LIBRARY PRINCETON, N. J. . Ji No. Case. 0<^ /^ , BR A5 .6^5 1831 Bampton lectures THE POPULAR EVIDENCE or CHRISTIANITY: STATED AND EXAMINED. THOMAS WILLIAM LANCASTER, M. A. VICAR OF BANBURY, AND FORMERLY FELLOW OP QUEEN's COLLEGE, OXFORD. 'O MEFAS 'HMQN GEOS 'O K0IN02 'AHANTflN 2fiTHP KOINON 'AHASI TO *Q2 ESETEINEN. Constantin. M. apud Euseb. in Vita, lib. II. c. 71- J. PARKER, OXFORD : AND J. G. AND F. RIVINGTON, LONDON. MDCCCXXXI. OXFORD : PRINTED BY SAMT>feL COLLINGWOOD, EIGHT DISCOURSES PREACHED BEFORE THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, IN THE YEAR MDCCCXXXI. AT THE LECTURE FOUNDED BY /!/ THE LATE REV. JOHN BAMPTON/M. A.) L^C'Hl CANON OF SALISBURY. | ^ TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE DOWAGER BARONESS LYTTELTON. Madam, X HOPE I am not indulging an improper sentiment, in wishing thus to present the fruit of a recent labour, to a person, whose concur- rence with my views on other subjects has been to me a source of extreme gratifica- tion. Should the estimation of a literary work be in any way affected by considerations, dis- tinct from the things contained in it ; there a3 [ vi ] is no circumstance, which I should be more desirous of connecting with my appearance before the world, than the character of having been honoured with very obliging tokens of your Ladyship's friendship and respect. I have the honour to be. Madam, Your Ladyship's much obliged, and faithful humble servant. PREFACE. X HE present work contains passages, some of which require further illustration, while others might advantageously be corroborated by ad- ditional evidence. But these benefits cannot be accomplished without an inconvenient delay of publication. I shall only remark, therefore, that should the degree of attention bestowed on this book, be such as to justify a resumption of my labours : I purpose, if it be the Divine pleasure, to connect with it a vo- lume of supplementary dissertations. Should I be permitted to realize this purpose, I in- tend, that the following three subjects should be points of prominent consideration : namely, The criterion of the canonical authority of scriptural books ; The duration of miracu- lous powers in the church ; and. The vindi- cation of episcopacy, as a necessary part of an ecclesiastical constitution. Should my general reasoning be approved, a 4 viii PREFACE. it may contribute to illustrate its capacity of practical application, if I state, that the pre- sent work is nothing more than an expanded view of two sermons on the grounds of faith, belonging to a catechetical course, which it has been my practice to use in the sphere of my pastoral duty : the substance of those sermons being enlarged and modified, con- formably to the change of circumstances and hearers ; and more especially with a view to the answer of such objections, as are likely to occur to the minds of persons historically conversant with the subject. With regard to the notes, it is to be re- marked, that the matter contained in them is, in a great measure, presented in that form, only because the time allowed for the deli- very of these Discourses, would not permit the introduction of it into the text. I cannot deny myself the pleasure of em- bracing this method, of conveying my very thankful acknowledgments of the valuable information, and kind suggestions, which, in the course of my undertaking, I have occa- PREFACE. ix sionally received from a gentleman, whose pro- found and various learning, place him in the very highest rank of theological and literary eminence ; and whose great attainments are fully equalled, by his kind disposition to im- part the advantages of them. The gentle- man of whom I speak, is the Rev. Vaughan Thomas, B. D. and formerly fellow of Cor- pus Christi College in this University. Oxford^ June 8, 1831. priitcjbtoit cont1|j^ib:sbqlogigal ■«»■ MMmr^ Lect. I. SUBJECT STATED.— PRELIMINARY REMARKS. . P. I II. ON THE GROUNDS OF FAITH WHICH SCRIP- TURE ITSELF AFFORDS.— THE CANON OF SCRIP- TURE INQUIRED INTO ON ABSTRACT AND GE- NERAL PRINCIPLES 37 III. THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT HISTO- RICALLY EXAMINED 75 IV. THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT— THE EXTERNAL EVIDENCE 139 V. THE INTERNAL EVIDENCE 175 VI. THE FOREGOING VIEW VINDICATED FROM TEIE CHARGE OF ENCOURAGING FANATICISM ... 215 VII. THE USES AND ADVANTAGES OF LEARNING IN THE STUDY AND TEACHING OF CHRISTI- ANITY 245 VIII. ON THE THINGS REQUIRED IN ORDER TO QUALIFY MEN FOR THE BENEFIT OF GODS PROMISE RESPECTING THE MANIFESTATION OF HIS TRUTH 307 Chap. I. An opinion, relating to tlie evidence of Christianity is stated 1 II. The necessity of examining that opinion 2 III. It is contradictory to scripture 3 IV. Its injurious tendency 7 V. Considerations preliminary to the examination of it 13 VI. Uses and advantages of this examination 24 VII. The mischievous character of theological novelties 26 xii CONTENTS. VIII. The present inquiry remote from that character ... 30 IX. The evidences of Christianity, accessible to all condi- tions of mankind 37 X. The grounds of faith afforded by the Scriptures them- selves 40 XI. The Canon of the New Testament. Strong objections to the sentiments relating to this subject, of various learned men 44 XII. The authenticity of the Canon of the New Testament, capable of popular proof by the strongest moral evi- dence, without requiring the aid of antiquarian re- search 58 XIII. Analogy between the spiritual and temporal dispen- sations of the Deity 69 XIV. Incidental use of examining this subject histori- cally 75 XV. An objection stated 87 XVI. Sources of confusion and intricacy in the historical view of this subject 91 XVII. Explanation of the words catholic^ heretic, and schismatic 98 XVIII. A general principle laid down, for the solution of difficulties connected with this subject 100 XIX. The practice of the primitive church towards guard- ing and ascertaining the authenticity of the Scrip- tures 114 XX. Causes which operated to produce the settlement of the canon 126 XXI. Summary remarks on the foregoing subject ... 132 XXII. Recapitulation of the previous argument 139 XXIII. The canon of the Old Testament 142 XXIV. Tlie canon of Scripture received by the church of Rome 146 XXV. The reasoning of the last chapter applied to a pa- rallel case 150 XXVI. Translations of the sci'iptures may be regarded with reasonable security by those who do not under- stand the original tongues 152 CONTENTS. xiii XXVII. If the scriptures are authentic, it must follow, that Christianity is true. The mii'acles recorded in the New Testament must have been real 155 XXVIII. The martyrdoms and sufferings which attest those miracles, must also have been real 158 XXIX. These positions are as well proved from the nature of the case, which presents itself to every ordinary mind, as they are from historical testimony. The reality of miracles may be ascertained by reason, as well as by the senses 1 60 XXX. An undue repetition and frequency of miracles is in- consistent with the true intention and use of them 163 XXXI. Introduction to the subject of the Internal Evi- dence 170 XXXII. Importance of this subject to the present inquiry. 175 XXXIII. On the faculty of the mind which embraces the internal evidence of the scriptures. It is reasonable to suppose, that we may possess a spiritual, analogous to our bodily, perception 1 76 XXXIV. The existence of such a perceptive power cannot be disproved 178 XXXV. There are very strong grounds for inferring its reality , 179 XXXVI. Moral dispositions must concur with all intel- lectual exercise which relates to moral subjects ... 182 XXXVII. The condition of mind to which, according to the representations of scripture, the knowledge of di- vine truth is accessible 188 XXXVIII. The nature of the internal evidence 191 XXXIX. The evidence arising from the effects of Christ- ianity on the human character 199 XL. The nature of the subject from which the internal evidence of Christianity is properly derivable 206 XLI. Peculiar and distinct usefulness of certain pious and devotional books, which do not profess any authorita- tive character 212 xiv CONTENTS. XLII. An important inference flowing from the internal evidence 213 XLIII. Propriety of noting the characters by which reli- gious convictions, considered as the fruit of divine illu- mination, are distinguished from fanaticism 215 XLIV. Definition oi fanaticism 218 XLV. The introduction of Christianity so ordained by God, as to exclude, from the explanation of its origin, every possible supposition of fanaticism 219 XLVI. The principles of our religious convictions do not embrace any essential impossibility 222 XLVII. No presumption against revelation in general, can be reasonably grounded, otherwise than on a know- ledge of the divine will relating to this pohit : but this notion involves a contradiction 223 XLVIII. The grounds of Christian faith very remote from those of fanatical credulity 224 XLIX. The Christian character, in its general aspect, very remote from the fanatical character 226 L. The doctrine of illuminating and sanctifying grace viewed with regard to its moral concomitants and effects : these latter as opposite as possible to fanati- cism 230 LI. Christianity itself provides the strongest security against the danger of fanaticism 232 LII. This point is illustrated by historical examples 238 LIII. The religious and moral system of the holy Scrip- tures far more exempt from the suspicion of fanaticism than any other religious and moral system which has been known among mankind 23 1 LIV. The disesteem of human learning very injurious to Christianity 245 LV. Obligation of cultivating it 247 LVI. The case of Christians in general different, as to this point, from that of the pastors of the church 249 LVII. Advantage of learning towards displaying the evi- dence of Christianity 250 CONTENTS. XV LVIII. Its direct influence, in the removal of scriptural difficulties 252 LIX. The foregoing benefit leads to ulterior advantages. Difficulties are essentially inseparable from revealed religion 255 LX. Indirect application of learning to the evidence of Christianity 260 LXI. Principles which illustrate the useful application of it 264 LXII. Particular value, with reference to theology, of Tal- mudical and Rabbinical learning 277 LXIII. Further reflections on the foregoing subject... 280 LXIV. Use of learning towards the power of truly repre- senting the doctrines of Christianity 282 LXV. This is exemplified by a reference to the occasions and causes, in which various theological dogmas have first originated 286 LXVI. General remarks on the subserviency of human learning and science to theology 298 LXVII. The leading condition which is required in order to qualify men for the benefit of God's promise respect- ing the manifestation of his truth 307 LXVIII. Subordinate conditions 310 LXIX. Summary view of the proper qualifications for the benefit of that promise 313 LXX. The necessity of an authorized ministry more par- ticularly insisted upon 315 LXXl. The principles of the foregoing chapter applied to the consideration of pretensions to religious author- ity 323 LXXII. Application of the foregoing remarks to the lead- ing design of this treatise 328 LXXIJI. This subject has been much obscured and per- verted by latitudinarian sentiments 329 LXXIV. The cause of religion is in no danger of sustain- ing inconvenience from the conscientious fidelity of ministers in declaring the terms of salvation 332 LXXV. General application of the foregoing matters 334 CONTENTS. APPENDIX. Additional note on Lecture V. Extracts from Thucydides and Eusebius 353 Additional note on Lecture VIIL Academical studies 365 EXTRACT THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF THE LATE REV. JOHN BAMPTON, CANON OF SALISBURY. " I give and bequeath my Lands and " Estates to the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars " of the University of Oxford for ever, to have " and to hold all and singular the said Lands or " Estates upon trust, and to the intents and pur- " poses hereinafter mentioned ; that is to say, I " will and appoint that the Vice-Chan cellor of " the University of Oxford for the time being " shall take and receive all the rents, issues, and " profits thereof, and (after all taxes, reparations, " and necessary deductions made) that he pay all " the remainder to the endowment of eight Di- " vinity Lecture Sermons, to be established for " ever in the said University, and to be performed " in the manner following : " I direct and appoint, that, upon the first " Tuesday in Easter Term, a Lecturer be yearly xviii EXTRACT FROM " chosen by the Heads of Colleges only, and by " no others, in the room adjoining to the Print- " ing-House, between the hours of ten in the " morning and two in the afternoon, to preach "• eight Divinity Lecture Sermons, the year fol- " lowing, at St. Mary's in Oxford, between the " commencement of the last month in Lent Term, " and the end of the third week in Act Term. " Also I direct and appoint, that the eight Di- " vinity Lecture Sermons shall be preached upon " either of the following subjects — to confirm and " establish the Christian Faith, and to confute all '• heretics and schismatics — upon the divine author- " ity of the holy Scriptures — upon the authority of " the writings of the primitive Fathers, as to the " faith and practice of the primitive Church — upon " the Divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ " — upon the Divinity of the Holy Ghost — upon the " Articles of the Christian Faith, as comprehended '' in the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds. " Also I direct, that thirty copies of the eight " Divinity Lecture Sermons shall be always printed, " within two months after they are preached, and " one copy shall be given to the Chancellor of the " University, and one copy to the Head of every " College, and one copy to the Mayor of the city of " Oxford, and one copy to be put into the Bodleian " Library ; and the expense of printing them shall " be paid out of the revenue of the Land or Estates " given for establishing the Divinity Lecture Ser- " mons : and the Preacher shall not be paid, nor be " entitled to the revenue, before they are printed. CANON BAMPTON'S WILL. xix " Also I direct and appoint, that no person shall " be qualified to preach the Divinity Lecture Ser- " mons, unless he hath taken the degree of Master " of Arts at least, in one of the two Universities of *' Oxford or Cambridge ; and that the same person '"' shall never preach the Divinity Lecture Sermons '' twice." LECTUR PRIKGJSTOIT THSQLOGIG.tL ^^^ THE SUBJECT STATED.— PRELIMINARY REMARKS. Matt. xi. 5. The poor have the Gospel pleached to them. I. 1 HE claims of the gospel on the faith and obedience of mankind, are in themselves so powerful, that they impart a commanding interest to every consideration which may promote their due effect. Of these claims we cannot magnify the authority : we cannot brighten the joys which recommend, nor am- plify the terrors which enforce them : and we are concerned to remember, that they de- mand, not only our personal submission, but also our zealous efforts to procure the same submission in the hearts and lives of other men. It is plain then, that every contem- plation of principles, which may operate to advance or to obstruct the propagation of Christianity, ought to be attended with a strong feeling of duty and responsibility. On 2 LECTURE I. this general ground, without further intro- duction, I would rest the importance of the subject, which, in the present series of Lec- tures, I purpose to treat. I hasten then to state to you the point of inquiry to which I would call your attention. It may be represented in the following brief expression. The gospel demands to be re- ceived by all men to wJiom it is proposed : but it is contended, that the evidences of its ti^uth can, in some measure at least, be estimated by THE LEARNED ONLY: and that THE UN- LEARNED ARENAS TO THIS PARTICULAR, BOUND TO GIVE CREDIT TO THE LEARNED, and tO acquiesce in the conclusions of perso7is more competent than themselves. II. I will, in the next place, state the reasons why I consider this subject as one which de- mands investigation. These are, first, be- cause I am satisfied that the principle thus expressed is not true ; secondly, because I am equally satisfied that it is in itself perni- cious ; and, thirdly, because it appears to me to derive a peculiarly dangerous character from its extensive prevalence, and from the names by which I find it to be sanctioned. Of these reasons if we regard only the two former, then the matter might well be suf- fered to repose in silence. For many errors LECTURE I. 3 there are, which, because they are entertained by few, have little of evil consequence con- nected with them ; and the confuting of all such errors is a work without end : but a re- ligious error, which has at once an injurious character and an extensive influence, impera- tively demands confutation. That the sentiment is not true, it will be the purpose of the present series of Discourses to evince : and it will be my endeavour in the progress of my undertaking to demon- strate the contrary, by providing at length such a view of the proofs of revealed religion, as may suffice for the reasonable conviction of all men ; and by contending, as I advance, that such proofs, without requiring any de- ference of ignorance to the authority of learn- ing, are perfectly valid and tenable. III. But I deem it important to represent to you, in the very beginning, that the false- hood of the objectionable proposition appears to me to be fully declared by scripture itself For it is on principles wholly repugnant to that proposition, that revelation demands the assent of mankind. That it does so, may ap- pear from the tenour of the following texts. According to Solomon, the voice of Divine Wisdom addresses itself to mankind in a way, expressive of parental impartiality on the part B 2 4 LECTURE I. of God towards all his children : for it speaks to all with equal power and with indiscrimi- nate regard. For thus he declares the mat- ter : " Wisdom crieth without : she uttereth " her voice in the streets : she crieth in the " chief place of concourse, in the openings " of the gates : in the city she uttereth her " words ^" This may serve to illustrate a general principle of the Divine government : but it may not be thought sufficiently close in its application to the Christian dispensa- tion. It may be considered then, that our blessed Saviour ^ in applying a prediction of Isaiah % declares himself " to have been anointed to " preach the gospel to the poor :" and that Jeremiah, with reference to evangelical times, speaks respecting them thus : " They shall " teach no more every man his neighbour, " and every man his brother, saying, Know " the Lord : for they shall all know me, from " the least of them unto the greatest of them, " saith the Lord^." " The grace of God," says St. Paul, "that " bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all " men ^ " While these words declare an im- partial communication of Divine truth ; they "" Prov. i. 20, 21. '' Luke iv. 18, 21. <" Isa. Ixi. i. •' Jer. xxxi.34. " Tit. ii. u. LECTURE I. 5 seem, by consequence, to exclude the notion of a readier access to it being afforded to one class of men than to another. In the following words of our Lord, this notion appears to be strongly discounte- nanced : for it exhibits to the poor and un- learned a superior measure of favour propor- tioned to their greater need. " I thank thee, " O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, be- " cause thou hast hid these things from the " wise and prudent, and hast revealed them " unto babes. Even so, Father : for so it " seemed good in thy sight ^" In the text which follows, it will appear, that a willingness to obey the truth, is made the condition of being enabled to find it : and the promise is unconnected with any sti- pulation for giving credit to the dubious tes- timony of other men. " If any man," says our Lord, " will do his will, he shall know " of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or " whether I speak of myself^." The same promise is more strongly and explicitly conveyed in another text : " He " that hath my commandments, and keepeth " them, he it is that loveth me : and he that " loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and " I will love him, and will manifest myself ' Matt, xi, 25, 26. a John vii. 17, B 3 6 LECTURE I. " to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, " Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thy- " self unto us, and not unto the world ? Jesus " answered and said unto him, If a man love " me, he will keep my words : and my Fa- " ther will love him, and we will come unto " him, and make our abode with him ''." Of such passages I am unwilling to dismiss the notice without a remark. That for which I contend is, I think, not only a doctrine, but a discrhninative doctrine, of scriptural religion. That the poor have the gospel preached to them, is not only an essential principle of the evangelical dispensation ; it is not only (as in the words prefixed to this Discourse) alleged as a peculiar characteristic of the true Mes- siah ; but it also carries with it, if I mistake not, a forcible condemnation of a corrupt doc- trine relating to this point, which, at the time of our Lord's ministry, was sanctioned by the Jewish traditions. Of this corrupt doctrine a vestige may perhaps be discovered in that saying of the Pharisees ; "This rabble' which " knoweth not the law." It is certain, at least, that the inaptitude of common minds to the purpose of religious apprehension, is fully declared in the rabbinical theology of later times : the doctrines of which are, as ^' Johnxiv. 21 — 23. ' "Ox^os. .Johnvii.49. LECTURE I. 7 their leading particulars, easily proved to be the same with the Jewish traditions of our Saviour's time ''. But, in fact, it can hardly be doubted, on a mere view of the scripture statement, that this was the estimate, which the Jewish doctors of this period entertained of the poor : for, if they did not regard and treat them as improper subjects for religious instruction ; how could the contrary prin- ciple and practice be noted as a characteristic peculiarity and criterion of the Messiah ? It will naturally occur, that some of the fore- going citations will, if viewed in connexion with this circumstance, carry with them a stronger and more emphatic import. IV. It is upon the strength of such repre- sentations I am fully persuaded, that the evi- dence which scripture professes to afford of its own truth, is of a nature wholly different from that which is sometimes prescribed for the bulk of mankind. This persuasion I pur- pose, by God's help, fully to vindicate. Mean- while I am, by the texts now recited, justified •^ Thus Maimonides lays it not, by regular process, be ac- dovvn that a long preparatory quired without this prepara- course of human learning and tion ; and that the defect of science, embracing logic, ma- such prepai'ation must, in the thematics, and natural philo- generality of mankind, be com- sophy, is a necessary step of pensated by cabahstical in- advancement to Divine know- struction. Mose Nevochim,^ars ledge : that even the existence I. eh, 34. p. 46. ed. Basil. 1629. of a God is a truth, which can- B 4 8 LECTURE I. in so far assuming the falsehood of the pro- position which I desire to repel, as may en- title me to speak of its injurious effect. In- deed, to argue against its tendency without a presumption of its falsehood, would be some- thing worse than mere wantonness of disqui- sition. For it is in all cases unreasonable to expect, that we can promote utility, or elude inconvenience, by a departure from truth : and it is no less than impiety to think, that we can do so by any departure from that truth, which God has revealed, and which we, therefore, without any timorous calcula- tion of consequences, are bound to embrace. To decline this obligation, is to measure our own wisdom against the understanding of God : for his truth was imparted with a view to our welfare, and our welfare can be se- cured only by our conformity to it. It is supposed, then, that while the gospel affords to the learned full proof of its au- thority, it is nevertheless needful that others should lean upon their report, and thus sup- ply from testimony the defects of knowledge. The mischiefs and inconveniences of this supposition are now to be displayed. It cannot then be denied, that on this foot- ing, the number of those who are able to satisfy themselves is very small : a serious mat- LECTURE I. 9 ter indeed, when you reflect, that the point, on which satisfaction is required, is no less than the way of everlasting life. It is also to be remembered, that such number not only is, but unavoidably 7nust be, small : for the state of the world renders it impossible that many should be able to obtain the learning, which is competent to discover or to esti- mate the whole body of external evidence adduced for the proof of the gospel : and an attempt to alter the state of human society, so that every man should have ready access to historical records and ancient testimonies, together with a just comprehension of their use, would at once be condemned as a pro- ject of philosophical insanity. Shall it then be said, that those who are not themselves competent to this point, must rest their credit on others who are ? If so, let me claim your attention to the difficul- ties inherent in this proposal. The first ques- tion is, who are the learned ? Here the igno- rant are to decide on the qualification of those who are to judge for them : which if they can do, they might better, as a shorter path to truth, decide the main question for them- selves at once. In the next place, of the learned themselves, there are many of deep and various erudition, who nevertheless, as 10 LECTURE I. to this branch of inquiry, are little superior to the generality of mankind. Nor do I say this as a topick of reproach : for it will be an obvious consequence of the leading principle which I purpose to maintain, that if they are so, their convictions may nevertheless be sound and reasonable, and they may know assuredly of the doctrine, that it is of God. This may help us to see, how very vague and un- defined are the ideas employed in this pro- position. But these are not all the difficul- ties which it presents. You may perhaps find a learned writer deeply versed in such inqui- ries, and one whose testimony to the au- thority of revelation is full and satisfactory : yet the same writer will be found to con- nect with such testimony a profession of he- terodox opinions. What in this case must be done? Shall we give him credit with re- spect to the evidence of the gospel, and deny it with regard to his Arian, or Socinian, or Romish tenets ? Surely we here want some clue of discrimination : for it cannot be de- nied, that the same department of learning, which furnishes the materials for the exter- nal evidence of the gospel, provides also very influential facts for the illustration and con- firmation of its most essential doctrines. If Bull and Horsley provided from such regions LECTURE I. 11 of knowledge a vindication of the doctrine of the blessed Trinity ; be it remembered, that Lardner travelled over the same extended tracts, and was nevertheless a Socinian. But still the worst is to come. The ignorant are referred to the learned : now the learned have sometimes given their verdict on the side of infidelity. Nor is this to be said of general learning only : for it applies to that particular branch of it which furnishes the external evi- dence of Christianity. If for instance, when considering the external evidence, you would appeal to writers like Cave and Tillemont, to supply the want of that personal know- ledge which cannot be attained without learn- ing and leisure : if, I say, you would appeal to them, why will you not allow an appeal to Toland and to Gibbon ? Should it be said, with respect to such writers, that their learn- ing is incompetent, or that it has been over- rated : how are the ignorant to judge of that? You surely would not