^ v K -cxr^^^t. H Jv't.M y^t."^ ¦Wj-Mswiijiv -K 1> «¦ ..AM 'U^^r^' fJM Y-V In _fVh "^ rt , J- (j-Ji. .JUu f -*- -r Wi J tf-'J'^^l^ «!. J Uv/ J^.»»>. ^-S .^ V i\. ^J nrw -Mm ->." mis, se7~vis, feminis, pueris. uni- formiter potestatem veniendi ad se facit ? Patet, inquit, omnibus FONS viTiE, neque ab jure potandi quisquam prohibetur aut pellitur. Id. ibid. lib. II. c. 64. " Does " not Christ, who calls all men " to him with equal regard, " bestow his liberty on them " with the same impartiality? " Does lie repel any man from " the experience of his royal " clemency ? Christ, I say, " who, without respect to persons, " affords to high and low, to " slaves, to women and to chil- " dren, the power of coming to " him. The well op life, says " he, IS open to all : every " man has a right to drink there- " of, and no man is subject to " prohibition or restraint." In like manner Lactantius, (about the commencement of the se venth book of his Divine Insti tutions,) speaking of the evi dences of Christianity, says, that to all men in whom vice does not awaken prejudice, these evidences will appear open, plain, simple, true and irrefragable ; but that, generally speaking, they are mat ter of readier apprehension to the poor than to the rich: inasmuch as the poor are disengaged from those possessions and attach ments which vitiate the under standings of the rich. And again Clement of Alexandria, speaking on the same subject, and to the same effect, says : AtiTOTeX?;s Kai aTrpocSeijj rj Kara TOP ^arrjpa 8iSao"/caXta, dvvafits ov(Ta Km crocpia rov Oeov. " The " doctrine of our Saviour is " perfect in itself, requiring no " extraneous help, since it is the " power and Avisdom of God." Strom, lib. I. c. 20. '^ AvrapKeis eicriv ai aytai Kcu deoTTvevtrrot ypac^at trpos ttjV ttjs oKiidciai anayyekiav. Orat. contra Gent. c. I. The sense of this illustriousFather on this subject, in agreement with the princi ples maintained in these Lec tures, may be further gathered from the 30th and 34th chap- LECTURE L 33 The second of these authorities is that of a prelate, who has signalized his learning and his argumentative powers in vindicating the same doctrine which had previously exercised the bright genius and noble constancy of Athanasius. " What," says bishop Horsley, " is the great foundation of proof to those " who are little read in history, and ill quali- " fied to decipher prophecy, and to compare it " with the records of mankind ? Plainly this, " which the learned and ignorant may equally " comprehend : the intrinsic excellence of the " doctrine, and the purity of the precept." " This excellence of the Christian doctrine " considered in itself gives to those who are " qualified to perceive it that internal proba- " bility to the whole scheme [of revelation], " that the external evidence, in that propor- " tion of it in which it may be supposed to be " understood by common men, may be well " allowed to complete the proof." And again, speaking of the external evidence, with refer ence to that view of it in which it is capable of being presented to men in general, he says : " The general view of it, joined to the intrin- " sic probability of the doctrine, may reason- " ably work that determined conviction, which ters of the same treatise, and ters of his treatise De Incarna- from the two concluding chap- tione Verbi Dei. D 34 LECTURE L " may incline the ilhterate believer to turn a " deaf ear to objections which the learned " only can be competent to examine ; and to " repose his mind in this persuasion, that " there is no objection to be brought, which, " if understood, would appear to him suffi- " cient to outweigh the mass of evidence " which is before him^" Such then is the nature of my design. I have stated the grounds of necessity, or at least of usefulness, which appear to me to de mand an examination of this subject. I trust that the possibility of misconception has, at the same time, been obviated. I trust that the principle, which I purpose to maintain, though opposed to the judgment of many whom I would name with respect, will not be regarded by you as a seductive and perilous novelty ; but that it will, on the contrary, be found to embrace the sense, of scripture itself; of the Christian church in her days of pri meval purity ; and of individuals celebrated for their great wisdom and for the orthodoxy of their faith. Lastly, I trust that the rea sons I have given will suffice to justify the introduction of this subject on the present occasion, and to vindicate the claims it may have to your consideration. ' Horsley's Sermons. Serm. XLII. on John xx. 29. LECTURE I. 35 And now, that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, may God of his infinite mercy give us a right judgment in all things, and direct our lives and actions agreeably thereto, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord : to whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, three Persons and one God, let us, with praise and thanksgiving, ascribe all might, majesty, glory, and dominion, world without end. D 2 LECTURE II. ON THE GROUNDS OF FAITH WHICH SCRIPTURE ITSELF AFF0RDS._THE canon of SCRIPTURE INQUIRED INTO ON ABSTRACT AND GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 1 Peter iii. 15. Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you. IX. In my last Discourse, I stated to you the leading principle which I purpose to vin dicate. That the evidence of the Gospel should be thought to depend, in a great de gree, on the deference of ignorance to the testimony of learning : involves a view of the subject, respecting which I then declared my conviction, that it was both mistaken and in jurious. It must now be my endeavour to substantiate that conviction for the satisfac tion of others. I am to shew then, that the proofs of Christianity are not of this nature : that they do not, on the one hand, require those enlarged measures of knowledge which few can obtain ; nor, on the other, any im- d3 38 LECTURE II. plicit submission, on the part of those who cannot obtain them, to the authority of others: but that they are equally adapted to every condition of a reasonable being in the enjoyment of his reason, and that they demand not such external or acquired ad vantages as are inconsistent with any ordi nary condition of society. In fact, my object is to shew, that the Gospel, not only in the tendency of its discoveries and its precepts, but also in the proofs of its authority; is fully and wonderfully adapted to the state of hu man life. This view I deem it necessary to maintain : such necessity arising, not only from the paramount obligation of vindicat ing truth, but also from a sense of the in convenience which appears to me to connect itself with the principle to which I object. For if this latter principle be admitted, I fear it must follow as an inference, that the Gospel is not adapted to the state of human life: inasmuch as, while it requires the as sent of all