, a book such as the Bible is,— so far- 
 reaching, so complex and various in its con- 
 tents, and so stupendous in its design, could 
 not have been composed by men without the 
 special supervision and guidance of unerring 
 wisdom. Accordingly, the writers profess to 
 have been inspired,— they come to us as am- 
 bassadors from the high court of heaven.— 
 they bring to us messages as from God, and 
 claim for them the faith and obedience of 
 mankind, as the infallible oracles of divine 
 truth. 
 
 In the preceding lecture, we endeavoured 
 to ascertain what they mean by inspiration; 
 and have found, that, from the nature of the 
 thing, and according to their own views of the 
 matter, it consisted in two degrees ; i. e. in 
 God's suggesting to them the ideas, and pro- 
 bably the words, in which to convey those 
 ideas to others, on subjects above human cor.- 
 
98 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 ception; and in his supervision and guidance 
 of them, in selecting and communicating to 
 the world such matters of history and expe- 
 rience, as he deemed fit and proper to be em- 
 bodied in his book of doctrine and precept, 
 for the instruction, and government, and sal- 
 vation of mankind. — We ask for their cre- 
 dentials, or the authenticated evidences of 
 their divine mission ; which are presented to 
 us in the form of miracles and prophecies. 
 These we now proceed to examine; and if 
 they appear to be fair and above reasonable 
 suspicion, we hold ourselves pledged and 
 bound to regard them as the ministers of God, 
 and will receive their communications, as of 
 the highest authority, and worthy of all ac- 
 ceptation. 
 
 The miracles will be the subject of our pre- 
 sent lecture, and the prophecies we shall con- 
 sider in our next. 
 
 Christ and his apostles, certainly, accord- 
 ing to all the accounts we have of them, and 
 we have accounts, as well from their enemies 
 as from themselves and their friends, did very 
 wonderful works. They did those works, too, 
 in attestation of their divine mission; and if 
 they were indeed miraculous performances, 
 
LECTURE IV. 99 
 
 we see not how we can reasonably refuse 
 to acknowledge their claims, and accept their 
 teachings as divine and authoritative. But 
 what is a miracle ? Not ever)'' extraordinary 
 performance or phenomenon, but something 
 out of the usual course of events. A danger- 
 ous disease may be removed by a surgical 
 operation, or by the use of medicine, and yet 
 have nothing miraculous in it. But if an in- 
 veterate ailment, as the leprosy, be cured in- 
 stantly by any one, just uttering the words, 
 u I will; be thou cleansed;' 7 this we would call 
 a miracle. It is an effect for which we can 
 assign no cause, other than the power of God. 
 Mr. Hume defines a miracle to be "a vio- 
 lation of the laws of nature." We object to 
 the definition, for two reasons : first, because 
 it conveys the idea of something wrong and 
 disorderly: secondly, because of the inference 
 deducible from it, against all miracles. No 
 creature, it is manifest, can disturb an estab- 
 lished law of nature. He may disregard it. 
 and. if he does he will suffer the penalty. 
 And the presumption is, that God would not 
 interfere for the violation of a law which 
 he had enacted; for if he did, it would imply 
 a change in him, and some defect in his 
 
100 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 enactments; therefore, a miracle is not, in any 
 instance, to be expected, and cannot be ren- 
 dered credible by any possible amount of evi- 
 dence. Now there is sophistry in this ; and 
 it has blinded and misled many honest in- 
 quirers. A better definition is, that a mira- 
 cle is a suspension of some law, or ordinary 
 operation of nature. But neither this, nor 
 any that we have met with, is entirely satis- 
 factory. The expression, "law of nature/ 7 
 as used in this connection, is obscure and de- 
 ceptive. What is a law of nature ? A law 
 binding rational and accountable creatures, 
 we can readily comprehend. But insensate 
 matter, cannot, as we conceive, be bound by 
 any law, either to remain inert, or to operate, 
 or to move in any given way, uniformly and 
 for ever, in the absence of that intelligent and 
 efficient agency, which first brought it into 
 being and has ever since used it, whether at 
 rest or in action, for certain great and bene- 
 ficent purposes, in reference to his rational 
 and sensitive creatures. It is the providence 
 of the Creator, touching, and controlling, and 
 directing all things and all events, that se- 
 cures that uniformity in nature's operations 
 or laws, as we are accustomed to call them; 
 
LECTURE IT. 101 
 
 which is so convenient and beneficial to the 
 world. The doctrine that the Creator, after 
 imposing on the material universe certain in- 
 describable laws, retired behind the curtain, 
 and shut himself up in his own uncreated pa- 
 vilion, is fraught with moral mischief. Its 
 direct tendency is to give license to vice, to 
 discourage virtue, and cover affliction with 
 the mantle of despair. If God sustains and 
 controls at pleasure, the ordinary operations 
 of secondary causes, then we have good rea- 
 son to rely upon him, — to look up to him in 
 prayer, and submit to his providential deci- 
 sions with filial confidence; and then may 
 a miracle occur, without the violation of any 
 law, upon a suitable occasion and for a great 
 and good purpose. Such occasion there 
 was in the days of Moses and the prophets; 
 and again, under the ministry of Christ and 
 his apostles. The obvious design in both 
 cases, was to attest and verify a revelation 
 for the temporal and eternal good of mankind. 
 It is as easy and self-consistent for God to 
 suspend as to maintain the usual course of 
 events. But says the philosopher just named, 
 "no evidence can render a miracle credible." 
 Then God can do what he cannot so authen- 
 10 
 
102 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 ticate, that his intelligent creatures can rea- 
 sonably believe it. This gross libel on God 
 and human nature, were we to undertake its 
 refutation, would throw us back upon the 
 credibility of the sacred Scriptures. But 
 we have disposed of that branch of our sub- 
 ject, and shall not resume it now. The 
 skeptic's notion would limit the Almighty, 
 and scandalize the intellectual constitution 
 which he has given to man. The fact is, we 
 are so constituted, and that, as might easily 
 be shown, for wise purposes, that we almost 
 instinctively rely on testimony, even before 
 we examine whether it bear the marks of 
 truth. Children believe every thing that is 
 told them, until they learn, by degrees, that 
 some things that are said, are not true and 
 not to be credited. And we all believe a 
 thousand things and some very extraordinary 
 facts too, on the testimony of others, as firmly 
 as we believe our own existence, or the ex- 
 istence of things that come in contact with 
 our senses every day. But says our skeptical 
 philosopher, "testimony is so often found by 
 experience to be fallacious, that we can place 
 little reliance on it; and a miracle is a thing 
 so utterly contrary to uniform experience, 
 
LECTURE IV. 103 
 
 that we cannot believe it on any amount of 
 testimony that can possibly be adduced in its 
 support.' 7 Indeed! Let us see. On this 
 principle, the people of Canton, or Ceylon, 
 can never be made to believe that we have 
 in this country, such a thing as ice on our 
 lakes and rivers, strong enough to bear men 
 and horses; for it is contrary to their uniform 
 experience in that warm climate. But the 
 forming of ice is not a miracle. Granted ; but 
 you see that experience is not uniform and 
 invariable in all parts of the world : it is not, 
 therefore, an infallible guide in reasoning 
 about matters of fact. I have never experi- 
 enced an earthquake; — my experience has 
 been all my life uniformly against its occur- 
 rence; and yet I believe that these terrific 
 convulsions of nature have taken place, as 
 much as I believe any thing else, seen or not 
 seen by me; and that, too, without demand- 
 ing any extraordinary degree or kind of tes- 
 timony in support of the fact. This sophism 
 about the comparative value of experience 
 and testimony, in regard to extraordinary past 
 events, may be shown to be self-destructive, 
 by carrying out its principles and looking at 
 their effects. Suppose, for instance, that the 
 
104 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 secret of compounding gunpowder had pe- 
 rished, by the death of its discoverer, imme- 
 diately after its extraordinary effects had been 
 exhibited before a hundred competent wit- 
 nesses': the fact of its amazing powers must 
 be rejected as a manifest falsehood; for, that a 
 small, black powder should possess such pow- 
 ers, contradicts the universal experience of 
 mankind. The depositions of the hundred 
 witnesses, being in opposition to uniform ex- 
 perience, go for nothing. Is it not more pro- 
 bable that the witnesses should be liars, than 
 that the experience of mankind should be 
 contravened? Therefore, the said small, 
 black powder, possesses no such powers as 
 the hundred false witnesses ascribed to it. 1 
 This would be a legitimate inference from 
 Mr. Hume's premises; but is it just and true f 
 But still, it is alleged, that whatever weight 
 the testimony of the witnesses of Bible mi- 
 racles miorht have had with those who lived 
 near the date of their occurrence, it can be 
 no fit ground of faith to us, who live in the 
 nineteenth century. But why not? Does 
 time gradually diminish and finally annilii- 
 
 1 Home's Introduction, &c. 
 
LECTURE IV. 105 
 
 late the value and credibility of testimony? 
 We have not so learned. However it may 
 be in regard to tradition, now that human 
 life is so much shorter than it was before 
 Noah's flood, the case is certainly different 
 with written testimony. We have the same 
 documents that the people of the first two or 
 three centuries had, together with the monu- 
 mental institutions and usages, which took 
 their rise at the time the miracles were 
 wrought. For the last four centuries these 
 writings have been in print and in many lan- 
 guages, as we had occasion to mention in a 
 preceding lecture. We have seen, more- 
 over, the progress and good effects of the re- 
 ligion taught in these documents: so that the 
 testimony would seem to us to be corroborated, 
 rather than weakened by time. We hear no 
 complaint of the diminution of evidence in 
 support of other ancient facts ! W^hy then 
 should we distrust the declarations of those 
 who witnessed the gospel facts? 
 
 But there would be no end to answering 
 objections. A miracle is possible with God. 
 It is his act, either directly, or through an 
 agent commissioned by him; and when he 
 thus suspends the ordinary course of his pro- 
 10* 
 
106 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 vidence, and controls the operation of subor- 
 dinate causes, we may rest assured, it is for 
 a great and good end, and that each case, of 
 such unusual procedure, will be strongly and 
 distinctively marked. Let us proceed then to 
 notice a few of the distinctive characteristics 
 of the miracles narrated in the Bible, and 
 which distinguish them from counterfeits ; for 
 miracles, like other good things, have been 
 counterfeited: and, 
 
 1. The object or design. This was mani- 
 festly two-fold : first, to vindicate the Creator's 
 claim to the exclusive homage and worship 
 of his intelligent creatures: secondly, to at- 
 test his special revelations to mankind, for 
 their instruction and salvation. Such was 
 the obvious intention of the miracles wrought 
 by the hands of Moses and the other prophets 
 of the former dispensation. They rebuked 
 idolatry, and taught men to look to Jehovah, 
 as their only Lord and Saviour. The aim of 
 the magicians of Egypt and the prophets of 
 Baal was to flatter the king and uphold their 
 craft. When they came in collision with the 
 Lord's ministers, they were foiled and con- 
 founded, — their enchantments were shown to 
 be tricks of jugglery, to wheedle and deceive 
 
LECTURE IV. 107 
 
 men : and thus the precept, " Thou shalt have 
 no other gods before me," and the invitation, 
 »' Look unto me and be ye saved, all ye ends of 
 the earth," were enforced by a display of the 
 supreme power and authority of the divine 
 Lawgiver and only Redeemer. 
 
 So of the miracles of Christ and his apostles. 
 The manifest design was, to maintain the 
 rights of the eternal God, in opposition to 
 the pretensions of false and powerless deities; 
 and proclaim the true and only way of salva- 
 tion, through a Mediator possessing all power 
 in heaven and earth. " Think not," says 
 Christ, "that I came to destroy the law; I 
 came not to destroy, but to fulfil it." The 
 first great commandment of the law is, " Love 
 the Lord thy God with all thy heart;" and 
 the second is like unto it — "Love thy neigh- 
 bour as thyself." " Behold the Lamb of God," 
 says the precursor of the Messiah, pointing 
 to Jesus, "which taketh away the sin of the 
 world; " — "His blood cleanseth from all sin" 
 — "Neither is there salvation in any other," 
 re-echo the apostles. " The works that I do," 
 says the Redeemer, "they bear witness of 
 me;" — "We know," says Nicodemus, "that 
 thou art a teacher come from God; for no 
 
108 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 man can do the miracles that thou doest, ex- 
 cept God be with him." When the Master 
 ascended to heaven and his servants went 
 forth preaching his gospel, he attended their 
 ministry by his Spirit, confirming the word 
 by signs or miracles. Thus we see the con- 
 nection between the word of Christ and his 
 miracles. The miracles confirmed the doc- 
 trine, demonstrating its divine origin. The 
 grand object of all Bible miracles was to pro- 
 mote the glory of God and the happiness of 
 man; the greatest, the most beneficent, the 
 most God-like design, that can be imagined: 
 — an object worthy of infinite goodness, and 
 in the circumstances of our fallen race, re- 
 quiring and justifying an interruption of the 
 ordinary course of nature. How else could 
 a revelation of truth and grace be made, so 
 as to command the faith, and rouse the at- 
 tention of a world slumbering in sin? 
 
 Now if you test the reported doings of Ap- 
 polonius, Vespasian and others, sometimes 
 adduced to disparage the gospel miracles, by 
 this mark of a genuine miracle, you will find 
 they shrink from a comparison, and dwindle 
 down to utter contempt. Their object is par- 
 tial, local, selfish, and altogether unworthy 
 of God, as their author and patron. 
 
LECTURE IV. 109 
 
 2. Another criterion of a genuine miracle 
 is, that it be instantaneous in its effects and 
 without the use of means, i. e., without the 
 use of means having any natural connection 
 with the effect produced. This character- 
 istic marks the miracles of Moses and of Je- 
 sus. The plagues of Egypt came upon the 
 oppressors suddenly. The waters of the 
 Red Sea opened instantly, before the ran- 
 somed tribes, upon the waving of the rod of 
 Moses, which he bore as the symbol of au- 
 thority, but which, certainly, had no natural 
 tendency to produce the effect. Jesus said, 
 "Lazarus, come forth;" and he came forth, 
 after being in the grave four days. To the 
 deceased son of the widow of Nain, he said, 
 "Young man, I say unto thee arise; and he 
 that was dead sat up and began to speak; and 
 he delivered him to his mother." Here are 
 plain indications of the divine presence and 
 power. Nature, or secondary causes, operate 
 gradually; but with God, a volition is in- 
 stantly obeyed. " He said, Let there be light ; 
 and light was." Bring fictitious miracles to 
 this test, and you will see a wide difference 
 between them and the miracles recorded in 
 the Bible. 
 
110 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 3. A third mark of a divine miracle, is. 
 publicity, and that it be of such a nature, that 
 a plain man of common sense can judge of 
 the fact. The degree of publicity may be 
 more or less, according to the circumstances 
 of each case; but a thing done in a corner is 
 always liable to suspicion. But if an oppor- 
 tunity be afforded for scrutiny, and if the 
 fact be palpable and obvious to men's senses, 
 the possibility of imposition, by addressing 
 the imagination, or operating on the nerves 
 of witnesses, seems to be precluded. Now 
 that the scripture miracles bear this mark of 
 genuineness, is undeniable. They were 
 wrought in the face of day, for the most part, 
 in the presence of great numbers of people, 
 and were open for the inspection of all, both 
 friends and foes. Take the turning of water 
 into wine, at the marriage in Cana. On that 
 occasion there was a lack of the customary 
 beverage ; which indicates that the number 
 of guests was greater than had been expected ; 
 and there is no reason to suppose' that all, or 
 any considerable proportion of the persons 
 present, were disciples of Christ, for it was 
 one of the first, if not the very first miracle 
 that he performed. Well, the waiters were 
 
LECTURE IV. Ill 
 
 directed to fill the water-pots, and they were 
 filled accordingly to the brim; the servants 
 were then ordered to draw out of the contents, 
 and bear it to the governor of the feast; and 
 it proved to be wine, and wine of an excel- 
 lent quality. The unlooked for supply be- 
 came a ^subject of remark; the change was 
 effected on the spot and instantly. The ser- 
 vants could testify that they filled the stone 
 pots full of water, and that when drawn out, 
 it was wine. The fact in this case was pal- 
 pable to the senses. The servants witnessed 
 all that was done; the master of ceremonies 
 tasted the liquor, — pronounced it good wine, 
 and called upon the bridegroom to know 
 whence it had come. Here was publicity, 
 and the thing done was of such a nature, that 
 it could hardly be mistaken by the spectators. 
 The like observations are applicable to the 
 feeding of thousands by the multiplication 
 of a few loaves and fishes; the raising of La- 
 zarus, and the young man of Nain; and the 
 cure of the man lame from his birth, at Jeru- 
 salem, by the apostles Peter and John. In 
 all these cases, and others that might be named, 
 there was no concealment, — no selecting of 
 ex parte witnesses, — every thing was done 
 
112 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 openly, in the presence of skeptics, as well as 
 believers, and the facts were of such a cha- 
 racter, that plain people could judge of them 
 as readily and as correctly as the most 
 learned. In some instances, it is true, that 
 Christ in the early part of his ministry, to 
 avoid public disturbance, by exciting the 
 jealousy of the authorities, enjoined it upon 
 those whom he cured to be quiet, — to return 
 to their families, resuming their ordinary 
 business, and let the effects, which were ob- 
 vious and permanent, proclaim the cause. In 
 some instances, as in the restoration to life 
 of the daughter of Jairus, and the healing of 
 the mother of Peter's wife, the circumstances 
 being cases of family affliction, were such as 
 did not admit at the time of the presence of 
 many and vario.us spectators; but the cures 
 were lasting, and could be inquired into by 
 any that chose. And inquiry was made, and 
 satisfaction obtained from the subjects of 
 miracles in several instances. The scribes 
 interrogated one of the men that was relieved 
 from blindness: " What did he unto thee that 
 thy sight is restored? 77 " Why, 77 said the man, 
 11 he made clay of spittle and anointed mine 
 eyes, and told me to go to the pool of Siloam 
 
LECTURE IV. 113 
 
 and wash; and I went and washed, and came 
 back, seeing." And certain Jews went to 
 Bethany, we are told, " not for Jesus' sake 
 only, but to see Lazarus, who had been raised 
 from the dead." Try the heathen prodigies 
 and other pious frauds of later times, by this 
 criterion — the openness and palpable character 
 of the gospel miracles, and you will see the 
 difference. We have not time to institute a 
 comparison. 
 
 4. Another characteristic of the miracles 
 of the Bible is, the complete and instant suc- 
 cess of every attempt. The miraculous works 
 of Christ and his apostles, to say nothing of 
 those of Moses and the prophets, were nume- 
 rous and various both in kind and locality, ex- 
 tending through a period, counting from the 
 beginning of Christ's ministry to the death of 
 the apostle John, of upwards of half a cen- 
 tury, and yet not a single instance of failure 
 is noticed and recorded by friend or foe. The 
 inability of the disciples to cast out a demon, 
 on a certain occasion, is no exception ; for the 
 Master did what they could not do, through 
 the weakness of their faith and the want of 
 a proper sense of dependence on God. Now 
 this is a remarkable, and a distinguishing 
 11 
 
114 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 fact. The Emperor Vespasian is not reported 
 to have attempted miraculous cures, except 
 in Alexandria, just after his elevation to the 
 imperial throne, and that, for the obvious 
 purpose of raising him, in the estimation of 
 the people. He laughed at the idea, when 
 it was suggested to him, and really did not 
 believe, with all his vanity, that he was en- 
 dued with such power. The courtiers coaxed 
 and flattered him to make the attempt. And 
 after all, as we learn from Tacitus, only two 
 cures were effected, that looked like mira- 
 cles! Two men, the one blind and the other 
 lame. The physicians on being consulted, 
 made report that, in the case of the blind man, 
 the organ of vision was not destroyed, — and 
 the limb of the other might be restored, if 
 the proper remedy could be discovered. Yet 
 these, Hume says, are as well authenticated 
 miracles as any on record. It is humbling 
 to observe how sadly a strong and cultivated 
 mind may be warped, and subjected, and 
 bigoted to a system of error. The tricks of 
 a heathen prince, extorted and proclaimed by 
 his flatterers, for no higher purpose than his 
 official glory, as well authenticated, and as 
 worthy of credit, as the miracles of the gos. 
 
LECTURE IV. 115 
 
 pel ! Who, that can measure the force of evi- 
 dence and is not given over to utter infatua- 
 tion, can believe it? 
 
 Again, it is well known and confessed, that 
 many of the miserable patients, that waited 
 at the tomb of the Abbe Paris, died, or went 
 awayuncured; and those recoveries that were 
 said to be effected, may be accounted for, on 
 other grounds than the intercession of the ca- 
 nonized saint. But what hapless victim of 
 disease, or of the devil, ever went away from 
 Christ complaining of disappointment or neg- 
 lect? No such case is reported; whence we 
 may conclude, that none occurred, for there 
 were enemies and opposers always and every 
 where, ready to seize upon and use any thing 
 and every thing plausible, to the disparage- 
 ment of the Redeemer and his cause. 
 