reject the appeal on the ground of the infidelity of the judges : for this is nothing less than begging the ques- tion, and declaring, that you will consent to no appeal without a previous security that the award will be favourable. " Be ready always," says St. Peter, " to give " an answer to every man that asketh you a 12 LECTURE I. " reason of the hope that is in you '." Suppose, then, an unlettered man, when thus interro- gated, to allege the authority of the learned. Would not the answer be nugatory, inasmuch as the answerer cannot know who is learned ? Would it not be dangerously indeterminate, requiring him to carry his assent further than you w^ould be willing that it should go? Lastly, would it not be dangerously hazard- ous, putting it upon an uncertain issue, whe- ther the authority thus appealed to, would decide in favour of the gospel, or in favour of infidelity ? It is for these reasons I cannot think that such an answer would be agree- able to the mind of the apostle, or of God who directed him. These remarks will of course be seen to apply exclusively to that part of the evidences which is peculiarly denominated eocternal. What then shall w^e say of the external evi- dence ? Shall we dismiss it altogether, as of no use to the decision of the great question ? God forbid : for God has himself afforded this attestation to his blessed doctrine : it will therefore be our wisdom that we take heed to those means of conviction which he has mercifully provided. But I would Iiave the external evidence placed upon a footing very ' 1 Pet. iii. 15. LECTURE I. 13 different from that precarious one which I have described. That this may be done in a way satisfactory to all reasonable men, is one of the great points which 1 desire to evince. V. Here there occur certain preliminary considerations, of which, in order to a due statement of the question, the notice is in- dispensably necessary. First, If the evidence of the gospel can- not be estimated without deep acquirements of learning ; then, viewed as a dispensation which commands a reasonable assent, we can- not easily discover how it can be well adapted to the state of human life. For this state admits not the possibility of affording to the great bulk of mankind, those advantages, of which the present supposition contemplates the necessity : nor can we imagine any possible arrangement of human society, which shall be capable of affording them. But the contrary of this is what we are bound to maintain. The gospel is worthy of all men to be re- ceived : it demands the assent of no man with- out reasonable conviction : its power of con- viction must therefore be adapted to produce its due effect, without violating the order of the world : for its professed tendency is not to disturb, but to maintain this order. In our 14 LECTURE I. endeavours then to establish this point, it behoves us to consider what measure of ad- vantages, conducive to a just comprehension of the evidences of the gospel, may be afford- ed to all men without breaking in upon the settled relations and subordination of society. Here it will hardly be thought too much that all should be capable of reading the scrip- tures : for this power has not been found by experience to carry with it any detriment to social interests. I would therefore in gene- ral contend, that the power of reading the Scriptures is, in the way of education, amply sufficient in order to attain the knowledge needful for salvation. But I beg it to be understood, that if the case be supposed of a man to whom this humble attainment is wanting ; I would not therefore admit the impossibility of that man attaining a reason- able surety of his faith. And when I say rea- sonable, I mean a conviction distinct on the one hand from that which we may suppose to be miraculously produced by God, and on the other, most clearly distinct from every groundless or fanatical persuasion. For to say that such conviction is impossible, appears to me to limit the omnipotence of God with regard to the power of producing it: it is also contradictory to fact, inasmuch as tliere LECTURE I. 15 were vast multitudes of real and reasonable converts, w^ho, having embraced the gospel before a single book of the New Testament was composed, must obviously have been with- out the advantage of reading any portion of that volume. It is obvious to remark, that the two cases are different ; that eyewit- nesses of miracles and martyrdoms, and ear- witnesses of men who gave their testimony at the peril of their lives, were differently cir- cumstanced from those who look only to the records of a remote age. But this differ- ence, such as it is, relates only to the ki7ids of external evidence enjoyed by them and by us : respecting which I trust it will appear in the sequel, that although our external evi- dence be different from theirs, it is neverthe- less as strong as reason and candour can de- mand: in which case, that difference does not affect my argument. It will not, however, be improper to mention, as a fact illustrative of this subject, that Irenaeus, with reference to his own age, declares, that there were vast multitudes of Christians, who, without the advantage of reading, had imbibed the doc- trine of salvation by methods purely oral and catechetical ; but whose faith nevertheless appears to have been of the most rational character, since it was accompanied not only 16 LECTURE I. with a firm determination of purpose, but also with conspicuous evidence of great sobriety, wisdom, and virtue. Nay, it further appears from this same Father, that the simple in- struction thus afforded was found sufficient, not only for the purpose of an assured faith, but also of a sound doctrine : so that men thus furnished should be able, not only to repel the attacks of infidels, but also to silence the contradiction of heresy, and pro- tect their minds from the sophisms of he- terodox teachers. Such is the import of the words of Irenaeus"': if the statement should seem too strong, let me remind you, that the catechetical discipline of the ancient church is now lost; and let me beg of you, not to esti- "^ Quid autem si neque apo- sunt : quantum autem ad sen- stoli quidem scripturas reliquis- tentiam, et consuetudinem, et sent nobis.'' Nonne oportebat conversationem, propter fidem ordinem sequi traditionis quam perquam sapientissimi sunt, et tradiderunt iis quibus commit- placent Deo, conversantes in tebant ecclesias ? Cui ordinati- omni justitia, ct castitate, et oni assentiunt multae gentes sapientia. Quibus si aliquis an- barbarorum, eorum qui in nuntiaverit ea, quae ab hsret- Christum credvmt sine charta icis adinventa sunt, proprio et atramento scriptam habentes sermone eorum colloquens, sta- per Spiritiun in cordibus suis tim concludentes aures longo salutem, et veterem traditi- longius fugient, ne audire qui- onem diligenter custodientes. dem sustinentes blasphemuni [Here follows a statement of colloquium. Sic per ill:un ve- some of the leading principles terem apostolorumtraditioneni, of the Christian faith : after ne in conceptionem quidem which the writer proceeds mentis admittunt, quodcunque thus.] Hanc fidem qui sine eorum portentiloquiuni est. /re- literis crediderunt, quantum 7iieus Conl. liar, lib. III. c. 4. ad sermonem nostrum barbari ed. Paris. 1710. LECTURE I. 17 mate the effects of that discipline from any thing which you may discover in a state of things under which it is discontinued. Secondly, you will remember my having declared, with regard to the principle I de- sire to contravene, that it is contrary to the promise of God. On this declaration I wish most strongly to insist. Faith, though it be required that it be reasonable and grounded upon evidence, is nevertheless the gift and the grace of God. As such, it is the subject of his promise and his covenant. But it must be carefully borne in mind, that this promise is not unconditional. That learning, or a deference to learning, forms no part of its conditions, I have already declared. But yet, conditions there are, to which the pro- mise is subject : we have seen, for instance, that a willingness to obey is one of them : for the promise is, to him that is willing to do the will of God. The benefit is pro- posed to mankind only in connexion with particular circumstances : suppose then any of these circumstances to be found want- ing ; it cannot, in that case, invalidate my argument, it cannot evince a failure of the Divine promise; if the benefit be not real- ized to the souls of men. That I may ex- plain myself, sufficiently for the present, I c 18 LECTURE I. would say for example, that this benefit can, by virtue of God's promise, be expected only in connection with the services of a lawful ministry, appointed by God. For it is plainly in connection with sucli ministration that the promise of God is made. Other requisites there also are to entitle a man to the benefit of this promise : these it will not at present be necessary to consider, since I would not now particularize further than is required for the sake of explaining myself. But it will in a future stage of this disquisition be ne- cessary forme to enter more at large into the consideration of these requisites. This will be in order to shew, what are the things required in order to place a man within the condition, to which the promise of God's co- venant, respecting the grace of faith, is an- nexed. It will thus be made to appear, that these requisites are not such as to demand, in order to verify the authority of revelation, that we should break the order of the world, by lifting men out of tlieir proper stations, or by calling them away from their laborious duties and menial occupations, to the re- searches of learning : but that they are, on the contrary, things essentially, and by the declared will of God, connected with the appointed method of teaching the Christian LECTURE I. 19 faith : that they are in Scripture represented, as indispensable concomitants to the effectual and convincing ministration of the Divine Word : that they are such, as no ordinary condition of man needs to exclude : that they are, by the constitution of the church to which w^e belong, made accessible to all men : and that, in every instance where there does not occur either a culpable neglect of pastoral duty, or an anomalous want of adequate regu- lation in matters of detail, the practice of the church agrees with its legitimate polity. Thirdly, While I disclaim all submission to human authority in matters of faith, I am not bound wholly to forego the allegation of facts which rest upon human testimony. For there are facts known in a manner to all men, or which, by every man enjoying the most ordinary communication with his fellow crea- tures, 7nay be known, from an universal con- currence of report: such, for example, as the existence of a nation called the Jews, and their belief in the Scriptures of the Old Tes- tament. In this case, the credit which is given to a fact, is not a deference to human authority, but to reason : because reason may satisfy every man, that the falsehood of testi- mony thus unanimous, relating to matter not of judgment and opinion, but of fact; that c 2 20 LECTURE I. such falsehood, I say, cannot be imagined, without carrying along with the contempla- tion of it incredible and absurd consequences. Such is the nature of the testimony to a fact which is known to all men who know any thing of the matter ; unanimously declared to be true ; never pronounced to be false ; never even questioned : and which presents a phenomenon, which the supposition of truth at once adequately solves, which no other supposition can explain, and which imparts a character of palpable folly to those, who dis- believe it, or who attempt to substantiate a possibility of its falsehood. But this is far different from resting on the credit of others, either the general question respecting the truth of Christianity, or any subordinate question connected with the general issue : such, for instance, as the validity and genuine- ness of the Scriptural canon. The former is a case of reasonable assent, the latter of blind submission : the one rests upon moral evidence, the other upon human authority: in the one instance, the appeal to testimony is safe, and the award is sure : in the other, the award is uncertain, and the appeal dangerous. But I would observe, that even of facts thus attested, 1 shall make a very sparing use : for it seems to me, and I would hope to satisfy LECTURE I. 21 you, that all the data required for the most satisfactory proof, are in this case remarkably few and simple, and within the reach of the most ordinary knowledge. Indeed I might, perhaps, without violating the hypothesis on which I am bound to reason, be entitled to a much larger use of facts thus attested. For the case must not be argued on a partial re- gard to the particulars which belong to it : we have no right to omit any considerations which are essential to the right view of it. We are therefore to remember, that we are, in the present case, to have an eye, not only to intrinsic grounds of proof and of probability belonging to the doctrine itself : we are also to have an eye to the promise of God respect- ing the manifestation of that doctrine to the soul of man ; and Ave are to have an eye also to the Providence of God, in the commu- nication of any facts which may be required for the reasonable evidence of it. With re- gard to his promise, we are sure that it cannot fail : with regard to his providence, we know that it lacketh not wisdom or power towards the fulfilment of the Divine Word. But this consideration does not in the least mar the validity of my argument ; which stands firm and unshaken, so long as it ap- pears that the facts and principles required c 3 22 LECTURE I. for the assurance of a reasonable faith are not of such a nature, that they cannot be attained consistently with the necessary business of the world, or without a recumbency on the verdict of other men, who may err, and who may deceive. Fourthly, I would notice an objection which may be advanced against the great principle for which I contend. It may be said : If the case be so, you may ascertain it by experiment, and the poor man, whom you suppose to be capable of a reasonable faith, may be called upon to give his reasons : this, however, it will be found, is what they can seldom or never do. But it is a vain fallacy to think that poor men cannot attain rea- sonable convictions, because they are not able to unfold a reasonable account of them. It is one thing to think correctly, and another, to frame the enunciation of those thoughts agreeably to the principles of logic and of rhetoric. It often, and indeed most commonly happens, that the power of ex- pression does not keep pace with the power of thought. I would add, that it may be doubted, whether the presumption be in this case true : for if you suppose the communi- cation of Divine knowledge to be accom- panied with such instruction as the Gospel LECTURE I. 23 itself demands, and which no circumstances of human hfe will be found to forbid ; if you suppose this, I say: then I conceive that the contrary of that presumption will in general be found apparent. But it seems to me, that our estimate of this matter is in some degree vitiated by a common habit of depreciating the understandings of men in humble life : and it has occurred to me, that it is too com- mon, respecting the habits, capacities, and pro- pensities of the poor, to meet with dogmatical judgments pronounced by persons, who are by experience and intercourse as little qua- lified to form an estimate of the subject, as they are to estimate the character of the in- habitants of any remote region to which the navigation of Europeans has not yet ex- tended. This is a sore evil among the things which are done under the sun : for a spe- culative error on such a point must lead to very bad practical results. No man will scatter his seed on ground which he fully esteems to be barren. Fifthly, the tenor of my argument, if it be judged of in the present stage of the inquiry, may be thought likely to open a door to fa- naticism, and to depreciate the usefulness of learning. I therefore deem it important to make, relating to this matter, a preliminary c 4 24. LECTURE I. explanation. It will be then my studied endeavour to point out the difference be- tween a reasonable faith and a fanatical per- suasion ; and to shew you, that the former is the point to which the evidences of Chris- tianity, stated according to the principles for which I contend, is adapted to conduct the mind. It will also be my endeavour to vin- dicate the usefulness of learning in its subser- viency to religion ; to maintain its necessity to the advocate who is called upon to defend its truth against the objections of the learn- ed; and to shew its manifest advantage to the ministry towards the establishment of evi- dence, and the distinction of true from adul- terate doctrine. VI. It is proper that I should now lay be- fore you a view of the uses and advantages which, if this inquiry should be successful and satisfactory, appear to me to be the pro- per fruits of it. Among these, no inconsi- derable one will be found to present itself in that which has been already adverted to. The Gospel embraces in it a mighty interest, far surpassing every other : to defend this must be not only a holy cause, but one su- premely important. It cannot therefore be a matter of trifling benefit, to substitute, in the methods employed for its vindication, a LECTURE I. 25 strong and impregnable point in the place of one which is assailable and weak. You cannot also but perceive the simplicity, power, and effect, which it is calculated to give to our endeavours for the instruction of com- mon minds in the grounds and reasons of their faith. Every man should be able to give a reason for his faith : to enable him to do so, must be a leading aim of the pastoral office : and certainly this labour must be much facilitated by placing the evidence of the Gospel on a footing, which does not refer a man either to inaccessible records, or to a doubtful, dangerous, and incompetent authority. Again; consider the matter with relation to the methods of propagating the Gospel. It is the will of God that all men should come to the knowledge of the truth : yet a vast portion of the world still lieth in dark- ness. I say then, let no man forget what, as to this point, is his duty, what will be the penalty of his neglect. " Woe unto that man " by whom the offence cometh !" If this sub- ject be rightly viewed, we shall gladly avail ourselves of any methods which may facili- tate the reasonable conviction and conver- sion of the heathen. Yet you cannot but see, that the learning which belongs to the 26 LECTURE I. common systems of external evidence is far too cumbersome for the office of the mis- sionary, and wholly unavailable to the cir- cumstances of ignorant heathens. How^ much then of difficulty and complication must be removed from the work of an evange- list, if the range of argument (which is to supply the grounds of conversion) shall be narrowed to the scriptural volume itself, and to the common measures, derived from the common sources, of human knowledge ; re- quiring, for their application to the unbe- lieving mind, no other human medium than the labours of a lawful ministry ? For these advantages are in their own nature, if they be not withholden,. accessible to all men, and were always designed to accompany the pub- lication of the Gospel. VII. These considerations may perhaps be thought sufficiently strong to claim your at- tention to the subject. But I would add a few words, previously to the close of my pre- sent address, for the sake of removing a mis- taken impression which may have arisen re- specting my undertaking. There are few principles more detrimental to the advancement of useful knowledge, than the maxim of conduct which, as Xenophon relates, was professed by an ancient sophist ; LECTURE I. 27 " I endeavour to say always something new'\" Wherever this principle is acted upon, there it is obvious, that truth, however salutary, must be disesteemed only because it is gene- rally acknowledged ; and that however ne- cessary, it must give way to the captivation of novelty and the praise of invention. To discover truth and to impart it are the only legitimate aims of inquiry ; and it is not only vain, but greatly culpable, to think of displaying the powers of the mind by their abuse, and their strength by the boldness of their deviations. Suppose it should occur, that a powerful talent can find no employ- ment in vindicating settled opinions ; this can be no justifiable cause for disturbing the ac- quiescence of mankind in their reasonable convictions. The talent which cannot exert itself as the auxiliary of truth, must be con- tent with inactivity. It is the more necessary to restrain this propensity, because it natu- rally seeks an alliance with error. For the defence of error is more favourable to inge- nuity than that of truth : it is also more pro- pitious to literary ambition : the most admir- ing portion of mankind are the ignorant and the weak : and with them, the meretricious " Ufipcofiai Kaivov ti Xeyecv ati. Mem. 1. iv. C. 4- 28 LECTURE I. colours of paradox are more imposing than the modest raiment of soberness and truth. He who departs from received and established doctrines has too often a bribe from his own vanity, which whispers to him that he is able to think for himself, and that his understand- ing is not enslaved to the dogmas of his fore- fathers. How injurious then must this disposition be as it affects theology ! Here there is a mighty interest pending, and the case is far different from that of human science and phi- losophy ; in which oftentimes the deductions of ingenious men may be either sound or fal- lacious without any material influence on the welfare of human life. How mischievous it has been in its prac- tical effects, must be known to every one who is in any degree acquainted with the troubles and dissensions which have in every age dis- turbed the peace of the church, and the mul- titude of deadly heresies which from time to time have been generated by the disappointed ambition of one and the successful ambition of another. Consider, again, the same disposition in its essential principles and character. Fix upon any one leading ])rinciple of the Christian LECTURE I. 29 faith : I say not one, whose truth or essen- tial connection with the Christian scheme has never been controverted; for, alas, not one such there is ! But fix upon any one of those leading principles of Christianity, which we, by our confession and conviction, recognise as indispensable to the covenant of salvation. Then reflect on the unspeakable love of God in the promulgation of it : for greater love there cannot be, than that which gave to man- kind the Gospel, and this principle is an es- sential portion of it. Consider also the deadly peril of the souls of men, in being alienated from the way of eternal life : for this in fact they are, when they are deprived of any one principle belonging to the integrity of the Christian scheme. Consider, then again, the moral feeling of that man, who views such a principle as a subject for the display of con- troversial powers, or a path to distinction and honour. Are the lives and souls of men to be thus endangered by the vain ambition of man ? " Our faith," says Tertullian, " depends " upon a rule : it has a law for its government, " and salvation for the reward of its obedi- *' ence : but this exercise of the mind consists *' in vain speculation, and has nothing but ap- '' plause for the prize of its ingenuity. Let " wanton speculation then submit to the law 30 LECTURE I. " of faith, and let us sacrifice applause to sal- " vation°." VIII. While thus alive to the danger of in- fusing novelty into the representations of sacred truth, I am in some degree fearful, lest it be thought that such an attempt is involved in the present undertaking. For so numerous and so eminent are they who have sanctioned the principle which I purpose to dispute, that a departure from their sentiments may incur the suspicion of a wanton singularity. But I shall effectually obviate this by what I am about to say. The view which I desire to maintain has not, that I am aware, hitherto been made the subject of any regular and extended disquisition. Nevertheless, that view presents no novelty in itself : it has been held by others, and it comes to us under the re- commendation of various eminent theological writers. It is not my purpose to maintain any thing beyond what they have held ; but merely to verify by proof the sentiments which they have expressed. This will appear from the citation of a few authorities, to which, in conclusion, I shall now refer. The first of these is Arnobius : a writer to ° Fides in regula posita est, habens gloriam solani de peri- habens legem, et salutem de tite studio. Cedat curiositas fi- observatione legis : exercitatio dei, cedat gloria saluti. Ter- auteiu in ciu-iositate consistit, tull. de Prescript. Hferet. c. 14. LECTURE I. 31 whose judgment, perhaps, on a point of Christian doctrine, no great deference may be due. But I allege his sentiments, because the expression of them, though full and strong, does not in my opinion carry with it any over- statement: and though it be adverse to a principle of some modern theologians, it is quite concurrent with the general judgment of the ancient writers of the church. " Shall " it be said," observes Arnobius, " that the " Christian religion cannot maintain itself " without the aid of men to vindicate its " truth ? Or, shall its truth be said to depend " on the warrant!