''Mv:^rv5i

AN

ESSAY

ON

THE INSPIRATION

OP THE

HOLY SCRIPTURES.

By JOHN DICK, A. M.
IHNISIEB OF THE ASSOCIATED CONGREGATION,
SHUTTLE- STREET, GLASGOW.

THE THIRD EDITION,
WITH CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS.

PRINTED FOR STEVEN & FRAZER;
PETER HILL, AND D. BEOWN, EDINBURGH; LONGMAN, HURST, REES,
ORME, AND BROWN,, CADDELL AND DATIES, T. WILLIAHS,
W. BATNES, AND J. BIAWMAN, LONDON.

^^^^^^.^^^^^^

1813.

James Hedderwick S/; Co. Printers, 7
26, Bell-Street, Glasgaiv. 5

CONTENTS.

Preface,  5
Introduction and Plan......  13
Chap. I. The Nature of Inspiration, ..^  21
II. Inspired Books — Apocryphal Books,  51
III. The Inspiration ofthe New Testament,  80
IV. The Same Subject continued,  115
V. The Inspiration ofthe Old Testament,  151
VI. The Inspiration ofthe Scriptures in general, 202
VII. Objections,  256
VIII. Conclusion,  3.^9

ERB-ATA.
74, line 15, for " than thee," read " than thou."
— 177, — 12-15, for " not only from the Holy Writings and the Pro
phets, but also from Moses," read " not only from
Moses, but also from the Holy Writings and the
Prophets."
— 327, — 20, dele " own."

PREFACE.

''>x'^v^>r>/-.^sr.^ir,tfs^<#A«v

The inspiration of the Holy Scriptures is
a subject, on which it is of great import
ance to form just and accurate ideas. If
they be the compositions of men, who,
though honest and upon the whole well
Informed, were under no infallible assist
ance and direction, they are not entitled
to the same reverence, as if they had been
dictated by the Spirit of God; nor can we
read them with the same confidence in
their counsels and instructions. Their con
tents must be subjected to a strict exam
ination, and the truth of their doctrines
must be ascertained by other evidence than
B

6 fREPlCE.
the authority of the writers, before we can
yield a rational assent to them. It is evi
dent that such a view of the Scriptures
would involve us in endless inquiries and
disputations, and, by giving scope to un
restrained speculation, would favour the
introduction of the wildest and most con
tradictory opinions. There would be no
fixed standard to whieh we could appeal.
But if the Sacred Books be inspired, these
inconveniences are obviated. All discussion
is superseded, except with regard to their
meaning; and as they are in general per
spicuous, and easy to be understood, we
may acquire, by due application, the cer
tain knowledge of the essential doctrines
and duties of religion*
An attentive observer cannot have failed
to remark a very striking peculiarity of the
present times. It is the influence of the
principles of infidelity upon many professors
of the Christian religion. The bold oppo-

PREFACE. 1
sition raade to some doctrines of revelation,
renders them ashamed or afraid to avow
them, without, at least, such qualifications
and changes, as shall smooth their asperi
ties, aud lessen their apparent incredibility.
In some instances such concessions are made,
as amount to a complete surrender of the
point in debate. The inspiration of the
Scriptures is an article of our faith, against
which infidels have directed all the argu
ments which their ingenuity could furnish,
and all the abuse which their malice could
invent. T\ hat is the consequence? Many
professed champions of Christianity seem
to have concluded that the article is not
tenable, because it has been furiously as
sailed; and, accordingly, they have aban
doned it wholly, or in part, to the enemy.
Few writers, indeed, who now undertake
to defend the cause of revelation, hold the
plenary inspiration of the Scriptures. That
idea has become unfashionable ; it is classed

8 PREFACE.
with other opinions of our Fathers, which
are exploded as the dreams of enthusiasm
and superstitious credulity; and he only is
supposed to entertain rational sentiments
on the subject, who looks upon the Sacred
Books as partly human and partly divine;
as a heterogeneous compound of the Oracles
of God, and the stories and sentiments of
men. There are even some, by whom this
partial inspiration is denied, and the Scrip
tures are regarded as the writings of faith
ful but fallible men, who had nothing to
preserve them from error but the accuracy
of their information, and the integrity of
their hearts. The spirit of infidelity is
working among Christians themselves.
The inspiration of the Scriptures is a
point which Christians are too generally
chargeable with taking upon trust. Few
of them study the arguments by which it
is evinced, and provide themselves with
answers to the objections which infidels

PREFACE. 9
oppose to it. It is a doctrine which has
been received by tradition from their Fa
thers, and which, upon their authority, the
greater part believe to be true. We need
not wonder, then, that, in a time of trial
like the present, when the efforts of in
fidelity are unusually bold and vigorous,
there should be a great falling away araong
the professors of religion; nor can such
apostasy be deplored on any other ground,
than as it affects the immortal interests of
those who are involved in it. It is attended
with no real loss to the cause of revelation,
and it reflects no dishonour upon it : for of
what advantage are numbers, if they be
destitute of principle; and what discredit
can arise to the Scriptures from the deser
tion of persons, whose attachment was less
the effect of deliberate choice than of acci
dent? There is no reason for being alarmed,
as if such an event portended a general de
fection. Raw, undisciplined troops may

10 PREFACE.
give way at the first onset; but veterans
skilled in the art of defence, and accustomed
to danger, will keep the field in defiance
of the most furious attacks of the enemy.
It is unquestionably our duty to bewail
the progress of unbelief and error ; but we
ought not, even during their greatest tri
umph, to allow our minds to sink into
despondency. The interests of truth are
patronised by the Kuler of the world, who
is able to render events, apparently the
most adverse, conducive to their prosperity;
and who, by a sublime and mysterious pro
cess, is continually bringing good out of
evil. May we not hope, that at this mo
ment God is purifying the church, by the
agency of her enemies; and that, while
their endeavours to destroy Christianity
shall ultimately serve to diffuse it more
widely, and establish it more firmly, the
immediate effect will be, to render its
friends more steady and courageous; to

PREFACE. 11
give new rigour to their faith, and new
ardour to their zeal? On the side of in
fidelity numbers may increase; but the
faithful wUl present a closer phalanx,
which no menaces can intimidate, and no
force can overcome.
When the importance of the subject,
and the circumstances of the times, are
considered, no apology will be expected
for an attempt to illusti'ate and defend the
inspiration of the Scriptures. An apology
may be necessary for the imperfect man
ner in which a point of such magnitude is
treated; but while the Author is sensible,
that the execution is not equal either to
the design, or to his own wishes, he will
not, by affecting to depreciate his labours,
incur the charge of presenting to the Pub
lic, what he acknowledges to be unworthy
of its notice. He has given a concise ac
count of the arguments, which appeared to
his own mind to prove, in the clearest and

12 PREFACE.
most convincing manner, the divine autho
rity of the books of the Old and the New
Testament. His labour will not be lost, if
the following Essay be the means of reclaim
ing any of those unhappy persons, who have
exchanged Christianity for that mixture
of folly and impiety, which is arrogantly
styled reason and philosophy; or of enabling
any Christian, who is exposed to the as
saults, and perplexed with the sophistry,
of unbelievers, to '^ hold fast the profession
of his faith without wavering."

AN ESSAY ON
THE INSPIRATION
OF THE
HOLY SCRIPTURES.

INTRODUCTION AND PLAN.
Revelation bears an analogy to light,
which faintly appearing in the dawn, brightens
into the full splendour of noon; or to reason,
whioh in infancy is feeble and confined in its
operations, but afterwards becomes capable of
the most profound researches, and embraces the
whole circle of science.
It pleased God, instead of delivering at once
to the world a complete system of religious truth,
io make known his will by gradual discoveries,
advancing in extent and perspicuity; and in
adopting this plan, he displayed both his wisdom
and his goodness. In educating his children,
C

14 INTRODUCTION AND PLAN.
an intelligent parent accommodates himself to
the weakness of their faculties ; and beginning
with first principles and easy lessons, he leads
them forward, by successive steps, to perfection.
Spiritual instruction was communicated " in
various portions *," as the circumstances of the
church required; and while, in the first ages,
only a few obscure notices were given of good
things to come, the revelation was enlarged, as
the time fixed for the appearance of the Mes
siah and the accomplishment of redemption,
approached. We trace the slow but progressive
opening of the scheme, from the first hint of a
Saviour immediately after the fall, to the ample
and minute description of his character and
transactions in the writings of Isaiah. When
the minds of men were prepared for a more
perfect dispensation by the figures of the Law,
and the doctrine of the Prophets, God favoured
them, " in the last days," with a complete and
final declaration of his counsels, by the mission

* Heb. i. I. The word, croXt/jtts^Ss, which we translate " at
sundry times," signifies in many parts or portions.

INTRODUCTION AND PLAN. 15
of his Son, who, lying in his bosom, was ac
quainted with his dmgns, and, as a man, was
fitted for his high oflSce, by an abundant com
munication of the gifts and graces of the Spirit.
The revelation made by the ministry of the
Prophets, and of Christ and his Apostles, was
of inestimable advantage to those, to whom it
was immediately addressed, as it disclosed sub
lime and interesting doctrines, admirable rules
of morality, and promises full of grace and
consolation. But this invaluable gift of heav<^n
was not intended solely for their benefit. Re
velation now completed, and alike adapted to
every age and countrj', was destined to be a
blessing to mankind at large. From Judea eis
a central spot, the knowledge of the truth was
to be diffused among the nations of the earth ;
and it was to descend, as the rule of faith and
practice, to the latest posterity.
This design would have been frustrated, had
no effectual method been adopted to preserve
the revelation. If, by the pious care of parents
and the public teachers of religion, it might have
been transmitted entire to the next generation,

16 INTRODUCTION AND PLAN.
in the course of a few successions, so much of it
would have been lost, and by an admixture of
human dogmas and observances, the parts which
remained would have been so disfigured and a-
dulterated, that it would no longer have served
the purpose for which it had been given ; and
another revelation would have been necessary
to restore the first to its original purity. But
we are not left to the uncertainty of tradition,
in a matter of so much importance as the know
ledge of our duty, and the means of regaining
the favour of our Maker. Those persons whom
God had raised up to be his messengers and
the interpreters of his will, he usually employed
to commit their messages to writing. What is
written is not liable to be forgotten, nor so apt
to be corrupted, as what depends for its preser
vation on the tenaciousness of the memories, and
the honesty of the intentions, of those in whose
breasts it is deposited, It may pass from age tp
lage, without sustaining any injury; and may
reach the utmost limits of time, without materia}
alteration. By this expedient, the revelation
has been preserved ; and we, in this late period

INTRODUCTION AND PLAN. It
of the world, enjoy it in equal purity and in
tegrity as they did, who heard the Prophets, or
Christ and his Apostles, with their own lips pro
claiming the wonderful works of God.
The design of the following chapters, is to
give a view of the arguments, from which it
appears, that the Books, in which the revelation
is contained, were divinely inspired. Acknow
ledging the Bible to be the Word of God, and
ascribing an authority to it above every human
composition, we should be able to account for
this part of our conduct on rational principles.
Paul aflBrms, in the Second Epistle to Timothy,
that " all Scripture is given by inspiration of
God*;" but every person must be sensible, that
this assertion is not in itself a suflBcient ground
for believing the inspiration of the writings to
which he refers. The same claim has been con-^
fidently advanced in favour of books, wliich we
know to have been written by wicked and de
signing men. Impartiality requires, that, if the
testimony be rejected in the one case, it should
• 2 Tim. iii. }6.

18 INTRODUCTION AND PLAN.
not be received in the other, unless it be sup
ported by such evidence as shall justify the
preference. We know, indeed, that the testi
mony of our Scriptures is true ; but no man can
be assured of its truth, who has not discovered
such signatures upon the books themselves, or
such external attestations in their favour, as
amount to a proof of their heavenly origin. If
we believe their divinity without examination,
in what respect do we differ from those, who, on
the authority of their ancestors or their priests,
receive the Koran of Mahomet, or the sacred
books of any other nation, as revelations from
God? With a faith so repugnant to reason, and
so incapable of defence, how easily shall we be
puzzled by the cavils, and bewildered by the
sophistry, of unbelievers ?
The boldness and activity of the enemies of
revelation, are distinguished features of the age.
Formerly our religion was attacked with some
reserve, and the assailants found it expedient to
conceal their purpo.se under a mask of decency
and respect ; but now the infidel, with undaunted
and unblushing front, proclaims aloud to the

INTRODUCTION AND PLAN. 19
world his hostility to the gospel. Impatient,
too, ofthe limits within which he was accustomed
to confine his exertions, instead of addressing
the great and the wealthy, he goes, with a spirit
of proselytism worthy of a better cause, in quest
of converts among the vulgar ; and strives, by
specious arguments, deliberate misrepresenta
tion, confident assertions, scurrility and ridicule,
to pervert their judgments, and corrupt their
hearts. When the danger increases, our vigi
lance should be doubled, and our precautions
should be multiplied. The peril of the present
times loudly calls upon us to examine with care
the evidences of our religion, and to make our
selves acquainted with the arguments, by which
the inspiration of the Scriptures is demonstrated,
that no man may spoil us, " through philosophy
and vain deceit," of that precious treasure, with
which our most valuable earthly possessions de
serve not to be compared.
With a view to assist those who may peruse
this Essay, in conducting an inquiry so interest
ing, I shall pursue the following plan.

20 INTRODUCTION AND PLAN.
First, I shall explain the nature of in
spiration ; or show in what sense I believe the
Scriptures to be inspired.
In the Second place, I shall give an account
of the Books, the inspiration of which is asserted
by the Christian church ; and assign the reasons
why they are received to the exclusion of all
others. In the Third place, I shall prove the inspira
tion of the Scriptures by a variety of arguments.
Lastly, I shall consider the principal objec
tions against their inspiration.

THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION. 21

CHAP. L
The Nature of Inspiration ; or the Sense in
which the Scriptures are Inspired.
I DEFINE Inspiration to be an influence of the
Holy Ghost on the understandings, imaginations,
memories, and other mental powers of the Sacred
Writers, by which they were qualified to com
municate to the world the knowledge of the will
of God. The definition is expressed in general
terms; and it will be necessary, therefore, in
order to give clear and precise ideas of the sub
ject, to descend to particulars.
Instead of retailing, the opinions of others, I
shall submit to the consideration of the reader,
the following account of the inspiration of the
Scriptures. D

22 THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION.
I. There are many things in the Scriptures,
which the writers might have known, and pro
bably did know, by ordinary means. As per
sons possessed of memory, judgment, and the
other intellectual faculties which are common to
men, they were able to relate events in which
they had been concerned ; and to make such
occasional reflections as were suggested by
particular subjects and occurrences. In these
cases, no supernatural influence was necessary
to enlighten and invigorate their minds: it was
only necessary, that they should be infallibly
preserved from error. They did not need a
revelation to inform them of what had passed
before their eyes, nor to point out those infer
ences and moral maxims, which were obvious
to every attentive and considerate observer.
Moses could tell, without a divine afflatus, that
on such a night the Israelites inarched out of
Egypt, and at such a place they murmured
against God ; and Solomon could remark, that
" a soft answer turned away wrath, but grievous
words stir up anger ;" or that " better is a din
ner of herbs, where love is, than a stalled ox.

THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION. 28
and hatred therewith *." It is with respect to such
passages of Scripture only, as it did not exceed
the natural ability of the writer to compose, that
I would admit the notion of superintendence, if
it should be admitted at all. But, perhaps, this
word, though of established use and almost un
disputed authority, should be entirely laid aside,
as insufiicient to express even the lowest degree
of inspiration. In the passages of Scripture,
which we are now considering, I conceive the
writers to have been not merely superintended,
that they might commit no error, but likewise
to have been moved or excited by the Holy
Ghost, to record particular events, aud set
down particular observations. They were not
like other historians, who introduce facts and
reflections into the narratives which they com
pose, in the exercise of their own judgment,
and according to their own ideas of propriety ;
but they rather resembled amanuenses, who
commit to writing such things only", as have been
selected- by their employer. Passages written
* Prov. XV. 1. 17.

24 THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION.
by the direction and under the care of the
Divine Spirit, may be said in an inferior sense
to be inspired; whereas had the men written
them at the suggestion of their own spirit, they
would have been mere human productions, and
though free from error, would have been exactly
on a level with those parts of profane writings
which are agreeable to truth. Superintendence,
indeed, is no peculiar *^ kind of inspiration; but
is the care exercised by providence over all the
sacred writers, in whatever degree or manner
inspired, to secure a faithful relation of the
histories, doctrines, prophecies, and precepts,
which they were employed to communicate to
mankind. II. There are other passages of Scripture, in
composing which the minds of the writers must
have been supernaturally endowed with more
than ordinary vigour. It is impossible for us,
and, perhaps, it was not possible for the inspired
writer himself, to determine, where nature
ended, and inspiration began. He could not
have marked with precision the limits, which

THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION. 25
separated the natural operation of his faculties,
and the agency of the Spirit of God. It is
enough to know, in general, that there are
many parts of Scripture, in which, though the
unassisted mind might have proceeded some
steps, a divine impulse was necessary to enable
it to advance. I think, for example, that the
Evangelists could not have written the history
of Christ, if they had not enjoyed miraculous
assistance. Two of them, Matthew and John,
accompanied our Saviour during the whole, or
the greater part, of his personal ministry. At
the close of that period, or rather a considerable
number of years after it, the Gospel of Matthew
having been published, as is generally agreed,
at least eight years, and that of John between
sixty and seventy, posterior to the ascension,
there can be no doubt that they had forgotten
some of his discourses and miracles ; that they
recollected others indistinctly ; and that, if left
to themselves, they would have been in danger
of producing an unfair and inaccurate aceount,
by omissions and additions, or by confounding
one thing with another. Simple and illiterate

26 THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION.
men, who had never been accustomed to exercise
their intellectual faculties, could not, it is pro
bable, have retailed his shorter discourses, im
mediately after they were delivered, and much
less those of greater length, as his sermon on
the mount, and his last instructions to his dis
ciples. Besides, from so large a mass of
materials, writers of uncultivated minds, such as
Jewish fishermen and publicans may be con
ceived to have been, who were not in the habit
of distinguishing and classifying, could not have
made a judicious selection ; nor would persons
unskilled in the art of composition have .been
able to express themselves in such terms, as
should ensure a faithful representation of doc
trines and facts, and with such dignity as the
nature ofthe subject required. A divine influ
ence, therefore, must have been exerted, by
which their memories and judgments were in
vigorated, and they were enabled to relate t^e
discourses and miracles of their Master with fi
delity, and in a manner the best fitted to impress
the readers of their histories. The promise of
the Holy Ghost to bring to their remembrance

THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION. 21
all things whatsoever Christ had said to them*,
proves, that in writing the Gospels, their mental
powers received from his agency new degrees
of strength and capacity.
Farther, there are several passages of Scrip
ture, in which there is such elevation of thought
and style, as clearly shows the faculties of the
writers to have been raised above their ordinary
state. There is a grandeur, a subUmity of ideas
and expressions, of which their acknowledged
powers were obviously incapable, and which
must, therefore, have been the result of superior
influence. Should a person of moderate talents
give as elevated a description of the majesty and
attributes of God, or reason as profoundly on
the mysterious doctrines of religion, as a man
of the most exalted genius and extensive learn
ing, we could not fail to be convinced, that he
was supernaturally assisted ; and the conviction
would be still stronger, if his composition should
transcend the highest efforts of the human mind.
In ejther of these cases, it would be impossible
• John xiv. 26.

28 THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION.,. .
to account for the effect by the operation of any
ordinary cause. Some of the sacred writers
were taken from the lowest ranks of life; and
yet sentiments so dignified, and representations
of divine things so grand and majestic, occur
in their writings, that the noblest flights of hu
man genius, when compared with them, appear
cold and insipid. This remark on the matter
and language of Scripture admits of an obvious
application to the prophetical and devotional
books of the Old Testament ; and may be ex
tended to many other passages, in which the
purest and most sublime lessons are delivered
on the subject of God and religion, by the na
tives of a country, unacquainted with the philo
sophy, the literature, and the arts of the more
polished nations of antiquity.
III. It is manifest, with respect to many pas
sages of Scripture, that the subjects of which
they treat, must have been directly revealed tft
the writers. They could not have been known
by natural means; nor was the knowledge of
them attainable by a simple elevation of the fa-

THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION. 29
culties, because they were not deductions from
the principles of reason, or from truths already
discovered, but were founded on the free deter
minations of the will of God, and his prescience
of human affairs. With the abilities of an angel
we could not explore the thoughts and purposes
of the divine mind. This degree of inspiration
we ascribe to those who were empowered to re
veal heavenly mysteries, " which eye had not
seen, and ear had not heard ;" to those who
were sent with particular messages from God to
his people ; and to those who were employed to
predict future events. The plan of redemption
being an effect of the sovereign counsels of hea
ven, it could not have been known but by a
communication from the Father of lights.
This kind of inspiration has been called the
inspiration of suggestion. It may be deemed of
little importance to dispute about a word ; but
suggestion seeming to express an immediate
operation on the mind, by which ideas are ex
cited in it, is of too limited signification to de
note the various modes, in which the Prophets
and Apostles were made acquainted with super-

30 THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION.
natural truths. God revealed himself to them,
not only by suggestion, but by dreams, visions,
voices, and the ministry of angels. This degree
of inspiration, in strict propriety of speech,
should be called revelation ; a word preferable
to Suggestion, because it is expressive of all the
ways in which God communicated new ideas to
the minds of his servants. It is a word, too,
chosen by the Holy Ghost himself to signify the
discovery of truths formerly unknown to the
Apostles. The last book of the New Testament,
which is a collection of prophecies, is called the
revelation of Jesus Christ. Paul says that he
received his Gospel by revelation; that " by
revelation the mystery was made known to him,
which in other ages was not made known unto
the sons of men, as it was then revealed unto
his holy Apostles and Prophets by the Spirit ;"
and in another place, having remarked that
" eye had not seen nor ear heard , neither had
entered into the heart of man the things which
God had prepared for them that love him," he
adds, " But God hath revealed them unto us bv
his Spirit*."

* Rev. i. 1. Gal. i. 12. Eph. iii. 3. 5. 1 {Jor. ii. 9, 10.

THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION. 31
I have not names to distinguish the two other
kinds of inspiration. The names used by Dr.
Doddridge and others, Superintendence, Ele
vation, and Suggestion, do not convey the ideas
stated in the preceding particulars; and are liable
to material objections, as we have already shown
with respect to the first and the last of them.
Superintendence does not include the notion of
a moving or exciting influence on the minds of
the sacred writers, and consequently cannot
denote any kind of inspiration ; and Suggestion,
being a word of too limited a meaning to ex
press all that is intended, ought to give place
to one more appropriate, which is furnished by
the Holy Spirit himself. By those who use the
term. Elevation, to signify a particular kind of
inspiration, it is confined to such parts of Scrip
ture as are lofty and sublime ; whereas it is easy
to perceive, that there must have been, in some
cases, an elevation ofthe faculties, or a raising of
them above their ordinary state, even when the
province ofthe writer was simple narrative. This
has been proved by a particular reference to the
Evangeli.sts. The account now given of the

32 THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION.
inspiration of the Scriptures, has, I think, these
two recommendations, that there is no part of
them which does not fall under one or other of
the three foregoing heads ; and that it carefully
discriminates the different kinds or degrees of
the agency of the Holy Spirit on the minds of
the different writers *.
From the preceding statement it appears,
that we do not apply the term, inspiration, in
the same sense to the whole of Scripture, be-

* According to the Jews, there were three kinds of inspir
ation, or modes of revelation.' The books of Moses they
ascribe to that kind of revelation, which they call mouth to
mouth, ox face to face, and in proof of which they quote,
Numb. xii. 8. Some other books of the Old Testament pro
ceeded frora the gift qf prophecy, of which they fancy several
degrees, corresponding to the different methods which God
used in revealing himself to the Prophets, The remaining
books were written by the inspiration ofthe Holy Ghost; and to
these they give the name of the Holy Writings. That there
was a difference in the kind or degree of inspiration must be
admitted; but this wa^ of expressing it is inaccurate and
absurd. The whole Scripture, and not a particular part of it
only, was written by the inspiration of the Spirit. Can any
thing be more ridiculous than to say, that the two books of
Kings were written by the spirit of prophecy; but that the
two books of Chronicles, which so much resemble them, were
written by the inspiration ofthe Holy Ghost?

THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION. 33
cause the same degree of Divine assistance was
not necessary in the composition of every part
of it. In some parts, if I may speak so, there
is more of God than in others. When a Pro
phet predicts the events of futurity, or an Apostle
makes known the mysteries of redemption, it
is God alone who speaks ; and the voice or the
pen of a man is merely the instrument employed
for the communication of his will. When
Moses relates the miracles of Egypt and the
journeys of the Israelites in the wilderness, or
the Evangelists relate the history of Christ, they
tell nothing but what they formerly knew ; but
without the assistance of the Spirit, they could
not have told it so well. " In some cases," it
has been properly remarked, " inspiration only
produced correctness and accuracy in relating
past occurrences, or in reciting the words of
others; in other cases it communicated ideas
not only new and unknown before, but infin
itely beyond the reach of unassisted human
intellect ; and sometimes inspired Prophets de
livered predictions for the use of future ages,
which they did not themselves comprehend, and

84 THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION.
which cannot be fully understood till they are
accomplished*." Some men have adopted very unguarded and
dangerous notions respecting the inspiration of
the Scriptures. Dr. Priestley denies that they
were written by a particular divine inspiration,
and asserts, that the writers, though men of the
greatest probity, were fallible, and may have
committed mistakes, " with respect to things,
to which they had not given much attention, or
concerning vvhich they had not the means of
exact information." We must not anticipate
the arguments which refute this opinion, whether
advanced by a professed Christian or an infidel ;
and I shall therefore only observe, that this man
and his followers find it their interest to weaken
and set aside the authority of the Scriptures, as
they have adopted a system of religion, from
which the peculiar doctrines of revelation are
excluded. Others consider the Scriptures as
inspired in those places where they profess to

* Bishop of Lincoln's Introduction to the study of the
Bible, chap. i. p. 16.

THE NATURE OP INSPIRATION. 35
deliver the word of God ; but in other places,
especially in the historical parts, they ascribe to
them only the same authority which is due to
the writings of well-informed and upright men *.
But as this distinction is perfectly arbitrary,
having no foundation in any thing said by the
sacred writers themselves, so it is liable to very
serious objections. It represents our Lord and
his Apostles, when they spoke of the Old Testa
ment, as having attested, without any exception
or limitation, a number of books as divinely
* The notion of a partial inspiration seems to have arisen
from the want of distinct ideas on the subject. A false mean
ing is annexed to the term ; and then it is easy to show that
it cannot be -applied to every part of Scripture. Inspiration
is supposed to signify the supernatural communication of
knowledge to the mind ; and if this were the only sense of
the word, it would be true, that inspiration was.not necessary
to enable men to relate what they knew by ordinary means.
But if we understand by inspiration the general assistance af
forded to the sacred writers according to the exigency of the
case, and which supplied the want of knowledge, or rendered
it correct, or excited the person to communicate it, and pre
sided over his thoughts and expressions, it may be affirmed,
that simple Historians were inspired as well as Prophets, and
that every part of the Old and the New Testament ought to be
considered as divine. «' All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God."

36 THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION.
inspired, while some of them were partly, and
some were almost entirely, human compositions.
It supposes the writers of both Testaments to
have profanely mixed their own productions
with the dictates of the Spirit; and to have
passed the unhallowed compound on the world
as genuine. In fact, by denying that they were
constantly under infallible guidance, it leaves
us utterly at a loss to know when we should, or
should not, believe them. If they could blend
their own stories with the revelations made to
them, how can I be certain, that they have not,
on some occasions, published in the name of God
sentiments of their own, to which they were de
sirous to gain credit and authority? Who shall
assure me of their perfect fidelity in drawing a
line of distinction between the divine and the
human parts of their writings ? The denial of
the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures tends
to unsettle the foundations of our faith ; involves
us in doubt and perplexity ; and leaves us no
means of ascertaining how much we should
believe, except an appeal to reason. But when
reason is invested with the authority of a judge,

THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION. 3t
not only is revelation dishonoured and its Author
insulted, but the end for which it was given is
completely defeated. Instead of being received
as the supreme standard of human opinions and
practices in religion, it is degraded into a sub
ordinate rule, and possesses uo more authority
than it is permitted to exercise by the fallible and
capricious wisdom of men. A revelation, which
must be subjected to a discussion of its contents
as well as of its evidence, prior to its reception,
could not serve any valuable purpose which
might not have been attained without it.
From the preceding account of inspiration
it is easy to perceive, in what sense the Scrip
tures in general may be pronounced to be the
Word of God. We give them this denomination,
because all the parts of which they consist have
been written by persons moved, directed, and
assisted by his Holy Spirit ; but we do not mean,
that all the sentiments contained in them are
just, and all the examples are worthy of imita
tion. In the sacred writings, we meet with say
ings and actions, which are neither wiser nor
better for being found in them, than if they had
F

38 THE' NATURE OF INSPIRATieN.
occurred in any ordinary bistopy;^ I apprehend,
that some persons, from want of reflection, fall
into a mistake in this matter. They quote a
sentiment as authoritative because they read it
in the Scriptures, without waiting to consider
by whom it was uttered ; and draw arguments
for the regulation of their own conduct and that
of otliers from an action, without previously-
examining whether it received the divine ap
probation or not. Yet it is certain, not only
that wicked men and wicked spirits are often
introduced as speaking and acting, but that, as
the saints of whom mention is made were not
perfect and infallible^ any more than the saints
who are now alive, their opinions and conduct
must not instantly be presumed to be right, un^
less it appear that theyj were under the influence
of the Spirit of God, or their example be ex-^
pressly or implicitly commended. From the
mere admission of any fact into the inspired'
history, no other conclusion can be warrantably
drawn, than that it actually took place, and it
was the will of God that we should be acquainted
with it: its moral nature, its conformity or dis-

THE NATURE CW!" INSPIRATION. 39
conformity to fhe^tandard of truth and rectitude,
must be ascertained by some other test than ite
simple insertion in the Bible. Were clear ideas
formed on this subject, some misappfications of
passages would be prevented ; and some objec^
tions whidi are brought against the inspiration
of the sacred books, would either not be ad
vanced at all, or, as ~we shall afterwards have
(KX^on to show, would be immediately per
ceived to be inconclusive and unjust.
For the more complete elucidation of this
point, let it be considered, that tliere are two
different senses, in which a book may be de
nominated rtie Word of God. In the first place,
the meaning may be, that all the contents of the
boc^ were s^ken or revealed by God himself;
or that they proceeded directly from the eternal
source of wisdom and purity, and consequently
are all true and holy. It is evident, that, ac-
coffding to this sense of the Word of God, the
name can be given only to a part of the
Scriptures, because they contain, besides a re-
velatitm of the divine counsels, an account of
human opinions, manners, customs, supersti-

40 THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION.
tions and crimes. Sometimes it is God wh©
speaks, and at other times it is man. Now, we
are presented with a view of his wise and holy
dispensations; then, there is a delineation of
the policy, the ambition, the folly of his crea
tures. In the second place, a book may be
styled the Word of God, to signify, that it was
composed by his direction and assistance, and
that every thing contained in it was inserted by
his special appointment. It is plain, that, con
sistently with this definition, there may be things
in the book which were neither spoken nor ap
proved by God, though for wise purposes he has
assigned them a place in it. In this sense, the
title of the Word of God is applicable to the
Scriptures at large, the whole having been writ
ten by men whom he inspired, and who, being
guided and controlled by his Spirit, could
neither fall into error, nor be guilty of muti
lating and corrupting it by omissions and inter
polations. Hence we are authorised not only
to consider all the doctrines, all the precepts,
all the promises, and all the threatenings deliv
ered by God himself, or by others in his name.

THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION. 41
as true, righteous, and faithful ; but farther to
believe, that the events, which are said to have
happened, and the words and actions, which
are represented to have been spoken and done,
did so^happen, and were so spoken and done.
But whether the conduct related be wise or
foolish, moral or immoral, we must determine
by the judgment pronounced in the Scriptures
themselves on particular cases, or by applying
those principles and general rules, which are
laid down in them to regulate our decisions.
A question of great importance demands our
attention, while we are endeavouring to settle
with precision the notion of the inspiration of
the Scriptures. It relates to the words, in
which the sacred writers have expressed their
ideas. On this subject Christians are divided
in opinion, some maintaining, that in the choice
of words they were left to their own discretion,
and that the language is human though the
matter be divine; while others believe, that in
their expressions as well as in their sentiments,
they were under the infallible direction of the
Spirit. It is the latter opinion which appears

42 THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION.
to be conformable 'to truth ; and it may be sup
ported by the following reasoning.
Every person who has attended to the opera
tions of his own mind, knows that we think in
words ; or that when we form a train or combin
ation of ideas, we clothe them with -words ; and
that the ideas which are not thus clothed, are
indistinct and confused. Let a man try to think
upon any subject, moral or religious, without
the aid of language, and he will either experi
ence a total cessation of thought; or, as ithis
seems impossible, at least while we are awake,
be will feel himself constrained, notwithstanding
bis utmost endeavoura, to have recourse to words
as the instrument of his mental operations. As
a great part of the Scriptures was suggested or
revealed to the writers, and the thoughts or sen
timents, which were conveyed into their minds
by the Spirit, were perfectly new, it is plain that
they must have been accompanied with words
proper to express them ; and, consequently, that
the words were dictated by the same influence on
their minds, which communicated the ideas.
The ideas could not have come without the

THE NATURE OF INSPmATlONi 4't
wordsv. because without them' they could not'
have been conceived. A notion of the form
and qualities- of a material object? may be pro
duced by. subjecting it to our senses; but there
is no conceivable mode of making us acquainted
with new abstract' truths, or with thing* which
do not lie within the sphere of sensation^ but by-
presenting to the mind, in^some way or other,
the words »gnificant of thenr. In all' those pas
sages of Scripture, therefore j which were written-
by revelation, it is manifest that the words were
inspired ; and' this is still more evident, with
respect to those parages which the writers them
selves did not understand. No man could write
an intelligible discourse on a subject which he
did not undeistand, unless he were furnished
with the words as well as the sentiments ; and
that the penmen of the Scriptures did not
always understand what they wrote, miglit be
safely inferred from the comparative darkness
of the di^ensation under which some of them
lived, and is intimated by Peter, when he says^
that the Prophets " inquired and searched difi-
gently what, and what manner of time the

44 THE NATURE. OF INSPIRATION.
Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify,
when it testified beforehand the sufferings of
Christ, and the glory that should follow*."
Their subsequent inquiries into the meaning of
their own predictions, are a proof, that, while
they delivered the words, they had no distinct
knowledge of the sense.
With respect to other passages of Scripture,
and particularly those which treat of such subjects
as might have been known without revelation, it
is not necessary to maintain, that the language
was inspired precisely in the same sense as in
those already considered. We may conceive
the sacred writers to have been permitted more
freely to exercise their own faculties. The
words were not formally dictated any more than
the sentiments ; but they seemed to proceed like
other historians and moralists, and to express
themselves in their natural manner. Yet we
may believe, that, though they might not be
always conscious of his presence, they were even
then under the secret direction of the Spirit,
• 1 Pet. i. 10, 11.

THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION. 46
who not only preserved them from those inac
curacies and mistakes to which human authors
are liable, but suggested, as occasion required,
words more appropriate than those which would
have occurred to themselves. In support of this
opinion the following arguments may be ad
vanced. If Christ promised to his disciples, that when
they were brought before kings and governors
for his sake, " it should be given them in that
same hour what they should speak, and that the
Spirit of their Father should speak in them * ;"
a promise which cannot be reasonably under
stood to signify less than that both words and
sentiments should be suggested to them; it is
fully as credible, that they were assisted in the
same manner, when they wrote, especially as
the record was to last through all ages, and to
be a rule of faith to all the nations of the earth.
Paul affirms, that he and the other Apostles
spoke, " not in the words which man's wisdom
teacheth, but which the HoJy Ghost taught -f;"

* Mat. X. 19, ^0. Luke xii. 11,12. f 1 Cor. ii. 13.
G

46 THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION.
and this general assertion may be applied to
their writings, as well as to their sermons.
Besides, every man who has reflected upon the
subject, is aware of the importance of a proper
selection of words in expressing our sentiments ;
and knows how easy it is for a heedless or un
skilful person, not only to injure the beauty and
weaken the efficacy of a discourse, by the im
propriety of his language, but by substituting
one word for another, to which it seems to be
equivalent, to alter the meaning, and perhaps
render it totally different. If the sacred writers
had not been directed in the choice of words,
how could we have been assured, that those,
which they have chosen, were the most proper?
Is it not possible, nay, is it not certain, that, as
several of them were illiterate, they would have
sometimes expressed themselves inaccurately,
and by their mistakes have obscured and misre
presented the truth? In this case, our faith
could not have securely rested on their testi
mony. The suspicion of error in their writings
would have rendered ii necessary, before we
adopted them as the standard of religion, t*

THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION. 47
subject them to the test of reason ; and the au
thority and design of revelation would have thus
been overthrown. We must conclude, there
fore, that in the sense already explained, the
words of Scripture are from God, as well as
the matter ; or we shall charge him with a want
of wisdom, in transmitting important truths
through a channel, by which they might have
been, and most probably have been, poUutedi
To the inspiration of the words, the difference
in the style of the sacred writers has been con
sidered as an objection, because^ if the Holy
Ghost were the. author of the words, the style
might be expected to be uniformly the same.
But the Divine Spirit, in whose operations there
is an admirable, variety, might act differently
on different persons, or on the same person at
different times. He might enable one man, for
instance, to write more sublimely than another!,
because he was naturally of a more exalted ge-
niusthan the other, and the subject assigned to
him dertianded more elevated language ; or he
might produce a difference in the style of the
same ipan, by raising, at one time, his faculties

48 THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION.
above their ordinary state, and by leaving them,
at another, to operate according to their native
energy, under his inspection and control. We
should not suppose, that inspiration, even in its
higher degrees, deprived those who were the
subjects of it of the use of their faculties. They
were, indeed, the organs of the Spirit ; but they
were conscious, intelligent organs. They were
dependent, but distinct agents ; and the opera
tion of their mental powers, though elevated
and directed by superior influence, was analo
gous to their ordinary mode of procedure. It is
easy, therefore, to conceive, that the style of the
writers of the Scriptures should differ, just as it
would have differed, if they had not been in
spired. A perfect uniformity of style could not
have taken place, unless they had all been in
spired in the same degree, and by inspiration
their faculties had been completely suspended;
so that divine truths were conveyed by them,
in the same passive manner, in which a pipe
affords a passage to water, or a trumpet to the
breath.

THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION. 49
.The opinion, which I have endeavoured to
support, is not singular. It has been main
tained by men of talents and learning; and
seems to be the hypothesis, which a due rever
ence for the Scriptures will ultimately lead us
to adopt. It would not have been consistent
with the goodness, any more than with the wis
dom of God, to subject a revelation of his will
to the risk of being misrepresented by imperfect
and inaccurate expressions, in consequence of
which mankind would have been exposed to the
inevitable danger of error. Should it be granted,
with a view to evade this objection, that a super
intendence was exercised over the sacred writers,
the point in question is virtually conceded. As
that superintendence, if it mean any thing at
all, must be understood to imply an influence on
their minds, preserving them from mistakes in
language, and leading them, on some occasions
at least, to employ terms and phrases which
would not have naturally occurred to them, the
style was not properly their own, but was a style
corrected, improved, and, in a word, different
from what they would have spontaneously used.

so THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION.
They did not uniformly express themselves as
they were freely prompted by their geniiis, but
were under the secret direction and control of
the Divine Spirit, who moulded their concep
tions, and guided their pens, in subservience to
his own designs.

INSPIRED BOOKS. Sl

CHAP. IL
Inspired Books — Apocryphal Books.
Having explained the sense, in which we, assert
that certain writings are inspired, we proceed
to inquire what writings are thus distinguished
from all human compositions. Many books
have appeared in the world boasting of a super.*
natural origin ; and there are not a few books,
which, though they ad vaiice no such pretension,
contain nothing but the pure doctrines and holy
precepts of religion. Yet we ascribe inspira^
tion only to those books, which are commonly
called the Scriptures of the Old and the New
Testament ; the first of these collections begin-*
ning with Genesis, and ending with Malachi;
the second beginning with Matthew, and ending
with the Revelation.