 5. There are monumental witnesses, and 
 religious observances still in use, to attest 
 the truth of some of the principal miracles 
 of Moses and Jesus Christ. Look at the 
 twelve stones, set up at Gilgal by order of 
 Joshua. What mean they, if not to perpetuate 
 the remembrance of the miraculous passage 
 of Jordan, under the auspices of Israel's God? 
 What could have been the origin of the Jew- 
 
 
116 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY". 
 
 ish Passover, but the miraculous exodus of 
 the ransomed tribes from the bondage of 
 Egypt? And the feast of weeks, called the 
 feast of Pentecost — what does it mean, but 
 to keep up the remembrance of the giving of 
 the law at Mount Sinai, being fifty days after 
 the exodus ? The change of the weekly Sab- 
 bath, from the seventh to the first day of the 
 week — what does this mean, and why was 
 the change made, if not to celebrate the 
 greatest of all miracles, — the resurrection of 
 Christ, who is Lord of the Sabbath? And here 
 are our two great and 'peculiarly Christian 
 ordinances, — baptism and the lord's supper. 
 We mean baptism, in the name of the Holy 
 Trinity ; and the Sacramental Supper, pursu- 
 ant to Christ's appointment, for the purpose 
 of showing forth his death for the redemp- 
 tion of his people. These may be regarded 
 as monuments of all the extraordinary facts 
 connected with the rise and progress of the 
 Christian religion. The existence and ob- 
 servance of these institutions cannot be ac- 
 counted for, but by admitting the truthful- 
 ness of the gospel history, which includes the 
 miracles. The former, in its present form, 
 undoubtedly, originated in the commission 
 
LECTURE IV. 117 
 
 which Christ gave the apostles, after his re- 
 srrrection: — "Go teach all nations, baptizing 
 them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost," &c. We say, in its 
 present and Christian form ; for there were 
 various ceremonial ablutions in use before 
 the Christian era; but they were not Christian 
 baptism. E ven John's baptism was not, strictly 
 speaking, Christian ; as is plain from the fact 
 that Christ himself received it, not as a sign 
 of regeneration and the remission of sin, for 
 he was not a subject of either: but in the ful- 
 filment of all righteousness, i.e. in compliance 
 with divine rites, then obligatory and in con- 
 formity to ancient usage, of divine authority, 
 in entering publicly, upon the office of prophet, 
 priest and king of his church. Baptism, as 
 now used, recognizes the supremacy of Christ, 
 together and equally with that of the Father 
 and the Spirit; and, as it originated in his 
 command to the apostles, after he rose from 
 the dead, according to his prediction, its ad- 
 ministration indirectly commemorates his re- 
 surrection, that miracle of miracles, if we 
 may so speak, and complete demonstration of 
 the validity of his pretensions, as God's Mes- 
 siah and man's Redeemer. The other mo- 
 ll* 
 
118 EVIDENCES OP CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 numental institution, viz., the Eucharist, 
 more properly styled, the Lord's Supper, as 
 its object is to honour him, and keep his peo- 
 ple in mind of his redeeming love, could not 
 have originated but in the truth of the mira- 
 cles. He would not have appointed, and that 
 on the eve of his death, an ordinance which, if 
 it should be observed at all, must, in the event 
 of his not rising from the dead, commemorate 
 his shame. He must have known with divine 
 certainty, that he would rise and be held in 
 everlasting and most grateful remembrance. 
 Nor would the disciples, unless we suppose 
 them to have been idiotic fanatics, observe 
 and keep up an institution to perpetuate the 
 remembrance of their own disappointment, 
 as it must have done, if their Master had not 
 risen as he said he would. So that the ordi- 
 nance must have originated in the truth of 
 the main fact and chief miracle of the gospel, 
 and does commemorate the most precious doc- 
 trine of Christianity, viz., that " we have re- 
 demption through the blood of Christ." 
 
 6. One more consideration, and we shall 
 sum up and conclude this lecture. Christ 
 in his incarnation and sufferings was, him- 
 self, a subject as well as a worker of miracles. 
 
LECTURE IV. 119 
 
 He was conceived in a miraculous way, that 
 his human nature might be immaculate; he 
 was preserved in infancy, miraculously, by 
 the interference of an angel, from the mur- 
 derous designs of Herod. Three times, during 
 his ministry, he was proclaimed, by a voice 
 from heaven, to be God's beloved Son; and, 
 at his death, nature departing for a time 
 from her usual course, gave impressive signs 
 of homage for her Lord. The earthquake, 
 the rending rocks, the supernatural darkness, 
 the sundered veil and the opening graves, 
 bore unequivocal witness to his infinite love 
 and matchless glory. Observe, also, that 
 our blessed Lord was the subject of specific 
 prophecy, which is a species of standing mi- 
 racle, and will come more particularly under 
 consideration in the next lecture. But we 
 cannot forbear saying here, that Isaiah has 
 pointed out the very miracles performed by 
 Christ, that were to designate the Messiah, 
 and commend him to the faith of the world. 
 "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, 
 and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped; 
 then shall the lame man leap as an hart, 
 and the tongue of the dumb sing." What 
 a cloud of witnesses! what an accumulation 
 
120 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 of evidence ! what a converging of the rajs 
 of light to the central glory of God's moral 
 system ! Who would not join the convicted 
 Centurion in his honest confession, "Truly 
 this is the Son of God ! " You see the close 
 and intimate connection between the reality 
 of the miracles, and the truth of the Bible. 
 Let us now sum up the argument, on this 
 topic, and conclude. Spinoza, one of the 
 shrewdest of unbelievers, is reported to have 
 said : — " If I could believe one of the mira- 
 cles of Christ, I would abandon my theory 
 and become a Christian." And why could 
 he not believe ? Was it for the want of evi- 
 dence? How can it be? Miracles are acts 
 of the God of nature, suspending her regu- 
 lar operations for the best of purposes, the 
 glory of the Creator and the good of man. 
 Our miracles were wrought expressly to at- 
 test our religion; to demonstrate its divine 
 origin and just claim to human credence. 
 Their credibility, as matters of fact, rests on 
 the common basis of all history, the succes- 
 sive testimony of living witnesses, corrobo- 
 rated by monuments and observances coeval 
 with the facts which they commemorate. 
 These miracles were wrought publicly in va- 
 
LECTUKE IV. 121 
 
 rious places, on a variety of subjects, and 
 during a long period of time, and without 
 failure in a single instance ; the effects fol- 
 lowed the acts instantly, and in the absence 
 of natural means ; they were of a kind that 
 could be easily judged of by plain observers, 
 and the results were beneficent and enduring; 
 they gave rise to monuments and religious 
 observances which are still to be seen. The 
 great efficient worker of these miracles was, 
 himself, a subject of miracles and prophecy. 
 Nature obeyed his word, and yielded homage 
 to her living Lord; and, when, as Mediator, 
 he died, "the just for the unjust/' she veiled 
 her face, and bowed her head at the cross 
 with reverential awe. What more is want- 
 ing? What more, from the nature of the 
 case, could have been given in the way of 
 proof? Here are signs from earth, and signs 
 from heaven; and even the spirits of dark- 
 ness render their reluctant witness, "crying 
 out and confessing, ' Thou art Christ, the Son 
 of God;' and he, rebuking them, suffered 
 them not to speak; for they knew that he 
 was the Christ." Miracles, thus avouched, 
 have a strong claim to our unwavering faith 
 in Christ and his gospel; for they demon- 
 
122 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 strate the validity of his pretensions. Why, 
 if we reject the gospel, we will have to en- 
 counter miracles of another sort, quite as 
 hard to believe, and as contrary to our ex- 
 perience as any recorded in the sacred vo- 
 lume. " Seeing, then, that we are compassed 
 about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let 
 us lay aside every weight, and the sin that 
 doth so easily beset us; and let us run, with 
 patience, the race that is set before us, look- 
 ing unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our 
 faith: 1 
 
LECTURE V. 123 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 EVIDENCE OF PROPHECY. 
 
 It was said in our last lecture, fliat miracles 
 and prophecy constitute the credentials of the 
 inspired penmen, i. e., the evidence of their 
 mission from God, with his messages of truth 
 and grace to mankind. The miracles we 
 have examined, and have found that they 
 were deviations from the ordinary course of 
 events, or suspensions of the laws of nature, 
 by divine power, to attest and authenticate 
 the doctrines of the Bible, taught, as well by 
 Moses and the prophets, as by Christ and his 
 apostles. The other part of these credentials, 
 viz., prophecy, which is a kind of standing 
 miracle, we will now proceed to consider, 
 very briefly: for it is far from our purpose to 
 give a dissertation on prophecy, or to under- 
 take the solution of all the questions that 
 have been raised on the subject. Our sole 
 object here, is to bring out the argument de- 
 
124 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 ducible from this branch of the evidences, 
 for the truth and authority of our religion, 
 and present it in a dense, but intelligible 
 form, so that its force may be perceived and 
 felt. Let us, then, endeavour, first, to ascer- 
 tain what genuine prophecy is, and how it is 
 distinguished from heathen oracles and other 
 false pretensions. Secondly, the scope, or ge- 
 neral scheme of scripture prophecy. Thirdly, 
 notice some specimens of its actual fulfilment. 
 And, fourthly, its bearing on the truth of 
 Christianity. And, 
 
 I. The nature of genuine prophecy: It is 
 the predicting or foretelling of such future 
 events as can be known only to the omniscient 
 God. Man's knowledge is limited to the past 
 and the present. The knowledge of past 
 events he derives from testimony; and that of 
 the present he gathers from observation and 
 experience. Of the future, he knows nothing. 
 We know not what a day will bring forth : 
 except what we expect from the regular 
 course of nature, or the action of certain 
 physical or moral causes, of which we have 
 had some experience in time past. Thus we 
 count upon the sun's rising in the morning; 
 and the return of spring at the usual period 
 
LECTURE Y. 125 
 
 of the year; upon the ebbing and flowing of 
 the tides; and the matured fruits of the earth, 
 in due season. Thus the astronomer can 
 foretell eclipses and other celestial phenome- 
 na, by certain calculations based on the gene- 
 ral uniformity of the rules by which the 
 Creator governs and sustains, in order, the 
 planetary system. But this is not positive 
 knowledge. It is only rational expectation, 
 which, possibly, may not be realized. Xo law 
 of nature has inherent power to operate uni- 
 formly, independent of that infinite intelli- 
 gence which gave it its first impulse, and 
 whose abiding influence sustains it in action. 
 So the poverty of an idler— the ruin of a 
 drunkard— the ill effects of bad policy in 
 church or state may be foretold, hypotheti- 
 cally, with moral certainty or strong proba- 
 bility; but a reformation, or a change of 
 measures, may prevent the predicted results. 
 The utmost that we can arrive at, in regard 
 to future events, is moral probability, or rea- 
 sonable expectation. To know with absolute 
 and infallible certainty, what a day or an 
 hour will bring forth, is one of the preroga- 
 tives of Him, who sees the end from the be- 
 ginning; and with whom a thousand years 
 12 
 
126 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 are as one day, and one day as a thousand 
 years. The prediction of future events, 
 therefore, especially if they be remote and 
 unlikely, in human view, to take place, which 
 are subsequently fulfilled, is prophecy; and is 
 fairly attributable to God, whether the an- 
 nouncement be by him immediately or indi- 
 rectly, through a chosen and commissioned 
 minister. And whoever utters a prediction, 
 so fulfilled, in the name of the Lord, and pro- 
 fessedly in confirmation of the doctrine which 
 he teaches, is entitled to be received as a 
 teacher from God, and his teachings are to 
 be regarded as divine and authoritative. To 
 God belongs the power of prophecy ; and he 
 would not delegate that power to any one, 
 for the establishment and propagation of 
 falsehood. The force of the argument, it 
 should be observed, lies in the fulfilment of 
 the prediction. The mere utterance may be 
 nothing more than guessing: and the apparent 
 accomplishment, in one, or a few instances, 
 out of many predictions, may be accidental ; 
 but, if the prophecies be numerous, and va- 
 rious, as to the subjects, the time, and place, 
 and means of fulfilment; and particularly if 
 there be some great object, or personage to- 
 
LECTURE Y. 127 
 
 wards which they all converge, as rays of 
 light to a focus; and if the terms in which the 
 predictions are conveyed, be definite and un- 
 equivocal, and yet the accomplishment take 
 place, according to the main features of the 
 description, the evidence of the inspiration 
 of the prophet becomes strong and impressive. 
 These characteristics are all found in the 
 scripture prophecies, and distinguish them 
 from the pagan oracles and all other dishonest 
 pretensioDS. The time would fail us to go 
 into the comparison, except to adduce one or 
 two well known instances of oracular answers, 
 so artfully worded, as to maintain the honour 
 of the god, in any event. Croesus, meditating 
 war upon the Persians, consulted the oracle 
 at Delphi, the most celebrated in the heathen 
 world, and received for answer, that, if he 
 engaged in the contemplated war, " he would 
 destroy a great empire." This he inter- 
 preted, very naturally, in his own favour. 
 But the response was capable of another 
 meaning. The doomed empire might either 
 be his own or that of Persia. He made the 
 attack, but was defeated, and ruined his own 
 kingdom; and yet the oracle continued in 
 credit. Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, long after- 
 
128 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 wards, inquired of the same oracle, to know 
 the issue of a war upon the Romans, and re- 
 ceived an answer in the Latin language, in 
 these words: — 
 
 "Aio te JEacida, Romanos vincere posse. 
 'Ibis, redibis, nunquam in bello peribis.' 7; 
 Equally capable, as every Latin scholar 
 knows, of two directly opposite meanings. 
 It maybe translated into English, — "I say 
 that thou, son of iEacus, canst conquer the 
 Romans; thou shalt go, thou shalt return, 
 never shalt thou perish in war ; M or thus : — " I 
 say that the Romans can conquer thee, son of 
 JEacus; thou shalt go, thou shalt never re- 
 turn, thou shalt perish in war." Pyrrhus, on 
 the faith of this equivocal answer, interpre- 
 ting it, of course, according to his own wishes, 
 rushed to the onset, and was beaten; and 
 yet the oracle saved its character by the art- 
 ful structure of its response. Shame on the 
 skeptic, who, for sake of disparagement, 
 would bring such juggling into competition 
 with the plain and intelligible announce- 
 ments of the Lord's prophets ! 
 
 We have said that prophecy is a kind of 
 standing miracle, and forms a part of the 
 credentials of God's ambassadors. Its de- 
 
LECTURE V. 129 
 
 sign is the same as that of miraculous works, 
 to attest the truth and authority of divine 
 revelation. It is a miracle of knowledge, as 
 supernatural works are miracles of power. 
 They both bespeak the respect and confi- 
 dence of mankind, for the ministerial acts, 
 and official character of Christ and his pro- 
 phets and apostles. Divine works make their 
 appeal directly to men's senses, and are 
 adapted to produce instant and yivid convic- 
 tion of the truth of the messages which they 
 ratify. Prophecy is equally convincing, but 
 the conviction comes more slowly, is more 
 calm, gentle, and permanent. The miracu- 
 lous act was as satisfactory as any thing that 
 can be imagined, to those who witnessed it, 
 or who lived near the date of its perfor- 
 mance; but, to remote generations, it neces- 
 sarily loses something of its vividness, though 
 its rational strength remains for ever. Pro- 
 phecy, on the other hand, waits for the ful- 
 filment, wherein lies its power of conviction; 
 and, as this (the fulfilment) takes place be- 
 fore the eyes of mankind, the evidence gains 
 strength in the lapse of ages, until, in its full 
 maturity, it must be overwhelming. The 
 prediction is on imperishable record; and, 
 12* 
 
130 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 when the development of the prophetic 
 scheme comes before the world, a thousand 
 disinterested pens register the fact, so that 
 he who runs may read God's testimony to his 
 own revelations. This peculiarity in the 
 prophetic evidence for the truth of our re- 
 ligion must not be lightly passed over, by 
 those who would know the strong ground of 
 the Christian's faith. It is an argument of 
 amazing, we had almost said, irresistible 
 force. It has been gaining strength for ages, 
 and it will not probably attain its full matu- 
 rity till the end of time. The prophecies 
 are numerous; some have been fulfilled; 
 others are, now, in a course of fulfilment; 
 for, as Lord Bacon remarks, " Some prophe- 
 cies are not fulfilled suddenly and at once, 
 but have a springing and germinant accom- 
 plishment, throughout many ages, though the 
 height and fulness of them belong to some 
 one age." Every step in the process adds 
 fresh vigour to the argument, so that we have, 
 in this respect, the advantage of the apostles 
 themselves. We hear a voice, which they 
 heard not — a voice from the desolations of 
 Babylon, Nineveh and Tyre — from Egypt 
 and the Holy Land — from the ruins of Jeru- 
 
LECTURE V. 131 
 
 salem and its once glorious temple — from 
 the mournful relics of the seven churches, — 
 from the sad story of Israel's dispersion, and 
 the broken fragments of the enormous em- 
 pire of Rome, proclaiming, in thrilling tones: 
 — It is done ; the Lord's word, by the mouth 
 of his servants, is fulfilled; we are monu- 
 ments of the truth of prophecy; let all the 
 earth look upon us and fear God: oh, had 
 we known, in the day of our visitation, the 
 things that belonged to our peace ! but now 
 they are hidden from our eyes! Many pro- 
 phets and wise men, of ancient days, desired 
 to see the things which we see, but saw them 
 not. Their light was as that of the early 
 dawn; ours, that of the risen sun, advancing 
 to his meridian. We have marked the pro- 
 gress of the Apocalyptic angel, with the ever- 
 lasting gospel to preach to them that dwell 
 on the earth. He has been round the globe, 
 and has lit up the lamp of hope in India and 
 China, in Africa and the Pacific isles. Who 
 can resist such a flood of light as holy Pro- 
 vidence is pouring down upon the prophetic 
 page ? But, 
 
 2. We pass on, to consider the general 
 scope and scheme of prophecy. This is most 
 
132 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 comprehensive, including the strongest fea- 
 tures and most interesting events in the his- 
 tory of the world, and the magnificent scheme 
 contemplates the ultimate subserviency of all 
 the prominent occurrences, the rise and fall 
 of empires, the revolutions of states, and the 
 progress of art, science and literature, to the 
 glory of God and the redemption of man- 
 kind by Jesus Christ. How wide the range, 
 — how stupendous the plan! Where shall 
 we begin, and where end, in attempting to 
 sketch its outline? No sooner had man 
 sinned, and incurred the penalty of a broken 
 covenant, than the Spirit of prophecy let 
 down upon his dark path a ray of hope, in 
 the first prophetic promise respecting "the 
 seed of the woman." This cheering an- 
 nouncement illustrated and enforced, as it 
 was, by various typical rites and offerings, 
 sustained the faith of the antediluvian church. 
 And, when the enormity of men's wicked- 
 ness made it necessary, in the judgment of 
 the only wise God, to arrest rebellion against 
 his rightful authority, and cleanse his foot- 
 stool by the waters of a deluge, his fearful 
 purpose was announced, and the wicked 
 were warned of coming retribution, a hun- 
 
LECTURE Y. 133 
 
 dred and twenty years before the dread ca- 
 tastrophe came upon them, so that truth and 
 justice, forbearance and mercy might be seen 
 together, in the completion of the awful pre- 
 diction, that it might be known and remem- 
 bered, in all future time, that God will keep 
 his word, whether it be a word of threaten- 
 ing or of promise. When the deluge had 
 subsided, and the bow in the cloud guarantied 
 security from a similar calamity, Noah, the 
 father of the new world, predicted the for- 
 tunes of his three sons and their descendants, 
 with a precision which nothing short of di- 
 vine omniscience could have dictated, as is 
 clearly demonstrated in the subsequent his- 
 tory of the three families that repeopled 
 the world. Shem is blessed and honoured, 
 as the progenitor of Christ, according to the 
 flesh; Japhet is enlarged, and dwells in the 
 tents ofShem, by the admission of the Gentiles 
 into the visible church; and Ham has been, 
 for ages, the servant of both, in the subjuga- 
 tion and expulsion of the Canaanites, and the 
 bondage of the Africans. Abraham, in due 
 time, was called, not as a favourite, but as a 
 depositary of truth, for the benefit of the 
 world; and to him was made the prophetic 
 
134 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 promise of Canaan, as the earthly inheri- 
 tance of his natural posterity, and the type 
 of a better home; and the seed, the peculiar 
 seed was announced, in whom all the families 
 of the earth should be blessed. Then, Jacob, 
 the father of the twelve tribes, on his death- 
 bed, described their characters and desti- 
 nies, and the continuance of a lawgiver in 
 Judah, till the coming of Shiloh, with a pro- 
 phetic clearness, that indicated the presence 
 and prescience of the Holy Spirit. After a 
 lapse of years, to use the language of Bishop 
 Wilson of Calcutta, "Prophecy rekindled 
 her torch, and pointed to the prophet 'like 
 unto Moses/ while Job and Balaam, about 
 the same time, came forward to testify of the 
 future Redeemer, and 'the star that should 
 arise out of Jacob. 7 After Moses, some four 
 hundred years, Samuel arose amidst the de- 
 cay of religion and the extreme corruption 
 of the priesthood, the first of a new series of 
 divine messengers. The age of prophecy, 
 emphatically so termed, now began. David 
 came first, and tuned his harp. Jonah fol- 
 lowed, then Hosea, Amos, and Micah, who 
 led on the choir of the greater prophets, 
 Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. The last 
 
LECTURE V. 135 
 
 named of these accompanied the Jewish peo- 
 ple to Babylon, where Daniel arose and 
 spake of the seventy weeks, reaching unto 
 Messiah the Prince. Haggai and Zechariah 
 roused the languid nation, on their return, 
 and Malachi announced the herald of the 
 Saviour." 
 