/ and autliority of man? No, " Christianity is sufficient for itself in its own " inherent strength, and stands firm upon the " basis of its own inherent truth : it could lose " none of its power, though it had not a single " advocate. Nay, it would maintain its ground " though all the tongues of men were to con- " tradict and to resist it, and to combine with " rage and fury to effect its destruction p." P Neque enim stare sine as- onines contra faciant contraque sertoribus non potest religio nitantvir, et ad fidem illius ab- Christiana? Aut eo esse com- rogandam consensionis unita? probabitur vera, si adstipula- animositate conspirent. Arno- tores habuerit plurimos, et auc- bius adv. Gentes, lib. III. c. i. toritatem ab hominibus sump- To the same effect is the fol- serit ? Suis ilia contenta est lowing : Non eeqiialiter liberal viribus et veritatis propriiE fun- [Christus] qui sequaliter omnes daminibus nititur : nee spolia- vocat .'' aut ab indulgentia pi'in- tur sua vi.etiamsi nullum habe- cipali quenquam repellit aut at vindicem : immo, si linguee respuit, qui sublimibus, infi- 32 LECTURE I. My other authorities will claim your re- spect for the intrinsic value of their judg- ment, and for their zealous and conspicuous orthodoxy. Of these I will first adduce the splendid name of the great Athanasius : who expresses himself briefly but fully to this ef- fect : " The Christian faith carries within it- " self the discovery of its own authority, and " the holy scriptures, which God has inspired, " are all sufficient in themselves for the evi- " dence of their own truth "i." mis, servis, feminis, pueris, uni- formiter potestatem veniendi adse facit ? Patet, inquit, omnibus FONS viT^, 7ieque ab jure pot andi quisqiimn prohibetur aut peUitiir. Id. ibid. lib. II. c. 64. " Does " not Christ, who calls aU men " to him with equal regard, " bestow his liberty on them " with the same impartiality .'' " Does he repel any man from " the experience of his royal " clemency :-' Christ, I say, " who, without respect to persons, " affords to high and low, to " slaves, to women and to chil- " dren, the povjer of coming to " him. The well of life, says " he, IS OPEN TO ALL : every " man has a right to drink there- " of, and no man is subject to " prohibition or restraint." In like manner Lactantius, (about the commencement of the se- venth book of his Divine Insti- tutions,) speaking of the evi- dences of Christianity, says, that to all men in whom vice does not awaken prejudice, these evidences will appear open, plain, simple, true and irrefragable ; but that, generally speaking, they are mat- ter of readier apprehension to the poor than to the rich: inasmuch as the poor are disengaged from those possessions and attach- ments which vitiate the under- standings of the rich. And again Clement of Alexandria, speaking on the same subject, and to the same effect, says : AvToreX-qs Kai aTrpocrbetjs rj Kara Tov ^aiTrjpa 8i8aa-KaXia, SwafMis ovcra Kai crofpia tov Geov. " The " doctrine of our Saviour is " perfect in itself, requiring no " extraneous help, since it is the " power and wisdom of God." Strom, lib. I. c. 20. ^ AvrapKeis eicriv at ayiai Kai BeoTTveviTTOi ypacj)ai TTpos ttjv ttjs akj)6eias anayyeXtav. Orat. contra Gent. c. I. The sense of this illustrious Father on this subject, in agreement with the princi- ples maintained in these Lec- tures, may be further gathered from the 30th and 34tli chap- LECTURE I. 33 The second of these authorities is that of a prelate, who has signalized his learning and his argumentative powers in vindicating the same doctrine which had previously exercised the bright genius and noble constancy of Athanasius. " What," says bishop Horsley, " is the great foundation of proof to those " who are little read in history, and ill quali- " fied to decipher prophecy, and to compare it " with the records of mankind ? Plainly this, " which the learned and ignorant may equally " comprehend : the intrinsic excellence of the " doctrine, and the purity of the precept." " This excellence of the Christian doctrine " considered in itself gives to those who are " qualified to perceive it that internal proba- " bility to the whole scheme [of revelation], " that the external evidence, in that propor- " tion of it in which it may be supposed to be " understood by common men, may be well " allowed to complete the proof." And again, speaking of the external evidence, with refer- ence to that view of it in which it is capable of being presented to men in general, he says : " The general view of it, joined to the intrin- " sic probability of the doctrine, may reason- " ably work that determined conviction, which ters of the same treatise, and ters of his treatise De Incarna- from the two concluding chap- tione Verbi Dei. D 34 LECTURE I. " may incline the illiterate believer to turn a " deaf ear to objections which the learned " only can be competent to examine ; and to " repose his mind in this persuasion, that " there is no objection to be brought, which, " if understood, would appear to him suffi- " cient to outweigh the mass of evidence " which is before him^" Such then is the nature of my design. I have stated the grounds of necessity, or at least of usefulness, which appear to me to de- mand an examination of this subject. I trust that the possibility of misconception has, at the same time, been obviated. I trust that the principle, which I purpose to maintain, though opposed to the judgment of many whom I would name with respect, will not be regarded by you as a seductive and perilous novelty ; but that it will, on the contrary, be found to embrace the sense, of scripture itself; of the Christian church in her days of pri- meval purity ; and of individuals celebrated for their great wisdom and for the orthodoxy of their faith. Lastly, I trust that the rea- sons I have given will suffice to justify the introduction of this subject on the present occasion, and to vindicate the claims it may have to your consideration. ■■ Horsley's Sermons. Serm. XLII. on John xx. 29, LECTURE I. 35 And now, that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, may God of his infinite mercy give us a right judgment in all things, and direct our lives and actions agreeably thereto, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord : to whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, three Persons and one God, let us, with praise and thanksgiving, ascribe all might, majesty, glory, and dominion, world without end. D 2 LECTURE 11. ON THE GROUNDS OF FAITH WHICH SCRIPTURE ITSELF AFFORDS — THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE INQUIRED INTO ON ABSTRACT AND GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 1 Peter iii. 15. Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you. IX. In my last Discourse, I stated to you the leading principle which I purpose to vin- dicate. That the evidence of the Gospel should be thought to depend, in a great de- gree, on the deference of ignorance to the testimony of learning : involves a view of the subject, respecting which I then declared my conviction, that it was both mistaken and in- jurious. It must now be my endeavour to substantiate that conviction for the satisfac- tion of others. I am to shew then, that the proofs of Christianity are not of this nature : that they do not, on the one hand, require those enlarged measures of knowledge which few can obtain ; nor, on the other, any im- D 3 38 LECTURE II. plicit submission, on the part of those who cannot obtain them, to the authority of others : but that they are equally adapted to every condition of a reasonable being in the enjoyment of his reason, and that they demand not such external or acquired ad- vantages as are inconsistent with any ordi- nary condition of society. In fact, my object is to shew, that the Gospel, not only in the tendency of its discoveries and its precepts, but also in the proofs of its authority; is fully and wonderfully adapted to the state of hu- man life. This view I deem it necessary to maintain : such necessity arising, not only from the paramount obligation of vindicat- ing truth, but also from a sense of the in- convenience which appears to me to connect itself with the principle to which I object. For if this latter principle be admitted, I fear it must follow as an inference, that the Gospel is not adapted to the state of human life : inasmuch as, while it requires the as- sent of all men, it displays its credentials only to a few ; the rest being referred to that, which both Scripture and experience declare to be an unsafe and precarious ground of re- liance; I mean, the credit and veracity of man. For the accomplishment of this purpose, I intend to observe the following method. I LECTURE II. 39 shall endeavour so to state the evidence of Christianity, as to shew while I do it, with respect to the various parts of which it con- sists, that it wants not the aid of this dan- gerous and uncertain auxiliary. It is not therefore my object to propound new argu- ments, where old and received ones are sound and valid ; but to shew that such arguments there are, as ought to suffice for the reason- able conviction of all men. ' Should they oc- casionally strike you as common and familiar, this ought not to derogate from their value : for the more common and familiar they are, the more they have been subservient to the general use of mankind ; the better they are adapted to confirm my position, that the evidences of the Gospel are accessible to all conditions of mankind. But it will be neces- sary to display a body of evidence, and to ex- amine the various parts of it, for the purpose of shewing, that it does not in any part require an implicit recumbency on human knowledge, judgment, and veracity. This will be my apology, if I be thought at any time to detain you with representations suited to men of little education : I wish to shew, that the evidence of the Gospel may rest sure and immovable on reasonings deduced from representations purely of that nature. Where D 4 40 LECTURE II. I find that the common style of reasoning on this subject is apt to shelter itself under an appeal to the learned ; there it must be my endeavour to shew, that the same point may, with stronger and more perspicuous evidence, be proved by other modes of ar- gument. Having premised this exposition of my intended method of inquiry, I now proceed to state and to examine the evidence of Christianity. X. Faith Cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Christianity claims its authority on the ground of Divine Reve- lation. If then we have not ourselves been favoured with direct communication from God, the question is, to what source are we to go for the knowledge of his revelations ? The answer is to this effect : They can in this case be known only from those prophets and teachers, whom God has commissioned and inspired for the instruction of mankind. The next question is, who these teachers are, and where their words are to be found ? To which the answer is : They are the prophets and in- spired writers of the Old and New Testa- ments, and their words are to be found in the canonical Scriptures. The next stage of inquiry and of evidence embraces this point. How are we assured, LECTURE II. 41 that these scriptures contain a true revelation from God. To this point we now address ourselves : only premising, that our attention will in the first place confine itself to the Scriptures of the New Testament. We are then to display the grounds on which we em- brace the New Testament, such as it is now received among us, as containing the matter of a true revelation from God. Now these proofs will in the first instance arise from the matters themselves contained in these writings. The doctrine is in itself worthy of God, and it is attested by the power of God. That Christ was himself authorized as a teacher sent from God, will appear from his miracles : for no man could do the works that he did except God were with him. Such were the healing of inveterate maladies, the restoration of the blind and the deaf, the re- suscitation of the dead: and lastly, as the stamp and seal of God more expressly ap- pealed to for that purpose, the resurrection of Christ himself. These facts were alleged by Christ in proof that he came from God : now God would not suffer his name to be vouched as an authority to a lie ; he would not suffer the most stupendous miracles to be wrought, in order that a falsehood might go abroad to the world, clothed in the strong armour of 42 LECTURE II. irrefragable proof. For the full statement of this proof, we are to observe, that Christ not only evidenced, by the means now alleged, his own mission and authority, but that he also imparted the power of miracles to those who were to teach his religion to mankind ; and that these latter, namely, the apostles and first preachers of the Gospel, were thus en- abled, not only to attest their Master's mis- sion, but also to prove their own. It is also to be regarded as an essential part of the case, that the miracles alleged were such in their own nature, and so circumstanced, as to exclude all reasonable supposition of either mistake or imposture in the narrators of them : the notion of imposture being incon- sistent with the dreadful evils and sufferings which their testimony provoked, and with the character of men, whose labour, self-denial, and fortitude, were exerted for the purpose of converting others to goodness and virtue : while that of mistake is excluded by their os- tensible character of eye-witnesses, of the facts which they record or of miracles wrought for the proof of those facts. These narrators were, among a multitude of others, the apo- stles, whom Christ commissioned to teach his religion to the world, and whom he promised, that he would fit them for their work, by LECTURE II. 43 sending to them the Holy Spirit of God for their infaUible guidance to all necessary truth. Thus much the New Testament itself de- clares : it professes to have the authority of its doctrine evidenced by the facts which have now been stated : and its doctrinal and preceptive writings are regarded by us, as the writings of those whom we have above de- scribed to have been commissioned by Christ to teach his religion. This, if not overthrown by powerful countervailing objections, will be found to present a strong case in support of the claims of Christianity. If the scriptures themselves be deserving of credit, it is not easy to resist the validity of those claims. The next inquiry then is this : Are the scriptures deserving of credit? In other words, do they present to us the testimony of credible persons ? and do they present us with the doctrine of men, whom Christ really authorized to teach ? This being the state of the argument, there arises a necessity for the proof of three points : first, the authenticity of the writ- ings ; secondly, the sincerity of the witnesses; thirdly, the competence of the witnesses. The question relating to the authenticity of the writings embraces in it the two fol- 44 LECTURE II. lowing points : First, Can the testimony which the New Testament affords to the promulgation of Christianity, be identified, with the testimony of real and actual wit- nesses ? Secondly, Can its doctrines be iden- tified with the doctrines of Christ, and of teachers authorized by Christ? We are to con- sider, that these writings come to us with the strong recommendations of personal know- ledge and of infallible direction. If then we would ascertain, whether these advantages were really possessed, as far as it is alleged that they were : it becomes necessary to sa- tisfy ourselves that the writers are really the persons whom they are commonly supposed to have been, that they were persons living in the age and under the circumstances com- monly ascribed to them : in other words, that the writings are the genuine writings of those whom Christians regard as duly au- thorized and qualified, and that they are not the forgeries of a later age, composed by individuals who possessed not the need- ful qualifications, but personated those who did. XI. You will now remark, that down to the present point of inquiry and of evidence, the arguments adduced are level to the means of knowledge and to the comprehen- LECTURE II. 45 sion, of all men who have access to the mat- ters contained in their Bibles. But now (in order to our satisfaction respecting that im- portant matter of consideration which has just been stated) there arises a question con- cerning what is called, in the language of theology, the Canon of the New Testament. Here it is that learned men appear pecu- liarly to delight in extolling, as necessary to the evidence of faith, the value of their own advantages. For it is declared, that without these advantages the canon cannot be de- termined ; and that unlettered men must, as to this point, recline upon the judgment of others. In this way is applied to the defence of Christianity that obnoxious principle of ar- gument, to which I have already declared my strong objections. For the sake of present- ing a distinct view of the principle itself, and also of preparing a way for the confutation of it; I will first advert to a learned disquisi- tion upon this subject, which has obtained considerable credit and reputation : I mean Mr. Jones's Method of settling the Canonical Authority of the New Testament. Among the passages of this work more immediately connected with my present sub- ject, I will at this time notice the following. 46 LECTURE II. It is declared, then, " that settling the ca- " nonical authority of the Books of the New " Testament is a matter of the greatest conse- " quence and importance ^" This position is fully established by the learned author : nor would I offer a single word to dispute the truth of it, or to extenuate the great impor- tance which attaches itself to the settlement of the Canon. For it is plain that there can be no reasoning either upon the authority or the doctrine of a faith, which has no fixed and definite standard : here all must be un- certainty of fact and instability of mind. The very circumstances of a religion having no fixed standard of doctrine, must be one of the strongest presumptions against that religion itself: as indeed the want of such a standard is one of the strongest presumptions against the peculiar theology of the church of Rome*. The following position is now to be viewed in connection with that which has been just noticed. It is," That the right settling the " canonical authority of the Books of the " New Testament is attended with very many s Vol. I. p. 9. ed. 1798. "controversies is to be found." ' " There is, as yet, no pos- Mosheim's Eccl. Hist. Cent. 16. " sibility of knowing with cer- sect. 3. part I. c. 22. See also, ' ' tainty what are the real doc- to the same effect, Barrow on " trines of the church of Rome, the Pope's Supremacy , Introduc- " nor where, in that commu- tion. " nion, the judge of religious LECTURE 11. 47 " and great difficulties "." Again, says this same writer : " I declare with many learned " men, that in the whole coinpass of learnmg " / know no question iyivolved ivith more intri- " cacies and pe^ylewing difficulties than this"".'' If this be a just view of the case, it may well awaken uneasiness and alarm in every lover of religion. I trust it will appear in the se- quel, that the alarm is groundless ; inasmuch as the representation is fallacious, and the estimate is false. Meanwhile we are to no- tice the method, in which the learned writer proceeds to dissipate the uneasy feelings which his declaration tends to excite. The evidence of canonical authority is made by this writer, in conformity with the general practice of those who have treated the same subject, to rest on " the testimony " of the primitive churches, still faithfully " preserved in the writings of the ancient " Christians y." But this, as he acknowledges, is liable to the following objection : " If it is " by tradition, and searching the records of " the ancients, that we are to have satisfac- " tion as to the truth of the scriptures, then " the greater part of Christians, who are not " capable of doing this, must be without satis- " Vol. I. p. 2. ^ Ibid. > Vol. I. p. 57. 48 LECTURE II. ''^faction ^." A serious objection indeed. Let us now remark the learned writer's answer. It is as follows : " Though the bulk of " Christians cannot themselves have recourse " to these original evidences ; yet there are " many, who have with a great deal of dili- " gence and impartiality made it their busi- " ness to do it, whose testimonies they have, " and may safely depend upon, as they nei- " ther can nor would deceive in a matter of " such importance. Nor does it follow from " hence, that their faith is ill-grounded, be- " cause it relies on the testimony of fallible " men, and so is but a human faith : for this " is no more than what equally follows from " their not knowing the original languages, " and so, being obliged to depend upon the " veracity and judgment of others, for the " truth and goodness of [a translation ''."] I will now offer a few reflections on the foregoing passages. The view which they 'Vol. I. p. 5 7. concurrence with the senti- ^ Ibid. The two last words ments of Baxter, as they are of this citation are inserted delivered in his " Saint's Rest." in place of the word it, as it This latter writer appears to stands in the original author : me to be equally censurable that pronoun being, through with Mr. Jones himself: for inaccuracy, employed without he is equally strong in stating, any foregoing noun to which or as I should say, creating, the it refers. It is to be observed, difficulty of the canon, as well that the author here (as ap- as injudicious in his proposed pears from his own marginal method for the solution of that reference) expresses himself in supposed difficulty. LECTURE II. 49 contain has been delivered in the express words of an individual writer, because in such a case, definite and tangible expressions are always preferable to loose and general statement; whether such statement be taken at second hand from others, or whether (what is still more objectionable) it be framed in our own words : for it is always highly objec- tionable that a disputant should himself moul4. and fashion the shape of the tenet which he resists. The author quoted appears to be a fair authority for a multitude of others who speak to the same effect : and a preference of regard may justly be given him, by reason of the approbation which his inquiry has ob- tained, not only in the learned world, but particularly in this university. I will add, that while I strongly feel the injurious ten- dency of this representation ; and while I la- ment the pernicious character which I think to be inherent . in the earlier part of the treatise referred to : I am not desirous in other respects to derogate from the merits of that treatise. Of its usefulness I shall have occasion to speak in the future progress of this inquiry. But to proceed to the subject. The diffi- culties of the canon are here drawn up in a front of formidable display, and in a style 50 LECTURE II. pregnant with most injurious effect. Whether this may in any degree arise from the vanity of an author, in seeking to enhance the me- rit, by amplifying the difficulty of a work, I will not pronounce. But concerning the dif- ficulties of the canon 1 will at least state the impression of my own mind ; for this is immediately connected with the business in hand : I will add, that if my subsequent re- marks are convincing, it will be their mani- fest tendency to justify that impression. I will not hesitate then to say, that the diffi- culties of the canon appear to me to be in- debted to the speculations of learned men for their existence, much more than they are for their solution '\ In examining this matter, we discover at one time the infirmity of the human mind, displaying itself in a way which is incident only to men of learning : of this, I think, an example presents itself in archbi- shop Wake, when he exalts the writings of the apostolical fathers into " an authoritative " declaration of the gospel of Christ ''." In *' For a brief exemplification an exposure of great names in of this, (which may serve for connection with great errors, the present,) I would refer the groundless credulity, and dan- reader to that part of this same gerous application of errone- Mr. Jones's work (part II. ous assumptions, numb. xlii. c. 25 — 29.) which <^ Preliminary Discourse to relates to the Gospel of the liis Translation of the Aposto- Nazarenes. He will here find lical Fathers, chap.x. §. 11. (more especially in cap. 26.) LECTURE 11. 51 some degree also we recognise the danger of insufficient knowledge : for though it would be wrong to withhold from some divines who have treated this subject the general praise of learning ; yet it may safely be asserted that their measure of learning available to this purpose, was not competent to warrant the decisions they have made and the asser- tions they have pronounced. At another time we discover a rash presumption of judg- ment, which could hardly have been exercised without an unseemly confidence in a man's own wisdom and attainments. Even the great names of Luther, of Calvin, and of Erasmus, will hardly avail to protect them from this censure ''. For it appears to me no less than presumption, that any man should, on the warrant of his own judgment, tear out of the volume of Scripture writings, which have been placed there by the general verdict of the Christian church and have maintained their '' " Luther and several of " timents of it." Jones on the " his followers utterly reject Canon, p. 8, 9. Wheti men are " the Epistle of James, not for trying the canon- of Scrip- " only as a spurious piece, but ture by such a principle, it " as containing things directly would be well if they would " contrary to the gospel :" [that bear in mind this expostulation: is, contrary to what he esteem- " Quis ferat, lectorem vel audi- ed to be the gospel.] " Eras- " torem, Scripturam taut* auc- " mus had a very mean opin- " toritatis, facilius quam vitiuui " ion, and doubted the author- " suae tarditatis,audereculpare." " ity of the Revelations. Cal -^ug. cant. Faust. Man. lib. xxxii. " vin, Cajetan, and the learned c. 16. Kirstenius, had the same sen- E 2 52 LECTURE II. place by long acquiescence ; that he should try and examine their right, after the unavoid- able loss of the evidence on which it was first established ; that he should, I say, try that right over again, when the circum- stances of the case are such as to afford the strongest moral evidence, that such right never would in the first instance have been acknowledged, if it had not been clear and certain. But this presumption will appear greatly aggravated in its guilt, if it shall ap- pear — as I apprehend to have been the case with Luther and some other Divines — that the canonical authority of a book has been denied on the ground that its contents did not square with those theological dogmas which men have thought proper to espouse ; which is, in fact, measuring the infallibility of God by the standard of man's judgment. And what shall we think of this ? That the authority of learning has been employed for the allegation of inconsistencies ; that such alleged inconsistencies have been the ground of rejecting a book from the canon of Scrip- ture ; and that yet, after all, such alleged in- consistencies have had no existence but in the contemplation of men invested with the character of learning ; whose learning, never- theless, has been both deficient in measure, LECTURE 11. 53 and vicious in application ? Yet such appears to me to be the true ground on which Lu- ther expressed his dislike to the Epistle of St. James. On the whole, I would sum up my own view of the subject by stating, that the difficulties of the canon are imaginary more than real : that they have originated in wantonness, in the indiscreet use of learning, and in defective measures of it : that the mistakes and mistatements of learned men have furnished the most dangerous data for infidels to employ to their vile purposes : and that it would have been well for the Chris- tian church, if the present unhappy confusion of the subject (beyond that small amount which infidels would ever have had the power of producing) had not been greatly augmented by the vanity and indiscretion of learned believers. We will now, still having our eye to the same writer, advert to his method of solving the difficulties which he has stated. This con- sists in a reference to the authority of the learn- ed. To this mode of cutting the knot I have already stated my general objections : but the language of this writer lays open a fresh one, and that of no inconsiderable strength : for the learned are here recommended as guides, on the ground of their being such as "neither E ^ 54 LECTURE II. " can nor would deceive." Let this descrip- tion, indeed, be verified, and then it is plain, that reason cannot demand more conclusive authority. The judgment of him who neither can nor will deceive must be irrefragably true. But this very author has produced abun- dant examples of learned men, who, as to the canon, have both been themselves deceived, and have thus become the innocent and un- intentional means of deceiving such as have credited them. The great men thus referred to were plainly gifted with no infallibility; therefore they might err : their sincerity has not, like that of the first witnesses to the Gospel, undergone any painful test ; therefore we have no security that they may not de- ceive. I wish not to impugn their veracity; but thus the case stands on an abstract view of it. Let us, however, come to facts. The Coun- cil of Trent have annexed to the canon of Scripture a collection of writings which we deem to be apocryphal. Why then shall we de- mur to their judgment ? For upon this writer's view of the subject, such judgment must be valid. Will it be alleged that there was a want of learning in the Tridentine Fathers ? But how are unlettered men to judge of that? The writer proceeds to represent, that unlettered men may thus have as much security respect- LECTURE 11. 