52 INSPIRED BOOKS.
But why, it may be asked, do we acknow
ledge these books, and these only, to be divinely
inspired ? Why from a multitude of competitors
do we select a few individuals, and concede to
them the exclusive possession of that authority,
to which all make equal pretensions? The only
answer, which in this stage of the inquiry it is
necessary to give, is, that no other books have
been delivered to us as inspired, by the Church,
of whose duty it is an essential part, to point out
to the attention of mankind that genuine rev
elation, which has been committed to her care.
I do not mean, that the authority of the Scrip
tures is derived from the Church, or that Synods,
Councils, or Popes have an arbitrary power
to determine what books shall be received into
the canon, or excluded from it. But as the
Scriptures, when they were first published, were
entrusted to the Church as a sacred deposit, her
testimony is of the utmost importance, because
it furnishes us with the only means of knowing,
what books were put into her hands by Prophets
and Apostles*. It is, therefore, to those books,
* We fmd Cyril of Jerusalem directing those, to whoHi he
addressed his catechetical discourses, to learn from the Church

APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. S^
which come to us attested and recommended
by catholic and uninterrupted tradition, that our
attention must be directed.
I shall separately inquire into the grounds,
on which we receive the books of the Old and
the New Testament, to the exclusion of all others.
When the genuineness of any ancient writing
is the subject of discussion, we do not content
ourselves with examining its syle and matter,
though from these a strong presumption may
arise in its favbur, or against it ; but we observe,
whether it be mentioned by name, or quoted,
or plainly alluded to, in other writings, which
we know to be ofthe same age, or, at least, to
be so little posterior in time, that they may be
justly considered as equivalent to contemporary
testimony. It is in this way that we are enabled
to determine, whether it be really a production
of the age to which it is ascribed, and of the
author whose name it bears. The same plan must
the inspired books, as distinguished from the apocryphal.
nvoKPu^ur ttfccyifua-Ki. Cyril. Catech. IV.
H

Si INSPIRED BOOKS.
be adopted, when the point to be settled is the
genuineness of the Christian Scriptures. The
question depending entirely upon testimony, it
is necessary to appeal to those, who, from the time
when they flourished, were competent to judge,
and, in consequence of the peculiarity of their
circumstances, felt themselves deeply interested
in the business. The Christian writers of the first
ages are the witnesses, to whom we must apply
for information respecting the books, which were
composed by the Apostles and disciples of Christ,
and by them were delivered to the world as an
authentic account of the gospel and its Author.
Thus we shall obtain complete satisfaction ; for
it may be confidently affirmed, that there is more
ample evidence in favour of the New Testament,
than it is possible to produce for any of those
ancient books, concerning the authors of which
there is no dispute among the learned. This
plan is recommended by the example of the
Fathers, who, in settling the canon, always ap
peal to the authority of tradition. We have an
instance in Eusebius, to whom we are indebted
for much valuable information relative to the

APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. SS
Scriptures, and who, in deciding upon the
merits of the various books which advanced a
claim to inspiration, pronounces some to be
spurious, because no mention was made of them
by preceding ecclesiastical writers, and others to
be genuine, because they had been acknow
ledged as such, and quoted as books of authority
by the ancients *.
The task of searching the records of antiquity
has been undertaken by learned nien, and ex
ecuted with great industry and success. The
result of their inquiries is, that the books of the
New Testament which we at present receive, are
cited by the early writers as books written by the
Apostles and immediate Disciples of Christ;
that commentaries were composed upon them,
and translations of them were made into differ
ent languages ; that they were received not only
by those who were called orthodox, but by heretics
of various descriptions ; that lists were formed by
private individuals and by Councils, in which
those books were inserted ; that they were read
* Euseb. Lib. iii. Cap. 3. 25.

56 INSPIRED BOOKS.
in the Churches, or religious assemblies, not
merely as pious and useful compositions, like
the Epistle of Clemens, and the Shepherd of
Hermas, but as the dictates of inspiration ; and
finally, that they were carefully distinguished
from all spurious productions *.
* I once intended to give an account of the early testi
monies in favour of the Christian Scriptures, but soon aban
doned the design, because a very abridged summary would
have occupied a space disproportionate to the other parts of
the Work. I shall, therefore, content myself with presenting
to the reader the Catalogues of the Books of the New
Testament, which were drawn up during the four first cen
turies, and shall refer him for more complete information to
the authors, who have professedly treated this subject. The
following list is furnished by Mr. Jones; but it is proper to
inform those who have not directed their attention to eccle
siastical antiquities, that prior to the first of them, there are
testimonies to the genuineness and divine authority of the
canonical books, in the writings of Barnabas, Clemens
Romanus, Hermas, Ignatius, Polycarp, Papias, Justin Martyr,
Irenasus, Clemens of Alexandria, Tertullian, &c. The Cata
logue of
Ohigen, a. D. 210, omits the Epistles of James and Jude,
though he owns them both in other parts of his writings.
Eusebius, 315, is the same with ours; but he informs us,
as we shall afterwards see, that doubts had been entertained
with respect to some of the books.
Athanasius, 315, is the same with ours.
Cyril, SiO, contains all the books except the Revelation.

APOCRYPHAL COOKS. S'J
With respect to the Apocryphal books of the
New Testament, it is worthy of notice, that
no mention is made of them by the Christian
authors of the first century, Barnabas, Hermas,
Clemens, or by Ignatius and Polycarp; that
references to them by the subsequent writers are
comparatively rare; that when they are cited,
they are usually spoken of in terms expressive

The Council of Laodicea, SG*, omits the Revelation.
Epiphanius, 370, is the same with ours.
Gregory Nazianzen, 375, omits the Revelation.
Philastrius, Bishop of Brixia, 380, is the same with ours,
except that he mentions only thirteen Epistles of Paul,
omitting, it is probable, the Epistle to the Hebrews, and
leaves out the Revelation.
Jerome, 382, contains all our present books, but speaks
dubiously of the Epistle to the Hebrews, though in other
places he receives it as canonical.
RuFFiNus, 390, agrees with ours.
Augustine, 394, agrees with ours.
Council of Carthage, is the same with ours.
The author of the works under the name of Dionysius
THE Areopagite, 390, agrees with ours; for though the
books are not named, yet they are all clearly described. —
Jones' New and Full Method of Settling the Canonical
Authority of the New Testament. Lardner's Credibility of
the Gospel History, Part ii. Paley's View of the Evidences
of Christianity, Vol. i. Chap. ix.

5S INSPIRED BOOKS.
of disrespect; that they were forbidden to be
read in the Church ; and that no appeal is ever
made to them for the decision of controversies,
and the confirmation of doctrines. They are
treated as mere human compositions and for
geries. In this manner, a clear distinction is
established between them and the canonical
books. The greater part of them have per
ished, in consequence of the neglect and con
tempt in which they were held, and their names
only, or a few fragments of some of them, re
main in the writings of the Fathers. Those
whieh have escaped the general wreck, may be
easily distinguished by the sentiraents and style,
from the genuine works of the Apostles and
Evangelists; and are, for the most part, such
wretched productions, that we can scarcely con
ceive them to have been mistaken for inspired
compositions, by any but the most ignorant and
stupid of mankind.
There is no reason to suspect, that the Chris
tians in the primitive times were careless in an
affair of such magnitude, and received books

APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. 59
into the canon, or rejected them, at hazard *.
It would be contrary to all probability to imagine,
that they indolently suffered themselves to be
imposed upon by some artful men, who wished
to make their own compositions pass for a divine
revelation; and the supposition being unsup
ported by the slightest evidence, might be
brought forward, with equal propriety, to in
validate the strongest testimony in any other
case. Whether the Scriptures of the New Tes
tament were inspired or not, their inspiration
was universally believed by the members of the
Church. They regarded them as the oracles of
heaven, by which they were bound to regulate
their opinions and practices in religion, and on
which they founded their hopes of future felicity.
The rejection of a single inspired book, and the
reception of a forged one, would have equally
exposed them, in their own apprehension, to
* Canon is a Greek word, signifying a rule or standard,
by which other things are exarained and judged. As the
Scriptures are the only ru]e of faith and obedience, the
collection of them came to be called the Canon; and to
receive any book into the Canon, was to acknowledge it as
a part of Divine Revelation.

60 INSPIRED BOOKS.
the danger of eternal damnation. Their cir
cumstances, too, were peculiar, and contributed
to render them cautious and exact in examining
the authority of the Scriptures. Their attach
ment to the religion of Christ exposed them to
incredible hardships and sufferings. By em
bracing it, they forfeited the favour of their
friends and countrymen, the hope of fame and
preferment, the ease and quiet which the laws
secured to the professors of the established faith ;
and they subjected themselves to contempt,
hatred, obloquy, and all those cruelties, which
Jewish bigotry and Heathen intolerance were
prepared to inflict. As no man will voluntarily
submit to pains and losses, without the hope of
a recompense, and their expectations could be
realised, only if the religion were true, and their
ideas of it were just, we may presume, that they
would exercise the greatest care, in distinguish
ing the genuine records of it from such as were
forged. They would not stake their all upon
an uncertainty ; they would not risk every thing
dear and valuable, without examining the offered
security, that they should be ultimate gainers.

APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. 61
While these considerations render it highly
probable, that the canon of the New Testament
was not settled at random, we are able to pro
duce" some facts, which convert this conclusion
into certainty. We know, that in the early
ages there were many Gospels, and Acts, and
Epistles, and Revelations, claiming to have
proceeded from the spirit of inspiration ; as the
Gospels of Peter, Thomas, and Matthias, the
Gospel according to the Hebrews, and the
Gospel according to the Egyptians, the Acts
of Paul, Andrew, and John, the Bevelation
of Peter, Epistles and Books under the name
of our Saviour, with many others which it would
be tedious to mention. We know, likewise,
that the authority of some of the books which
have been admitted into the canon, was called
in question by some ; as the Epistles of James
and Jude, the second Epistle of Peter, the
second and third Epistle of John, the Epistle
to the Hebrews, and the Revelation*. With

* Euseb. Hist- Lib. iii. cap. 25. In that chapter, Eusebius
takes notice of three classes or orders of books; those whiph

62 INSPIRED BOOKS.
respect to these, doubts had arisen from some
circumstance now unknown, which had pre
vented them from being so generally under
stood to be genuine as the other Apostofical
writings. No name being prefixed to the
Epistle to the Hebrews, it was ascribed to
Barnabas, to Luke, and to Clemens of Rome;^
and a considerable time elapsed, before it was
acknowledged by the whole Church, to be a
work of the Apostle of the Gentiles. But these
facts, instead of creating any suspicion with re
spect to our present Scriptures, serve to confirm
us in the belief, that they are authentic. They
prove, that the Church did not rashly give credit
to the pretence of inspiration, but examined it

were universally acknowledged; those which were called in
question by some, though received by many ; and those which
were manifestly spurious. When enumerating the books, the
authority of which was disputed, he does not mention the
Epistle to the Hebrews; but we learn fi-ora the third chapter
of the same book, that some rejected it, from the notion that
it was not written by Paul. He points out two marks, by
which the spurious writings might be distinguished from those
which were truly inspired. These are the style, i m; (p^aV^s
jj«^«»Tjig; and the sentiment and scope of the matter contained
iii then), in yvuft-/i km ^ rut b avToii- ^i^o/ihat Trgoa/ger;;.

APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. 63
with the most scrupulous care; in consequence
of which caution, some inspired books were not
at once received in every part of the Christian
world, and others, which assumed the names of
Apostles, being found supposititious, were rcr
jected. A proneness to believe, and a disposi
tion to scepticism, are alike unfavourable to the
discovery of truth. The primitive Church neither
received nor rejected all the books which laid
claim to inspiration, but admitted or excluded
them, after the evidence on both sides had
been maturely considered. A spirit of dis
crimination was exercised ; and we may have
the greater confidence, therefore, in the canon
which was finally agreed upon.
By a similar train of reasoning, the genuineness
of the books of the Old Testament is established.
Motives equally powerful as those which influ
enced the primitive Christians, impelled the Jews
to exercise the greatest circumspection in exa
mining the books which were presented to them
as divine. They entertained the same ideas re
specting the consequences of embracing a false,
and rejecting a true, revelation. That they did

64 INSPIRED BOOKS.
not rashly admit books into the canon, but
received or excluded them, according as the
evidence of their inspiration was satisfactory or
not, we learn from the case of the Apocryphal
books, of which we shall afterwards speak. The
books thus accurately distinguished, they have
delivered to the Christian Church ; and we know
that only those which are now in our possession,
were acknowledged as canonical in the daysof our
Saviour. They were arranged in three classes,
the Law, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings ;
and to this arrangement he seems to have allud
ed, when he said to his disciples, " These are the
words which I spake unto you, while I was yet
with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which
were written in the Law of Moses, and in the
Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me *."

* Luke xxiv. 44. The Law comprehends the five books of
Moses. The Prophets are sub-divided into the former and the
latter. The former Prophets are Joshua, Judges, Samuel and
Kings; the latter Prophets are again distinguished into the
greater, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel ; and the lesser, Hosea, Joel,
Amos, &c. The Holy Writings are Psalms, Proverbs, Job,
the Song, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel,
Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles. In the text quoted above, the

APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. 65
We are informed by Josephus, who wrote in the
first century, that there were twenty-two sacred
books of the Jews ; the five books of Moses,
thirteen books of the Prophets, and other four
books containing hymns to God and precepts of
life. The actual number is thirty-nine ; but the
Jews formed an arrangement of them corre
sponding to the twenty-two letters of their al
phabet, and reduced them to that number, by
making a single book of the twelve rainor
Prophets, and a single book of the Prophecies
and Lamentations of Jeremiah, of the two books

Psalms are put for the Holy Writings, probably because they
were the principal book, or occupied the first place in that
division. This classification affords but a poor specimen of the
judgment of its authors ; for none, it may be presumed, but
themselves, would have denied Daniel a place among the Pro
phets, and ranked Ruth rather than Judges or Samuel, among
the Holy Writings. Dr. Owen thinks, that, though the general
division be ancient, the present arrangement of the books is
the work of the post-talmudical doctors, who in making it had
a regard to the different degrees or modes of revelation, men
tioned in note, page 32. Owen on the Epistle to the Hebrews,
Vol. 1. Exercit. vii. The division adopted by Josephus,
though similar, differs in the arrangement of the books. The
classification of Jerome is different from both. Prol. Galeat.

66 INSPIRED BOOKS.
of Samuel, of the two of Kings, of the two of
Chronicles, of Ezra and Nehemiah, and of
Judges and Ruth. By a small difference in the
classification, they still reckon only twenty-four.
Josephus farther remarks, that there were other
books, containing an account ofthe transactions
of the nation, which were not deemed of equal
authority, because they were written after the
succession of Prophets had ceased ; and that it
was a proof of the reverence of the Jews for the
canonical books, that during the long interval
which had elapsed since their publication, no
person had dared to add to them, or take from
them, or make any alteration in thera *. There
is extant a translation of the Old Testament
into Greek, known by the name of the Sep
tuagint, or the translation of the Seventy, and
made before the Christian Era, in which are the
same books, that are at present- found in the
Hebrew copies. Since the time of our Saviour,
it has not been in the power of the Jews, though
they had been so disposed, to enlarge or curtail
* Joseph, cont. Apion. Lib. i.

APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. 6T
the ancient canon, because the custody of the
books has been transferred to the Christian
Church; nor, on the other hand, could the
Christian Church have made any alteration,
because they have watched her proceedings with
a jealous eye, and would not have failed, frora
malignity as well as zeal, to exclaim against the
unhallowed deed. Hence, at this moment, the
Jews and we receive the same books, as con
taining the revelation which God made to their
Fathers. But besides the Scriptures of the Old Testa
ment, which were acknowledged by the Jews,
there are some other books, to which divine
authority has been since ascribed ; and of which,
therefore, it is necessary to take notice, before
we leave this part of the subject. The Church
of Rome, by her last Council which met at
Trent, has placed in the same rank with the
Law and the Prophets, the following Apocry
phal books : Tobit, Judith, the Wisdom of Sol
omon, Ecclesiastious, the first and second book
of the Maccabees, Baruch, with the additions

68 INSPIRED BOOKS.
to Esther and Daniel*. By all Protestant
Churches, however, they are accounted mere
human compositions ; and, in defence of this
judgment, the following reasons may be ad
vanced. I. The inspiration of the Apocryphal books
was not acknowledged by the Jewish Church, as
we have been informed by Josephus. This cir
cumstance is decisive. If they were not received
by those, to whom the oracles of God were
committed, and who were never blamed for re
jecting any of his oracles, what right has any
Council, or any individual, under the present
dispensation, to assign them a place among the
canonical writings? In confirmation of this
argument, it may be remarked, that they are

* Vide Canones et Decreta Concilii Tridentini. Sess. Quart.
There are some other Apocryphal books; but those which
have been named, are the only ones that have received the
sanction of the Council. Its words are worthy to be tran
scribed. " Si quis libros ipsos integros, cum omnibus suis
partibus, (with the stories, no doubt, of the sparrow's dung,
which fell on the eyes of Tobit, and of the heart and liver of
the fish, the smoke of which frightened the devil,) pro sacris
^t canonicis non susceperit, — anathema sit.

APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. 69
not written either in pure Hebrew^ or in that
mixed dialect which was spoken after the cap
tivity, but in Greek; and it is highly impro
bable, that God would deliver any part of
revelation to his people in a language which
they did not understand *.
'2. They were written after the days of
Malachi, in whom, according to the testimony
of the Jews, the spirit of prophecy ceased, and
who not obscurely hints, that after him no Pro
phet should arise, till the Baptist appeared
in the spirit and power of Elijah 'f. The vain
pretence in the book of Wisdom, that it was
written by Solomon, is an additional proof, that
it is not inspired, because the pretence is mani
festly false. In another part pf the book, the

* It has been supposed, indeed, that Judith, Tobit, and the
first book of Maccabees were originally written in Chaldee
and afterwards translated info Greek, in which language they
are now extant; but about this point learned men are not
fully agreed. The Wisdom of the Son of Sirach is a transla
tion of an imperfect work of his grandfather, written, as he
says, in Hebrew. The argument applies, without doubt, to
all the other Apocryphal books.
t Mal. iv. 4, 5, 6.
K

10 INSPIRED BOOKS.
writer represents the Israelites as in subjection
to their enemies ; whereas we know, that dur
ing the reign of Solomon, they enjoyed peace
and prosperity *.
3. No part of the Apocryphal writings is
quoted by Christ or his Apostles. All the
books of the Old Testament, indeed, are not
cited in the New, but we meet with references
to the most of them; and they are all recog
nised, as we have seen, under the general titles
of the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. Is
it credible, that, if the Apocryphal books were
inspired, not a sentiment should be transcribed,
nor a passage be produced as an authority from
any of them, in the Gospels or Epistles; and
that not a single word should be found in all
the New Testament, from which it could be in
ferred, that such books were in existence?
4. Their own inspiration is not asserted, in
direct terms, by any of the authors ; and some
of them say what amounts to an acknowledge
ment that they were nOt inspired. The Son of
• Wisd. ix. 7, 8. xv. 14.

APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. 71
Sirach begs the reader to pardon any faults
which he may have committed, in translating
the work of his grandfather into Greek *. It
is acknowledged in two places of the first book
of the Maccabees, that there was, at that time,
no Prophet in Israel •f. The second book is a
professed abridgement of five books of Jason of
Cyrene J; and the author concludes with the
following words, which are unworthy of a per
son writing by inspiration: " If I have done
well, and as is fitting the story, it is that which
I desired ; but if slenderly and meanly, it is that
which I could attain unto §."
5. The Apocryphal books contain fables, lies,
and contradictions. The story of Judith is on
good grounds pronounced to be a fiction. After
the return of the Jews from captivity, when
it is said to have happened, there was no Na-
buchodonosor, king of Assyria, by whose army
their land could be invaded. The most remark
able incidents in Tobit are exactly on a level, in

* Prologue to Ecclesiast. f 1 Maccab. iv. 46. ix. 27,
% 2 Maccab. ii. 23. § 2 Maccab. xv. 38.

12 INSPIRED BOOKS.
point of probability, with the tales which amused
our ohildhood. In the first book of the Macca
bees, Antiochus is said to have died in Baby
lon * ; but in the second, to have been slain in
the temple of Nanea, in Persia ; and again, to
have died in a strange country in the moun
tains "f. Several other instances of falsehood
and contradiction might be added.
6. They were not admitted into the canon of
Scripture, during the four first centuries; and
when they began to be used in the refigious as
semblies of the Christians, they were read as
Jerome informs us, " not for the confirmation of
doctrines, but for the edification of the people $."
Accordingly, when enumerating the books
which were received by the Jews, he makes an
express distinction between them and the Apo^
cryphal writings, and declares that the latter did
* 1 Maccab. vi. 4. 16. f 2 Maccab. i. 13 — 16. ix. 28.
4: Praef. in Lib. Salom. Sicut ergo Judith, et Tobiae et
Macchabaeorum libros legit Ecclesia, sed eos inter canonicas
Scripturas non recipit: sic et haec duo volumina, (Ecclesias-
ticum et Sapientiam Salomonis,) legat ad sedificationem ple-
bis, non ad auctoritatem Ecclesiasticorum d(^niatum confir-
mandara.

APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. 13
not belong to the canon •. We are told by
Augustine, that certain books were called Apo
cryphal, because their origin was obscure, and
they were not known to the Fathers, from whom
the genuine Scriptures have come to us by a
clear and certain succession 'f'. It is true, in
deed, that in another place, he speaks of some
of the Apocryphal books as canonical, but he
acknowledges, at the same time, that they were
not accounted canonical by the Jews, but only
by the Christian Church; and, it is probable
that he means by the term, books which were
allowed to be publicly read, because he adds,
that the Church had received them into the
canon on account of the admirable examples
of patient suffering for the truth, which they
contained I^. He asserts the genuineness
of the three books of Solomon, Proverbs,
* Prolog. Galeat. f De Civitate Dei. Lib. xv. cap. 23.
'^ De Civitate Dei. Lib. xviii. cap. 36. The uninspired
books, which might be read in the Church, were fi-equently
called ecclesiastical; but as a canon was formed, or a list of
such books was drawn up by authority, they sometimes
received, in conjunction with the inspired books which were
included in the same list, the title of canonical.

14 INSPIRED BOOKS.
Ecclesiastes, and the Song ; but observes, with
respect to Ecclesiasticus and Wisdom, that
though on account of some similarity in the
style they passed under his name, there was no
doubt among the learned, that they were not
his, and that they had obtained authority chiefly
in the Western Church*. " Read," says Cyril,
" the Divine Scriptures, the twenty-two books
of the Old Testaraent." Again, " Read the
twenty-two books, but have nothing to do with
the Apocryphal writings. Diligently study those
books only, which we publicly read in the Church.
The Apostles and ancient Bishops, the Presidents
of the Church who delivered these, were much wiser
than thee^." In the last canon of the Apostles,
Judith and the three books of the Maccabees,
are enumerated araong the books of the Old
Testament, and the Wisdom of the Son of
Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus, is recommended as a

* De Civit. Dei. Lib. xvii. cap. 20.
f Catech. iv. It would seem that the Apocryphal books
were not publicly read in the time of Cyril, or, at least, in
the Church of Jerusalem.

APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. 75
book which should be learned by the young *.
But that canon is of no authority, except as it
may show the opinion of the age in which it was
formed, or, perhaps, only of the unknown au
thor; and besides, it is suspected on probable
grounds, that these Apocryphal books have
been since foisted into it "f. The books in
question are not found in the Catalogues of
Melito, Origen, Athanasius, Gregory Nazian
zen, Epiphanius, Jerome, and others; nor in
the Catalogue of the Council of Laodicea, the
canons of which were received by the Catholic
Church. Even the Council of Carthage, which
met in the early part of the fifth century, and
classed the Apocryphal books with the canonical
Scriptures, has been supposed to use the word
canonical, in the loose sense already explained ;f.
In a word, notwithstanding the veneration in
which these books were held by the Western
Church, it appears, that they were considered
as inferior to the undisputed books of the Old

• Can. Apost. Can. Ult. f Bevereg. in Cod. Can. ix. t.
% Cod. Can. Eccles, African. Can. xxiv.

16 INSPIRED BOOKS.
Testament, till the Church of Rome presumed
by her own authority to place them in the same
rank with the writings of Moses and the Pro
phets. Before we close this chapter, it will be proper
to make a few remarks on a question intimately
connected with the present subject; namely,
whether any inspired books have been lost.
With regard to the New Testament, there is'
no ground for suspecting, that any of the books
are now wanting, of which it originally con
sisted *. But in the Old Testament, we read
of several books which are not at present found
in the canon ; as the book of Jasher, the book
of the wars of the Lord, the books of Nathan
and Gad, and the book of Shemaiah the Pro
phet, and Iddo the Seer concerning genealogies.

* From Colossians, chap. iv. 16, some have inferred, that
Paul wrote an epistle to the Laodiceans, which, it is pretended, *
is still in existence. But that verse speaks of an epistle, not
to the Laodiceans, but from Laodicea ; and the epistle to the
Laodiceans, which bears the name of Paul, is a mere cento,
a thing patched up qf sentences from his other epistles,
without any determinate end. Vide Witsiura in Vita Pauli,
Sect, xiv.

APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. l^
Before the inference, however, for which the
names of these books axe produced, can be
fairly drawn, it must be proved, either tliat
they were all inspired, or that such of them
as were written by inspiration, have perished.
But while it would be foolish to conclude, that
every book was inspired, to which there is a
reference in the Scriptures, especially as we
know that Greek plays and other poems are
quoted in iixe New T.estament; the opinion of
^le Jews and of many Christian writers is not
improbable, that some of the books concerning
which we are inquiring, are still extant under
other names, and constitute part of the books
of Samuel and Kings. Though we should
suppose the books to bave been different from
these, and to have been composed by persons
who wrote parts of the Scriptures, it would
by no means follow, that the lost books were
inspired, unless it were certain, that the sacred
writers were always under the supernatural di-
rection of the Spirit, and were never permitted
to use their faculties in the ordinary way. But
we have no reason to believe, that the gift of

18 INSPIRED BOOKS. *
inspiration was constant ; nor does any person
think, because some of the writings of Solomon
were inspired, that his thousand and five
songs, and his treatises on plants and animals
were ever considered as canonical Scripture.
Our Lord, who reproved with so much fidelity
whatever was amiss in the conduct of the Jews,
never charged thera with having permitted any
portion of revelation to perish ; and he seems to
assure us of the integrity of the Hebrew Scrip
tures, when he says, that " not one jot, nor one
tittle, shall pass from the law, till all be ful
filled * r" for the Law signifies in this place,
agreeably to the sense of the word in many other
passages, not the five books of Moses alone.
but the whole system of doctrines and precepts,
which had been delivered to the Church; or
what is called more distinctly in the preceding
verse, the Law and the Prophets. If we believe
in a providence, vigilant, active, and almighty,
we can no more allow ourselves to think, tliat
it would permit any part of a revelation, which
* Mat. v. 1 8<

APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. 1^
was intended to be a complete and perpetual
rule of faith, to be lost, than that it would suffer
the light of the sun to be extinguished. The
productions of human genius and eloquence
may perish, and the very names of their authors
be forgotten ; but the oracles of heaven shall
last, till all the purposes for which they were
given, are accomplished.

80 THE INSPIRATION OF

.<\^,»^i^/\»sr^S^^t»^W»i»rfi#^<S*'

CHAP. III.
The Inspiration of the New Testament.
We have spoken, in the preceding chapter, of
the canonical Scriptures, or those writings which
the Church has received as constituting the only
rule of faith and manners to the professors of
the Christian religion. We do not mean, how
ever, that our belief of their divinity is founded
solely on the care with which she has discrimi
nated them from other writings claiming inspi
ration, and the decrees whieh she has published
in their favour. It is a paradox, which none
could believe, but those who are able to digest
the monstrous doctrine of transubstantiation,
that the Scriptures derive all their authority
from the Church, which derives all her authority
from them. On what ground, it might be asked,
does the Church assert their inspiration? If it

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 81
should be answered, that the present Church is
possessed of traditional evidence in the testimony
of the ancient Fathers and Doctors ; ascending
through the intermediate ages, to the time when
the books were published to the world, we ask
again, by what considerations the primitive
Church was induced to receive them as inspired ?
The evidence which satisfied the flrst Christians,
may satisfy us; and it is not reasonable to de
mand, that less should content us, while it is as
much our interest as it was theirs to ascertain
the true foundation of our faith. They were too
wise to submit, in so important a matter, to bare
authority, or simple affirmation. Some of the
proofs, indeed, which were presented to them,
being transient facts, cannot be subjected to the
test of our senses; but if it can be shown, that
such facts actually took place, the impression
made upon our minds, though it may not equal
in vivacity the impression made upon theirs, will
yet be sufficient to produce a rational conviction.
The disadvantage, which may be supposed to
arise from our not having witnessed the facts, is
compensated by a new species of evidence, which

82 THE INSPIRATION OF
is the result of the progress of time and the
evolution of events, but which it was impossible,
that those, to whom the sacred books were first
presented, could enjoy. The intelligent reader
will perceive, that I allude to the evidence of
prophecy. The natural order of the books requires, that
I should, in the first place, bring arguments in
support of the inspiration of the Old Testament.
But though this method might with propriety
be adopted, and, by proving the inspiration of
the Jewish, we should pave the way for proving
that of the Christian Scriptures ; yet it will after
wards appear, that, by beginning with the New
Testament, we shall more easily and effectually
accomplish our purpose.
In favour of the inspiration of the New Tes
tament, there are three proofs, which I shall
illustrate in this and the following chapter. The
first is derived from the credit, which the verbal
testinipny of the Apostles concerning Jesus
Christ obtained in the world ; the second, from
the reception of their writings ; and the third,
from the contents of those writings.

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 83
I. The inspiration of the New Testament may
be inferred from the credit, which the testimony
concerning Jesus Christ, delivered by the writers
in the course of their public ministry, obtained.
The design of the present argument is to show
from the reception of their testimony, that they
were accredited messengers from God ; and, by
a natural and obvious inference, to demonstrate
the divine authority of their writings. Its force
will be more clearly perceived from the subse
quent illustration.
The Apostles were competent witnesses of
those facts which they attested, and on which
the Christian religion is founded. Their testi
mony did not relate to certain abstract points,
in forming a judgment of which, they might
have been misled by the sophistry of others, or
have erred through their own inadvertence and
incapacity ; nor to events, which had happened
before their birth, or in a distant region of the
earth, and of which, therefore, they might
have received false information. It respected
facts which they had witnessed with their eyes,
and with their ears. They had lived with Christ<

84 THE INSPIRATION OF
during all the time of his ministry ; they had heard
his discourses, and seen his wonderful works.
The advantages which they enjoyed for ascer
taining the truth of those things, which they
published to others, are pointed out by one of
them in the following words: " That which
was from the beginning, which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we
have looked upon, and our hands have hand
led of the word of life ; (for the life was mani
fested, and we have seen it, and bear witness,
and show unto you that eternal life, which was
with the Father, and was manifested unto us:)
that which we have seen and heard declare we
unto you *." We sometimes refuse to give
credit, even to a person of unimpeachable in
tegrity, because he has not had sufficient oppor
tunity to acquire a thorough knowledge of his
subject ; but if any man be disposed to call in
question the testimony of the Apostles, his doubts
must flow from some other source than a well-
founded suspicion of partial or inaccurate

* 1 John i. 1— S.

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 85
intelligence. What they saw and heard, they
were fully qualified to relate.
The honesty of the Apostles, in the character
of witnesses to the truth of the Christian religion,
is not less evident than their competency. It
would be uncandid and unreasonable to suspect
their veracity, while it is impossible to conceive,
that they wCre influenced by any of those motives,
which induce men in other cases to bear witness
to a falsehood. They were not prompted by a
spirit of ambition, to form a scheme of immor
talizing their names, by introducing a system of
faith, to be established on the ruins of every
other religion. Such a scheme was not likely
to occur to persons so mean and illiterate; and,
though their views had been more aspiring than
their condition might have led us to suppose,
they would have been deterred from proceeding
to execute their plan, by the obvious impossibility
of carrying it into effect. They were not stimu
lated by avarice or the prospect of amassing a
fortune; for they who had already forsaken all
to follow their Master^ could not hope to gain
wealth in exchange, by a religion which taught
M

86 THE INSPIRATION OF
men to despise it, and which few of the rich
were likely to embrace. It was not the love of
ease, which allured them to submit to labours
that had no interruption, to persecution in
every city, to the scorn of the world, to impri
sonment and death. They cannot be conceived
to have acted frora a mere wish to impose upon
mankind; because deceivers would not have
contrived the purest, the most sublime, the most
benevolent religion, which the world ever saw ;
a religion, by which all falsehood and impos
ture are forbidden under the penalty of ever
lasting torments. In short, to whatever motive
we attribute their conduct, no rational account
of it can be given, till we resort to the supposi
tion, that they were fully convinced of the truth
of what they declared. In this case, we can
conceive them to have renounced all temporal
enjoyments, and to have exposed themselves to
all temporal evils, from an ardent and generous
desire to communicate to their fellow men the
inestimable blessings of the gospel; supported
under their toils and sufferings by the assurance
of supernatural aid, and animated by the hope of

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 81
a glorious recompense. But if their testimony
was not true, their conduct is inexplicable, un
less they were madmen or enthusiasts; and of
either of these charges, the system which they
taught, and the whole of their deportment,
afford an easy and complete refutation. Mad
men could not have devised a religion full of
wisdom and order, in which duties grow natur
ally out of principles, and the various parts ad
mirably harmonise. Enthusiasts could not have
talked so rationally on subjects calculated, as
several topics in the gospel are, to inflame the
imagination ; nor have delivered a rule of life
so well adapted to the circumstances of man
kind, and so far removed from any thing exces
sive or overstrained ; nor have displayed zeal
tempered with so much prudence; nor have
acted, on many trying occasions, with such
uniform dignity and unruffled composure.
Notwithstanding these considerations, how
ever, which might have satisfied those whom the
Apostles addressed, of their integrity, and are
sufficient to put to silence the lying lips of infi
delity, when it brings against them a charge of

88 THE INSPIRATION OF
imposture, I do not hesitate to assert, that their
testimony would not have been believed, if it
had not been confirmed by such evidence as de
monstrated, that they acted by a divine commis
sion, and may, therefore, convince us, that their
writings were inspired.
Let us attend to some of the principal facts
which they attested, and of the doctrines which
they founded upon them. They taught, that
Jesus Christ, a man born of an obscure mother,
who had lived in poverty, and suffered an ignomi
nious death, was the Son of the Most High God ;
that having risen from the dead, he had ascended
to heaven, and was now constituted the Lord of
angels and men ; that to believe in him was the
only way to obtain the favour of God, and the
enjoyment of eternal life; that men of all na
tions were bound to forsake the religion of their
Fathers, and embrace his gospel; and that at
the close of time, he would appear in the clouds
of heaven, raise the dead from their graves, and
judge all mankind according to their works.
It may be added, that upon these doctrines they
reared a system of moral precepts, which, how-

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 89
ever agreeable to right reason, must be acknow
ledged to be extremely uninviting to human
nature, as actuated by those propensities and
inclinations, which are felt and obeyed in every
age, and in every climate.
It is impossible to conceive a religion more
repugnant than the Christian to the prejudices
and expectations of both Jews and Gentiles;
ofthe Jews, who, misled by the figurative lan
guage of prophecy, which they interpreted un
der the influence of carnal affections, looked
for a temporal Messiah, who should vanquish
their enemies and put them in possesision of
wealth and dominion ; of the Greeks, who sought
after wisdom, and despised every doctrine which
was not agreeable to the tenets of their philo
sophy, and adorned with the beauties of elo
quence. Was it probable that men would
renounce opinions and usages, rendered vene
rable by the sanction of their ancestors for many
ages, and abandon the religions, to which they
had been inspired with an early attachment, at
the call of a few unknown and unlettered
persons, who published doctrines so abhorrent

90 THE INSPIRATION OF
to all their ideas, and void of apparent credi
bility? Was it probable,, that they would em
brace a religion, which held out no prospect of
Tvorldly advantage ; but on the contrary, while
it required from them the practice of the most
painful duties, taught them to reckon upon the
scorn and ill usage of the world as the present
reward of their faith? Their conversion was so
highly improbable, that a man of prudence and
sagacity should have thought himself fully au
thorised to predict complete disappointment, as
the result of the labours of the Apostles. Yet
we know, that their endeavours to turn the
world to the obedience of Christ, were crowned
with the most astonishing success. Myriads of
Jews and Gentiles, notwithstanding the scandal
of the cross, acknowledged the Divinity and
Messiahship of Jesus; and became his disciples
at the risk of losing every thing, which men
usually hold in the highest estimation.
How, then, shall \re account for so singular
an event ? We must either suppose that man
kind, in that age, were not governed by the
same motives, which are observed to influence

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 91
them in every other age ; or conclude, that the
Apostles exhibited such evidence of the truth of
the gospel, as perfectly satisfied their contem
poraries, and triumphed over their prejudices.
And what else could that evidence be, but the
miracles recorded in the New Testament? The
flrst preachers of Christianity could not demon
strate its truth, by the principles of reason ; and
its intrinsic excellence was not of a kind to be
perceived and relished, at least in the flrst in
stance, by those whom they addressed. Some
proof of easy apprehension, some evidence which
should strike the dullest, and convince the most
prejudiced, was requisite ; and of these qualities
the evidence of miracles is eminently possessed.
Should the miracles be denied, the success of the
Apostles is altogether inexplicable ; and it is a
just observation of Chrysostom, " that if without
miracles they persuaded the world, this is the
greatest miracle of all." The denial of the
miracles is the more unrea.sonable, because,
while it is allowed that a certain effect was pro
duced, the only cause which could account for
itj is rejected.

92 THE INSPIRATION OF
I beg the reader to bestow a little attention
upon this subject. By a miracle, I mean a work
which no man could perform, unless God were
with him ; or rather a work superior, or contrary
to the laws of nature, which God, or some being
commissioned by him, performs, when certain
words are spoken, or a certain sign is given by
the person, whose character and doctrine the
miracle is meant to attest. I acknowledge, that
we ought not rashly to believe, that miracles
have been wrought, because such events are out
of the ordinary course of nature, and abstractly
considered, therefore, are improbable ; and be
cause the most fatal consequences might flow
frora admitting, without sufficient evidence, that
a person is a messenger from God. But such
circumstances may accompany the report of a
miracle, that it would be quite unreasonable not
to believe it. If it be said, for example, to have
produced a change in human affairs, which we
find to have actually taken place; and if the
change be of such a nature, that no other cause
was sufficient to effect it, the truth of the miracle
can no more be called in question, than the state

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 93
of things founded upon it. Now this is exactly
the case with the miracles of the Apostles. The
most astonishing revolution in the history of
mankind is said to have been accomplished by
the miracles, or by their doctrine thus attested
and confirmed ; the fact itself is indisputable ;
and the supposition of miracles is the only theory
which will account for it in a satisfactory manner.
All the other caUses, to which the progress of
Christianity has been ascribed, are manifestly
inadequate. Should their miracles appear im
probable, when viewed by theraselves, they are
probable, and even highly credible, when consi
dered in connection with their success ; or rather
we may pronounce them to be certain. In the
language of philosophy, they are the only
principle, which is sufficient to explain the
phenomenon. In fact, we are reduced to this
alternative, either to beheve that the greatest
revolution in the world was effected without any
adequate cause; or to admit the miracles of the
Apostles, which afford a simple and rational
explanation of it. N

94 THE INSPIRATION OF
If the first preachers of Christianity were in
vested with the power of performing miraculous
works, God testified his approbation of them in
their public capacity. Miracles were the seal of
heaven appended to their commission ; tokens,
that they were its friends and favourites ; signs,
which not only awakened attention, but proved
that they were supernaturally assisted. It fol
lows, that their doctrine was from God ; for
nothing can be raore certain, than that he would
not have given thera a power to control the
laws of nature ; or to speak more conformably
to truth, that he would not himself have con
trolled those laws at their command, that they
might successfully propagate lies in his name.
God would not have given the visions of their
brain the highest attestation which he can give
to his own oracles. What they spoke, there
fore, He spoke by them, as what is said by an
ambassador, in conformity to his instructions, is
understood to be said by the king his master.
But if the doctrine which they preached was
divine, their writings are of equal authority, not
only because they contain a summary of the

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 95
doctrine, but because the same miracles, which
attested their sermons, attested likewise their
Gospels .and Epistles. The miracles were an
attestation of all their instructions, whether ver
bal or written. They demonstrated their autho
rity in general to make a revelation to mankind ;
and, therefore, demonstrated, that in whatever
form, or by whatever means they made it, by the
tongue or by the pen, by spoken or by written
discourses, they were alike entitled to credit.
It would 'discover caprice and childishness to
draw a line of distinction between their discourses
and their writings ; and to say that the former
were inspired, but that the latter were the pro
ductions of their unassisted faculties. We must
either deny or admit the inspiration of both. It
is evidently absurd to suppose, that God gave
them a commission, when they were to preach,
but withdrew it, when they were to write for the
benefit of all succeeding generations ; or that he
enabled them to work miracles to convince us
that they were his messengers, and yet did not
guide them by his Spirit, in committing their
message to writing. Surely, if it was of import-

96 THE INSPIRATION OF
ance, that the Apostles should be preserved
from error in publishing the gospel with their
voice, it was of more importance, that they
should be under infallible direction in composing
those books, from which men, in all ages and
countries, would draw their notions of the
Christian religion. An error in one of their
discourses might have misled a few hundreds or
thousands, and coqld have been retracted on
another occasion; but an error in their books
would have been productive of pernicious con
sequences to the end of the world, and could
not have been corrected without a new revela
tion. Besides, as no reason can be given, why
the attestation of their divine commission by mi
racles should be supposed to have terminated,
when they ceased to speak and began to write,
so no man in his senses will entertain an idea
of revelation so perfectly ridiculous. All the
miracles, then, which were performed in confir
mation of the gospel, must be considered as
having been performed in confirraation of the
books, in which the gospel is recorded. God
has set his seal to them. He has assured us, that

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 91
they contain his word, and nothing but his word ;
and consequently, that the persons who wrote
them were inspired.
This reasoning, I am disposed to think, would
not be disputed by a candid infidel. It is
probable, that if he could be once thoroughly
convinced, that miracles were wrought by the
writers of the New Testament, he would acknow
ledge, notwithstanding some remaining difficul
ties, the divine authority of their books. It is
disputed, however, by Socinians, who deny the
inspiration of the Apostles, while they grant,
that they were invested with miraculous powers
for the confirmation of their doctrine. I wonder,
if the opinion of these men be just, for what
purpose the miracles were performed at all. If
a miracle, besides proving that the person who
works it is a messenger from God, do not far
ther give assurance, that he is so disposed and
assisted by a divine influence upon his mind, as
to relate his message with unerring exactness, it
seems to be no better than a prodigy or strange
sight, calculated only to surprise or to amuse.
I am not able to conceive any thing more irra-

98 THE INSPIRATION OF
tional, and I will add, more derogatory to the
honour of God, than to assert, that he per
formed a long series of miracles to establish the
truth of a revelation, of which, however, we
have only a mere human record, interspersed,
as these undaunted critics say, with inaccurate
reasonings, far-fetched analogies, and erroneous
interpretations of passages of the Old Testa
ment. What did the miracles attest? The reli
gion of Christ. What is the religion of Christ?
Truly, it is not very easy to tell, for we have no
infallible account of it; but we must guess at it,
as well as we can, frora the books of the first
preachers, who were honest raen, indeed, but
fallible ; and have been convicted by Dr. Pri^tley
of such ignorance of logic, as sometimes to have
drawn conclusions, which the premises would
not authorise. This, reader, is called raiional
Christianity ; but if all this be true, the miracles
ofthe gospel are proofs, that God has done many
things in vain. There has been a waste of won
ders to demonstrate the truth of a revelation,
which might have been, and if we will give
credit to some confident assertions, has been cor-

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 99
pupted by the very persons who were employed
to publish it ; while by a single miracle more,
the inspiration of the publishers, the integrity
and purity of the revelation would have been
secured ; and thus there would have been an
end worthy of God, for which the other miracles
were performed.
This is the first argument for the inspiration
of the New Testament ; and it seems to be con
clusive. But as it is of the utmost importance,
that our minds should be well established in the
belief of the divine authority of the Christian
Scriptures, I shall prove this point in a manner
somewhat different.
II. The reception of the books of the New
Testament by those to whom they were first
'presented, is a proof of their inspiration. In
order to place this argument in a convincing
light, it will be necessary to make some pre
vious observations, respecting ihe persons by
whom the books were written, and the peculiar
character which they assume.