 About four hundred years after Malachi, 
 appeared Christ, the Lord, the desire of na- 
 tions, and the grand object of the sublimest 
 prophetic visions, and most significant types 
 of the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations. 
 And he, to whom all the preceding prophets 
 had borne witness, announced the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem and its temple, the disso- 
 lution of the Jewish polity, and the intro- 
 duction of that consummate economy of light 
 and love, which bears his honoured name, 
 and is adapted to all climes and countries. 
 And, finally, to close the long succession of 
 inspired seers, and complete the sacred 
 canon, he commissioned his beloved disciple 
 and apostle, John, when exiled in Patmos, to 
 receive and record the last of the prophetic 
 visions of the Almighty, bearing on the pro- 
 gress and conflicts, and ultimate triumph of 
 the kingdom of grace, in all future time. 
 
136 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 What a stupendous scheme! How holy, how 
 wise, how beneficent! Could it have origi- 
 nated in the mind of man? Such grandeur 
 of purpose, such union and harmony, with 
 such various instrumentalities, continued in 
 action through so long a period, is surely 
 above and beyond the range of mortal con- 
 ception. " It is the Lord's doing, and it is 
 marvellous." "Let all the earth fear before 
 him!" 
 
 3. We proceed, thirdly, to notice some 
 specimens of the fulfilment of prophecy. 
 The scripture prophecies may be arranged in 
 four classes, viz. : — Those that relate particu- 
 larly to the Jewish nation ; — those that relate 
 to the surrounding kingdoms; — those that 
 directly announce the Messiah and portray 
 his character and work ; — and those that were 
 uttered by Christ and his apostles. We can- 
 not, for want of time, do more than offer a 
 single specimen from each class. First, of 
 the Jewish nation, it was foretold by Moses, 
 their own lawgiver, Deut. xxviii. — That they 
 should, for their sins, be removed into other 
 nations, " that they should be scattered among 
 all people, from one end of the earth even 
 unto the other — find no ease or rest — be op- 
 
LECTURE V. 137 
 
 pressed and crushed always — be left few in 
 number among the heathen — pine away in 
 their iniquity, in their enemies' land, and be- 
 come an astonishment, a proverb and a by- 
 word, unto all nations." These predictions 
 were exactly fulfilled in their subjugation, 
 first, to the Chaldeans, and then to the Ro- 
 mans; and, in later times, wherever they so- 
 journ among the nations; for they have no 
 settled home. No man, who reads at all, 
 doubts, or can doubt, the literal accomplish- 
 ment of this terrible threatening. The peo- 
 ple themselves acknowledge it; the present 
 generation feel it, and have not yet reached 
 the "height and fulness of it." They are 
 living and mournful witnesses of its fearful 
 truth. And that it was pronounced some 
 three thousand years ago, is just as certain 
 as any other past event can be made to us, 
 by testimony human or divine. 
 
 2. As a sample of the prophecies of the 
 second class, take what is foretold of Baby- 
 lon, so well known in ancient history, and so 
 often visited and described as it, or rather 
 its site now is, for, as it once was, it is now 
 no more. It was, in early times, an exceed- 
 ingly great city, with walls and gates, and 
 13 
 
138 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 towers, and hanging gardens, and other 
 works of art, and proofs of wealth almost 
 incredible. But its inhabitants were idola- 
 trous and incorrigible in their evil ways, and 
 a holy God doomed it to desolation. For the 
 burden of Heaven's decision concerning it, 
 see Isaiah xiii., xiv. and xliv., and Jeremiah 1. 
 and li., and several places of other prophets. 
 It was to be attacked by the Medes and Per- 
 sians; the river Euphrates, which passed 
 through it, and was one of its chief luxuries, 
 was to be dried up; the city was to be taken 
 by surprise, and during a feast, when her 
 guardians were indulging in their revels. All 
 this was exactly accomplished under Cyrus, 
 who, as Herodotus and others inform us, 
 changed the course of the river, by digging 
 a new channel for it, and introducing his 
 army by the old one. In consequence of this 
 diversion of the stream from its natural course, 
 pools of water were to be seen amidst the 
 magnificent ruins of the city, and the sur- 
 rounding country became marshy and unfit 
 for human habitation. Now the correspon- 
 dence of the event with the prediction, in so 
 many particulars, could not have happened 
 by chance; and should any one suggest that 
 
LECTURE V. 139 
 
 the prediction might have been written after 
 the event, and artfully fitted to it, we would 
 ask him, what impostor would have ventured 
 upon the following description of perpetual 
 desolation, verified by credible modern tra- 
 vellers? " Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, 
 shall be as Sodom and Gomorrah; it shall 
 never be inhabited from generation to gene- 
 ration; but wild beasts of the forest shall lie 
 there, and their houses shall be full of dole- 
 ful creatures: the owls shall dwell there, and 
 dragons in their pleasant places." This is by 
 far, too minute and unlikely, in human view, 
 to be realized, for the conception of a fraudu- 
 lent adventurer. But it was all foreseen by 
 divine omniscience, announced by inspira- 
 tion, and is attested by many witnesses, to be 
 the literal truth at the present day. 
 
 3. Of the prophecies that announce the 
 Messiah, and describe his character and of- 
 fice, we may remark, in passing, that they 
 are numerous, and, some of them, very mi- 
 nute and peculiar; so that they cannot be ap- 
 plied, without violence, to any personage 
 known in the history of the world, except 
 Jesus of Nazareth. All the prophets refer 
 to him, directly or indirectly: "To him," it 
 
140 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 is expressly declared, "they all give witness." 
 "Beginning at Moses and all the prophets/' 
 we are told by an evangelist, " he expounded 
 to his" disciples the things concerning him- 
 self." Indeed, the Messiah was the great ob- 
 ject of interest and expectation through the 
 whole of the Old Testament. We find his 
 miraculous conception, the place and time of 
 his birth, the tribe and family from which he 
 was to descend, his meekness and patience, 
 his manner of teaching, his acts of benefi- 
 cence, his death and burial, his resurrection, 
 and the progress of his kingdom, delineated, 
 with a graphic exactness, which makes it 
 easy to identify him in the person of our Sa- 
 viour, and impossible, as we honestly believe, 
 to find the original in any other. 
 
 But, as a specimen for more particular re- 
 mark, take the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. 
 We prefer this, because it is more compre- 
 hensive and obvious in its application than 
 most others. It is so appropriate and pecu- 
 liar, that it looks like history. Indeed, it is 
 given, partly, in the past tense! "He hath 
 •borne our griefs," &c. : of which circumstance, 
 the skeptic has availed himself, to sustain 
 the bold allegation, that it was written after 
 
LECTURE Y. 141 
 
 the death of Christ, and applied to him, as 
 prophecy, by way of pious, well-meant fraud. 
 Surely, the man must feel himself in pressing 
 want of arguments, who would seize upon 
 such a flimsy fetch as this. The fact is, that 
 the prophecy was penned seven hundred 
 years before Christ was born, and, with the 
 other prophecies, was, from that time forth, 
 in the keeping of the Jews; and is to be 
 found in the Greek translation of the Bible, 
 called the Septuagint, made some three hun- 
 dred years before the birth of Christ. We 
 account for the use of the present and past 
 tenses here, and in some other instances, on 
 the ground of the vividness and distinctness 
 of the prophet's views. So intimate was his 
 communion with the God of prophecy, and 
 so clear was his vision of the coming Saviour, 
 that that which was to be seemed to have al- 
 ready taken place. And so it had, virtually, 
 and in the divine purpose. The Lamb of 
 God is said to have been slain from the foun- 
 dation of the world. The efficacy of his sac- 
 rifice looks backward as well as forward, from 
 eternity to eternity, and round the entire 
 globe; for "he is the propitiation for our 
 sins, and, not for ours only, but for the sins 
 13* 
 
142 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 of the whole world." Bat let us look at this 
 remarkable prophecy for a few moments. It 
 depicts a personage, at first, of humble as- 
 pect, without comeliness, or any thing to at- 
 tract respectful regard, — despised and re- 
 jected of men, — all faces were averted from 
 him, — a man of sorrows, and familiar with 
 grief. Yet he surely bore our griefs and 
 carried our sorrows, — was wounded for our 
 transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities, 
 — the chastisement of our peace was upon 
 him, and by his stripes we are healed. We 
 all, like sheep, have gone astray, and the 
 Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 
 Yet, under this fearful load of imputed guilt, 
 he is meek and uncomplaining; is brought as 
 a lamb to the slaughter, and, as a sheep be- 
 fore her shearers is dumb, so he opened not 
 his mouth. He was taken from prison and 
 from judgment; and who shall declare his 
 generation? that is, as we understand the 
 passage, He was taken into custody, and 
 hurried to execution unjustly, and without 
 process of law; and, although his generation, 
 that is, the beginning of his days, and the 
 end of his life and reign, cannot be declared, 
 being from everlasting to everlasting, yet 
 
LECTURE V. 143 
 
 was he cut off out of the land of the living, 
 for the transgression of the people for whom 
 he was stricken. He made his grave with 
 the wicked, and was with the rich in his 
 death; because he had done no violence, 
 neither was any deceit in his mouth; and, 
 after his life shall have been made an offer- 
 ing for sin, he shall see his seed, shall pro- 
 long his days, and the pleasure of the Lord 
 shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of 
 the travail, or agony of his soul, and shall 
 be satisfied. By the knowledge of himself, 
 as God's righteous mediatorial servant, he 
 shall justify many, because he shall bear their 
 iniquities; therefore, will I (Jehovah) divide 
 him a portion with the great, and he shall 
 divide the spoil with the strong, because he 
 hath poured out his soul unto death, and was 
 numbered with the transgressors, and bare 
 the sin of many, and made intercession for 
 the transgressors." What a picture! What 
 conceptions of lowliness and moral grandeur 
 are here combined! What created, unin- 
 spired mind could have originated, and given 
 utterance to such thoughts? Where, on 
 earth or in heaven, shall we find the person- 
 age that sat for the picture f In Jesus of 
 
144 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Nazareth, the son of man and the Son of 
 God, we recognize the original; and we might 
 challenge men and angels to show us a plau- 
 sible competitor in the wide universe. In 
 him these extremes of meekness and majesty 
 meet and harmonize. Yes, and, if every 
 lineament in the likeness does not meet a cor- 
 respondent trait in his singular character and 
 history, as drawn by the evangelists in their 
 simple, unvarnished narratives, we have erred 
 exceedingly in our honest, and laborious 
 efforts to ascertain the truth, and should be 
 very thankful to be set right. But, if the 
 foregoing description was sketched, by inspi- 
 ration of God, and, if Jesus Christ alone an- 
 swers to it, and that completely and minutely, 
 how can we escape from the conclusion that 
 his pretensions to the Messiahship are valid, 
 and that his religion is divine? 
 
 4. But his own and his apostles' predic- 
 tions form a fourth class of the prophecies, 
 to which we will now direct attention for a 
 few moments. These are also numerous, re- 
 lating to various matters, and delivered on 
 sundry occasions. We must content our- 
 selves, at present, with a brief notice of one 
 or two of his own, omitting entirely those of 
 the apostles, for want of time. 
 
LECTURE V. 145 
 
 1. He predicted his resurrection from the 
 dead, specifying the very day on which it 
 should take place. See, at your leisure, Matt, 
 xvi. 21; Mark viii. 31, and other parallel pas- 
 sages. " Destroy this temple," said he, mean- 
 ing his body, " and, in three days, I will raise 
 it up." He is to rise then by his own unde- 
 rived power. " I will raise it up." Here he 
 stakes all his claims, not only to divine ho- 
 nours, but to common truth and honesty, upon 
 the fulfilment of the prediction or engage- 
 ment, " I will raise it up." Here is a pledge 
 given, and given publicly in the hearing of 
 enemies as well as friends. And the time 
 is so near at hand that it will not, it cannot 
 be forgotten. Well, the temple was destroyed 
 — he was crucified — always a certain, though 
 a lingering death: he was on the cross at 
 least three hours ; but to make certainty more 
 sure, if possible, a soldier pierced him to the 
 heart, and there flowed forth blood and wa- 
 ter, the latter being an acknowledged indica- 
 tion of the extinction of animal life. We 
 have, moreover, the testimony of the execu- 
 tioners, who, according to a barbarous usage, 
 proceeded to break the legs of the victims; 
 but, after performing this function on the 
 
146 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 two thieves that were crucified with him, they 
 state that they brake not his legs, because 
 thej found " that he was already dead" The 
 death, then, was real; and he who was thus, 
 indubitably, put to death, must have been a 
 living person, not a personation, or figure of 
 speech, as some affect to think Jesus Christ 
 must have been, — his character is so amiable. 
 and so much out of the common way. Who- 
 ever can believe such a romantic dream, might, 
 if he would, believe any mystery revealed in 
 the Bible. But to return to our train of re- 
 mark about the redemption of the pledge 
 given, "I will raise it up." The men of power 
 took good care that no door should be left 
 open for fraud, on the part of his disciples. 
 These deluded creatures might come by night 
 and steal away the body, and report a ficti- 
 tious resurrection. Poor souls ! what could 
 they expect from a dead body, if they should 
 steal it? They must have known that mea- 
 sures would be taken to oblige them to pro- 
 duce it. But they had no opportunity to at- 
 tempt such a foolish thing. The body was 
 laid in a tomb hewn out of a rock, the en- 
 trance to which was covered with a massy stone 
 and sealed; nor was this all; a band of armed 
 
LECTURE V. 147 
 
 soldiers was stationed around it. Yet, when 
 the set time arrived, early in the morning of 
 the third day, the body was missing: diligent 
 search was made for it; — what had become 
 of it? The soldiers were inquired of. They 
 said the disciples took it away while they were 
 asleep ; thus exposing themselves to the penalty 
 of death, by their own confession, for sleep- 
 ing on guard, and testifying to what took place, 
 while, by their own showing, they were asleep. 
 The story is clumsy enough — believe it, who 
 can. It would never have been reported, 
 but for money, and a promise of security from 
 the penalty of the law; for what could the 
 testimony of sleeping witnesses be worth? "We 
 shall be told, perhaps, that this whole state- 
 ment is ex-parte, that it was got up and propa- 
 gated by the friends of Christ. Granted ; but 
 is there any counter statement? There were 
 enemies, shrewd and powerful, that knew all 
 that took place. Why did they not contra- 
 dict the supposed false account? Is there 
 any thing, now known to be on record, to 
 contravene this account? If so, let it be 
 produced. We should like to see it. We 
 know of none ; and the strong and fair pre- 
 sumption is, that there never was any. We 
 
148 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 believe the fact of Christ's resurrection, upon 
 a mass of evidence which we really cannot, 
 consistently, resist. If we did, we should, 
 to be consistent, give up the truth of all his- 
 tory. He escaped from the tomb of Joseph, 
 notwithstanding all the precautions referred 
 to, in order to prevent imposition. He was 
 seen, after his resurrection, not once or twice 
 merely, but many times, in various places, 
 and by numerous witnesses, for the space of 
 forty days; satisfying the doubts of the in- 
 credulous, and giving full proof to friends 
 and foes, that he had redeemed his pledge. 
 And we find that many of his warmest friends 
 were slow to believe. Thomas, one of the 
 twelve, would not be satisfied with the evi- 
 dence of one sense only, that of seeing, but 
 must feel the print of the nails in his hands, 
 and the opening of the spear in his side. 
 Thus convinced by the testimony of two of 
 his senses, in connection with other proofs of 
 the fact, no marvel that he exclaimed with 
 adoring admiration, " My Lord and my God ! " 
 But surely there are other grounds of a ra- 
 tional faith, besides the evidence of a sense. 
 t: Blessed are they that have not seen, and 
 yet have believed ! 7; As it stands in the gos- 
 
LECTURE V. 149 
 
 pel narrative, we hold it to be one of the 
 clearest moral demonstrations on record. 
 Here is a prophecy of what was very un- 
 likely, in human view, to take place, uttered 
 by the founder of our religion in proof of his 
 divine mission, literally fulfilled, in despite 
 of the efforts of his enemies to prevent its 
 fulfilment. Had it failed,— had the pledge 
 not been redeemed, all would have agreed 
 that his pretensions were unfounded; then, 
 as the event turned out in exact correspon- 
 dence to the prediction — as the pledge was 
 actually redeemed, according to the showing 
 of many witnesses, why, in the name of sense 
 and reason, should we not concede his claims, 
 and hail him as the long expected Messiah, 
 the great teacher from heaven, whose doc- 
 trine is divine, and whose right and power 
 to save is no longer questionable? 
 
 We intended to have brought to your no- 
 tice, his prediction of the destruction of Je- 
 rusalem and the temple, but our time is 
 gone; aod, indeed, if we had time, it seems 
 needless to urge further considerations. The 
 argument from prophecy is strong enough, 
 in all reason, as it now stands. The mind 
 may be saturated and oppressed with evi- 
 14 
 
150 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 dence. The case just named, however, we 
 counsel you, respectfully, to re-examine at 
 your convenience. It is another demonstra- 
 tion of the truth and divine origin of your 
 religion. The prophecy is minutely recorded 
 by three of the evangelists, and the fulfil- 
 ment is narrated by Josephus and other 
 foreign writers, no way concerned to sustain 
 the Christian cause.. As full justice cannot 
 be done to this subject, in a single lecture, we 
 take the liberty, without intending disparage- 
 ment to other valuable works, with which 
 you are, probably, more familiar, to recom- 
 mend to your attentive and candid perusal, 
 a sterling little work, by Keith, on the ful- 
 filment of prophecy. It is a matter-of-fact 
 volume, and gives you the argument in a 
 dense and lucid form. 
 
 4. And now, in conclusion, what shall we 
 say, in regard to the bearing of scripture 
 prophecy on the truth of Christianity? Is 
 it not powerful and convincing? God alone 
 can foretell future events which are not the re- 
 sult of the laws of nature; and when such 
 events are foretold, and afterwards come to 
 pass, in exact correspondence with the pre- 
 diction, and, professedly, for the confirmation 
 
LECTURE V. 151 
 
 of the doctrine taught, it is, clearly, the di- 
 vine attestation to the truth of the doctrine; 
 for the Divine Being would not, could not, 
 without denying himself, bear witness to a 
 falsehood. When he is said to send false pro- 
 phets, with deceitful messages, to a wicked 
 people, who would have it so,* the meaning 
 obviously is, that he would not restrain 
 them, or supersede their personal responsi- 
 bility. And, when his chosen prophets allege 
 as, in a few instances, they do, that he had 
 deceived them, he is in no way responsible 
 for their rash conclusion. He never inspired 
 them to say so. It ought not to be forgotten, 
 that prophetic inspiration is not personal 
 sanctification. The men that are made use 
 of, by God, for certain purposes of mercy or 
 judgment, are not made perfect and faultless. 
 His infallible guidance does not attend them, 
 more than other men, into their private walks, 
 or in the transaction of ordinary business 
 with mankind. It is in the announcement of 
 messages which he dictates, and in the re- 
 cording of what he would have recorded, for 
 his own glory and the good of the world, 
 
 * 1 Kings xxii. 
 
152 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 that he moves and guards them from error. 
 If, therefore, you find Moses and David and 
 Peter, and others doing or saying wrong 
 things, in their private and uncommissioned 
 capacity, don't charge God blasphemously 
 with being the author of their sin. If God 
 gave Joshua a commission to destroy, or dis- 
 possess the Canaanites, and you know one 
 people are often employed to punish another, 
 that gave him no right to molest a nation 
 to whom he was not sent. God employed 
 Balaam to utter a prophecy concerning Christ, 
 but, for all that, we know, he did not make 
 him a good man: nay, he used the most stupid 
 of animals to rebuke him for his madness. 
 God inspired Peter to carry the gospel to 
 Cornelius and others, but he surely did not 
 inspire him to deny his Lord. The man's 
 personal character is not to be confounded 
 with his prophetic instrumentality. Keep 
 this common-sense distinction in view, and it 
 will save you from a world of difficulties, 
 and preserve the strong argument from pro- 
 phecy, in all its vigour; and, an argument it 
 is, which you cannot ponder too seriously; the 
 more you examine it, in the light of unbiassed 
 reason, and with earnest prayer to the Father 
 of lights, the more you will feel its weight. 
 