men, it displays its credentials only to a few ; the rest being referred to that, which both Scripture and experience declare to be an unsafe and precarious ground of re liance; I mean, the credit and veracity of man. For the accomplishment of this purpose, I intend to observe the following method. I LECTURE IL 39 shall endeavour so to state the evidence of Christianity, as to shew while I do it, with respect to the various parts of which it con sists, that it wants not the aid of this dan gerous and uncertain auxiliary. It is not therefore my object to propound new argu ments, where old and received ones are sound and valid ; but to shew that such arguments there are, as ought to suffice for the reason able conviction of all men. Should they oc casionally strike you as common and familiar, this ought not to derogate from their value : for the more common and familiar they are, the more they have been subservient to the general use of mankind ; the better they are adapted to confirm my position, that the evidences of the Gospel are accessible to all conditions of mankind. But it will be neces sary to display a body of evidence, and to ex amine the various parts of it, for the purpose of shewing, that it does not in any part require an implicit recumbency on human knowledge, judgment, and veracity. This will be my apology, if I be thought at any time to detain you with representations suited to men of little education : I wish to shew, that the evidence of the Gospel may rest sure and immovable on reasonings deduced from representations jowre/y o/"^Aa^ nature. Where D 4 40 LECTURE II. I find that the common style of reasoning on this subject is apt to shelter itself under an appeal to the learned; there it must be my endeavour to shew, that the same point may, with stronger and more perspicuous evidence, be proved by other modes of ar gument. Having premised this exposition of my intended method of inquiry, I now proceed to state and to examine the evidence of Christianity. X. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Christianity claims its authority on the ground of Divine Reve lation. If then we have not ourselves been favoured with direct communication from God, the question is, to what source are we to go for the knowledge of his revelations ? The answer is to this effect : They can in this case be known only from those prophets and teachers, whom God has commissioned and inspired for the instruction of mankind. The next question is, who these teachers are, and where their words are to be found ? To which the answer is : They are the prophets and in spired writers of the Old and New Testa ments, and their words are to be found in the canonical Scriptures. The next stage of inquiry and of evidence embraces this point. How are we assured, LECTURE IL 41 that these scriptures contain a true revelation from God. To this point we now address ourselves : only premising, that our attention will in the first place confine itself to the Scriptures of the New Testament. We are then to display the grounds on which we em brace the New Testament, such as it is now received among us, as containing the matter of a true revelation from God. Now these proofs will in the first instance arise from the matters themselves contained in these writings. The doctrine is in itself worthy of God, and it is attested by the power of God. That Christ was himself authorized as a teacher sent from God, will appear from his miracles : for no man could do the works that he did except God were with him. Such were the healing of inveterate maladies, the restoration of the blind and the deaf, the re suscitation of the dead: and lastly, as the stamp and seal of God more expressly ap pealed to for that purpose, the resurrection of Christ himself. These facts were alleged by Christ in proof that he came from God : now God would not suffer his name to be vouched as an authority to a lie : he would not suffer the most stupendous miracles to be wrought, in order that a falsehood might go abroad to the world, clothed in the strong armour of 42 LECTURE IL irrefragable proof. For the full statement of this proof, we are to observe, that Christ not only evidenced, by the means now alleged, his own mission and authority, but that he also imparted the power of miracles to those who were to teach his religion to mankind; and that these latter, namely, the apostles and first preachers of the Gospel, were thus en abled, not only to attest their Master's mis sion, but also to prove their own. It is also to be regarded as an essential part of the case, that the miracles alleged were such in their own nature, and so circumstanced, as to exclude all reasonable supposition of either mistake or imposture in the narrators of them : the notion of imposture being incon sistent with the dreadful evils and sufferings which their testimony provoked, and with the character of men, whose labour, self-denial, and fortitude, were exerted for the purpose of converting others to goodness and virtue : while that of mistake is excluded by their os tensible character of eye-witnesses, of the facts which they record or of miracles wrought for the proof of those facts. These narrators were, among a multitude of others, the apo stles, whom Christ commissioned to teach his religion to the world, and whom he promised, that he would fit them for their work, by LECTURE IL 43 sending to them the Holy Spirit of God for their infallible guidance to all necessary truth. Thus much the New Testament itself de clares : it professes to have the authority of its doctrine evidenced by the facts which have now been stated : and its doctrinal and preceptive writings are regarded by us, as the writings of those whom we have above de scribed to have been commissioned by Christ to teach his religion. This, if not overthrown by powerful countervailing objections, will be found to present a strong case in support of the claims of Christianity. If the scriptures themselves be deserving of credit, it is not easy to resist the validity of those claims. The next inquiry then is this : Are the scriptures deserving of credit? In other words, do they present to us the testimony of credible persons ? and do they present us with the doctrine of men, whom Christ really authorized to teach ? This being the state of the argument, there arises a necessity for the proof of three points : first, the authenticity of the writ ings ; secondly, the sincerity of the witnesses; thirdly, the competence of the witnesses. The question relating to the authenticity of the writings embraces in it the two fol- 44 LECTURE IL lowing points: First, Can the testimony which the New Testament affords to the promulgation of Christianity, be identified with the testimony of real and actual wit nesses ? Secondly, Can its doctrines be iden tified with the doctrines of Christ, and of teachers authorized by Christ? We are to con sider, that these writings come to us with the