100 THE INSPIRATION OF
In the first place, it is certain, that the books
of the New Testament were written by the per
sons to whom they are usually ascribed. I have
already pointed out the mode in which the
genuineness of our Scriptures is ascertained,
and the evidence upon which we receive them
as the productions of the Apostles and Disciples
of Christ. It is by the testimony of competent
witnesses and judges that we know, that the
books which bear the names of Cicero, Plato,
Aristotle, Livy, and Thucydides, were composed
by those men ; and that the Evangelists wrote
the Gospels, and the Apostles the Letters, which
are found in our present collection. But there
is more ample evidence, as I forraerly remarked,
in favour of our sacred books, than it is possible
to produce in proof of the genuineness of any
other work of antiquity. As they are quoted
more frequently than other books, insomuch
that, as Dr. Lardner has observed, " there are
mOre, and larger quotations of the sniall volume
of the New Testament in the writings of one
Christian author, Tertullian, than there are of
all the works of Cicero in writers of all char-

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 101
acters for several ages;" so many more persons
were interested in determining by whom they
had been written^ than in settling who was the
author of any other composition. It was a
matter of importance only to a few, or rather of
no real importance to any body, whether Thucy
dides wrote the history, and Plato the dialogues,
which pass under their naraes ; but the present
peace and the eternal salvation of thousands
and millions, the decision of innumerable con
troversies, and the regulation of the faith and
practice of the Church in all ages and nations,
depended upon the certain knowledge, that the
writers of the New Testament were the immedi
ate followers and ambassadors of Christ. There
is not, therefore, any historical fact, in favour
of whieh the evidence is more complete and
satisfactory. We cannot doubt of it, but on
such grounds as should equally justify us in
disbelieving those past events, which are most
fully authenticated, and about which it would
be deemed a symptom of derangement to be
sceptical. O

102 THE INSPIRATION OF
I observe, in the second place, that the writers
of the New Testament assert, that their books
were composed by the assistance of the Spirit of
God. Their own inspiration, indeed, is hot
affirmed in express terms by the Evangelists;
but such things are said in the Gospels, as may
be fairly understood to imply it. They tell us,
that Christ promised to send " the Spirit of
truth to guide his disciples into all truth," and
" to bring all things to their remembrance,
whatsoever he had said unto them *." By re
cording these promises, the sacred historians not
obscurely insinuate, that it was in virtue of their
accomplishment, or by the promised assistance
of the Holy Ghost, that they were enabled to
give a faithful relation of the words and works
of their Master"!". In the other books, the claim

* John xvi. 13. xiv. 26.
f This reasoning, if may be objected, will apply only te
Matthew and John, who were Apostles. But Mark and
Luke were companions of the Apostles, engaged in the same
work with them, and hence we have every reason to believe,
favoured with the same extraordinary assistance. The Church
has always considered them as men endowed with Apostolical

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 103
bf inspiration is brought forward in unequivocal
language, and is often repeated. This is plain
from the sentence with whieh the Epistles usually
begin. The writers style themselves Apostles
of Christ; a title which signifies that they were
messengers of our Saviour, who spoke in his
name, and by his authority. In the body of the
Epistles there are many passages, in which the
same thing is still more explicitly asserted.
Paul affirms, in the first Epistle to the Corin
thians, that ** the things, which he and his
brethren taught, God had revealed to them by
his Spirit;" that « they had the mind of Christ;"
and that " the things which he wrote, were the
copimandments of the Lord * ;" in the Epistle
to the Galatians, that " the gospel, which he
preached, he had received by the revelation of
Jesus Christ*! ;" and in the first Epistle to the
Thessalonians, that " whoever despised the

gifts. The authority of their Gospels was never questioned;
and it was a received opinion among the ancients, that they
were attested by Apostles; that of Luke by Paul, and that of
Mark by Peter. Vid. Euseb. Hist. Lib. ii. 14. iii. 4. vi. 25.
* 1 Cor. ii. 9—13, 16. xiv. 37. f Gal. i. 11, 12,

104 THE INSPIRATION OF
things which he taught, despised not man but
God, who had given to him his Holy Spirit *."
Peter places " the commandments delivered by
the Apostles," in the same rank with " the
words of the holy Prophets;" and classes the
writings of Paul with the " other Scriptures "f."
John represents his own inspiration and that of
his brethren as so manifest, that every man,
who knew God, would listen to them. '' We
are of God : he that knoweth God heareth us ;
he that is not of God heareth us not. Hereby
know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of
error !|!." Other passages might be produced ;
but these will suffice as a specimen. It cannot,
therefore, be said, that the inspiration of the
books of the New Testament is an idea, which
succeeding ages have devised and propagated ;
for it is expressly and repeatedly stated by the
writers themselves.
From these two particulars I infer, that the
reception of the books of the New Testament,
by those to whom they were addressed, is a
* 1 Thess. iv. 8. + 2 Pet. iii. 2, 15, 16. J 1 John iv. 6.

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 105
proof, that the high character which they assume
is founded in truth. It is acknowledged, that,
in different countries,* books which were the
compositions of worthless men, have been re
ceived with reverence as the oracles of heaven.
But these books were imposed upon mankind,
in an age when they were too ignorant and
credulous to be able, or willing to examine
their pretensions ; or they obtained credit by
the arts and authority of civil rulers, who were
themselves, perhaps, the dupes of imposture,
or found it their interest, that their subjects
should be deceived. Both these causes con
tributed to make the Koran of Mahomet pass
for a divine revelation. If the Arabians had
been enlightened by science, and united in one
great polished society, instead of being divided
into a number of independent, barbarous tribes ;
if the light of learning and philosophy had
shined as brightly on the neighbouring nations,
as it formerly did ; and if no means had been
employed to convert mankind to the new faith,
but evidence and persuasion; his claim to
the character of a prophet would have been.

106 THE INSPIRATION OF
instantly rejected with violence or with scorn,
his religion would have scarcely spread beyond
the limits of his own family, and the page of
history would not have been stained with the
name of the profligate impostor. The books of
the New Testament were published in an en
lightened age ; were addressed to the Jews, who
investigated, with scrupulous diligence, every
pretension to inspiration, and to the Greeks,
who were disposed to treat all such pretensions
with contempt ; and were the writings of men-,
who, instead of possessing rank ahd influence,
were accounted the offscouring of the world.
The doctrines contained in them, were neither
calculated to flatter the passions, nor recom
mended by the charms of eloquence. The com
position was simple and homely ; and the reli
gion Which they taught, was contradictory to
the prejudices of the Gentile and the Jew, and
hostile to the vices of both.
By what means, then, did the claim of these
books to inspiration come to be admitted ? What
induced those, to whom they were presented, to
receive them as divine, to sacrifice their pre-

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 101
conceived opinions to their authority, and to
submit to the rigid discipline and the severe
restraints which they imposed ? It would be ab
surd to suppose, tiiat they carelessly acquiesced
in the demand which was made upon their faith.
It was not an indolent assent to the divinity of
the New Testament which was required. The
acknowledgement of it was not a matter of
mere speculation, but involved the most serious
practical consequences ; for those who embraced
the religion which it taught, exposed themselves
to the contempt, and hatred, and persecution of
the world. All their interests were staked, all
their hopes depended, upon the truth of its in
spiration. Now, I know of no way in which they
could be satisfied of this fact, but by clear, un
questionable evidence of j^^ivine aid afforded to
the writers in the corapositio« of their books.
The suspicion of some artifice employed by the
Apostles and Evangelists to make their own
inventions pass for a revelation from heaven, is
banished by their knoWn simplicity; nor could
any artifice have succeeded so generally as the
inspiration of their books was acknowledged.

108 THE INSPIRATION OF
It was not in one place or by one set of men
only that they were received ; but among Hea
thens as well as among Jews, at Athens and at
Rome, and in all the chief cities of the empire,
by the rich and by the poor, by the great and
by the mean, by the wise and by the unwise,
they were regarded with reverence as the oracles
of God. The reception of the books, then,
viewed in connection with their claim to inspira
tion, is a proof that the men of the Apostolic age
had beheld miracles performed by the writers,
for only by these could that claim be established ;
and, if miracles were actually wrought by them,
the seal of heaven, as we proved under the,
first argument, was affixed to their writings, and
their divine authority is placed beyond dispute.
Thus we are again c^d acted to the conclusion,
that the miracles i-ecorded or alluded to in the
New.Testament, were really performed ; and we
can demand no better reason for receiving any
book as a revelation from God, than his public
and explicit testimony in its favour.
But this argument may be placed in a differ
ent light. The writers of the New Testament do

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 109
not confine themselves to general assertions of
their own inspiration, but boldly affirm, that the
proof of it had been presented to the very per
sons, into whose hands they delivered their
books. In the Gospels and the Acts it is de
clared, that the power of working miracles had
been conferred upon the Apostles, for the ex
press purpose of verifying their commission to
instruct mankind in the doctrines and duties of
religion. Paul does not hesitate to say, in one
of his Epistles to the Corinthians, " Truly the
signs of an Apostle were wrought among you in
all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty
deeds ;" and in his Epistle to the Hebrews, he
mentions it as a fact with which they were all
acquainted, that the preaching of the gospel
among them had been confirmed " by signs,
and wonders, and divers miracles **'* Let us
then suppose a man gravely to declare, that he
was inspired with supernatural knowledge, and
in support of this high pretension to affirm, not
?nly that hei had received a power to perforn*
* 2 Cor. xii. 12. Heb. iL 3, 4.
P

110 THE INSPIRATION OF
miracles, but that he had actually performed
them before the eyes of those, whom he required
to treat him with the respect due to a messenger
from God. Would they admit his claim to
inspiration, upon his simple assertion, and even
although he had failed to produce the evidence,
on which he had rested its truth? No; he would
undoubtedly meet with the fate of all such im
pudent impostors, and be rejected with ridicule
and contempt. He had appealed to evidence,
which every man was capable of examining,
and which, the senses of every man told him,
had not been exhibited. In matters of opinion,
it is possible to impose upon others, by bold asr
severations and subtile reasonings; but he who
promises to cure the blind and raise the dead,
leaves himself no subterfuge, and must either
perform his promise, or submit to be considered
as a fool or a madman. But if, in the circum^
stances supposed, the claim should be recognised,
it would be certain, that those who acknowledged
his inspiration, had witnessed a display of his
miraculous powers; and others, therefore, who
had not enjoyed the same opportunity, but were

THE NEW TESTAMENT. Ill
assured of this fact, would act agreeably to rea
son in regarding him as an ambassador of hea
ven. Though they had not seen, yet they might
Safely believe. Let us apply this example to the
ease before us. The writers of the sacred books
tell those to whom they presented them, not
only that they could work miracles, but that
they had wrought them in their presence, and
in proof of their divine comraission. By those
persons the inspiration of their books was ac
knowledged ; and must they not have been
spectators of the miracles? For if no miracles
had been performed, would they not have
treated the Apostles and their arrogant preten
sions, with scorn and indignation? The mira
culous powers of the writers of the New Testa
ment, and the divine origin of their writings,
were so closely connected, and so dependent the
one upon the other, that if the former liad been
found not to exist, the latter would not have
obtained credit for a moment. The reception
of the books, therefore, in such circumstances,
amounts to a public and explicit declaration, on
tbe part of the most unexceptionable witnesses.

112^ THE INSPIRATION OF
that the writers had assumed no power, of which
they had not shown themselves to be possessed.
And if miraculous powers had been conferred
upon them, their contemporaries acted wisely
in revering as the oracles of God, the messages
which they delivered, whether " by word or by
epistle." There is yet another view which may be taken
of the argument. Not only do the Apostles
affirm, that they had performed miracles in the
presence of those to whom their books were de
livered ; but they speak to those persons as them
selves possessed of miraculous gifts. The reader
may consult the twelfth and the fourteenth
chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians.
The same writer rerainds the Galatians, that
they had received the " Spirit" by the hearing
of faith, probably meaning his miraculous gifts;
and he warns the Hebrews against rejecting the
gospel, which had been confirmed to them by
miracles and " gifts of the Holy Ghost*;" or
supernatural endowments conferred on those

* Gal. iii. 2. Heb. ii. 4.

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 113
Jewish believers. An impostor, pretending to
be furnished with the power of working miracles,
might impose upon a staring, ignorant multitude,
by sorae juggling tricks ; but if he should tell
that multitude, credulous and undiscerning as
they are, that he had imparted the same power
to them, every man's consciousness would give
the lie to the pretence. Finding, then, that
Paul speaks to the members of some Christian
churches as possessing, and exercising, and even,
in some instances, abusing supernatural gifts;
and that his Epistles were, notwithstanding
such language, received not only as the letters
of a man in his senses, but as divinely inspired,
we have the most complete evidence, that such
extraordinary powers had ' been actually cou'-
ferred. If the Corinthians and Galatians had
known, that no person among them had been
enabled to prophesy, or to speak languages
which he had never learned, or to cure diseases
with a word or a touch, they would have treated
him and his writings with derision. But now it
being manifest, that miraculous gifts were com
mon in the primitive Churchy we perceive a suf-

114 THE INSPIRATION OF
ficient reason, why the books composed by the
Apostles were then received, and should still
be regarded by us, as divine. There is not a
surer evidence that a petson is invested with a
commission from heaven, or a clearer attestation
of the truth and authority of his instructions,
than his being empowered to communicate to
his adherents the same supernatural qualifica
tions, which have been bestowed on himself.
The miraculous gifts were imparted by the mi
nistry of the Apostles; and were express testi
monies, therefore, that their doctrine, whether
$poken or written, was from God. They followed
the reception of the gospel preached by those
ambassadors of Christ; and were usually given
by the imposition of their hands *.
By this, and the preceding argument, we are
furnished with decisive evidence, that the Chris
tian Scriptures, at the time of their publication,
were attested by God himself as exhibiting a
revelation of his will ; and in submitting to them,
therefore, as the rule of our faith, " we do not
follow a cunningly devised fable."
* Acts viii. 14 — 17. xix. Q.

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 115

CHAP. IV-
The same Subject Continued.
The arguments, in the last chapter, respected
the external evidence of the inspiration of the
New Testament. In this chapter, I shall con
sider the internal proof arising from its contents.
And, surely, it is not less manifest, that a book
has been drawn up by supernatural assistance,
when its sentiments and composition transcend
the known abilities of the writer, and are even
superior to every thing human, than when such
works have been performed by him as demon
strate, that he enjoyed the presence, and acted
by the authority, of God.
III. The books of the New Testament could
not have contained such things as they do con
tain, if the writers had not been inspired. We

116 THE INSPIRATION OP
appeal to the writings themselves for evidence
that they are not, and could not, be the pro
ductions of the persons, who delivered them to
the world, nor indeed of any mortal whatever.
The argument for the inspiration of the books,
derived from their matter^ comprehends these
particulars, — the character of Christ, — the sys
tera of doctrine,— and the prophecies which are
found in them.
1. The character of Christ, drawn % the
writers of the New Testament, may be consid
ered in the first place.
To us, who have been accustomed to read and
hear descriptions of it from our early years, his
character is perfectly familiar, and for that
reason makes a less powerful irapression on our
minds. But let us suppose a man, for the first
time, to open the New Testament, and peruse
the account given of our Saviour by the Evan
gelists. It is beyond doubt, that he would be
filled with astonishment at a character so differ
ent from any which he had ever seen, any which
lie had ever heard of, any which the human

THE NEW TESTAMENT, 111
imagination, so fertile in forming new combina
tions, had ever portrayed. The idea of an in
carnate God would strongly excite his attention ;
and while, with a mixture of curiosity and awe,
he contemplated an object at once so new and
so grand, he would be surprised and pleased
at the manner in which he is described. Had
the character of Christ been a fiction of the
sacred writers, a creature of their own fancy,
they would have debased his divine dignity, by
attributing to him the passions and culpable
weaknesses of mortals ; or they would have ex
alted his human nature too high, by majestic
and overpowering displays of his divinity. It
would have been impossible for them to avoid
either of these extremes. They would have been
afraid, on the one hand, of rendering the truth
of his Godhead suspected, if they had assigned
to him any of the peculiar properties of man ;
and, on the other, of giving ground to call in
question his humanity, if they had represented
him as possessed of the peculiar attributes of
God. There was a difficulty in the. case, from
which the greatest dexterity could not have ex-
Q

118 THE INSPIRATION OF
tricated them. But there is this singularity in
his character, as drawn by the Evangelists, that,
while he is elevated above all men by the uni
form dignity of his behaviour, the wisdom of his
discourses, and his miracles which proved that
all nature was obedient to his will ; he is at the
same time exhibited as subject to the sinless
infirmities of our nature, and influenced by its
innocent passions. We see the unexpected and
cordial union of majesty and condescension, of
the grandeur of a God, and the mild virtues and
tender affections of a man. Such a character
commands at once our reverence and our love,
our homage and our confidence ; and is exactly
suited to the idea of a person, who unites in
himself two natures so different as the divine
and the human. And the character is supported
throughout in a great diversity of scenes, and
on the most trying occasions, insomuch that, in
whatever point of view we contemplate it, we
perceive the most perfect accordance of all its
parts. While we admire this character, let us remem
ber that it was drawn by persons confessedly

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 119
illiterate; by men of ordinary talents, who had
never, it is probable, read any book but the Old
Testament, and were perfectly ignorant of the
art of composition. Whence, then, did they
succeed so well in giving a description of an
incarnate God ; while, I will venture to assert,
the most inventive and eloquent genius, if he
had made the attempt, with no other assistanc<^
than what imagination supplied, would have
missed the happy medium, and have elevated
him too high, or depressed him too low ? How
did they ever think of such a eharacter at all,
of which no model, nor even the faintest resem
blance, could be found in the history of mankind?
I know of only one answer to these questions,
namely, that they had actually seen the char
acter ; or that Jesus Christ had really appeared,
and was such a person as they represent him to
have been. As the very uncommon portrait,
which they have exhibited, is certainly not
a likeness of any individual who lived in
a former age, and possesses such features as
qonvince us, that it could not be the work

120 THE INSPIRATION OF
of fancy, we infer that they painted from the
life *.
If, then, there was such a person as Jesus
Christ, the only begotten Son of God in human
nature, it may be confidently inferred, that his
Apostles were inspired, not only because he was
able to give, but because he expressly promised
to give them, the Holy Ghost. He who admits
in general their account of our Saviour to be
true, must, from a regard to consistency, admit
the 4hole of it, and consequently the promise of
the mission of the Spirit made to his disciples.
Few, I believe, who allow the truth of the his
tory, will dispute this inference from it; and if
we give credit to the Evangelists in detailing
the character of their Master, no reason can be
assigned for calling in question their veracity,

* If it should be said, that they borrowed their ideas of his
character from the Old Testaraent, it might be answered,
that nothing is more improbable, than that their notions of
the Messiah should have been so different from those of their
countrymen, who read the same Scriptures; and after all, the
question would recur. From what source were the ideas of the
writers of the Old Testament derived?

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 121
when they relate any of his sayings. It would
indeed be difficult, if not irapossible, for any
considerate person io persuade himself, that,
although the Son of God carae into the world
to declare the counsels of heaven, yet no person
was qualified, in an extraordinary manner, to
give a narration of the most astonishing event
in the annals of time ; but that it was left to the
uncertain choice, and unassisted ability of some
honest, but weak and illiterate men, to transmit
an account of it to succeeding generations. It
is strange, that a thing so incredible should be
believed by that class of Christians alone, who
make the highest pretensions to reason, and will
not believe even God himself, till his words
have received the sanction of its approbation.
Under this branch of the general argument for
the inspiration of the New Testament, founded
on the matter contained in it, it may be proper
to introduce a few observations on the manner,
in which sorae parts of it are written. The
Evangelists, in relating the history of Christ,
have occasion to speak of the most astonishing
facts; his miraculous conception; the wonders

122 THE INSPIRATION OF
which he performed in calming the fury of the
winds and waves, raising the dead, casting out
devils, and curing all sorts of diseases; his
transfiguration on the mount ; the preternatural
eclipse of the suu at his death, the rending of
the rocks, and the opening of the graves; his
resurrection from the dead, and his ascension to
heaven. Might it not have been expected, that,
in recording such events, they would have yield
ed to the strong feelings of admiration which
they are calculated to awaken, and have poured
out a copious stream of enraptured eloquence ?
The subject was interesting, and well fitted to
produce those lively emotions, which naturally
communicate something of their own character
to our language. Yet they are related in the
most simple nianner, without any note of admira
tion, without any comment, without any attempt
to set them off, or recommend them to the atten
tion of the reader. This mode of writing did not
proceed frora insensibility, which in their cir
cumstances would have indicated a degree of cal-
lousness or torpor, that could only have resulted
from absolute stupidity. They inform us, that

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 123
they were astonished, when they saw the miracles
of Jesus; but they write of them, without any
expression ef astonishment. How can their
coolness be accounted' for? Is it not a proof,
that> in composing their Gospels, they weife
guided by a different spirit from their own ; and
that they 'did not proeeed freely according tO
the natural suggestions oftheir hearts, but were
under a secret superintendence and direction,
which controlled their thoughts and feelings?
The influence of the Holy Ghost appears in re
straining thera frora mixing their own sehtimentsi
and passions with the relation, and in leading
them to give a simple statement of facts without
any embellishment, that our faith in Christ might
rest entirely on the evidences of his divine dig
nity and mission, and might not, in any degree
be owing to human wisdom and eloquence*.
It may be agreeable to the reader, and it will
at the same time place the argument in a still
clearer light, to take notice of some other par
ticulars.
* West on the Resurrection, 2 Edit. p. 355.

124 THE INSPIRATION OF
Never did a person of such virtue as Jesus
Christ appear in our world ; never did virtue
wear so amiable an aspect; never was it cal
culated to make so interesting an impression
on the heart. His character was at once per
fect and attractive. His meekness and gentle
ness, his affability and condescension, his pa
tience, his benevolence, his generous love dif
fused a soft and pleasing lustre over the severer
virtues, which were displayed in his conduct.
An ancient philosopher fondly imagined, that
if virtue were incarnate, all men would be
charmed with her beauty. We might at least
have expected that those who conversed with the
Son of God, in whom, if I may be allowed the
expression, virtue was embodied, would have
been ravished beyond measure with the view of
his excellences, and would have celebrated them
in the warmest strains of commendation. In
the accounts, indeed, which they have left, the
lovely features of his character are exhibited to
to the greatest advantage. But this is done by
representing them in their native simplicity,
without paint or decoration of any kind ; and

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 125
the writers, while they give a full detail of
his virtues, pass on without making a single
reflection. No person ever deserved to meet with such
respectful and friendly treatment as Jesus Christ ;
and no person was ever so harshly and cruelly
used. His words were watched and miscon
strued ; his most beneficent deeds were trans
formed, by the malignity of his countrymen, into
crimes ; and evils of the blackest dye were laid
to his charge. Was it not natural for disciples,
faithful and affectionate, to enter with ardour
into the cause of their Master, and to repel with
indignation calumnies, which they knew to have
originated in malice? Could we have been sur
prised, if their honest zeal had burst forth into
vehement exclamations against the injustice of
his accusers ; and laying aside the language of
ceremony, which is indeed in most cases the
language of falsehood, had bestowed on them
and their conduct, the names and epithets,
which, we are sure, they deserved? Yet they
leave their Master to vindicate himself; and
even when he holds his peace, they trust his
R

126 THE INSPIRATION OF
apology to the silent and irresistible eloquence
of his conduct. They speak of his enemies with
as much coolness, as if they had done him no
injury; and the dark shade of their actions
is not deepened by a single stroke of their
pencil. Of all the events recorded in history, the most
astonishing, surely, was the death of Jesus Christ.,
The innocent, indeed, have sometimes fallen
victims to the injustice of the world, or to their
own generosity. But who is this sufferer? He
is greater than all men, the Creator and Lord
of the universe ; and all nature does homage to
him in his sufferings. As his personal dignity
precludes comparison, the raost heroic friendship
of mortals is unworthy to be mentioned with the
love, which our Redeemer displayed. In des
canting upon this topic, the Evangelists, full of
admiration and gratitude, might have summoned
to their aid the glowing colours of imagination,
and all the riches of language. It was a subject
more calculated than any other to gratify their
own feelings, and to interest strangers in behalf
¦ of their Master. What tender and overpower-

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 121
ing descriptions might they have given of his
agonies! What melting, irresistible appeals
might they have made to the heart! While the
scene was fresh in their remembrance, and their
hearts were still bleeding with the wounds, which
his death had inflicted upon them, was it not
natural to concentrate all their eloquence on a
subject, which must have seemed to them to be
exclusively worthy of attention? Yet though
they relate his death, and attribute it to his
love, they neither give impassioned descriptions
of the one, nor attempt to raise in our minds
exalted ideas of the other. They leave to us
the office of making such reflections as the
subject suggests.
This mode of writing indicates a very peculiar
state of mind. It would be absurd to suppose
that the writers were destitute of feelings ; and
no reason can be conceived, why they should
have intentionally suppressed them. An im
postor would have avoided this appearance of
indifference, which might have given rise to a
suspicion, that he did not himself believe his own
story. For the absence of all passion it is im-

128 THE INSPIRATION OF
possible to account upon any other principle,
than that their minds were controlled by super
natural influence. Their own emotions and
affections were suspended, that, during this in
terval of calm, the voice of the Divine Spirit
miffht alone be heard. Such a history as that
of Christ could not have been written but by
inspired men.
2. Let us next turn our attention to the sys
tem of doctrine exhibited in the New Testament.
On examination, it will appear to be so excel
lent, that the persons who published it to the
world, must have derived it from a purer and
more exalted source than either their own medi
tations, or the writings of other men.
The account of God and his perfections, which
we find in the New Testament, commends itself
to our reason, as worthy of the highest and most
excellent of all beings. He is represented as a
pure Spirit, possessed of wisdom, holiness, jus
tice, and goodness; eternal, almighty, and un
changeable; the creator and governor of the
world, the witness and judge of our actions. At

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 129
the same time, his majesty is softened, if I may
use this expression, by his benevolence, which
is liberal and unwearied in diffusing good
throughout the universe, embraces the interests
of our souls as well as of our bodies, and while
it bestows in abundance the blessings and con
solations ofthe present life, has provided for us
perfect and exalted felicity in a higher stage of
existence. Of all the views of God which had
been ever given, none was so calculated to en
dear hira to us, and to inspire our hearts with
confidence, as this short but interesting descrip
tion, of which the scherae of redemption affords
a pleasing illustration, " God is love." What
men had in all ages wished for in vain, an
atonement for sin, which conscience and their
natural notions of divine justice taught thera to
be necessary, the sacred books point out in the
death of Jesus, whose blood, in consequence of
the dignity of his person, our reason perceives
to have been of sufficient value to expiate the
guilt of innumerable millions. In favour of the
immortality of the soul, a point so important,
but which to the wisest of the Gentiles seemed

130 THE INSPIRATION OP
SO doubtful, they speak in the clearest and most
decisive language; and they hold out to the
hopes and fears of mankind, rewards and pun
ishments suited to their nature, and which it is
worthy of God to dispense. The system of mo
rality contained in them is pure and rational ;
alike remote from the overstrained precepts of
superstition and enthusiasm, and the loose,
compliant maxiras of worldly policy. It com
prehends all the duties which we owe to God
and to man ; it is calculated for every rank and
order of society, and speaks with equal strictness
and authority to the rich and honourable, and
to the poor and ignoble ; and the happy effect
of it, were it generally practised, would be to
change the face of the world, and make it
resemble heaven.
Such are the outlines of the system of doctrine
delivered in the books of the New Testament.
From this slight sketch, every person who has
turned his attention to subjects of this nature,
must be convinced, that no religion which was
ever contrived by men, can come into compe
tition with it. A comparison between the senti-

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 131
ments of the Apostles, and of the most eminent
philosophers of antiquity, on the preceding
articles, would turn out completely to the dis
advantage of the latter. Their best descrip
tions of God would be found to be blended
with puerilities and errors; their disquisitions
on the immortality of the soul, to be full of hesi
tation and uncertainty, and supported by argu
ments which could satisfy no rational inquirer ;
their notions of the mode of propitiating the
Deity, to be as distant from the truth as those
of the vulgar, with whose rites, which were fre
quently childish, and sometimes abominable,
they complied ; their schemes of raorality, to be
deficient in their catalogues of virtues and vices,
the one being in some instances put for the
other, separated from religion, the stock on
which morality raust be grafted, or it will never
grow, and designed rather to furnish a subject
of speculation, than to purify the heart, and
regulate the practice. Who were the men that
.so far excelled them? Were they superior to
those philosophers in genius, science, and l«irn-
ing ? Had they read much, and reflected much ;

132 THE INSPIRATION OF
and was their system the fruit of profound re
search, and long meditation ? No ; one of them
was a publican, several of them were fishermen,
and, with the exception of Paul, who had some
Jewish learning which was of very little value,
they were all rude and illiterate in the highest
degree, and had scarcely thought on any subject
but their daily occupations. From such men
we should not have expected a regular, con
nected system of religion ; and still less should
we have looked for a religion, which, in the sub
limity of its doctrines, and the purity of its
precepts, should transcend every other that had
appeared in the world. Whence, then, had
they this wisdom, which is so conspicuous in their
writings? Must it not have descended from the
Father of lights, whose power is displayed in
perfecting praise out of the mouths of those
babes and sucklings? It is impossible to account
for the doctrine of the New Testament, as com
ing from such men, without admitting, that they
had received it by immediate revelation.
That the force of this argument may be fully
)»erceived, I bes; the attention of the reader to

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 133
two particulars in the system ; their notions of
the Messiah, and their views with respect to the
Gentiles. That the Jews were expecting a person whom
they called the Messiah^ is a historical fact,
which will not be controverted. It is equally
certain, that their ideas of his character were
very different from those, which the sacred
writers have adopted. We learn from the
New Testament, and more fully from th^
writings of the Rabbis, that they flattered them
selves with the hope Of a temporal prince, who
should command armies, subdue the nations of
the world, and give the chosen people domin
ion and riches. That the disciples of Christ
originally entertained the same notions with
their countrymen^ is not only highly probable,
but certain from their own acknowledgment.
They thought that his kingdom would be a
kingdom of this worldj in whieh there should
be places of emolument and dignity, to be
enjoyed by the favourites of the prinCe *<
* Mat. XX. 21. Acts i. 6.
S

134 THE INSPIRATION OF
The idea of his sufferings and death had
never once occurred to them ; and when the
subject was broached, it shocked their feelings,
and drew from them expressions of disappoint
ment and displeasure *. To what cause, then,
shall we attribute so complete a change in their
sentiments, that in their writings they speak
only of a spiritual Messiah, who should save his
people, not by fighting, but by dying; and
should save them, not from the power of the
Romans, but from sin, and death, and hell?
The transition from carnal to spiritual ideas is
slow and difficult ; and is least of all to be ex
pected from persons of uncultivated minds,
whose conceptions are naturally gross and cor
poreal. This mental revolution, therefore, is
certainly very surprising; and no satisfactory
account of it ean be given, but that which is
suggested by the following words: *' Blessed
art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father
which is in heaven'!'."

*Mat. xvi. 21,22. f Mat. xvi. 17.

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 135
The Jews looked down with disdain upon the
Gentiles, as a people whom God had for ever
abandoned ; and they could not bear to think,
that those accursed idolaters, should ever stand
on equal terms with them, in the favour of their
Maker. This national prejudice, we may be
lieve, like other national prejudices, was strong
est among the common people ; and to this class,
from which Paul, and perhaps Luke were ex
cepted by their education, all the other writers
of the New Testament belonged. We learn
from themselves, that they were at first as re
luctant, as any of their countrymen, to admit
the Gentiles to a participation of the privileges
of the gospel *• Whence then did they after
wards become zealous advocates for the Gentiles,
publish to them the glad tidings of salvatfon,
and receive them by baptism into the Christian
church ; although by these proceedings they of'^
fended the prejudices, and provoked the resent
ment, of their unbelieving brethren ? Whence
did these selfish men become liberal? these
* Acts x. and xi. 1 — 18.

136 THE INSPIRATION OF
bigots, philanthropists ? Whence did fishermen
and publicans form more exalted ideas of divine
love, and conceive a scheme of more extensive
benevolence, than the most enlightened Doctors
in Judea ? The following words of an Apostle
furnish an answer to these questions, and point
out the only method of accounting for this sin
gular fact in the history of the human mind.
" Ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace
of God, which is given me to you ward; how
that by revelation he made known to rae the
mystery, — which in other ages was not made
known unto the sons of men, as it is now re
vealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by
the Spirit ; that the Gentiles should be fellow-
heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of
his promise in Christ, by the gospel *."

* Eph. iii. 2, 3. 5, 6. A comparison of the Apostles and the
first Christian writers, would farther illustrate and strengthen
the argument. Both treat of the same subjects, and the
latter had the benefit ofthe writings of the former; but how
striking is the difference between the books of the New Tes
tament, and the Epistles of Clemens and Ignatius, or any other
work of the primitive Fathers! In the Epistle of Clemens,

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 131
•3. The inspiration of the New Testament
may be inferred from the prophecies contained
in it.
The argument from prophecy is plain and
simple. We know the past by memory; the
present by sensation and consciousness; and
the future only by conjecture. From causes,
indeed, which already exist, we may infer the
production of their usual effects; and, in some
instances, the probability, that other raen will

there are many -excellent advices against pride, and exhort.
ations to unity and other Christian duties; and in the gen
uine Epistles of Ignatius, there are scriptural sentiments, and
animated expressions of piety, particularly, I remember, in
his Epistle to the Romans: but how much do they fall short
of the Apostolic writings, in the depth of the matter, the
closeness of the reasoning, the air of authority conjoined with
simplicity, which we find in the latter? The reading of a few
sentences of each will demonstrate the superiority of those
which we call inspired. And whence this superiority could
arise but from inspiration, it is impossible to conceive. Those
Fathers were not less learned than the Apostles; nor do they
appear to have been at all inferior in natural talents, We
are certain that Clemens, and it is not improbable that Ig
natius was their companion and disciple; and besides, as I
have already observed, they had the Apostolic writings as
a model, whereas the Apostles theraselves were originals.
Phil. iv. 3.

138 THE INSPIRATION OF
act in a particular raanner, may be so great as
to justify us in taking very important steps, in
reference to their expected conduct. If we ex
cept, however, the conclusions founded on the
laws of nature, which will operate in the same
way a thousand years hence as at present, our
ideas of futurity are liable to be contradicted by
facts, and for the most part are the combinations
of fancy. Of events in particular, which shall
take place many years or ages after our death,
and which, in their contrivance and execution,
shall depend upon innumerable causes unknown
to us, and connected with the free agency of men,
it is impossible to form any conception. They
are known to him alone, who beholds, at a sin
gle glance, the past, the present, and the future.
It is manifest, therefore, that, if a person shall
deliver a prediction, which is afterwards fulfilled,
he must have acquired the knowledge of futurity
from divine revelation ; and that a book, con
taining unequivocal prophecies, should be con
sidered, not as a work of human ingenuity and
foresight, but as the word of that Omniscient
Being, who declares the end from the beginning..

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 130
That there are predictions in the New Testa
ment, which have been fulfilled, and are at pre
sent fulfilling in the world, it would discover
gross ignorance, or unblushing impudence to
deny. The prophecy of the destruction of Je
rusalem was delivered about forty years, and
recorded about thirty, prior to that event, is
expressed in the plainest language, and em
braces a minute detail of particulars. How
exactly it was accomplished, we learn from
Josephus, the Jewish historian, who was not
aware, when relating the ruin of his country,
that he was employed by providence, to afford
an illustrious proof of the truth of the gospel,
and of the divine character of its Author.
Signs, portending the destruction of the de
voted city, appeared in heaven above, and on
the earth beneath; the armies of Rome drew
near to besiege it; their idolatrous standards',
fitly styled " the abomination of desolation,"
were displayed in the sight of its inhabitants;
the walls of the temple were thrown down, and
not a single stone was left upon another ; and
the ruins of Jerusalem exhibiting an awful

140 THE INSPIRATION OF
monument of the divine vengeance, with ex
pressive silence admonished the spectators to
beware of provoking the displeasure of the
Alraighty, by unbelief and disobedience. I shall
not, howev^er, insist on this prediction, although
it furnishes one ofthe plainest, and most striking
arguments, in support of tlie Christian religion.
The suspicion, that it Was written after the event,
is contradicted by the unanimous voice of anti
quity, assuring us, that the Gospels of Matthew,
Mark, and Luke, were published while Jeru
salem was standing ; and that only the Gospel
of John, in which, it is remarkable, that the
prediction is not inserted. Was written after its
fall. I shall pass over, likewise, the prophecies
of Christ concerning his own death and resur
rection, and shall confine the attention of the
reader to those, which respect, first, the rejec
tion of the Jews and the call of the Gentiles;
and, secondly, the Antichristian Church and its
blasphemous head.
The Jews had long been the peculiar people
6f God ; and though they were now greatly
degenerated, yet the loss of their honours and

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 141
privileges, which had continued during many
ages, and amidst multiplied provocations, was
an event of such a nature, as a Jew would not
have naturally foreboded, and no human saga
city could have foreseen. It was necessarily
implied in tlieir rejection, that they should be
driven out ofthe land, which was given to their
Fathers for an inheritance ; and that the temple
should be destroyed, in which only the solemn
rites oftheir religion could be legally performed.
Had they been permitted to remain in the
peaceable possession of Judea, and to carry on
the services of the ceremonial law, there would
have been no evidence, no visible proof, that
they had ceased to be the favourites of heaven.
During the time of our Saviour's ministry, the
Jews were at peace with the Romans, and there
was not the least probability, that a war would
arise between them. On the supposition of
hostilities, the issue of the contest could not
have been certainly foreknown ; or, if, from the
superior power of the Ron^s, it might have
been reasonably conjectured, that they should be
ultimately victorious, no man could have fore-
T

142 THE INSPIRATION OF
told, nor hardly have suspected, that they would
demolish the capital city, and disperse the van
quished nation through the various provinces of
the empire. It was not usual for the Romans,
to treat a conquered people in this manner ; but
they were coraraonly reserved as a monument of
the triumph of their arms. Yet our Lord, with
out having any probable ground to support his
opinion, predicted, in the most explicit terms,
that the Jews should, in a short time, be cast off,
and that their rejection should be accompanied
with the dreadful calamities of desolation and
captivity*. The facts which prove the exact
accomplishment of the prediction, are so well
known, that it is unnecessary to lay them before
the reader ; and its truth is manifest at this day,
from the state of Jerusalem, which is trodden
down by the Gentiles, and from the despised
and afflicted condition of the wretched remains
of the nation, which are scattered over the fac*
of the whole earth.

* Matt. xxi. 41 — 43. Mark. xiii. 1, 2. Luke xxi. 24.

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 143
But while God rejected one people, he pur
posed to choose another, and to transfer to them
the privileges of which the former should be de
prived. In the room of the " children of the
kingdom who were to be cast into outer dark
ness," a state of ignorance and misery', " there
should come many from the east and west, and
sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in
the kingdom of heaven *." As the conversion of
the Gentiles was an idea, which would not have
naturally occurred to a Jew, all whose prejudices
were in opposition to it, so it was an event, than
which we ean scarcely conceive one more unlikely
ever to take place. I have already had occasion
slightly to mention the obstacles to the progress
of the Christian religion. Its doctrines were
perfectly new, contrary to the dogmas of the
schools, and the articles of popular belief, many
of them mysterious, and the most of them, in
the opinion of corrupt reason, absurd. The
publishers were the lowest of the Jews, on whom
\he haughty Romans, and the philosophical

*Mat. vin. 11, 12.