LECTURE VI. 153 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 The rapid propagation, continuance, and 
 present state of the Christian religion cannot 
 be satisfactorily accounted for, but by sup- 
 posing that a special divine favour was, and 
 is still exercised in its support. To establish 
 and illustrate this general proposition, is the 
 design of the present lecture. To make good 
 our position, we invite attention to a grave 
 and dispassionate consideration of the gene- 
 ral character of the religion itself; the ob- 
 stacles in the way of its reception and pro- 
 gress; the means employed in its introduction 
 and advancement; and the internal difficulties 
 it has had, and now has to contend with, 
 arising out of the bad policy and misconduct 
 of its professed friends: and, (if time permit,) 
 we will add, the partial accomplishment, in 
 its prevalence hitherto, of its own stupen- 
 dous scheme of prophecy. 
 14* 
 
154 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 I. The religion itself is singular, in many 
 respects. It ought not to be called new; for 
 it is, in fact, the oldest in the world: that is 
 — it is the old, primitive religion, in a new 
 style — divested of its types and shadows, and 
 presented in a more luminous and simplified 
 form, adapted to universal use and diffusion 
 among mankind. Yet it is singular in its 
 origin, having been, substantially and virtu- 
 ally, in existence and operation, long before 
 its founder made his visible advent among 
 men ; singular, in the person of its author and 
 finisher, Emmanuel, God with us — Deity and 
 humanity in union; singular, in the fulness of 
 its communications — informing us that there 
 is a God — one living and eternal intelligence, 
 that made, and that governs all things, by a 
 providence so minute as to reach the smallest 
 bird, and the loftiest angel — the atom that 
 floats in the sunbeam, and the comet in its 
 eccentric flight; a providence that regards 
 and orders our domestio affairs, while it re- 
 gulates the springs and holds the lever that 
 moves the nations; — thus differing from the 
 prating philosophy that imagines a creator 
 and calls it chance, or fate. This religion 
 teaches us, how we became the guilty, help- 
 
LECTURE VI. 155 
 
 less creatures that we are, and is very singu- 
 lar in the amplitude of its provisions to meet 
 our necessities, by its mediatorial system — 
 its spiritual influence — its atonement and per- 
 fect righteousness, to be received and enjoyed 
 by faith; thus, rising above natural religion, 
 and differing from Deism, which proposes to 
 work its own way and secure its own peace, 
 without foreign aid. It is singular, in that 
 it opposes and denounces, without compro- 
 mise, the predominant passions and inclina- 
 tions of men, whom it comes, professedly, to 
 bless and to save; and, so differs from Mo- 
 hammedism and other pliant devices of that 
 sort. It is singular, in its high claims and 
 bold pretensions, coming with a " thus saith 
 the lord," and demanding acceptance and 
 obedience, on pain of utter ruin, refusing to 
 share the homage of mankind, in common 
 with other religions; thus, differing from pa- 
 ganism, which had its thirty thousand god3 
 in Greece alone, all willing, it is said, to live 
 and let live; and in this way evincing, what 
 has been called an unsocial and illiberal 
 spirit. But, if it be true and divine, this ex- 
 clusiveness is benevolent and right; for, then, 
 no system opposed to it, or essentially differ- 
 
156 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 ing from it, can be true: and what fellowship 
 hath truth with error, or light with darkness? 
 How can two walk together except they be 
 agreed? Finally, this religion is distin- 
 guished from all others, in its direct claim 
 upon the whole heart, insisting on repentance 
 and the renunciation of idols, followed up by 
 a life of holiness ; and in its explicit disclosure 
 of a future state of eternal rewards and pu- 
 nishments, the all-powerful motive to holiness, 
 and the sure anchor-ground of hope. In 
 few words, this religion, in its leading doc- 
 trines and requirements, is very unaccept- 
 able, nay, repulsive to the native pride and 
 haughtiness of the human heart. See a sum- 
 mary of its graces, or the dispositions of mind 
 which it inspires and commends, in the ser- 
 mon on the mount, beginning with the fifth 
 chapter of Matt, viz. : penitence, humility, 
 meekness, gentleness, purity of heart, the love 
 of holiness, peacemaking, quiet submission 
 to slander and persecution for righteousness' 
 sake, forgiveness of injuries, the love of 
 enemies, unobtrusiveness in prayer and alms- 
 giving, self-denial, spiritual-mindedness, pu- 
 rity of motive, and unreserved devotion to 
 every good word and work. How unlike 
 
LECTURE VI. 157 
 
 are these qualities to what is generally ex- 
 hibited and admired in the world! How 
 could such a religion gain admission and pre- 
 vail among a people addicted to forms and 
 external rites, as was the case with both Jews 
 and Gentiles, and which had little to do with 
 the heart, and almost no influence on private 
 character and public morals? It was dia- 
 metrically opposed to the theories of phi- 
 losophers, and the long-established habits of 
 the common people. It must have been re- 
 garded as an intruder, and unworthy of a 
 hearing: and one of the greatest wonders in 
 its history is, that it was not instantly silenced 
 and smothered in its cradle. This would, 
 undoubtedly, have been its fate, had it not 
 been of God and under his almighty patron- 
 age ; for look, secondly, at the obstacles which 
 lay in the way of its introduction and preva- 
 lence. The first, and that which must ever 
 prove insurmountable, without divine influ- 
 ence, is the repugnance of the human heart 
 to proffered assistance, of which it feels no 
 need. The rich will not accept a gratuity, 
 unless it be as a token of esteem. A man in 
 health, or who fancies himself so, will not 
 follow the prescriptions of a physician. The 
 
158 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 gospel comes to men with provisions of grace, 
 predicated on their guilt and helplessness. 
 Its first demand is repentance and the accept- 
 ance of this grace. But where there is no 
 proper sense of sin, the offer, instead of being 
 thankfully received, will rather be regarded 
 as an insult. Repentance is deemed a very 
 easy matter, when one sees occasion for it ; 
 and the Divine Being is supposed to be in- 
 capable of refusing forgiveness to the penitent. 
 This is the reason why the gospel is so un- 
 ceremoniously rejected now ; and it was so in 
 the apostolic age. How, then, could it have 
 gained admittance into so many hearts as 
 were opened to receive it, on the day of Pen- 
 tecost, under the preaching of Peter, had not 
 the Holy Spirit attended it, by his convincing 
 power ? 
 
 Another obstinate hinderance to the recep- 
 tion and progress of the gospel was, the 
 death of Christ by crucifixion. "Let all the 
 house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath 
 made that same Jesus, whom ye have cruci- 
 fied, both Lord and Christ." This declara- 
 tion was made by Peter in a large assembly 
 composed, chiefly, of Jews. How incredible 
 such an announcement must have seemed to 
 
LECTURE VI. 159 
 
 a people whose confident expectation was, 
 that when the Christ came, he would set up 
 an earthly kingdom, of unrivalled splendour, 
 and make them the first participants of its 
 honours and emoluments ! According to the 
 principles that ordinarily govern men, their 
 emotions must have been those of rage and 
 contempt. For the cross, and all who suf- 
 fered upon it, they entertained the utmost 
 abhorrence. " Cursed is every one that 
 hangeth on a tree," was one of their proverbs. 
 So far from feeling compunction under the 
 Apostle's charge of their having crucified the 
 Lord's anointed, they gloried in what they 
 had done, fully persuaded that, in delivering 
 Jesus over to the secular authorities to be 
 crucified, they had given a death-blow to the 
 pretensions of an impostor, and blasted the 
 hopes of his disciples. "Come down from 
 the cross, if thou be the Son of God," said 
 they. "He saved others, himself he cannot 
 save." 
 
 And as the doctrine of a crucified Saviour 
 was, to the Jews, a stumbling-block, so was 
 it foolishness to the Greeks. That an obscure 
 individual, who had been, by his countrymen, 
 subjected to so ignominious a death, as that 
 
160 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 of crucifixion, should be proclaimed as the 
 Redeemer of the world, and that all men 
 should be called upon to believe and obey 
 him on pain of endless perdition, was, in itself, 
 revolting and repulsive to all their natural 
 feelings and habits of thought. Yet this was 
 the grand theme of the gospel. It was the 
 doctrine of Christ, and the motto inscribed on 
 every banner that was unfurled in his name. 
 The apostles preached it wherever they went; 
 and that not with caution and softening para- 
 phrase, but explicitly and with glorying. 
 " I determined," said Paul to the people of 
 Corinth, "not to know anything among you, 
 save Christ and him crucified. "God for- 
 bid," said he to the Galatians of Asia Minor, 
 " that I should glory, save in the cross of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is 
 crucified unto me, and I unto the world." 
 Now, looking at the matter in the light of 
 nature, merely, what ground of hope was 
 there that such preaching could make con- 
 verts? Yet it did; and that, too, in vast num- 
 bers, among as licentious and skeptical a 
 generation as ever existed. But how ? Not 
 by enticing words of man's wisdom — not by 
 the arts of elocution and moral suasion; but 
 
LECTURE VI. 161 
 
 by the ministration of the Spirit, making it 
 "the power of God, and the wisdom of God 
 unto salvation." Here is a palpable and un- 
 deniable effect, for which no other adequate 
 cause can be assigned. 
 
 The time and place, at which the propaga- 
 tion was commenced, would seem, in the eye 
 of reason, to present an obstacle to its recep- 
 tion and progress. It was an age of high attain- 
 ments in literature and science; — the Augus- 
 tan age, when the chief places in the empire 
 were filled with philosophers, orators, histo- 
 rians and poets. It was a time of literary 
 light and learned leisure. The temple of 
 Janus was shut, and men were keenly dis- 
 posed to watch and criticise pretensions of 
 science and religion. It was not an age of 
 credulity, but of unwonted skepticism. The 
 Epicurean philosophy, falsely called philoso- 
 phy, had swallowed up most other notions 
 and theories on the subject of religion. It 
 repudiated the distinction of right and wrong 
 in moral conduct, made animal pleasure the 
 chief good, and scouted the doctrine of a 
 future state. The disciples of Epicurus de- 
 nied the being of a God, or, at least, repre- 
 sented him as reclining in a sort of torpor, 
 15 
 
162 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 disdaining to take any notice of what is going 
 on in this little world. It was, in fact, a pe- 
 riod of the world very inauspicious to the in- 
 troduction of a false religion. The philoso- 
 phers of all sects laughed in their sleeves at 
 the popular gods, and expected nothing from 
 them. Religion was generally looked upon 
 as a matter of form, and useful, only as a po- 
 litical engine. Any thing new in the reli- 
 gious way was eyed with jealousy, and met 
 with jeers and sarcasm. There were gods 
 enough in the calendar; and their worship 
 was viewed rather as pastime than devotion 
 of soul. The fine arts and elegant literature 
 were cultivated to the highest pitch : so that 
 Christianity cannot be said to have been in- 
 troduced in an age of ignorance and super- 
 stition. It was confessedly an age of reading 
 and incredulity. The place, too, seems to 
 have been against the success of the enter- 
 prise. Jerusalem and the country around it, 
 where many were still living who had wit- 
 nessed the life and death of Christ, were the 
 most likely places to meet with opposition 
 and discomfiturethat could have been chosen. 
 Those who had delivered him to be crucified 
 were deeply interested to blacken his charac- 
 ter, and resist the labours of his ministers. 
 
LECTURE VI. 163 
 
 Mohammed was much more politic, both as 
 to time and place, for the introduction of his 
 religion, than were the apostles, in regard 
 to that of their Master. He chose the se- 
 venth century, — a time of gross darkness, — 
 and Arabia, the most ignorant country then 
 known, as the scene of his first efforts. In- 
 deed, it is plain the apostles did not select 
 their fields of labour with a view to personal 
 convenience, or to success in their preach- 
 ing. They felt that they were under divine 
 guidance, and went, straightway, whitherso- 
 ever God called them. When they left Ju- 
 dea, they did not content themselves with 
 preaching to country people and villages, but 
 pressed into the chief cities, often at the risk 
 of their lives, and without waiting to know 
 whether the citizens would be disposed to 
 hear them or not. We find them at Rome, 
 Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, Antioch, in all 
 places of concourse. Their object was to get 
 a hearing, trusting that if they could get ac- 
 cess to the ear, the Spirit that attended their 
 ministry would open a way for their messages 
 to the heart. " Faith cometh by hearing." 
 " It pleased God, by the foolishness of preach- 
 ing, to save them that believe.' 7 Accordingly, 
 
164 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 the first sermon that was delivered under the 
 new dispensation, was the means of making 
 three thousand converts, and that at Jerusa- 
 lem, in sight of the mount on which the Re- 
 deemer was crucified. How can we account 
 for this fact, without supposing a divine influ- 
 ence? These considerations are of weight. 
 Here is a religion rising into notice on the 
 very spot where the facts connected with it 
 had taken place and were well known. It 
 then goes forth into the heart of a polished, 
 but profligate world, and lays its holy obliga- 
 tions on a reckless atheism, and the worst 
 passions of the human mind. " By its meek 
 spirit and pure doctrine, it triumphs over the 
 influence of education, the force of habit, the 
 weight of authority, the craft of a corrupt 
 priesthood, the policy of legislators, the ge- 
 nius of poets and philosophers, the fascination 
 of oracles and prodigies, the shafts of scorn 
 and ridicule, and the rites of an idolatry sup- 
 ported by remote antiquity, universal diffu- 
 sion, and inseparable conjunction with the 
 laws and usages, and fancied prosperity of 
 each state."* Who can see all this, and not 
 
 * Bishop Wilson. 
 
LECTURE VI. 165 
 
 recognize in it the hand and patronage of 
 heaven ? The visible agency will not account 
 for the fact. 
 
 We have anticipated, in some measure, ob- 
 servations, which belong, more properly, to 
 the last and most formidable obstacle which 
 we shall notice, viz. : 
 
 The unrelenting spirit of persecution which 
 came out against the gospel and its adherents. 
 This spirit was evinced and acted out by Jew 
 and Gentile. The pretext was that the reli- 
 gion of Christ assumed too much authority; 
 it was too exclusive, and unbending in its 
 claims, — it must be every thing or nothing. 
 It was unsocial and uncompromising. It 
 would not be associated, even with the ritual 
 of Moses. It rebuked those who sat in Moses' 
 seat, charging them with having made the law 
 of God of no effect, by their traditions. The 
 Jewish sacraments were to be superseded by 
 Baptism and the Lord's Supper. The great 
 festivals were to be discontinued. A holy life 
 was to be preferred to ostentatious prayers, 
 and expensive offerings. A sacrifice had now 
 been made once for all. The types had an- 
 swered their purpose, and must give place to 
 the substance. The priesthood was changed, 
 15* 
 
166 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 —or, rather, there were to be no priests under 
 the new dispensation, but only ministers of 
 the word and ordinances of Christianity. 
 Simplicity and godly sincerity were to take 
 the place of rites and forms, not involving 
 the vitality of religion. Men were, hence- 
 forth, to rely wholly on the merits of Christ, 
 and renounce their own works, as of no avail 
 in the matter of justification. God was to be 
 worshipped, in spirit and in truth, not at the 
 temple in Jerusalem, for that was to be de- 
 molished, but wherever two or three should 
 meet for the purpose, in the name of Christ; 
 and all nations were to be placed on an equal 
 footing, in regard to the blessings and immu- 
 nities of the kingdom of heaven. All this 
 was intolerable. Such an entire revolution 
 was not to be submitted to by a people who 
 had long been distinguished by divine good- 
 ness, and had come to a fixed belief that they 
 were a privileged nation. The Jew, there- 
 fore, though not possessing the power of life 
 and death, threw his whole influence into the 
 hand of the pagan authorities, and there was, 
 for the first time, a union of purpose between 
 them, and that purpose was for the extermi- 
 nation of Christianity. The gentile powers, 
 
LECTURE VI. 167 
 
 thus encouraged by Jewish bigotry, opened 
 their batteries and set their engines of death 
 in operation, against the unarmed and non- 
 resistant Christians, with a ferocity and un- 
 relenting fury quite unparalleled and inde- 
 scribable. All who professed the new and de- 
 spised religion were deprived of property, 
 country, liberty, and life, if they persisted in 
 their adhesion. For more than three hundred 
 years the blood of martyrs flowed in torrents. 
 Christians were called atheists because they 
 refused to worship false gods; — misanthro- 
 pists, because they would not join the world 
 in its idolatry and vice. The only crimes al- 
 leged against them, according to Tacitus the 
 historian, and Pliny, the governor of Bithy- 
 nia, who both lived within the first century, 
 was a rigid adherence to Christ, and a refusal 
 to offer incense to the popular gods, which the 
 former calls "a pestilent superstition, which 
 ought to be severely punished ; " and the latter, 
 in his letter to Trajan, the Emperor, says, that 
 " from the best account he could obtain of 
 their religion, (whether it should be called a 
 crime or error, he was doubtful,) it consisted 
 in their meeting on a certain day, before day- 
 light, to sing a hymn to Christ as to a god, 
 
168 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 and to bind themselves by an oath, not to com- 
 mit any wickedness, but to abstain from thefts, 
 robberies, and adulteries; not to violate their 
 promise or deny a pledge; after which it was 
 their custom to separate, and meet again at a 
 promiscuous, harmless meal." Such was the 
 amount of their offending; and for this "pesti- 
 lent superstition," and strict adherence to 
 their principles, they were to be punished, 
 without distinction of age or sex. The most 
 barbarous tortures were inflicted on them 
 that ingenious malice could invent; such as 
 the rack, the wheel, throwing to wild beasts, 
 tearing the body asunder, while yet alive, 
 burning in pitched coats, boiling in oil or 
 melted lead, crucifixion with the head down- 
 ward, <fcc. The persecutions followed one 
 another in rapid succession. We will give 
 you a list of them, from Dr. Gregory's letters, 
 a work of great merit. "The first formal 
 state assault began under Nero, A. D. 65 ; the 
 second, under Domitian, A.D. 90; the third, 
 under Trajan, A.D. 100; the fourth, under 
 Adrian, A.D. 126, and continued under An- 
 toninus Pius to A.D. 140; the fifth, under 
 Marcus Aurelius, A.D. 162; the sixth, under 
 Severus, A.D. 203; the seventh, under Maxi- 
 
LECTURE VI. 169 
 
 minus, A.D. 236; the eighth, under Decius, 
 A.D. 251; the ninth, under Valerian, A.D. 
 258; and the tenth, under Dioclesian, A.D. 
 303." And what, you will ask, was the na- 
 ture of these persecutions? In reply, we will 
 briefly describe the last. In the edict issued 
 by Dioclesian, in 303, he commanded all the 
 churches to be demolished, and the Christians 
 to be deprived of their sacred writings, and 
 of all their civil privileges and immunities. 
 This occasioned the death of very many who 
 refused to surrender their sacred books to the 
 magistrates. Tertullian says 20,000 Chris- 
 tians were burned by Dioclesian's orders on 
 one Christmas day ; of whom many were con- 
 sumed in a church where they were assembled 
 for worship. The second edict ordered the 
 imprisonment of all bishops and ministers of 
 the gospel. A third commanded that the 
 most exquisite tortures should be employed 
 to compel these captives to lead the way in 
 open apostasy. In a fourth, promulgated in 
 A.D. 304, magistrates were enjoined to inflict 
 tortures upon all Christians without distinc- 
 tion of rank or sex, for the purpose of forcing 
 them to renounce their religion. These edicts, 
 which extended over the whole Roman Em- 
 
170 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 pire, with the exception of Gaul, were exe- 
 cuted with such active, brutal, and successful 
 zeal, that pillars were erected in Spain, in 
 honour of Dioclesian, for having, every where 
 abolished the superstition of Christ, and a 
 medal of this emperor was struck, with the 
 inscription, " Nomine Christianorum deleto ; " 
 "the name of Christians being blotted out.' 
 Let this imperfect picture serve as a specimen 
 of the bloody doings of three centuries, under 
 the reign of imperial paganism. 
 
 Yet, strange to tell, the religion of Christ? 
 even amidst such fiery trials, and in the 
 face of such furious opposition, continued 
 to spread and flourish. " The blood of the 
 martyrs became the seed of the church. 7 ' 
 "The more you mow us down," said one of 
 the apologists to the persecutors, " the thicker 
 we rise: the Christian blood you spill is like 
 the seed you sow; it springs from the earth 
 again, and fructifies the more." Tertullian. 
 The long continuance of this violent opposition 
 to Christianity, is worthy of special notice, in 
 connection with its advancement, and the 
 unyielding firmness and zeal of its disciples. 
 Almost any scheme of religion, however ab- 
 surd, will gather proselytes for a time. 
 