55 ing the canon, as they can have respecting the translation. But I shall take occasion to shew that the two cases are wholly different. The fuller illustration of this matter may fitly be postponed to a future stage of the present inquiry : I shall only state at present what will be the result of that inquiry : namely, that in the one case, an unlettered man may reach the fullest degree of moral cer- tainty; but that in the other he will find no- thing but doubtfulness, instability, and con- fusion. I do not like to dismiss this part of my subject without offering a general caution, There are few general precepts more preg- nant with mistake and danger than that which refers the ignorant to the learned, for decisions in matters of theology. The gene- ral use of the term itself is full of ambiguity. Many, with regard to the general extent of their knowledge, are highly learned : to these the ignorant are referred : yet of these men the learning may, as to the particular point in question, be very defective, or none at all : in which case, the learned man is in fact no better a guide than the ignorant man who is referred to his instruction. The praise of general learning, for exam.ple, would hardly be denied to archbishop Wake : yet there possi- E 4 56 LECTURE II. bly may be reason to suppose that his parti- cular quahfications, in point of knowledge applicable to this subject, were somewhat inadequate. If there be a danger thus appa- rent, it is augmented by that prevailing in- firmity of the human mind, which consists in an insensibility to the defects of its own know- ledge, and which is naturally accompanied by a readiness to pass opinions on subjects not thoroughly understood. Take for example the great Episcopius. No man would think of separating the distinction of learning from this eminent name. Yet his learning in the ancient writers and history of the church is pronounced by Bull^ to have been glaringly defective. Nevertheless it was under the in- fluence of a state so little qualified for a just comprehension of his subject, that he made his celebrated declaration respecting the prac- tice and feeling of the early church towards those who disbelieved the Divinity of Christ. It is not impossible, also, that the danger may be again enhanced by an unregulated exercise of even our virtuous feelings : there may pos- e See the preface to his Bull : who, [Def. Fid. Nic. Judicium Ecclesite Catholicte : Proem. §. 5.] pronounces him from which it will also appear, to be, Theologus ccctera doctis- that the confession of Episco- s'wms, sed in antiquitate ccdesi- piusliimselfrespecting this mat- (tatica jilane liospes, ter, confirms the assertion of LECTURE 11. 57 sibly be an excess of kindness, more inclined to concede than to contend, and ready, at an unguarded moment, to compromise truth for the love of peace : for it is to be observed, respecting the great man whom 1 have last named, that he himself believed the doctrine of the Trinity, even while he gave, in the way of historical report, respecting those who be- lieved it not, the testimony which the learned Bull has shewn to be groundless. It deserves also to be considered, whether there may not be occasionally in learned men a propensity to magnify their own attainments, in a way more honourable to themselves than advanta- geous to the cause for which they declare so much learning to be necessary. I am not con- cerned in applying this to individuals : accu- sations of this nature so applied are unchari- table, and it is impossible for man to sub- stantiate them. But of this I am sure, that in a matter of such great importance we have a right, among other securities against error, to calculate upon the possible existence of such a feeling. I am sure that human testimony is liable to be affected by all the infirmities of human minds, by all the irre- gularity of human motives. I cannot there- fore but esteem it desirable that the canon of Scripture should be placed upon grounds of 58 LECTURE 11. evidence less objectionable, as well as more ac- cessible to common understandings, than those on which Mr. Jones would place it. That it may be so placed, I will now proceed to shew. XII. I say then, that the canon is demon- strable to ordinary minds on the most satis- factory grounds, independently of learned ac- quirement or research. And I will say, further, that such demonstration is in itself more irre- fragable, as well as clearer, than that of which it is the peculiar province of antiquarians to furnish the materials. The proof of this as- sertion is the work to which I now proceed. Let it then be considered, in the first place, that there are, among ordinary Christians, few questions that have been less agitated than this ; Who are the writers authorized to declare to us the real doctrines of Christianity? Among the professors of that religion there is scarcely a single point of belief distin- guished by such general agreement. To what is this owing? Shall we say that it springs from an implicit disposition to take up truths of this nature without inquiry? This suppo- sition cannot for a moment be reasonably en- tertained : to bestow much attention upon it would be wasting the efforts of confutation : suffice it for the present to say, that its absur- dity will be strongly apparent from the remarks LECTURE 11. 59 which I shall speedily, for another purpose, have to offer. The fact is, there has been little doubt, because there has been no reason to doubt. Unanimity has arisen from the absence of causes for dissension : and the unlettered believer of Revelation may naturally, in the soundest exercise of untutored wisdom, unite his own faith to a general concurrence which there has been so little occasion to disturb. We are to observe that the books of holy Scripture are particularly distinguished from other books. There is a circumstance con- nected with them which operates as a power- ful guard to purity, and consequently fur- nishes a strong proof of authenticity. Few things are more difficult than to forge, with any prospect of credit, the writings of any author whatever : because, in the attempt to do it, so many minute circumstances, relating to time, place, and contemporaneous history, must be compacted together into an artificial coherency. The task has almost invariably been found to bafHe the utmost circumspec- tion and ingenuity of man : and the slightest failure in any particular will lay open the fraud. Indeed we have the utmost reason to think, that it has seldom or never in any con- siderable instance been accomplished. The difficulty of such an imposture is a thing of 60 LECTURE II. easy comprehension to an unlettered mind ; for, without having recourse to historical knowledge, the plainest reasons will suffice to evince it : and it may be illustrated by a re- ference to the difficulty of framing lying- stories^, especially such as, by reason of their f The following extract from the conclusion to the first part of Dr. Lardner's Credibility, will furnish a specimen of very satisfactory reasoning respect- ing the authenticity of the Scriptures, and the general truth of Christianity, and Avill be found clear of any parti- culars which cannot be alleged consistently with the general principle for which I contend : indeed I have so curtailed the original, as to exclude from the present citation the little that it contains of matter which is inadmissible on my own ground of reasoning. My desire to maintain the possibility of such reasoning will obviously justify my introducing so long an ex- ample of it. " Any one may be sensible, " how hard it is for the most " learned, acute, and cautious " man, to write a book in the " character of some person of " an earlier age, and not betray " his own time by some mis- " take about the affairs of the " age in which he pretends to " place himself, or by allusions " to customs or principles since " sprung up, or by some phrase " or expression not then in use. " It is no easy thing to escape " all these dangers in the ' smallest performance, though ' it be a treatise of theory or ' speculation : these hazards ' are greatly increased when ' the work is of any length, ' and especially if it be histo- ' rical, and be concerned with ' characters and customs. It ' is yet more difficult to carry ' on such a design in a work ' consisting of several pieces, ' written to all appearance by ' several persons. Many in- ' deed are desirous to deceive, ' but all hate to be deceived : ' and therefore, though at- ' tempts have been made to ' impose upon the world in ' this way, they have never or ' very rarely succeeded, but ' have been detected and ex- ' posed by the skill and vigi- ' lance of those who have been ' concerned for the truth. " The volume of the New ' Testament consists of several ' pieces ; these are ascribed to ' eight several persons ; and ' there are the strongest ap- * pearances, that they were not ' all written by any one hand, * but by as many persons, as ' they are ascribed to. There ' are lesser differences in the ' relations of some facts, and ' such seeming contradictions, ' as would never have hap- LECTURE II. 61 length, require a complicated attention to in- ternal consistency and to congruity with exter- " pened, if these books had " been all the work of one " person, or of several who " wrote in concert. There are " as many peculiarities of tem- " per and style, as there are ' ' names of writers ; divers of " which shew no depth of ge- " nius or compass of know- " ledge. Here are represen- " tations of titles, posts, beha- " viour of persons of higher " and lower rank in many parts " of the world ; persons are in- " troduced, and their charac- " ters are set in a full light; " here is a history of things " done in several cities and " countries ; and there are al- " lusions to a vast variety of " customs and tenets of per- *' sons of several nations, sects, " and religions. The whole is " written without affectation, " with the greatest simplicity " and plainness. " If it be difficult for a per- " son of learning and expe- " rience, to compose a small " treatise concerning matters " of speculation, with the cha- " racters of a more early age " than that in which he writes ; "it is next to impossible, that " such a work of considerable " length, consisting of several " pieces, with a great variety " of historical facts, represen- " tations of characters, princi- " pies, and customs of several " nations, and distant coun- " tries, of persons of all ranks " and degrees, of many inter- " ests and parties, should be ' performed by eight several ' persons, the most of them ' unlearned, without any ap- ' pearance of concert. " If the books of the New ' Testament were written by ' persons, who lived before the ' destruction of Jerusalem; that ' is, if they were written at the ' time, in which they are said ' to have been written, the ' things related in them are ' true. If they had not been ' matter of fact, they would ' not have been credited by ' any persons near that time, ' and in those parts of the ' world in which they are said • to have been done, but would ' have been treated as the most ' notorious lies and falsehoods. ' Suppose three or four books ' should now appear amongst ' us in the language most ge- ' nerally understood, giving an ' account of many remarkable ' and extraordinary events, ' which had happened in some ' kingdom of Europe, and in ' the most noted cities of ' the countries next adjoining to it ; some of them said to ' have happened between sixty ' and seventy years ago, others between twenty and thirty, others nearer our own time : would not they be looked upon as the most manifest and ridiculous forgeries and impostures that ever were contrived.'' Would great num- bers of persons, in those very places, change their religious principles and practices upon 62 LECTURE II. nal facts. If, then, it be so difficult in the case of any indifferent writings, how must this difficulty be aggravated in relation to writings such as the Scriptures ! Of other writings — those I mean of profane authors — it is a matter, generally speaking, of the most unimportant nature, whether they be genuine or not : the welfare of mankind is not very deeply interested in the question. Not so with regard to our Scriptures : they profess to deliver a doctrine on which the salvation of makind depends, and which, on pain of eternal ruin, demands the obedience of all men. Such books would surely never get into currency, unless those who first received them were satisfied that they were written by persons duly authorized. In this case there would necessarily be exercised a cau- tion and a vigilance, which in the case of other writings would have little incentive to exertion. It is one of the greatest absurdities in the world to think, that any number of " the credit of things reported " Testament be credible, the " to be publicly done, which " Christian religion is true. If " no man had ever heard of " the things here related to " before ? Or, rather, is it pos- " have been done by Jesus, " sible, that such a design as *' and by his followers, by vir- " this should be conceived by " tue of powers derived from " any sober and serious per- " him, do not prove a person " sons, or even the most wild " to come from God, and that "and extravagant? "his doctrine is true and di- " If the history of the New " vine, nothing can." LECTURE II. 63 persons could easily have been the dupes of a fraud in such a case as this. Suppose any man were at this day to try to pass off a counterfeit book as the work of St. Paul or St. John, what would be his success ? And can we possibly imagine any time whatever, in which the task would not have been as much impossible as it is now? Or, to use a more familiar example, suppose any man should forge an Act of Parliament, and at- tempt to pass it off as having been enacted by the legislature : how many, think you, would submit to the imposture, and receive his forgery as the authentic law of the land ? especially if his pretended law required from the subject any painful duties to perform, or considerable sacrifice of his interest and pro- perty. And does not reason assure us, that it would be an utter impossibility thus to forge the writings of the Evangelists and Apostles? since these require men to die to the world, to renounce its sinful lusts and profits, and to seek their happiness in an in- visible and future kingdom. Whether you regard the Divine law% or the municipal law, the thing is an impossibility : but if you will reflect, I think you will find that a much stronger case of impossibility is made out with regard to the former than the latter : 64 LECTURE II. inasmuch as the sacrifice would be greater, and the motive to vigilance proportionably augmented. Let it be remembered, that the doctrines of the New Testament profess to be written or attested by men, endued with the power of mi- racles and prophecy, as the proof of their au- thority from God ; and that they profess at the same time to be written for the instruction, in the first instance, of contemporaries. How then could they be first brought to light at a later age ? or by persons who were not known to possess those powers which they alleged in proof of their authority ? Especially when we consider, that these writings most strongly de- clare the perpetuity of their doctrine : there- fore, the pretence of their having been a long time after the death of their supposed authors brought to light out of concealment, would obviously have been fatal to their reception. These considerations may suftice to illustrate the total impossibility of fabricating the scrip- tures of the New Testament under the name of those writers to whom they are now ascribed : and that these scriptures are the genuine production of the authorized teachers of our faith, is a fact of which we may allege the fullest confirmation, in the present state of the Christian church. For among all the various LECTURE II. 65 subjects on which the judgment of mankind has been divided, how little difference of opinion do you find on this ! What single point is there, on which the Christian world, however divided into communions and sects, however distracted by contentions ; is more universally agreed, than it is respecting the canon of the New Testament? Where do you find a church or a sect which rejects any of the books which we receive, or which re- ceives any book which we do not receive ? How many sects, for instance, are there around us, who profess doctrines different from those of our church ; and where do you find, that any of them appeal to scriptures different from ours ? In the Christian world at large these sects are more numerous and more diversfied: but here also you find the same agreement as to this particular. Though their doctrines vary from each other, the dis- pute is not respecting the authority of the books of the New Testament, but respecting the interpretation of them. Yet if there were any reasonable doubt respecting the authority of any of those books which we receive, or any reasonable pretensions in fa- vour of others which we do not acknowledge ; it can hardly be questioned, that such doubts would be started, and such pretensions ad- F 66 LECTURE II. vanced, in support of the various contending opinions of various sects and parties. But how little, how very little, do we, in the pre- sent state of the Christian world, hear of such doubts and pretensions alleged for this pur- pose ! There is, in fact, scarcely a single point on which the judgments of mankind have been more universally agreed, than those of the Christian world are on this very subject. So wonderful indeed is this agreement, that we can hardly regard it as less than a providen- tial mercy afforded to mankind, for their as- surance relating to the rule of their faith. And when we consider the impossibility which has already been stated, of successfully forging books under the names of the sacred writers of the New Testament ; and, secondly, the notorious agreement of the Christian world in relation to those writings to which they ascribe canonical authority : we can hardly desire more for the assurance of a reasonable mind as to the fact, that the New Testament, as we possess it, contains the ge- nuine writings of those, who at the time when the Gospel was published, w^ere regarded as the authorized teachers of our faith. Such, respecting the canon of the New Testament, is the degree of assurance access- LECTURE II, 67 ible to all men. The value of it will be best understood from comparison : that is to say, if it shall be made to appear, that such evi- dence is far more strong and conclusive, than any evidence whatever, which, in proof of the same point, is enjoyed exclusively by the learned. For in what does this latter evidence consist ? Why plainly in this : they find, in writings contemporaneous with, and subsequent to, the date of the canonical writ- ings, passages, in which the canonical scrip- tures are quoted, and in which their authority is acknowledged. This evidence I do not wish to discard : it has its relative use, and particularly, if there be occasion for a con- troversy on historical grounds with infidels. But I do not depreciate its value when I say, that it is less sure and conclusive than the former. You allege the writings of the early Fathers to prove that the Gospels were not forged. And what then ? Is this all that you have to do for the completion of your proof? Far from it. If you intend that your argument should be valid, you have then to evince, that the writings thus alleged were themselves not forged. After similar confirm- ation has been afforded to the latter writ- ings, similar proof must again be adduced of the genuineness of those, which are thus al- F 2 68 LECTURE II. leged for tkei7' corroboration : and thus the series of proofs will go on for ever without coming nearer to an end. And now you must consider, that your proof is, after all, more dubious than the point you desire to prove. For instance, you would prove the genuineness of St. Matthew's Gospel. You do it by means of citations from that Gospel, or recognitions of its authority, which are found in Clemens Romanus, Polycarp, and the other apostolical Fathers. Now you are to consider, that the authenticity of the writings ascribed to the apostolical Fathers is of itself more difficult of proof than the authenticity of the Gospels themselves. For the Gos- pels profess to be authoritative as the rule of life and the way of salvation : as such, they would not be received by the early church without the most careful and anxious inves- tigation of the proofs of their authority. But this is not the case with the writings of the Fathers. For these possess no authoritative character : therefore the difficulty of forging them in a subsequent age would be far less, than that of forging the Gospels under the name of the Evangelists ^. g " If we should in this par- " Scriptures, it would be a very " ticular," saysDaille, "take the " easy matter to bring in ques- " same course which some writ- " tion, and render doubtful and " ers of the church of Rome " suspected, all the writings of " make use of against the holy " the Fathers. For, when any LECTURE II. 69 XIII. Observe now, in conclusion, the gene- ral impartiality of God in dispensing all need- •' one allegeth the Old or New " Testament, these gentlemen " presently demand how or by " what means they know, that " any such books were truly " written by those prophets and " apostles, under whose names " they gu. If therefore in like " manner, when these men large " Justin, Irenseus, Ambrose, " Augustin, and the like, one " should take them short, and " demand of them, how and by " what means they are assured '• that these Fathers were the " authors of those writings, " which at this day go under " their names : it is very much " to be doubted of, but that " they would Jind a harder task " of it, than [that of] their ad- " versaries in justifying the in- " scriptions of the books of holy " writ : the truth whereof is '• much more easy to be demon- " strated than [thai] of any " [other] human writings what- " soever" [On the Right Use of the Fathers, book I. c. i.] This remark will be greatly confirmed by an attention to the following facts and testimo- nies. Of the writings ascribed to the apostolical Fathers, (which in questions of this nature ought justly to be preferred to those of later writers,) there is but a very small portion, if there be any, of which the authenticity has not been denied or questioned by respectable and learned cri- tics. I do not now enter into the grounds, on which their judg- ment or their doubts have been formed : but it is obvious, that in proportion as the authority of the remains of these Fathers is dubious, the testimonies de- rived from them must be incon- clusive. It further appears, that the practice of ascribing to the early Fathers supposititious works, and the interpolation of their ge- nuine ones, were common with the ancient heretics : and that these heretics also forged suppo- sititious writings underthe names of the Apostles, thus endeavour- ing to gain for them the credit of canonical scriptures : but that their attempts in the former in- stance met with considerable success ; while they were in the latter, as to the purpose of any lasting and established credit, vain and ineffectual. There is an ancient Father of the church (I think it is Dio- nysius of Alexandria, but I can- not at this moment refer to the record of the fact) who speaks, respecting the heretics, to the following effect : " They have " presumed even to interpolate " and mutilate the sacred Scrip- " tures themselves : how then " can it be wondered that they " should do the same with my " writings. ' Irenaeus was re- markably anxious to guard the purity of his writings : and his feeling on this point seems to have been generated by the apprehension he entertained of their liability to heretical inter- polation : for such interpolation is a common subject of com- plaint with the early Christian F 3 70 LECTURE ir. ful blessings. Is there not, as to this point, a strong analogy between the temporal and writers. It is curious to con- temijlate the measure he adopted for security against this evil. It was (according to the relation of Eusebius in the twentieth chapter of the fifth book of his Kcclesiastical History) the in- sertion at the end of one of his treatises of the following words: " () thou who shalt transcribe " this book, 1 adjure thee, by our " Lord Jesus Christ, and by his " glorious coming, when he shall " come to judge the quick and " the dead, that thou collate " what thou shalt have trans- *' cribed, and carefully correct " it by this original, after thou " hast transcribed it therefrom : " and thou shalt also transcribe " this adjuration, and phice it in " thy copy." There is a passage to this ef- fect in the thirty-eighth chapter of the ninety-third Epistle of Augustin. It will be found, in the quotations adduced by Lardner in his account of that writer. It illustrates at once the activity of interpolators ; their success with regard to the Fathers ; and their total failure with regard to the scriptures. " There are those who contend, " that this passage was not " written by Cyprian, but has " been falsely ascribed to him " by lying interpolators. For " there is not a single bishop, " however illustrious, of whose " books the purity and the genc- " rill credit can have been so " well guarded, as that of the " canonical scripture has been, " by its translation into so many " languages, and by the order " and succession of its con- " stant use in the church. But " yet there have not been want- " ing those, who, by forging " supposititious writings under " the names of the Apostles, " have even attacked the pu- " ritv of the scriptures thus " guarded. The attempt of these " latter has indeed been fruit- " less, because the scripture is so " well attested, so generally used, " so universally known. [Frustra " quidem, quia ilia sic commen- " data, sic celebrata, sic nota " est.] But how far such at- " tempts may have been suc- " cessful against writings which " do not rest upon the foun- " dation of canonical author- " ity ; may be understood from " that wicked audacity, which " has dared to confront even " writings, whose purity is pro- " tected by so strong a ram- " part in the universal use " and acknowledgment of the " church." In like manner the same Father, in the sixteenth chapter of the thirty-second book of his treatise against Faustus the Manichee, insists upon the impossibility of falsi- _fying books at a time, when they were in the hands of the whole Christian world. Here he in- sists upon a principle, which is obviously true and indisputably applicable to our present sub- ject. " If it was thus imi'os- " SIBLE for you to FALSIFY '•' THESE WRITINGS, FOR THE LECTURE II. 71 the spiritual mercies we enjoy ? If you re- gard the provision which God has made for the worldly sustenance and comfort of his children, you will find that outwardly their lot is very various : but surely you must pause before you declare, that the difference is no other than that of happiness and mi- sery. Look to the common gifts of nature ; air, food, light, health, the charms of the creation, and the delights of social converse : these, every rank of men may have in com- " SAME REASON IT WOULD BE " IMPOSSIBLE FOR ANY MAN." (It is a principle indeed which applies to all times as well as to all individuals : if it be im- possible to do it now, it vms equally so to do it at amj time.) He adds, " that an attempt of " this kind introduced into any " interpolated copy of the scrip- " tures, would be immediately " detected by comparing such " interpolated copy with other *' earlier copies." I cannot but think it a mat- ter of pleasing interest, on a subject so momentous, to find the principles suggested by the common sentiments of human nature, and by the circum- stances of the case, so exactly verified by historical facts. Par- ticulars, similar to those now stated, are abundantly frequent in the early writers of the church : and a great variety of details, tending to confirm this representation, may be found in the third chapter of Daille on the Right use of the Fathers, and dispersed through the se- cond part of Lardner's Credibi- lity, but more particularly in those portions of it which relate to Augustin, and to the Mani- chees. On the whole, then, history concurs with general principles of reasoning in leading us to this conclusion : That it was much easier to forge and inter- polate the writings of the Fathers, than it was to vitiate the text of scripture, or to in- troduce supposititious materials into the canon of it ; therefore the authenticity of the scrip- tures is in itself a thing of great- er certainty than the authenti- city of the writings ascribed to the Fathers ; and the testimo- nies to the scriptures which are derived from the Fathers, can- not be so evident as the point itself is, which those testimo- nies are adduced to prove. F 4 72 LECTURE II. mon ; the possession of them is no distinction of the rich, nor the privation, of the poor. How great is the amount of these common benefits, in comparison with that of the showy trappings and the costly refinements, the elegance of life and elaborate sensuality, which distinguish the fortune of the rich ! For of these latter, however much they be objects of general desire, it may well be questioned, whether they have a lawful claim to be ranked among the constituents of hap- piness. Much may be said on both sides of the question : it is certain that experience does not yield any uniform testimony to their value : and wise and good men have felt encumbered by their presence. Compare this with the different measures allotted to mankind of spiritual advantage. All men are required to embrace the Gospel : all men are to believe it upon evidence. Judge then, which class has the better evidence. You have seen that of the learned, you have seen that of the poor : if I have truly represented the matter of our present consideration, the poor man's evidence is stronger, safer, and more obvious, than that of the learned. You may say, indeed, that the learned must have the advantage : for he enjoys the poor man's evidence in common with that which is pecu- LECTURE 11. 