144 TBE INSPIRATION OF
Greeks looked down with sovereign contempt,
Its Author was a private man, of low rank and
no education, who had lived in poverty, and
died in disgrace. It had been rejected by his
countrymen to whom it was first presented,
though it bore a close affinity to their own re-'
ligion, and professed to be the end and com
pletion of it; and would the Gentiles embrace
it, to whom it must seem a barbarous system
of unintelligible notions, and whose ancient,
magnificent, established religions it came to
overthrow? Such was the unfavourable aspect,
under which our Lord knew, that his gospel
would make its first appearance in the world.
Never were so many circumstances combined
against the success of any undertaking; never
was huraan foresight so fully justified, as in
the present case it would have been, in pre
dicting an entire failure. Jesus, however,
hesitated not to foretel a very different result,
namely, that his gospel should meet with a
cordial reception, in all quarters of the earth;
that multitudes should become his disciples, and
join themselves to his Churcli; and that his

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 145
deatii upon the cross, which threatened to be
thie greatest obstacle to the progress of his re
ligion, as it subjected him to ignominy and
contempt, should ensure its triumph over all
opposition ?. Of predictions so plain, and of
an~'accomplishment so exact, where shall we
find a parallel instance, except in the Scrip
tures? In the writings of Paul and John, there are
predictions of a certain power, which should
assurae the characters and attributes of divinity,
change the laws and ordinances of heaven,
work signs and lying wonders to confirra its
usurped authority and impious tenets, and per
secute, with unrelenting fury, those who should
refuse to submit to its dorainion. Wh£(,t is still
more remarkable, it is foretold that this power
should profess the Christian religion, for the
man of sin is represented as sitting, not in a
temple of idols, but in the temple of God ; the
false doctrines and corrupt practices, which he
should impose upon mankind, are pointed out;
* Mat. xxi. 4^3. Luke xiii. 28—30. John xii. 20—33,

146 THE INSPIRATION OF
and the very place where he should erect his
throne is specified, the imperial city of Rome *.
Let any person seriously consider this account
with all its particulars, and he must acknow
ledge, that nothing was more improbable than
the appearance of such a power, at the time
when its rise was predicted. Who could have
imagined, that any person, calling himself by
the narae of Christ, should dare to usurp his
place, and style himself the head of his church ;
should carry his impiety and arrogance so far
as to claim the titles of Lord and God, and
the attributes of holiness and infallibility;
should have the audacity to interpose his man
dates in cases already decided by the supreme
authority of heaven; to prohibit what God
had permitted and commanded, and to enjoin
what he had forbidden? Who could have
supposed, that Christians, in the days of the
Apostles so enlightened, and so jealous of their
spiritual liberties, should ever become so stupid
and indifferent, as to allow such a power. to
* 2 Thess. ii. 1—12. 1 Tim. iv. 1—3. Rev. xvii. &c^_

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 141
raise itself on the ruins of their religion and
their reason, and to exercise an imperious
sway over their bodies and their consciences?
Could fancy, in its wildest workings, have con
ceived, that Rome, the mistress of the world,
the city where the Cesars reigned, and idola
try triumphed in the plenitude of power and
splendour; that Rome, where Christianity was
little known, and was known only to be hated
and proscribed, should at some future period
acknowledge as its sovereign a Christian priest?
Nothing could have been more remote from the
apprehensions of men ; and if such an event or
combination of events, had by some chance been
suggested, it would have been deemed equally
absurd as the most extravagant dream of a
madman. Y^et these improbable predictions
have been punctually fulfilled in all their cir
cumstances, as Protestant writers have unan
swerably proved.
There is one book of the New Testament,
which almost entirely consists of predictions,
and ought to be considered as sustaining a very
peculiar character. It is a history, written before*?

148 THE INSPIRATION OF
hand, ofthe Church, and of the grand politicaf
events connected with her fate, from the age of
the writer to the end of the world. To consider
the scheme of prophecy laid down in the Revel
ation, would lead to a discussion too extensive
for this place. It may suffice to observe, that of
its predictions raany have been already fulfilled,
as we have seen with respect to some of those
which relate to the Antichristian Church ; others
are at present fulfilling ; and hence we are
authorised to expect, that the rest shall be ful
filled in their order and season *.

* The Revelation is one of the books, concerning which
doubts were entertained by some in the early ages; and it
is omitted in several of the Catalogues formerly mentioned.
The doubts were founded on several circumstances, and par
ticularly on a supposed resemblance between the reign of
Christ with his saints, for a thousand j'ears after the first re
surrection, and the doctrine of Cerinthus, who taught, that
our Saviour having raised the dead, would establish his king
dom upon earth, and grant to his subjects the unrestrained
enjoyment of carnal delights. Euseb. Hist. Lib. iii. 28. vii.
25. Hence the book was sometimes ascribed to Cerinthus
himself. It is evident, that they must have been injudicious
critics, who could confound things so dissimilar. Its omission
in several of the Catalogues was probably not owing, in every
instance, to doubts of its genuineness, but sometimes to the

THE NEWilTESTAMENT. 149
From this slight survey of the prophetical
parts of the New Testament, the inspiration of
the writers may be fairly deduced. If there be
a decisive proof that a person was guided, not by
his own spirit, but by the Spirit of God, it is,
that he has declared things, which it was not
possible for any creature, placed in the same
circumstances, to have known by natural means.
His knowledge in such a case is manifestly super
natural. He who foretold with the utmost pre
cision events, which did not take place for some
hundred years after his death, must have had
intercourse < with that l^ing, from whose ey^
nothing is hidden, and whose infinite mind
comprehends the whole chain of causes and
effects.

idea, that, on account of its obscurity, it was not fit to be
generally read. It was acknowledged to be a work of Jphn,
by Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, who lived notjlong after it was
published, and by many others of the Fathers; and it has
been eyer since considered as canonical. But we have the
less need of external evidence of its authority, because it
proves its own inspiration more fully than any other book of
the New Testament, by the numerous predictions contained
in it, many of which have been exactly fulfilled. The reader
raay consult Bezse Prolegomena in Apocalypsin Joanni^.
u

150 THE INSPIRATION OF
Some observations on the subject of pro
phecy will be introduced in the next chapter,
when we consider the inspiration of the Old
Testament. The preceding illustration, I trust, will enable
the reader to perceive the strength of this third
argument for the divine authority of the Christian
Scriptttres. Conjoined with the two former ar
guments, it completes the proof which I proposed
to bring ; and I am persuaded, that, in the mind
of every person who understands and seriously
ponders it, the evidence now produced will give
rise to a full conviction, that the books of the
New Testament are not the compositions of
men, who meant to impose upon the world, but
a genuine revelation from heaven, in recording
which the writers were assisted and infallibly
directed by the Spirit of truth.

THS CLP TESTAMENT. 151

CHAP, V,
The Inspiration of the Old Testament,
When the Son of God expired without the gates
of Jerusalem, the end was accomplished, for
which the Jews had been separated from the
other nations of the world, and the law of Moses
had been given. Their ritual, therefore, lost
all its force, and the observance of it was ren
dered impracticable, by the destruction of the
temple, and their dispersion over the face ofthe
earth. But the Jewish Scriptures did not become
useless, and their authority was not abrogated,
when the nation, of which they contain the his
tory and the laws, ceased to exist in a political
and ecclesiastical capacity. We still revere
them as authentic records of those dispensations
which were introductory to the gospel ; and we

152 THE INSPIRATtOW OF
receive them as a part of the rule of faith and
manners, the obligation of which is perpetual.
It must be acknowledged, indeed, that the
Scriptures of the New Testament are more
adapted to our circumstances, than tho.se of the
Old in general are; and that the former are
superior to the latter in several respects. Every
work of God is good ; but as he is a wise and
free agent, he does not always work to the ut
most of his power. One work, therefore, may
be comparatively better than another, although
he who is infinite in perfection be the author of
both ; and, consequently, one portion of revela
tion may surpass another in the iinportance of
its matter, the clearness of its doctrines, and the
rich and animating displays of divine grace
which it affords. The Gospel may excel the
Law, as the Law was more glorious than the
patriarchal dispensation. Yet, ascribing, as we
do, the same origin to the Law and to the Gos
pel, to the writings of the Prophets and to those
of the Apostles, we assign to both an equal rank
in the sacred canon; and we seek from both
instruction with respect to the conduct of fife,

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 153
and the salvation of our souls. I know of none,
by whom the inspiration of the Old Testament
has been denied, while that of the New was ad
mitted, except some ancient heretics, who seem,
indeed, to have been delirious fanatics, and
affirmed, that the God of the Jews was an evil
being, and that Moses and the Prophets were
his ministers *.
In entering on the proof of the inspiration
of the sacred books, I observed, that though
their natural order required us to begin with
those of the Old Testament, yet a considerable
advantage would be afterwards found to result,
from first ascertaining the inspiration of the
Christian Scriptures. The advantage is, that,
if the New Testament is proved to be inspired,
the inspiration of the Old Testament must be
admitted without farther proof, because its books
are explicitly recognised in the former as divine.

* Of these the most noted were the Manicheans, or Mani-
chees, so called from Manes, or Manichaeus the founder of
the sect. It appears that they likewise rejected some books of
the New Testament. Mosheim's Hist. Cent. iii. chap. 5.
Similar notions were vented by other heretical sects.

154 THE INSPIRATION OF
Nothing more, then, can now be reasonably de
manded from us than to show, that the New
Testament, of the inspiration of which we are
already convinced, gives its sanction to the
Old. I begin with observing, that the New Testa
ment is founded on the Old, proceeds on the
supposition of its divine origin, and professes to
be an accomplishment of tlie plan laid down in
its prophecies, and typical institutions. ** Mosex
truly said unto the Fathers, A Prophet shall the
Lord your God raise up unto you of your breth
ren, like unto me; him shall ye bear in all
things whatsoever he shall say unto you. Yea,
and all the Prophets from Samuel, and those
that follow after, as many as have spoken, have
likewise foretold of these days *•" It might be
remarked, that when we see an extensive and
complex plan executed, even in its minutest parts,
at the distance of many ages, and by the agency
of persons, many of whom w'Cre totally unac-.
quainted with it, while nothing was farther from
* Acts iii. ?2. 24.

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 155
the intention of the rest than to contribute to
its accomplishment, we must pronounce the
book, in which it is detailed, to have been
dictated by the Spirit of prophecy. But ano
ther opportunity will occur for introducing and
illustrating this argument.
Our reasoning from the New Testament k
not confined to the general argument arising
from its connection with the Old, but extends
to a variety of passages, in which the inspira
tion of the Jewish Scriptures is acknowledged.
Among the privileges of the Jews, it is men
tioned by Paul as the chief, that to them were
committed " the oracles of God *." By these
oracles are evidently meant, writings containing
the revelations which God had made of his will
to their Fathers; and that those writings were
the same which were in common use among the
Jews in his time, is evident from the references
to them, in other parts of his Epistles. In the
second Epistle to Timothy, he gives an express
attestation to their divinity. " All Scripture is
* Rom^ iii. 2.

156 THE INSPIRATION OF
given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for in
struction in righteousness*." The Scriptures,
which he declares to have been given by inspir
ation, are chiefly, if not solely, the Jewish: for
they are the Scriptures which Timothy had
known from his childhood; and, in the early
part of his life, no part of the New Testament
was written. When our Saviour says to the
Jews, " Search the Scriptures," or, as the word
would be more properly rendered, " Ye search
the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have
eternal life, and they are they that testify of
mcfr" he means by the Scriptures, those writ
ings which were held sacred among them ; and
he is so far from blaming them for believing
their inspiration, that he justifies the esteem and
respect in which they were held, by subjoining,
that they testified of him. The Jews, as we
have already observed, divided their Scriptures
into the Law, the Prophets, and the Holy Writ
ings ; and under these three classes all the books
V '¦' ¦ ¦ - - ... I-  - ¦ . .1  -. I ¦ ... ¦
* 2 Tim. iii. 16. f Joh" ^' 39'

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 151
ofthe Old Testament were comprehended. The
following words, which have been already pro
duced as a proof, that we possess the same books
which in the days of Christ were received by the
Jews, may be again brought forward to show,
that they come to us under the sanction of his
approbation. " These are the words which I
spake unto you while I was yet with you, that
all things must be fulfilled which were written
in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and
in the Psalms concerning me *." The greater
part of the books ofthe Old Testament is quoted
in the New ; and the quotations are often intro
duced under the title of " the Scripture," the
writing by way of eminence, that is, the inspired
writing, as is plain from the passage in the se
cond Epistle to Timothy mentioned above ; ahd
they are always represented as of equal author
ity with the sayings of the Apostles. " The
Scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify
the heathen through faith, preached before the
gospel to Abraham, saying. In thy seed shall
* Luke xxiv. 44.
X

158 THE INSPIRATION OF
all nations be blessed." " But the Scripture
hath concluded all under sin, that the promise
by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them
that believe." " What saith the Scripture?
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto
him for righteousness." " The Scripture saith.
Whosoever believeth on him shall not be a-
sharaed." " Whatsoever things were written
aforetime, were written for our learning; that
we, through patience and comfort of the Scrip
tures, might have hope *." To enumerate all
the instances of the same kind would be tedious,
and is perfectly unnecessary. I shall only add
on this point, that neither Christ nor his Apostles
ever charged the Jews with having lost or sup
pressed any part of the Scriptures ; with having
inserted any human composition into the sacred
canon ; or with having adulterated the inspired
writings with a mixture of their own opinions;
so that we are certain that the ancient revelation
has been transmitted to us pure and entire.

* Gal. iii. 8. 22. Rom. iv. S. x. 11. xv. 4.

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 159
The conclusion from these premises is obvi
ous. If the books of the Old Testament are
pronounced in the New to be inspired, the ne
cessity of any farther proof of their inspiration
is superseded. We are authorised, by the argu
ments in the two preceding chapters, to assert,
that the Apostles and Evangelists wrote under
the direction and influence of the Holy Ghost.
When they affirm, therefore, that the Old Testa
ment is inspired, their testimony has equal au
thority, and claims equal credit, as when they
publish any of the doctrines, or inculcate any of
the duties, of the Christian religion. It was not
more possible that they should err in the one
case than in the other. In truth, their testimony
ought to be considered as the testimony of the
same Spirit, who enlightened the minds, and
guided the pens, of the writers of the Old Tes
tament. It is the Holy Ghost speaking by
them who affirms, that the Jewish Scriptures are
not the unassisted compositions of either pious
or impious men ; but were drawn up under his
immediate inspection, and by the aid of his in-
ifspi ration. They could not, therefore, without

160 THE INSPIRATION OF
manifest inconsistency, be rejected by any per
son who was previously convinced of the divine
authority of the New Testament ; and if we be
fully persuaded of the inspiration of the latter,
as we cannot reasonably doubt, so we shall feel
no inclination to question, the inspiration of the
former. Here, then, we might close our proof, and
proceed to the next branch of the subject. That
I may not seem, however, to pass too slightly
pver a matter so iinportant, and that nothing
may be omitted through haste, by which the
faith of the reader would be established, I shall,
in the following part of the chapter, give a
concise view of the arguments, which seem to
prove, independently of the authority of the
New Testament, that the books of the Old are
inspired. In order to bring forward distinctly
the different species of arguments, which are
applicable to different books, I shall divide
them into three classes; the Books of Moses,
the Historical Books, and the Prophetical.
Under these divisions they will all be compre
hended, except a few, concerning which I .shall
subjoin some separate remarks.

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 161
I. I begin with the Books of Moses, which
are first in order.
In establishing the divine authority of the
Pentateuch, 1 shall pursue a train of reasoning
similar to that which was employed in the second
argument for the inspiration of the New Testa
ment. I beg leave, then, to lay down and illus
trate the two following propositions, of which
the second is a native and ob\ious inference
from the first. Moses was the writer of those
books which are commonly ascribed to him. If
he wrote those books, they are inspired.
The first of these propositions is not only
highly probable, from the spirit of ancient sim-
pUcity which breathes in the books, and renders
it very unlikely, that they were fabricated in a
later age ; but is as certain as any thing of this
nature can be, from the unanimous testimony
of the Jews. If we believe other nations when
they attest the antiquity and authors of their
laws, no just reason can be assigned, why we
should not give equal credit to them. Their
testimony deserves as much attention as that
of the Athenians, the Lacedemonians, the Ro-

162 THE INSPIRATION OF
mans, and the Persians, concerning Solon, Ly
curgus, Numa, and Zoroaster; or rather from
circumstances, which will be afterwards ex
plained, and which led them to investigate the
point with the utmost diligence and care, they
are better entitled to belief than any other
people under heaven. But the Jews are not
the only witnesses of this important fact. A-
mong the Gentiles, Moses was celebrated as the
legislator of his country ; and, while they speak
of him with respect as a person of eminent wis
dom, they refer without any hesitation to his
writings, as a genuine record of the laws which
he delivered to the Israelites*. On this subject,
indeed, there seems not to have been any ques
tion among either the friends or the enemies of
his religion; but both concurred in regarding
him as the author of those institutions, which
were enjoined in the Sacred volume of the Jews.
To deny, therefore, that Moses was the writer
of the Pentateuch, would be to set aside human

* Grot, de Verit. Relig. Christ. Lib. i. cap. 16. Just,
Ufartyr. Cohort, ad Graecos.

THE OLD TESTAMENT. l6^
testimony as a foundation of belief, and to over-*
throw our faith in all ancient history ; for there
are few facts so fully attested;
In confirmation of the argument founded on
the unvarying testimony of natives and foreign
ers, I proceed to observe, that, if the books
which are ascribed to Moses, were not written
by him, but were forged by some other person
in his name, it was impossible, that they should
have been ever received by the Israelites as
genuine. If the writings in question be Sup
posititious, they must have appeared in the
next age, or several ages after the death of the
Jewish legislator. Had they been published
soon after his death, when the history of Moses
and his transactions was fresh irt the memories
of the Israelites, no attention would have been
paid to the fabricated account. The time was
too recent, and the tradition was too 6xaCt, ta
afford ari opportunity to substitute the embel
lishments of fiction in the room of the siraplicity
of truth. The fabulous stories, which deforra the
first period of the history of other nations, were
invented in a distant age, when they could not

164 THE INSPIRATION OF
be confronted with living testimony. The cheat
would have been detected and exposed by those
who had seen Moses, or by their children, who
had heard a faithful narration of his laws and
proceedings from their Fathers. Zeal for the
honour of their illustrious lawgiver, a desire to
prevent the circulation and reception of a false
hood, and the opposition which is naturally
provoked by the baseness and audacity of im
posture, would have combined to hinder the
success of the forgery. Had the books appeared
sorae ages after the Israelites were settled in
Canaan, it would have been impossible to per
suade them, that this new law had been actually
delivered to their Fathers, although all memory
of it had perished ; and to prevail upon them to
abrogate the constitution under which they had
hitherto lived, and by which their property and
rights were secured, and make it the basis of
their civil and ecclesiastical polity. They would
have said to the bold innovator, What docu'
ments can you produce to authenticate these
writings? How has it happened, that, if the
laws which they contain were promulgated, as

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 165
you pretend, to our Fathers, and are the condi
tion on which we hold our possessions, they have
been so completely forgotten, that no person
but yourself ever heard of them before? Do you
expect, that we should change our customs, our
institutions, and our religious rites, upon no
better evidence than your assertion, that these
mUsty records are genuine? The Israelites must
have been less than men, children in under
standing, and simpletons of the lowest order, if
the most artful knave could have imposed upori
them a code of laws forged by himself, as the
genuine work of their aricient legislator.- No
man could at this moment persuade us, that a
code of lawS^ which he had drawn up in his
i
closet, was enacted by our ancestors several age^
ago ; and still less could he persuade us to repeal
our present laws, and establish the new system in
their roOm. But if the books Of Moses were not
written by hiraself, all this must have been done
by some unknown person in the land of Judea *.
* It has been urged, as an argument against the genuine
ness of the books of Moses, that some things are found in
them, which have been evidently written in a later age. It
Y

166 THE INSPIRATION OF
If Moses was the author of those books, which
are universally ascribed to him, and cannot, as

is Voltaire, I beheve, who endeavours to make his readers
merry at the idea of Moses having left on record an account
of his own death, Deut. xxxiv. It has been remarked,
likewise, that some places are called by naraes, which we
certainly know to have been given them, long after we assert
that the Pentateuch was written. We read, that Abraham
pursued the Kings whom he had routed " unto Dan," Gen.
xiv. 14. whereas we learn elsewhere, that its original name
Laish was not exchanged for Dan, till the children of Dan
conquered it in the days of the Judges, Judg. xviii. 29. In
Gen. xxxvii. 14. and in some other places, mention is made
of Hebron; but it appears from Josh. xiv. 14, 15. that its
name was Kirjath-arba, before Caleb received it from Joshua
as his inheritance, If, however, we should say, that some
person added to the books of Moses an account of his death,
and that the same person, or some other, in the room of ancient
names which were forgotten, put the mode n names, that the
places might be known, we should make a concession, which
would not at all affect the genuineness of the book ; the ob
jection would be repelled in the easiest and simplest manner;
and the poor triumph of infidelity would be at an end. '* A
small addition to a book," says an eminent writer, and I may
add the occasional change of a name, " does not destroy either
the genuineness or the authenticity of the whole book." A
few other instances are explained in the sarae manner; or it
is shown, that there was nothing in the age and circumstances
of Moses, to hinder hira frora being the writer of such pas
sages. Vid. Wits, de Prophetis et Prophetia, cap. xiv.
Bishop Watson's Apology for the Bible, Letter iii.

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 161
we have seen, be reasonably ascribed to any
other person, it follows, that they are inspired.
That the propriety of this inference may appear,
let us take a view of the peculiar system of laws,
delivered in the Pentateuch. The first thought
suggested by a superficial survey of them, is,
that they were exceedingly burdensome; or a
yoke, as the Apostle Peter calls them, which
neither the men of his age, nor their Fathers,
were able to bear *. Some of the services which
they enjoined were very costly, as the sacrifices
and the payment of tithes ; and some of them
were very troublesome, as the precautions ne
cessary to avoid pollution, and the various pur
ifications. The rites prescribed by them, were
contrary to those held sacred by all other na
tions; and could not fail, therefore, to render
the Jews odious in the eyes of their neighbours "f".

* Acts XV. 10.
f " Moses, quo sibi in posterum gentem firmaret," I quote
the words of Tacitus, " novos ritus, contrariosque ceteris
mortalibus indidit. Profana ilhc omnia, quae apud nos sacra:
rursum concessa apud illos, quae nobis incesta." Hist. Lib.
r. 4. Some writers have maintained, that many of the

168 THE INSPIRATION OF
Instead of permitting an intercomraunity of
worship, they taught the Israelite to regard every
foreign rite with abhorrence, and pronounced

Egyptian rites, corrected, they acknowledge, and improved,
were adopted into the Jewish ceremonial; and in this part of
his conduct, they say, God gave a display of his wisdom, as
the minds of so rude a people as the Israelites, could not
have been reconciled to a new system of worship, if some
parts of the old one had not been retained. But this opinion
proceeds on a supposition highly improbable, and which, be
ing totally incapable of proof, we are at liberty to deny, that
the rites of the Egyptians, in the days of Moses, were the
same as they were found to be, about a thousand years after,
by the Greeks, from whose writings we have acquired sorae
knowledge of their religious observances. But this is not the
only objection. The resemblance between the Egyptian and
the Jewish rites, at this late period, when there is certainly
as much reason to suspect, that the Egyptians had borrowed
from the Jews, as that the Jews had borrowed from the
Egyptians, if there was any boiTowing in the case; the
resemblance between the rites of the two nations, is by
no raeans so great as some writers, in their eagerness to
establish a favourite hypothesis, represent it. Every man has
his own conceptions of what it is right and becoming for God
to do; but to me it appears derogatory to his honour to
maintain, that he admitted into his own worship the abomin
able usages of idolaters. The best method, I should think,
to preserve a people from iddatry, is not to allow them to re
tain some of its ceremonies, which would perpetually tempt
them to return to it; but to confine them to a ritual entirety

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 169
the service of a strange God to be a crime pun
ishable with death. Nay, the laws of Moses
enjoined certain duties, which no legislator but
himself ever thought of enacting, because, with
out the miraculous interposition of Providence,
to prevent the calamities which they were cal
culated to produce, they would have speedily
terminated in the ruin of the state. Thrice
every year, all the males were commanded to
repair to Jerusalera, and consequently, so often
the country was to be left open to the incursions
of its eneraies ; once in every seven years, and
two years together at the jubilee, they were or
dered to let their fields lie fallow, or in other
words, at those stated intervals, to expose them
selves to the miseries of famine ; and tliey were
forbidden to multiply horses, or to make use of

new. I shall only add, that few Christians will be able to
prevail on themselves to believe, that rites, which had been
used in the service of idols, and which God had beheld with
the utmost abhorrence, were afterwards transformed into types
of Christ, and the sublime mysteries of redemption. The
learned reader, who would see this subject fuHy discussed,
may consult Witsii Egyptiaca.

110 THE INSPIRATION OF
cavalry in their wars, from the want of which
they must have fought on unequal terms with
the nations around them *.
Here, then, I may ask, Whether it be at all
probable, that Moses, with no other means of
success than a huraan legislator might command,
could have prevailed upon his countrymen to
submit to such a system of laws ? Would a peo
ple so self-willed and refractor^', as from their
history we know them to have been, have allowed
a yoke so heavy to be wreathed about their necks ?
Or would a people attentive to their own in
terests, and possessed of common prudence, have
adopted an institution, which seemed to have
been framed for the express purpose of involving
them in temporal ruin ? Yet it is certain, that
the Israelites did receive that law, and observe
it, during many ages, while they subsisted as a
political body ; and that they still entertain tlie
highest veneration for it, and yield obedience to
such of its precepts as are practicable in their

* Exod. xxiii. 17. 10, 11. Lev. xxv. 1—12. 20—22,
Deut. xvii. 16. Josh. xi. 6.

THE OLD TESTAMENT. Ill
present circumstances. This is surely a very
astonishing fact. A people of the most stubborn
dispositions, ever ready to murmur and rebel,
submit to a raost troublesome la w ; to a law which
it seemed madness to obey. It is foolish to pre
tend to account for this fact by supposing, that,
in order to deceive his countrymen into a com
pliance with his raeasures, Moses eraployed some
artifice similar to those, which we know to have
been practised with success by other legislators.
Their situation was not favourable to any trick
or imposition. Had they been separated into
small companies, and scattered over the face of
a large counti-y, it is, perhaps, possible, that
they might have been deluded, one after ano
ther, by Moses himself, or by some crafty politi
cians, whom he had associated in his scheme;
but they were united in one body in the wilder
ness, and were too unwieldy a mass to be moulded
by the hand of an impostor. It is impossible to
account for the reception of his law on any other
principle, than that the people were fully con
vinced of his authority to enact it. Force could
not have been employed to compel obedience;

112 THE INSPIRATION OF
fraud would have been detected ; and flattery
would have been tried in vain on a froward and
jealous multitude. But no authority less than
divine could have sufficed to establish such a
law; no other authority could have controlled
and silenced the many interests and passions
which stood in opposition to it. Nothing could
have overawed and subdued the turbulent spirit
of the Israelites, but raanifest tokens of the pre
sence of God with Moses, and the dread of his
almighty power. The reception of his law,
therefore, may be considered as a proof, that
such works had been performed by him in the
presence of his countrymen, as assured them, that
he was the rainister and messenger of Jehovah,
the God of their nation. He who will dispute
this reasoning, must oppose it, not by impertin
ent cavils, of the futility of which he is himself
probably sensible, but by showing how Moses
could have succeeded, without a divine com
mission, in making so vexatious and dangerous
a law be embraced by so perverse a people.
Agreeably to these observations, we find him
appealing, in the law itself, to miracles which

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 113
are said to have been wrought before the eyes of
the Israelites. This appeal is a proof that they
were actually wrought; for Moses would not
have risked his credit and influence among his
countrymen, by boasting of attestations from
heaven, which, all who heard him or read his
writings must have known, had not beCn giveUj
He would not have dared to affirm, that Egypt
was smitten with terrible plagues, if none had
been inflicted upon it; that the Red Sea wag
divided before the twelve tribes, if they had not
passed through the midst of its waves; that
manna fell from heaven around their tentSj if
they had never eaten that heavenly food; Or
that God spoke to them out of the midst of the
fire, if they had not heard his voice publishing
the decalogue from Sinai. These events, on the
supposition that they really took place, were
exposed to the senses of all the people ; and rio
man, who had not been a witness of them^ Could
have been persuaded that he had. If, however,
it be conceived possible for one man ta he rea-*
soned or cheated out of his senses, we may,
without hesitation, deny the possibility of such a
Z

114 THE INSPIRATION OF
deception, in the case of two or three millions ot"
spectators. The miracles, then, to which Moses appeals,
were actually performed, and, consequently,
he was declared to be a Prophet, and his law
to be a revelation from God ; for, as we have
seen with respect to the Apostles, the miracles
were the seal of heaven set to his commission.
Hence we infer, that his writings, in which the
law is contained, were inspired, because the
same supernatural assistance, which he enjoyed
in delivering it to the congregation, we may be
certain, was vouchsafed to him in recording it
for the benefit of succeeding generations. It is
unnecessary to repeat the reasoning under the
first argument for the inspiration of the New
Testament, which might be employed, in this
perfectly similar case, without any alteration.
But it being once admitted that he wrote his
law by inspiration, we can feel no difficulty in
believing, that he was under the same infallible
direction in the other parts of his writings. We
may be confident that he, whom God has em
powered to make a revelation to mankind, will

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 115
not be permitted to mingle his own stories and
opinions with it, and to deliver, without any
note of distinction, the motley mixture as of
uniform authority. All those things; therefore,
which arfe inserted in the sarae volume with the
law, as the history of the creation, and of the
world from the first ages to the deliverance from
Egypt, are equally authentic as the law itself,
and the account of the miraculous transactions
in the wilderness. It would be highly unrea
sonable to limit the proof of inspiration from his
miracles to one part, or to some parts, of his
writings.. In strict language, the miracles at
tested his character, or pointed him out as a
divine messenger ; and from such a person, we
are bound to receive as equally true and autho
ritative, every thing which he delivers in the
name of God, whether law, history, doctrine, or
prediction. I have spent more time in proving the inspi
ration of the five books of Moses, because they
are the fundamental part of the Jewish Scrip
tures; and a firm belief of their divinity will
prepare us for the reception of those other

116 THE INSPIRATION OF
books, which we proposed in the next place to
consider. II. Let u§ now direct our attention to the
Historical Books.
It is not my design, under this division, to
take a separate view of each book in its order;
nor perhaps is it necessary, that I should attempt
to prove their inspiration at all, because, since
the days of the Samaritans, few, who admitted
the divinity of the five books of Moses, have
refused to acknowledge the authority of the
remaining parts of the Old Testament. There
is no satisfactory evidence in support of the
common notion, that the historical as well as the
prophetical books, were rejected by the Saddu-
cees. No such charge is brought against them
by Josephus, who, on the contrary, affirms, that,
though they disregarded the traditions of the
Fathers, they received t« yfv{<«(««^E!!«, the written
laws, or precepts*. It may be supposed, in
deed, that in the passage to which I refer, he
* Antiq. Lib. xiii. cap. 18.

THE OLD TESTAMENT. Ill
means only the writings of Moses, because he
makes mention of no others ; but it is worthy of
attention, that he represents the Sadducees as
rejecting nothing but the traditionary precepts of
the Pharisees ; and that, when in another place
he enumerates the sacred books, he declares,
that all the Jews received them as divine, and
would rather suffer death than renounce them *.
They are introduced by the Talmudists as rea
soning from the other books, as well as from the
Law ; and in refuting their peculiar tenets, the
Jewish Doctors produce arguments not only
from the Holy Writings and the Prophets, but
also from Moses. The inspiration of the Penta
teuch being supposed, that of the Historical
bopks seems naturally and almost unavoidably
to follow. And it is no inconsiderable argument
in favour of their inspiration, that they are ne
cessary to exhibit a complete view of that plan
«f providence respecting the Jews, of which the
giving of the Law constituted, I may say, the
first step. The following observations will illus
trate this idea.
* Cont. Apion. Lib. 1.

1 18 THE INSPIRATION OF
On the supposition that the books of Moses
were inspired, and the law delivered in them
is divine, it was natural to expect, that we
should be furnished with a narrative of the
settlement of the Israelites in the land of Canaan,
which their Lawgiver had promised them, in the
name of God, as their inheritance, and in which
only his institution could in all its parts be ob
served. A detail of the divine dispensations
subsequent to that event, might have been
looked for, to show, that, in their national ca
pacity, they were treated according to the sanc
tions of their law ; and that, as they prospered
by obedience, so they were visited for their crimes
with temporal calamities. In consequence of a
change in the form of government, which was
administered for a long period by judges, but
afterwards became regal, an account was wanted
ofthe causes which gave rise to that revolution;
and in particular, an account of the elevation
ofthe family of David to the throne, from which
the Messiah was to spring. As ten of the twelve
tribes, which originally composed the nation of
Israel, having revolted from Rehoboam the

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 119
grandson of David, and forsaken the worship
of God at Jerusalem, were, after some time, led
away captive into a land from which they never
returned, a history of those tribes was necessary
to acquaint us with the reasons why God reject
ed so large a portion of a people, whom he had
chosen as his own inheritance. The history of
the tribe of Judah was peculiarly worthy to be
recorded, because the Messiah was to, come from
that tribe ; and in consequence of the apostasy
of the rest, all the privileges of the church be
came its exclusive possession, and in it alone the
true worship of God was preserved. Without
a relation of the crimes committed by the people
of Judah and their rulers, we should not have
been able to account for the destruction of Je
rusalera, and their long captivity in Babylon;
and, unless we had been inforraed of their re
turn, at the appointed tirae, to their own land,
the faithfulness of God in fulfilling the word
spoken by his servants the Prophets, would not
have appeared.
These are the parts of the Jewish history, con
cerning which it seems proper that authentic

180 THE INSPIRATION OF
records should be left; and they are all so
closely connected with each other, that, had any
of them been omitted, the narrative would have
been incomplete. Such a history as I have
supposed, we find in the books of Joshua,
Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra and
Nehemiah ; and the inspiration of these books is
the more probable, because they contain the very
things, of which it was natural to expect an ac
count, if the law of Moses proceeded from God
himself, and the Israelites were under his pecu
liar care. To me it appears contrary to all reason
to imagine, that although we have been favoured
with an inspired relation of the first transactions
of God with that people, we should have only
a human and uncertain history of his subsequent
transactions, to which the first were merely in-?
troductory. In the books which I have mentioned, we meet
with many miracles ; but these, instead of ren
dering the history suspected, will appear on re
flection to be an evidence of its truth. In the
books of Moses, the inspiration of which has been
proved , the Israelites are represented as under

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 181
a miraculous providence. It is, therefore, as
reasonable to look for miracles in their history,
as not to look for them in that of any ordinary
people; and had nothing of this nature occurred
in their records, we should have been justified in
entertaining doubts of their authenticity. The
history of a nation under a miraculous provi
dence, in which uo supernatural interposition^
are mentioned, but all things pi-oceed in the
usual train^ would be as manifestly false, as thd
history of a warlike people, which described
them as uniformly cultivating the arts of peace.
Now, it is not probable that God would leave a
miraculous history to be written in the same
manner as a common history, namely,- by men
who had nO particular call to the work, and
were qualified by no extraordinary assistance.
It is more agreeable to our notions of his wisdom
to believe, that he would expressly raise up
chosen persons to give a faithful and authorita
tive account of such singular transactions. The
omissions and misrepresentations, of which' unin
spired men might have been guilty, through
want of informa^on, inadvertence, or design,
2 A

182 THE INSPIRATION OF
would have defeated the intention of committing
them to writing. God would have been robbed
of his glory ; and we should have been deprived
of the instruction and consolation arising from
the unusual displays of his power and goodness.
The persons by whom the historical books
were written, are not now certainly known;
but they are commonly believed to have been
composed by men of a prophetical spirit, as
Joshua, Samuel, Nathan, Gad, and other Seers,
Ezra, and Nehemiah. To these persons they
have been ascribed by both Jews and Christians ;
and there are some passages in the books them
selves, which appear to favour this opinion. If
Joshua wrote the words of the covenant which
he made with the people, it is not improbable,
that he wrote likewise the other transactions in
the book which bears his name*. Mention is
made of books distinguished by the names of
Samuel, Gad, Nathan, Ahijah, Iddo, Shemaiah.
" Now the acts of David the king, first and last,
behold they are written in the book of Samuel
* Josh. xxiv. 20.

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 183
the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet,
and in the book of Gad the seer." " Now the
rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are
they not written in the book of Nathan the pro
phet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilon-
ite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer, against
Jeroboam the son of Nebat?" " Now the acts
of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written
in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo
the seer concerning genealogies * ?" From these
passages we learn, that several persons, styled
Prophets and Seers, because they were endowed
with supernatural knowledge, committed to
writing the transactions of their times ; and from
tins fact we may infer, with much appearance
of reason, that they were the compilers of some
of those historical books, to which a place has
been assigned in the canon. It is probable, ths^t
by them the books of Samuel and Kings were
written ; and perhaps these are the very books
to which reference is made, with some difference
of the names, in the foregoing passages. The
* I Chron. xxix. 29. 2 Chron. ix. 29. xii. 15.

184 THE INSPIRATION OF
Chronicles have been ascribed to Isaiah, and to
Jeremiah, but more generally to Ezra, who, it
is allowed by all, wrote the book which goes
under his name. The same thing is granted
with respect to Nehemiah.
Though, however, we cannot determine with
certainty the authors of the Historical Books,
yet we may rest assured, that the Jews, who had
already received inspired books from the hands
of Moses, would not have admitted any others
as of equal authority, if they had not been fully
convinced, that the writers were supernaturally
assisted. Next tp the testimony of Christ and
his Apostles, which corroborates all our reason
ings respecting the inspiration of the Old Tesi-
tament, and, when distinct arguments for any
particular book cannot be found, supplies their
place, we must depend, in the case before us,
upon the testimony of the Jews. And although
the testimony of a nation is far from being, in
every instance, a sufficient reason for believing
its sacred books to be possessed of that divine
authority which is ascribed to them; yet the
testimony of the Jews has a peculiar title to be

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 185
credited, from the circumstances in which it was
delivered. It is the testimony of a people, who
having already in their possession genuine in
spired books, were the better able to judge of
others which advanced a claim to inspiration;
and who, we have reason to think, far from
being credulous with respect to such a claim, or
disposed precipitately to recogriise it, proceeded,
with deliberation and care, in examining all
pretensions of this nature, and rejected them
when not supported by satisfactory evidence.
They had been forewarned that false prophets
should arise, and deliver their own fancies in
the name of the Lord; and while they were
thus put upon their guard, they were furnished
with rules to assist them in distinguishing a true
from a pretended revelation *. We have a
proof that the ancient Jews exercised a spirit of
discrimination in this matter, at a period, indeed,
later than that to which we refer, in their con
duct with respect to the Apocryphal books: for
although they were written by men of their
— ^ — —  f
• Deut. xviii. 15—22.

186 THE INSPIRATION OF
own nation, and assumed the names of the most
eminent personages, Solomon, Daniel, Ezra,
and Baruch, yet they rejected them as human
compositions, and left the infallibU Church to
mistake them for divine. The testimony, then,
of the Jews, who, without a dissenting voice,
have asserted the inspiration of the Historical
Books, authorises us to receive them as a part
of those Oracles of God, which were committed
to their care.
III. I proceed to consider the Prophetical
Books. The proof of their inspiration, which I shall
lay before the reader, is not derived from any
external source, but arises from their contents.
They carry in their bosom the evidence of their
supernatural origin, and manifest themselves to
be the word of God, by many clear predictions,
which have been most exactly fulfilled, long
after they were delivered. These are so numer
ous, that, at present we can select only a few as
a specimen,

THE OLD TESTAMENT. l81
The fate of Egypt was thus foretold by Eze
kiel: " It shall be the basest of kingdoms,
neither shall it exalt itself any more above the
nations; for I will diminish them, that they shall
no more rule over the nations *." Accordingly
we learn from history, that since the days of
Ezekiel, Egypt has been successively subject to
the Babylonians, the Persians, the Macedonians,
the Romans, the Saracens, the Mamalukes, and
last of all to the Turks, of whose empire it is, at
this moment, a province, groaning under the
iron rod of oppression, agitated by internal
commotions, and exhibiting no memorial of ita
former greatness, but in its stupendous ruins
and gigantic monuments, which have resisted
the waste of time, and the violence of man.
The same Prophet foretold the ruin of Tyre.
" I will make thee like the top of a rock ; thou
shalt be a place to spread nets upon : thou shalt
be built no more: for I the Lord have spoken
it, saith the Lord God "f"." And how punctually
has the prediction been fulfilled! The city,
* Ezek. xxix. 15. f EzeL xxvL 14.