LECTURE VI. 171 
 
 There are always to be found persons hang- 
 ing loosely on the skirts of organized reli- 
 gious societies, and multitudes attached to 
 no denomination, who can be induced, by a 
 little cunning and a good deal of boldness, 
 on the part of the leaders, to join in an en- 
 terprise of doubtful issue. But when they 
 find that they must make heavy sacrifices 
 and encounter serious difficulties, and perils 
 of property and life, they are very apt to 
 drop off. In this way, many a wild project, 
 with religion for its watchword, but no truth 
 at bottom, has failed so soon and so com- 
 pletely, as not to find a place in history. A 
 religion, to gain any considerable standing 
 in the world, must either be founded in truth 
 and sustained by evidence, or be so pliant 
 and accommodating to the selfish passions of 
 men, as not only to require no self-denial of 
 its votaries, but open before them the path- 
 way to wealth, or fame, or places of power. 
 Now here is a religion of self-denial, through- 
 out; a religion of strict laws, giving no 
 quarters to pride, revenge, evil-concupi- 
 scence, or even worldly-mindedness; a reli- 
 gion of the heart, that pronounces a mali- 
 cious desire, virtual murder; a lustful look, 
 
172 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 adultery, and covetousness, idolatry; a reli- 
 gion so unpopular as to be every where 
 spoken against; assailed at every step by 
 slander and ridicule, fire and sword, for 
 more than three hundred years, yet gaining 
 upon the world, in its influence, with a ra- 
 pidity unexampled and unaccountable, unless 
 we suppose an unseen power bearing it on- 
 ward, and securing its victories by light and 
 love. For look, in the next place, at 
 
 3. The visible means and agencies em- 
 ployed in its propagation. Twelve men, from 
 the humblest walks of life, with little edu- 
 cation, no wealth, no power, no influence, 
 and no influential connections; nothing but 
 honesty, simplicity, perseverance, and fear- 
 lessness, in declaring what they believe to 
 be the truth. They profess, indeed, to work 
 miracles and deliver prophecies, as proofs of 
 their divine mission; but, if we deny these, 
 and charge the men with fanaticism or im- 
 posture, then we have agencies quite dispro- 
 portioned to the undeniable results of their 
 action. 
 
 The method, or means adopted to give cur- 
 rency to their doctrine, seems also unequal 
 to the effects produced. It was not by en- 
 
LECTURE VI. 173 
 
 i 
 
 ticing words of man's wisdom, nor pro- 
 found reasoning or moving eloquence; but 
 unpolished statements made as if true and 
 authoritative, without anticipating objec- 
 tions, or any pains-taking to meet and an- 
 swer them. The utmost simplicity and dis- 
 tinctness marked the style of the first 
 preachers. Their doctrines were exempli- 
 fied in their own lives, and urged by mo- 
 tives of the tenderest and most awakening 
 kind. It was uniformly declared or implied, 
 in their discourses, that a cordial belief and 
 practical use of their doctrines, were essen- 
 tial to salvation. All this seemed calculated 
 to rouse opposition, as it implied censure of 
 the established and prevalent religions. 
 11 Except ye repent," says Christ, " ye shall all 
 likewise perish. He that hath the Son, hath 
 life; he that hath not the Son, shall not see 
 life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. 
 He that receiveth you, receiveth me; and he 
 that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent 
 me. God hath given to us eternal life, and 
 this life is in his Son; neither is there salva- 
 tion in any other." Such language must have 
 been provoking and repulsive to Jewish 
 bigotry and Gentile pride. True, the first 
 16 
 
174 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Christians evinced great meekness and pa- 
 tience under insult and suffering, and, in or- 
 dinary circumstances, these qualities would 
 not be without some effect; but of what 
 avail could the passive virtues be, in over- 
 coming religious prejudice and secular au- 
 thorities, all powerful, and arrayed against 
 those who were regarded as innovators and 
 " setters-forth of strange gods/' as the men 
 of Athens said of Paul, when he preached to 
 them Jesus and the resurrection? Is it not 
 perfectly manifest that the attempt to pro- 
 pagate such a religion, in such circumstances, 
 and by such men and means, must have 
 proved abortive, had there not been an in- 
 visible power abetting and urging it for- 
 ward? Yet this religion did prevail and 
 triumph to an extent unparalleled. We may 
 not enlarge on this point, but it claims some 
 notice. " I believe," says Dr. Gregory, " it is 
 an undeniable fact, that, before the end of 
 the second century, Christianity had been 
 more widely disseminated over the face of 
 the earth than any one religion, true or 
 false. Heathenism in all its variety of dis- 
 mal shades, had been thickening for thou- 
 sands of years, until darkness covered the 
 
LECTURE VI. 175 
 
 earth and gross darkness the people. But as 
 the natural sun chases away darkness from 
 whole regions, so, with analogous rapidity, 
 did the Sun of righteousness dispel the moral 
 gloom which every where prevailed." And 
 the following is the reluctant testimony of 
 Gibbon, in his Roman history, — "The pro- 
 gress of Christianity was 120 at the ascen- 
 sion; soon after, 3000; then, 5000; and in 
 little less than two years after the ascen- 
 sion, it reached great multitudes at Jerusa- 
 lem only. Mohammed was three years si- 
 lently occupied in making fourteen con- 
 verts, and they of his own family, and pro- 
 ceeded so slowly at Mecca, that in the seventh 
 year, only 83 men and 18 women retired to 
 Ethiopia; and he had no established reli- 
 gion at Mecca to contend with." Upon ad- 
 mitting the fact of the wonderful spread of 
 the gospel, this bitter enemy of the cross 
 undertakes to account for it, by natural or 
 second causes. He assigns five, viz.: — " The 
 inflexible and intolerant zeal of the first 
 Christians — the doctrine of a future state, 
 improved by every circumstance that could 
 give weight to that important truth — the 
 miraculous powers ascribed to the primitive 
 
176 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 church — the pure and austere morals of the 
 Christians — the union and discipline of the 
 Christian republic, (as he calls it,) which 
 gradually formed an independent and in- 
 creasing state, in the heart of the Roman 
 empire." We have not time, now, to ana- 
 lyze these causes; but any man who will 
 take the trouble to examine them, will see 
 their impotency and irrelevancy, in the cir- 
 cumstances of the case. To talk about the 
 intolerance of the primitive Christians, is ab- 
 surd enough. How could they be intole- 
 rant, in any other sense than that of a strict 
 adherence to their own principles? And to 
 call that intolerance is an abuse of terms. 
 The power of coercion was in other hands ; 
 theirs was a moral power, the power of 
 truth, of meekness, of love, and of enduring 
 all sorts of inflictions, with a patience and 
 joyfulness, that did, indeed, surprise their 
 persecutors; but it did not convince them. 
 They misnamed it, calling it obstinacy, and 
 determined that it should be subdued. The 
 disciples evinced zeal and perseverance; but 
 these were the effects of their religion, not 
 the cause of its progress. The doctrine of 
 a future state, clearly revealed as it was, in 
 
LECTURE YI. 177 
 
 the gospel, probably, had some effect; though 
 the leading sects in philosophy ridiculed it, 
 and the vicious hated it, because of the fu- 
 ture punishment for the wicked, which it in- 
 volved. Something may also be conceded to 
 the miraculous powers, not only " ascribed to 
 the primitive church," but actually exercised 
 by the founder of Christianity and his apos- 
 tles, yet these, when admitted, as they were 
 by Porphyry, Celsus, Julian, and others, were 
 ascribed to magic, and, thus, their power 
 neutralized, in a great measure. In regard 
 to the pure morals of the Christians, which 
 Gibbon concedes, and (we thank him for the 
 concession,) these, we have to remark again, 
 were the fruits of their faith, and could not 
 have been at first, the cause of its advance- 
 ment. This effect, we acknowledge, did be- 
 come, in process of time, one of the concur- 
 rent and secondary causes of the furtherance 
 of the gospel, on the obvious principle, that, 
 11 the tree is known by its fruit." But the 
 tree must have root, and some degree of ma- 
 turity, before the fruit can appear. The his- 
 torian's fifth cause of the rapid spread of our 
 religion, viz., " the union and discipline of 
 the church or Christian republic," as he calls 
 16* 
 
178 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 it, brings us up to our fourth class of hin- 
 derances to its progress, viz.: — 
 
 4. The internal difficulties, which arose 
 early, and which are still felt, springing out 
 of the bad policy and misconduct of some of 
 its own members and professed friends. Our 
 remarks on this topic must be few. The best 
 of Heaven's institutions are liable to abuse 
 and corruption in human hands. Christ did 
 design union and discipline in his church. 
 He did state, explicitly, that his kingdom 
 was not of this world, and that its affairs 
 were to be administered, not after the model 
 of worldly policy, but on principles of right- 
 eousness, harmony and love. "By this shall 
 all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye 
 love one another." "Be of one heart, and 
 of one mind," say the apostles; "mark them 
 that cause divisions among you, and avoid 
 them.' 7 " See that ye love one another, with 
 a pure heart, fervently." But, some of the 
 disciples, falling off a little from their first 
 love, and yielding to the spirit of sect, be- 
 gan to say, — "I am of Paul, and I am of 
 Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ." 
 They differed about preachers and preaching. 
 The ministers, too, that came into office, 
 
LECTURE VI. 179 
 
 pretty soon after the apostles, compassed 
 with infirmity, like other men, began to as- 
 pire. Not relishing or misinterpreting the 
 injunction, — "Be not called rabbi; for one 
 is your master, and all ye are brethren," they 
 set about some supposed improvements, on 
 the original plan. Diotrephes wanted the 
 pre-eminence. There ought, it was alleged, 
 to be some distinction of rank and standing: 
 as there was a diversity of gifts and attain- 
 ments. Some did not exactly like so much 
 simplicity in worship, and thought it would 
 be good policy to have a selection of showy 
 and exciting ceremonies borrowed from their 
 neighbours. It could do no harm, even if 
 not provided for in the book of primitive in- 
 stitutes. And, thus, matters went on, till, 
 in the fourth century, the state took the 
 church under its patronage, and the emperor 
 relieved her, in a great measure, of the trou- 
 ble of exercising her own discipline. He 
 built her fine houses, and adorned her in 
 purple robes. Here was a strange mixing 
 up of heterogeneous elements. The Chris- 
 tian republic lost, by the unnatural junction, 
 much of her original and distinctive charac- 
 ter. Outwardly, she seemed prosperous, her 
 
180 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 borders were extended, her coffers were re- 
 plenished, and her accession of numbers was 
 quite flattering; but there was a sad back- 
 sliding of heart. The changes, desired long 
 by some of her ambitious members, were 
 encouraged. Certain cities were made me- 
 tropolitan ; grades in the ministry were in- 
 troduced, together, with vestments and robes 
 of office ; the mode of worship was rendered 
 more liberal and popular, by the accumula- 
 tion of rites and ceremonies, till the line of 
 demarcation between the church and the 
 world could scarcely be perceived. Hypo- 
 crisy grew apace, bickerings and strifes in- 
 creased; heresies were organized, headed by 
 ambitious and godless ministers; Constanti- 
 nople began to compete with Rome, which 
 resulted in a division of the churches into 
 the eastern and western ; a breach not healed 
 to this day. Then, instead of outward pres- 
 sure, internal war broke out — a war of con- 
 troversy and non-intercourse. The dark- 
 ness increased, schisms multiplied ; the pious 
 witnesses for God and his truth gradually 
 withdrew to the valleys, that they might 
 worship their Maker in peace, and preserve 
 his ordinances from utter desecration. The 
 
LECTURE VI. 181 
 
 dark ages ensued, and the progress from bad 
 to worse was such, that Zion's light would 
 have been extinguished, had not her God re- 
 membered his promise, that u the gates of 
 hell should not prevail against her," and, by 
 his Providence and Spirit, brought about 
 the glorious Reformation of the sixteenth 
 century. This formed a memorable epoch, 
 as well in learning as religion. But even 
 this blissful and Heaven-directed work was 
 marred, and defrauded of its full effect, by 
 contentions and conflicting views among its 
 leaders, who though good men, upon the 
 whole, were fallible and subject, except in so 
 far as they were guided by the wisdom that 
 is from above, to the action of bad influ- 
 ences. Some reformed too much, perhaps, 
 in one direction; while others stopped short, 
 through mistaken notions of policy and ex- 
 pediency. Thus, you find among Protes- 
 tants, a good deal of difference, particularly 
 in modes and forms, although there is, 
 really, more substantial agreement among 
 them, than a cold-hearted unfriendly by- 
 stander is apt to think. But we are, we con- 
 fess it with shame, filed off into little bands, 
 occupied, too much, each with its own con- 
 
182 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 cerns, while it would seem as if we ought to 
 be united, in one unbroken phalanx, to con- 
 vey the glad tidings to the multitudes yet 
 sitting in darkness and the shadow of death. 
 We are not inveighing against this state of 
 things, or presuming against holy Provi- 
 dence; perhaps it will issue in good that we 
 cannot see: we are stating facts. And, now, 
 in view of these internal difficulties, added 
 to the outward obstacles, in the way of the 
 gospel's progress, already referred to, we ask 
 whether it be not more than wonderful, that 
 genuine Christianity has not been, before 
 this time, banished from the world ? Could 
 it have attained the standing and the influ- 
 ence among mankind, which it now holds, 
 had there not been a divine power sustain- 
 ing it, and urging it on towards its destined 
 triumph? You have seen that the religion 
 itself is repulsive to fallen nature; the ob- 
 stacles to its progress, complicated and pro- 
 digious, made up of Jewish prejudice and 
 Gentile pride and polytheism; you have 
 been shown the inadequacy of the visible 
 agencies and means used in its furtherance? 
 and last, though not least, you have marked 
 the hinderances resulting from the wrong 
 
 
LECTURE VI. 183 
 
 policy, and bad conduct of its own professed 
 friends. The proposition, with which we 
 set out in this lecture, we here repeat. The 
 rapid propagation, continuance and present 
 state of the Christian religion cannot be sa- 
 tisfactorily accounted for, without supposing 
 that a special divine patronage was and is 
 still exercised in its support; and, if the de- 
 monstration has failed, you will impute the 
 failure to the lecturer, not to the weakness 
 of the cause. 
 
 If any one should remind us of Moham- 
 medism, as a parallel case, we deny that it is 
 a parallel case ; and we feel that our holy 
 religion is dishonoured by the comparison. 
 Mohammed's was a very different system, 
 made up of selections from Judaism, Chris- 
 tianity and Paganism, an unseemly mixture 
 adapted to men's depraved taste; it was got 
 up in a dark age, and among an ignorant 
 people ; it was propagated after the first few 
 years by the sword; its founder was of a 
 distinguished family and of great wealth.; 
 its rewards were the rewards of valour; its 
 very heaven was sensual. Mohammed ex- 
 hibited no credentials of a divine mission. 
 His Koran was enough; its style and sub- 
 
184 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 limity were superhuman. He talked about 
 his intimacy and interviews with angels, and 
 long and rapid journeys through unbounded 
 space, which no one witnessed but himself. 
 " There is one God, and Mohammed is his pro- 
 phet," was the substance of his creed; and, 
 then, the numerous prayers, penances and 
 abstinences to merit divine favour. Nothing 
 new or important for man to know was re- 
 vealed by him. It was, first and last, a war- 
 like, politico-ecclesiastical, self-righteous and 
 despotic contrivance of a worldly-wise and 
 artful man. It is a religion which cannot 
 subsist on the soil of civil and religious free- 
 dom, where Christianity is at home, in com- 
 pany with science and literature, freedom 
 and the arts of civilization. The religion of 
 Christ bespeaks its holy origin by its benign 
 effects — it stands alone by the help of God 
 and is as imperishable and immutable as 
 truth. Its aim is as pure as benevolence — 
 its scope, wide as the world — its victories are 
 those of love and free grace — its ultimate 
 triumph certain; for its author and finisher 
 is the Lord of hosts. 
 
LECTURE VII. " 185 
 
 ' LECTURE VII. 
 
 APPENDIX TO THE PRECEDING LECTURE: — PREACHING, 
 THE DIVINELY ORDAINED METHOD OF CARRYING OUT 
 THE PRINCIPLES OF THE GOSPEL. AND OF ACCOMPLISH- 
 ING ITS GLORIOUS DESIGN. 
 
 In our last lecture, which, it will be re- 
 collected, was on the propagation of Christi- 
 anity, we had occasion, frequently, to notice 
 the preaching of Christ and his apostles, as a 
 means of introducing and spreading the gos- 
 pel among mankind. But as our remarks 
 upon the subject then were necessarily very 
 brief and rather incidental, and as it is a mat- 
 ter of great practical importance in the Chris- 
 tian system, we will now direct your atten- 
 tion to it a little more particularly. 
 
 For the origin of preaching, as a divine in- 
 stitution, we must look far back of the com- 
 mencement of the Christian dispensation. 
 Noah was a preacher; and Enoch, the seventh 
 from Adam, the apostle Jude informs us, pro- 
 phesied, and of course preached, for every 
 17 
 
186 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 prophet was a preacher, to some extent. Mo- 
 ses and all the prophets of the Old Testament, 
 with John the precursor of Jesus, were like- 
 wise preachers. They were divinely com- 
 missioned to publish God's messages of truth 
 to mankind, and call sinners to repentance 
 and obedience; which is the main object and 
 aim of evangelical preaching. In the sixty- 
 first chapter of Isaiah, we have a prophetical, 
 and most graphic description of the charac- 
 ter of the Redeemer, as a preacher of right- 
 eousness and grace : " The Spirit of the Lord 
 God is upon me; because the Lord hath 
 anointed me to preach good tidings unto the 
 meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken 
 hearted; to proclaim liberty to the captives, 
 and the opening of the prison to them that 
 are bound: to proclaim the acceptable year 
 of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our 
 God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint 
 unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto 
 them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourn- 
 ing, the garment of praise for the spirit of 
 heaviness, that they might be called trees of 
 righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that 
 he might be glorified. " In the fourth chapter 
 of the Evangelist Luke, we find that the Sa- 
 viour took this passage as the text of a ser- 
 
LECTURE VII. 187 
 
 mon which he delivered in the synagogue at 
 Nazareth, and commenced his discourse, by 
 remarking, "This day is this scripture ful- 
 filled in your ears." 
 
 Indeed, preaching, in one form or another, 
 seems to have been the chosen and principal 
 means of instructing mankind, and of bring- 
 ing them to a saving knowledge of religious 
 truth ever since the apostacy of our race ; and 
 that it will continue to be so, till the designs 
 of redeeming love shall be fully accomplished, 
 we cannot doubt. We will arrange our re- 
 marks on the subject, under the following 
 heads, viz. 
 
 I. The wisdom of the institution; or, its 
 adaptedness to the character and circum- 
 stances of man. 
 
 II. The nature of a call to the work, and 
 the mode of induction into office. 
 
 III. The matter and the manner of preach- 
 ing, its utility and economy as a mode of pub- 
 lic instruction. 
 
 IV. The obligations of Christians to main- 
 tain the preaching of the gospel, at home and 
 abroad, as extensively as possible. 
 
 I. The wisdom of the institution appears 
 in its adaptedness to the nature, necessities 
 
188 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 and circumstances of man; just as the same 
 divine attribute is displayed in creation and 
 providence. This material world was evi- 
 dently fitted up and furnished, mainly, for 
 such a being as man. Every thing in it is 
 adapted to our physical character and wants. 
 Inferior animals are not forgotten, indeed ; 
 but they are subjected to our control; and we 
 may use them for our benefit, within certain 
 obvious limits of reason and humanity. The 
 objects with which we are surrounded, all 
 bear some relation to us, and are calculated, 
 if rightly used, to promote our comfort. 
 Thus light is adapted to the eye, music to the 
 ear, the fragrance of the rose to the sense of 
 smell, the products of the field and the ocean 
 are suited to our appetites and wants, and 
 the healing virtues of the materia medica are 
 fitted to remove the diseases that assail our 
 bodies. So in providence, there is an admi- 
 rable adjustment of the divine dispensations 
 to our ultimate good, rather than to our im- 
 mediate gratification. Unbroken prosperity 
 would foster our pride, and make us unmind- 
 ful of our dependence; unmixed and long- 
 continued adversity would break down our 
 spirits and discourage our efforts, and thus 
 
LECTURE VII. 189 
 
 render us alike wretched and useless. A min- 
 gled cup is therefore put into our hands, with 
 enough of the bitter to keep us humble and 
 prayerful, and a sufficiency of the sweet to 
 sustain hope and stimulate to action. So, also, 
 it is in the communications which God has 
 made to us in the Bible. Here our moral 
 wants are consulted and amply supplied. Our 
 origin and destiny, our fall and recovery, the 
 fountain of bliss and the way to reach it; sin 
 with its wages, and holiness with its immortal 
 rewards, are clearly revealed. Every want 
 is met, and every reasonable desire is gratified. 
 Weakness, unworthiness, ignorance, and guilt, 
 poverty and wretchedness, are all regarded 
 in the provisions of grace. The word of 
 invitation is applicable to all, without restric- 
 tion to time, place or nation: "Ho, every one 
 that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he 
 that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat: 
 yea, come, buy wine and milk without money 
 and without price."—" Whosoever will, let 
 him take of the water of life freely." 
 