73 liarly his own. The distinction is admitted, the advantage is denied ; for in truth it amounts to no more than this : here are two paths leading to the same point: the one, common to men in general, is clear, direct, and short ; the other, peculiar to the learned, is dark and intricate and circuitous : for such in truth it is, if men will be at the pains of going up to the primary sources of informa- tion. Of a truth then may we conclude, that the Divine mercies are over all the sons of men ; that the common Father of us all is equally benign to all his children ; that he is no respecter of persons, but that in every state of life, he that feareth God and worketh righteousness shall be accepted of him. LECTURE III. THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT HISTORI- CALLY EXAMINED. 2 Thess. iii. 17. The salutation of Paul with mine ow7i hand, which is the token in every epistle : so I write. XIV. JVIY last Discourse was chiefly employ- ed in laying down the principles, on which we may be enabled to vindicate the canon of the New Testament. Of such vindication it would be unreasonable to deny the utility : because, if the books of scripture are verified as the genuine writings of the authors to whom they are ascribed, and of persons writ- ing under the circumstances professedly con- nected with the composure of those writings; then, little further is in fact required, to- wards substantiating the fullest and the clearest proof of the truth of Christianity. In like manner would I argue for the ne- cessity of being provided with such vindica- tion in every case where it is called for : in- 76 LECTURE III. asmuch as till it is made, the whole state of the question appears to be loose and unsettled, and the apologist for religion is unable even to grasp the substance of that which he is bound to defend. You will also be sensible of the reasons which I have advanced, to dis- play the importance of vindicating the canon by the employment of such data, as are acces- sible to the knowledge, not of the well edu- cated only, but of mankind in general : for it is to them that the Gospel is offered. I cannot, however, deny, that while I am fully satisfied of the validity of those prin- ciples which I have employed, it is possible that they may be assailed by an objection : and this objection is of such a nature, that I do not conceive it to be either expedient or reasonable to decline the encounter of it. For it may be said : These principles are entirely of a general and abstract nature, re- garding only the common influence and ope- ration of the motives of human conduct : but if the matter be tried by a reference to his- torical facts, it will appear, that the canon was not by any means received and esta- blished in the way which, as you contend, affords the only reasonable account of its present existence and constitution. LECTURE III. 77 Now it appears to me, that the objection thus stated, creates a reason for looking to some extent, into the historical account of the canon of the New Testament. At the same time such examination of it need not be carried further than is necessary to shew, that the state of the case, reviewed histori- cally, does not invalidate those abstract prin- ciples which were applied to it in the last Dis- course : in other words, that the fact agrees with the theory. For it is here, as it would be in a case of geometrical argument : if there lay a fallacy in the reasoning, few men might be able to detect it ; but the test of ex- perience would satisfy every man that such fallacy must exist. Of the confirmation to be thus obtained to the authenticity of the canon, it is right that we should not overestimate the value, and certainly that we should not, for the satisfac- tion of men in general, insist upon the neces- sity. The justice of this remark will be esta- blished by the following considerations. To illustrate the subject by a parallel. It would be deemed most unfair, to try the va- lidity of any sublunary interest by the princi- ples commonly applied to the consideration of the genuineness of the Scriptures. If an hereditary honour or estate were the point at 7S LECTURE III. issue, who would think of questioning the title of the family in possession, by pretending a flaw in the original grant, at a distance of five centuries back ? Who would think, at this distance of time, of calling for the evidence requisite to disprove the existence of such a flaw? Who does not see, that a title of this nature ought to be presumed to be good ; that it would not have been admitted from the first, if its legality had not been fully proved; and that the evidence vmst, in the nature of things, have now perished, which formed its original basis ? Why then desire to try over again, at this time, a question, the true grounds of which have unavoidably been swept away from human knowledge ? Yet it is by such a process that we would try the authenticity of the canon of Scripture : this is what the enemies of revelation demand ; and it is a demand in which the advocates for revelation are too ready most injudiciously to acquiesce. It would not, however, be diffi- cult to shew, that such principles of investi- gation are more unreasonable when applied to this subject, than they would be in refer- ence to any temporal interests : while the ap- plication of them to such interests would be unanimously resented by mankind, as an out- rage upon reason and justice. For let us LECTURE III. 79 suppose the ease of any temporal dignity or estate : doubtless there would be many obsta- cles to prevent the establishment, upon any basis connected with an ostensible show of justice, of a false title to it : there would be opposing interests, vigilant to discover imper- fections in the claim, and there would be a demand for a strong mass of evidence which it would be difficult to fabricate or to falsify. But how much more difficult would it be to gain credit to a writing, professing to come from a man, authorized by God, and carrying the credentials of God in the exercise of a miraculous power ; while the injunctions of that writing were at the same time found to contravene the workings of nature, and to dictate such a change in the whole tenour of a man's life, as no man would submit to with- out a sure title to everlasting happiness as the reward of his self-denial ? It cannot, I think, but appear that the caution of mankind would, in the latter case, be much greater than in the former, inasmuch as the pending interest would be greater also ; the vigilance also would be infinitely more diffused: for a temporal estate would be a matter of interest to few persons ; in this, few only are concerned : but with the gospel it is different ; here a vigilant eye would be exerted by all men, for it is addressed to 80 LECTURE III. all men ; and it demands of all men to surren- der every thing, if duty call them to it, in order to secure the happiness of another life ; to deny the delights which are before them for the prospect of others, of which no man living can declare the experience, and the nature of which is, in general, very remote from our pre- sent appetites and capacities of enjoyment. I have already enlarged upon the difficulty of forging, with success and with credit, any lite- rary work whatever : he that would procure credit for two pages of his own, ascribed to Cicero or to Plato, is a man of greater talent than the world probably has yet seen. Judge then of the total impossibility of procuring credit to any supposititious books passing themselves off under the authority of Christ and his apostles : and doing this at a time when, from the circumstances of the case, the means of detection must have been in the hands of every man, and when martyrdom would be the probable consequence of sub- mitting to an imposture. You cannot in this case, as in that of a secular interest, say, that the title might be bad in the beginning, and gain a valid acknowledgment by length of time ; for at whatever time you would sup- pose the beginning of that fictitious title, whether in the apostolical age, or at any later LECTURE III. 81 period, you will find your supposition contra- dicted by the most obvious principles of rea- son and of human nature. You cannot but see, that these difficulties are inherent in the case ; and you will find, that historical evidence will confirm their reality and display their operation. It was to be expected, that the early Christians would be remarkably suspicious of all pretensions to miraculous power, and equally vigilant against imposture with regard to books professing to contain the doctrines of their faith. It was not in human nature they should be otherwise. That man would naturally be vi- gilant against imposture, who, in consequence of the evidence which he admitted, or the book which he received, might be called upon to sacrifice his life to his conscience. The fact is, that they were so: with regard to the reality of miracles, their slowness of credit could be surpassed only by the incredulity of atheists ; and the genuineness of their sacred writings was watched with equal suspicion. What other conduct can you expect from men, who might be called upon to attest, by death and by all the most excruciating pains of martyrdom, the convictions they embraced ? We may reason- ably suppose that this natural suspicion would produce the delay, which occurred previously G 82 LECTURE III. to the general recognition in the church, of some books of the New Testament: such books being undoubtingly received in some countries, where the proof of their genuine- ness was prompt and obvious, at an earher period than in others, less favourably situated as to the means of verifying their authority. And thus it has happened, that the anxious care which guarded the church against the introduction of supposititious books, may have been the occasion of throwing unjust doubts on a portion of the present canon : whereas it ought, in truth, to be a ground of security and confidence with regard to the genuine- ness of the whole. There is, then, much reason to complain of those, who demand the evidence on which any particular book was first received into the canon of Scripture. It must be obvious to reason, from the very nature of the case, that such evidence must, by this time, have pe- rished : and it is most unjust to try over again a question, which could be fairly tried only by contemporaries : to try it over again now, I say, when the witnesses are dead, and the great bulk of auxiliary proofs has been de- stroyed. If it be said, that it is too much to expect of us, that we should thus attach our faith to LECTURE III. 83 the understandings of those who lived before us : I answer, first, that the nature of the case admits of no other proof ; and, secondly, that it does not require it. The nature of the case, I say, admits of no other proof. We ascribe the works to men whose authority is verified by miracles. How then is further evidence to be supplied ? Shall fresh writings be continually set forth attested by fresh miracles ? or shall the same writings be maintained by a perpetual and connected chain of miracles, wrought for the satisfaction of each succeeding age ? No other mode can be imagined, of supplying the deficiency of evidence thus complained of: but neither of these two would, I conceive, be admissible ; for they both of them suppose such a fre- quency and perpetuity of miracles, as would frustrate the purpose for which miracles w^ere professedly given, and would thus deprive re- ligion of the confirmation they are designed to yield. Secondly, I say, that the nature of the case does not require any further proof. It is enough for us to know, upon the strongest moral evidence, that these writings never could have established themselves in the credit and character they now have, unless they had been what they profess to be. If you doubt a 2 84 LECTURE III. it, consider whether any man could, at this day, obtain currency for a spurious writ- ing of his own, pretending to the character of a work written by the Apostle St. Paul ? You will probably admit this to be impossible. I say, then, that the same impossibility will discover itself in connection with every previ- ous age. Let us compare this question with a simi- lar one. In treating the necessity of a law- ful call and ordination to the ministry of the church, we may justly insist on the necessity of a continuation and perpetuity (through the medium of a regular succession) of that commission which was first given by Christ to his apostles. This continuation we contend to flow in the line of episcopal succession from the foundation of the church down to the present time. But here it may be, and in- deed it is, objected to us : how can you prove an unbroken chain of episcopal succession down to this day ? How can you, with re- spect to those who now administer the epis- copal function, prove, that there has not, in the course of so many centuries, occurred any instance, unknown to us, of an intruding bi- shop without ordination, or of some defect of the things needful to constitute a lawful appointment ? Now to attest by eyewit- LECTURE HI. 85 nesses or records, the validity of every epi- scopal ordination through a series of eighteen centuries is plainly out of the question. But w^hat then ? Shall this avail to discredit, or to render dubious the validity of thei?' appoint- ment, who now act in the church as the pro- fessed and ostensible successors of the apo- stles ? Certainly, in good reason, it ought not. For, not to insist now on the promise of our Lord's perpetual presence with the ministry of his church : not to insist, that if there were no lawful ministry, the promise would seem to have come to no effect; and that the scrip- ture appears to recognise as lawful, no minis- try but that, of which the power is conferred by those previously authorized for the pur- pose, and conferred in the way of an express and exterior and visible designation : not, I say, to insist on these things, there is one consideration which may set our minds at rest on the subject. Would it be possible at this day that any man, without lawful ordi- nation, should procure himself to be received and credited as a person invested with that character, and thus succeed in usurping the administration of the episcopal office ? Or would you not at once pronounce this to be a total impossibility? Let me then ask you: How could it be more possible in any age g3 86 LECTURE III. which has elapsed since the first establish- ment of the Christian church, than it is now? In like manner let me put the question, Could any man at this day pass off, as an Epistle of the apostle St. Paul, a forged writ- ing of his own ? If it would not be possible now, why should it be more possible in any former age ? Certainly, if you go up to the earliest period of the church, the difficulty must appear insuperable : for the vigilance of men against imposture would naturally be most alive, when the profession of the faith w^as attended with the greatest danger. If, on the other hand, you select any interme- diate period, as the season for such an at- tempt : then, the very time of its first ap- pearance would be to all men a palpable proof of its forgery. For the very tenour and profession of the book itself, and the authoritative character which it professes to have, will suffice to convince you, that if it were genuine, it could not have been lost: and that if writings thus essential to the Christian religion could thus fall into oblivion, the religion must have fallen into oblivion also. To cut the matter short, and make it plain to all men : If it be impossible at this day to forge a book of the New Testament, it was equally so at any former time ; if it be LECTURE III. 87 impossible for any man now living, it must have been alike impossible for any man living at any time. Thus, in fact, it is that the case stands. A question has been decided by those who lived before us : we are quite sure, that it never would have been decided without the fullest possible evidence : that evidence, from the necessity of things, has unavoidably disap- peared: and yet we would now try the ques- tion over again. XV. On these general principles respecting the canon I insisted in my last Discourse. They are principles which come home to the under- standings of all men : nor do they require any previous acquaintance with matters of deep and intricate research. Let us, however, now consider, whether it be possible that their va- lidity may be shaken, by any allegation of facts historically connected with the forma- tion of the canon. This inquiry is of no trivial importance : for the truth of princi- ples cannot be sustained in defiance of such a test: nor can such principles be warrant- ably asserted, if, however suited to the con- viction of simple and unsuspecting minds, we knew them to be hollow and deceptive. Pious frauds are equally contrary to morals and to expediency. If the salvation of all G 4 88 LECTURE III. mankind could be effected by propagating a single falsehood, the end would never sanc- tify the means ; and the employer of such means would be subject to the eternal penalty denounced against every one that maketh a lie. Towards opening the subject, it is necessary to premise the following remark. I desire at this time to vindicate historically the validity of those general principles which in my last Lecture I applied to this subject. Now for this purpose, the greater part of the books of the New Testament are so circumstanced, that they can create no difficulty : neither the names of these books, nor any circumstances relating to them, would ever be alleged to shake the validity of those propositions, which 1 have asserted for the vindication of the canon. It remains then, that I state the names of those books which connect with the pre- sent inquiry the necessity of more mature examination. They are the seven following: the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistle of St. James, the second Epistle of St. Peter, the second and third Epistles of St. John, the Epistle of St. Jude, and the Apocalypse. Re- specting these I would prove from the books themselves, and from external circumstances, that if they had not been entitled to a place LECTURE III. 89 in the canon, they would never have obtained it. If this can be proved, the general princi- ples which I have previously applied to this subject may honestly be maintained. And thus concerning the entire writings of the New Testament, I would prove that they are authentic works. Let us first then advert to the circumstance which has occasioned all the difficulty. It is this fact : that some of the books of the present canon were not received universally by the Christian church so early as others ; the books thus distinguished from the others being those, which I have named. Hence then may occasion be taken to argue thus respect- ing the principles insisted on in the last Lec- ture : " Though such principles may appear " conclusive in themselves, they are neverthe- " less fallacious, since they are contradicted " by fact : some of the canonical books having " been doubted of for about three centuries, " and afterwards obtained a general reception: " and it is plain, that the evidence of their " authority could not, at the end of these " three centuries, have been so strong as it " was at the beginning: therefore they may " have obtained a place in the canon, though " not entitled to it: since those who decided " in their favour could not, on this footing, 90 LECTURE III. " have been more competent than those who " doubted of their authority." Such is the possible objection : it has in effect been actu- ally urged. Now if this objection be thought to invalidate the canonical authority of those seven books which I have just named, it will go far towards subverting the principles which I have advanced towards establishing the authority of the whole canon. Hence arises the necessity of historically examining the subject. The objection is indeed very plausible : but I trust it will appear in the sequel, that it is only one of those numerous mistakes, into which men are liable to fall, when they give their opinions on subjects which they have not been at the pains to thoroughly under- stand. In fact, the objection proceeds on an assumption of what is false : when the matter is examined, there will be good reason to con- clude, that those who lived at the end of the three centuries, were better judges of the question, than the majority of those who lived when the books were written. Now, in order to bring this great ques- tion to a satisfactory adjustment, there are four leading points of exposition and of ar- gument to which I would beg your atten- tion. LECTURE III. 91 I. XVI. The first of these leading points re- gards the intricacy and confusion with which, in studying the records of the primitive church, this subject occurs to our notice. I shall therefore briefly represent the causes in which they have arisen : the doing of which will at the same time account in part for the compa- ratively late period at which some of the books obtained a general recognition, and contribute to present the general subject clearly to our view. One of these causes is, the practice of the ancient church respecting the books publicly read in their assemblies. The authoritative scriptures were thus read, as books possessing an authoritative character : but other books were also read, in the character of works con- ducive to piety and to useful instruction. The former class of books are termed canonical ; the latter ecclesiastical. Of this second de- scription is the book of the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach. For though the council of Trent has received it into the canon, their forefathers seem to have annexed the word " Ecclesiasticus" to the title of it, as an ex- press caution against their so doing^ ^ A similar cause must, I plication of the term catholic think, have occasioned the ap- to the Epistles of St. James, St. 92 LECTURE III. In this way, the Epistle ascribed to St. Bar- nabas, and the Epistle which is entitled the Peter, St. John, and St. Jude. These books, or some part of them, were not so early au- thenticated (by a proper refer- ence to the test which will here- after be described) as some other canonical books. For the whole of these catholic Epistles, even those which were the sub- ject of temporary doubts, were read in churches, as were also the Epistle of Clement and the Pastor of Hermas, and were thus in danger of being con- founded with ecclesiastical books. But further : until their cano- nical authority was determined, there might be a doubt whether they might not be supposititious: for the name of an Apostle being in some cases prefixed to them, or his authority being claimed for them, it might seem, that no intermediate character could be- long to them ; but, that if they were not authoritative, they must have been forgeries. We may suppose then, that by those who had received the earliest proofs of their authenticity, the word catholic was inscribed on them for the sake of distinction, and for the guidance of others : on the same principle that the word ecclesiastical was inscribed on the Wisdom of the Son of Si- rach. Thus the word catholic woiild, in this use of it, be syno- nymous with canonical, and would be opposed to heretical or apocryphal : these last terms having the same import, inas- n)uch as the apocryphal Scrip- tures were in almost all cases forged by heretics. The pro- priety of the term may indeed apply to four only of the seven Epistles : for it was of these four only that doubts were enter- tained : but the term itself might naturally come to be applied to them all as a common name for those of the epistles which were not written by St. Paul. This explanation is confirmed byCas- siodorus and Gelasius, who, in speaking of these Epistles em- ploy the term canonical instead of catholic. As to the expla- nation of the term catholic, which is given by Leontius, as arising from the circumstance of these Epistles being addressed to all nations in general, and not to one in particular ; this sense of the term is manifestly incon- sistent with the superscriptions with which we find the greater number of these Epistles intro- duced. There is a fact recorded in the early history of the Church (I am sorry I cannot at this moment give a particular reference to my authority) which may serve to confirm what I have here said, and to illustrate the general feeling of hatred entertained for apocryphal works, and the prompt condemnation of those which assumed the name of Apostles. One of the Fathers composed a work to which, as a title, he innocently gave the name of some Apostle or scrip- tural character : on the same principle that Cicero might pre- fix that of Cato or Laelius to LECTURE III. 93 first of St. Clement to the Corinthians, were also publicly read in the churches ; upon the same principle that the Homilies of the church of England, though not pretending to canonical authority, are now set forth to be read in our churches. This practice was not unreasonable in its origin. For, as the church might authorize some to speak in the public assemblies, respecting whom, never- theless, it was not believed that they were infallibly directed in what they said: it might, on the same view to edification, attach a si- milar value to a im'itten discourse, which, though not authoritative, might be consider- ed as instructive and edifying. For example, it will be found that the Alexandrine manu- script (which critics have assigned to the fourth or fifth century) contains in it the two Epistles ascribed to Clement of Rome. On the other hand, it might from the same principle occur, that a book, acknowledged to be canonical, might be omitted in a volume containing other canonical scriptures : such one of his treatises. This gives natural, that every book which occasion to one of his friends to carried an authoritative name, advise him to choose some other and was not genuine, should no name for his book : for that if longer be regarded as an eccle- he did not, he might expect that siastical, or even as an innocent his it:ork would come to be reck- book, but altogether condemned oned in the number of apocry- as an imposture. phal forgeries. It was indeed 94 LECTURE III. omission being occasioned by the fact, that the same book was also omitted in the pub- lic readings of the church. Thus there is a canon *" of the council of Laodicea, di- recting what books are to be read in churches, and the catalogue of books thus prescribed does not contain the Apocalypse : it is not impossible, as a consequence