strong recommendations of personal know ledge and of infallible direction. If then we would ascertain, whether these advantages were really possessed, as far as it is alleged that they were : it becomes necessary to sa tisfy ourselves that the writers are really the persons whom they are commonly supposed to have been, that they were persons living in the age and under the circumstances com monly ascribed to them : in other words, that the writings are the genuine writings of those whom Christians regard as duly au thorized and qualified, and that they are not the forgeries of a later age, composed by individuals who possessed not the need ful qualifications, but personated those who did. XI. You will now remark, that down to the present point of inquiry and of evidence, the arguments adduced are level to the means of knowledge and to the comprehen- LECTURE IL 45 sion, of all men who have access to the mat ters contained in their Bibles. But now (in order to our satisfaction respecting that im portant matter of consideration which has just been stated) there arises a question con cerning what is called, in the language of theology, the Canon ofthe New Testament. Here it is that learned men appear pecu liarly to delight in extolling, as necessary to the evidence of faith, the value of their own advantages. For it is declared, that without these advantages the canon cannot be de termined ; and that unlettered men must, as to this point, recline upon the judgment of others. In this way is applied to the defence of Christianity that obnoxious principle of ar gument, to which I have already declared my strong objections. For the sake of present ing a distinct view of the principle itself, and also of preparing a way for the confutation of it; I will first advert to a learned disquisi tion upon this subject, which has obtained considerable credit and reputation : I mean Mr. Jones's Method of settling the Canonical Authority of the New Testament. Among the passages of this work more immediately connected with my present sub ject, I will at this time notice the following. 46 LECTURE IL It is declared, then, " that settling the ca- " nonical authority of the Books of the New " Testament is a matter of the greatest conse- " quence and importance '." This position is fully established by the learned author : nor would I offer a single word to dispute the truth of it, or to extenuate the great impor tance which attaches itself to the settlement of the Canon. For it is plain that there can be no reasoning either upon the authority or the doctrine of a faith, which has no fixed and definite standard : here all must be un certainty of fact and instability of mind. The very circumstances of a religion having no fixed standard of doctrine, must be one of the strongest presumptions against that religion itself: as indeed the want of such a standard is one of the strongest presumptions against the peculiar theology of the church of Rome*. The following position is now to be viewed in connection with that which has been just noticed. It is," That the right setthng the " canonical authority of the Books of the " New Testament is attended with very many s Vol. I. p. 9. ed. 1 798. " controversies is to be found." t " There is, as yet, no pos- Mosheim's Eccl. Hist. Cent. 16. " sibility of knowing with cer- sect. 3. part I. c. 22. See also, " tainty what are the real doc- to the same effect, Barrow on " trines of the church of Rome, the Pope's Supremacy, Introdw- " nor where, in that commu- tion. " nion, the judge of religious LECTURE IL 47 " and great difficulties "." Again, says this same writer : " I declare with many learned " men, that in the whole compass of learning " / know no question involved with more intri- " cacies and perplexing difficulties than this""." If this be a just view of the case, it may well awaken uneasiness and alarm in every lover of religion. I trust it will appear in the se quel, that the alarm is groundless; inasmuch as the representation is fallacious, and the estimate is false. Meanwhile we are to no tice the method, in which the learned writer proceeds to dissipate the uneasy feelings which his declaration tends to excite. The evidence of canonical authority is made by this writer, in conformity with the general practice of those who have treated the same subject, to rest on " the testimony " of the primitive churches, still faithfully " preserved in the writings of the ancient " Christians ^." But this, as he acknowledges, is liable to the following objection : " If it is " by tradition, and searching the records of " the ancients, that we are to have satisfac- " tion as to the truth of the scriptures, then " the greater part of Christians, who are not " capable of doing this, must be without satis- 'Vol. I. p. 2. "Ibid. yVol. I. p. 57. 48 LECTURE IL ''faction ^" A serious objection indeed. Let us now remark the learned writer's answer. It is as follows : " Though the bulk of " Christians cannot themselves have recourse « to these original evidences ; yet there are " many, who have with a great deal of dili- " gence and impartiality made it their busi- " ness to do it, whose testimonies they have, « and may safely depend upon, as they nei- " ther can nor would deceive in a matter of " such importance. Nor does it follow from " hence, that their faith is ill-grounded, be- " cause it relies on the testimony of fallible " men, and so is but a human faith : for this " is no more than what equally follows from " their not knowing the original languages, " and so, being obliged to depend upon the " veracity and judgment of others, for the " truth and goodness of [a translation "."] I will now offer a few reflections on the foregoing passages. The view which they ^Vol. I. p.57. concurrence vidth the senti- " Ibid. The two last words ments of Baxter, as they are of this citation are inserted delivered in his " Saint's Rest." in place of the word it, as it This latter writer appears to stands in the original author : me to be equally censurable that pronoun being, through with Mr. Jones himself: for inaccuracy, employed without he is equally strong in stating, any foregoing noun to which or as I should say, creating, the it refers. It is to be observed, difficulty of the canon, as well that the author here (as ap- as injudicious in his proposed pears from his own marginal method for the solution of that reference) expresses himself in supposed difficulty. LECTURE IL 49 contain has been delivered in the express words of an individual writer, because in such a case, definite and tangible expressions are always preferable to loose and general statement; whether such statement be taken at second hand from others, or whether (what is still more objectionable) it be framed in our own words : for it is always highly objec tionable that a disputant should himself mould and fashion the shape of the tenet which he resists. The author quoted appears to be a fair authority