 Analogous to all this, is the appointment 
 of the sacred ministry, or the divine ordi- 
 nance of preaching. The grand design of 
 this institution is, to carjy home revealed 
 17* 
 
190 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 truth to the bosom and business of mankind j 
 to reach the heart through the ear. It is hap- 
 pily adapted to our moral constitution and 
 religious susceptibilities. The word of pro- 
 mise, in reference to it, is, "Hear, and your 
 soul shall live." In keeping with this pro- 
 mise, is an old adage, ascribed to one of the 
 sages of antiquity, "That wisdom takes hold 
 of a young man by the ears." There is good 
 sense in the maxim; and in its spirit, it may. 
 be applied to persons at all periods of life. 
 We get most of our ideas through the eye and 
 the ear. And though we cannot say that 
 more people can hear than can see, yet we 
 know, that many who can see, cannot read. 
 This has always been the case; and it will be 
 so, for a long time to come, notwithstanding 
 our modern and increasing facilities, for ob- 
 taining a common education. Besides, peo- 
 ple are, generally, more disposed to hear than 
 to read. The great majority of mankind are 
 obliged to earn their bread by active manual 
 labour, and cannot bear the expense of many 
 books ; and if they could, the style in which 
 books are, for the most part written, makes 
 it difficult for plain people, unused to close 
 thinking, to comprehend the meaning, and 
 
LECTURE VII. 191 
 
 feel the impression of the truths so taught. 
 Active laborious employments bring on fa- 
 tigue, and dispose men to drowsiness and re- 
 pose, when they sit down to read. Even 
 pious persons, with good sense and serious 
 intentions, find it no easy matter to keep their 
 minds sufficiently awake to read even the 
 Bible, the most interesting book in the world, 
 with interest and profit, when alone and away 
 from social influences and exciting causes. 
 Prayer and awakening considerations of the 
 momentous import of its truths, of its divine 
 authority and high claims, are necessary to a 
 profitable, private perusal of this blessed vo- 
 lume. The duty of searching the Scriptures, 
 every one for himself, is plain, and positively 
 enjoined upon us; yet it is attended with cer- 
 tain difficulties, arising out of our dulness? 
 and ordinary habits of life, which we do not 
 have to encounter, at least not in an equal 
 degree, in the solemn assembly where we 
 meet, with our families and neighbours, to 
 hear the word of God read and preached. 
 Here the whole scene is lively and awaken- 
 ing. Our social feelings and sympathies are 
 stirred up. Mind acts upon mind. We see 
 our teachers, and hear from living lips the 
 
192 EVIDENCES OP CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 lively oracles. The public reading of the 
 word with due solemnity, vivacity, and em- 
 phasis, serves as a comment upon it. The 
 aim of the preacher in his sermon is, or ought 
 to be, to bring some one truth of the gospel 
 in each discourse, fairly into contact with 
 the minds and consciences of his audience. 
 His text is from the Bible; and his own learn- 
 ing, experience and observation are taxed, 
 for illustration and argument to enforce its 
 doctrine upon the understanding and the 
 heart. The earnestness and affectiun, that 
 usually attend these exercises, impart an in- 
 terest to truth, which has a powerful tendency 
 to awaken attention, and dispose the heart to 
 receive the divine message in love. It is true, 
 and must not be forgotten, that no saving re- 
 sult is to be expected, without the Spirit's in- 
 fluence. This is expressed, or implied in the 
 prayers and praises, that are offered in con- 
 nection with preaching, and which contribute 
 to its effect, by quieting the mind, and ren- 
 dering it docile and submissive to the de- 
 clared will of God. You see, then, the wis- 
 dom and condescension of the Most High, in 
 adapting his institutions to the moral consti- 
 tution and ordinary circumstances of our race. 
 
LECTURE VII. ly«J 
 
 The revealed truths of the gospel are admi- 
 rably suited to meet our wants, and the me- 
 thod of bringing these truths home to our 
 bosoms, by the ministry of reconciliation, is 
 equally well adapted to our social nature, and 
 our capability of useful impressions, from va- 
 rious combined influences. All our powers 
 of attention are roused, our affections inte- 
 rested, and our perceptions aided by the truth- 
 ful statements and earnest, urgent appeals of 
 the living preacher. It suits our frail nature 
 vastly better to receive the divine messages 
 through lips of clay, than by the voice of an 
 angel from heaven. In this way the great 
 God comes down to our weakness, making 
 known to us, in our own language, and by 
 one of our fellows and equals by nature, 
 the most august truths, and cheering assu- 
 rances of grace and acceptance through the 
 Mediator. Multitudes of mankind can hear 
 that cannot read ; and many that can read 
 prefer to hear, on account of the social attrac- 
 tions connected with public teaching. It suits 
 the capacity and habits of the great mass of 
 the people better than solitary study. They 
 can learn more in a given time in this way. 
 than in any other. Hence, God in conformity 
 
194 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 with one of the great principles of his go- 
 vernment, that of adapting the means to the 
 end, has selected and distinguished this mode 
 of religious instruction, by his special bless- 
 ing. Judging from what we read in Scrip- 
 ture and church history, we would say that 
 more souls have been brought to repentance 
 and a saving knowledge of the gospel by 
 preaching, than by all other means together; 
 not by any inherent efficacy which it possesses, 
 but by divine appointment and favour. As a 
 general rule, "Faith comethby hearing, and 
 hearing by the word of God." We proceed 
 now to consider briefly, — 
 
 II. The nature of a call to the prophetical 
 or preaching work; and the mode of induc- 
 tion into the office. On this article, which 
 comprises two ideas, we shall not detain you 
 long, for we have no relish for controversy. 
 We begin by remarking that God is a sove- 
 reign, and chooses the instruments and means 
 of accomplishing his purposes, according to 
 the counsel of his own will. Thus he called 
 Cyrus, a heathen prince, to the deliverance of 
 his people, Israel, from the Babylonish cap- 
 tivity. And in calling men to the work of 
 the ministry, the same awful attribute appears. 
 
LECTURE VII. 195 
 
 He does not seem to have regarded the pos- 
 session of genuine personal piety in all cases, 
 as an indispensable pre-requisite. Some men 
 have been employed by him in building up 
 his kingdom in the world, who do not appear 
 to have been the subjects of his saving grace. 
 We have in view the cases of Balaam and Ju- 
 das, both of whom , so far as we can judge, were 
 bad men, and were actuated by unholy mo- 
 tives, first and last. Jonah is a doubtful case : 
 and Jeremiah, when called very explicitly, 
 came up to the work reluctantly, alleging his 
 youth and unfitness; and conscious, probably, 
 of the want of that personal courage, which 
 seemed to him necessary, in so bold and pe- 
 rilous an undertaking, in a degenerate age 
 he would have declined the call. The rea- 
 sons of the divine conduct in such cases, are 
 not made known to us, and it were idle, if not 
 presumptuous, in us, to attempt to guess them 
 out. To our limited vision, God's way is 
 often in the dark ; but it is always right, and 
 leads to a wise and good end. The call was 
 not, in all instances, the same in form, though 
 doubtless the same in substance. It was made 
 clear to the person called. Ablution with 
 water, as a sign of purity, and anointing with 
 
196 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 oil, as a token of consecration, with a commis- 
 sion and miraculous powers, were usually con- 
 nected with the call under the old economy. 
 Under the gospel dispensation the washing 
 and anointing were laid aside, and imposition 
 of hands by the proper authority, substituted 
 as a symbol of official designation. Of what 
 constitutes a call to the ministry of the word, 
 since the cessation of miracdes, we cannot 
 speak definitely, because the Scripture is not 
 explicit on the subject. We believe there is 
 a providential call, but whether there be any 
 thing special and peculiar in it, we are not 
 prepared to say. We suppose it is to be de- 
 termined, like other questions of duty, by a 
 careful reference to the indications of the di- 
 vine will, — our natural, acquired, and gra- 
 cious qualifications, and strict scrutiny of the 
 motives that lead us to seek the office, with 
 earnest prayer for the divine direction. A 
 desire to do good is not decisive; for that is 
 the common feeling of all good men ; and yet 
 it is obviously not the will of God that every 
 good man should be set apart to the work of 
 the ministry. Some probably mistake their 
 calling, in assuming the office ; and others, 
 perhaps, (not many we trust) rush into it 
 
LECTURE Til. 197 
 
 from motives of ambition, comfort, or conve- 
 nience. Those who do so, cannot expect to be 
 either useful or happy. The duty of the 
 church plainly is to guard, with all fidelity 
 and vigilance, against the intrusion into her 
 ministry, of men destitute of the proper quali- 
 fications. She may not admit to her sacred 
 ministrations, ignorant men or novices, what- 
 ever may be their pious pretensions ; nor god- 
 less or immoral men, or those who are unsound 
 in the faith of the gospel, whatever may be 
 their attainments in literature, or their stand- 
 ing in general society. She knows that those 
 who love the Saviour and his truth will be 
 most likely to edify her members, promote 
 her union, and extend her borders; self-pre- 
 gervation and fidelity to her Lord therefore, 
 require her to guard her sanctuaries, and look 
 well to those who are to guide her counsels 
 and minister in her holy ordinances. She 
 cannot, indeed, judge the heart, or detect hy- 
 pocrisy; but she can judge of the fruits of 
 righteousness, the evidences of a regenerate 
 heart; and she has a right to insist on repu- 
 table membership, and a good report from 
 them that are without, and prudence, and 
 aptness to teach, and such training in litera- 
 18 
 
198 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 ture, science, and theology, as the Scriptures 
 warrant, together with the unqualified adop- 
 tion of her creed, before she gives her sanc- 
 tion to the ordination of any man. When 
 she has attended faithfully to these things, 
 she has done about all that is expected of 
 her, save to sustain the true-hearted labourers 
 in the Lord's vineyard, and expel from her 
 communion and service, such as subsequently 
 act unworthy of their high vocation. 
 
 In regard to the mode of setting apart, or 
 inducting ministers into office, the subject is 
 frequently noticed in the New Testament; 
 and the safest way is, to take it just as we 
 find it there: for as to any changes, or modifi- 
 cations which may have been introduced after 
 the apostles ceased to direct the affairs of the 
 church, although they might not affect the 
 substance of the institution, yet we must not 
 regard them as of any authority, but only as 
 matters of taste or expediency. Some eight 
 or ten instances of ordination are given in 
 the New Testament. Thus, Mark iii. 14, it- 
 is said that, "Christ ordained the twelve, 
 that they should be with him ; '' i. e., as learners 
 under his eye and special tuition, preparatory 
 to their receiving the general commission, 
 
LECTURE VII. 199 
 
 under which all gospel ministers profess to 
 act. On the defection of Judas, as we read, 
 Acts i. 21, 22, the other apostles ordained, or 
 nominated Matthias to take his place ; we say 
 nominated, for the choice between him and 
 Joseph Barsabas, was made by lot, with a so- 
 lemn appeal to God. In Acts xiv. 23, &c, 
 we find that Paul and Barnabas ordained el- 
 ders in certain cities which they visited in one 
 of their missionary tours. 1st Timothy ii. 7, 
 Paul tells us, that he was ordained or appointed 
 or made an apostle; i. e., evidently by Christ. 
 Timothy and Titus are instructed in their 
 duty, in regard to ordination. The former 
 is said to have been set apart, by a Presbytery 
 in one place, with the laying on of hands, and 
 in another place, with the imposition of Paul's 
 hand; which are reconcilable, by supposing 
 that Paul took part in the service, or acted 
 as Moderator or President of the Presbytery, 
 or council of elders, on the occasion. The 
 latter, (Titus) is directed to ordain elders in 
 the churches of Crete; or, as the passage may 
 be interpreted, to see that the duty was at- 
 tended to while he remained in that island 
 as an evangelist. Timothy is charged not 
 to lay hands suddenly on any man. From all 
 
200 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 these instances, together, for we have not 
 time to remark upon them separately; we may 
 safely conclude, that the apostles appointed, 
 or ordained men to the work of the ministry, 
 with serious reference to their fitness for the 
 office, commending them to God for his bless- 
 ing, and using the symbolical act of imposing 
 hands upon them as a sign or public testimony, 
 that they were invested with ministerial au- 
 thority, and held responsible for the faithful 
 discharge of its duties. 
 
 The precise form of ordination is not es- 
 sential to its validity; if it were, we should 
 find it definitely prescribed in the sacred Scrip- 
 ture, our only rule of faith and practice. Mi- 
 nisters, it should be remembered, are given, 
 constituted and trained for the service of the 
 church, — not the church for her ministers' 
 convenience, which would be absurd and aside 
 from the analogy of all other social arrange- 
 ments. It is the church, under her glorious 
 Head and King, that virtually selects and 
 commissions her servants, whether it be by 
 the agency of one authorized minister, or of 
 several acting conjointly, and in her behalf. 
 She is richly endowed by her gracious Lord 
 and Saviour. All things are hers; whether 
 
LECTURE VII. 201 
 
 Paul or Apollos, or Cephas. When the Re- 
 deemer "ascended up on high, he led capti- 
 vity captive, and gave gifts unto men; some 
 apostles, some prophets, and some evange- 
 lists, and some pastors and teachers; for the 
 perfecting of the saints, for the work of the 
 ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ : 
 till we all come in the unity of the faith, and 
 of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a 
 perfect man, unto the measure of the stature 
 of the fulness of Christ." Eph. iv. 11—13. 
 These ascension gifts, you learn from this 
 Scripture, are to be continued, till the work 
 of redemption shall be completed : so that if 
 by any catastrophe, not likely indeed to oc- 
 cur, every minister on earth should be cut off, 
 others would be furnished from the same 
 source; and the church would undoubtedly 
 have an important agency in providing them. 
 The apostolic succession does not, therefore, 
 appear to be a matter of so great moment as 
 some seem to think. For ourselves, we at- 
 tach very little importance to it. It is a long 
 chain, extending through ages of horrible 
 corruption; and nothing short of a perpetual 
 miracle could preserve it unbroken and pure. 
 We have no mind to hold on to it. Our de- 
 18* 
 
202 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 pendence is on the fulness of Christ, and the 
 word of assurance, that no weapon formed 
 against Zion shall prosper. Let us now at- 
 tend a little to the next head: 
 
 III. Matter, and the manner of preaching 
 — its utility and economy, as a method of pub- 
 lic instruction. It is proper to remark here, 
 that according to the Scriptures, preaching is 
 assigned the first place in the scale of minis- 
 terial duties. All other departments of ad- 
 ministration are subordinate and subsidiary to 
 this. The training and ordination of ministers 
 are preparatory, and in order to preaching: 
 and the exercise of discipline and government, 
 and the dispensing of the sacraments become 
 duties, in consequence of the results of preach- 
 ing. Baptism is administered but once to 
 the same individual; and the Lord's Supper, 
 at suitable intervals; whereas, preaching, or 
 preparing to preach, is the minister's daily 
 business. This, indeed, is the grand instru- 
 mentality, chosen and sanctified of God, for 
 bringing men to repentance and the faith of 
 the gospel. The voice that cried as a herald, 
 in the wilderness of Jordan, prepared the way 
 of the Lord, first by preaching, and then by 
 administering the baptism of repentance, and 
 
LECTURE VII. 203 
 
 telling the multitudes of Him who was soon 
 coming to baptize with the Holy Ghost, and 
 with fire. The Saviour commenced his pub- 
 lic ministry by proclaiming that the kingdom 
 of heaven was at hand. The seventy disciples 
 that he sent out in pairs, went forth preach- 
 ing the same doctrine, wherever they could 
 obtain a hearing. The first words in the great 
 commission are, "Go, preach the gospel to 
 every creature." Paul preached in the syna- 
 gogue at Damascus, immediately after his 
 conversion; and so of the rest. Preaching 
 was their main employment; while other 
 duties were attended to as occasion offered. 
 And as preaching is the chief business of 
 God's ministers, so he has furnished them 
 with materials for the work, in his blessed 
 Bible. The injunction is, "Preach the word," 
 that is, the gospel, comprising all the facts, 
 doctrines, precepts, and promises of revealed 
 religion; Christ Jesus in his Mediatorship, 
 and atoning sacrifice being the central glory 
 of the whole. " We preach Christ crucified," 
 says Paul, " to the Jews a stumblingblock, and 
 to the Greeks, foolishness; but to them that 
 are called, the power of God, and the wisdom 
 of God." "I am not ashamed of the gospel 
 
204 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 of Christ," says he to the Romans; "for it is 
 the power of God unto salvation, to every 
 one that believeth." In his farewell address 
 to the elders of Ephesus, he says: " I kept 
 Lack nothing that was profitable unto you: 
 but have taught you publicly, and from house 
 to house, testifying repentance towards God, 
 and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ: — 
 neither count I my life dear, so that I may 
 finish my course with joy, and the ministry 
 which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to 
 testify the gospel of the grace of God." " If 
 any man speak," says Peter, "let him speak 
 as the oracles of God, that God, in all things, 
 may be glorified." And, for himself, in view 
 of his final account, he adds, 2 Pet. i. 12, &c, 
 "I will not be negligent to put you always 
 in remembrance of these things, though ye 
 know them, and be established in the present 
 truth : yea, I think it meet as long as I am 
 in this tabernacle to stir you up, by putting 
 you in remembrance; knowing that, shortly, 
 I must put off this my tabernacle. Moreover, 
 I will endeavour that ye may be able, after 
 my decease, to have these things always in 
 remembrance; for we have not followed cun- 
 ningly devised fables, when we made known 
 
LECTURE VII. 2U5 
 
 unto you the power and coming of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ." "That which we have seen 
 and heard," says John, "declare we unto 
 you :" 1 John i. 3. But why should we argue 
 this point? Nothing is plainer, or more 
 easily deducible from scripture and apostolic 
 example, than that flie sacred volume con- 
 tains the whole subject-matter of evangelical 
 preaching. It is rich, pure, and various in 
 its contents and bearings. It is our store- 
 house from which, as stewards in the house 
 of God, we are to bring forth things new and 
 old: new, in the arrangement and form of 
 presentation j but old, as the divine purpose 
 to save sinners, in essence and import. It 
 is our text-book — our only text-book, from 
 which all our themes, arguments and motives 
 are to be drawn. No other work, however 
 excellent its matter, or distinguished its au- 
 thor, is to be, even by implication, brought 
 on the same platform with God's book. 
 Whether it be Calvin or Luther, Cranmer or 
 Knox, Wesley or Bunyan, it matters not: 
 the writings are uninspired ; and, therefore, 
 fallible, and without authority to bind the 
 conscience. Such writings may be used as 
 helps and illustrations, but not as the ground- 
 
206 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 work of our public preaching. No: nor are 
 the creeds, or confessions of the churches, to 
 be allowed to compete with the Bible, in 
 furnishing the matter of preaching. They 
 ought, indeed, to be explained, and used as 
 exponents of the sense in which scripture is 
 understood, by the several denominations 
 that have adapted them. But this may be 
 done without putting them, even in appear- 
 ance and temporarily, in the place of the in- 
 spired oracles. It would not do to say, that 
 these books teach the doctrines of the Bible, 
 for the same may be said of many other books. 
 It is for the pre-eminence — the supremacy of 
 the sacred scriptures that we contend. If 
 the Bible be what it purports to be, the word 
 of God — the only infallible rule of religious 
 faith and practice, let not its prerogative be 
 invaded. It acknowledges no compeers; but 
 stands alone, bearing the distinguished im- 
 press of its divine origin and authority. 
 And why should it be degraded by being 
 bound up in close contact with apocryphal 
 writings? All such associations make against 
 its rightful claims, in public estimation. Nor 
 do we need such associates with it on the 
 score of variety. The Bible is, in itself, a 
 
LECTURE VII. 207 
 
 world of truth — a mine, deep, and wide, and 
 inexhaustible; nor can any preacher exhaust 
 one of its smallest veins in the longest life- 
 time. It is ample and complete, containing 
 the matter — and all the matter that is to be 
 preached. We are not to give our own spe- 
 culations for gospel truth ; nor is it safe to 
 make sermons out of our inferences from its 
 doctrines. These will be more or less legiti- 
 mate, according as the truth is clearly, or 
 dimly discerned; and they are very apt to be 
 used for supporting a preconceived system. 
 Long texts and short sermons are better, 
 other things being equal, than short texts and 
 long sermons. In the former case, we are 
 sure of having a good amount of truth ; in the 
 latter, we sometimes get more of the preacher 
 than of Christ; whereas, Christ should be 
 •- all and in all. 7 ' " We preach not ourselves/' 
 says Paul, "but Christ Jesus, the Lord; and 
 ourselves, your servants, for Jesus' sake." 
 The truth — gospel truth, is the instrument 
 of sanctification : — "Sanctify them through 
 thy truth; thy word is truth." 
 