of this canon, that some volumes of Scriptures, in which the Apocalypse was not contained, might be prepared for the use of churches. This might furnish a partial occasion for doubt respecting the authority of a book. But I trust it will fully appear in the sequel, that such doubt was capable of solution on clear and determinate grounds ; and that, though some Christians of the early church may have been affected by this structure of their scrip- tural and liturgical books, it furnishes no just occasion of perplexity to us ^ ^ This canon is frequently al- this canon is not genuine : I leged as containing a complete know not the grounds of this opi- list of canonical books: but it nion, but it plainlydoes not affect really contains the names of the use which I ha^e made of it those only, which it directs to be for the purpose of illustration. read in churches. We cannot "^ Yet such it has been made, wonder that the Apocalypse This, I think, is the tendency should be onutted here: since of some representations con- the practice of our own church tained in archbishop Wake's is in this respect nearly agree- Preliminary Discourse to his able to that prescribed by the Translation of the Apostolical council of Laodicea. It has been Fathers. [See more particu- contended (see Michaelis, as re- larly eh. x. §. ii. and 25.] As ferred to in the next note) that the archbishop seems, at some LECTURE III. 95 Secondly, the same matter may be partly accounted for on this footing. Of the an- cient versions of the New Testament, some are of so early a date, that they appear to have been anterior to the time, when the latest of the books of the New Testament were composed. Of this description is the old Syriac version ; from which the absence of the Apocalypse and of four of the catholic Epistles has been explained on the supposi- tion, which is contended to be highly pro- bable, that those canonical books had not been written at the time when the version was made*^. From this it appears that col- times, almost inclined to enlarge "draw this conclusion of the thecatalogueof canonical Scrip- " Apocalyj)se, we ninst draw tures, so professor Michaelis dis- "the same in respect to the covers an inclination to reduce " first Epistle of Clement." it, and he, in like manner, em- But to this I say, No: the two ploys this topic. Speaking (in cases are widely different. The the fourth section of his chap- Epistle of Clement does not ter relating to the Apocalypse) claim the character of a divine of the Alexandrine manuscript, and authoritative book : it might he says, that "it contains the therefore be read in churches, " whole Bible, and with it the not for authority but for edifi- " Apocalypse. But then," con- cation ; not as canonical but as tinues he, " the Codex Alex- ecclesiastical. But the Apoca- " andrinus contains likewise lypse does claim the character " other books, which are cer- of a divine and authoritative " tainlv not canonical : ff)r in- book : therefore if not esteemed " stance, the first Epistle of canonical, it would have found " Clement to the Corinthians, no place in a collection of books " and also several hvmns. Con- to be read in churches, but " sequently we cannot infer, would have been discarded alto- " that the writer of this nianu- gether as a forgery. " script considered the Apoca- ^ " The old Syriac version " lypse as canonical : for if we " has not in it the four catholic 96 LECTURE III. lections of these writings were made, earlier than the whole of them were given to the world : and this circumstance might probably for some time cast a doubt on those scrip- tures, which were not contained in such re- ceived collections : for a collection of all that had been published doicn to a certain date, might naturally, from a mistaken veneration, be looked upon as a collection of the lehole. Thirdly, of our difficulties relating to this subject, another cause presents itself in the mutilated and interpolated condition of the writings of the ancient Fathers : respecting which writings, I have already proved, that we cannot have the same reasonable assurance of their genuineness and purity, that we have respecting the Scriptures themselves. This applies more especially to the catalogues " Epistles, (viz. the 2d of Peter, " were not yet received into the " the 2d and 3d of John, and " number of canonical books. " the Epistle of Jude,) nor the " Now, whichsoever of these be " Revelation : — which I take to " said, the antiquity of the ver- " be a considerable proof of the " sion will be fully established. " antiquity of the version. For " But the frst of these seems " their being wanted must ne- " most probable; because, as I " cessarily proceed from one of " shall hereafter shew, the " these three causes, viz. either, " churches of Syria did both " I, Because they were not " know and receive several of " written when this version was " these books at least as cano- " made : or, 2. Because the " nical in the second centun,', as " knowledge of them was not yet "it is certain thev do now." " come to the Syrian churches, Jones on the Canon, vol. I. " for whom this version was p 112. " made : or, 3. Because they LECTURE III. 97 which they contain of the Scriptures : for a catalogue, containing a long string of names, following each other without syntac- tical arrangement, furnishes one of the most probable occasions both for mistake and for fraud on the part of a copyist. Of this you may find an example in the list of canonical books of the Old Testament, which Eusebius has given us from Origen % and which is distinguished by the omission of the twelve minor prophets. Here the error is so fla- grant, that it exposes itself: but it is not im- probable that other catalogues may be vi- tiated in such a manner, as really to mislead us respecting the judgment of the writers of them. A fourth cause, and one of no inconsider- able operation, presents itself in the confused statements, the mistakes, and misrepresenta- tions, of learned men. Such was Eusebius among the ancients : and of the moderns, Lardner, Michaelis, and others, may properly be named, as having imparted a false colour- ing and an incorrect representation to the evidence and the testimony relating to this point, which are derivable from the works of early Christian writers. ^ Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. vi. c. 25. Lardner's ^yorks, vol. v p. 26. ed, 1788. H 98 LECTURE III. I would now proceed to lay down a funda- mental principle, which I desire to establish by argument, illustrate by example, and ap- ply to the solution of the various difficulties connected with this subject. XVII. But before I do this, I feel it necessary for the information of the younger portion of my hearers, to explain certain terms, which, in the progress of these Lectures, I shall have occasion to employ, and respecting which it is necessary, in order to a right comprehen- sion of my argument, that a very distinct conception should be entertained. These terms are catholic and heretic. I would observe then, that the term he- retic, as it is applied to the state of the early church, is a term very remote from that laxity of indiscriminate application in which it is now used ; and according to which it has become little else, than a term of angry re- proach among religious parties. Previously to the Nicene council, the whole catholic church was, with the exception of the schisms of the Novatians and the Donatists, united in one body and in one communion. To the members of this undivided church, living under the go- vernment of bishops appointed by lawful suc- cession from the apostles, the term catholic applies. But besides these, there were others, LECTURE III. 99 professing to believe in Christ, but who were not included in the body of catholic be- lievers : either because they wilfully sepa- rated from that communion, or else, because they were, by reason of their heterodox te- nets, expelled from it and excommunicated. To these latter, in the early church, the term heretic properly applies ^ For there was at this time no confusion as to the question, who was and who was not a heretic : and the term itself, in the earlier period of its eccle- siastical use, simply denoted a fact, without any other expression of reproach, than what that fact itself, in the estimation of those who used the term, necessarily implied : as indeed the word heresy is found to be employed, in Scripture itself, in a way far from indicative of censure ^. Having spoken of the Novatians and the Donatists, it remains that I add a few words f Lardner's definition of the this definition. It signifies tiie word is perfectly unobjection- universal church, or, (as it is " able. It is generally allowed, designated in the Apostles' " that a heretic is one who pro- Creed,) the holy catholic c\\nvc\\: " fesseth to be a Christian, but and consists of all Christian be- " is not supposed to be one of lievers living in lawful cominu- " the church, having either sepa- nion under bishops who are le- " rated himself from it, or been gitimate successors to the au- " excluded from it by others." thority of the Apostles. Hist, of Heretics, b. i. sect. 2. ^ Acts v. 17. xv. 5. xxvi. 5. Itisonlynecessary, for the avoid- The word in our translation is ing of misconception, to explain sect, but in the original it is al- the term church as it occurs in pt ttjv eniKpiaiv Several Tepov (Ti vvv Trapa tols ttoWois kui avrr]. Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. C. TTtpieKKfTM J] 8o^a. Sficos ye p.T]v 24. CK T7}s T(op apxaicov p,apTvpias fv I 2 116 LECTURE III. " testimony of the ancients." He had been just before mentioning the doubts respecting the second and third Epistles of St. John : and his style of expression renders it mani- fest, that the expectation of a future decision, which he has expressed respecting the Apo- calypse, equally applied in his own mind to those two Epistles. And indeed, with regard to the whole of the seven books respecting which he has recorded the doubts of the church, it cannot, on a collective view of his various re- presentations relating to this subject, reason- ably be questioned, that he entertained the same judgment ; he regarded them all as books, concerning which a sure decision would take place at a future time. This language of Eusebius may reasonably be construed as an indication of the common sentiments of his contemporaries. It appears then, with respect to a part of the present canon, that doubts were entertained: these doubts were confessed : but they were not regarded as bringing any discredit upon Chris- tianity : and certainly they were not considered as doubts of impossible solution. The time, it was thought, for a final determination had not yet come : but Eusebius was well satisfied that it would come. Of the circumstance thus presented to your notice, 1 will proceed to LECTURE III. 117 furnish an explanation ^. In order to which, it will be useful to advert to the method adopted by the primitive Christians, for guarding the authenticity and proving the identity of their Scriptures. The passages of the Fathers which relate to this point are numerous and con- current. This method was as follows. The several books were kept as a sacred deposit, in the several churches to which they were address- ed: the copies being well authenticated, and the custody of them especially confided to the bishops of the respective churches: while (from the circumstances of the case, and the proximity of the time to the first beginning of Christianity) the books might be clearly certified, and the apostolical succession of their appointed guardians might be distinctly traced up. Some of these books were not in- deed addressed to particular churches : but it is natural that these latter should have been kept with equal fidelity, in churches, neigh- bouring to those individuals or classes of per- sons to whom they were primarily sent. On a similar view, we may suppose, that the Gos- pel of St. Mark would be authenticated as if P The above cited passage of St. James's Epistle, "paulatim, Eusebius may serve to throw " procedente tempore, obtinuit light on a similar expression of " auctoritatem." Jerom : who says, respecting I 3 118 LECTURE III. it had been that of St. Peter; and that the writings of St. Luke would be alike verified by the authority of St. Paul. Such being the practice of the churches in which the canonical Scriptures were first de- posited : that of other churches, towards ascer- taining the character of the books propounded to them, was, to I'efer to the churches in which the authentic and attested copies were pri- marily deposited''. '1 This point is well illustrated by TertuUian, in his treatise De Prsescriptionibus Haereticoruni. In order to give a compendious view of his testimony, I will put together a connected represent- ation of the substance of some passages in the twentieth, twen- ty-first, and thirty-sixth chapters of that work. " The apostles first bore wit- " ness to the faith of Jesus Christ " throughout Judaea, and esta- " blished churches in that coun- " try : then they went out into " the world, and promulgated to " the Gentiles the same doctrine " and the same faith. With " the same view they founded " churches in every city: from *' these churches, thus founded by " the Apostles, all the other " churches afterwards obtained, " and every day continue to oh- " tairf, the scions of their faith " and tlie seeds of their doctrine, " that they may thus obtain the " right constitution of a church " for themselves. By this means, " these latter churches also, as " being the offspring of aposto- " lical churches, have a title to " be reckoned apostolical them- " selves." " If our Lord Jesus Christ " sent his apostles to preach, we " have no right to receive or " acknowledge any other preach- " ers than those whom Christ " has appointed. As to the sub- " stance of their doctrine, it is " the same as what Christ re- " vealed to them. And here I " will insist on this point: the " IDENTITY OF THAT DOCTRINE " OUGHT NOT TO BE PROVED IN " ANY OTHER WAY THAN BY " THE TESTIMONY OF THOSE " SAME CHURCHES WHICH THE " APOSTLES, THROUGH THE " MEANS OF PREACHING, NOT " ONLY BY WORD, BUT ALSO BY " LETTER, THEMSELVES FOUND- " ED. All such doctrine is to be " maintained without doubt, as " that which the churches re- " ceived from the Apostles, the " Apostles from Christ, and " Christ from God. All other " doctrine is to be rejected as " false, since it contradicts the " the truth of the churches, of LECTURE III. 119 It is impossible that methods could have been adopted, more satisfactory to posterity. Now if you regard these methods, and look at the same time to the coetaneous state of the catholic church; you will find it impossible but that doubt and delay must arise. Oppor- tunities could not now be obtained for eccle- siastical councils to settle a rule for universal practice. For the spirit of pagan intolerance vented itself in prohibiting and repressing all '■ the Apostles, of Christ, and " of God. Such doctrine ought " even to be prejudged and con- *' demned before it is heard." " Take a journey through the " several apostolical churches, " in which the very chairs of the " Apostles, each in its proper " place, are now occupied [^by " their successors'], in which their " authentic writings are now " read, uttering their voice and " renewing their presence. Do " you live near Achaia ? You " may go to Corinth. If you are " not distant from Macedonia, *' you may refer to Philippi. If " you have the means of travel- " ling into Asia, you may repair " to Ephesus. If you belong to " Italy, you may have readv ac- " cess to Rome. It is from this " last named church, rendered " illustrious by the preaching " and the sufferings of the Apo- " sties Peter, Paul, and John, " that we of Africa derive our " evidence relating to this point. " As they of that church, among " the books which they acknow- " ledge, combine the Law and " the Prophets with the Gospels "and the Apostolical letters, so *' do we." There are, in the thirteenth section of Lardner's chapter on Augustin, two quotations from that Father, which, if viewed in connection with the foregoing, will be found to confirm its testimony; but the original pas- sages (cited at the bottom of the page) will serve this purpose better than the translations of Lardner, who does not, in these instances, appear to study exact- ness. It is, I conceive, on the testimony of the ancients, thus transmitted to us, rather than on the authority of foregoing writ- ers, that Eusebius lays so much stress, as the test of canonical- ness: if indeed his words may not admit of being construed to signify, the testimony of the archives : which latter construc- tion comes still more to the point. This matter will be fur- ther illustrated in the next note but one. I 4 120 LECTURE III. Christian assemblies whatever : and it would no doubt occasionally manifest itself, as it did in the case of the emperor Licinius"^, in the special interdiction of synodical meetings. It is plain then, that while freedom of intercourse was denied, the adjustment of the canon must be suspended. It is also to be noted in par- ticular, that the circumstances of some of the seven books, comparatively with those of most of the other canonical writings, were pecu- liarly unfavourable to the speedy diffusion of the proofs of their authenticity. It must appear then, with regard to all the books of the canon, that they could, at first, be received only in those cities and countries, to which the primary evidence of their au- thenticity was known : from these cities and countries they would, with more or less expe- dition according to the circumstances of the case, be diffused and authenticated to the others. If you would demand that they should be universally received at once, this is the same ■^ " Liciniiis enacted a law, " to matters of common use and " commanding that the bishops " benerit." l_Eusehius de vita " should, at no place and in no Const, lib. i. c. 51.] The next " way, hold intercourse with each lines ofEusebius's text seem to " other, and declaring it to be be much mutilated; but he de- " unlawful for any of them to signates this measure of Licinius " go out of his own diocese to as an act of insulting cruelty " the church of a neighbouring [ervj^eia], and says, That the im- " bishop, and that they should portant affairs of the church " have no svnods nor delibera- cannot he put upon a right foot- " tions nor discussions relating ing loithout synods. LECTURE III. 121 thing as to require that this primary evidence should be simultaneously known in all coun- tries: and you will on the same ground be warranted in demanding, that such primary evidence should be equally known to all ages. These things are, in themselves, impossible : and the defect of them could only be supplied by a standing miracle : while this latter, from its constant and uniform manifestation, would probably make no more impression on the minds of men than the common operations of nature do. We have now distinctly seen, what was the practice of the early Christians respecting do- cuments of so much importance to their faith : we have seen the nature of the attestation of those documents, which was afforded by some churches and obtained by others. What then can we think of the representation of professor Michaelis', when we find him assuming, in '^ The sense of Michaelis, [see "dressed only to single com- the 3d section of his chapter on " munities or churches : but the the Aj30calypse,] as given in bi- " Apocalypse, according to its shop Marsh's translation, is as " own contents, was expressly follows : " I must now propose " ordered by Christ himself, in " the question : How is it pos- " a command to St. John the " sible that this book, if really " Apostle, to be sent to seven " written by St. John the Apo- " churches : and not only these " stle, should have either been " seven churches were in that " wholly unknown, or consi- " part of Asia Minor where " dered as a work of doubtful " Christianity was in the most " authority, in the very earliest " flourishing situation, but one '• ages of Christians ? The other *' of them was Ephesus, where " apostolical Epistles are ad- " St. John spent the latter part 122 LECTURE III. effect, that the authority of the Apocalypse was unsupported by this attestation? The " of his life, and consequently " where every work of St. John " must have been perfectly well "known. If St. John then had " actuallv sent the Apocalypse " to these seven churches, and " that too, not as a private " Epistle, but as a Revelation " made to him by Jesus Christ, " one should suppose that its " authenticity could not have " been doubted, especially at a " time when there were the " best means of obtaining infor- " mation." To this I answer : If by the very earliest ages of Christianity, we may be allowed to understand, the jjeriod which elapsed from the composure of the book to a date later than the end of the second century : then, it will appear that the Apocalvpse, during these ages, was not either unknown, nor yet considered as a work of doubtful authority. For the an- cient testimonies toit are very nu- merous and remarkably strong : nor does it appear to have been ever questioned among Catho- lics, by any earlier writer than one Caius, a presbyter, sup- ])osed to have been of Rome, about the year 212: this Caius being possibly (if he was really the originator of the question) a man of rather a sceptical turn : for we find him to have been likewise distinguished by raising a question respecting the Epist. to the Hebrews. To this ertect Dr. Mills, in his Prolegomena, [p. 27. ed. 1707.] intimates, //ia/ it was not till the beginning of the third century that any catho- lics rejected this book from the canon. And Basnage, in his History of the Church, [b. viii. c. 7.] says distinctly, that "the " Apocalypse was at first re- " ceived by the whole church as " a Divine book, and as a reve- " lation made to St. John the " Apostle." The commence- ment of a different sentiment he likewise ascribes to the above named Caius : supposing that a repugnance to this book was awakened in the mind of Caius, by the countenance which it afforded to a doctrine which he denied, namely that of the mil- lennium. Basnage also sup- poses [see the sixth chapter of the same book] that Caius, in rejecting the Epistle to the He- brews, was actuated by a similar feeling of hostility to the doc- trines of the Montanists : whose severity towards the lapsed might claim the sanction of that Epistle. The above remarks proceed on the supposition that Caius was really the first author of the doubts on this subject. But I have mvself embraced the supposition of Mr. Jones, that the words of Caius (referred to in a former note) do not relate to the Apocalypse, but to a for- gery of Cerinthus under that name. On this latter supposi- tion, it will probably be judged, that the first appearance of doubts respecting the Apoca- lypse, is to be fixed at a later date than the year 212. LECTURE III. 123 assumption is totally false and groundless. In the whole range of ecclesiastical records, We see then how little reason the professor has for speaking of this book as being either wholly unknown, or considered as a work of doubtful authority in the very earliest ages of Christians. Not one word of this is true. In the earliest ages the book was well known, and it was a book of undoubted authority. " If St. John," continues Mi- chaelis, " had actually sent the " Apocalypse to these seven " churches, and that too, not as " a private Epistle, but as a re- " velation made to him by Je- " sus Christ, one should sup- " pose that its authenticity " could not have been doubted, " especially at a time when •' there was the best means of " obtaining information." To this I answer as follows : First, Its authenticity was NOT doubted. This is proved in the foregoing remarks. Se- condly, St. John DID send the Apocalypse to the seven churches. This I am now to prove : in or- der to which, I will first quote the following passage from the fifth chapter of TertuUian's fourth book against Marcion. " If it be admitted that anti- " quity is a criterion of truth ; " that the greatest antiquity is " that which rises up to the be- " ginning [of the publication of " the Gospel] ; and that this be- " ginning is found in the doc- " trine which the Apostles " preached : then it must plain- " ly follow, that the doctrine de- " liver ed by the Apostles is the " same with that which has been " preserved with sacred venera- " tion bij the churches. Let us " see, then, what was that kind " of milk which the Corinthians " imbibed from Paul ; what " was that rule according to " which the Galatians were " corrected ; what is read by " the Philippians, the Thes- " salonians, the Ephesians ; " what also are the readings of " our neighbours the Romans, " to whom both Peter and Paul *' have left a Gospel sealed even " with their blood ?" I quote on this occasion the more largely, for the sake of further illustrating the practice, already described, of the primi- tive church, towards obtaining security with respect to the au- thenticity of their books. The Gospels of Peter and Paul, here spoken of, must denote those of Mark and Luke. The words immediately following in TertuUian are these : " We have also churches " OF WHICH the infancy WAS " FOSTERED BY JoHN. FoR AL- " THOUGH MaRCION REJECTS " HIS Apocalypse, yet the " succession of bishops trac- " ED UP to the beginning " WILL prove that JoHN WAS " theauthor." HabemusetJo- hannis alumnas ecclesias. Nam etsi Apocalypsim ejus Marcion respuit, ordo tamen episcopo- rum ad originem recensus, in Johannem stabitauctorem. The quotation might be further ex- 124 LECTURE III. I do not believe that there occurs a single instance, relating to any one book of the tended with advantage to the subject I am upon ; but I will briefly apply it to the point. Here are the churches, whose infancy was fostered by St. John, Johannls alumnce ecclesicE ; that is to sav, the very identical seven churches, respecting which the professor takes it for grant- ed, that St. John had not sent them copies of the Apocalypse : these churches are here specially referred to by TertuUian, as possessing those copies. For these seven churches, as it is well known, were immediately subject to the pastoral govern- ment of St. John during his abode at Ephesus. But, independent of this proof from Tertullian, we have still extant, relating to several of these churches, very distinct and special evidence. Be it re- membered, what has already been stated, that the practice of the early Christians for security relating to this point was, to refer the question of authenticity to the churches in which the attested (perhaps even autogra- phical) copies were first depo- sited. Let this, I say, be care- fully borne in mind, and let us now consider the case of several of these churches distinctly. 1. Ephesus was one of the seven churches. There must have been an attested copy of the Apocalypse here. For Justin Martvr plainly acknowledges the authenticity of it as a work of the Apostle St. John. Now Justin visited Ephesus : and the time of his being there is pro- bably within fifty years of the writing of the Apocalypse. If then no authentic cojjy had at this time been kept at Ephesus, Justin could never have been led to receive it as authentic. 2. Smyrna was another of the seven churches. There must have been an attested copy of the Apocalypse here. For Polycarp was bishop of Smyrna, and supposed to have been the very individual addressed in the Apo- calyptic message to the angel of the church of that city. He was also the personal disciple of St. John, and was well known to Ireneeus ; by whom the au- thenticity of tlie Apocalypse is distinctly acknowledged. If therefore no attested copy was kept at Smyrna, Irenseus must have known the fact : for he was, during the life of Polycarp, at Smyrna himself. If the book was not authentic, Irenaius could not but have known it from Polycarp, whose disciple he was. In fact, both Justin and Ire- ni£us must have known that John, bv the mandate recorded in the book itself, was directed to send a copy of it to the seven churches : if no such copy had been sent, they could not but have known the omission : if they had known the omission, they could not have received the book as authentic. 