for a multitude of others who speak to the same effect : and a preference of regard may justly be given him, by reason of the approbation which his inquiry has ob tained, not only in the learned world, but particularly in this university. I will add, that while I strongly feel the injurious ten dency of this representation ; and while I la ment the pernicious character which I think to be inherent in the earlier part of the treatise referred to : I am not desirous in other respects to derogate from the merits of that treatise. Of its usefulness I shall have occasion to speak in the future progress of this inquiry. But to proceed to the subject. The diffi culties of the canon are here drawn up in a front of formidable display, and in a style 50 LECTURE IL pregnant with most injurious effect. Whether this may in any degree arise from the vanity of an author, in seeking to enhance the me rit, by amplifying the difficulty of a work, I will not pronounce. But concerning the dif ficulties of the canon I will at least state the impression of my own mind ; for this is immediately connected with the business in hand : I will add, that if my subsequent re marks are convincing, it will be their mani fest tendency to justify that impression. I will not hesitate then to say, that the diffi culties of the canon appear to me to be in debted to the speculations of learned men for their existence, much more than they are for their solution ''. In examining this matter, we discover at one time the infirmity of the human mind, displaying itself in a way which is incident only to men of learning : of this, I think, an example presents itself in archbi shop Wake, when he exalts the writings of the apostolical fathers into " an authoritative " declaration of the gospel of Christ ''." In ^ For a brief exemplification an exposure of great names in of this, (which may serve for connection with great errors, the present,) I would refer the groundless credulity, and dan- reader to that part of this same gerous application of errone- Mr. Jones's work (part II. ous assumptions. numb. xhi. c. 25 — 29.) which c Preliminary Discourse to relates to the Gospel of the his Translation of the Aposto- Nazarenes. He will here find lical Fathers, chap. x. §. 11. (more especially in cap. 26.) LECTURE II. 51 some degree also we recognise the danger of insufficient knowledge : for though it would be wrong to withhold from some divines who have treated this subject the general praise of learning ; yet it may safely be asserted that their measure of learning available to this purpose, was not competent to warrant the decisions they have made and the asser tions they have pronounced. At another time we discover a rash presumption of judg ment, which could hardly have been exercised without an unseemly confidence in a man's own wisdom and attainments. Even the great names of Luther, of Calvin, and of Erasmus, will hardly avail to protect them from this censure ''. For it appears to me no less than presumption, that any man should, on the warrant of his own judgment, tear out of the volume of Scripture writings, which have been placed there by the general verdict of the Christian church and have maintained their '' " Luther and several of " timents of it." Jones on the " his followers utterly reject Canon, p. 8, 9. When men are " the Epistle of James, not for trying the canon- of Scrip- " only as a spurious piece, but ture by such a principle, it " as containing things directly would be well if they would " contrary to the gospel :" [that bear in mind this expostulation : is, contrary to what he esteem- " Quis ferat, lectorem vel audi- ed to be the gospel.] " Eras- " toreni, Scripturam tantae auc- " mus had a very mean opin- " toritatis, facilius quam vitium " ion, and doubted the author- " susetarditatis,audereculpare." " ity of the Revelations. Cal .^vg- cant. Faust. Man. lib. xxxii. " vin, Cajetan, and the learned c. 16. Kirstenius, had the same sen- E 2 52 LECTURE II. place by long acquiescence; that he should try and examine their right, after the unavoid able loss of the evidence on which it was first established ; that he should, I say, try that right over again, when the circum stances of the case are such as to afford the strongest moral evidence, that such right never would in the first instance have been acknowledged, if it had not been clear and certain. But this presumption will appear greatly aggravated in its guilt, if it shall ap pear — as I apprehend to have been the case with Luther and some other Divines — that the canonical authority of a book has been denied on the ground that its contents did not square with those theological dogmas which men have thought proper to espouse ; which is, in fact, measuring the infallibihty of God by the standard of man's judgment. And what shall we think of this ? That the authority of learning has been employed for the allegation of inconsistencies ; that such alleged inconsistencies have been the ground of rejecting a book from the canon of Scrip ture ; and that yet, after all, such alleged in consistencies have had no existence but in the contemplation of men invested with the character of learning ; whose learning, never theless, has been both deficient in measure, LECTURE IL 53 and vicious in application ? Yet such appears to me to be the true ground on which Lu ther expressed his dislike to the Epistle of St. James. On the whole, I would sum up my own view of the subject by stating, that the difficulties of the canon are imaginary more than real : that they have originated in wantonness, in the indiscreet use of learning, and in defective measures of it : that the mistakes and mistatements of learned men have furnished the most dangerous data for infidels to employ to their vile purposes : and that it would have been well for the Chris tian church, if the present unhappy confusion of the subject (beyond that small amount which infidels would ever have had the power of producing) had not been greatly augmented by the vanity and indiscretion of learned believers. We will now, still having our eye to the same writer, advert to his method of solving the difficulties which he has stated. This con sists in a reference to the authority of the learn ed. To this mode of cutting the knot I have already stated my general objections : but the language of this writer lays open a fresh one, and that of no inconsiderable strength : for the learned are here recommended as guides, on the ground of their being such as "neither E 3 54 LECTURE IL " can nor would deceive." Let this descrip tion, indeed, be verified, and then it is plain, that reason cannot demand more conclusive authority. The judgment of him who neither can nor will deceive must be irrefragably true. But this very author has produced abun dant examples of learned men, who, as to the canon, have both been themselves deceived, and have thus become the innocent and un intentional means of deceiving