188 THE INSPIRATION OF
which was a " mart of natipns," as Isaiah calls
it, is now become a heap of ruins ; and instead
of being the resort of ships from every region of
the earth, is visited only by the boats of fisher
men, whose nets are seen spread out to dry in
the sun.
Concerning Babylon it was predicted, that it
should be besieged by the Modes and Elamites ;
that its river should be dried up; that the city
should be taken in the time of a feast, while its
mighty men were drunken ; and that God would
make the country around it a possession for the
bittern, and pools of water *. It is well known,
that in conformitj' to these prophecies, Babylon
was besieged by the Medes and Persians, who
are the same with the Elamites; that Cyrus
turned the Euphrates, which ran through the
midst of it, out of its course, that his troops
might find a passage by its channel ; that it was
taken in the night during the dissipation and
security of a feast ; and that the water of the
river not having been afterwards confined to its
# Isa. xiii, 17. xxi. 2, Jer. 1. 38. li. 36. 39. 57. Isa. xiv. 23-

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 189
ancient bounds, the adjacent country was con
verted into a marsh, frequented by aquatic
birds. If any man shall suspect, as infidels have
often insinuated, but were never able to prOve,
concerning the prophecies of Scripture, that
the prediction was written after the event, let
him think of the following words, which are
fulfilling at this hour. " And Babylon, the
glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees'
excellency, shall be, as when God overthrew
Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inha
bited, neither shall it be dwelt in from genera
tion to generation: neither shall the Arabian
pitch tent there, neither shall tVie shepherds
make their folds there; But wild beasts of the
desert shall lie there, and their houses shall be
full of doleful creatures, and owls shall dwell
there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the
wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their de
solate houses, and dragons in their pleasant
palaces: and her time is near to come, and her
days shall not be prolonged *." It is long since
? Isa. xiii. 19^21.
2 B

l&O THE INSPIRATION OP
the populous city was turned into, a solitude;
long since it was converted into a chace for wild
beasts by the kings of Persia ; long since it was
rendered inaccessible l^ the poisonous animals
which lodged in its ruins ; k>ng since it ceased
to be known. So completely has Grod, according
to his word, swept it with " the besom of de
struction," that no man can now tell with cer
tainty the place where it stood ••
Not to multiply particulars, there is one
grand subject, in which, as a centre, all the
lines of prophecy meet. This is the Messiah, to
give notice of whose appearance in a future age,
was the ultimate design, with which the Prophets
were inspired. The minuteness, with which the
circumstances relative to him are foretold, is
truly astonishing, when viewed in connection
with the exactness of the accomplishment. It is
predicted, that he should be a descendant of
David, and that he should be born of a virgin,
in the town of Bethlehem; that having been
anointed with the Holy Ghost, he should as-
* Isa. xiv. 2S.

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 191
«ume the character of a public teacher ; that he
should perform great and beneficent miracles;
tiiat his countrymen should despise and perse
cute him, and put him to death ; that he should
rise from the grave, ascend to heaven, triumph
over his enemies, and though rejected by the
Jews, should be acknowledged and served by
the Gentiles*. Nay, the time of his death is
particularly mentioned ; and there are not ob
scure hints of the manner of it, although cruci
fixion was a species of capital punishment un^
known among the Jews, in tiie days of the
Prophets 'f'. These are only a few selected from
a great variety of particulars.
There are two classes of predictions concern
ing the Messiah, of which the one describes his
humiliation, and the other his glory. He is
represented, at one time, as a worm and no
man, and, at another, as a prince higher than
the kings of the earth; as a man of sorrows,
* Isa. xi. 1. vii. 14. Mic. v. 2. Isa. Ixi. 1. xxxv. 5, 6.
liii. 1 — 10. Dan. ix. 26. Psal. xvi. 9, 10. Ixviii. 18. ii. 8.
Isa. xiii. 1—4. xlix. 5, 6.
t Dan. ix. 24>— 27. Psal. xxii. 16, 17. Zech. xii. 10.

192 THE INSPIRATION OF
and as made exceedingly glad with the light of
God's countenance ; as dying, and yet abolish
ing death; as despised and rejected, and as
honoured and followed *. These things are so
contradictory, that it seems impossible, that
they should be united in the same person.
Accordingly, the Jews, unable to reconcile the
predicted humiliation of Christ, and the glory
which necessarily belongs to his -office, have in
vented, for the solution of the difficulty, the
notion of two Messiahs, of whom the one is
to suffer, and the other to reign. But this
eharacter, which is apparently made up of
inconsistent qualities, was realised in Jesus
Christ, who, although mean in respect of his
manhood, is, in his divine person, the image
of the invisible God, and the first-born of
every creature; who by dying conquered death,
and through his sorrows obtained for hiraself and
his followers everlasting felicity; who was con-
turaeliously treated, and indignantly rejected

* Psal. xxii. 6. Ixxxix. 27. Isa. liii. 3. Psal. xxi. 6.
Isa. liii. 10, 12. xxv. 8. Psal xxii. 27— Sl. Ixxii. 15. 17.

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 193
by the Jews, but was preached to the Gentiles,
and believed on in the world. A character, in
which the extremes of abasement and exaltation
meet, in which the weakness of humanity is as
sociated with the power of the Godhead, it could
not have entered into the mind of any raan to
conceive. He would have disjoined these ex
tremes ; he would have described a mortal like
ourselves, feeble and imperfect; or a God
elevated above all created beings, by the infini
tude of his attributes. When we see, therefore,
this character not only drawn by the Prophets,
but exemplified in our Redeemer, we are con
vinced, that as it could not be the creature of
their own fancy, it must have been suggested to
them by divine revelation. Were they not artists,
endowed, like Aholiab and Bezaleel; with the
spirit of wisdom, that they might paint the like
ness of that, singular personage, who, in the
fulness of time, was to visit the earth ?
As the fulfilment of the prophecies of the Old
Testament in Jesus Christ, was a proof of his
Messiahship, to which he appealed, and from
which his Apostles reasoned, in the most conclu-

194 THE INSPIRATION OF
sive manner, with the Jews; so it is an evidence
of the divinity of the ancient Scriptures, or of
those books, at least, in which the prophecies
are inserted. Prophecy is founded on the fore-
saght of futurity ; and the knowledge of futurity
is a prerogative of the true God, by which he is
distinguished from the vanities of the Gentiles.
" They have no knowledge, that set up the
wood of their graven image, and pray unto a
god that cannot save. Tell ye, and bring them
near, yea, let them take counsel together: who
hath declared this from ancient time? who hath
told it from that time? have not I the Lord? and
there is no God beside me, a just God and a
Saviour, there is none beside me *." The fore
telling, therefore, of future events, of which it
was not possible to acquire the previous know
ledge by natural means, is an evidence, that
God spoke by the Prophet; and the fulfilment
of a prediction not only assures us, that the per
son who pronounced it was inspired, but author
ises us to receive as divine every other thing
* Isa. xlv. 20, 21.

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 195
which he has delivered in the name of the Lord.
A prophecy, like a miracle, attests in general
the commission of tha person, by whom it was
uttered. The prophetical part of a book, there
fore, not only proves itself to be inspired, but
proves likewise the inspiration of the whole of
the book ; for God would not allow a man, to
whom he^had given his Spirit, to mix his own
sentiments with the revelation which he was em
powered to make, and to impose them on the
world, as of equal authority with those which
had been supernaturally communicated to him.
Hence we infer concerning some books of the
Old Testament, that every part of them is in
spired, because wo observe that some of the part*
consist of unequivocal predictions. A Prophet
would not lie to us in the name of God; nor
although he felt the inclination, would he be
permitted to deceive us. The power of God is
certainly sufficient to control the human heart,
and to repress such of its propensities as would
interfere with his designs; and we have the
highest assurance from his holiness and goodness,
that he would not suffer a man to abuse a com-

196 THE INSPIRATION OF
mission from himself, in order the more success
fully to mislead others, in the most momentous
of all concerns, those of the soul and eternity.
IV. I proposed to make some observations
upon those books of the Old Testament, which
have not been included in the preceding division.
Notwithstanding this imperfection, I adopt
ed that division in preference to the Jewish,
which comprehends all the books, because in
consequence of the very injudicious manner in
which they are arranged by the latter, the same
arguments which apply to some of one class, are
not applicable to others. Prophetical and His
torical books are jumbled together. In the,
Jewish division, the Holy Writings include the
Psalms and the Chronicles. But the books of
Chronicles are historical, and admit of a dif
ferent kind of proof from that which is adapted
to the Psalms: for though many of these are
purely devotional, yet I hesitate not to rank
them, when considered as one collection, among
the prophetical books, not only because David,

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 191
the principal writer j is tcfrmed a Prophet *, but
because they contain many predictions relative
to the Messiah, his sufferings, his glory, and his
kingdom. The attentive reader would observCj
that conformably to this view of them, several
of the prophecies mentioned under the last head;
were quoted from the Psalms;
It would be unreasonable to demand, and
difficult, if not impossible, to give, separate
proofs of every book, included in the Jewish
canoui Separate proofs of each, indeed, are not
necessary. As the ancient Scriptures constitute
One volume, one whole, one entire revelation, if
some of them, and especially if the greater part
of them have been proved to be inspired, the in
spiration ofthe rest, which stand in so close a con.*
nection with them, cannot be reasonably denied,i
On this ground^ we feel no hesitation in acknowi
lodging the authority of the books of Estherj
Ruth, Job, and the writings of Solomon. They
have always been classed by the Jews with those
book^, of the inspiration of which we have un-
• Acts ii. 30.
2 C

198 THE INSPIRATION OF
doubted evidence; and they are attested, in
common with them, by Christ and his Apostles.
Though, however, these considerations may
suffice to remove any scruple in our minds,
with regard to their title to a place among the
sacred writings, it may be useful farther to ob
serve, that on examination they appear equally
worthy to be accounted inspired, as other books
of the same nature, concerning which, after the
arguraents formerly advanced, there can be no
dispute. The book of Esther records a signal
instance of the care of providence over the
Church, and a deliverance not less wonderful
than any of those related in the other historical
books. It holds out a striking example of the
unexpected methods, by which God defeats the
purposes of the wicked, and saves his people,
when standing on the brink of destruction.
The book of Ruth will not seem undeserving of
a place in the sacred volume, when we consider,
that, besides giving an exaniple of the observance
of a peculiar law, it takes occasion, from the
marriage of that woman w ith Boaz, to trace the
genealogy of his great-grand.son David up to

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 1 99
Judah by Pharez, and is introductory to the
history of that eminent progenitor and type of
the Messiah. Thus, what at first appears to be
the simple story of a virtuous but obscure female,
rises into importance from its connection with
the royal family of the Jews, and the evidence
which it supplies of the descent of Jesus Christ,
in the exact line pointed out by prophecy *. The
sublimity of the book of Job equals that of any
other portion of Scripture, and leads us, there
fore, to ascribe the composition of it to a higher
author than raan ; not to mention the admirable
and edifying example of patience and resigna
tion which it sets before us, or the majestic and
affecting representations which it gives, of the
greatness and sovereignty of God. The wisdom
displayed in the writings of Solomon, corre
sponds with the exalted character which he bears
in Scripture ; and far exceeds what in his cir
cumstances he could be supposed to have ac
quired by natural means. This superiority is
acknowledged by a celebrated author, who has
* Gen. xlix. 10.

200 THE INSPIRATION OF
pleaded the cause of infidelity with insidious elo
quence. Having quoted these words, " Vanity
of vanities; all is vanity," as the words of Solo
mon, he subjoins, — " If the Ecclesiastes be truly
a work of Solomon, and not, like Prior's poem,
a pious and moral composition of more recent
times, in his name, and on the subject of his re
pentance. The latter is the opinion of the
learned and free-spirited Grotius; and indeed
the Ecclesiastes and the Proverbs display a larger
compass of thought and experience th^n seem to
belong either to a Jew or a king *." The suspi
cion, founded on the intrinsic excellence of the
books, that they are the works of some person
of a different rank and nation, is inconsistent
with the express testimony of those who had the
best means of ascertaining the fact; and as we
are certain that they were written by Solomon,
we may convert this concession of an enemy into
an argument for their heavenly origin. The
knowledge of human nature and human life,
which is too extensive and profound to have been
* Gibbon's History, chap. xii. Note 33.

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 201
acquired by a king or a Jew, may be justly re
garded as a proof, that the writer, who sustained
both these characters, had been enabled to rise
above the disadvantages of. his situation, by su
pernatural assistance ; or that, to use the words
of an inspired Historian, " God had given him
wisdom and understanding exceeding much,
and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is
on the sea-shore *."
* 1 Kipgs iv. 29.

202 THE INSPIRATION OF

CHAP. VI.
Proofs of the Inspiration of the Scriptures
in general.
Besides the proofs of the inspiration of the
Scriptures in the preceding chapters, there are
some arguments of a more general nature,
which it would be unwise to overlook, not only
because nothing should be omitted, which is
calculated to confirm our faith, and to arm us
against the assaults of infidelity; but because
they are sufficient, independently of every other
consideration, to make a powerful irapression on
our minds. They turn chiefly on the internal
evidences of the divinity of the Scriptures, aris
ing frora the sentiraents expressed in them, the
spirit which they breathe, and the effects which
they produce on the soul of man. Different kinds
of evidence affect persons of different dispositions.

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 203
A philosophical mind is most pleased with a
chain of reasoning, which bears a resemblance
to the demonstrations of science ; while to a mind
endowed with sensibility and taste, that evidence
is more agreeable, which is addressed to the
moral principles and feelings of the heart. Some
demand external proofs of the truth of revela
tion ; others direct their attention principally to
the arguments founded on its genius and ten
dency. It is by means of both kinds of evidence,
that we may expect such a persuasion of the
inspiration of the Scriptures to be produced, as
shall rise superior to the sophistry and the sar
casms of unbelievers. The impression already
made by miracles and prophecy will become
still stronger when we perceive, that the reve
lation which they attest, has unequivocal char
acters of divinity stamped upon it, which show
it to be worthy of all acceptation.
Of the six arguments which I propose to
illustrate in this chapter, five are drawn from
the Scriptures themselves; while the last infers
their inspiration from the care which Providence-
has exercised in their preservation.

204 THE INSPIRATION OF
I. The sublimity of the Scriptures may be
produced as the first argument in favour of
their inspiration.
By terming them sublime, I do not mean that
they are written in pompous language. This,
indeed, is the idea which some form of sublimity ;
but they betray the wretchedness of their taste,
and their complete ignorance of the subject.
Sublimity lies not in the expression, so much
as in the sentiment. It is the elevation of the
thoughts; and, in every true example of this
kind, it is the subject which raises the style, not
the style which gives dignity to the subject. A
passage raay be sublime, which is composed in
the most simple and artless manner. No studied
forms of composition are employed in the Scrip
tures; no attempt is made by the writers to
communicate splendour or majesty to their dis
courses, by means of artificial decorations; and
yet they as far transcend the highest efforts of
huraan eloquence, as the sky adorned with mil*
lions of stars, surpasses the puny imitations of it
by the ingenuity of mortals-

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 205
When we cast our eyes over the Scriptures,
we perceive in thera an extent and grandeur of
conception, which make the works of the boldest
and raost comprehensive genius appear mean
and grovelling. The ideas, held out by the
sacred writers, of God and his perfections, of
the dependence of all creatures upon hira as the
Author of their existence, of his power over
nature, the fiercest eleraents of which yield
unresisting obedience to his will, of his universal
governraent, of the designs of his providence,
and of the final result of his administrations, are
perfectly original, instantly recoinmend them
selves to our reason, and, at the same tirae, con
vince us by their magnificence, that it was from
a higher source than reason that they flowed.
The unassisted human mind is not capable of
thinking so nobly on divine things. We debase
the loftiest of all subjects by the meanness of
our sentiments, arid the flatness and insipidity
of our language. A system, therefore, which
displays such elevation of thought, and is so
agreeable to our best conceptions of God, may
well be supposed to have emanated frora him-
2D

206 THE INSPIRATION Of
self, who only can enable the stammering
tongues of mortals, to speak of him in a man
ner worthy of his infinite dignity.
If we turn our attention to particular in
stances of sublimity, they are so nuraerous, that
it is difficult to make a selection. In the account
of the creation by Moses, no attempt is made to
astonish the imagination by an elaborate descrip
tion ; but, if I may speak so, Omnipotence is
exhibited to our view naked and unadorned.
The Almighty speaks, and it is done; he com
mands, and it stands fast. God said, " Let
there be light, and there was light*." A heathen
writer has quoted this passage, as an instance of
the sublime ; and I will venture to assert, that
all the poets, historians, and orators, whose
writings he had perused, could not have fur
nished a more noble example of it "f. What
can be compared with the following description
of the power of God over the universe? " Who
hath hardened himself against him, and hath
prospered? which renioveth the raountains, and
* Gen. i. 3. f Longin. de Sublimitate, Sect. ix.

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 201
they know not ; which overturneth them in his
anger ; which shaketh the earth out of her place,
and the pillars thereof tremble; which com
mandeth the sun and it shineth not, and sealeth
up the stars;, which alone spreadeth out the
heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the
sea; which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and
Pleiades, and the chambers of the south ; which
doth great things past finding out, yea, and
wonders without number *." Nothing can be
conceived more calculated to fill our minds with
astonishment and awe, than this representation
of the greatness of Jehovah: " Who hath mea
sured the waters in the hollow of his hand ? and
meted out heaven Tvith the span, and compre
hended the dust of the earth in a measure, and
weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills
in a balance ? Who hath directed the Spirit of
the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught
him? With whom took he counsel, and who
instructed him, and taught him in the path
©f judgment, and taught him knowledge, and

• Job ix. 4 — 10.

208 THE INSPIRATION OF
showed to him the way of understanding? Be
hold the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and
are counted as the small dust of the balance:
behold he taketh up the isles as a very little
thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,
nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-
offering. All nations before him are as nothing,
and they are counted to him less than nothing
and vanity. It is he that sitteth upon the circle
of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as
grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens
as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent
to dwell in ; that bringeth the princes to nought;
he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity *."
In all these instances the language is dignified
but simple; the thoughts are worthy of that
Being, whose majesty and glory are described.
But of examples there is no end. They meet
the eye every where, especially in the Psalms,
Job, and the Prophetical writings ; and they
occur, not only in the compositions of David and
Isaiah, men, from whose rank and opportunities
• Isa. xl. 12. 17. 22, 23.

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 209
we might have expected elevation of mind, the
former being a king, and the latter, if not one
of the royal family, having free access to the
court; but likewise in those of Amos, whose
want of education and habits of life promised
only the most common thoughts, expressed in
the homely language of the vulgar. There is
nothing more sublime in the Scriptures them
selves, than the following passages in the pro
phecies of the herdsman of Tekoah; nothing
which excels or equals them in any human com
position : '' For lo ! he that formeth the moun
tains, and createth the wind, and declareth
unto man what is his thought, that maketh the
morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high
places of the earth, the Lord , the God of Hosts,
is his name." " Seek hira that maketh the seven
stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death
into the morning, and maketh the day dark
with night: that calleth for the waters of the
sea, and poureth thera out upon the face of the
earth, the Lord is his name *."
* Amos ir. 13. v. 8.

210 THE INSPIRATION OF
Examples of the sublime are not so frequent
in the New Testament, in which a plainer style
is generally adopted, as it consists, for the most
part, of historical narration, and of epistles com-
posed for the instruction of those to whom they
were addressed, in the doctrines of faith, and
the duties of the Christian life. Yet, it would be
easy to select a variety of passages describing
the glory and perfections of God, and that
august and solemn scene which will close all
huraan things, that equal any of those already
cited frora the Old Testament*. There are
three descriptions of the Supreme Being, which,
in a few simple words, convey more just and
elevated ideas of him, than the most elaborate
and splendid compositions of human genius and
eloquence. " God is a Spirit ;" " God is light;"
" God is love~f ." In these short sentences, more
is taught concerning him than philosophy had
ever learned ; more matter is compressed, than
was spread over the pages of all the wise men

* 1 Tim. vi. 15, 16. 1 Thess. iv. 15—17. Rev. xx,
11— 15, &c. f John iv. 24:. 1 John i. 5. iv. 8.

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 211
among the Gentiles. It is only necessary to per
use their writings, to be convinced, that none of
them ever entertained equally sublime concep
tions of the spirituality, the purity, and the
benevolence of the Deity.
The inference from the preceding illustration
will occur to every reader. That sentiments so
lofty and dignified should flow from the pens
of writers, who were, for the most part, illite
rate ; that they should originate with Jews, who,
compared with the polished nations of antiquity,
were a rude and barbarous people, is undoubt
edly very surprising ; and when we observe, that
their compositions throw those of all other
men into the shade, can we avoid the conclu
sion, that their faculties were elevated by
supernatural influence, their thoughts were
the dictates of heavenly wisdora, not the
offspring of their own minds, and the ap
propriate language in which they are ex
pressed, was suggested to them by the Spirit of
God? I know, indeed, that some men have
dared to arraign the Bible as destitute of either
sublimity or beauty, and to prefer to it some

212 THE INSPIRATION OF
ancient writings, which, though unquestion
ably excellent, it lias long been the fashion
of pedants to praise beyond the limits of
sense and decency ; but their taste was as cor
rupted, as their impiety was detestable. The
Koran of Mahomet has been celebrated for its
eloquence; and the impostor himself, in the
want of real miracles, pretended, that the com
position was so admirable as to demonstrate its
claim to inspiration. But the most sublime
passages have been evidently stolen from the
Scriptures, and have lost a portion of their ori
ginal dignity, by the changes which the deceiver
has made upon them, in order to conceal his
depredations. When compared, therefore,
with parallel passages in the sacred books, their
grandeur is lost " in the blaze of a greater
light *." " Its loftiest strains," says a writer
by no means partial to the Scriptures, " must
yield to the sublirae simplicity of the book of
Job, composed in a remote age, in the same
country, and in the same language 'f ." His
* White's Sermon's Ser. vi. f Gibbon's History, Chap. L;

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 213
opinion respecting the language, in whieh the
book of Job was originally written, may be
disputed; but his character of its composition,
and the preference which he gives it .to the
Koran, are proofe, that, laying aside for a
moment the prejudices of infidelity, he has de
cided according to the dictates of a just taste,
and a sound understanding.
II, A second arguraent for the inspiration of
the Scriptures is drawn from their piety.
In human compositions, atheistical and im
pious sentiments are too often introduced; or
the subject of religion is purposely avoided,
because it is disagreeable to the author, and to
those whom he wishes to be his readers ; or when
it is the avowed intention of the writer to treat
of God and our duty to him, ideas are brought
forward, which are fitted to cool and repress
the emotions of piety. While too much is
ascribed to the wisdom and virtue of man, or
to the power of natural causes, the mind insen
sibly loses a due sense of our physical and moral
dependence upon the First Cause, and our feeU
2E

214 THE INSPIRATION OF
ings of gratitude and love are weakened or
extinguished. This will be found, on mature
consideration, to be the tendency and the effect
even of some writings, which profess to be reli
gious, but in their care to avoid enthusiasm and
superstition, run into the opposite extreme ; and
circumscribing the agency of the Deity within the
narrowest possible limits, fix our attention more
upon created beings, than upon Him by whom
they were made, and from whom all their excel
lencies are derived.
When we open the Bible, we enter upon
a different scene. We find ourselves in the
presence of God; we are encompassed with
the wonders of his power, and wisdom, and
goodness ; our eyes are directed to him, as the
First and the Last, the Beginning and the End
of all things; we behold him at the head of
nature, and its various parts appear as the
parts of a vast machine, moving in conformity
to his plan, and according to the force which
he has impressed upon it. One great Agent
is seen, whom creatures animate and inani
mate obey. Their powers, their talents, their

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 215
virtues, their achievements, instead of being
placed in opposition to him, and advancing
a rival claim to our admiration and praise, con
spire to display his glory, and to elevate our
conceptions of hira, while they are exhibited
both as the gifts of his bounty, and as the means
and instruments, by which he accomplishes his
designs. How great and awful is that Being, who
is above all, and in all, guides the insect on
the wing, and the planet driving through the im
mensity of space, and comprehends in his know
ledge and care all the details of the Universe !
And what is the aira of this sublime theology, but
to render sentiments of reverence, subraission,
and confidence, habitual to our minds! to make
Him first in our thoughts, as he is first in excel
lence and dignity ! Can we, then, believe, that
this Book, which is full of God, and has no other
object than to exalt him above every rival, to
enthrone him in our hearts, to establish his will
as the universal law, and to make all admira
tion, all praise, all love, and all hope meet in
him as their centre; can we believe, that this
book is the offspring of human fraud, and that,

216 THE INSPIRATION OF
the authors, in asserting their inspiration, were
guilty of a deliberate falsehood, and practised
the greatest crime for the sole purpose of estab
lishing the purest religion? This an infidel
must believe; but it is more incredible than any
thing in the Bible.
To the Scriptures men are indebted for all
their just notions of God ; and if there be scnne
places of the earthy where wortby concepttom
are formed of his essence, his attributes, his
government, his worship, and the obedience
which we owe to him, they are those places only,
where the books, whidi we believe to have bees
given by inspiration, are known. There is
scarcely any person who is uot apprized of the
superiority of Christian to Heathen nations,
ancient and modern, in their ideas of religion.
The conceptions which a peasant among us
entertains of the Divine Being are more exalted,
and the worsliip which he offers to him is purer
and more dignified, than were the conceptions
and the worehip of the most enliglitened and
devout philosophers of Greece and Rome.
" The most ignorant Christian," saj^ a sensible

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 211
writer, " knows more of God, of true religion,
and of moral obligations, than the most knowing
Pagan that ever lived. A modern philosopher
would turn a downright adorer of Plato or
Cicero, should he find such a lecture in either
of them concerning the unity, the omnipresence,
the omniscience, the justice, mercy, and power
of God, concerning the creation of the world,
the degeneracy and corruption of human nature,
and the means of its recovery, as a poor trades
man or farmer delivers to his children on a
Sunday evening *." Now, reason was the same
in the Gentiles as in us, and in some of them
it existed in higher perfection than in most of
us it has attained ; the book of nature was open
to their inflection as well as to ours ; and their
diligence in studying it cannot be exceeded.
How, then, shall we account for our superiority,
a superiority which is seen in the lowest of us
when compared with the highest of them, but
by reftectiog, that, besides the book of nature
with which alone they were favoured, we enjoy
* Deism Revealed, Vol. ii. page 55.

218 THE INSPIRATION OF
the book of revelation ? Some just notions of
the perfections and government of God prevail
among Mahometans ; but they are derived from
the Scriptures, to which, as we formerly re
marked, the Koran is indebted for its purest
sentiments, and its most sublime descriptions.
— The argument drawn from the piety of the
Scriptures in proof of their inspiration, we shall
connect with another arising from
III. Their purity or holiness.
Human writings usually bear evident marks
of the moral imperfection of their authors. If
there be any exceptions, they are such writings
as have been fashioned most exactly after the
model of the Scriptures. Something is often
found in them to provoke and inflame the pas
sions, to justify or palliate their excesses. Even
systems of raorality are extremely deficient
both in precepts and in prohibitions: some
vices are tolerated either in whole or in part,
and some virtues are omitted. Virtue is not
carried to its highest pitch ; allowances are
made for human frailties, which, in plain

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 219
language, are the irregular passions and inclin
ations of human nature ; and less respect is
paid to the motives of action than to the action
itself. The intelligent reader will perceive,
that my subject leads me to speak only of such
books as have been composed by persons who
had not the assistance of revelation. Yet, the
reraarks now made may be extended to too many
writings of Christians, and even to some which
have been much admired and celebrated as
teaching the purest religion and morality. The
depravity of man is a subtile poison, which in
sinuates itself into every thing that comes into
contact with it, and the operations of which the
most powerful antidotes cannot entirely prevent.
Upon the Scriptures there is engraven in
legible characters the same inscription, which
adorned the High Priest's mitre, " Holiness to
the Lord." We cannot but consider them as a
transcript of the divine purity, when we observe
bow careful they are to exhibit God as glorious
not merely in power and wisdom, but also in
holiness ; and with what earnestness they recom
mend conformity to him as the honour and

220 THE INSPIRATION OF
happiness of his rational creatures. To every
relation and condition of life they extend their
authority, and prescribe the duties, which, in
our diversified circumstances, we are bound to
perform. They grant no toleration to any of
the works of the flesh ; but by one comprehen
sive sentence condemn them all as offensive to
God, and inconsistent with salvation. No liberty
is allowed to those appetites and passions, which
operate most powerfully in our nature, and to
which false religions, finding themselves unable
to control them, are compelled to give some
indulgence, as covetousness, ambition, revenge,
and sensuality. They inculcate all those virtues,
and conderan all those vices, which had ever
been the subjects of human injunction and re
straint ; they prescribe duties which the purblind
wisdom of philosophers and statesraen had not
discovered, and stigmatize as criminal certain
tempers and practices, which they had permitted
as innocent, or recommended as praise-worthy.
Not only do the disorders of the life fall under
their disapprobation ; but the corrupt principle
frora which they proceed, even when it lurks

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 221
unseen, and confines its activity to the heart,
is treated with equal severity. The law of man
says only, " Thou shalt not steal ;" but the law
of the Scriptures, carrying its prohibition much
higher, adds, " Thou shalt not covet." The
law of man forbids adultery ; but the law of thd
Scriptures, the first emotion of criminal desire«
'* Ye have heard that it was said by them of old
time. Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I
say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a wo-*
man to lust after her, hath committed adultery
with her already in his heart*." In a word, it
is the manifest design of the Scriptures to de*
stroy sin in its root and in its branches, to crush
it in the bud, as well as to blast its flowers and
its fruits. They aim at subduing and finally
eradicating our sinful propensities, and at esta
blishing as the supreme law of our thoughts,
words, and actions, the will of God.
Let us now conjoin these two qualities of the
Scriptures, and ask frora what source a book so
pure and so pious has proceeded. It cannot be
* Mat. v. 27, 28.
2F

222 THE INSPIRATION OF
the work of man, because it is too perfect to
have come from so imperfect a being. All his
works of this nature give unequivocal proofs of
his weakness and depravity. If, however, we
should admit for a moment that the Scriptures
are a human production, it is plain that the
authors must have been either good or bad men.
That they were good men is impossible ; for no
good man would act the part of an impious im
postor, and pretend a divine inspiration which
he did not enjoy. A good man would not
speak or act wickedly, even for God; and
besides, the book itself, which persons of this
character are supposed to have written, denounces
the most dreadful judgments on false prophets.
who forge a commission from heaven, and con-
derans liars of every description to suffer the
everlasting torments of hell. Pious frauds, or
the use of artiflce and falsehood in propagating
the truth, and endeavouring to promote the
spiritual interests of mankind, although they
have been countenanced by the approbation and
the practice of some Christians, are contrary both

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 223
to the letter and to the spirit of their religion *.
Common sense forbids us to believe, that, if the
writers of the sacred books had been impostors,
they would have passed sentence on themselves,
without any necessity, and inculcated such moral
precepts, as were at variance with their own
conduct, and must have rendered them, if they
were ever detected, the objects of universal
execration. It is equally evident, that the
Scriptures were not fabricated by bad men.
Would they have contrived the most devout
system of religion, and the purest system of
morality, which were ever presented to mankind?
Surely, persons who were themselves eneraies to
God, would not have taught us to love and obey
him ; nor would they who took pleasure in sin,
have exhibited itin an odious light, and employed
the most powerful arguments to dissuade us
from comraitting it. I will even venture to
assert, that bad men have a judgment too inac
curate, and a taste too gross, to be able to com
pose such a book as the Bible, in which moral
* Rom. lii. 5 — 8

224 THE INSPIRATION OF
distinctions are so refined, the corrupt principle
is traced to its inmost recesses, and detected
under its most specious disguises, and certain
actions, which are admired by the world as the
most sublirae efforts of virtue, are pronounced
to be of no value. The mode of thinking in
morals, which appears in the Scriptures, is the
most distant imaginable from that of men who
were the slaves of vice. It is superior to the
ideas even of the most virtuous men, who have
not learned to think from it.
It being manifest, then, that the Scriptures
are not the work of men of any description, it
remains that Ave ascribe them to God, whose
image and superscription they bear. Their
piety and purity are features, by which they
are known to be his offspring. The obvious
design of the sacred books, is to communicate
just and elevated conceptions of his nature,
attributes, and dispensations; to create and
cherish a devout disposition, and the habit of
contemplating him in every object and occur
rence ; to inspire us with love to his moral char
acter, to refine our affections, and to give dig-

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 225
nity to our pursuits ; in a word, to excite us to
consecrate ourselves to his service, and to glorify
hiip " with our bodies and our spirits." Who,
then, can doubt, that they are a pure emana
tion from the Father of lights; that they have
proceeded from the Uncreated Source of wis
dom and goodness?
IV. The efficacy of the Scriptures suggests
another argument in proof of their inspiration.
By their efficacy, 1 mean the power which
they have exerted in former times, and continue
to exert, in changing the principles and subdu
ing the passions of men, purifying their hearts,
inspiring them with undaunted courage and
elevating them above earthly and selfish con
siderations ; in fine, in causing such moral and
spiritual effects, as no means merely human
would have been sufficient to produce.
We are naturally led to take notice, in the
first place, of the success with which the gospel
was crowned at its first publication. Multitudes,
in those countries to which the ministrations of
the Apostles extended, renouncing the religion

226 THE INSPIRATION OF
of their Fathers, the peace which they enjoyed,
and the sins in which they had lived in their
ignorance, assumed the profession of Christianity,
although it demanded from them many costly
sacrifices and difficult services; and this was
done, not only by the poor who had nothing to
lose, but by many of the rich and noble whose
estates and honours were at stake ; not only by
the vulgar who might have been easily imposed
upon, but by men of talents and education, versed
in learning and philosophy, whom nothing but
the irresistible evidence of truth could have per
suaded to disclaim their former wisdom as folly.
There is not in all history so astonishing an event,
as the conversion of the world to the Christian
faith. None of those motives> which usually
induce men to change their opinions, had any
share in effecting it. On the contrary, it was
opposed by a regard to honour, safety, and ease,
and by all the corrupt propensities of the heart.
It was not accomplished by worldly might and
power, by subtile reasonings and captivating
eloquence, but by a simple statement of the
facts and doctrines of the gospel. Hence we

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 221
have inferred, in a preceding chapter, that
miracles must have been performed by the first
preachers of the truth, to prove their commis
sion from God, and to awaken the attention of
mankind. I now advance a step farther, and affirm, that
miracles alone will not fully account for their
success, because it is certain, that many, who
witnessed the wonderful works performed by
the Apostles, were so far from being convinced,
that they rejected their doctrine with contempt,
I know, indeed, that the rapid progress of the
gospel, in the first ages, has been sometimes
attributed solely to the mjracles by which it was
confirmed ; but I know likewise, that Christi
anity has not seldom been maintained on un
christian grounds. When writers against infi
delity deny or overlook the necessity of the
illuminating and regenerating influences of the
Spirit, they defend a religion, a fundamental
article, of which they do not know, or are too
proud to admit. Without miracles, the world
could not have been required to believe, because
reasonable beings cannot be convinced without

228 THE INSPIRATION OF
evidence, and God, in proposing a revelation,
will deal with them agreeably to their intelligent
nature. But that the conviction of the under
standing is not always followed by the consent
of the heart, is plain from the instance of the
Pharisees, who, not being able to deny the truth
of the miracles of Christ, malignantly ascribed
them to the assistance of Satan *. A superna
tural influence, therefore, acting on the minds
of those whom they addressed, must have ac
companied the discourses of the first Christian
Missionaries, by which they were rendered effec
tual to conquer strong prejudices, control imper
ious passions, and produce a complete revolution
in the ideas, principles, inclinations, and conduct
of myriads of converts. But, what the dis
courses of the Apostles did, their writings may
be said to have done. There is no reason for
making any distinction. The system of doctrine
which they have written, is precisely the same
with the .system which they preached. It is the
substance of their sermons, a succinct account
* Mark iii. 22—30.

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 229
of that revelation which they detailed more
copiously in public ; and it may, therefore, be
justly considered as having exerted all that
energy, by which, as one of them observes,
*' imaginations and every high thing which
exalted itself against the knowledge of God
were cast down, and every thought was brought
into captivity to Christ*." The power of their
doctrine is produced by the Apostles themselves
as a proof of its divinity. " The Jews require a
sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom; but
we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a
stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolish
ness ; but unto them which are called, both Jews
and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the
wisdom of God -f- ."
A second proof of the efficacy of the Scrip
tures is furnished by the resolution, with which
they have inspired thousands of both sexes, and
of the young as well as of the old, rather to part
with all their worldly enjoyments, and to surren
der life itself amidst the severest torments, than
* 2 Cor. X. 5. t 1 Cor. i. 22—24. Rom. i. 16.
2 G

230 THE INSPIRATION OF
to renounce the profession of the gospel. The
composure, the firmness, the unconquerable pa
tience, the triumphant joy of the martyrs in the
early ages, struck the spectators with astonish
ment, and prevailed upon many of them to
embrace a religion, which proved itself to be
divine, by raising human nature above itself.
What animated those holy persons to submit to
tortures, the bare recital of which makes us
shudder with horror? Shall we suppose that
they Avere madmen who had no purpose in view ;
or that their nerves were formed of iron, and
their bodies were insensible of pain? No, they
felt as other raen feel ; and they knew the value
of life too well to throw it away. But they were
assured of the truth of the revelation contained
in the Scriptures; and as they accounted it their
duty to assert its truth in the face of the most
formidable dangers, so they were borne up, in
circumstances apparently more than sufficient
to have overcome their courage and constancy,
by its hopes and consolations. It was in the
expectation of that recompense which it promises
to the faithful, that they cheerfully suffered the

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 231
loss of all things on the earth. They ought to
be considered, therefore, as having shed their
blood to attest their persuasion of the divine
authority of the Scriptures ; and this was more
particularly the case with such of them, as re
fused to redeem their lives, by delivering up
the sacred books to be destroyed by their per
secutors. Farther, their efficacy appears in the a!uthority
which they exercise over wicked men, on whose
passions they impose restraints, and in whose
bosoms they awaken bitter remorse for the past,
and the dread of a future reckoning, which
disturbs them, not only in the hours of solitude
when they are alone with their consciences, but
in the midst of their jovial companions, and in
scenes of dissipation. That they exert this power
in the secret retirement of the heart, we learn
frora the confessions of the penitent, who tell us
how unhappy they often were in the days of
their folly; and from the exclamations of the
convinced, but unreclaimed, who suffer the hor
rors of despair. There is, I may add, a tacit
acknowledgment of their power, in the eager-

232 THE INSPIRATION OF
ness discovered by the impious and profligate,
to disprove their authority. That is evidently
an eye-sore, which a person is incessantly en
deavouring to remove out of his sight. If the
wicked did not feel the Scriptures to be at war
with their happiness, although they might not
befriend them, yet they would let them alone.
In a word, the change produced by raeans of
the Scriptures, in the tempers and behaviour of
men, demonstrates, that they are possessed of
greater power than was ever exerted by any
other system of doctrine. Philosophy - could
boast of two or three, whom its eloquent exhor
tations had persuaded to abandon their profli
gate courses ; " but what are these few exam
ples," says Origen, " when compared with the
multitudes, whom the plain and unadorned
doctrines of the gospel have turned from dissi
pation to sobriety, from dishonesty to justice,
from timidity to a bold contempt of death for
the sake of religion *!" That which we call the
word of God raakes the sensual pure, the proud
* Orig. contra Celsum, Lib. iii. page 152.

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 233
humble, the revengeful forgiving, the selfish
disinterested, the sullen and morose, courteous
and kind. Its efficacy cannot be better de
scribed than iu the well known words of Lactan
tius: " Give me an angry, abusive, passionate
man; and wifii a few of the words of God, 1
will render him as meek as a lamb. Give me
an avaricious and niggardly man ; and I- will
return him Uberal, and with unsparing hand
distributing his money. Give me a man who
is afraid of pain and death ; and he shall pre
sently contemn crosses, fires, and torments of
every kind. Give me a lustful, adulterous,
lecherous man; and you shall see him sober,
chaste, continent. Give me a cruel and blood
thirsty man ; his fury shall be instantly changed
into clemency. Give me a man who is unjust,
foolish, and a notorious offender ; and he shall
immediately become equitable, prudent, and
innocent. So great is the force of divine wis
dom, that when infused into the breast, it expels,
by a single effort, folly the mother of sins *."
* Lactan. Lib. iii. cap. 25.

234 THE INSPIRATION OF
Such moral miracles it has wrought in every
age ; and as there are many dead, so there are
not a few living, witnesses of its irresistible
power. Hence it is compared to a ligbt which
dispels our darkness; to a fire which kindles
our affections ; to a hammer which breaks our
hearts in pieces; to a two-edged sword which
pierces into the inmost recesses of the soul ; to a
seed which changes our nature, and renders us
fruitful in holiness.
It may not be improper to introduce, in this
place, for the illustration of the present argu
ment, a comparison between the manners of
Heathen and Christian nations. I know, in
deed, that in the opinion of those who have been
accustomed to hear, and are so simple as to be
lieve, the insidious declamations of infidels, and
the loose panegyrics of some ill-informed or ill-
advised friends of revelation, the comparison
will rather be unfavourable to our purpose.
The virtues of certain Heathen nations are
celebrated in the highest strains, with an evi
dent design to insinuate, that, by the light of
nature alone, which we pronounce to be insuf-

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 235
ficient, they have attained a degree of moral
excellence, unequalled by those who enjoy the
boasted advantages of the gospel *, With the

* Much has been said in praise ofthe virtues of the, Chinese,
a people, concerning whom, even after the late British and
Dutch embassies, we have only imperfect information. We
have learned, however, that two or three thousand children,
according to other accounts, a much greater number, are
annually exposed in the streets of Pekin; and we may judge
of the state of manners in China from the saying of one of its
Philosophers, that he should consider as a prodigy of virtue
the man, who, being alone with a woman, should not offer
violence to' her. From such competitors. Christian nations
have nothing to fear. It is curious, that the high virtues of
this nation should appear only in the writings of some infidel
philosophers who were never out of Europe; while almost all
travellers agree in charging them with the meanest and most
odious vices. There is the same contradiction between the
fine descriptions, which are sometimes given of the innocence
and simplicity of the natives of India, and the plain unem-
bellished accounts of those who have lived among them, and
witnessed their raanners. We are assured by the latter, that
they are a very depraved people; and the more intimately
we are acquainted with the history of Heathen nations, the
more fully shall we be convinced of the truth of this charge
brought against the Gentiles in general, that they " walk in
the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them, because ofthe blindness oftheir heart;" and
that " being past feeling, they have given themselves over
unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness,"
Eph. iv. 17—19.