3. Sardis was a third of these churches. There must have been an attested copy of the Apoca- LECTURE III. 125 canon, in which we find so confident an ap- peal to this attestation, combined with such very strong evidence, possessed by us, of the most satisfactory means being at hand for the answer of it. On this part of my subject I would only offer one more remark. In searching the testi- lypse here. For Melito, bishop of this citj', wrote a treatise upon it : and he lived so near the time of its composure, that he is by some supposed to be the very individual denoted by the angel of the church of Sar- dis, to whom another of the apocalyptical messages is ad- dressed. Melito could never have acknowledged the author- ity of the book, if no copy had been sent according to the man- date which the book contains. The present case may serve to illustrate the very delusive nature of the common methods of examining the question of ca- nonical authority. Suppose that time had swept away the evi- dence which has now been adduced ; the professor's un- grounded assumption might then have defied contradiction : yet it would not have been the more true on that account. Is this then a fit principle to war- rant the denial of canonical au- thority to a book, which has been handed down to us by the church, with that character af- fixed to it ? Or does it, because we are obliged to believe the Scriptures, therefore follow that we are entitled to demand the preservation of a passage in Tertullian, in order to satisfy us what Scripture is genuine and what is not ? There are, in connection with the Apocalypse, two particulars which seem to me somewhat il- lustrative of the subject we are upon. The apostle is directed to send copies of his book to the seven churches : does not this confirm the testimony of Tertullian, already cited, re- specting the general practice of the primitive Christians r a practice on which he insists so strongly as to suppose, that the Gospels of Matthew and John were confided as sacred deposits, simultaneously with the first for- mation of the churches to which they were given. [It is thus I interpret the words (occurring in the chapter against Marcion which has been already quoted) cum ipsis ecclesiis dedicata.'} Again, we find towards the conclusion of this book very heavy denunciations on him who should add to or take from the contents of it. Does not this yield indirect evidence of the great efforts exerted by the heretics, in that age, to muti- late and interpolate the Scrip- tures ? 126 LECTURE III. monies of the ancient Fathers respecting the seven books, I think it will appear, that you will find their acknowledgments of these books, or their ignorance of them, or their doubts about them, to be proportioned to the facilities which their abode and other circum- stances might afford for applying the test now described. For example : the Epistle to the Hebrews was received in the east and par- tially doubted of in the west. The Epistle of St. James in like manner obtained an early reception in Palestine and Syria. If my im- pression be correct, you cannot but perceive, that it imparts a new degree of coherency and of evidence to my representation. IV. XX. I now proceed to the fourth and last of those leading points which belong to the pre- sent examination. This will relate to the causes which operated to produce the settle- ment of the canon in its present form, and to the circumstances connected with the final adjustment of it. The doubts relating to the canon were oc- casioned by the long continued persecution of Christianity : a state of things greatly un- propitious to intercourse between remote churches, and prohibitory of easy access to LECTURE III. 127 proofs and muniments. Now it will be found, that when this persecution had once finally ceased, the doubts relating to the canon ra- pidly gave way. The council of Nice soon followed the secular triumph of Christianity over paganism. This splendid assembly em- braced in it above three hundred persons, principally bishops, convened from every re- gion of the Roman empire, and from other Christian countries which lay beyond its li- mits. Thus composed, it would no doubt greatly contribute to terminate that division of judgment, respecting a small portion of the canon, which had previously existed. We have at least good reason to think, that doubts on this point, if they existed at all among the Nicene Fathers, could not be very strong nor very general. For they met together, to judge the doctrine of Arius by the rule of Scrip- ture : they must therefore have been agreed as to the question, what books they would receive as having that character. We do not find that any controversy was stirred on this point : we find indeed that one * of those *■ This was the Epistle to the eighth chapter of the first book Hebrews : the words insisted of Theodoret's Ecclesiastical upon were these ; the brightness History. It is plain indeed, that of his glory, and the express this Epistle must have been ad- image of his person, [chap. i. 3.] mitted in common by both the See the Epistle of Athanasius parties who were principally to the African bishops, and the concerned at the council : for, 128 LECTURE III. very books which had been previously con- troverted, was expressly alleged for the pur- pose of confronting the Arian blasphemy. And the great Athanasius, who was present at this council, has left us a catalogue of the canon of the New Testament, which exactly agrees with ours. I do not say, that after the time of this council no vestige of remain- ing doubt discovers itself in any subsequent writers : yet it appears that henceforth these as it appears from Athanasius, the words of it were quoted by the Arians for the support of their tenets. [See the fifty-third chapter of Athanasius's first Oration against the Arians.] One nnight almost say, that the Epi- stle of St. James was alike cir- cumstanced : for Athanasius, im- mediately after arguing from that Epistle against the Arians, em- ploys words which might seem to identify the judgment of the Nicene Fathers with his own personal sentiment : ourw vorj- (ravres ol Trarepes k. t. X. [See the eighth and ninth chap- ters of Athanasius's Epistle to the African bishops.] But there is one thing remarkable as it regards the foregoing text from the Hebrews. The Ni- cene Fathers are said to have alleged it, ^ovXofifvoc ras tcov ypa(j)(ov [Xe^fir] 'OMOAOrOY- MENA2 ypa^jrai, because they de- sired to write down the acknow- ledged expressions of Scripture. Now the word opoXoyovpevos is a vox seciindce intentionis, a term of specific import in theology, to denote those books respecting which no doubt was entertained, as distinguished from others named avriXeyopevoi, respecting which doubts were for some time entertained : this latter class comprising those seven books with which we are now princi- pally concerned. This remark applies specifically to the Epi- stle to the Hebrews : it applies, as we have seen, with almost equal force to the Epistle of St. James : does it not then, when we consider that Athanasius was present at this council, apply, in the way of fair inference, to the whole of his canonical list of the New Testament? Does it not incline us to sujipose, that in the judgment of the council, the whole of these books had now become opoXoyovpeuoi, and that the character expressed by avriXeyopevoi, had ceased to be- long to any of them ? LECTURE III. 129 doubts insensibly and speedily subsided into a general unanimity. The same point will, if I mistake not, re- ceive elucidation, from a regard to the time during which miraculous powers continued to be frequent in the church. If, with a view to a right construction of the design of miracles, we regard the general economy of Divine revelation, and the prin- ciples declared by Scripture ; we shall have reason to acquiesce in this conclusion : that miracles are given for the introduction and establishment of a divine dispensation, and for the supply of extraordinary evidence at times when there is an extraordinary need of it : but not with a view to the permanent support of a dispensation after it has become established, peaceably embraced, and com- monly submitted to. For the end for which they were given is then accomplished : espe- cially if, as in the case of Christianity, the existence of that dispensation is in itself (in- asmuch as its origin cannot on any other ground be reasonably accounted for) the evi- dence of a miraculous introduction. But it cannot be considered that the Christian reli- gion had yet become firmly established, until the standard of its doctrine had become fixed and ascertained. Now if we will consult 130 LECTURE III. those writers, who can supply the only com- petent testimony relating to this point, we shall find, that the cessation of frequency in these extraordinary manifestations was about simultaneous with the time, when the canon of the New Testament, in its present form and construction, began to be received with the general unanimity of the Christian world. Thus it will appear, that while the canon was in an uncertain state, there was an extraor- dinary providence to obviate any inconveni- ence which might thence arise ; and that this extraordinary providence was not withdrawn till the present canon was embraced with general consent". " " By the end of the fourth " century, or thereabouts, there " will appear to be almost an " universal agreement concern- " ing the canon, and what books " should be received into it." Jones on the Canon, part I. chap, iii. " It has been sometimes " said, that the council of Lao- " dicea" (A.D. 363, according to Lardner) " first settled the " canon of the New Testament. " But it may be justly said to " have been settled before. At " least there had been long " before a general agreement " amonc Christians what books " were canonical, and what " not." Lardnefs Hist, of the Apostles and Evangelists, ch. iii. The duration of miraculous powers in the church, is a sub- ject which, when viewed in con- nection with the settlement of the canon, carries with it a very deep interest. I may possibly resume it in the progress of this work. Meanwhile I will con- tent myself with giving, in rela- tion to this subject, two ex- tracts which may be found in the chapters of Lardner's Credi- bility, relating to the respective authors from whom they are taken. Junilius, an African bishop of the sixth century, in treating of the proofs of the divine authority of the Scrip- tures, savs ; " Lastly, the conti- " nuance of miracles till the " time when the Scripture itself " was acknowledged by the " Gentiles. Respecting which " it surtices as the latest mirci- " clc of all, that the authority " of Scripture is universally LECTURE III. 131 This was about the end of the fourth cen- tury : after this time, if I mistake not, we meet with little or nothing of apocryphal gos- pels and heretical forgeries : previously to this time they had been frequent. The set- tlement of the canon seems to have barred the prospect of success to such fabrications : as on the other hand, the previously unset- tled state of it, which was unavoidable, which was known to the catholic Christians, and not disguised by them; seems to have been the ground of encouragement to such at- tempts. For in such a state of things, it does not appear, that there was any unanimous judgment of the whole catholic church which could be alleged at once to condemn supposi- titious books on their first appearance. From this time, if my impressions do not mislead me, the principles of heterodoxical separation from the body of the catholic church and from the communion of an apostolical succes- sion, seem to have sought their defence, not in the allegation of false scriptures, but in " acknowledged." My second " now require the outward signs author is Pope Gregorj- the " of miraculous power. great. " The church," says he, " After the generality of men " stood in need of the assist- " have been converted to the " ance of miracles as long as it " faith ; what further reason " was oppressed by persecution. " can there be for the CA'idence " But after it has subdued the " of miracles-"' " pride of infideliry, it does not 132 LECTURE III. peculiarities of interpretation affixed to ca- nonical ones. XXI. And now, to sum up this discussion. We have seen, that a part of our canon was once regarded with doubts : what then are we to infer ? In a case where uncertainty was un- avoidable ; where the dictates of nature, and the dearest interests of heaven and earth would excite extreme vigilance and caution ; where sure grounds of determination were for a time not to be had : was it not to be expected that such doubts would occur ? But is this a reason for misgivings and anx- ieties to us ? Surely it ought not in justice so to be : it is indeed a good reason for in- creased security, and it ought always to be alleged as such. It is, on a just view of it, one of our strong reasons for being sure of the authenticity of the canon. For while the fact bears witness to the great solicitude enter- tained by the early Christians ; it may assure us, that they would make no mistake, and that their deteinmnation would be influenced by the same careful regard to evidence, which had been the cause of their previous suspense. What shall I say then, with respect to those general principles on which I formerly in- sisted for the vindication of the canon ? I will admit, that if these principles are not true, LECTURE III. 133 they must not be advanced, even though they may persuade : but having taken this review of the subject, I am the more convinced that they are sound and vahd : and that the proofs of Christianity, as to this, as well as all other points, are capable of being presented in the most convincing form to the most ordinary minds. I also feel myself entitled to repeat my assertion, that the evidence, relating to this point, which all men in common may at- tain ; is more satisfactory than any, which it is the privilege of the learned only to enjoy. This is indeed one of those matters of fact, respecting which archbishop King has well observed, that the vulgar often judge better than philosophers". I must add what truth requires, but what it is painful to remark. There are few causes which have more powerfully operated to darken and confuse this subject, than the labours of learned men ; for these labours have too often been conducted with a de- plorable want of judgment, and have been followed by rash and hasty decisions, formed upon very inadequate measures of knowledge. My language may appear too bold : but it is far better that literary men should suffer in their reputation, than that revelation should '^ King's Origin of Evil, p 323. ed. 1739. 134 LECTURE III. be weakened in its power of defence ; and the remark is the more necessary, inasmuch as these are the men to w^hom, as their legi- timate and only guides, the ignorant are re- ferred. But I will vindicate myself from the imputation of a bold singularity, by alleging the coincident opinion of a celebrated writer on this subject. He expresses himself to this effect : " I cannot but believe, that the disbe- " lief and contempt of revealed religion, and " the growth of profaneness, are very much " owing to the imprudent treatment^ which the " sacred Scriptures have met with from many, " who profess to believe their inspiration. The " many methods that have been taken, even by " several of the Christian clergy, to render the " canon of Scripture uncertain, have been among " the unhappy means of causing many to 7'eject " 7'evelation itself The unguarded discourses " of divers learned and ingenious men on " those heads, have supplied the enemies of " Christianity with arginnents against it, and " been many ways improved by evil jninds to " its dishonour. These are the weapons with " which Hobbes, Spinoza, Toland, and the " Deists have fought against revealed reli- ^' gion^r y Jones's vindication of the lornier part of St. Matthews Gos- pel, preface. LECTURE III. 135 Having quoted this learned writer, I think it will not be amiss to offer a few remarks, which will jointly apply to the canon of the New Testament, and to his celebrated work upon it. It will, from my previous remarks, be suf- ficiently understood, what I consider to be the best and most satisfactory method of vin- dicating the canon. It is, by insisting upon general principles of moral evidence, and by requiring, as the groundwork of demonstra- tion, no other data, than such as are, gene- rally speaking, accessible to the knowledge of all men. Nevertheless, I have not denied the usefulness of those researches into ancient literature, which aim at confirming the au- thority of the canon. If Christianity is at- tacked on this quarter, it must be defended from this quarter. It is in this point of view that Mr. Jones's Treatise on the Canon will be found deserving of high commendation. For in the examination of a subject, unavoid- ably prolix and tedious, the method which he has adopted may be safely pronounced in its general character, remarkably simple, con- vincing, and judicious. I will add, that if it were lawful to connect our regrets with the appointments of Providence, we might find just ground to lament, that the termination K 4 136 LECTURE III. of his life was earlier than that of his labour, and that the latter has thus been deprived of the illustration, which his clear and sensible mind might have been expected to throw on that portion of the sacred books, concerning which there was not from the first an una- nimous judgment of the church. To one great principle of that writer 1 have already stated my strong objection. On this I would say no more, than to add, that it deeply con- cerns every one, who desires to examine this subject by history and by particular evidence, to guard against the mistakes which learned men have made, and to preserve their minds uninfluenced by their injudicious expressions : for many such expressions have they dropped, not in any wilful disregard to truth, but un- der the influence of mistaken views and in- formation, and with a strange insensibility of the mischiefs which their language was adapted to occasion. It will therefore con- cern every one who engages in this inquiry, to repair to the primary fountains of infor- mation, and to trust to no reports of secondary authority in any cases where higher author- ity is to be obtained. For it is inconceivable how much this subject is infested with vulgar errors, and how many things are imj)licitly taken up by later writers on the credit of LECTURE III. 137 foregoing: which nevertheless, if traced up to the highest sources, will prove to be erro- neous. In fine, I would deduce from the fore- going review the following considerations. It is highly imprudent to rest the defence of the canon on the credit of other men. It would, I think, be wise in divines, if, in treat- ing the evidences of the Gospel, they would, unless when they discover the existence of a sceptical feeling relating to this point, con- sider the authenticity of the canon among those fixed principles of settled and undis- puted knowledge, which every ratiocination demands as the materials on which it is to work, and without which no argumen- tative discourse can proceed. It is indeed a point on which common minds seldom feel any doubt or uneasiness : nor is this seem- ing apathy to be justly regarded as any indi- cation of a mind degraded by ignorance, but rather as a sentiment of nature, which is heedless of frivolous questions while bent upon paramount aims of important benefit. Indeed, if you will inquire into the causes of infidelity which have as yet discovered themselves in actual operation, how seldom will you meet with an instance of it, which has arisen from doubts respecting the canon ! 138 LECTURE III. How few among infidels have rejected the Gospel on the grounds of scepticism re- specting the authenticity of the sacred writ- ings ! How many have been converted by reading them, whose minds were never dis- turbed by any scruples respecting their au- thenticity ! Surely it is wasting our time, to employ painful efforts in the demon- stration of a point, respecting which nature suggests no motive for anxious inquiry. But if, on the other hand, a case should arise, which calls for demonstrative proof of the validity of the canon : in such a case, I say, the best and most efficacious method is, to demonstrate the canon on a view of the gene- ral impossibility arising from the nature of the case, that any work could have been re- ceived into it which was not entitled to its place there. For this mode of reasoning does not require any degrading submission of the human understanding to the author- ity of other men : and it is far more conclu- sive than any evidence afforded by the tes- timony of Fathers and the decisions of coun- cils : inasmuch as the latter depends upon writings, which are, from the nature of the case, more questionable than those, the au- thenticity of which they are designed to prove. LECTURE IV THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT— THE EX- TERNAL EVIDENCE. John iii. 1, 2. There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nico- demus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus hy 7iig-ht, and said unto him, Rahhi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God : for 710 man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God he with him. XXII. It will, I think, assist the right com- prehension of our general argument, if we now look back to, and recapitulate, the fore- going parts of it. This is more particularly needful, by reason of the interval during which these Lectures have been suspended, and of the change which has taken place in the hearers of them : to many of whom this examination must be entirely new. My leading purpose is to evince, that the truth of Christianity may be fully proved by 140 LECTURE IV. means of knowledo;e accessible to men in every ordinary station of human life : and that it is therefore unnecessary and inexpe- dient so to argue respecting it, as if its evi- dence depended upon facts, to be known only by the learned, and believed by others on their testimony. In the pursuit of this design, my first step v^^as, to state the evidences arising from the records which w^e find in the holy Scriptures themselves. Hence it became necessary to shew, that these records are entitled to credit : and in order to the proof of their being entitled to credit, it was necessary to substantiate the authenticity of the wTitings in which w^e find them. This introduced an inquiry into the canon of Scripture : and that inquiry has hitherto been limited to the New Testament. In treating this subject, I argued, that the present canon of the New Testament may be fully and clearly proved, upon those general grounds of reasoning w^hich I had previously declared to be sufficient for every purpose of Christian evidence. The leading principle which I employed was this : That if we re- gard the circumstances of the case, and the nature of the books, it is impossible that any LECTURE IV. 141 book should have been admitted into the canon, if it had not been entitled to be so. But I was aware it might be objected, that this principle will, when the subject is viewed historically, be found untrue ; and I admit that, if not true, it must not be employed even in the cause of truth. I therefore took an historical view of the formation of the canon, for the purpose of proving that the principle is true, and therefore that it may honestly be employed. The result of this view, if I am entitled to estimate it, was, that the history of the canon does not contradict that principle, but impart to it a greatly aug- mented evidence of truth and certainty. It remains that I should so extend my rea- soning, as to comprehend the whole body of the Scriptures which we now receive. And some further links of reasoning may also be required, before the authenticity of the Scrip- tures, in the state in which they are now pre- sented to our use, is fully brought home to the understandings and convictions of the bulk of mankind. ' These intermediate steps will engage less of our attention than has been bestowed on the canon of the New Testament. In thus proceeding, I shall be actuated by two prin- cipal reasons : first, because the things here 142 LECTURE IV. required have been satisfactorily accomplish- ed by others ; and, secondly, because such an inquiry, if pushed to its utmost extent, so as explicitly to satisfy every possible difficulty and objection, would embrace the w^hole, in- stead of constituting a subordinate part, of my appointed duty. It will not, however, be inappropriate to offer a few brief remarks, displaying, if not the expanded arguments, at least the topics of argument, which bear upon this subject. XXIII. Many of the previous arguments for the genuineness of the books composing the Christian canon, are equally conclusive in their application to those of the Jewish. If you will only suppose, respecting these lat- ter books, that they are not the works of the persons to whom they are ascribed ; or, at least, of persons duly acknowledged as having au- thority for the promulgation of them : you will find the supposition entangled with ab- surdity in its unavoidable consequences. The actual reception of those books will, on this supposition, present you with an effect re- pugnant to the causes by which it must have been produced : for such it is, while it is re- pugnant to the whole tenor of human mo- tives and conduct. Unless, for example, you admit the mighty hand and outstretched arm LECTURE IV. 143 of God, you will find an insuperable obstacle in all reasonable attempts to account for the recognition of Moses, as a lawgiver, or the re- ception of the Pentateuch as a code. Similar considerations will apply to the subsequent writings of the Hebrew canon : and the re- cognition of authenticity in the case of the Pentateuch, will greatly strengthen the evi- dence which applies to thein. You cannot, on any footing of consistency, imagine the first reception of those books to have been unaccompanied with a regard to the author- ity of the writers. When were those books first promulgated ? Was it in an age of faith- ful obedience to the Law ? Then you are to observe, that there is, in that Law, no obliga- tion more strongly declared, than the resist- ance and punishment of all false pretensions to revelation and prophecy : you are also to observe, that that Law itself furnishes a cri- terion by which pretensions of that nature are to be judged ^. Or was it during a season of idolatrous defection from the Law? In this case, the book must have been armed with such overpowering evidence as to defy contradiction, and to maintain itself against augmented vigilance and suspicion. Indeed, the ordinary motive to vigilance must at all ^ See the thirteenth and eighteenth chapters of Deuteronomy. 