such as have credited them. The great men thus referred to were plainly gifted with no infallibility; therefore they might err : their sincerity has not, like that of the first witnesses to the Gospel, undergone any painful test ; therefore we have no security that they may not de ceive. I wish not to impugn their veracity ; but thus the case stands on an abstract view of it. Let us, however, come to facts. The Coun cil of Trent have annexed to the canon of Scripture a collection of writings which we deem to be apocryphal. Why then shall we de mur to their judgment ? For upon this writer's view of the subject, such judgment must be valid. Will it be alleged that there was a want of learning in the Tridentine Fathers? But how are unlettered men to judge of that? The writer proceeds to represent, that unlettered men may thus have as much security respect- LECTURE IL 55 ing the canon, as they can have respecting the translation. But I shall take occasion to shew that the two cases are wholly different. The fuller illustration of this matter may fitly be postponed to a future stage of the present inquiry : I shall only state at present what will be the result of that inquiry : namely, that in the one case, an unlettered man may reach the fullest degree of moral cer- taintv; but that in the other he will find no- thing but doubtfulness, instability, and con fusion. I do not like to dismiss this part of my subject without offering a general caution. There are few general precepts more preg nant with mistake and danger than that which refers the ignorant to the learned, for decisions in matters of theology. The gene ral use of the term itself is full of ambiguity. Many, with regard to the general extent of their knowledge, are highly learned : to these the ignorant are referred : yet of these men the learning may, as to the particular point in question, be very defective, or none at all : in which case, the learned man is in fact no better a guide than the ignorant man who is referred to his instruction. The praise of general learning, for example, would hardly be denied to archbishop Wake : yet there possi- E 4 56 LECTURE IL bly may be reason to suppose that his parti cular qualifications, in point of knowledge applicable to this subject, were somewhat inadequate. If there be a danger thus appa rent, it is augmented by that prevailing in firmity of the human mind, which consists in an insensibility to the defects of its own know ledge, and which is naturally accompanied by a readiness to pass opinions on subjects not thoroughly understood. Take for example the great Episcopius. No man would think of separating the distinction of learning from this eminent name. Yet his learning in the ancient writers and history of the church is pronounced by BuU^ to have been glaringly defective. Nevertheless it was under the in fluence of a state so little qualified for a just comprehension of his subject, that he made his celebrated declaration respecting the prac tice and feeling of the early church towards those who disbelieved the Divinity of Christ. It is not impossible, also, that the danger may be again enhanced by an unregulated exercise of even our virtuous feelings : there may pos- e See the preface to his Bull : who, [Def. Fid. Nic. Judicium Ecclesiae Cathohcse : Proem. §. 5.] pronounces him from which it will also appear, to be, Theologus ccetera doctis- that the confession of Episco- simus, sed in antiquitate ecclesi- pius himself respecting this mat- ast'ica plane hospes. ter, confirms the assertion of LECTURE IL 57 sibly be an excess of kindness, more inclined to concede than to contend, and ready, at an unguarded moment, to compromise truth for the love of peace : for it is to be observed, respecting the great man whom I have last named, that he himself believed the doctrine of the Trinity, even while he gave, in the way of historical report, respecting those who be lieved it not, the testimony which the learned Bull has shewn to be groundless. It deserves also to be considered, whether there may not be occasionally in learned men a propensity to magnify their own attainments, in a way more honourable to themselves than advanta geous to the cause for which they declare so much learning to be necessary. I am not con cerned in applying this to individuals : accu sations of this nature so applied are unchari table, and it is impossible for man to sub stantiate them. But of this I am sure, that in a matter of such great importance we have a right, among other securities against error, to calculate upon the possible existence of such a feeling. I am sure that human testimony is liable to be affected by all the infirmities of human minds, by all the irre gularity of human motives. I cannot there fore but esteem it desirable that the canon of Scripture should be placed upon grounds of 58 LECTURE IL evidence less objectionable, as well as more ac cessible to common understandings, than those on which Mr. Jones would place it. That it may be so placed, I will now proceed to shew. XII. I say then, that the canon is demon strable to ordinary minds on the most satis factory grounds, independently of learned ac quirement or research. And I will say, further, that such demonstration is in itself more irre fragable, as well as clearer, than that of which it is the peculiar province of antiquarians to furnish the materials. The proof of this as sertion is the work to which I now proceed. Let it then be considered, in the first place, that there are, among ordinary Christians, few questions that have been less agitated than this : Who are the writers authorized to declare to us the real doctrines of Christianity? Among the professors of that religion there is scarcely a single point of belief distin guished by such general agreement. To what is this owing? Shall we say that it springs from an implicit disposition to take up truths of this nature without inquiry? This suppo sition cannot for a moment be reasonably en tertained : to bestow much attention upon it would be wasting the efforts of confutation : suffice it for the present to say, that its absur dity will be strongly apparent from the remarks LECTURE IL 59 which I shall speedily, for another purpose, have to offer. The fact is, there has been little doubt, because there has been no reason to doubt. Unanimity has arisen from the absence of causes for dissension : and the unlettered believer of Revelation may naturally, in the soundest exercise of untutored wisdom, unite his own faith to a general concurrence which there has been so little occasion to disturb. We are to observe that the books of holy Scripture are particularly distinguished from other books. There is a circumstance con nected with them which operates as a power ful guard to purity, and consequently fur nishes a strong proof of authenticity. Few things are more difficult than to forge, with any prospect of credit, the writings of any author whatever : because, in