236 THE INSPIRATION OF
same intention, some characters in the Gentile
world have been commended with the utmost
extravagance of praise. The testiraony of the
ancients, who were best acquainted with their
history, affirming that those men were guilty of
the most abominable crimes, is passed over in
silence ; or without evidence, and even the least
shadow of proof, is represented as false and ca
lumnious. The vices of Christians are collected
with malignant industry, and exhibited in all
their aggravations. Yet, when declamation is
set aside, and facts only are attended to, the
balance will incline in favour of Christian na
tions. A man who should practise sodomy,
encourage prostitution, and almost in every
sentence profane the name of God, would be
abhorred by us as a monster, although such a
man was admired by the Gentiles as a paragon
of virtue *. There were several enormous evils,
* Look at the following picture of a virtuous man among
the ancient Heathens, drawn not by the hand of a Christian,
who might have been suspected of having distorted the fea
tures and deepened the shades, but by the faithful pencil of
an infidel. " I think," says Mr. Hume, " I have fairly made
it appear, that an Athenian man of merit might be such a

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 231
which disgraced the most celebrated nations of
antiquity, but are now abolished, or have re
ceived a check, and exist, not as in former
times under the protection and countenance
of law, but in contempt of its authority, or by
eluding its vigilance ; such as pederasty, the ex
posure of children, domestic slavery, the cruel
and murderous shows of the amphitheatre,
a coramunity of wives, and fornication, which
some philosophers recommended by their ex
ample and their precepts. I may add, that, in
Christian nations, there is a spirit of beneficence,
unknown during the reign of heathenism, which

one as with us would pass for incestuous, a parricide, an as
sassin, an ungrateful, perjured traitor, and something else too
abominable to be named; not to mention his rusticity, and
ill-manners. And having lived in this manner, his death
might be entirely suitable. He might conclude the scene by
a desperate act of self-murder, and die with the most absurd
blasphemies in his mouth. And notwithstanding all this, he
shall have statues, if not altars, erected to his memory;
poems and orations shall be composed in his praise; great
sects shall be proud of calling themselves by his name; and
the most distant posterity shall blindly continue their ad
miration. Though were such a one to arise among themselves,
they would justly regard him with horror and execration."
Hume's Essays, vol. ii p. 399.
2 H

238 THE INSPIRATION OF
is displayed in the erection of infirmaries, hos
pitals, alms-houses, charity-schools, &c. and in
the liberal relief afforded to the indigent and
unfortunate. No man, I am persuaded, whose
ideas of morality are enlarged and refined, will
think the assertion extravagant, or incapable of
the most satisfactory proof, that it would be easy
to find in a Christian country, even among its
peasants and mechanics, thousands, with whom
the most accomplished philosopher of heathen
ism might blush to be compared.
The improvement of our manners cannot be
accounted for by our improvements in sciences
and arts ; for it has been uniformly found, that
the progress of nations in refinement is accom
panied with a correspondent progress in luxury
and dissipation. Our superior morals are the
consequence of a more perfect law ; of precepts
inculcated, and principles inspired by revelation.
Christianity has established a new, and more
exalted standard of virtue. The examples which
it proposes for our imitation, are nobler than
those of pagan philosophy; its instructions are
purer and more subfime; and its motives are

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 239
better fitted to work upon the affections of the
soul. That there is much immorality in Chris
tian nations is indeed to be lamented, but is no
more than we had reason to expect, since our
religion does not operate as a charm, without
the knowledge and concurrence of the person iri
whose case it is employed, but as a medicine,
which cures none but those by whom it is taken.
If men will not attend to its evidence, nor make
themselves acquainted with its doctrines and
motives, but will reject the gospel at the sug
gestion of prejudice and fashion, or while they
profess to believe it, suffer their minds to be
diverted and debauched by the cares and plea
sures of life ; they are not more within the sphere
of its actual influence, in consequence of their
moral circurastances, than if they lived in a
country, on which the gospel has never shed its
salutary rays. We know, at the same time;
that manners have always been most pure, when
the Scriptures were most studied and revered ;
and it is singular, that the greatest atrocities in
modern times have been perpetrated by a neigh
bouring nation, which in its public character had

240 THE INSPIRATION OF
renounced Christianity, and in which the sacred
books had long been unknown, or despised.
This comparison will perhaps seem a digres
sion. To bring the argument, therefore, to a
conclusion, the effects accomplished by the
Scriptures being manifestly such as no human
means have ever been observed to produce, is it
not consonant to sound reason, to acknowledge
as their author Almighty God, who has the
hearts of all men in his hands, and turns them
as the rivers of waters? That must be his word,
which operates with irresistible power, and works
a change so great in the sentiments, and dispo
sitions of the soul, that it is fitly represented as
a second creation. The propriety of this infer
ence is still more apparent frora a review of the
nature of that change. All the energy of the
Scriptures is displayed in making men better ;
in removing their imperfections; in inspiring
them with pious affections towards God, and
benevolent dispositions towards their brethren ;
in improving their moral faculties, and trans
forming them into the likeness of him who
created them. Their whole force is exerted in

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 241
restoring that state of innocence and purity,
which, tradition informs us, was the original
state of mankind; and in which our reason
pronounces it to be agreeable to the moral at
tributes of God, to have placed his intelligent
offspring. Here then his finger is perceived;
and we conclude that from him has proceeded
that Book, which conducts us to himself, and by
reproducing his holy image in our souls, qualifies
us for serving him in this world, and for enjoying
his presence and favour in the next.
V. The inspiration of the Scriptures may be
inferred from their harmony.
A religion devised by men, a system of philo
sophy, or a code of laws, will undergo, in the
course of a few centuries, very great alterations,
in consequence of new discoveries, and changes
in ideas and manners. Opinions and maxims,
which were once in high repute, will be exploded;
and principles and practices of modern date,
will be substituted in their room. Such, on ex
amination, is the actual history of the huraan
mind, and its productions. False religions,

242 THE INSPIRATION OF
which have had some continuance, are found,
when viewed at two distant periods, to have
varied in dogmas and observances, in the objects
and forms of their wor-ship. Schemes of philo
sophy appear and vanish like the transient
modes of fashion ; and principles, of which the
truth was not questioned in one age, are dis
carded as foolish and absurd in another. In the
Scriptures, we see a religion, of which one fun
damental article has not been changed, during
the long period of several thousand years. The
Christian worships the same God, confides in the
same Mediator, obeys the same moral precepts,
and expects the same immortality, as the Israelite
did in the wilderness, or the patriarch before the
flood. In a collection of the writings of authors, who
lived in distant ages, and different states of
society, it is impossible that there should not be
several contradictions, if the subject of which
they treat be the same. Their capacities, their
modes of life, their information, their views,
their dispositions, being exceedingly diversified,
it could not be expected, that, if permitted to

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 243
give free scope to their thoughts, they would
in every point exactly agree. As the Bible is
usually presented to us in one volume, we are
apt to look upon it as a single production, like
a collection of histories, poems, and dissertations
upon a v,ariety of subjects, which an individual
author may publish. But the true light in which
it ought to be considered, is that of a repository
of the treatises composed by twenty or thirty
different authors, who. it should be remembered,
did not flourish at the same time, but arose in
distant ages, and were scattered over the long
interval of fifteen hundred j'cars, from Moses
the first of them, to John the last. They lived,
therefore, in very different states of society, and
were familiarised to very different manners and
opinions. As man is, in a great degree, the
creature of circurastances, receiving impressions
from surrounding objects, and taking the form
ofthe situation in which he is placed, their views
of many subjects must have been as various, as
the modes of thinking which prevailed in the
times when they respectively appeared. Hence
we might have looked for the same diversity on

244 THE INSPIRATION OF
the subject of religion. It was natural that the
ideas of the more early writers should be rude
and inaccurate, when compared with the ideas
of those who lived in a more enlightened and
refined state of society; and that their repre
sentations of the Divine Being, and the nature
of our duty to him, should be accommodated to
the manners and taste of their contemporaries.
Besides, there was a similar diversity in their
education and rank, some of thera being princes
and rulers, and others the lowest of the people ;
some of them being learned, and others illiterate.
The sentiments of the great and the vulgar, of
philosophers and mechanics, usually differ as
much, especially on abstract subjects, such as
many of the doctrines of religion are, as the
sentiments of a polished and a barbarous age.
Notwithstanding these considerations, from
which we might have expected to find the Bible
full of contradictions, we observe in it, with no
small astonishment, the most perfect harmony
in sentiment and design. All the Prophets
agree in predicting a person, who, by some of
them is styled the Messiah, and by them all is

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 245
described as the Saviour of his people; and their
ideas of his dignity, his humiliation, his suffer
ings, and his glory, are in exact unison with
those which are detailed by the Evangelists.
The whole of the New Testament, indeed,
agrees with the Old, as being a fulfilment of
its types, promises, and predictions. In. the
writers, whether of the former or of the pre
sent dispensation, we meet with the same re
presentations of the character and perfebtions
of the Deity; the same plan proposed for the
restoration of sinful men to his favour; the
same views of the nature and blessings of
redemption, though in one place the language
may be figurative, and in another, plain; the
same method pointed out of obtaining an in
terest in those blessings; the same vices con
demned, and the same virtues enjoined. The
religion which they teach, is in substance the
same; the only alteration which we observe,
is in its external form ; and for that alteration
such reasons are assigned, as exempt God from
the charge of mutability, and the sacred writers
from the charge of contradiction. In fact, the
2 I

246 THE INSPIRATION OP
introduction of a new dispensation haviug been
announced by the Prophets, not to overthrow,
but to perfect the dispensation under which
they lived, had not the ceremonial law been
abolished, the New Testament would have been
at variance with the Old ; and we should have
searched in vain for evidences of divine wisdom,
in the continuance of institutions, which were
become useless and unmeaning, because their
end was accomplished. Some instances, indeed,
in which it is pretended that the inspired writers
contradict themselves or one another, have been
industriously collected and pompously displayed,
in order to disprove the divinity of the Scrip
tures. As I purpose to consider the objection
drawn from this topic in the next chapter, it is
at present necessary only to observe, that the
alleged contradictions do not affect tiie grand
doctrines and principles of the Scriptures, but
merely some subordinate and less important
matters; and that, after all, with a little dili
gence and attention, they may be reconciled.
It must be acknowledged, that a number of
individuals, by a previous arrangement of their

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 241
plan, and mutual communication in the course
of executing it, might compose a work, which
should exhibit perfect unity of thought and de
sign. It is certain, at the same time, that such.
an attempt could rarely succeed; and that, if
they should endeavour to impose their work
upon the world, as the production of one man,
the fraud could hardly fail to be detected by
some means or other. The harraony of the sa
cred writers cannot be suspected to be the result.
of a well-concerted scheme, to give to a fable the
air and the consistence of truth, because they
were not contemporaries, but lived in different
ages, and could not, therefore, be under any
engagement to co-operate, nor have any com
mon purpose to accomplish. They could never
meet to contrive a plan, or to give a uniform
appearance to the parts which they had separ
ately executed. As, notwithstanding the de
tached character and absolute freedom of the
writers, freedom, I mean, from the restraint
which human authority, or a previous stipula
tion might have laid upon their thoughts, their
works harmonize in the most wonderful manner.

248 THE INSPIRATION OF
and it would be a proof of insanity to suppose,
that this harmony, since it could not be the effect
of design, was the result of accident ; is it not
manifest that they were all guided by one Spirit,
namely, the Spirit of truth, who is the same yes
terday, and to-day, and for ever? When the
laws of nature are suspended in the moral and
intellectual world, we have equal reason to infer
an interposition of the Deity, as when there is a
suspension of its physical laws. If, then, a num
ber of persons, who would have differed much,
had they acted according to their native genius
and dispositions, unite most cordially in all their
views, without any coraraunication of their
plan, we must consider them as controlled by
a supernatural influence, which moulds and
fashions their minds to its purpose. Those
pens, which have described letters so exactly
similar, must have been guided by the same
hand ; those instruments, which conspire to form
so sweet a concord, must have been tuned by
the same artist. The spirit of error and impos
ture could not, in such circumstances, have as
sumed the characteristic attribute of truth, im-
mutability.

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 249
VI. The last argument for the inspiration of
the Scriptures, is founded on their wonderful,
and . I might almost add, miraculous preser
vation. The sacred books ofthe Egyptians, the Chal
deans, and other ancient nations, have perished,
although no means were industriously used to
destroy them. The leaves of the Sibyl have
long since been scattered by the winds*; and
of her oracles, which were consulted with such
reverence, and preserved with such supertitious
care, I know not whether a fragment remain.
Those which are quoted by the Fathers, are
clumsy fabrications of some Christians more
zealous than honest. It is more than three
thousand years since the first of our sacred
books, and nearly two thousand since the last
of them, was written ; and yet not one of them,
nor, perhaps, a single sentence of them, has
been lostf.

* JEneid. Lib. iii. lin. 441—452.
f Large collections of various readings of the Scriptures
have been made by the industry of critics. But of these,
some are raerely conjectural; others are incautiously, in my

250 THE INSPIRATION OF
Very ancient books, it must be acknowledged,
have come down to us through a long succession
of ages; but their case, when attentively con
sidered, will appear to be very different from
that of the Scriptures. Against those books no
person had conceived any ill-will, nor did any
man feel himself interested in suppressing them,
because they neither contradicted his prejudices,
nor opposed any obstacle to the gratification of his
passions, and the success of his schemes ; whereas
kings and emperors, both before, and since the
coming of Christ, have been the determined ene
mies of the Scriptures, and have employed all their
authority, and the utmost severity of persecution,
to accomplish their destruction. Antiochus Epi
phanes, in the prosecution of his design to establish
the idolatrous worship of the Greeks in Judea,
commanded all the copies of the law which could
be found to be burned, and forbade, under the
penalty of death, any Jew to retain the Scriptures
opinion, taken frora ancient versions; others are trifling, as
they relate to syllables and words of little moment; and the
most important of them do not deprive us of one article of
faith, nor establish any heresy or error.

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 251
in his possession *. The furious persecution of
Diocletian commenced with an order to demol
ish the Churches of the Christians, and to burn
the Scriptures"!'. Bishops and presbyters were
cruelly tortured to constrain them to deliver up
the sacred bookis; and those, who were over
come by fear or pain, received, from their more
courageous and indignant brethren, the infa
mous appellation of traditors. Besides, tiie
sinful appetites and passions of men have, in all
ages, been at war with the Scriptures ; and the
patrons of heresies and errors have experienced
them to be the chief impediment to the progress
and triumph of their opinions. Their hand, to
allude to the description of Ishmael, has been
against all ungodly men, who held the truth in
unrighteousness; aud it was natural, therefore,
that the hands of all ungodly men should be
against them. A book, which pronounced the
wisdom of the world to be folly, treated its most

* 1 Maccab. i. 36, 51.
f Euseb. Lib. viii. Cap. 2. Lactan. de mortibus perse-
cutorunj, cap. 12.

25^ THE INSPIRATION OF
serious and iraportant pursuits as childish and
criminal, and branded with the odious name of
vice its favourite indulgences, was likely to be
proscribed with indignation, and persecuted
with unrelenting revenge.
Amidst so many enemies, we should not have
been surprised, if the Bible had shared the fate
of other books once venerated, and reputed
divine, which have long since disappeared.
Surely, had it been a work of man, its me
morial must have perished from the earth. But
of its preservation amidst the dangers which
threatened it, we ourselves are witnesses. With
whatever earnestness multitudes may have wished
to destroy a book, which thwarted their mea
sures, and disturbed them in the practice of
iniquity, few have been so daring as to lay their
sacrilegious hands upon it ; those who have been
guilty of this audacious attempt, have been dis
appointed in their hopes, whether they aimed at
its total destruction, or at the adulteration of its
contents; and it remains to this day an object
of veneration and dread to the very men, whose
errors it condemns, and against whose evil ways

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 253
it denounces the righteous vengeance of heaven.
Notwithstanding the triumph of Arianism, we
still meet with all those passages, which were
ever alleged to prove the equality of the Son
with the Father ; and although for several ages
Antichrist reigned in the plenitude of power,
and enjoyed the most favourable opportunities,
amidst the gross ignorance, and unsuspecting
credulity of mankind, to corrupt the Scriptures,
we are able from them alone, without the aid of
the writings of the Fathers, to convict the church
of Rome of apostacy, and to prove its peculiar
doctrines and usages to be false and supersti
tious. Not one jot or one tittle of revelation
has perished.
It is manifest, then, that the Scriptures have
been the object of the peculiar care of Provi
dence. By various means, they have been pre
served, amidst many perils and revolutions, to
the present hour; and now when copies are so
multiplied, and translations have been made, or
will soon be made, into the language of almost
eve^ nation under heaven, we have the highest
moral certainty, that the Bible will last as long
2K

254 THE INSPIRATION OF
as the world itself. The patronage which God
has so visibly afforded to it, is an evidence, that
he acknowledges it as his own. Had it been a
human composition, he would not have lent his
assistance to make an imposture be regarded as
a genuine revelation from the Father of lights.
He would not have permitted it to maintain its
authority uncontrolled for thousands of years,
and to deceive, not merely the ignorant and
careless, who resign their understandings with
out a struggle to the guidance of any person,
who <?hooses to mislead them, but the wisest and
holiest of men, who were sincere and diligent
in their inquiries, and the more they examined
the Scriptures, were the more fully convinced
of their heavenly origin. To this conclusion
we are led by all our ideas of his wisdom and
goodness ; and it could not, without impiety, be
imagined, that Providence would espouse the
cause of falsehood, and exhibit it to the world
with all the signatures of truth.
These are the general arguments, which I
proposed to bring forward in favour of the in-
!5piration of the Scriptures. They are of suffi-

THE SCRIPTURES IN GENERAL. 255
cient strength to establish this point, indepen
dently of any other proof; but when added to
the particular arguments advanced in support
of the divinity of the Old and the New Testa
ment, they compose a body of evidence, which
cannot fail to satisfy the mind of every candid
inquirer, and to obtain his assent to the irapor
tant truth, which it has been the design of the
foregoing chapters to illustrate and confirm.

256 OBJECTIONS.

<MV^##i#W/#««f/^/<^.«W

CHAP. VII.
Objections.
By the arguments in the preceding chapters,
it may be hoped, that a conviction of the divine
authority of the Scriptures will be produced in
the mind of every unprejudiced and attentive
reader. But although freedom from prejudice
is indispensably requisite to an impartial investi
gation of any subject in debate, and there is
no qualification of which infidels talk and boast
so much, even insinuating, or boldly asserting,
that they alone are possessed of it ; yet there are
no persons in the world more evidently under
the influence of prepossession, when any question
relative to revelation is discussed, Their preju-?
dices are of two kinds, and may be properly
termed intellectual and moral. Certain prcr*

OBJECTIONS. 251
conceived notions concerning the Divine char
acter and administrations, and the perfection
of the human understanding, which are incom
patible with the revelation contained in the
Scriptures, and indeed, with the very idea of a
revelation, determine thera to reject it without
taking time to consider, calmly and deliberately,
the evidences in its favour. They think thera- •¦
selves authorised to treat the evidences as insuf
ficient, without even waiting till they be laid
before them, as a man may safely refuse to hear
arguments against axioms, or self-evident
principles, because he is sure that they must be
sophistical. They do not exaraine whether their
preconceived notions be true ; but assuming
their truth as incontrovertible, they pronounce
the doctrine which contradicts them to be false,
and the offspring of ignorance or imposture. But
these are not the only, nor perhaps the strongest
prejudices, by which the rainds of infldels are
warped. Those which originate in the state of
the heart, in its inclinations and affections, are
the raost powerful, and contribute in an effectual,
though imperceptible raanner, to pervert the

258 OBJECTIONS.
understanding. There are certain liberties in
which men are naturally fond of indulging,
mortifications for which they feel the utmost
aversion and horror, pleasures on which they
rush with an impetuosity, to which reason and
prudence oppose their dictates in vain. If re
velation restrains those liberties, enjoins those
mortifications, condemns those pleasures, it is
not surprising that it should meet with an un
friendly reception. When it comes to claim the
love and homage of the heart, it finds it pre
occupied. That infidels are naturally or constitu
tionally more depraved than other men, it would
be foolish to assert, nor do I believe that they
are all licentious in their manners; but while
the more sober part, who are comparatively few,
are misled by the prejudices of the understand
ing, the conduct of a great majority discovers,
that their hostility to the Scriptures springs from
the corrupt passions of their hearts. It is not
difficult to divine the reason, that the authority
of a book, which inculcates the purest lessons of
virtue, is called in question by the votaries of
vice.

OBJECTIONS. 259
From the source of prejudice flow all the
objections against revelation, which occur in
the conversation and writings of infldels. Right
reason has little, or rather no concern in sug
gesting them. Some of these objections it will
now be proper to consider, because they fre
quently come in our way, and it is wise to have
answers to them ready for the preservation of
the peace of our own minds, and the defence
and honour of the truth. Living in the midst
of enemies, we should have our weapons always
in our hands. The objections are of two kinds.
Some are intended to disprove a divine revela
tion in general ; while the more particular aim
of others is to show, that those books, which Jews
and Christians receive as sacred, are falsely said
to be inspired. I shall take notice only of the
chief objections ; and from the ease with which
they are repelled, the reader will be able to
judge, how insignificant the other cavils of
infidelity must be.
I. The first argument against the inspiration
of the Scriptures, is founded on the supposition.

260 OBJECTIONS.
that the light of nature is sufficient to teach
us our duty, and to conduct us to happiness.
Were this principle true, it is evident, that
a revelation would be altogether unnecessary;
and, consequently, that, as God never in
terposes but for sorae end worthy of his wisdom,
the Scriptures were not dictated by his Spirit,
but are the work of men, who have given
to their own productions the name of his oracles.
As this assumption is the basis on which infidelity
rests, and one of the chief causes that the
authority of the Scriptures is so violently con
tested, we shall bestow particular attention
upon it.
By the light of nature, must be meant the
discoveries of the perfections and will of God,
which are afforded by the works of creation and
providence, in connection with the ability or
power of unassisted reason to trace those disco
veries, and to draw from them the proper conclu
sions. It is plain, that whatever inferences are
deducible frora the divine works and dispensa-
sioiis, if, frora weakness or prejudice, our minds
be incapable of deducing them, we are precisely

OBJECTIONS. 261
in the same situation, as if we had not been fur
nished with the premises ; and we stand in need
of a teacher or a book, to point them out to our
attention. The objection supposes that every
man in the world, may, without any assistance
from others, acquire, by the exercise of his own
faculties, just notions of GOd, and his duty, and
his final destination : for if this ability be pos
sessed only by a few, a revelation is manifestly
useful, and even necessary to the rest, who
m^fat be neglected by their more enlightened
brethren, or might refuse to receive instruction
from persons, possessed of no authority, to which
their equals, in all other respects, were bound
to submit. Nothing would be more absurd, than
to assert, in general terms, the sufficiency of the
light of nature, as a reason that a revelation is
not wanted, while it is understood to be sufficient
only for some individuals, endowed with uncom
mon capacity, and favoured with peculiar ad
vantages, for the investigation of truth. But
that every person is possessed of the ability sup
posed in the objection, is sO glaringly false, that
no man will venture to affirm it, unless he be so
2 L

262 OBJECTIONS.
grossly ignorant of the history of mankind, as to
be unworthy of our notice, or so dishonest, as to
advance as a fact, what he knows to be capable
of an easy and complete refutation.
To prove that the boasted light of nature is
not sufficient to conduct men to happiness, I
might appeal to the instances of the Hottentots,
and the natives of New Holland, who, in intel
lectual capacity and moral attainments, are but
in a small degree superior to brutes. Perhaps,
it will be said, that the appeal is not fair, be
cause in those tribes the powers of the human
mind are almost extinguished, having never
been roused and improved by civilization. But
if the light of nature be sufficient, it is surely
sufficient for nature's children ; and there are
none, certainly, who so well deserve this char
acter, as those, who, in their intellectual and
moral features, are just such as nature formed
them, having undergone no alteration to the
worse or to the better, by art, or by tradition.
If we wish to judge of the strength of unassisted
reason, in order to a'Scertain whether it be suf
ficient for all, let us observe its operations in
the rudest savages.

OBJECTIONS. 263
If, however, the objectors mean, that the light
ef nature is sufficient, only when men are pol
ished by science and social institutions, they un
wittingly grant, that to a great portion of man
kind, it always was, and still is insufficient, and,
consequently, that they need a revelation ; and
besides, even with this limitation, its insufficiency
may be clearly demonstrated. It is a fact which
cannot be disputed, that no people, ancient
or modem, who had only the light of nature to
guide them in their researches, have attained
to the true knowledge and pure profession
of the unity of God ; or have adopted a ritual
corresponding with the majesty, holiness, and
spirituality of his nature ; or have composed a
eomplete system of morality, founded on just
principles, and enforced by sanctions of such effi
cacy, as to ensure obedience to its precepts; or
have established, by convincing arguments, the
doctrine of the future existence of the soul. The
polytheism, the idolatry, the superstitious rites,
the immoralities in principle as well as in
practice, the childish ideas on the subject of
religion, and the doubts, with respect to a state

264 OBJECTIONS.
beyond the grave, of the Greeks and Romans,
without controversy the most accomplished of
all heathen nations, are known to every person
acquainted with the writings of their histor
ians, poets, and philosophers. Even an indi
vidual cannot be pointed out among the men
of learning and science in the Pagan world,
who ever held the truths of religion which are
discoverable by reason, unmixed with contrary
errors, or received them with an undoubting,
unwavering assent. Read Cicero's first Tus-
culan disputation, and the conclusion of the
apology of Socrates by Plato; and you shall
find these men, than whora antiquity produced
none greater, speaking with hesitation on the
iramortality of the soul, If this representa
tion be just, why do we hear so much of the
sufficiency of the light of nature, while a single
instance, in which it has proved sufficient, can
not be pointed out ? One is at a loss to deter
mine, whether the unmeaning declamations of
infidels on this subject, better deserve the frown
of disapprobation, or the smile of derision, It
is surely ridiculous to talk of a power as suf?

OBJECTIONS. 265
ficient to produce certain effects, although, in
every trial to produce them, it has failed.
Perplexed with doubts, and sensible of the
weakness of their reason. Heathens themselves
have acknowledged the necessity of a divine
revelation. Hence arose those oracles so famous
among them, which they consulted in cases of
difficulty ; and frora the same source flowed the
stories, so widely circulated, and so firmly be
lieved, of the intercourse of their priests and
legislators with the Gods, from whom they
received political and religious institutions.
Pretences of revelation would not have gained
credit, if a consciousness of ignorance had
not created a desire for supernatural instruc
tion. It was not by the vulgar alone, that
this desire was entertained and expressed.
Philosophers themselves, on some occasions,
confessed the darkness of their minds, and
signified their hopes of a Teacher, " to take
away the mist from their eyes." The words of
Socrates, in a conversation with Alcibiades on
the duties of religious worship, are very remark
able: "To me it seems best to be quiet; for

266 OBJECTIONS.
it is necessary to wait till we learn how we ought
to behave towards the Gods, and towards men.'*
" When," says Alcibiades, " will that time come ?
and who is he that will instruct us? for most
gladly would I see this man, who he is." *' He is
one," answers Socrates, " who bears a wonder
ful regard to you;" but he insinuates that his
coming would be delayed for a time, and
informs Alcibiades, that some preparation was
necessary on his part*. It is impossible to
ascertain what was the precise meaning of
Socrates in this singular passage. There is no
ground for supposing it to be a prediction of
Christ. But without inquiring whether he did
or did not understand himself, we may con
sider it as expressive of a conviction, entertained
by the greatest philosopher in ancient times, of
the weakness of human reason, and the neces
sity of supernatural illumination. Is it not,
then, very surprising, that although the Gentiles
wished for a revelation, some men should now
rise up, and maintain that their wishes were
* Platonis Alcibiad. iL

OBJECTIONS. 261
foolish, because they were able, without any
foreign aid, to acquire a perfect knowledge of
their duty, and of the means of attaining feli
city ? It is equally strange as if a man in health,
or rather a man, who in the delirium of a fever,
supposed himself in health, should tell another,
who was sick and dying, that his complaints
were groundless, and his cries for a physician
preposterous; for that he felt no pain, and
needed no medicine.
Perhaps, infidels will allege, in proof of the
sufficiency of reason, that they can produce a
system of natural religion, complete in all its
parts, and supported by incontestable evidence.
But to what cause shall we attribute their su
periority to the sages of antiquity? Are they
wiser than Socrates, whom the oracle pro
nounced to be the wisest of men ; of a genius
more sublime than Plato; or more acute and
penetrating than Aristotle? Their modesty, which,
by the bye, is not commonly their most distin
guished quality, will probably make them de
cline the comparison. Does nature now speak
with a louder voice, and are her lessons written

268 OBJECTIONS.
in more legible characters? Do the divine per
fections, shine forth with brighter lustre, and is
the duty of man more obviously and strikingly
delineated? No; creation presents the same
aspect, and proclaims the same truths at pre
sent as in former times; and reason has not
acquired any new ability to investigate them;
But the circurastances of our raodern infidels,
and of the philosophers of antiquity, are ex
ceedingly different. The latter felt their way
amidst the dubious twilight of nature; while the
former walk in the sunshine of revelation. When
an infidel boasts of the clearness and extent of
his ideas, on the subject of natural religion, he
is a dwarf mounted on the shoulders of a giant,
and vaunting that he sees farther than a person
of ordinary stature. He is a thief, impudently
attempting to rival or eclipse the splendour of
another man, by a display of those riches which
he had previously purloined from him. It is to
the Scriptures that he is indebted for the greater
perfection of his system. They have pointed
out and illustrated the doctrines which it con
tains, and supplied the arguments by which it

OBJECTIONS. 269
is confirmed. Of the truth of this assertion
we need no other proof than the single con
sideration, that there never was a rational
scheme of religion framed in any country,
which was not enlightened by the gospel. Now,
as the highest perfection of reason is connected,
in point of time and place, with the propaga
tion of the gospel, it is agreeable to the dictates
of common sense to believe, that reason is in
debted for its best discoveries to the aid of
revelatioiii Although, however, it were granted, that rea
son retains its original powers, and can discover
all that nature teaches concerning God and
our duty ; yet if mankind are in a fallen state,
as Heathens themselves have acknowledged,
and no impartial person, who considers the
present moral condition of the world, will deny,
the same knowledge will not now suffice, which
would have been sufficient in a state of inno
cence. It concerns guilty and depraved crea
tures to know, whether their Creator will par
don their offences, and on what terras raercy will
be exercised; and farther, by what means the
2 M

210 OBJECTIONS.
original purity of their nature, and the happi
ness which they have lost, shall be recovered. It
is evident, that these are points, upon which
none can give us information but himself. No
person could tell beforehand, whether a prince
would forgive such of his subjects as had rcr
belled against his authority; nor could the
condition, upon which he woiild pass an act of
indemnity, and receive them into favour, be
ascertained, till he should be pleased to issue
his royal proclamation. The laws, under which.
those subjects lived before the rebellion, de
nounce punishment, but give no hope of remis
sion. Besides, on the supposition of a remedial
i^cheme, or a divine interposition in our fevour,
iihere must be new duties incumbent upon us, of
which the light of nature could give no notice,
because tiiey are the result of a new dis
pensation. The objection, therefore, against
revelation, founded on the pretended sufficiency
of reason, is destitute of any force, because it
falsely supposes us to be in the same circum
stances in which we were originally placed;
whereas the light of nature itself, which is set

OBJECtroi!irs. 211
in ojppoisition to revelation, concurs with it
ih asisurin^ us, that W6 havfe lost our priraitivfe
rectitude, and haVe fallen under the wrath of
our Creator.
II. It is assorted, that thte Scriptures do hot
contairi a divine ffevelation, and therefore ^re
nbt inspired, because thtey have been Coramu-
hicated to so small a portion of the huniah racfe.
It seems to those Who urge this objectiori, tO be
inconsistent with the gbbdness of God> the
common Father of mankind, to confine his
favours to one nation, or to a few natioris, while
all stand in equal need of them. But the
Scriptures ofthe Old Testament Were delivered
to the Jews alone, who Were as nothing irt point
bf population and keeomplishm^nts, when cora-
pared with the nations around them ; and the
Christian doctrine, although it breathes a ca
tholic spirit, is riot known by more than a fiftb,
or a sixth part of mankind. It is, therefore,
eijually absurd to consider the Bible as having
been dictated by the Spirit of God, as having
emanated from the impartial and benevolent

?12 OBJECTIONS.
Author of the human race, as to suppose him
to have created a sun, which should enlighten
only one region, or, at the most, one quarter,
of the globe.
But this objection, though it may pass with
superficial thinkers for an unanswerable one,
will, on examination, be found to deserve little
attention. Revelation presupposes raen to be
in a state of guilt and depravity; for, if a
change had not taken place in their circura
stances, it would be altogether superfluous,
and their own reason would be sufficient to
make the necessary discoveries of truth, and
to direct them in the practice of their duty.
But if they have lost the image, and forfeited
the favour, of their Maker, it belongs to the
objectors to show, on what ground they were
entitled to demand, that a new dispensation
should be introduced, or a new expedient
should be devised for their restoration to purity
and happiness, Redemption, if there be such
a work of God, is manifestly, as the Scrip
tures represent it, an effect of his sovereign
gopdness; an(l it depended, therefore, upon

OBJECTIONS. 213
himself to determine, how far the revelation of
it should extend. Whether this blessing should
be granted to all, to the greater part, or to a
few, it was not the province of short-sighted
mortals, but of infinite and unerring wisdom, to
decide. A claira to an equal distribution can
be justly founded only upon equal rights, and
would be arrogant and ridiculous, where no
right exists in any of the claimants, and the dis
tribution is perfectly gratuitous. To affirm,
therefore, that the Scriptures are not a divine
revelation, because all men do not enjoy the
benefit of their light, is to maintain, that God
is bound to exercise his goodness alike to all,
at the very time when we proceed upon the
supposition, that all are destitute of a title to it.
If the argument, that the Scriptures are not
from God, because they have not been univer
sally published, were good, it would likewise
prove, that he has no concern in those dispensa
tions, which none but Atheists will deny to be
divine. Although God be related to every in
dividual in the world as his Creator, and all
nien may with truth a^rm, that they are his

214 OBJECTIONS.
offspring, we do not see him making an equal
distribution of his favours in the course of his
providence. All do not possess the same ad»
vantages of soil and climate. All have not the
same degrees of strength and beauty. All do
not enjoy the same means of intellectual and
moral improvement. Even reason itself, Which
is of far greater importance than external ad
vantages, especially if we must depend upon it
alone for the knowledge of our duty, and the
attainment of our final happiness, is not con
ferred upon all in equal perfection. Some ar*
born idiots; some are extremely dull and sloW
of apprehension; some are incapable of prd*
ceeding more than a few steps in the inv^stiga*
tion of truth ; while others, when compared With
them, seem to be beings of a superior order,
There would be the same propriety, therefore^
in affirming that reason is not from God, be
cause it is comraunicated in such different pdt'
tions, and to sorae is not communicated at sill,
as that the Scriptures are not divine, because
there are many nations to whom they have not
been made known. We may even proceed a

OBJECTIONS. 215
step farther, and observe, that as it is by reason
that we discover the truths of natural theology,
these, in consequence of its inequality, must be
perceived in very unequal degrees of extent and
evidence, and in some cases will not be per
ceived at all. The truths of natural religion,
therefore, are not within the reach of all inen,
any more than those of revelation ; so that, if
the reasoning in the objection be just, the former
is not from God aoy more than the latter. But
an argument which proves too much, proves in
effect nothing but the heedlessness and blind
eagerness of the person who advances it; and
tiie Deist who urges this objection, overturns his
own system, in his zeal to destroy Christianity,
Perhap.s most infidels "will not be alarmed at
this consequence, as it is manifest from their
cpnduct, that they hardly believe even the re
ligion of nature, and that they feel the most
perfect indifference for it ; but every man, it is
hoped, whose understanding and heart are not
debauched, will tremble to employ such reason
ing against the Scriptures, as leads directly to
Atheism.

216 OBJECTIONS.
It is the greatest folly imaginable to call in
question the divine authority of the Scripturesj
because they have not been published as exten
sively, as in our opinion a revelation from hea
ven should be. It is arrogant to demand, that
our views of what is right and fit should be the
standard of the dispensations of providence and
grace. Were we to sit down, and contrive a
plan for the government of the world, it would
be exceedingly different from that which is ac
tually pursued. We should probably propose,
in the overflowing of our benevolence, that all
men should enjoy in equal portions, reason,
health, and the various necessaries and comforts
of life; and we should exclude as a stain upon
the workmanship of God, men emaciated with
poverty, and loathsome with disease, and above
all, beings in huraan shape, but without huraan
understanding. We should resolve to reraove
every evil out of the universe, and to diffuse '
every where the greatest possible good. But this
systera of unraixed beneficence, as we should
call it, is not realized. The world, as it is dis
posed and managed by infallible wisdom and

OBJECTIONS. 211
unbounded goodness, presents a very different
aspect. Now, if a plan of governing the world
different from ours, and even contrary to it, be
consistent with the benevolence and justice of
the Deity, may it not be equally consistent with
these attributes, that the knowledge and bene
fits of a remedial scheme should be extended
only to some ? If we think it right, that, since
such a scheme is alike needful to all, it should
be universally published, let us remember, that,
in other instances, our notions of what is fit and
good are contradicted by that state of things,
which God himself has ordained. And cer
tainly, laying prejudice and passion aside,
infidels themselves must acknowledge it to be
unspeakably better, that sorae should enjoy a
revelation, on the supposition of its necessity,
which we have already proved, than that the
whole human race should be irrecoverably left
in ignorance and misery. Nothing can exceed
the folly of refusing, a gift of inestimable value,
and without which it is impossible to be happy,
because it is not presented to others, whose wants
are as great as our own.
2 N

218 OBJECTIONS.
III. It is objected, that divine authority is
falsely ascribed to our Sacred Books, because a
revelation is incapable of being proved at all,
or of being proved to any but those, to whom it
is immediately delivered. Hence, as God does
nothing in vain, we cannot suppose him to have
made a declaration of his will, and to have
ordered it to be committed to writing, there
being no valuable end to be gained, as few or
none could ever know that he was its Author.
This, and the first objection, are of the nature of
arguments a priori, and conclude against the
Scriptures in particular, from the pretended
impossibility of any revelation whatever. The
objection is founded on one or other of these
suppositions, that a rairacle is impossible; or
that, although a miracle were performed, we
could have no assurance of it by any other means
than the evidence of sense, and it would there
fore serve as a proof to those alone who were
eye-witnesses; or that miracles are not suffi
cient to prove the truth of a doctrine.
The first of these suppositions is so manifestly
false, that we can with difficulty conceive '^

OBJECTIONS. 219
possible for any person seriously to adopt it.
If the laws of nature were established by God,
and are in fact only the particular modes in
which he is pleased to exert his power, he who
wills that events should take place in a certain
order to-day, may will them to take place in a
different order to-morrow, provided that there
be a sufficient reason for the change. But some
men seem to labour under this childish mistake,
that because we speak of the laws of nature,
there are in truth certain laws, which even the
Deity himself cannot alter or suspend. If this
absurd and atheistical idea is not the foundation
of their reasonings against the possibility of
miracles, they must imagine it to be incon
sistent with the dignity of the divine character,
to make any change in a system once estab-
fished as the best; not considering that true
wisdom is displayed, not in pertinaciously ad
hering to a plan, whatever valuable ends might
be gained by deviating from it, but in intro
ducing such alterations as new circumstances
may require. To affirm, that no cause could
ever arise, sufficient to induce the Creator of

280 OBJECTIONS.
the universe to suspend or alter its laws, is not
to reason, but to beg the question in debate.
It is at the same time to assert, that mere
physical laws are of so sacred a nature, that
no moral end, however important in itself, or
extensive in its consequences, could compensate
for the momentary infringement of them.
The second objection against the evidence of
miracles, namely, that it is impossible for any
man certainly to know, that they ever were per
formed, unless he had seen them, is supported by
the following reasoning. Our experience of the
truth of huraan testimony is variable, but our
experience of the stability of the laws of nature
is uniform. Miracles are contrary to experience,
but the falsehood of human testimony is confor
mable to it. There is stronger evidence, there
fore, against miracles, than there can be for
them, to any but ey^- witnesses ; there is cer
tainty in the one case, and only some degree of
probability in the other. This is the argument,
which Hume with no great modesty boasted,
" would, with the wise and leahied, be an
everlasting check to all kinds of superstitious

OBJECTIONS. 281
delusion, and consequently would be useful, as
long as the world endures. For so long will
the accounts of miracles and prodigies be found
in all history, sacred and profane *." But the
force of this redoubtable argument consists
solely in the sound ; and it has been clearly
proved to be a miserable sophism.
An event is not properly contrary to my ex
perience, unless^ having being present at the
time when it is said to have happened, I had
the evidence of my senses, that it did not hap
pen. It Would be contrary to my experience
to assert, that a dead man was raised before
my eyes, because it is certain that I never saw
a resurrection ; but it is not contrary to it, that
a dead man was restored to life in another place,
and before other witnesses. It is only different
from what I have experienced. But an event
different from any which I have observed, and
apparently incredible, may be so attested, that it
would be absurd not to believe it. Perhaps, no
miracle in Scripture can seera raore incredible,
* Hume's Essays, vol. II. page 124.