 As to the manner of preaching — it should 
 be plain, fearless, affectionate, and solemn. 
 Plain, because the majority of hearers, every- 
 
208 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 where, are unused to elaborate or highly em- 
 bellished language. The professed object is 
 to give instruction, which cannot be done in 
 a style that is above the comprehension of 
 the hearer; and the souls of the illiterate 
 are as precious as those of the learned. "I 
 would rather," says Paul, "speak five words 
 with my understanding/' that is, that can be 
 easily understood, " that, with my voice, I 
 might teach others also, than ten thousand 
 words in an unknown tongue." — 1 Cor. xiv. 
 19. The manner should be fearless. — Not 
 harsh and vindictive, which always disgusts, 
 or provokes, or grieves; and thus mars the 
 effect of the truth declared: but without 
 "the fear of man which bringeth a snare;" 
 and without any effort to smooth and soften 
 down the word of the Lord to suit an un- 
 sanctified taste. Words of awful import 
 used by the Holy Ghost, may be safely ut- 
 tered by the preacher, on suitable occasions, 
 if, in the manner of utterance, he evince a 
 just sense of their fearful meaning. There 
 are a few denunciatory terms, occasionally 
 found in scripture, which should be but sel- 
 dom published from the pulpit, and then with 
 profound reverence and awe. Yet courage 
 
LECTURE VII. 209 
 
 and fearlessness are necessary to a faithful 
 discharge of ministerial duty. Paul asked 
 the prayers of Christians that he might 
 speak boldly as he ought to speak. He 
 preached righteousness, temperance, and a 
 judgment to come, before Felix, and that 
 profligate .governor trembled. Peter and 
 John, when ordered by the Jewish sanhe- 
 drim, to desist from preaching, refused to 
 obey the injunction, at the risk of their lives. 
 ^Fear not them that kill the body/ 7 said 
 Christ, "but after that, have nothing more 
 that they can do; but rather fear him, who 
 hath power to destroy both soul and bod} r 
 in hell." 
 
 Affectionate. — This is a quality of preach- 
 ing which cannot be acquired by art, though 
 it is sometimes affected; and then it is hypo- 
 critical and worse than useless. To preach 
 the gospel affectionately, we must speak 
 under the influence of the Redeemer's love. 
 We must feel, in a measure, as he felt, when 
 he mingled his tears with those of Martha 
 and Mary at the grave of their brother; 
 when he had compassion on the multitude, 
 and wept over Jerusalem. A heart steeped 
 in the love of God, and agonizing for the 
 19 
 
210 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 salvation of souls, is the only source of ge- 
 nuine religious affection. It does not con- 
 sist in the free use of tender terms, and 
 strong professions, but rather in labours of 
 love — faithful, untiring efforts to save men 
 from sin and ruin. When evinced in this 
 way, it is seldom without effect, by a divine 
 blessing. It allays prejudice, moves the 
 heart, and draws the sympathies into the 
 channels of truth. In a word, next to the 
 truth itself, impressed on the conscience 1 y 
 the Holy Spirit, it is the chief agent in win- 
 ning souls to Christ; for it is but the reac- 
 tion of his love, which is stronger than 
 death. And, here, if time permitted, we 
 might inquire a little about the reading of 
 sermons, whether it be the most affectionate ' 
 and effective manner. It has its obvious ad- 
 vantages; but, then, whether these are suf- 
 cient to overcome the equally obvious dis- 
 advantages, connected with it, is doubtful. 
 On some subjects, and on certain occasions, 
 no doubt, reading is preferable ; but in the 
 ordinary preaching of the word to a promis- 
 cuous audience, a free, earnest, animated de- 
 livery seems most likely to produce effect. 
 The pleader, at the bar, does not, ordinarily. 
 
LECTURE VII. 211 
 
 read his plea to the court and jury, though 
 he may have both studied and written: why? 
 Because he deems this method less convinc- 
 ing, and less likely to secure success, than the 
 other. Apostolic and primitive example is, 
 also, as it seems to us, against the practice 
 of reading. It is true, the first preachers of 
 the gospel were inspired, and had but little 
 opportunity for study and writing. Upon a 
 full view of the subject, therefore, it will, 
 probably, be found that no general rule can 
 be laid down, on this point, which it would 
 be wise to follow, in all circumstances. 
 Study, writing and prayer are indispensable; 
 but the mode of delivery may be left to the 
 discretion of the preacher, in view of his 
 own talents and the character of his hearers. 
 There is a diversity of gifts; let every man 
 try to know himself, and take the method by 
 which he can do the most good. But let it 
 never be forgotten, that the design of the 
 ministry is, to convince men that the gospel 
 is true, and to persuade them to embrace it. 
 Solemnity of manner is another quality of 
 preaching well worthy of consideration. It 
 is a serious business to undertake to show 
 unto sinful men the way of salvation: rightly 
 
212 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 to divide or distribute the word of truth, so 
 that every hearer may receive a portion, in 
 due season. To be a savour of life unto life, 
 or of death unto death, to those who hear us, 
 is a fearful alternative. "Who is sufficient 
 for these things?" The responsibilities and 
 results of the office are solemn and momen- 
 tous, beyond expression. All levity of mind, 
 matter, or manner, is unseemly, and sadly out 
 of place here. And to this great evil, some 
 preachers are peculiarly liable from consti- 
 tution, temperament, or habit. It is, to some, 
 a besetting sin, against which they have need 
 to watch unto prayer. To say of a preacher, 
 that he is witty, is no praise, but a censure ; 
 to say that he is ingenious, or elegant, is not 
 much to his credit; but to say that he is 
 grave and solemn, is in good keeping with 
 his appropriate work. Cowper, one of Zion's 
 favourite poets, has expressed our ideas, on 
 this point, very forcibly. 
 
 "He that negotiates between God and man, 
 As God's ambassador, the grand concerns 
 Of judgment and of mercy, should beware 
 Of lightness in his speech. 'Tis pitiful 
 To court a grin, when you should woo a soul; 
 To break a jest, when pity would inspire 
 
LECTURE vir. 213 
 
 Pathetic exhortation; and t' address 
 
 The skittish fancy with facetious tales, 
 
 When sent with God's commission to the heart." 
 
 Of the usefulness of this institution, we 
 need say but little. Its appointment, by the 
 only wise God, as the principal means of 
 saving souls, is indubitable evidence of its 
 utility and fitness. But in addition to this, 
 see its benign effects, on individuals, fami- 
 lies and states; effects blissful, holy and per- 
 manent as Heaven. "The pulpit," as our 
 poet again sings: 
 
 "Must stand acknowledged, while the world shall stand, 
 The most important and effectual guard, 
 Support, and ornament of virtue's cause." 
 
 But that the preaching of the gospel may 
 have its full effect, it must be made accessi- 
 ble to people, in all circumstances. It is 
 characteristic of the true Messiah, that his 
 religion is preached to the poor. This was 
 the case originally, and designed so to be, 
 always and every where. But in modern 
 times, particularly in large wealthy cities, 
 there is a lamentable departure from this 
 distinctive principle in the divine plan. We 
 erect fine houses for worship, and decorate 
 them in a style so costly, as virtually to ex- 
 19* 
 
214 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 elude the poor.. Some provision is usually 
 made for them, it is true; but, for the most 
 part, it is regarded by them as invidious 
 or degrading and, therefore, not general- 
 ly accepted. Christians should look well 
 to this evil, and spare no pains to have it 
 corrected. It is not for us to suggest the 
 ways and means; but one of two things 
 seems desirable: either that the seats in 
 God's house be placed, in point of expense, 
 within the reach of the poorest; or that free 
 houses be erected, and furnished with pas- 
 tors, and be governed on the received prin- 
 ciples of the several denominations with 
 which they are connected. Street or field 
 preaching, though well-meant and useful at 
 times, will not last long in civilized society; 
 it gives too much occasion to scoffing and 
 riotous doings. It is painful to the Chris- 
 tian heart, to think how great a proportion 
 of the population of large cities are uncon- 
 nected with any place of public worship; 
 mainly from the cause just alluded to. The 
 consequence is, that the holy Sabbath is lost, 
 and worse than lost to them; they go in the 
 way of temptation ; some disturb the public 
 peace, and, as a consequence, the courts of 
 
LECTURE VII. 215 
 
 police are more crowded with business, on 
 Monday than on any other day of the week. 
 A hundred thousand people, in Philadel- 
 phia and its liberties, hear no gospel on 
 the Lord's day. How can its full benefits be 
 experienced in such a state of things? "We 
 speak, as unto wise men; judge ye what we 
 say." 
 
 The economy or cheapness of preaching, as 
 a mode of public instruction, is well worthy 
 of more consideration than we can give it, 
 at present. It is said, there are "twenty 
 thousand preachers of the gospel in the 
 United States; " we have not the means, at 
 hand, of ascertaining the number accurately. 
 But take it at that; and suppose their sup- 
 port to be five hundred dollars apiece, per 
 annum, (and it will scarcely average so 
 much ;) then you have ten million a year for 
 their maintenance. Now compare this sum, 
 at your leisure, with the expense of our 
 public and private schools, our academies 
 and colleges, and you will be surprised at the 
 difference. And yet the gospel is the cement 
 of society; and the faithful preaching of it 
 does more for the intelligence, the good 
 order and happiness of the community than 
 
216 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 all other means of popular instruction toge- 
 ther, to say nothing of its influence on the 
 salvation of the soul. To have any just con- 
 ception of the worth of preaching, we must 
 view it in connection with the Sabbath, the 
 Sabbath-School, public morals, and all mis- 
 sionary, and other benevolent efforts. It is 
 the conservator, the counsellor and advocate 
 of these, and of all humane and philanthro- 
 pic institutions and designs. It operates be- 
 nignly through so many channels, and by so 
 many subordinate agencies, that its value 
 cannot be duly estimated; and yet it costs 
 less than the dressing of our feet. It quickens 
 and educates conscience, and conscience re- 
 strains vice and prompts to good morals, and 
 good morals, Christian morals, keep the peo- 
 pled world from turning into a hell. Yes, it 
 is cheap and efficacious, incomparably beyond 
 any scheme of public instruction that has 
 ever been devised. Education, without re- 
 ligion, is no blessing to any community. The 
 experiment has been tried; and the result is 
 before the world, in letters of blood. France 
 abolished her Sabbaths, closed her churches, 
 and silenced her religious teachers, but was 
 soon glad to re-open and recall them ; for she 
 
LECTURE VII. 217 
 
 found that Atheism is a miserable substitute 
 for Christianity, even when mixed up with a 
 good deal of mummery and superstition. 
 But we must pass to the last division of our 
 present topic, viz.: 
 
 IY. The obligations of Christians to sus- 
 tain the preaching of the gospel, at home 
 and abroad, as extensively as possible. This 
 opens before us a wide field; but we must 
 survey it very cursorily. Indeed, argument 
 is scarcely necessary here. Christians know 
 the law of their Lord's kingdom, so oft re- 
 peated, and in various forms. " The labourer 
 is worthy of his hire; the ox that treadeth 
 out the corn must not be muzzled; who goeth 
 a warfare at his own charges? They that 
 preach the gospel, must live of the gospel." 
 " If we," says Paul, "have ministered to you 
 in spiritual things, is it a great matter that 
 you should minister to us of your carnal 
 things? " Our object, therefore, is to stir up 
 your pure minds, by way of remembrance. 
 Christians, your obligations, in this behalf, 
 are plain and pressing. Your pastors, who 
 serve you in holy things, expect but a mode- 
 rate support — a decent living; this you gua- 
 ranty to them, by covenant, when you call 
 
218 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 them into your service: let them have it, 
 without stint or grudging, and without de- 
 lay, when due. Let them have it, as a mat- 
 ter of right, not of favour. Generally speak- 
 ing, no men serve your interests better, or at 
 a more reasonable rate; and, if any should 
 prove faithless and recreant, you know how 
 to get rid of them. Your missionaries, too, 
 are dependent on your patronage. You call 
 upon them to bear the messages of truth to 
 your brethren of mankind, who are suffer- 
 ing for the bread of life. They respond. 
 Here we are; send us, but give us the bread 
 that perisheth. They make sacrifices, and 
 encounter hardships, that cannot be de- 
 scribed; and they are doing more good than 
 can be measured, in time. Forget them not, 
 in your family devotions, and when you 
 meet, in your commodious sanctuaries, to wor- 
 ship God. They are following in the foot- 
 steps, and continuing the labours of him who 
 came to seek and to save the lost. They are 
 preparing the way of the Lord, who is coming 
 by appointment, to baptize the nations with 
 the Holy Ghost. They are laying the founda- 
 tion of Zion's future glory. They are working 
 men; and their work is rough and ; you 
 
 will not leave them without encouragement 
 
LECTURE VII. 219 
 
 and support: you will keep your children in 
 mind of them, too, by countenancing their 
 little contributions and teaching them to 
 read the missionary journals. Your fellow 
 sinners, who are sitting in darkness and the 
 shadow of death, have, alsc, strong claims 
 to your remembrance. Who maketh you to 
 differ? and what have you, that you have 
 not received? You have the gospel; but not 
 to keep as a monopoly. You are expected 
 to hold forth the word of life, to sound forth 
 the glad tidings, so that all may hear and 
 believe and be saved. To whom is the com- 
 mand addressed, " Go preach the gospel to 
 every creature?" To the church, indubita- 
 bly. Now, when God commands, it is not 
 for us to pause and inquire whether the time 
 is come, or whether the gospel will be re- 
 ceived and take root on heathen ground. 
 Just sow the seed, and the Spirit of the Lord 
 will see to the increase. You hear him say- 
 ing, " My word shall not return unto me void ; 
 it shall accomplish that whereunto I send it." 
 Oh no! your "labour will not be in vain in 
 the Lord." "Lo! I am with you alway." 
 But your agency, Christians, is embraced in 
 the divine plan. Withhold it not. Your 
 
220 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 missions, whether at home or abroad, cannot 
 live and prosper without your aid. Come 
 up to the work, then, with faith in God. Re- 
 member there is but one true gospel, and one 
 only Saviour. This gospel is the power of 
 God, and must prevail. By and by, it will 
 find support wherever you send it. It is 
 adapted for universal diffusion. To your Sa- 
 viour are given, by solemn covenant, the hea- 
 then for his inheritance, and the uttermost 
 parts of the earth for his possession. He 
 shall see of the travail of his soul, and be 
 satisfied. All flesh shall see the salvation of 
 our God, and all nations shall praise him. 
 He shall come down as dew on the tender 
 herb: even so — come, Lord Jesus! 
 
LECTURE Yin, 221 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 RECAPITULATION AND INFERENCES. 
 
 The design of this lecture, which will com- 
 plete the series on the external evidences, is 
 two-fold; First, to give a summary view of 
 what has been attempted, in the course; and 
 secondly, to conclude with such practical re- 
 marks as are suggested by the general argu- 
 ment. 
 
 The summary must consist of little more 
 than a reference to the several topics that 
 have been discussed, for our power of conden- 
 sation has been already taxed, nearly to the 
 utmost. The object has been, you will re- 
 collect, to prove that the Christian religion, 
 or the Bible, is a revelation from God, con- 
 taining every thing essential to a sound re- 
 ligious faith, and correct moral conduct j and 
 that it is accompanied by evidence, sufficient 
 to convince us of its divine origin and autho- 
 rity. In entering upon the subject, the being 
 and natural perfections of the Creator were 
 20 
 
222 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 assumed, as exhibited, to some extent, in the 
 visible universe, and its wise and beneficent 
 arrangements ; and from the striking analogy 
 between the works of nature, (as they are 
 called,) and the revelations of the Bible, we 
 asserted, upon various considerations sug- 
 gested, that the God of nature is the author 
 of the Bible; that the book of nature and that 
 of revelation are perfectly harmonious a'nd 
 consistent, so far as they keep company; but 
 that the latter goes much farther than the 
 former, — making known things of intense in- 
 terest to us, in our present imperfect and sin- 
 ful state. Hence appears the necessity of 
 i\evelation, as well for the honour of God as 
 for the happiness of man. The first parents 
 of our race were religious beings; and were, 
 undoubtedly, favoured with such knowledge 
 of divine truth as was necessary to the fulfil- 
 ment of their obligations to God, to them- 
 selves, and to their posterity. But this pri- 
 mitive revelation being handed down, pro- 
 bably, by tradition, became, in process of 
 time, adulterated, and ineffectual as a rule of 
 duty. Men became idolatrous, ignorant, and 
 profligate in the extreme. God's honour and 
 glory were trodden under foct —humanity 
 
LECTURE VIII. IZo 
 
 was outraged, and thick darkness covered the 
 earth. Yet, man, even in his fallen and de- 
 graded condition, had not lost his religious 
 susceptibility; — he felt his weakness, and 
 would lean on something without himself; — 
 he longed for an efficacious atonement, and 
 an authorized teacher from heaven. Thus, 
 there arises a presumption in favour of divine 
 revelation, anterior to its bestowment, and 
 before the sacred oracles are submitted to 
 our inspection and acceptance. God is good : 
 and it is presumable, that he would renew and 
 enlarge his communications of truth and 
 mercy to our fallen and bewildered race, in 
 such measure as would meet and relieve our 
 necessities. That the Almighty Creator could, 
 if so disposed, provide for the relief of our 
 helpless misery, none will deny. And, as 
 the case was extraordinary, we might, rea- 
 sonably, expect that extraordinary means 
 would be used to commend the provisions of 
 divine love to the reason and conscience of 
 mankind. A revelation was necessary, de- 
 sirable, and possible; felt to be so by many 
 of the wisest and best men of pagan antiquity. 
 These presumptive indications that a special 
 revelation would be made, and that a qualified 
 
224 EVIDENCES OP CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Saviour would be sent into the world, in due 
 time, gave occasion to spurious oracles and 
 false Christs; which, however, furnish no solid 
 objection to the sacred scriptures and the 
 true Messiah, inasmuch as the best things are 
 liable to be counterfeited; and we pointed 
 out several criteria, or tests, by which the 
 precious may be easily distinguished from the 
 vile, but which our limited time will not allow 
 us, here, to enumerate. 
 
 We, then, took up the Bible, with the view 
 of examining its claims, and found that it con- 
 sisted of two parts, called the Old and the 
 New Testaments, mutually sustaining and il- 
 lustrating one another; the whole volume 
 being composed of sixty-six distinct pieces, 
 written by various authors, who lived in se- 
 veral countries, and at different periods of 
 the world, through the space of at least fifteen 
 hundred years ; yet all harmonizing, wonder- 
 fully, in their doctrines, general tendency, and 
 apparent design, — the glory of God as con- 
 nected with the salvation of man. This har- 
 mony and unity of purpose we cannot account 
 for, without supposing a divine interference. 
 We looked carefully at the character of the 
 writers, and found them to be, for the most 
 
LECTURE VIII. 225 
 
 part, plain, uneducated men, but men of good 
 sense, and of uncommon simplicity and can- 
 dour, revealing their own personal faults and 
 foibles, when there seemed to be no occasion 
 for such disclosures ; thus proving that they 
 had no sinister, selfish end in view. This 
 fact is remarkable in these writers. It stands 
 alone ; there is nothing like it in the world. 
 It marks their rigid regard for truth and ho- 
 nesty, and seems to demonstrate that the hand 
 of the Lord was upon them and his Spirit with- 
 in them. We examined into the authenticity, 
 and integrity, or unadulterated preservation 
 of these writings, as we now have them; and 
 found no reason to doubt either. The cre- 
 dibility of the facts narrated, we have also 
 found to rest on the same kind of evidence 
 that supports the truth of other historical 
 acts, viz: the testimony of eye-witnesses, 
 handed down, uncontradicted by evidence of 
 equal force, and with the sanction of succes- 
 sive ages. As to the integrity, or unadulte- 
 rated character of the sacred writings, we 
 have every reason that the nature of the case 
 admits of, to be perfectly satisfied. They 
 were transmitted to us with great care and 
 at prodigious cost, from the apostolic age. 
 20* 
 
226 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 The ancient manuscripts are to be found in 
 many of the principal libraries of Christendom. 
 We have numerous codices, and various ver- 
 sions, collated with immense labour, and found 
 to be substantially identical, from the second 
 century to the age of printing ; and, since then, 
 they have been translated, from the originals, 
 into scores of languages, and are in the hands 
 of all sects and denominations of Christians, 
 acting as checks upon each other, should any 
 attempt be made to alter or corrupt the sacred 
 text. And, it is a fact, worthy of special no- 
 tice, and put beyond dispute, by sound, criti- 
 cal comparison, that the various readings, or 
 differences of the early manuscripts, are 
 merely verbal, relating to minor questions 
 of grammar, and do not affect one of the im- 
 portant doctrines of the gospel. 
 