the attempt to do it, so many minute circumstances, relating to time, place, and contemporaneous history, must be compacted together into an artificial coherency. The task has almost invariably been found to baffle the utmost circumspec tion and ingenuity of man : and the slightest failure in any particular will lay open the fraud. Indeed we have the utmost reason to think, that it has seldom or never in any con siderable instance been accomplished. The difficulty of such an imposture is a thing of 60 LECTURE IL easy comprehension to an unlettered mind; for, without having recourse to historical knowledge, the plainest reasons will suffice to evince it : and it may be illustrated by a re ference to the difficulty of framing lying stories', especially such as, by reason of their f The following extract from the conclusion to the first part of Dr. Lardner's Credibility, will furnish a specimen of very satisfactory reasoning respect ing the authenticity of the Scriptures, and the general truth of Christianity, and will be found clear of any parti culars which cannot be alleged consistently with the general principle for which I contend : indeed I have so curtailed the original, as to exclude from the present citation the little that it contains of matter which is inadmissible on my own ground of reasoning. My desire to maintain the possibility of such reasoning wiU obviously justify my introducing so long an ex ample of it. " Any one may be sensible, " how hard it is for the most " learned, acute, and cautious " man, to write a book in the " character of some person of " an earlier age, and not betray " his own time by some mis- " take about the affairs of the " age in which he pretends to " place himself, or by allusions " to customs or principles since " sprung up, or by some phrase " or expression not then in use. " It is no easy thing to escape " all these dangers in the ' smallest performance, though ' it be a treatise of theory or ' speculation : these hazards ' are greatly increased when ' the work is of any length, ' and especially if it be histo- ' rical, and be concerned with ' characters and customs. It ' is yet more difficult to carry ' on such a design in a work ' consisting of several pieces, ' written to all appearance by ' several persons. Many in- ' deed are desirous to deceive, ' but all hate to be deceived : ' and therefore, though at- ' tempts have been made to ' impose upon the world in ' this way, they have never or ' very rarely succeeded, but ' have been detected and ex- ' posed by the skill and vigi- ' lance of those who have been ' concerned for the truth. " The volume of the New ' Testament consists of several ' pieces ; these are ascribed to ' eight several persons ; and ' there are the strongest ap- ' pearances, that they were not ' all written by any one hand, ' but by as many persons, as ' they are ascribed to. There ' are lesser differences in the ' relations of some facts, and ' such seeming contradictions, ' as would never have hap- LECTURE IL 61 length, require a complicated attention to in ternal consistency and to congruity with exter- " pened, if these books had " been all the work of one " person, or of several who " wrote in concert. There are " as many peculiarities of tem- ' ' per and style, as there are "names of writers; divers of " which shew no depth of ge- " nius or compass of know- " ledge. Here are represen- " tations of titles, posts, beha- " viour of persons of higher " and lower rank in many parts " of the world ; persons are in- " troduced, and their charac- " ters are set in a full light ; "here is a history of things " done in several cities and " countries ; and there are al- " lusions to a vast variety of " customs and tenets of per- " sons of several nations, sects, " and religions. The whole is " written without affectation, " with the greatest simplicity " and plainness. " If it be difficult for a per- " son of learning and expe- " rience, to compose a small " treatise concerning matters " of speculation, with the cha- " racters of a more early age " than that in which he writes ; " it is next to impossible, that " such a work of considerable " length, consisting of several "pieces, with a great variety " of historical facts, represen- " tations of characters, princi- " pies, and customs of several " nations, and distant coun- " tries, of persons of all ranks " and degrees, of many inter- " ests and parties, should be ' performed by eight several ' persons, the most of them ' unlearned, vsdthout any ap- ' pearance of concert. " If the books of the New ' Testament were written by ' persons, who lived before the ' destruction of Jerusalem; that ' is, if they were written at the ' time, in which they are said ' to have been written, the ' things related in them are ' true. If they had not been ' matter of fact, they would ' not have been credited by ' any persons near that time, ' and in those parts of the ' world in which they are said ' to have been done, but would ' have been treated as the most ' notorious lies and falsehoods. ' Suppose three or four books ' should now appear amongst ' us in the language most ge- ' nerally understood, giving an ' account of many remarkable ' and extraordinary events, ' which had happened in some ' kingdom df Europe, and in ' the most noted cities of ' the countries next adjoining ' to it ; some of them said to ' have happened between sixty ' and seventy years ago, others ' between twenty and thirty, ' others nearer our own time : ' would not they be looked ' upon as the most manifest ¦ and ridiculous forgeries and • impostures that ever were ' contrived.' Would great num- ' bers of persons, in those very ' places, change their religious ' principles and practices upon 62 LECTURE II. nal facts. If, then, it be so difficult in the case of any indifferent writings, how must this difficulty be aggravated in relation to writings such as the Scriptures! Of other writings — those I mean of profane authors — it is a matter, generally speaking, of the most unimportant nature, whether they be genuine or not : the welfare of mankind is not very deeply interested in the question. Not so with regard to our Scriptures : they profess to deliver a doctrine on which the salvation of makind depends, and which, on pain of eternal ruin, demands the obedience of all men. Such books would surely never get into currency, unless those who first received them were satisfied that they were written by persons duly authorized. In this case there would necessarily be exercised a cau tion and a vigilance, which in the case of other writings would have little incentive to exertion. It is one of the greatest absurdities in the world to think, that any number of " the credit of things reported " Testament be credible, the " to be pubhcly done, which " Christian religion is true. If " no man had ever heard of " the things here related to "before? Or, rather, is it pos- "have been done by