282 OBJECTIONS.
than it would appear to tliOse who live in the
torrid zone, to be told, for the first time, that
water may become so solid, as to support men,
and horses, and carriages. Yet, of this strange
fact they may be fully assured by the inhabitants
of northern climates, and we should account
them very unreasonable, if they refused to give
credit to it. However constant our experience
has been of any event, or order of things, a
single testimony will, in some cases, convince us
ofthe reverse; and the concurrence of several
witnesses will establish it beyond the possibility
of doubt.
But the radical error of this argument, is,
that it attempts to impose upon us, by that
species of reasoning, which is called begging
the question. It affirms, that miracles are con
trary to experience, meaning the experience
not of this or that individual, but of mankind
in general, while this is the very point in dis
pute. The question between us and Mr. Hume,
is, whether the miracles of Scripture were
really performed ; and he pretends to decide it,
by boldly asserting, that miracles, or changes of

OBJECTIONS. 283
ihe laws of nature, have never been experienced
in any age or country. This is nothing more,
in whatever form it may be dressed up, than a
simple negation, which it is not to be expected
that any man will receive as a proof; and it is
a negation in direct contradiction to history,
from which only it can be known, what has been
the experience of mankind *.
The evidence, then, against the report of mir
acles is not so strong, and the evidence in
favour of it is not so weak, as this boasted argu
ment pretends. It is acknowledged, indeed,
that it is not contrary to experience that men
should lie, for instances of falsehood are com-
mon. It is certain, at the same time, that they
more frequently speak truth, perhaps ninety-
nine times ill a hundred, and experience, there
fore, is in favour of their testimony; that is, if
we will judge of their testimony by the standard
of experience, as they speak truth often, and lie
but seldom, we shall be disposed to conclude,
in any particular case, when nothing appears to
• Campbell on Miracles.

284 OBJECTIONS.
the contrary, that a serious affirmation ought to
be believed. Truth flows spontaneously from
our lips ; but falsehood is the effect of design,
and always presupposes a particular motive, by
which the natural propensity of the mind to
express its ;real sentiments and feelings, is
counteracted. But to set aside this new and unphilosophical
mode of ascertaining the value of testimony, we
know that there are circumstances, in which we
may have the most perfect assurance of the ver
acity of others. No reasonable man, for ex
ample, would refuse to give credit to testimony,
if several witnesses agreed ; if there were no
contrary testimony; if it were plain, that the
witnesses had no personal interest to serve ; if it
would evidently be their interest to be silent, or
to maintain the reverse ; if, in adhering to their
testiraony, they exposed themselves to all the
evils, which men, in other cases, raost industri
ously avoid ; and finally, if they sealed it with
their blood. " The falsehood oftheir testiraony,
would, in these circurastances, be more miracu
lous than the event which they relate," though

OBJECTIONS. 285
it were the greatest miracle recorded in the
Scriptures; and, in this case, Hume himself
allows, " that they may pretend to command
our belief or opinion *." It has been already
shown, that the testimony of the Apostles con
cerning Jesus Christ, bears all the marks of
truth; and it has likewise appeared, that
there are such grounds for believing the
miracles, said to have been performed by the
writers of the Scriptures, that we cannot deny
them, without offering violence to our reason.
I shall, therefore, only add in this place, that
the improbability of a miracle is diminished, in
proportion to the importance of the end, which
is alleged as the reason for performing it.
When we are told of miracles wrought to prove,
that a bone is the bone of a saint, or that a
certain image should be worshipped, we may
disbelieve such stories, not only because the
miracles are brought forward irt favour of su
perstition and idolatry, but because tlie occasion
is too mean for the interposition of the Deity,
* Hume's Essays, vol. ii. page 130.
2 O

286 OBJECTIONS.
But the report of miracles wrought to attest a
revelation which was so much wanted, and which
is evidently calculated to promote the best in
terests of mankind, has no appearance of false
hood and imposture; and we instantly perceive,
that an interference, in a case of such mag
nitude, is highly worthy of infinite wisdom and
benevolence. But miracles, we are told, are incapable of
proving the truth of a doctrine ; and we are not,
therefore, justifiable in believing any doctrine
though attested by miracles, unless it be demon
strated by reason, or made known to us by an
immediate revelation. It Jias been sagely asked,
what connection is there between truth and
power? If this question deserved an answer, it
would be easy to reply, that, in the case of men,
there is no inseparable connection between them,
their power being often exerted in support of
error; but that, from the moral perfections of
God, we are assured of their constant conjunc
tion in his dispensations; or in other words, that
his power is never exerted but in favour of truth.
But this subject requires more particular con
sideration.

OBJECTIONS. 281
It is supposed in this objection, that miracles
may be really performed, and yet that they do
not establish the truth of the doctrine, which he
who performed them has delivered. We cannot
know, that he is a messenger from God, till we
have heard and considered his message ; so that
it would be more accurate to say, that the reality
of the miracles is proved by the doctrine, than
that the truth of the doctrine is proved by the
miracles. The utmost which can be affirmed,
is, that they are " credentials and testimonials,
which when a man can produce openly and
fairly, if he teaches nothing absurd, much more
if his doctrines and precepts appear to be good
and beneficial, he ought to be obeyed *." As
this opinion directly tends to weaken and sub
vert the evidence of miracles, we might expect
to hear it only from infidels, and it seems, in
deed, to have been broached by the enemies of
the gospel in the primitive ages, who denied
that the miracles of Christ were a proof of his
divine mission, because they were performed by
* Jortin's Reraarks on Ecclesiastical History. Book ii.

288 OBJECTIONS.
the assistance of Satan, or by the power of ma
gic; but it has been adopted and defended by
not a few Christian authors. Plausible things
are advanced concerning the difficulty, or rather
the impossibility of distinguishing true from false
miracles, in consequence of our ignorance of the
powers of nature, and of beings of a superior
order*. Still, however, the miracles alleged
in favour of the revelation contained in the
Scriptures, will be sufficient to prove its divine
origin, independently of a particular examina
tion of its doctrines, because there were no con
trary miracles; or if this character should be given
to the wonders performed by the magicians of
Egypt, they were controlled by miracles greater
and raore numerous, which showed, that Moses
was aided by a superior power; and because
some of the miracles, as the resurrection of the
dead, were such as, we have reason to believe.
He only could work, in whose hand are the
souls and bodies of men, and who says, *' I kill

* Clarke's Evidences of Natural and Revealed Rel)gi«»,
¦page 378—384.

OBJECTIONS. 289
and I make alive." It may, indeed, be doubted,
whether a real miracle of any kind can be per
formed by a created being, because the same
power, which established the laws of nature,
seems necessary to suspend or alter them ; and
it will cease to be a matter of doubt, if we con
sider those laws as the operations of the Creator
himself, according to a known and regular order;
for, in that case, who could change them but
himself? Admitting, however, that angels, both
good and bad, are possessed of ability to pro
duce such effects, as might appear miraculous
to us, I can conceive no opinion more disho
nourable to the character of God, than to sup
pose, that he would permit one of his own
creatures, and particularly a depraved and
malignant creature, who only would make the
attempt, to sport with the eternal interests of
men, by performing such works in confirmation
of a lie, as could not be distinguished from his
own interposition. Such an opinion destroys the
moral government of the universe. Although
we may be unable \o fix the boundary between
the power of creatures and that of God, to de-

290 OBJECTIONS.
termine with precision, in evei-j' instance, what
they cannot, but he can do ; yet we may confi
dently infer from his v.i,sdom, and goodness, and
holiness, that he will impose restraints upon
them, or counteract their design in some way
or other, so that we shall not be at a loss, on a
due consideration of the case, to discriminate
between the operations of devils, and those of
Omnipotence *.
If the test of true miracles be the doctrine with
which they are accompanied, and the miracles be
considered, on the other hand, as the ground, on
which the doctrine should be received as coming
from God, it is evident, notwithstanding all that
has been said to the contrary, that this is to
reason in a circle. One thing is made the proof
of another, and then the other is made the proof
of it. Besides, though cases may be conceived,
in which the doctrine might throw light upon the
miracles, and such cases alone seera to have
corae under the contemplation of those, by whora
this principle is espoused; yet, in others equally
• Stillingfleet's Origines Sacrae, book ii. chap, 10.

OBJECTIONS. 291
obvious, the proposed expedient would be al
together useless. It would by no means follow,
that a system of religion had been dictated by
divine wisdom, and ought to be received as an
authoritative declaration of the divine will, be
cause its doctrines were agreeable to reason,
and of a moral tendency. Notwithstanding its
excellence and utility, it might be derived from
no higher source than the human intellect, en
lightened and improved by study and reflection.
But a revelation may contain doctrines above
reason, doctrines apparently repugnant to
reason, and unfavourable to the practice of
virtue, from which, therefore, we could derive
no assistance in judging of the miracles per
formed in attestation of it. Of this character
are some of the doctrines of the gospel, as those
of the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Atonement,
the Agency of the Holy Ghost upon the soul,
and Justification by faith without the works of
the law; which are so contrary to our natural
notions, that instead of recommending, they
would rather create a prejudice against the mir
acles, with which they were confirmed. It may

292 OBJECTIONS*
require closer attention, and a more dispassionate,
investigation than can be expected from man
kind in general, to perceive the wisdom and
salutary effects of sorae supernatural truths.
The nature of its doctrines, therefore, would be
a very uncertain standard, by which to judge,
whether the origin of a particular system was
human or divine. In some cases, a work of
man might be mistaken for a work of the Spirit
of God ; and in others, an emanation frora the
Fountain of all intelligence and purity might
be disregarded as an effusion of folly and licen
tiousness. It is easy to conceive many instances,
in which the subject would be involved in inex
tricable confusion and perplexity.
I have bestowed the raore attention upon this
hypothesis, because it is adopted not only by in
fidels, but by some Christians, who affect great
accuracy in their ideas, but, in my opinion, have
fallen into a dangerous error. For their sakes,
I shall subjoin a single remark, that to assert
miracles alone to be insufficient to prove the
truth of a doctrine, destroys the force of the ar
gument from them, so often brought forward in

OBJECTIONS. 293
the Scriptures, and represents the reasonings
of our Lord hiraself as inconclusive. " Believe
me, that I am in the Father, and the Father in
me ; or else believe me for the very works' sake."
*' The works which the Father hath given me
to finish, the same works that I do bear wit
ness of me, that the Father hath sent me*."
The Jews were bound to believe his doctrine
on account of his miracles, or they were not.
If they were not, he made an unreasonable
demand, when he required them to believe,
and their disregard of this evidence is unjustly
represented in the Gospels as a proof of pre
judice and obstinacy; if they were, miracles^ are
sufficient to establish the truth of a.' doctrine, and
the objection which we have considered, falls to
the ground f.
IV. The supposed contradictions in the Scrip
tures furnish another argument against their
inspiration. The Bible, it is affirmed, cannot

* John xiv. 11. v. 36. x. 25. xv. 24.
+ Alphons.Turret.de Verit. Relig.Jud.et Christ, p. 341—351.
2 P

294 OBJECTIONS.
be the word of God, because many passages in
it are at variance with one another, teaching
contrary things, and giving such representa
tions of the same facts in different places, as
it is not possible to reconcile. This is a bold
charge, and were it substantiated, would prove,
not what infidels ultimately aim at establishing,
that a revelation is not necessary, but that the
Scriptures are not the revelation which we want.
Truth is consistent and immutable; and from
the God of truth, therefore, a book which con
tradicts itself could not proceed.
It will be granted, I presume, that no contra
diction can be shown in the general system of
doctrine delivered in the Scriptures, in the
precepts which they inculcate for the regulation
of our conduct, or between the Old Testament
and the New. The charge of contradiction
relates solely to certain detached passages, and
to some matters of inferior importance, by which
the substance or essence of divine revelation is
not affected. But, as contradictions in smaller
things would be equally conclusive as contra
dictions in greater, against the inspiration of

OBJECTIONS. 295
tlie Scriptures, it is necessary to descend to a
more particular consideration of the subject.
It deserves attention, in the first place, that
several passages of Scripture, which appear, on
a superficial view, io be contradictory, will be
found to harmonise, when they are attentively
examined, and their true meaning is understood.
I shall give an example or two. When Solo
mon says, " Answer not a fool according to his
folly," and immediately after, *' Answer a fool
according to his folly * ;" he seems with the
same breath to deliver two opposite injunctions.
But attention to the reason, which he subjoins
to each of them, will convince us, that they form
not inconsistent, but distinct rules of conduct,
to be respectively observed according to the
difference of circumstances. Again, we read
that " the strength of Israel will not lie nor
repent; for he is not a man that he should
repent:" and yet God is frequently said to have
repented. Thus, he is introduced, in the same
chapter, as saying to Samuel, " It repenteth me.

* Prov. xxvi. 4, 5.

296 OBJECTIONS.
that I have set up Saul to be king *." The
solution of this difficulty is easy. A change of
counsel, which implies previous ignorance, or
present weakness, or fickleness of temper, is no
where attributed to God in the Scriptures. "He
is in one mind, and who can turn hira ?" But
he is represented as repenting, because a change
soraetimes takes place in his dispensations,
sirailar to that which we observe in the conduct
of raen, when they have altered their designs.
His repenting that he had made Saul king, is
a declaration, in language accomraodated to the
ideas and feelings of raen, of his intention to
deprive hira of a crown, which he had shown
hiraself unworthy to wear.
With regard to other passages, which it may
appear more difficult to reconcile, the seeming
contradiction will in most instances vanish, if
we keep in view the following remarks: That
in the Scriptures, as well as in other histories,
the order of time is not always strictly observed;
that the same peisons and places have sometimes
* 1 Sam. XV. 29, 11.

OBJECTIONS. 291
different naraes ; that in the case of years and
numbers of any kind, round numbers are used,
or an even number is put for another, which
was in a small degree deficient, or redundant;
that periods of time, as for exaraple, the reigns
of kings, have different dates, a king being
reckoned to have coraraenced his reign, either
at the death of his predecessor, or when he was
associated with him in the government; that an
event, which, from its similarity to another,
is supposed to be the same with it, may be
different, and is therefore related with some
difference of circumstances ; and that there may
be an apparent discrepance in the relation of
the same transaction by two or more writers,
because one omits sorae particulars which had
been mentioned by another, or adds particulars
of which another had taken no notice *. These
remarks are applicable in questions of history
and chronology. I shall quote a few cases, in
which some of the rules now laid down are suc
cessfully applied.

* Alphons. Turret, de Verit. Relig. Jud. et Christ, p.
296, 297.

298 OBJECTIONS.
I have said, that the appearance of contra
diction sometimes arises from assigning to the
same period different dates. The following
example may be given. In one place, Abraham
is told, that " his seed should be a stranger in
a land that was not theirs, and should serve
them, and that they should afflict them four
hundred years*." But, in another place, we
read, that tlie sojourning of the children of Is
rael who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and
thirty years. *' And it came to pass at the end
of the four hundred and thirty years, even the
self same day, it came to pass, that all the hosts
of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt "f."
The computation is made from two different eras.
In the first passage, the time is reckoned from
the promise made to Abraham of a son, or from
the birth of Isaac ; in the second, it is counted
from his departure, in obedience to the divine
command, from the land of his nativity. I shall
add another example, which respects the com
mencement of a reign. We are informed, that,
* Gen. XV. 13. f Exod. xii. 40, 41.

OBJECTIONS. 299
" in the three and twentieth year of JOash the
son of Ahaziah king of Judah, Jehoahaz the
son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Sa
maria, and reigned seventeen years." But, in
the tenth verse of the sarae chapter, we are told,
that " in the thirty-seventh year of the same
Joash, began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to
reign over Israel in Samaria *." Now, if to the
three and twenty years of Joash, mentioned in
the first passage, we add the seventeen years of
Jehoahaz, we come dovra to the thirty-ninth or
fortieth year of Joash, when, on the death of
Jehoahaz, the reign of Jehoash may be supposed
to have begun. Yet, it is easy to assign the
reason why the commenceraent of his reign is
fixed two or three years earlier, in the thirty-
seventh year of Joash, when his father must
have been alive, by supposing that his father
had admitted him as his associate in the govern
raent, two or three years before his death. This
solution is the more probable, as we find, from
the case of Jehoshaphat and his son, that in
those days such a practice was not uncomraon 'f.
* 2 Kings xiii. 1. 10. f 2 Kings viii. 16.

300 OBJECTIONS.
Another rule, to which it is proper fo attend,
in order to reconcile the apparent contradictions
of Scripture, is, that the order of time is not
always observed. According to John, Christ was
anointed at Bethany, six days before the pass-
over*. Yet, Matthew takes no notice of this
remarkable circumstance, till within two days of
the feast "f. The reason is manifest. It was at
this time that Judas offered to the chief priests
and elders to betray him ; and the Evangelist,
intending to relate his treachery, returns to give
an account of the event, which prorapted him
to it. The rebuke which he received from
Christ in the house of Simon, .when he com
plained of the waste of ointment, had irritated
his proud disaffected heart, and inspired him
with sentiments of revenge.
The mention of the unction of our Saviour,
which was preparatory to his burial, reminds us
of another observation, which is of use in re
moving difficulties, namely, that two facts may
much resemble each other, and yet hot be the
* John xii. 1. f Mat. xxvi. 2, 6.

OBJECTIONS. 801
same. Although they differ, therefore, in some
circumstances, while they agree in others, it is
through haste and inattention, that, on this ac
count, we charge the Scriptures with contradic
tion. The anointing of Christ six days before
the passover, is evidently different from the
anointing recorded in the seventh chapter of
Luke. The two incidents agree, as both hap
pened at table,, and in the house of a person
named Simon ; but on considering the passages,
they appear to have taken place at different
times. I may add, that no person of good sense and
eandour will suspect a contradiction, because
the same stosy is related by one sacred writer,
with a variety of circumstances, which are not
noticed by another. Two witnesses do not
contradict each other, although the evidence of
the one be more minute and particular' than
that of the other, if they concur in the substance
of their testimony. The omission of a circum-
stance> in the narrative of one- Evangelist, which
is mentioned by another, does not imply> that
the circunistance did not take place^ but may be
2 Q

302 OBJECTIONS.
accounted for in various ways. Perhaps,- we
may admit, that, as inspiration does not infer
omniscience, Luke, for exaraple, did not know
every particular, which was known by Matthew
or Mark. Thus, Mark relates, that Jesus re
buked the wind, in the evening of the sarae day,
on which he had delivered the parable of the
sower *. Of this circumstance Luke seems to
have been ignorant; and knowing only that the
two events had happened at no great distance
from each other, he expresses himself, when re
cording the second, in general terms witb re--
spect to the time: " Now it came to pass ort a
certain day, that he went into a ship with his
disciples "i'." If any person should be surprised
at the insinuation, that inspired men might not
be acquainted with all the particulars relative
to the subjects of whieh they wrote, let him re
member, that John, in his Gospel, speaks with
uncertainty of the distance, to whieh the disciples
had rowed, when Jesus carae to them walking
on tbe sea ; and that Paul seems not to have
* Mark iv. 35. t l^uke viii. 22.

OBJECTIONS. 303
Ibeen sure of the number of persons, whoin he
had baptized in Corinth *. Other instances of
the same nature may be found in the Scrip
tures "f.
I shall take notice only of one other apparent
contradiction; namely, the different genealogies
<>f Christ by Matthew and Luke. Difficult as it
may seem to reconcile them, the usual mOde is
at once simple, and liable to no solid objection-
Matthew gives his legal genealogy, trading his
descent from David by Joseph, who was his re^
puted father, and by his connection With whom,
lie was accounted in law a member of the ancient
royal family. But, as it was necessary, that he
should be naturallyj and not merely in a legal
sense, a descendant of the son of Jesse, Luke
sets down his true genealogy, and proves that
he was his lineal offspring, by producing a list
of the progenitors of Mary his mother. That
this method of reconciling the two Evangelists

* John vi. 19. 1 Cor. i. 16.
f Michaelis' Introduction to the New Testament, translated
by Marsh, vol. iii. chap. 2.

304 OBJECTIONS.
is just, may be inferred from the consideration,
that, in Matthew, hisf genealogy is carried up to
David by Solomon, and, in Luke, by Nathan,
another son of that illustrious prince; whence
it appears, that as both historians profess to show
the Uneage of tiie same person, they trace it by
different parents. It is not to charge them
merely with not being inspired, but with a want
of common sense, to suppose, that they both
seriously intended to give his genealogy by
Joseph *.
It must be acknowledged, indeed, that, in an
instance or two, we meet with contradictions in
the Scriptures, which cannot be reconciled with
out an alteration ofthe text. For example, we
read, that Ahaziah was forty-and-two y«ars old
when he began to reign. But his father died at
the age of fortj', and was, therefore, according
to this statement, two years younger than hfe
son. This is manifestly absurd. On tumitsig,
however, to another book, we find, that Ahaziah

* Spanhem. Dub. Evangel, xx, xxi, xxii. Macknight's
Harmony, Sect. 6.

OBJECTIONS. 305
was only twerity-two years old when he ascended
the throne ; so that, in req)ect of age, he might
be the son of Jehoram *. - In one place, Jehoia-
chin is said to have been ei^teen years old,
when his reign commenced, and in another, to
have been only eight years old^. In such cases
we are willing to allow, that, tiiroagh the care
lessness or inadvertence of transcribers, an error
has crept into the text, and one number bas
been substituted for another. This concession
is not so derogatory to the honour of the Scrip
tures, as the inconsiderate zeal, which i^taining
manifest corruptions, attempts to vindicate them
by arguments, that serve only to provoke the
^mile of an infidel. Can any thing be more
foolish than to endeavour to reconcile the two
passages conceTning Ahaziah, by saying, that
©ne of ti>iem gives an account of his age, and
the other refers to the whole period of the au
thority of that family, from which he was de
scended ? Another historian, then, might assert

• 2 Chron. xxii. 2. xxi. 20. 2 Kings viii. 26»
f 2 Kings xxiv. 8. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 9.

306 OBJECTIONS.
without correction or explanation, that a certain
king was three hundred years old when he
began' to reign, because three hundred years
had elapsed, since his family mounted tfie throne.
No person, I am sure, would admire the accuracy,
or the judgment of such a historian; ^nd we
should beware of representing, in order to serve
a particular purpose, an inspired writer as ut
tering what would be justly pronounced non
sense from the pen of any other man. While
we admire the care of divine providence in the
preservation ofthe Scriptures, we do not affirm,
that all the transcribers of them were miracu
lously guarded against error. Various motives,
among which a veneration for the sacred books
may be considered as having exerted the chief
influence, contributed to render them scrupu
lously careful ; but that they were under no
infallible guidance, is evident from the different
readings, which are discovered by a collation
of manuscripts, and the mistakes in matters of
greater or less importance, observable in them
all.

OBJECTIONS. 301
^ contradiction, which could not be imputed
to the blunder of a transcriber, but was fairly
chargeable upon the sacred writers themselves,
would completely disprove their inspiration.
But the appearance of contradiction is not a
valid objection against the divine authority of
the Scriptures, although it may seera reasonable
to expect the harraony of a revelation to be
manifest at the first glance, that there niaybe
nothing to hinder the immediate reception of it.
In the works of creation, and the dispensations
of providence, there are some things, apparently
inconsistient with the wisdom, and 'goodness, and
justice, of which we see, in many other in
stances, the clearest indications. Yet, we have not
only a general conviction, that these seeming
contrarieties may be reconciled, but, in raost
cases, we can show in what manner they are
harmonized. If, on some occasions, we are
unable satisfactorily to account for particular
facts, we oppose to the doubts which they excite,
the undeniable evidences of the divine perfec
tions, with which we are surrounded, and hope
for the day, when our ignorance shall give place

308 OBJECTIONS.
to knowledge and certainty. Since, then, there
are apparent contradictions in the book of- na
ture, let it not surprise lis, that we also meet
with them in the book of revelation. If, not^
withstanding those appearances, the first book
is confessedly from God, we cannot, on the same
ground, reasonably call in question the divine
authority of the second. Although our endeav
ours to unravel sorae of the difficulties which
occur in it should fail of success ; yet the har
mony which runs through its other parts, and the
marks of its heavenly origin, whieh are visible
almost in every page, corapletely justify as in
acknowledging God to be its Author, and sub
mitting to be implicitly guided by its dictates.
V. It is objected, that the Scriptures contain
doctrines mysterious, and contrary to reason.
In a revelation intended for the instruction of
mankind, every thing should be perfectly in
telligible; and since reason is the gift of God,
doctrines contradictory to it cannot be conceived
to have proceeded from him, but ought to be
referred to their true source, huraan ignorance

OBJECTIONS. 309
and credulity. Mystery is ooe of the arts eai-
ployed by impostors to overawe arid aston.'sh thfe
mind ; and dogmas, which offer violence to the
understanding, have evidently been suggested
by superstitiun or enthusiasm. The objection
consists of two parts, which we shall separately
consider. That there are mysteries in the Scriptures we
do not deny; and we detest the basen. ss of
those, who explain them away, or Openly reject
them, with a view, as they allege, to simplify
Christianity, and recommend it to infldels. In
the prosecution of their treacherous design, they
strip it of all its peculiarities, and exhibit in its
stead a cold and comfortless system of natural
religion, dignified, for the sake of fOrm, with
the name of our Saviour. But the mysteries
of the gospel are the pretext only^ not the real
cause, that infidels oppose it; for in the re-
liHon of nature, which they profess to admire^
there are difficulties as many, and as great, as
those of revelation. What do these disputers
think of a Being, who had no beginning, and
who is no older now than he was at the creation,
2 B

310 OBJECTIONS.
because in his existence there is no mccession T
What do they think of a Being, who is present
in all places, and yet is not extended ; and who,
al. hough he be at the same time in heaven arid
on earth, is not partly iri heaveri, arid partly on
earth, but is wholly every where? What do they
think of his certain foreknowledge of the actionp
of men, while the actions continue free, and the
agents are accountable? What do they think of
the existence of moral evil among the works of'
Him, who, being irifinitely pure, holds it in the
utmost aWiorrence, and, being omnipotent, could
have prevented it*? These mysteries are as
incomprehensible as those of the Trinity, arid'
the Incarnation ; and they are mysteries not of
revelation, bat of reason.
Every thing is full of mysteries. We cannot
tell how our liodies were formed, and are
nourished ; we cannot explain what our souls
are, and how they are united to our bodies;
we cannot comprehend the structure of a worm,
of a hair of our heads, of the meanest weed, or
* Bishop Watson's Apology for the Bible, Letteif X.

OBJECTIONS. 311
of a grain of sand. What right, thert, has any
man to demand, that although nature abounds
in mysteries, in revelatiori there should be uone?
Shall this be the only work of God, in which
there is nothing to astonish our reason, and
humble our pride of understanding? Truly,
since all his works are wonderful, it is natural
to expect, that revelation, the last and best/
t^ould not in this respect be inferior to any of
ihem. As its design is to inform us- of the
nature, the counsels, and the dispensations of
God, it must contain mariy things, too high for
us to understand ; and when I consider that all
his other works are incomprehensible, had re
velation been perfectly level to my capacity, I
should have coocluded that it was uot his, be
cause it warited his usual signature. As the case
now stands, there is a striking analogy between
nature and revelation. But if every thing in
the latter had been plain and perspicuous, they
would have been totally unlike; arid it is highly
probable, that iofidels themselves would have
beeri the first to exclaim agaiost it, as too simple
to have proceeded from infinite wisdom ; as com-

312 OBJECTIONS.
prehending nothing but what the human mind,
without supernatural assistance, might have dis
covered, or contri led.
Perhaps, we shall be told with a sneer, that it
is absurd to speak of a revealed mystery, be
cause, as soon as a mystery is revealed, it ceases
to be one. This mighty objection has always
appeared to me to be perfectly contemptible,
and to be nothing more than a play upon a
word. To reveal a mystery may signify to give
a complete discovery, a full explanation of it.
In this sense, what is revealed ceases to be mys
terious, as a place ceases to be dark, as soon as
it is filled with the rays of the sun. Infidels,.
and their friends and allies, Socinians, run away
with this meaning of the terra, and then boast
of a victory ; wliereas nothing more is necessary
to put a stop to their triumph, or to make it ap
pear ridiculous in the eyes of all impartial per
sons, than simply to observe, that to reveal a
mystery mav also signify to make known, that
it exists, without subjoining an illustration of its
nature, and a solution of its difficulties; and
that this is the only sense, in which the mysteries

OBJECTIONS. 313
of the Christian religion were ever said to be
revealed. A fact may be ascertained, while the
causes of it, the circumstances which led to it,
and several particulars relative to its nature,
remain unknown. Thus I know, that vegeta
bles grow, that food nourishes the human body,
and that heavy bodies descend ; but although I
may speak of these subjects in the language of
science, I understand little more than the facts.
There are revealed mysteries, if I may be allowed
the expression, in the book of nature, as well as
in the Scriptures.
But of what use, it will be asked, are incom
prehensible doctrines? I answer, that if they
were, in every sense, incomprehensible; if we
could form no conceptions respecting them
directly or indirectly, and could draw no infer
ences frora thera, they would be perfectly use
less ; and a question would arise, whether a book,
of which some of the contents were so insignifi
cant, could be justly ascribed to God as its au
thor, ^ut there are various important purposes,
which mysterious doctrines serve. They hum
ble our reason, , the boasted powers of which

314 OBJECTIONS.
are overwhelmed in the attempt to com
prehend them; they accustom us to implicit
submission to the dictates of infinite wisdom;
they irispire us with revererice for that Being,
whose essence and counsels are inscrutable;
they create a desire for a better state, where,
if the limited nature of our faculties forbids us
to hope for knowledge absolutely perfect, we
expect to enjoy many discoveries, which, in the
present state, we are not able to bear. But this
is not their only use. Although they will re
main inexplicable, after our utmost efforts to
understand them, yet knowing that there are
such doctrines, arid possessirig some geoeral
ideas on the subject, we may derive from them
aid to our faith, and motives to animate our
devotion and obedience. Without the kuow-
ledge of the fact, that there are three persons in
the Godhead, not one just notion of the scheme
of redemption could be formed; but all that is
necessary to be known of that scheme, may be
understood, although we have no conception of
the mode, in which three persons subsist in one
numerical essence. The knowledge that the

DBJECTIOIVS. 315
Son of God assumed our nature, and died as a
sacrifice for our sins, may dispose us to confide
in him as our Saviour, and convince us of the
obligation which we are under to love and obey
him, while we are totally ignorant, how his two
natures are united in one person. It is inatten
tion which leads some persons to imagine, that
an incomprehensible doctrine must be useless.
The cause of gravitation is unknown ; but being
assured of the fact by daily experience, we apply
this law of natrire, according to which heavy
bodies descend, to many important purposes in
life. I proceed to consider the other part of the
objection, in which it is asserted, that the Scrip
tures contain doctrines contrary to reason ; or,
to state the raatter more accurately, the same
doctrines, which we acknowledge to be myste
rious, are pronounced to be irrational. The term,
reason, is as liable to be abused as the faculty
itself. If it n;ean the light which God has im
parted to our minds, and by which we are enabled
to judge of truth and falsehood, it is certain,

316 OBJECTIONS.
that a doctrine contrary to it must be absurd,
because the decisions of reason^ when regularly
exercised, and acting within its proper sphere,
are final, and do not admit of an appeal. But
reason often signifies merely the opinion of an
individual, or of several individuals, who are
united in their views, and, consequently, is en
titled to no deference, unless it be supported by
such arguments as shall clearly establish its con
clusions. Every raan is apt to think, ^hat he
has reason on his side, although he may appear
to others to be labouring under the grossest
misapprehension. To reason in the first sense,
the doctrines to which the objection refers, are
certainly not contrary, since thousands, among
whom we can show not a few, distinguished by
viffour and acuteness of intellect, have assented
to them without hesitation. They were not able
to discover any inconsistency between the prin."
cinles of reason, and the mysterious docfrines of
the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Atonement.
If some persons be of a different opinion, we
have yet to learn, that their no ions are the
standard, to which all other men should submit*

OBJECTIONS. 311
The reason of a Christian, or a Trinitarian, has
as good a title to decide this dispute, as the
reason of an Infidel, or a Socinian. It is not yet
demonstrated to the satisfaction of all parties,
that faith and orthodoxy imply imbecility of
mind, and that genius and wisdom are the in
separable attendants of unbelief and heresy.
Experience concurs with Scripture in attesting,
that the strength of reason is impaired, and that
our understandings are liable to be deceived by
appearances, and to be warped by passion, and
interest, and false notions of things; and as
those, who with so much confidence pronounce
the mysterious doctrines of religion to be irra
tional, can give no proof of their exemption
from the coraraon infirmity, we do not consider
the opposition between such doctrines and their
reason as an evidence, that they are repugnant
to the nature of things, or to the clear, unbiassed
dictates of a mind duly enlightened. To a dis
eased eye, an object may seem irregular and
deformed, which to the eye in a sound state,
woiifd appear full of order and beauty.
2 S

318 OBJECTIONS.
The common distinction between doctrines
contrary to reason, and doctrines above reason,
is important, but is overlooked by those who
object to revelation in general, or to some
particular parts of it. A doctrine contrary to
reason must be false; but a doctrine above
reason may be true, and ought to be believed
upon sufficient evidence. Should any man
hesitate to admit this assertion, he raay be de
sired to reflect, that a doctrine above reason
means nothing more than a doctrine, which we
cannot coraprehend; and that there are many
such doctrines or facts in nature and science,
which no person in his senses would ever venture
to dispute. Natural religion is founded upon a
doctrine, absolutely incomprehensible to reason,
the existence of an infinite Being, who had no
beginning. He might be reminded, that to
reject a doctrine because it is incomprehensible,
not only leads to atheism, and universal scepti
cism, but is chargeable with the absurd conse
quence of making the human mind, the powers
of which are so much circumscribed, the standard
of truth, the measure of possibility; so that

OBJECTIONS. 319
nothing can exist in the unbounded regions of
time and space, which a creature, who but
yesterday sprung from nothing, is not able fo
explain. If these admonitions should fail to
convince hira, that his feeble spark of intellect
is not sufficient to illurainate every corner of the
universe, we raust leave hira to himself, as truth
is not likely to obtain access to a mind, in which
such disregard of the plainest dictates of reason
is combined with the most extravagant pretcri-
sioris to it.
Notwithstanding the illiberal abuse, with which
some doctrines of the Scriptures are treated, they
have not yet been demonstrated to be contradic
tory to reason. Attempts to prove thera irrational,
are founded on a raisconception, or an intentional
misrepresentation of their nature; so that, in
order to vindicate them, it is only necessary to
state what they are, with plainness and can
dour. Were it said, for example, that God
is three and one in the same sense, we might
without hesitation assert, that a proposition,
affirming a more palpable contradiction, could
pot be conceived. But although the enemies of

320 OBJECTIONS.
the doctrine of the Trinity charge it with this
absurdity, no ground for the imputation appears,
when it is exhibited without distortion or dis
guise. What is delivered in the Scriptures, and
taught by Christian writers, on this subject, is,
that, in one undivided essence, three divine
persons subsist ; or that there are three persons
mysteriously united in the same nature, and
equal in glory, power, and every perfection.
From this view of the doctrine, it is evident,
that it neither multiplies unity, nor reduces a
plurality to one; or in other words, that it
does not confound the ideas of one and three,
predicating them of the sarae thing, in the same
sense, but preserving the ideas perfectly distinct,
attributes them to God in different senses,
asserting the Godhead to be one in essence, but
three in personal distinctions. It cannot be
reasonably denied, that, in an infinite essence,
there may be distinctions, to which there is
nothing similar in ours, and of which we are
unable to form any conception. Should any
man say, that such distinctions are irapossible,
he would pretend to know what can, and what

OBJECTIONS. 321
cannot consist, with infinitude of nature and
perfection. VI. It is asserted that the Scriptures cannot
be inspired, because many things in them are
unworthy of God. Of this nature are those
descriptions, which represent him as clothed
with the members, and actuated by the passions
of a man; certain precepts which seera to ^e
immoral and inhuman, as the command to
Abrahara to offer up Isaac, to the Israelites to
borrow from the Egyptians, and to the same
people to destroy the nations of Canaan ; many
of the laws of Moses, and in particular, those
which are usually termed ceremonial ; and a
variety of passages, which are said to be trifling,
obscene, and cruel, and to imply an approbation
of base and criminal actions.
I might content myself with referring to the
authors who have treated this subject, for an
answer to all these particulars, a full considera
tion of which would lead to a discussion far ex
ceeding our limits. A few hints, however, may
be given with a design to show, in what manner
these apparent difficulties may be rembved.

322 OBJECTIONS.
When huraan raerabers, and human passions
are attributed to God, the description is evidently
figurative, and is intended, through the medium
of sensible ideas with which we are familiarly
acquainted, to assist us in conceiving his infinite
perfections. If such descriptions be suppossed
to be liable to abuse ; if they seera calculated to
suggest and cherish gross conceptions of the
Deity, as a corporeal and iraperfect being; it
should be considered, that the danger is obviated
in other places of the Scriptures, where, drop
ping the language of metaphor, the inspired
writers give the most sublime views of his infi
nite greatness and glory. It will be acknow
ledged by every person acquainted with the his
tory of huraan opinions, that the Bible was the
first book, which taught the pure spirituality of
the essence, and coramunicated just ideas of the
immensity, and immutability, of God.
The coramand to Abraham to offer up his son,
will not appear objectionable to any person who
reflects, that the power of life and death belongs
to the supreme Governor of the universe, who
may delegate it for sufficient reasons to another,

OBJECTIONS. 323
or employ another as his minister to exercise it.
The design of the comraand was important,
namely, to try the faith of the patriarch, and to
exhibit an example of cheerful, unreserved
obedience to succeeding generations.
With regard to the command given to the
Israelites to borrow from the Egyptians, I re
mark, that the word rendered to borrow may
be translated simply to ask, and thus the diffi
culty vanishes. The sovereign Lord of all, who
may dispose of his own gifts as he pleases, had
conferred a right to the property of the Egyp
tians upon the Israelites, whom the former had
long defrauded and oppressed. That they
might be put in actual possession of it, he di
rected them to make a simple demand from their
neighbours, without subjoining any proraise, or
exciting any expectation, that it should be re
turned. If it should seera iraprobable that an
unconditional request would be granted, espe
cially as it was the request of slaves to their
unfeeling and imperious lords, we have only to
recollect, that the miracles of Moses were be
ginning to procure respect to the Israelites, and

324 OBJECTIONS.
that, according to the sacred story, " God gave
his people favour in the sight of the Egyptians."
The coramand to the Israelites to destroy the
seven nations of Canaan, is explained nearly in
the same manner as the command to offer Isaac
in sacrifice. When a nation has provoked the
divine displeasure by its criraes, he who raight
swallow up the guilty by an earthquake, or con
sume thera by faraine and pestilence, may com
mission another nation to be the instrument of
his vengeance. If the command seem difficult,
because the Israelites could not obey it without
feeling personal enmity, or being animated by
a cruel and vindictive spirit towards the devoted
victiras, it should be considered, that it was
equally possible for thera to act in this instance
without improper motives, as for a magistrate,
from a love of justice, and zeal for the public
good, to order the execution of a criminal,
whom he pities as a man. On the supposition
that the Israelites were inflamed with private
resentment, or a thirst for blood, the blame was
entirely iraputable to theraselves. The divine
command was not the cause of their malice and

OBJECTIONS. 325
barbarity, but merely the occasion of their dis
playing the bad dispositions, which previously
lurked in their breasts.
The ceremonial law has been a copious source
of objections. Were it agreeable to my present
design, I might return to every minute cavil a
particular answer; but I shall only present to
the reader the following general observations.
No candid person will refuse, that for several
laws which now appear strange, there might be
weighty reasons, of which we, who are removed
from the age of Moses by so long an interval,
may be totally ignorant. Such laws no man
has a right to pronounce unworthy of God.
Unacquainted with the circumstances of the
case, he cannot decide upon it without preci
pitation and presumption. The wisest actions
not seldom seem foolish to those who do not
know their causes and ends. It is easy to ac
count for other laws, which careless and uniu-
formed readers may look upon as trifling, by
observing, that they were enacted in opposition
to the superstitious usages of tiie neighbouring
nations, and were means appointed for th^ pre-
2T

326 OBJECTIONS.
servation of the Israelites from idolatry. We
may think it beneath the majesty of God to for
bid thera to round the corners of their beards,
and to wear a garment of flax and wool,
while we are ignorant of the reasons on which
such precepts were founded ; but as soon as we
learn that both practices prevailed among the
Heathens, and were connected with their idola
trous worship, we perceive the propriety of the
interference of the supreme Lawgiver in matters
apparently so insigniflcant *. With respect to
other laws, for which we may be able to give no
better account, it would be sufficient to say, that
of how little soever importance they might be in
themselves, they served a valuable purpose, by
forming the Israelites to the habit of obedience,
and thus ensuring the observance of the moral
precepts. They taught thera to revere the will
of God in every instance, and to make it the
sole rule and reason of their conduct. I may
add concerning the ceremonial law in general,
that although we raay not perceive in it, when
* Stillingfleet's Origines Sacrae, Book ii. chap. 7.