 The inspiration of the Scriptures, which 
 gives them their peculiar authority and sacred- 
 ness, has been attended to, in the preceding 
 lectures, and we have found it to be well sus- 
 tained. It consists in two degrees of the di- 
 vine influences, viz: suggestion and superin- 
 tendence; the former, in matters beyond the 
 reach of the human mind, — as the Mosaic ac- 
 count of creation, when there were no living 
 
LECTURE VIII. 227 
 
 witnesses to attest the fact; the plan of re- 
 demption by the Son of God; a future state 
 of retribution; the resurrection of the body, 
 &c. The latter, (superintendence,) in the se- 
 lection and recording of such matters of fact 
 and history, as were deemed proper, by divine 
 wisdom, to form a portion of the sacred book. 
 In this gradation of divine influence, we have 
 had occasion to admire, as in many other in- 
 stances, the wisdom of God, in adapting his 
 measure of interference to the exigencies of 
 each case, — never working a miracle without 
 good reason for it. The writers of Scripture 
 claimed to be under special divine guidance ; 
 we, therefore, inspected their credentials, and 
 found them to consist in a power to work mi- 
 racles, and foretell future events, quite above 
 the ability and sagacity of man. This mira- 
 culous power, put forth in support of the doc- 
 trines and facts taught in the sacred records, 
 gives them a fair title to our unwavering faith ; 
 for it is God's seal and signet upon their truth 
 and importance. The bad things said or done, 
 occasionally, by the writers of scripture, are 
 no solid objection to their claims; for it is 
 not pretended, that they were inspired and 
 rendered infallible, in their private and per- 
 
228 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 sonal behaviour, but only when employed as 
 God's amanuenses, to write what he dictated. 
 
 Nor are the wicked speeches and doings of 
 bad men and evil spirits recorded in the Bible, 
 of any weight against its inspiration; for such 
 things are obviously registered as matters of 
 fact, for the admonition of mankind, that they 
 may see the fruits of sin, and shun the way 
 of transgressors. One design of revelation 
 is, to show us the depravity of our nature, 
 and make us feel our need of redeeming 
 grace. 
 
 The miracles and prophecies we have, also, 
 examined; (we place them together, here, 
 for prophecy is a miracle of knowledge,) and 
 have found the former so various and nu- 
 merous, wrought on so many subjects, and in 
 so open and public a manner; and, that they 
 were of such a nature, and followed by such 
 permanent effects, as to render deception or 
 collusion next to impossible; and, the latter, 
 we have seen, are of such character — so nu- 
 merous — and, many of them fulfilled, and 
 being fulfilled, according to the testimony of 
 historians and travellers, as to make unbelief, 
 one would think, almost a miracle. In few 
 words t we have seen — we have proved, may 
 
LECTURE VIII. 229 
 
 we not say? that miraculous power, i. e., the 
 power to suspend or control the laws of na- 
 ture, and prophetic fore-knowledge, are of 
 God; and are never imparted, but for the 
 maintenance of truth, and the accomplish- 
 ment of some great and good end, worthy 
 the Divine Being. Now, that these ex- 
 traordinary powers were exercised by Christ 
 and his apostles, and by Moses and the pro- 
 phets, in proof of the divine origin and au- 
 thority of what they wrote and taught, seems, 
 to our minds, as clear and indubitable as any 
 thing can be made, by the joint and concur- 
 rent testimony of well authenticated history, 
 and monumental witnesses, as we have them 
 in the Christian sacraments, in the Jewish 
 Passover, the destruction of Jerusalem, and 
 the dispersion of the Jewish people. How 
 the intelligent and honest unbeliever makes 
 out to escape the force of such testimony, 
 without setting aside the received laws of 
 evidence, and outraging his own moral con- 
 stitution, it is not for us to say. 
 
 We, next, proceeded to consider the propa- 
 gation of Christianity; which, as is well 
 known, was rapid and wide, beyond a parallel. 
 Immediately, on the opening of the gospel 
 
230 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 dispensation, three thousand souls were con- 
 verted; in a few days the number increased 
 to five thousand. Within thirty years, the 
 gospel had spread through Judea, Galilee, 
 Samaria, the greater part of Asia Minor, 
 Greece, Italy, and the northern coast of 
 Africa, as we learn from the Acts of the 
 Apostles; which account is abundantly con- 
 firmed by foreign and uninterested writers, 
 such as Tacitus, Juvenal, Pliny, Martial, &c. 
 Tertullian and Origen,in the latter part of the 
 second, and early in the third century, speak 
 of the Christians, as filling the cities, towns, 
 boroughs, islands, the camp, the forum and the 
 senate: and in the year 312, the empire of 
 Rome became nominally Christian. This rapid 
 progress, as has been shown at some length, is 
 very wonderful, considering the nature of the 
 religion — so uncompromising to the sins and 
 prejudices of men ; the formidable and com- 
 bined opposition made to it; the weakness of 
 the instrumentalities used in its advancement; 
 the fearful, legalized persecutions, which it 
 suffered, (ten in number,) reaching from the 
 middle of the first to the beginning of the 
 fourth century; in the last of which, under 
 Dioclesian, twenty thousand Christians were 
 
LECTURE VIII. 231 
 
 put to death, on one Christmas day, by order 
 of the emperor. Yet the religion triumphed 
 and prevailed, in despite of all hinderances. 
 How will you account for this fact ? Gibbon's 
 five natural causes, we have seen, are wholly 
 inadequate. Our weapons, in this warfare, 
 were not carnal, but spiritual and persuasive 
 — truth, meekness, love and martyrdom were 
 mighty, through God. Here is the cause, the 
 only efficient and adequate cause of the pre- 
 valence, and continuance of a religion, which 
 is too holy in its nature, and heavenly in its 
 im, to find favour from a world lying in sin. 
 How could Christianity have survived the 
 assaults of her outward foes, seconded by the 
 treachery and worldly policy of her professed 
 friends, till this date, had not the hand of the 
 Lord been with her, bringing good out of 
 evil, and making the wrath of man subserve 
 the purposes of his mercy? 
 
 Finally, we have seen the Christian minis- 
 try, instituted to carry out the principles of 
 d by divine favour, and 
 doing more for the reformation and good 
 order, the peace and intelligence of mankind, 
 than all other modes of popular instruction, 
 that have ever been devised ; thus, demon- 
 
232 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 strating its heavenly origin by it3 wholesome 
 fruits; unfolding the riches of free grace to 
 the poor of all climes; pouring the light of 
 life into the dark places of the earth; and, 
 gradually, bringing a revolted world back to 
 God, under the dominion of Messiah, the 
 Prince of peace, and only Saviour of lost men. 
 The preaching of the word, we have seen, is 
 a method of instruction wisely adapted to our 
 character and circumstances, and eminently 
 calculated to make us wise unto salvation, 
 and meet for that life and immortality which 
 the gospel reveals, and which the Redeemer 
 exemplified by his resurrection from the dead. 
 This ministry is a monument of the truth, 
 and divine authority of the doctrines, which 
 it is intended to promote and perpetuate. 
 The monument stands upon the facts; and 
 facts are things more solid and enduring than 
 the rocks of the Alps or the Andes. Or, to 
 use another figure, the preaching of the gos- 
 pel, is an original and abiding witness, testi- 
 fying to the peopled world repentance to- 
 wards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, as the way — the only way to eternal 
 life. The ministry of reconciliation is part 
 and parcel of the gospel system ; it is co-eval 
 
LECTURE Till. 233 
 
 with it; gives utterance to its good tidings; 
 expounds its meaning; opens its treasures; 
 urges its claims; publishes its promises, as 
 yea and amen in Christ Jesus, the chief cor- 
 ner stone and sure foundation of a sinner's 
 hope. In few words, the existence of the 
 Christian ministry cannot be accounted for 
 but upon the truth of the gospel narrative, 
 and, wherever it is exercised in its primitive 
 purity and simplicity, it bears along with it 
 unequivocal marks of a divine origin, in its 
 benevolent, peaceful and holy effects. 
 
 Now, to what conclusion do all these con- 
 siderations bring us, but that Jesus is the 
 Christ, the Son of God, and the Saviour of 
 the world? Here are seven distinct argu- 
 ments for the truth of the Christian religion, 
 not one of which has as yet been fairly refuted ; 
 seven streams of light meeting in the Sun of 
 righteousness, and yet we have not touched, 
 except incidentally, upon the internal evi- 
 dences; an important branch of the subject, 
 belonging more properly, however, to the 
 pulpit than to the press, and which addresses 
 itself to you every Sabbath day, and as often 
 as you read your Bibles. And why this accu- 
 mulation of evidence in presenting the histo- 
 21 
 
234 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 rical argument? A tithe of it would be 
 deemed satisfactory in ordinary matters. We 
 answer, because religion is founded in evi- 
 dence; and also because of the transcendent 
 importance of the inquiry. When the ques- 
 tion is, Who is the Saviour of the soul? and 
 who has the words of eternal life? the anx- 
 ious mind is not easilv satisfied. It demands, 
 and has reason to expect, more evidence than 
 would be satisfactory in temporal concerns. 
 Accordingly, the Redeemer claims our faith 
 amidst a cloud of witnesses; and he has de- 
 cided, that if we hear not these, or are not 
 convinced by their joint and harmonious testi- 
 mony, neither would ice be persuaded, though 
 one rose from the dead. 
 
 We trust enough has been said and proved, 
 in the foregoing series of lectures, to satisfy 
 the Christian that his faith is well founded, 
 and that he has good reasons for the hope that 
 is in him. If so, our labour will not be in 
 vain in the Lord. As to skeptics and gain- 
 sayers, we have had them in view also, and with 
 deep solicitude and prayer; but we are by no 
 means sanguine that any thing that has been 
 said, or that can be said, will be of much use 
 to them. We do not, indeed, despair of their 
 
LECTURE VIII. 235 
 
 conviction; for the grace revealed in the gos- 
 pel is free; — the Author and Finisher of our 
 faith is able to save to the uttermost. But their 
 feet are in a snare of their own net-work, from 
 which nothing short of an extraordinary ex- 
 ertion of redeeming power can rescue them. 
 That this gracious power may be exercised in 
 their favour, is and will be our sincere and 
 fervent prayer: — "Father, forgive them; for 
 they know not what they do ! " 
 
 We are sensible, after all, that the argu- 
 ment has not been presented on this occasion, 
 in its full strength and impressiveness. Others 
 in the same blessed cause, have done much 
 more and to better purpose. But we have 
 done what we could, in a given time. We 
 have cast in our two mites for the furtherance 
 of God's truth and nian ? s salvation. What- 
 ever of good may result from our feeble ef- 
 forts, will be through divine favour ; and to 
 the Author of all good be the praise ascribed. 
 
 There is an aspect of this question, not yet 
 prominently presented, which we beg leave 
 to submit, in closing our summary, just as it 
 lies in our own mind. It may be taken as a 
 sub-summary. Here is a religion, so holy in 
 its principles, and so benign in its influences 
 
236 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 that it could not have been got up by bad men, 
 for an evil purpose 5 so stupendous in its scope 
 and pretensions, that it is extremely difficult to 
 conceive of its having originated in a finite 
 mind. It has come down to us, moreover, 
 through such formidable obstacles, that we can- 
 not see how it could have reached us without 
 divine patronage ; and then it comprises natu- 
 ral religion, and all that is good in all other re- 
 ligions known to the world, besides its own pe- 
 culiar provisions; so that if its distinctive fea- 
 tures should fail, there would be safety in em- 
 bracing it; whereas, if it turn out to be true, 
 and true in all its peculiarities; if it is, as it pur- 
 ports to be, the only religion that comprises the 
 elements of salvation, for our apostate world, 
 there must be exceeding peril in rejecting it. 
 So it strikes us upon mature consideration; 
 and in this form, we leave the question with 
 you, for your decision, each one for himself, 
 and on his personal responsibility. For our- 
 selves, we have deposited our immortal in- 
 terests in the safety -chest of the gospel, which 
 contains the written covenant of man's re- 
 demption, believing it to be the only thing 
 of the kind that will survive the fires of that 
 day of the Lord, — coming as a thief in the 
 
LECTURE Till, 237 
 
 night, — when the heavens shall pass away with 
 a great noise, and the elements shall melt with 
 fervent heat, — the earth also, and the works 
 that are therein shall be burnt up! 
 
 But we promised some practical remarks, 
 before we conclude, Several have been sug- 
 gested in the course of the argument. And, 
 
 First We have not met the objections to 
 our religion, except incidentally, as they have 
 fallen in our way. The reason is, they are 
 too numerous to be noticed, formally, in so 
 limited a course. Many of them, moreover, 
 are too puerile and trifling to deserve any 
 serious notice. All that have any weight, or 
 even plausibility, have been answered and 
 refuted triumphantly, more than once. Those 
 who wish to see the answers in print, will find 
 them in several works, well known, asd of 
 easy access. As specimens, we recommend, 
 Leland's Review of the Deistical Writers of 
 Great Britain, Campbell; on Miracles, in an- 
 swer to Hume's objections, Keiths on the Ful- 
 filment of Prophecy, and Watson's Apology, 
 in answer to Paine's ribaldry. But it ought 
 to be known and remembered, that not one 
 of the chief works on the evidences of Chris- 
 tianity has ever been answered. Who, as 
 21* 
 
238 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Bishop Wilson asks, (who is himself one of 
 the ablest among them,) has answered Lard- 
 ner, Michaelis, Paley, Porteus, Thomas H. 
 Home, or even the brief and select arguments 
 of Lord Lyttleton, and Leslie's Short Method 
 with Deists? Scores of other able defences, 
 and some of them by living writers, lie in 
 book-stores, and on the shelves of libraries 
 unanswered, little known, and read by very 
 few. It will be time enough to deal with ob- 
 jections, raised out of the antiquities and mys- 
 teries of our faith, when its grand historical 
 proofs are fairly met, and candidly considered 
 by its adversaries. We respect sound argu- 
 ment and sober discussion, and will always 
 treat them with cour6esy and candour; but 
 we despise cavilling and ridicule: they are 
 the squibs and pop-guns of mischievous boys, 
 and the light missiles of depraved old men. 
 Fault-finding is an easy, and therefore a very 
 common business; and ridicule may be played 
 off by any fool on the gravest subjects ima- 
 ginable. It is not the test of truth — his lord- 
 ship of Shaftesbury, to the contrary notwith- 
 standing. 
 
 2. Our second remark respects the unac- 
 countable apathy of Christians, in regard to 
 
LECTURE VIII. 239 
 
 the defence of the great fundamental princi- 
 ples of their religion. The country is de- 
 luged with two-penny books, and penny news- 
 papers, designed to sap the foundation of our 
 best hopes. Paine's Age of Reason is distri- 
 buted through the land, with a zeal worthy 
 of a better cause. Lecturers, under the plau- 
 sible pretext of reforming society, are going 
 to and fro, preaching radicalism, assailing our 
 courts of law, our domestic economy, and re- 
 ligious institutions. One of these wandering 
 stars has recently mustered courage to ask 
 the use of our legislative hall at Washington, 
 that he may get at the heart of the nation 
 with his uprooting and pestiferous notions; 
 and, what is yet more alarming is, that an 
 aged and respectable member of our house 
 of representatives has moved to grant the pe- 
 tition. Here is a man of gray hairs, and of 
 some influence in his neighbourhood, who has 
 just issued from the press a furious attack 
 upon the Christian Sabbath, that will be in 
 the hands, and at the hearts of our reading 
 youth, ere long, for its author and origin 
 are close at hand. Full three-fourths of our 
 young men are practical infidels. You may 
 find them at the play-house, but not often in 
 
240 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 the house of God. Our baptized children are 
 attracted by their easy manners, and genteel 
 gait: (for every thing goes by attraction now- 
 a-days,) and, what will be the consequences 
 of these licentious measures? Judge ye. 
 But what are we doing to counteract these 
 poisonous influences? Why have we not lec- 
 tures in all our cities and populous towns on 
 the foundations of our Christian hope, made 
 attractive by the best talents that the church 
 can furnish? Where are the houses that can 
 be had for such services on the appropriate 
 day? How is it that none of our wealthy 
 Christians, who give and bequeath large 
 sums of money for other benevolent institu- 
 tions, never think of endowing lectureships 
 for the maintenance and defence of the great 
 doctrines and facts of our common Christi- 
 anity? Much has been done, and is now be- 
 ing done in Great Britain and elsewhere in 
 this way; and should we not attempt some- 
 thing of the kind ? The man that would now 
 take the lead in procuring and opening, for 
 the purpose just named such rooms as " The 
 Musical Fund Hall/' "The Chinese Saloon," 
 or "Concert Hall,' 7 of Philadelphia, would 
 certainly succeed, and, thus, render a service 
 
LECTURE VIII. 241 
 
 to the cause of gospel truth, for which coming 
 generations would rise up and call him blessed. 
 Something of this kind is due to ourselves, 
 to our children, and to our unbelieving fellow- 
 citizens, that they may know, without attach- 
 ing themselves to any particular denomina- 
 tion before they are prepared for it, the rea- 
 sons and grounds upon which we wish them 
 to be Christians. We beg that this hint may 
 not be lost sight of. It is practicable. 
 
 3. As a third remark, we wish it to be dis- 
 tinctly understood, that we do not believe in 
 the power of external evidence to convert the 
 soul to God, or inspire it with the love of re- 
 vealed religion. This is the work of the Holy 
 Spirit,— the Spirit of truth and holiness. But 
 the outward evidences are useful, and to be 
 used to prepare the way of the Lord. Reli- 
 gion is founded in evidence, as we have often 
 had occasion to remark. The heart is ordi- 
 narily reached through the understanding; 
 else its impression of truth will not be deep 
 and abiding. Religion is the most reasonable 
 thing in the world. To say, as some have said 
 and written, that it cannot bear the test of 
 reason, is a libel upon its Divine Author, for 
 which a man deserves to be ecclesiastically be- 
 
242 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 headed. We would, therefore, demonstrate 
 the deep and strong foundations of the hope 
 set before us, in the gospel, and, then, send 
 the sinner, laden with a sense of his obliga- 
 tions, to God on his throne of grace, for a new 
 heart and a right spirit. Such, in few words, 
 is our view of the proper place and use of the 
 outward evidences of our holy religion. And 
 this leads to our last remark, viz: 
 
 4. That whoever would be a Christian, in 
 deed and in truth, must go to God to be made 
 one. To believe the gospel intelligently, 
 and to feel the peace and bliss of believing, 
 we want, not only evidence which addresses 
 itself to the intellect, but a disposition to re- 
 ceive the truth in love, and abide by its de- 
 cisions. " If any man," says Christ, " will do 
 the will of God, he shall know of the doc- 
 trine, whether it be of God." The great 
 hinderance to our coming to the Saviour, or 
 acquiescence in the terms of the gospel sal- 
 vation, is an evil heart of unbelief, departing 
 from the living God. " Except a man be born 
 again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 
 The natural man receiveth not the things of 
 the Spirit; neither can he know them, because 
 they are spiritually discerned.' 7 Faith is the 
 gift of God, i. e., he disposes or inclines our 
 
LECTURE VIII. 243 
 
 hearts to embrace the truth, as it is in Jesus; 
 not that any coercive influence is brought to 
 bear upon us ; but we are made willing in a 
 day of his gracious power. What we want 
 is to feel this renovating power. Historical 
 faith the devils have, and yet hate God, and 
 say of his only begotten, " What have we to do 
 with thee, thou holy one of God ? " How, then, 
 is this heart to believe, to be obtained? By 
 prayer. Ask, and ye shall receive. "How 
 much more (i. e., than parents give good things 
 to their children) will your heavenly Father 
 give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him.'' 
 Yes, hearer, you must have help of God, or 
 you are undone. If, for your contempt of 
 his truth and grace, he be provoked to say of 
 you, as was said of Ephraim, "he is joined to 
 his idols, let him alone," you are lost for ever. 
 We, therefore, urge you, in the bowels of 
 mercy, to the throne of grace. And, as Christ 
 is the way, and the truth, and the life; and 
 you have no merit of your own, we beseech 
 you to go to God, in his name — his is " the only 
 name, under heaven, through which you can 
 be saved." But his blood cleanseth from all 
 sin: and "in him, it hath pleased the Father, 
 that all fulness should dwell." 
 
 THE EXD.