Jesus, " sible, that such a design as " and by his followers, by vir- " this should be conceived by " tue of powers derived from " any sober and serious per- " him, do not prove a person " sons, or even the most wild " to come from God, and that "and extravagant? "his doctrine is true and di- " If the history of the New " vine, nothing can." LECTURE IL 63 persons could easily have been the dupes of a fraud in such a case as this. Suppose any man were at this day to try to pass off a counterfeit book as the work of St. Paul or St. John, what would be his success ? And can we possibly imagine any time whatever, in which the task would not have been as much impossible as it is now? Or, to use a more familiar example, suppose any man should forge an Act of Parliament, and at tempt to pass it off as having been enacted by the legislature : how many, think you, would submit to the imposture, and receive his forgery as the authentic law of the land ? especially if his pretended law required from the subject any painful duties to perform, or considerable sacrifice of his interest and pro perty. And does not reason assure us, that it would be an utter impossibility thus to forge the writings of the Evangelists and Apostles? since these require men to die to the world, to renounce its sinful lusts and profits, and to seek their happiness in an in visible and future kingdom. Whether you regard the Divine law, or the municipal law, the thing is an impossibility : but if you will reflect, I think you will find that a much stronger case of impossibility is made out with regard to the former than the latter : 64 LECTURE II. inasmuch as the sacrifice would be greater, and the motive to vigilance proportionably augmented. Let it be remembered, that the doctrines of the New Testament profess to be written or attested by men, endued with the power of mi racles and prophecy, as the proof of their au thority from God ; and that they profess at the same time to be written for the instruction, in the first instance, of contemporaries. How then could they be first brought to light at a later age ? or by persons who were not known to possess those powers which they alleged in proof of their authority ? Especially when we consider, that these writings most strongly de clare the perpetuity of their doctrine : there fore, the pretence of their having been a long time after the death of their supposed authors brought to light out of concealment, would obviously have been fatal to their reception; These considerations may suffice to illustrate the total impossibility of fabricating the scrip tures of the New Testament under the name of those writers to whom they are now ascribed: and that these scriptures are the genuine production of the authorized teachers of our faith, is a fact of which we may allege the fullest confirmation, in the present state ofthe Christian church. For among all the various LECTURE IL 65 subjects on which the judgment of mankind has been divided, how little difference of opinion do you find on this ! What single point is there, on which the Christian world, however divided into communions and sects, however distracted by contentions ; is more universally agreed, than it is respecting the canon of the New Testament? Where do you find a church or a sect which rejects any of the books which we receive, or which re ceives any book which we do not receive ? How many sects, for instance, are there around us, who profess doctrines different from those of our church ; and where do you find, that any of them appeal to scriptures different from ours ? In the Christian world at large these sects are more numerous and more diversfied: but here also you find the same agreement as to this particular. Though their doctrines vary from each other, the dis pute is not respecting the authority of the books of the New Testament, but respecting the interpretation of them. Yet if there were any reasonable doubt respecting the authority of any of those books which we receive, or any reasonable pretensions in fa vour of others which we do not acknowledge ; it can hardly be questioned, that such doubts would be started, and such pretensions ad- 66 LECTURE II. vanced, in support of the various contending opinions of various sects and parties. But how little, how very little, do we, in the pre sent state of the Christian world, hear of such doubts and pretensions alleged for this pur pose ! There is, in fact, scarcely a single point on which the judgments of mankind have been more universally agreed, than those of the Christian world are on this very subject. So wonderful indeed is this agreement, that we can hardly regard it as less than a providen tial mercy afforded to mankind, for their as surance relating to the rule of their faith. And when we consider the impossibility which has already been stated, of successfully forging books under the names of the sacred writers of the New Testament ; and, secondly, the notorious agreement of the Christian world in relation to those writings to which they ascribe canonical authority : we can hardly desire more for the assurance of a reasonable mind as to the fact, that the New Testament, as we possess it, contains the ge nuine writings of those, who at the time when the Gospel was published, were regarded as the authorized teachers of our faith. Such, respecting the canon of the New Testament, is the degree of assurance access- LECTURE IL 67 ible to all men. The value of it will be best understood from comparison : that is to say, if it shall be made to appear, that such evi dence is far more strong and conclusive, than any evidence whatever, which, in proof of the same point, is enjoyed exclusively by the learned. For in what does this latter evidence consist ? Why plainly in this : they find, in writings contemporaneous with, and subsequent to, the date of the canonical writ ings, passages, in which the canonical scrip tures are quoted, and in which their authority is acknowledged. This evidence I do not wish to discard: it has its relative use, and particularly, if there be occasion for a con troversy on historical grounds with infidels. But I do not depreciate its value when I say, that it is less sure and conclusive than the former. You allege the writings of the early Fathers to prove that the Gospels were not forged. And what then ? Is this all that you have to do for the completion of your proof? Far from it. If you intend that your argument should be valid, you have then to evince, that the writings thus alleged were themselves not forged. After similar confirm ation has been afforded to the latter writ ings, similar proof must again be adduced of the genuineness of those, which are thus al- r 2 68 LECTURE II. leged for their corroboration : and thus the series of proofs will go on for ever without coming nearer to an end. And now you must consider, that your proof is, after all, more dubious than the point you desire to prove. For instance, you