OBJECTIONS. 321
viewed by itself, all those marks of wisdom
which we previously expected ; yet in connection
with the Christian dispensation to which it was
introductory, and considered as " a shadow of
good things to come," it appears to have been
an institution admirably contrived for the in
struction of the Israelites in that scheme of reli
gion, the establishment of which was the ultiraate
design of their separation frora the other nations
of the world. It is chiefly in this connection,
that we assert the ceremonial law to have been
worthy of God. When infidels overlook or
deny this relation, this reference to another and
better dispensation, it may be easy for them to
select precepts, in appearance puerile and fri
volous ; but might not the wisest ordinances and
laws, by sirailar misrepresentation, be exhibited
in a ridiculous light? It is manifest injustice to
judge of the ceremonial law according to our
own arbitrary ideas of it, and not according to
its own declared end and intention.
To the general charge, that some passages of
Scripture are mean, some are impure, some
breathe a spirit of inhumanity, some imply an

328 OiBJ^CTlONS?
approbation of base and criminal actiohs, I may
return a general answer. Things may seem
mean and trifling to us, which men in past ages
were interested in knowing. What is mean in
itself, may become relatively important, by being
subservient to some raoral end, or introductory
to some great transaction. Our ideas of mean
ness may be the effect of a false delicacy, the
consequence of our having fixed our attention
and admiration on scenes of pomp and raagni-
ficence. The life of the patriarchs will be mean
in the eyes of the man, who, accustomed to the
ceremonial of a court, or the artificial manners
of civilized society, has lost all relish for nature
and simplicity. When impure actions are re
corded, they are set down, not as exaraples to
be imitated, but as facts, which, on acount of
their connection with other facts, or of their con
sequences, could not be oraitted ; aud they are
related in such a manner, as has no tendency
to corrupt the imagination, and inflame the
passions. If raodern refinement would throw a
veil over some scenes exhibited in the Scriptures,
it is a veil through which the objects might be

OBJECTIONS. 329
seen, and would make a raore dangerous ira
pression than is now raade, when they are dis
played without disguise. Let any' impartial
person consult his own feelings, and he must
acknowledge this peculiarity, as resulting from
the chaste, and artless raanner of relation used
in the Scriptures, that the same actions, which
in the page of a novelist, and sometimes even
of a historian or philosopher, would have awaked
a train of sensual ideas, in the narrative of the
sacred writers, do not excite the slightest irre
gular emotion. Nothing but downright stupidity
can lead any man to iraagine, either that every
thing mentioned in the Scriptures is approved,
if it be not expressly condemned, or that all the
incidents should be dignified and sublime. A
considerable portion of Scripture-history is the
history of coraraon raen, and coraraon events;
and differs from ordinary history only in this
respect, that it was recorded by the express ap
pointment and direction of Heaven. It is a fair
representation of things as they happened ; and
we ought not to be surprised, therefore, that we
meet with frequent displays of lust, avarice.

330 OBJECTIONS.
ambition, and cruelty. These are recorded to
vindicate the divine conduct in the punishment
of individuals and societies, and to administer
a useful lesson to us on the depravity of human
nature, and the odiousness and folly of vice.
The passages in which they occur, could not
be justly considered as unworthy of God, unless
he were represented as giving his sanction to
the immoralities related in them; or it were
proved to be inconsistent with his character, to
order the history of mankind in one age to be
written for the raoral improvement of following
generations, and for the glory of his justice,
goodness, wisdom, and patience, manifested in
the dispensations of his providence.
VII. The last objection respects the style of
the Scriptures. It is not so dignified, so elegant,
so conformable to rule, as we might expect the
style of the Oracles of heaven to be. We do
not observe the accuracy, the politeness, the
careful selection of terms, and the happy turn
of expression, which characterize some human
compositions ; and how then can the Scriptures,

OBJECTIONS. 331
which in these respects are so much inferior to
the works of man, be a revelation frora God ?
Who can believe that they were dictated by the
divine Spirit, or drawn up by his direction and
assistance ?
It is not necessary that I should spend much
tirae in answering this objection. Few are able
to judge of the style of the Scriptures in the
original languages, especially in thp Hebrew,
which has long since ceased to be spoken ; and
those who judge of it raerely by translations, are
too unlearned, and on this question too ignorant,
to be entitled to any regard. Yet, even in trans
lations the Scriptures are so far frora appearing
destitute of eloquence, that innuraerable passages
may be pointed out, which excel in beauty
and sublimity every thing of the sarae kind,
in the writings of profane authors. On this
subject, every person who has ability and lei
sure raay decide for himself. Were it proper
to appeal to authorities, we could produce, in
favour of the style and composition of the
Scriptures, the opinions of accomplished scho-

332 OBJECTIONS.
lars, with whom few infidels, if any, deserve to
be compared *.
It may be true, that the Scriptures are not
written according to the rules of art; but it
would betray the most deplorable folly to account
this circumstance an argument against their di
vinity. Must the Creator, when he speaks,
carefully observe the laws of rhetoric laid down
in the schools ? Does he perceive any excellence
in the artificial arrangeraent, and musical cai-
dence of words? Are visible raarks of human art
necessary to prove, that a book was written by
the inspiration of God ? Perhaps, sorae objector
against Theisra will tell us, that the world is not
an effect of intelligence and design, because the

* The reader will be pleased to see the judgment of that
great man, and profound scholar, the late Sir William Jones.
The following words were written on the last leaf of his Bible.
" I have regularly and attentively read these Holy Scriptures,
" and ara of opinion, that this volume, independently of its
" divine origin, contains more sublimity and beauty, more
" pure morality, more important history, and finer strains of
•' poetry and eloquence, than can be collected from all other
" books, in whatever age or language they may have been
" composed."

OBJECTIONS. 333
landscapes of nature are not conformable to the
fashionable style of laying out pleasure-grounds,
the mountains are nbt regular figures, and the
rOcks are not disposed according to the orders
of architecture. This objection would be as
good in favour of Atheism, as that which we are
at present considering is, in favour of Infidelity.
Besides, the rules of rhetoric, to which the ap-
, peal is made, were drawn from models, exhibited
in the writings of authors, who lived in these
western parts of the world. They seem to us
to have a foundation in nature. But let us
travel irito the easterri couotries, where the
sacred books Were written, and we shall find
prevailing there ideaS of coraposition, totally
different from ours. A sirailar diversity of taste
will be observed in the distant regions of the
west, the north, and the south. As it was im
possible that the style of the Scriptures should
accord with so many different standards, and
there' was no good reason for adapting it to the
notions of a Greek or Roman critic, rather than
of an Indian or a Chinese rhetorician, the mode
of writing, which was common in the land of
2 U

334 OBJECTIONS.
Judea, was preferred. He who does not con
sider the sacred books as written by Jews, and
as in tbe first instance addressed, for the most
part, to their own countrymen, is alike regard
less of the laws of sound criticism, and the dic
tates of common sense. Had the Scriptures
resembled a Greek or Roman classic, we should
long since have heard from infidels, that the
forgery was too gross to deceive any but those,
who were willingly blind.
Some of the ancients were of opinion, that
if the Gods should descend to the earth to con
verse with mortals, they would speak in the
language of Plato. I differ widely from those
admirers of the style of that philosopher. A
style, which admitted words and phrases not of
vulgar use, and to the vulgar therefore unin-^
telligible, which was too elevated, or too refined
to be apprehended by uncultivated minds, would
counteract the professed intention of a divine
revelation. The Scriptures were not designed
exclusively for philosophers and scholars, for
persons of discernment and taste, but likewise
for the poor and illiterate ; and they are written

OBJECTIONS. 335
therefore in a style, which learned and unlearned
can understand. If the former be displeased,
that truth appears in so plain a dress, the latter
have cause fo rejoice, that no paint hides her
native beauty from their eyes, no meretricious
ornament conceals her shape or her features.
It is a proof of the divinity of the Scriptures,
that they are not decorated with the tinsel of
human eloquence. In respect of style, they are
just such, as, laying all prejudice aside, we
should expect them to be. It would be un
worthy of God to speak after the manner of an
orator. He speaks like himself, with majestic
simplicity ; he employs no arts to impose upon
our imaginations, and to steal upon our hearts,
because his naked word is able to effect its pur
pose, without any adventitious aid *.
^ ' ¦  .  , — I  ¦ — — —
* Had the Scriptures, says Origen, been written with that
elegance of style, which the Greeks so much admired, it
might have been suspected, that the conversion of mankind
was not owing to the power of the truth, but to the at
tractions of eloquence. "la-Ui y«g ti jms'AAoj k^i !rej<^«Aw» (p^iitnat,
ii ta -^rit^ "EAA)){» B-avfio^iftivec, 'ay^it i yja^B, iirtvi-urm at tis »
(ft'v a>iB-iMi xiic^cimxivM -rat a.i^gu'xm, aXXcc rn> ifi^eunfimn
iKt^vBixv xMi TO Tijs (pg«««5 x«'AA05 e4'u;K«y<»yn»s»«( T« dn^oafclm,
xiti wasTUKo's emrii ar^oo-efAuipsi'ai. Philocal, cap. 4.

336 OBJECTIONS.
I have now given a view of the chief objections
against the inspiration of the Scriptures, to
which as to general heads all the other objecr
tions of infidels may be referred. The answers
which have been returned to them will, I hope,
be deemed satisfactory. Before concluding this
chapter, it is proper to observe. That, when we
are at a loss for a particular answer to any ob
jection, which may occur in reading or in con-
A'ersation, we have a general answer ready in the
evidences detailed in the preceding part of this
Essay. An objection cannot disprove a fact, or
a truth clearly established. If it follow from
the arguments formerly advanced, that the Scrip
tures are inspired, we may safely and confidently
rest in the conclusion, though there should be
some circumstances, for which we cannot ac
count, some remaining difficulties, which we are
unable to solve. It is certainly absurd and un
candid to go on disputing against luminous and
decisive evidence. There is a point, at which
opposition ought to cease, and assent should be
no longer withheld. Yet, although the divinity
of our religion, and of the books containing it;

OBJECTIONS. 331
has been often proved by arguments, to which
no solid answer was ever returned, infidels con
tinue to argue against revelation, asif nothing
had been said in its defence, and are surprised
when their cavils do not prevail upon others to
renounce it. But, as it discovers- soundness of
judgment not to admit a proposition, in favour
of which sufficient evidence has not been pre
sented ; so to reject a proposition, the truth of
which has been evinced, indicates no uncommon
prudence and penetration, but a disease or
defect in the understanding, renderiog it incap
able of perceiving proof and feeling its force ;
or the influence of sorae corrupt affection,
prorapting raen to reason agaiost their convic
tions. In the mean time, neither the imper
tinent cavils of unbelievers, nor those real
difficulties, which they are too quick-sighted
not to observe and to object to us, should over
throw our faith, or create any hesitation and
perplexity in our minds. We should convert
them into excitements to greater diligence in
the investigation of the truth, and more earnest
prayer for the illumination of the Spirit. Thus,

338 OBJECTIONS.
we shall acquire clearer views, and a firmer
persuasion of the divine authority of the Scrip
tures ; and the very means, which are indus
triously employed to make us apostatize from
the faith, shall ultimately contribute to our
establishment.

CONCLUSION. 339

^^^/^#»<^x^^^^tf)/#rf<jl

CHAP. vm.
Conclusion*
If the Scriptures be a revelation from God, ac
companied with such evidence as is sufficient to
convince a candid inquirer, it is incumbent upon
those, to whom they are presented, to receive
them as divine, and to submit to their authority.
The case is not the same, as when we are called
upon to embrace a system of philosophical or
political opinions. We may be under no obli
gation from either duty or interest, to decide
for such a system, or against it; it may be a
matter of no consequence, whether we assent to
it, or deny it. But not to receive the Scriptures,
which are the words of eternal life, and have
been announced by God himself to the world,
as a revelation of his will, is at once to treat his

340 CONCLUSION.
authority with contempt, and to do the highest
possible injury to ourselves.
Infidels may plead, that the evidence of their
divinity is not so clear and convincing, as to be
the foundation of a rational assent. Its suf
ficiency or insufficiency cannot be determined
by their asseverations, or by ours, but must be
ascertained by an attentive consideration of its
nature. It is certain, that far less evidence is
accounted sufficient in many very important
affairs, and that an unbeliever will risk his for
tune, and even his life, in an undertaking, for
the success of which there is not half the evi
dence, which we have for the inspiration of the
Scriptures. Why is he so easily satisfied in the
one case, but so delicate and scrupulous in the
other? If he shall say, that when a greater in
terest is at stake, greater caution should be
exercised, we grant the observation to be just;
but we maintain, that the strength of the evi
dence in favour of revelation, bears an exact
proportion to the superior importance of the
case ; and we refuse to accept of the apology as
sincere, because no other part of his conduct

CONCLUSION. 341
accords with this affected concern for the welfare
of his soul. Did he discover a desire to know
the truth, a soficitude to please God, a trera
bling anxiety with respect to futurity, a fear of
every mistake, and every action which might
prove fatal to his happiness, we raight believe,
that his objections against the gospel proceeded
from a dread lest he should rashly take a step,
which he might afterwards have cause to repent.
But he who laughs at all religion, minds nothing
but the present world, spends his days in the
chace of pleasures or of honours, and bestows all
his attention and care on his body, insults our
understandings when he tells us, that it is from
an apprehension of the consequences in another
state of existence, that he does not embrace
Christianity. It is in vain that the adversaries of the Scrip
tures allege in their defence, that even on the sup
position of their divine authority, they are excus
able in not receiving them, because they cannot
perceive the force ofthe evidence in their favour.
We are told, that our understandings are not in
our own power, and that, if our minds happen to
2 X

342 CONCLUSION.
be so constituted, as to be incapable of discerning
truths which are manifest to others, their dulness
or incapacity may be called our misfortune, but
ought not to be imputed to us as a crime. But
the declamations of infidels, and of some others,
on this favourite topic, are loose and inaccurate.
We shall not dispute that the raind is passive
in the reception of many of its ideas. There
are certain propositions which shine with their
own light, and convince all, whether willing or
unwilling, of their truth. But there are other
truths, the perception of which requires atten
tion, freedom frora prejudice, a disposition to
learn, huraility, and the absence of vicious pro
pensities. If these qualities be wanting, the
truths may uot be perceived, but the person is
undoubtedly culpable. The evidences of the
divinity of tbe Scriptures are very strong; but
it is possible for a man to take a hasty or partial
view of thera, to listen only to the arguraents on
the opposite side, to corae to the consideration of
them, with a mind prepossessed by unfair and
insidious representations of the subject, and to
wish that he may not find them satisfactory.

CONCLUSION. 343
That a person, thus predisposed, was not satis
fied, could excite no surprise. It would be
manifestly his own fault, that he was not con
vinced; and his unbelief would raost certainly be
criminal. We hear much of the candour of
infidels, not only from theraselves, but also frora
sorae who bear the narae of Christians, but in
the excess of their charity, injure and betray the
cause, which they profess to defend But setting
aside the proofs, which raight be brought from
the writings and conversation of infidels, that
candour is a virtue to which they have no claim,
at least in opposing revelation, I beg the reader
to consider, that the Scriptures, to which we are
now at liberty to appeal as an authority, assure
us, that no man can be candid in rejecting the
truth. They trace unbelief, not only to the
darkness of the uiiderstaridirig, but to the cor
rupt passioris of the heart. It is the offspriog of
pride, of vaoity, of covetousness, of sensuality.
At the same time, they declare, that every hon
est and upright man, every man whose mind
is purified from prejudice and worldly affections,
if he be not already satisfied, shall ultimately

344 CONCLUSION.
be convinced, that the doctrines ofthe Christian
religion are divine. '* If any man will do his
will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be
of God, or whether I speak of myself*." In
fidelity is the effect not of physical, ,but of moral
causes ; it is not a misfortune, but a crime, and
a crime, too, of an aggravated nature.
How much happiness do infidels lose by re
jecting the gospel ? I know, indeed, that they
are of the contrary opinion, and that the Scrip
tures are represented by them, as imposing a
variety of severe and unreasonable restraints.
But the ideas, which they have formed of the
unpleasant and glooray nature of a religious
life, have no foundation but in the arbitrary
associations of fancy. Modes of life, which ap
pear very insipid, and even disagreeable, have
sometimes hidden sources of satisfaction, which
give them a high relish to those who are actually
engaged in them. It is analogous, therefore, to
our experience in other things, that a virtuous
life should have charms, which more than com-
* John vii. 17.

CONCLUSION. 345
pensate for all the sacrifices which it deraands.
It is worthy of reraark, that none complain of
the restraints imposed by revelation, but those
who have not submitted to them ; we hear not
a single murraur from those avIio have. Is
not this a proof, that the severity of religious
discipline is wholly imaginary ; and that such a
notion originates in a licentious, dissipated turn
of mind, which must disqualify any person who
is under its influence, for judging impartially of,
the evidences of the Scriptures ?
Does the infidel boast of his pleasures? The
believer does not boast of his ; but he is cheered
and made happy by them, in the intervals of
solitude, when the former experiences a dreadful
vacuity, or his joys are succeeded by the stings
of remorse; in the season of affliction, and the
hour of death, when his past crimes, rising like
so many ghosts frora the grave of oblivion, en
compass him with terrors, and an opening eter
nity presents to his view the unutterable horrors
of despair. What are the hopes of infidelity,
even in a time of health and prosperity ? It has
none except this poor, grovelling, fluctuating

346 CONCLUSION.
hope, that life shall be protracted a little longer,
and that to-morrow shall be as this day, and
much more abundant. Whether there be a
state beyond the grave, it is unable with cer
tainty to tell; it is afraid to inquire from a
misgiving of raind, which it strives in vain to
overcorae ; or if it ape the language of religion,
and speak of tiiat state with confidence and
expectation, it is in those raoraents, when its
nerves are braced, its spirits are elevated, its
blood flows with a full and regular tide, and the
supposed distance of death allows the coward to
put on the- airs of a hero. The hope of the be
liever stoops to no sublunary object, but ter
minates on felicity too great to be conceived,
and too sublime to be enjoyed, in this state of
imperfection. He expects to triuraph over
death, to survive the present system of things, to
prolong his pleasures through an endless dura
tion. His eye brightens, as he approaches the
last terra of life ; he welcomes the pang of dis
solution. The infidel affects to pity the Chris
tian, but in reality there are raoraents when he
envies him. The Christian never envies the

CONCLUSION. 341
infidel, but at all times thinks of him with the
most tender pity.
The consequences of rejecting the Scriptures,
on the supposition that they are divinely inspired,
are serious and alarming. In this case, the
threatenings against the unbelieving and im
penitent, will be found to be no vain terrors,
no bugbears contrived by priests to keep the
ignorant, unsuspecting multitude in awe. In
fidels may make damnation their sport, but by
all their art they shall not be able to avoid it.
It is surely a crime worthy of the severest pun
ishment, to reject, to misrepresent, to ridicule,
to revile a revelation staraped with conspicuous
characters of divine wisdom and grace, and
attested by wonders, which the arra of Orani-
potence has perforraed. If the Scriptures be a
revelation frora heaven, the light of nature is
not sufficient. It is not sufficient for any man,
whatever some may thoughtlessly and unguard
edly assert; it is manifestly not sufficient for the
infidel, who has ungratefully and contemptu
ously closed his eyes on a much clearer light.
It cannot conduct any individual to happiness;

348 CONCLUSION.
it leaves its deluded votaries in misery. If the
Scriptures be a revelation from God, there is
only one raethod of gaining his favour and a
blessed immortality; and that method infidels
despise. They raust, therefore, suffer the doom
denounced in the gospel. " He that believeth
not the Son, shall not see life ; but the wrath of
God abideth upon hira *."
These reraarks are subraitted to the consider
ation of such of the readers, as may unhappily
have imbibed the principles of infidelity. Per
haps, it is not so necessary to present to persons of
this description evidences of the divine authority
of the Scriptures, as to endeavour to awaken in
their minds serious thoughts, with regard to their
imraortal interests. Infidelity, I will repeat it,
is not the effect of a religious spirit, rendering
men cautious, in general, what they admit as the
rule oftheir conduct, and, in this instance, un
reasonably scrupulous: it is the offspring of a
perfect indifference to all religion, of a total
want of concern about things invisible and
* John iii. 36.

CONCLUSION. 349
future. The most cogent arguments cannot be
expecj;ed to convince, while the mind is diverted
by the cares and pleasures of life ; but I should
not consider as hopeless the conversion of the
most determined enemy of revelation, if he
were once brought in earnest to inquire how he
might please God, and be for ever happy. He
would soon discover, that no religion but the
gospel can furnish an effectual antidote to his
fears, and a solid foundation of his hopes.
To persons in the outset of life, the arguments
of infidelity are addressed in circumstances pe
culiarly favourable to their success. Men, whose
minds are sobered by time and reflection, are
not so apt to be raisled, unless some occasional
cause lend its aid to warp their understand
ings. But there are two disadvantages of yoiith,
to which the reasonings of unbelievers are in
debted for the fatal influence often exerted on
the mind at that period, immaturity of judgment,
and the strength of passion. The young, indeed,
are much disposed to overrate their own talents
and acquirements, and to think themselves cora-
2 Y

350 CONCLUSION.
petent to the investigation of the most difficult
qu^tions; while the scanty measure Of know-
Itedge whieh the greater part of them possess,
and the limited inforraation which the most
diligent can be supposed to have attairied, dis
qualify them for encountering on equal terms
the champions of irreligion, versed in the arts
of sophistry and deceit. They cannot com
prehend all the bearings and relations bf the
subject in debate. The glare of eloquence
dazzles their eyes, and the high tone of affirma
tion overawes and silences them. At the same
time, the opinions which are urged upon them
with all the confidence of truth, accord too well
with the natural propensities of their hearts.
Their warm temperaraent can ill brook the cold
maxiras of morality, the teasing restraints of
religion. Entering upon a gay scene, where
pleasure presents itself in raany a tempting
form, and wooes them by every alluring art,
can we expect, that' they will sit down calmly
and candidly to examine the arguments which
are intended to prove, that they may yield to
its solicitations with innocence and safety? Br

CONCLUSION. Mi
those who long for the fair fruit of the forbid
den tree, the authority whicb repeals the pror
bibition to taste it, will not be scrupidously
discussed. Let me beseech my readers of this class to
pause a little and reflect, before they make a
surrender of their faith. It is possible, that the
jarguments against revelation are not so strQng
as to you they appear ; it is certain, that persons
of Acuities more matured, of larger experience
and more exteosive inquiry,. do look upon them
as inconclusive; and itmay be presumed, that a
.closer and more dispassionate consideration of
them would convince you of their weakness. an{]
^futility. Ought you not to proceed witii caution,
¦to examine with the greatest care the merits of
,the question, to have the evidence fully and
fairly presented, before you venture to give
sentence against a religion, said to have been
attested by the most astonishing miracles, em
braced by the wise and good in all ages since its
publication, and by yourselves held sacred from
your childhood? Would it not be prudent to
inquire, what is offered in Jhe roora ^f that

352 CONCLUSION.
religion; with what system infidels promise to
supply its place; and whether this substitute
will serve better than religion, as a source of
wisdom and a rule of life; will contribute
more effectually to your intellectual and moral
perfection ?
You are now entering upon life, without hav
ing thought much of its duties, and, it is
probable, having still less considered its dif
ficulties. But life is not a mere play, a pastime
for the giddy and the idle, a succession of friv
olous amusements. It has serious business at
tached to it, and brings along with it, in its
progress, many evils both physical and moral.
Is it by the principles of infidelity that you shall
be trained for the bustling, trying scene ; dis
ciplined for the duty, the resistance, the patience,
the self-command, which its varying postures
may require? Will they prove a safe-guard to
your integrity, amidst strong temptations to
falsehood and injustice? Will they support your
virtue, when assailed by the blandishments of
vice ? Are these the principles which it would
be safe to carry into the details of life, and into

CONCLUSION. 353
the bosom of families ; by which you should wish
your nearest and most tender relatives to be
governed ; which you should be pleased to see
reduced to practice by those, on whose good be
haviour your honour, and peace, and interest
depend ? Can they inspire that fortitude which
nobly sustains the spirit in adversity ? Have they
any sovereign antidote to administer against the
fretting, rankling influence of pain and disap
pointment? What sanctuary do they open for
the reception of the persecuted and forlorn?
What consolation do they provide for the op
pressed, the poor, the broken-hearted ; for those
who have been wounded by the poisoned shafts
of calumny, and for those who are shedding
tears of hopeless sorrow over the graves of
their friends?
Of all concerns there is none so momentous
and interesting as that about which you are now
called upon to decide ; whether you shall hold
by the Scriptures, or adopt any of the modern
systems of unbelief. It is a decision for this
world and for the next, as virtue or vice, the
approbation or the reproaches of your own minds.

354 CONCLUSION.
if they do not lose all sensibility, and final hap
piness or misery will be the result of your choice.
Review, then, with attention, the arguments
which have been produced in favour ofthe Bible.
Ask your reason, whether it be possible, that a
book so attested and confirraed should bean im
posture ; and whether evidence so clear and full
should be set aside on account of a few difficulties
which you cannot solve, or because some restric
tions are imposed, which seem to intrench upon
your natural liberty. At the tribunal of free
and unbiassed reason, we are willing, that the
cause of revelation should be tried. Let truth
and duty be the sole objects of your inquiries ;
jand the issue will be such as we wiiA it. " If
thou criest after knowledge, and fiftest up thy
voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as
silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
•then shalt thou understand thefear of the-Lord,
and find the knowledge of Go<J. For the Lord
giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh know
ledge and understanding *."
* Peov. ii. 3-*6.

CONCLUSION. 355
To such of my readers as are persuaded of
the divine authority of the Scriptures, I beg
leave to address the few following exhortations.
First, Be thankful for the Scriptures. All
the proofs of their inspiration conspire to show,
that it is an inestimable treasure of* which you
are possessed. The Bible is the word of God.
It is " more to be desired than gold, yea, than
much fine gold ; it is sweeter than honey, and
the honey-comb *." It is the map which points
out the road leading to the heavenly Canaan,
and to the Zion above. It is our charter to the
everlasting inheritance; it is the guide of our
youth, and the staff of our old age. To the
Scriptures we are indebted for those views of the
divine character, which relieve and comfort us.
They unfold the excellencies of our Redeeraer,
the wonders of his love, the iraraense stores of
his grace, the attractive beauties of his example.
They supply motives of the sweetest and most
powerful nature^ which engage our affections,
and carry us forward in the service of God, not
* Psalm xix, 10.

356 CONCLUSION.
only with pleasure, but to a degree of perfection,
which we could not have attained by a cold sense
of duty, or under the influence of fear. They
set before us a law, righteous, good, and, through
the aid of divine grace, easy, by observing which
we glorify God, and promote the peace of our
own minds. By their light, the horrors of the
grave are dispelled, and we discover beyond it
another and better world, where we shall en
joy repose after our toils, find a refuge from the
evils of life, receive the reward of our labours,
and rise to the utmost perfection and felicity of
which our nature is capable. Are you borne up
under a load of sorrows, and enabled to triumph
over temptation ? Do you taste the, delights,
and feel the raptures of holy meditation, and
prayer? When you languish, are your spirits
revived ? When you begin to faint, is your
vigour restored? These are the happy effects
of the doctrines, the exhortations, the pro
mises, the examples recorded in the Sacred
Writings; and, as these are divine, the dictates
of immutable truth and infinite goodness, the
joys which they create, are not delusive, and the

CONCLUSION. 351
hopes which they inspire cannot be disappointed.
Be thankful, therefore, for the Scriptures.
Secondly, Be on your guard against the at
tempts of those, who would overthrow your faith
in the Scriptures. Persons engaged in this ira-
pious design have appeared in every period of
the Christian church;- but at present they are
uncoramonly nuraerous and active. This, we
have been told, is the age of reason ; and its
claim to this high character has been proved
by hostility to all ancient institutions, and by
visionary schemes of reform. We should not,
therefore, be surprised, that the unusual fer
mentation of the human raind has given rise to
endeavours to abolish Christianity, as well as
systems of government. Let the danger to
which you are exposed, rouse you to vigilance
and activity, in repelling the assaults made upon
your faith. It was always necessary, that the
friends of the gospel should know the grounds
on which they believed it to be a divine revela
tion ; but it is peculiarly necessary at present,
when the trial of their faith is uncommonly
severe.
2 Z

B5S CONCLUSION.
Study to be thoroughly acquainted with the
manifold excellencies and uses of the Scriptures,
of which a slight view has been given in the
preceding exhortation. It is not to be wondered
at, that they who hardly know any thing about
the Sacred Writings but their name, should be
easily persuaded to renounce thera. Like a
blind raan^ they throw away a diamond, which
they mistake for a pebble. But he will not so
easily part with them, who has experienced the
benefit of their instructions and counsels on
many important occasions; and into whose
wounds they have poured the oil and wine of
•consolation. Infidels are ignorant of the Scrip
tures ; unacquainted with the letter, or with the
spirit. Many of them have never read the Bible,
but have forraed their opinion of it upon trust,
from the misrepresentations, and sneers, and
falsifications of their brethren in unbelief; and
of those who have perused it, we may safely
affirm, that they did not understand what they
read, because there was a veil of prejudice over
their eyes.

CONCLUSION. 359
Beware of the influence of the world upon
your hearts, and of the prevalence of sinful dis
positions. It is in the heart raore than in the
head, in the passions more than in the judg
ment, that infidels find the means of seduction.
They would not, it is probable, have themselves
been unbelievers, had they not, in the first place,
been lovers of sin ; and their arguments would
make few converts or none, if they were not
assisted by certain inclinations, which the Scrip
tures condemn, but infidelity gives full per^
mission to indulge. " He that doth evil hateth
the light."
Thirdly, Read the Scriptures with humility of
mind. We are not required to believe their in
spiration without evidence; but having once
ascertained this point, we should be satisfied.
All that remains, is to act the part of hurable
disciples, who are sensible that they are naturally
destitute of spiritual wisdom, and are willing to
be taught by hira, who cannot err. We raust
sit down at the feet of Jesus, and receive the
law frora his mouth. Our reason is no farther
necessary than to help us to examine the eyi.

360 CONCLUSION.
deuces of revelation, to understand the meaning
ofthe words and phrases in which it is expressed,
and to trace the connection of its several parts.
To presume to criticise the Scriptures, is, in
effect, to deny their inspiration ; for criticisra is
not applicable to a divine production, but to a
work of raan, which may be compared with a
standard, and may be found to be inaccurately
executed. It would be arrogant to engage in the perusal
of the Word of God, with a resolution not to be
pleased, unless we fully understand it, and be
able to account for every thing which it teaches.
There are mysteries in revelation, which asto^iish
and overwhelm our reason ; there are difficulties,
which huraan wisdora will in vain endeavour to
solve. Let us not be surprised and offended,
when such things occur. Were we raodest, did
we consider our ignorance and the liraited na
ture of our faculties, we should look for them.
Observing difficulties and mysteries every where,
even in the most common and familiar objects,
we should expect to meet with them likewise in
the Scriptures. To wonder, therefore, when we

CONCLUSION. 361
do meet with thera, and to coraplain of revela
tion as not sufficiently simple and perspicuous,
is to indicate, that we had formed a very extra
vagant estimate of our intellectual powers. It is
to wonder that we are not as wise as God, and
that any thing in his nature and counsels should
surpass our comprehension.
Humility is the first lesson, which is learned
in the school of Christ ; the first virtue required
in his followers. " If any man will come after
me, let him deny himself." " Verily, I say
unto you. Except ye be converted, and becorae
as little children, ye shall not enter into the
kingdora of heaven *." He who does not read
the Scriptures with humble submission to infinite
wisdom, will soon be perplexed with doubts, and,
it is not improbable, will end in denying their
divinity. Fourthly, Be careful at all tiraes to treat the
Scriptures with profound reverence. They are
the word of that Being, whose voice raakes the
pillars of heaven trerable, and in whose presence

* Matt. xvi. 24. xviii. S.

362 CONCLUSION.
the loftiest angels prostrate themselves with
humility, and holy fear. To sit down, therefore,
in a light and thoughtless state of mind to per
use them ; to read them with the sarae indiffer
ence, with which we should look over sorae idle
story, or uninteresting dissertation ; to suffer our
attention to be diverted by every vanity which
obtrudes itself upon our notice; to think and
speak of their contents with indecent levity and
familiarity, is to offer an insult to Him, whose will
they declare, and of whose majesty and glory
they bear manifest signatures. We should study
to feel the same awe upon our spirits, as if God
audibly addressed us; to cultivate a composed
and soleran teraper of mind, arising frora the
consideration, not only of their Author, but like
wise of our interest in them ; and leading us to
banish every thought tending to counteract the
impressions, which they are calculated to make
upon our hearts. How holy and venerable, we
should say, is this Book which we take into our
hands ! It was dictated by infallible wisdora ; it
is enjoined by the highest authority in the uni
verse ; it is the law, by which we shall be judged ;
it is the messenger of life or of death.

CONCLUSION. 363
In this place, I cannot forbear to warn the
reader against the profane practice of sporting
with the Word of God, or of introducing any of
the stories and expressions which occur in it, to
enliven conversation, and excite the laughter of
the company. To hear jests of this kind uttered
by an infidel would not surprise us; but how
must every pious person be shocked, when they
proceed from the mouth of a professed friend of
revelation ! The wit, which consists in an unsea
sonable application of the Scriptures, is not of
difficult attainment, as is evident frora this consid
eration, that it is within the reach of alraost any
man, who chooses to display it. Accordingly, we
observe, that persons whose ideas and conversa
tion are usually sluggish and insipid, are occasion
ally able, by the help of Scriptural phraseology, to
produce among their fellows a momentary flash
of merriment. The language of the Sacred
Books occurs without an effort; and when ap
plied to some incongruous subject, has a ludi
crous effect, by the grotesque mixture of majesty
and meanness, of what is solemn and what is
familiar or trifling. It requires no greater dex-

364 CONCLUSION.
terity to form such an association, than to expose
a grave and respectable raan to the laughter of
the raob, by putting a fool's cap on his head, or
by distorting and disfiguring his dress. Such
raerriraent, it has been well said, " a good raan
dreads for its profaneness, and a witty man dis
dains for its easiness and vulgarity." If there
be jestings which are not convenient, those which
have divine things for their subject, are without
dispute among tho number. A habitual belief
of the presence of God, would make us afraid
to trifle with his words. That jest would be
better spared, which, while it contributes to the
amusement of irreligious companions, provokes
the indignation of heaven, and exposes the jester
to a punishraent, which will make him serious
and sad for ever.
Fifthly, Reraeraber that the Scriptures must
be received with a divine faith. The arguments,
advanced in the preceding chapters, authorise
us to assert their inspiration ; but the persuasion
flowing from thera is not properly faith, which
is founded upon testiraony, but conviction or
moral certainty. I acknowledge, that this dis-

CONCLUSION. 365
tinction is not always observed, either in the
language of Theologians, or even in the Scrip
tures, in whicb persons are soraetimes said to
believe on the evidence of miracles; but the
things themselves are clearly distinguished. Bare
argumentation, or a series of external proofs, is
represented as ineffectual to produce that
faith, which gives us an interest in the bless
ings of the gospel, and applies the truths of
religion to practical uses. The design of the
foregoing reasoning is solely to prove that
the Scriptures are the word of God, and ought
to be believed: the faith, with which salvation
is inseparably connected, is the effect of the
demonstration ofthe Spirit. When God shining
upon his word, discovers its intrinsic excellencies,
reveals those glories which a natural man can
not perceive, and makes our consciences feel its
authority; when he says, as in the beginning,
" Let there be light," and calls " the things
which are not to be as though they were," an
assurance is produced, which bears a proportion
to the clearness and strength of the evidence.
We are then disposed to yield, not a cold and
3 A

366 CONCLUSION.
languid assent to the Scriptures, but an assent,
in which the heart concurs, embracing as good
those doctrines, which the understanding discerns
to be true, and worthy of all acceptation. Let
this, therefore, be our earnest prayer: " Open
thou our eyes, that we may see wondrous things
out of thy law. May God, who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness, shine in our hearts,
to give us the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." ,
The knowledge of the Scriptures, wiiich is the
effect of spiritual illumination, will more com
pletely secure us against the arts of infidelity,
than all the arguments which have been brought
forward to prove their inspiration. It is accom
panied with an experience of the power and
comforts of the truth ; and in vain should rea
soning be employed to persuade a man in con
tradiction to his feelings. He who could not
answer the philosopher's objections against rao
tion, rose up, and walked. When the Christian
is at a loss for a direct reply to the cavils of the
unbeliever, he can appeal to the state of his
heart. He has the witness in himself, that the

CONCLUSION. 361
Scriptures are true. " Sceptics may wrangle,
and mockers may blaspheme, but the pious man
knows, by evidence too sublime for their com-
preheiTslort, that his affections are not misplaced,
and that his hopes shall not be disappointed;
by evidence which, to every sound mind, is
fully satisfactory, but which, to the hurable and
tender-hearted, is altogether overwhelming,
irresistible, and divine *."
In the Sixth place, Make yourselves farailiarly
acquainted with the Scriptures. As they were
given by inspiration of God, we raay presurae,
that they are worthy, in every respect, of his
wisdora and grace, and suited to the diversified
circumstances and conditions of mankind. Ac
cordingly, an Apostle informs us, that " they are
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness; that the man of
God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all
good works -f." They are a rich treasury, from
which our wants will be supplied ; a magazine,

* Dr. Beattie's Essay on Truth, part i. chap. ii. 5
t 2 Tim. iii. 16.

368 CONCLUSION.
stored with every thing necessary for the support
and defence of the Christian. With what dili
gence and attention should they be perused?
With how much care should they be laid up in
our hearts? Doctrines, proraises, precepts, and
examples, are of no benefit to us, while they are
allowed to remain in the Sacred Books; and
become useful, only when they are transferred
into our minds, by reading and meditation. In
the one case, they are as wholesome, nutritious
food placed before us ; in the other, they are as
food swallowed and digested. The Christian
who is not conversant with his Bible, must often
be greatly perplexed, like a mariner without his
compass, when he has lost sight of land. An
ample store of Scriptural knowledge is attended
with many advantages. It enables us to detect
errors, which raay be disguised and erabellished
by the arts of sophistry, to repel the objections by
which our faith is assailed, to resist with success
the allureraents of sin, to conduct ourselves with
propriety in every situation, and, in the season
of affliction, to find a source of consolation
and hope.

CONCLUSION. 3fi9
Lastly, Let the Scriptures be regarded as the
only rule of faith and manners. To this rank
and dignity they are entitled, on account of their
fulness and perfection, and the authority of
Him by whom they were dictated. The Holy
Ghost, speaking in them, is the suprerae judge
of all controversies in religion. To his review,
therefore, our opinions, and those of others,
should be submitted ; and in his decision, what
ever it may be, we are bound to acquiesce.
The faith of some men may be regulated by the
traditions of their Fathers, the decrees of the
Church, the peculiarities of a party, the whims
and mandates of a leader ; but we ought to re
member, that " one is our Master, even Christ."
By making the Scriptures, and not any huraan
creed, the standard of our faith and obedience,
we ffive them the honour to which they have
an undoubted claim, as a revelation of the
will of our Maker, as the dictates of infallible
wisdom. That union of Christians, for which we profess
to lono-, will not be effected, till all parties,
laying aside prejudices, and disclaiming human

370 CONCLUSION.
authorities, resolve, in forming their religious
principles, to consult the Scriptures alone.
When that happy period shall arive, I am per
suaded, that their sentiments will harmonize much
beyond what we can now prevail upon ourselves
to believe ; and without harmony of sentiment,
it is vain to expect cordial co-operation.
Let our conduct, on all occasions, be expres
sive of our reverence for the Word of God, and
of the high estimation in which we hold it. " If
ye know these things," said our Lord to his dis
ciples, " happy are ye, if ye do them *." It is
not by verbal commendations of it, but by
actual and unreserved submission to its author
ity, that we shall demonstrate our professed
respect for it to be sincere. Our faith will ap
pear to be, not a cold and careless assent, but
a serious conviction of the truth and importance
of its contents, if we renounce opinions and
practices however fashionable, which it con
demns as false and unholy; conscientiously
perform the duties which it enjoins, although
* John xiii. 17.

CONCLUSION. 311
they should be contrary to the natural propen
sities of our hearts ; and regulate our deport
ment in the various relations and circurastances
of life, by the perfect standard which it exhibits
in its precepts and examples. Few of us are
qualified to reason in behalf of our religion witii
its adversaries; but we may all " hold it forth
in our conversation," and recomraend it to the
world, by displaying its happy influence in ren
dering those who believe it araiable and useful.
" We do not speak, but we live great things,"
says an ancient apologist for Christianity *. It
is by the silent but powerful eloquence of our.
lives, that we should daily plead the cause of
revelation. The Scriptures are " a light shining in a dark
place, to which we do well to take heed, until
the day dawn, and the day-star arise in our
hearts." Happy are they who keep their eyes
continually fixed upon it. It will guide them
safely amidst the devious paths of life, and bring
* Non eloquimur magna, sed viviraus. Min. Felix, cap, SS.

312 CONCLUSION.
them to that blessed world, where every cloud,
which now hangs upon the ways of God, shall
be dispelled, every doubt, by which their minds
are perplexed, shall be removed, every humble
and pious inquiry shall be satisfied, and they
shall " know even as they are known."

THE END.

James Hedderwick ^ Co, Printers., 7
26, Bell-Street^ Glasgow. J

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 08844 2463