144 LECTURE IV. times have been great : for the acknowledg- ment of a false prophet was a defection from the Law, and cancelled the title of the Is- raelite to his temporal promises. Besides, the Pentateuch itself supposes the continuance of an extraordinary providence, with special in- terpositions and directions of God, for the government of the Israelites : if this state of things really prevailed, it must obviously have prevented the introduction of fundamental error or supposititious adulteration into the records of the doctrine, which it was especially designed to sanction and to guard. That it did prevail, will appear from this consideration : the Pentateuch declares it, foretells it, and grounds its authority upon it : if, therefore, it had not prevailed, the Law^ must have lost its credit : for time w ould have detected its want of authority. In treating of the Chris- tian canon, I alleged the powerful motives and interests which would operate to guard its integrity : the Hebrew canon would enjoy the same protection : for the motives in this latter case, though not precisely the same, were sufficiently strong to insure a similar result. Since the promulgation of the Christian Scriptures, the Hebrew canon, being con- nected with, and attested by the former, has LECTURE IV. 145 become a part essentially belonging to the integrity of one and the same system : from that period, therefore, its authenticity enjoys the same guard that the Christian canon it- self does : and it has a special security, aris- ing from the different conditions of Jews and Christians, presenting a repugnance of faith, and a concurrent recognition of the Law and the Prophets. Thus, the Hebrew canon be- ing attested by the Christian Scriptures, the state of the Jewish people enables us to iden- tify the canon which they receive with that which is thus attested. It would be im- possible at this day to introduce into that canon, and establish among the Jews, an ad- ditional book. Imagine then any condition or time, belonging, to the real history of the Jews ; to the relation in which they now stand to the Christian church ; or to any possible circumstances in which they may have been placed : and you will find, from the character of the books and the nature of the case, that the successful fabrication of them w^ould at all times have been as much impossible as it is now. The numbers con- cerned are too large for confederacy : the means of detection would be at hand : the motives to it w^ould be awake : the imposture would be self-convicted. 146 LECTURE IV. XXIV. This question may be embarrassed by alleging the disagreement, respecting the canon, which exists between us and the church of Rome. But it will be found upon reflec- tion, that such disagreement ought not, in reason, to affect the general evidence of the faith. For, if you regard the case of a Romanist: it is plain that his mind cannot be perplexed by this disagreement ; h\s faith is supposed to be already established, and the believed in- fallibility of his church at once defines to him the rule of his doctrine. But suppose, on the other hand, the case of one who is 7iot a Romanist. Then, it is plain and obvious for that man to understand the ground of difference beween the Roman church and us : that the books declared by them, and denied by us, to be canonical, de- rive the acknowledgment of their authority from the belief, which tliey entertain, of the infallibility of their church. Thus, the dis- agreement is at once explained : the evidence of the Hebrew and Christian canons (agree- ably to the view we have taken of it) remains unshaken : and the peculiarity of the Roman canon will stand or fall with the claim of in- fallibility. We see then the difference of the two LECTURE IV. 147 cases. In the one, the moral evidence rises up, in point of time, to the publication of the books; that is, to an age competent to decide respecting them. In the other, it rises no higher than the council of Trent, or any other time at which the books may be pre- tended to have been canonized by an infal- lible authority. This can never be regarded as a legitimate step to the proof of Christianity : for it is plain, that the general faith of the Gospel must, in the order of reasoning, be anterior to any recognition of principles relating to the au- thority of the church. Here indeed is a diffi- culty. But it is a difficulty to him only, to v^hom Christianity is presented in the garb of Romanism : it is a difficulty which not we, but the Romanist himself is bound to solve. If it be a rock of stumbling ^ it is one for '' With respect to this point, " men, such an one as it was, namely, the settlement of the " that by their magisterial and canon, bishop Cosin thus speaks " undue proceedings there, have of the council of Trent : " Now " done more hurt, and made a " after all these followed an " greater schism in the church "assembly of a few men at " of God, than all the malice of " Trent, — that made a decree " wicked and unpeaceful per- " among themselves to control " sons was ever able to do, " the whole world, and, as in " since Christ left his legacy of " sundry points besides, so in " truth and peace among his " this, devise a new article of " disciples, and foretold the of- " faith, for their own pleasure, "fences' [that is, occasions of " whereof neither their own infidelity and sin] " that would " church, nor any other church " afterwards arise." Scholasti- " of Christendom, had ever cal Hist, of the Canon, ch. win. " heard before. An assembly of I. 2 148 LECTURE IV. which the church of Rome, and not the catho- lic church, or Christianity itself, is account- able. If it be a source of perplexity to the evidences of faith, it is so, only to the mem- bers of that communion, or to those who mis- take for the true and essential and universal church of Christ, that which is, in reality, no- thing else than a schismatical portion of it. To all others, it admits of a sound and per- spicuous explanation, which leaves the ge- nuine evidence of the faith firm and unim- paired. Of any objection, then, which may arise from this point of disagreement, the true amount is this ; namely, that the evi- dence which proves ou7' canon, does not avail for that of the church of Rome, and the proofs of genuine Christianity afford no de- fence to an adulterate form of it. There is a further remark due to this sub- ject. Ou7' Scriptures have been proved by such evidence, that the dispute of their au- thenticity is found to involve absurd and un- reasonable consequences. Not so, however, with the Romish canon, when it places the books of Maccabees and Ecclesiasticus on an equal footing with the Pentateuch. For, as the former books avowedly rest their canoni- calness, not on moral evidence, but on the dogma of a council : it is plain that, on the LECTURE IV. 149 Romish principle, the books of undisputed canonicalness must rest upon the same au- thority. Thus for example. If the books of the Mac- cabees were never declared canonical previous- ly to the council of Trent: how can you allege in proof of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, that these latter books could never have been received into the canon if their genuine- ness had not been acknowledged during the lives of the writers ? If the Maccabees were first canonized so many centuries after they were published : how can there be any in- trinsic impossibility that the same was not the case with St. Matthew's Gospel ? We see then the tendency of the Romish Theology to undermine the essential founda- tions of the general faith. If the canonical authority of the Scriptures is to support it- self on the infallibility of the Roman church; while that infallibility has no testimony, ex- cept its own, by which to support itself: then must the authority of Scripture, and the dis- tinction of true from pretended Scriptures, depend, on the precarious determination of every successful pretender to the advantages of infallible direction, revelation, and pro- phecy : and we know that such characters, without any accredited commission, have often • '> 150 LECTURE IV. been acknowledged by the credulity of man- kind. If, on the other hand, we say, that no books but such as were authentic, could, from the nature of the case, have been received into the canon : if we apply this to the New Tes- tament in the first place, and, in the next, to the Hebrew canon; then the matter is esta- blished upon evidence, which is both firm in itself, and capable of the readiest explication to every mind. XXV. Though the remark be somewhat digressive, I may not improperly observe, that this is not the only point, in which the pro- per evidences of Christianity are supplanted by peculiarities of schismatical or sectarian doctrine. For example: There now exists an order of ministers, professing to derive their authority by succession from those immedi- ately appointed by Christ : such authority be- ing thus professedly grounded on the e vi- olence, by which we establish the authority of the apostles themselves ; the existence of such a ministry is, I say, one among the evi- dences of Christianity. For how did it be- gin ? The present men succeeded their pre- decessors, and these latter took up their com- mission from those who went before them : but go up to the beginning of the series, and ask yourself, how did the earliest of them LECTURE IV. 151 procure their authority to be recognised ? It cannot be pretended, that the earliest bishops first presented themselves in the tenth cen- tury, or at any other intermediate time since the first promulgation of Christianity, and pretended, while they did so, to have been appointed by men who lived many centuries before them : their appearance under such circumstances would at once have confuted their pretensions. If this matter be duly considered, it will be found to admit no rea- sonable explanation but one ; namely, that the authority of the ministry, as well as of the doctrine, was primarily grounded upon miracles : every other supposition will, if I mistake not, be found entangled with great absurdity. But what becomes of this evi- dence, when you regard the case of those, whose ministry, pretending to no claim of outward appointment and of lawful succes- sion, professes to be authorized solely by an inward call, of which no sensible proof is af- forded to mankind ? Surely, if this be admit- ted as a valid ministry, it takes away from Christianity one powerful argument of its truth. If there be any weight in this remark, it claims a serious regard from those, whether belonging to the Romish schism, or to any of L 4 152 LECTURE IV. the numerous sects who disclaim the necessity of an outward and regular ordination. If the one, by disturbing the canon under a pre- tence of infallibility; or the other, by discre- diting and setting at nought the legitimate power of the ministry ; shall thus inwrap with uncertainty and confusion, the clear dic- tates of reason in support of Christianity : what is this, but to place a stumblingblock in the way of faith ? What is it but the very sin, of which we learn that the penalty shall be far more severe than any temporal de- struction. "Whoso," says our Lord, " shall " offend one of these little ones which be- " lieve in me, it were better for him that a " millstone were hanged about his neck, and " that he were drowned in the depth of the " sea. Woe unto the world because of of- " fences ! for it must needs be that ofiences " come ; but woe to that man by whom the " offence cometh*"!" XXVL There remains for our consideration one more topic relating to the authenticity of the Scriptures. The poor are to judge of the truth of Christianity from the intrinsic arguments presented by the Scriptures them- selves : now they can form their judgment only from ti'analutions, not from the original c Matt, xviii. 6, 7. LECTURE IV. 153 writings : how, then, may it be said, can they estimate the faithfuhiess of those transla- tions ? It is plain that this must be cleared up by a reference, to the concurrent acqui- escence of multitudes, respecting a point in which the deepest interests are concerned; to the concurrent testimony of many, who are competent to estimate the value of trans- lations, and who cannot, without absurdity, be supposed to have confederated together for the deception of mankind : so that the agreement of their report could not have been possible if the report had not been true ^ An argument of this sort is strong, if it presented only the general concurrence ^ " He," [ihat is, liarclay,] " corrections and amendments " urges further, that there are " which have been made in our ^^ many likewise, who, though " translations, do sufficiently de- " they can read the Scriptures in " dare how uncertain a thing it " their oicn language, have not *' is to build our faith upon " yet a thorough knowledge of " them. But lie should have *' the original languages, and " declared, where our transla- " who, therefore, must depend " tions are defective in any one " upon the honesty and faithful- " essential point, i. e. he should " ness of interpreters : which is " have shewn that our transla- " very true again. And I think " tions are not exact enough " a man may, in the main, as "■ for a man to know all that it " safely rely upon interpreters, " is necessary for him to know, " as he may upon his own eyes: " and then he had done some- " unless he can be so mad as to " thing. But since this neither *' suppose, either that nobody " is, nor can be pretended, all " now understands the original " that he has said, or that can "languages; or, that those who "be said, upon this head, will " do, are such arrant jugglers " be nothing to the purpose." " as to combine together to Stebhing on the Operations of " cheat all mankind but them- the Holy Spirit, chap.iv. §.3. " selves. No, says he^ the many 154 LECTURE IV. of one numerous church, such, for example, as the church of England : hut it becomes much stronger when it comprises the con- currence of various sects differing from it, and the recognition even of infidels ; who, not- withstanding they deny the authority of the Scriptures, are nevertheless contented to take some popular version as a faithful and to- lerably correct exposition of their words. And popular versions of this sort, may thus be advantageously vindicated in distinction from pa7'ticular versions, which have been brought forward in alliance with the peculiar doctrines of any particular sect, but which have never obtained any reception out of that sect : as also, in distinction from garbled cur- tailments and mutilated copies, which have never maintained any authority except with some religious party. As to the variations of popular and generally received versions ; it cannot be difficult to satisfy a candid mind, that such variations may well exist, consistently with perfect honesty of purpose on the part of translators; and yet that they neither do, nor can be reasonably thought to, affect the substance of the faith. With regard to the several ])o])ular versions now current in different Christian countries, I do not apprehend that their variations are LECTURE IV. 155 so considerable as to disturb any fundamen- tal points of doctrine. But if we suppose the case of books prqfessmg to be transla- tions, and yet containing, to any consider- able extent, wilful adulterations or additions, such as really affect the essentials of Chris- tianity : it is plain, that such books must par- take of the nature of spurious Scriptures, and that the reasons, before entered into, which would operate against the reception of these latter, would alike secure the world from being imposed upon by false and unfaithful versions. On the whole, I trust it will appear, that all these matters are capable of being rea- soned upon and brought to a clear and satis- factory result, without demanding any blind submission to human authority. For we have at all times a right to maintain that to be a truth, of which the contradiction is an absurdity : and an attentive mind will, I think, discover absurdity to be an inseparable adjunct of every contradiction to those prin- ciples, which are needful for displaying to common minds the evidences of the Christian faith. XXVII. With these remarks I shall dismiss the consideration of the canon of Scripture. We take it then, as a point duly ascertained, 156 LECTURE IV. that our Scriptures are genuine. I will now proceed to maintain, that if this be admit- ted : there can be no difficulty in display- ing to the most ordinary mind, the fullest power of irresistible proof demanding his as- sent to the truth of Christianity. The mat- ter has been clearly and convincingly argued by the learned Michaelis. The authenticity of the New Testament is, according to the re- presentation of that writer, sufficient of itself to determine the great question at issue be- tween the Christian and the infidel. I will state his argument, with little deviation from his own words. " The authenticity of the New Testament is " a fact of so much importance in determin- " ing the divinity of the Christian religion, as " to make it matter of surprise that the ad- " versaries of Christianity have not always " made their first attacks upon this quarter. " For if they admit these writings to be as " ancient as we pretend, and really composed " by the persons to whom they are ascribed : " an undeniable consequence of such admis- " sion is, the truth mid dwiniti/ of the reli- " gion itself. For the apostles themselves in " their Epistles frequently allude to the gift " of miracles, as having been connnunicated " by themselves to the Christian converts, in LECTURE IV. 157 " confirmation of the doctrine which they " had dehvered in their speeches and writ- " ings : sometimes also they allude to mi- " racles which those converts had themselves " performed. Now if these Epistles are ideally " genuine, it is hardly possible to deny those " miracles to be true. Thus, for example, St. " Paul's first Epistle to the Thessalonians is " addressed to a Christian community which " he had lately founded, but which a sudden " persecution had obliged him to quit before " it had attained a firm degree of establish- " ment. To them, who had thus received " the Gospel, but whose faith he apprehends " might waver through persecution, he alleges " the authorities and proofs of his divine mis- " sion : of which authorities, the first and " chief are miracles and the gifts of the Holy " Ghost. Now that he should under such " circumstances speak of miracles performed, " and of gifts of the Holy Ghost communi- " cated, if no member of the new society had " either seen the one or received the other : " this is what no man could have done with- " out forfeiting all pretensions to common " sense. " The same Apostle, in his first Epistle to " the Corinthians, refers in like manner to " spiritual and miraculous gifts, as having 158 LECTURE IV. " been imparted to the church established " among them. Now if this Epistle was " really written by St. Paul to the Corin- " thians, while the latter had in reality re- " ceived no spiritual gifts and miraculous en- " dowments : the proper place to be assigned " to that Apostle would then be, not among " impostors, but among men who had lost " their understanding ^" XXVIII. Thus stands the argument of Mi- chaelis : I will now extend his reasoning to an auxiliary point. If you admit the au- thenticity of the ISew Testament; you must not only admit the reality of the miracles which it records : (for this, as Michaelis truly states it, is an unavoidable consequence of the authenticity :) but you must also admit the suffering of death, and of other various per- secutions, in attestation of those miracles. You must admit also, that the state of the world was such, as would unavoidably attach to the new converts a liability to all these ills : and, that the new converts themselves must have been fully prepared to meet them, as the probable, and in many instances, per- haps, the certain consequence of assuming their profession. You must gather from the writings themselves, such a view of circum- '= Michaelis's Introduction, part i. ch. 2. LECTURE IV. 159 stances as will make it appear, that there could be, on the part of the witnesses to the Christian miracles, no want either of veracity or of competent knowledge : and we know, that testimony given under such circum- stances, is indisputable. All this you may infer merely from the Scriptures themselves : for it must, on the principle of Michaelis, ap- pear, that on any other supposition, those writings must have been the work of insane men. The supposition of insanity requires little attention at this moment. Unreasonable in itself, as a great variety of considerations will evince, it is at once silenced by a regard to the miracles of those, who were themselves the first witnesses to the miracles of our Sa- viour. Thus, if (in defiance of all other cir- cumstances which evince the contrary) it should be contended, that the witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus derived their con- viction of that fact from a fanatical de- lusion : how can w^e account for miracles equally wonderful, by which these witnesses confirmed tlieAr own testimo7iy ? If insanity should cause a man to believe, that he sees one risen from the dead : there is no power of delusion so strong, as to give him the power of raising the dead himself. But this 160 LECTURE IV. subject will be more fully treated when T come to enlarge upon the differences between faith and fanaticism. XXIX. Such is the present state of the ar- gument. We have proved that the Scriptures are authentic : and that, if they are authen- tic, the miracles they record must be true, and the martyrdoms and sufferings, by which those miracles are attested, must be true also. With regard to the consequence thus aris- ing ; it will be corroborated by the following considerations. Though a man cannot now witness these miracles : though he cannot converse with the persons who attested the reality of them, and who sealed their testimony with their blood : yet will this circumstance create no defect in the reasonable certainty of his conviction. It may be useful, in the disquisitions of learned men upon this subject, to display the moral and political condition of the world at the time when the Gospel was promulged : and to deduce, from the prevailing opinions and policy of Jews and Gentiles, a satisfactory con- clusion, that the Gospel, under such circum- stances, could not (consistently with the na- ture of things, or with any reasonable esti- mate of moral possibility,) have gained its footing in the world, if it had not had the ad- LECTURE IV. 161 vantage of a miraculous introduction. These views are useful and edifying : but such evi- dence, as lying beyond the reach of common minds, is plainly inadmissible into this in- quiry. While, however, I confess that it is in- admissible, I contend that it is not necessary. We need not, in treating of the sources of op- position to the Gospel, insist upon those which we know from history to have actually exist- ed : it will be enough, that we insist on that opposition which, from the nature of things, and from the nature of man, we know, that such a religion must, under any circumstances, have encountered : and we may lawfully con- tend, that such opposition could not have been borne down, without the clearest evi- dence of the outstretched arm of God. Rea- son may assure us, that a religion so adverse to the will and humour of this world, never could have gained a footing in it without miracles : reason, from a mere acknowledg- ment of the authenticity of the Scriptures, may instruct us, that the first teachers of such a religion could not have been incited by worldly profit or pleasure ; but that they must, on the contrary, have been obliged to encounter every sublunary evil. All this may be deduced by impartial reason, on a view of the Scriptures themselves, and on a know- M 162 LECTURE IV. ledge of those simple facts of which no man living in the world can be ignorant. And a mind thus exerting itself, may also perceive the absurdity of supposing, that these Scrip- tures, containing so many appeals to the suf- ferings of its first preachers, could ever have been received with any credit in the world, unless those sufferings, at the time when the Scriptures were first published, had been of well-known reality, and of recent occurrence : that, consequently, the testimony of those preachers must have been true as to inten- tion, since there could be no motive to de- ceive ; and true also as to fact, since both the nature of the facts, and the description, both as to character and multitude, of the wit- nesses, was such as to exclude the possibility of mistake. If you suppose, then, the reality of the mi- racles, there will arise an important conse- quence. If these miracles be proved to the conviction of reason, the inference arising from them is equally valid, as if they were obvious to sight. It is just that every ac- countable creature should be dealt with ac- cording to the faculties which it has received: man therefore is equitably to be regarded, in a future account, as a being gifted with dif- ferent measures of apprehension from those LECTURE IV. 163 of a brute: and reason, in the just and honest use of its powers, is quite as secure from de- ception as the senses are. To this degree may then be established, on grounds obvious to every ordinary mind, the certainty of that miraculous attestation which we allege in proof of the Divine origin of our religion. But it will on various accounts be useful if I proceed to shew, that more than this can- not be reasonably desired. XXX. The use of miracles is well under- stood. We may readily perceive the fitness of their application for the purpose of giving the required credentials to a Divine doctrine: and this fitness is understood as confining it- self, generally, to those occasions when God has any new doctrine to declare, or a dormant one to revive ; or when, as in the case of the Jewish nation during their settlement in the land of Canaan, the doctrine was of that pe- culiar nature, that it could not otherwise be supported than by the continuance of a mi- raculous dispensation. But there is, relating to miracles, another principle, which is, I think, not duly brought forward, nor placed in a light of sufficient importance. It is this: As their occasional application is a necessary and useful ground of credit to a new doc- trine, so the continued repetition of them in M 2 164 LECTURE IV. ages subsequent to the full establishment of that doctrine, would be hurtful rather than beneficial to its credit. I cannot but think that this principle is susceptible of the strongest proof: at the same time it must appear, that if true, it can- not be otherwise than highly serviceable, as a principle of frequent and useful applicability to the system of theology. For if it be ad- mitted, that a redundancy of miracles would hinder, rather than advance, the credit of Re- velation : then it is obvious to conclude, that our faith ought not to be shaken by those religious difficulties, which, without miracles, it is essentially impossible to obviate. It is now taken for granted, that the pre- sent existence of Christianity cannot reason- ably be accounted for without the supposition of a miraculous origin. This proposition being evinced, the present evidence of the Gospel ought to satisfy every man. For God has thus given him that evidence which is suited to the nature he has given him: having endowed him with reason as well as with sight. To such a being, it must be the same thing to know that a miracle has been wrought, as it would that he should himself see it wrought. As his rea- son may suffice without the evidence of his sight, the repetition of a miracle would there- LECTURE IV. 165 fore be to him unnecessary. But would it not also be hurtful to him ? Surely it would, if it was detrimental to the evidence of that faith which is given as the means of his sal- vation. Yet this detriment may reasonably be presumed, as the genuine consequence of an unnecessary frequency of miracles. Con- sider the expansion of a seed into a tree, and compare it with the resuscitation of a corpse. If the one were as common as the other, would it make any more impression ? Far from it. The atheist cannot find a God in the one, nor would the deist find a Gospel in the other*'. If the one has his plastic nature or his pan- theistic principle, the other also would have his modes of physical explanation : and each would solve his phenomenon so as to reject the principle which he likes not to admit. But in fact, if this were the case, we can hardly comprehend how a miracle could be : '^ It is thus that Athanasius " in the flesh, that they were reasons : " Those who reject " not human, but the works of " Christianity, evince the same " the Word of God, who is the " disposition as if they were " Saviour of all." 'O/z-oiovyapTrao-- " unable to discover, from the %ova-tv, u^ et xis e/c tccv epymv T-qq " works of the creation, that Knaeut; f^ti yii/ua-Koi tov tovituv Sij- " God is the Maker of them, pov^yov Seov. Ej yap e/c to;? ck; " For if, from the general evi- ra I'kcc avrov ^wafxeui tytvcca-Kov " dences of his power, they avrov ttjv SeoTvjra, iyvuaccv av art " were led to acknowledge his Kai ra. S