would prove the genuineness of St. Matthew's Gospel. You do it by means of citations from that Gospel, or recognitions of its authority, which are found in Clemens Romanus, Polycarp, and the other apostolical Fathers. Now you are to consider, that the authenticity of the writings ascribed to the apostolical Fathers is of itself more difficult of proof than the authenticity of the Gospels themselves. For the Gos pels profess to be authoritative as the rule of life and the way of salvation : as such, they would not be received by the early church without the most careful and anxious inves tigation of the proofs of their authority. But this is not the case with the writings of the Fathers. For these possess no authoritative character : therefore the difficulty of forging them in a subsequent age would be far less, than that of forging the Gospels under the name of the Evangelists ^. s " If we should in this par- " Scriptures, it would be a very " ticular," says Daill6, "take the " easy matter to bring in ques- " same course which some writ- " tion, and render doubtful and " ers of the church of Rome " suspected, all the writings of " make use of against the holy " the Fathers. For, when any LECTURE IL 69 XIII. Observe now, in conclusion, the gene ral impartiality of God in dispensing all need- " one allegeth the Old or New " Testament, these gentlemen " presently demand how or by " what means they know, that " any such books were truly " written by those prophets and " apostles, under whose names " they go. If therefore in like " manner, when these men urge " Justin, Irenaeus, Ambrose, " Augustin, and the like, one " should take them short, and " demand of them, how and by " what means they are assured " that these Fathers were the " authors of those writings, " which at this day go under " their names : it i? very much " to be doubted of, but that " they would find a harder task " of it, than [that of] their ad- " versaries in justifying the in- " scriptions of the books of holy " writ : the truth whereof is " much more easy to be demon- " strated than [tliaf] of any " [other'] human writings what- " soever." [On the Right Use of the Fathers, book I. c. i.] This remark will be greatly confirmed by an attention to the following facts and testimo nies. Of the writings ascribed to the apostolical Fathers, (which in questions of this nature ought justly to be preferred to those of later writers,) there is but a very small portion, if there be any, of which the authenticity has not been denied or questioned by respectable and learned cri tics. I do not now enter into thegrouudsjOn which theirjudg- ment or their doubts have been formed : but it is obvious, that in proportion as tlie authority ofthe remains of these Fathers is dubious, the testimonies de rived from them must be incon clusive. It further appears, that the practice of ascribing to the early Fathers supposititious works, and the interpolation of their ge nuine ones, were common with the ancient heretics : and that these heretics also forged suppo sititious writings underfhe names of the Apostles, thus endeavour ing to gain for them the credit of canonical scriptures : but that their attempts in the former in stance met with considerable success ; while they were in the latter, as to the purpose of any lasting and established credit, vain and ineffectual. There is an ancient Father of the church (I think it is Dio- nysius of Alexandria, but I can not at this moment refer to the record of the fact) who speaks, respecting the heretics, to the following effect ; " They have " presumed even to interpolate " and mutilate the sacred Scrip- " tures themselves : how then " can it be wondered that they " should do the same with my " writings." Irenasus was re markably anxious to guard the purity of his writings : and his feeling on this point seems to have been generated by the apprehension he entertained of their liability to heretical inter polation : for such interpolation is a common subject of com plaint with the early Christian F 3 70 LECTURE IL ful blessings. Is there not, as to this point, a strong analogy between the temporal and writers. It is curious to con template the measure he adopted for security against this evil. It was (according lo the relation of Eusebius in the twentieth chapter of the fifth book of his Ecclesiastical History) the in sertion at the end of one of his treatises of tlie following words : " O thou who shalt transcribe " this book, 1 adjure thee, by our " Lord Jesus Christ, and by his " glorious coming, when he shall " come to judge the quick aud " the dead, that thou collate " what thou shalt have trans- " cribed, and carefully correct " it by this original, after thou " hast transcribed it therefrom : " and thou shalt also transcribe " this adjuration, and place it in " thy copy." There is a passage to this ef fect in the thirty-eighth chapter of the ninety-third Epistle of Augustin. It will be found, in the quotations adduced by Lardner in his account of that writer. It illustrates at once the activity of interpolators ; their success with regard to the Fathers ; and their total failure with regard to the scriptures. " There are those who contend, " that this passage was not " written by Cjprian, but has " been falsely ascribed to him " by lying interpolators. For " there is not a single bishop, " however illustrious, of whose " books the piir'dy and the genc- " ral credit can have been so " well guarded, as that cf the " canonical scripture has been, " bv its translation into so many " languages, and by the order " and succession of its con- " slant use in the church. But " yet there have not been want- " ing those, who, by forging " supposititious writings under " the names of the Apostles, " have even attacked the pu- " rity of the scriptures thus " guarded. The attempt of these " latter has indeed been fruit- ' ' less, because the scripture is so " well attested, so generally used, " so universally known. [Frustra " quidem, quia ilia sic commen- " data, sic celebrala, sic nota " est.] But how far such al- " tempts may have been suc- " cessful against writings which " do not rest upon the foun- " dation of canonical author- " itv ; may be understood from " that wicked audacity, which " has dared to confront even " writings, whose purity is pro- " tected by so strong a ram- " part in the universal use " and acknowledsment of the " church." In like manner the same Father, in the sixteenth chapter of the thirty-second book of his treatise against Faustus the Manichee, insists upon the impossibility of falsi fying books at a time, when they were in the hands of the whole Christian world. Here he in sists upon a principle, which i.s obviously true and indisputably applicable to our present sub ject. " If it was thus impos- " SIBLB FOR YOU TO FALSIFY '¦ THESE WRITINGS, FOR THE LECTURE IL 71 the spiritual mercies we enjoy ? If you re gard the provision which God has made for the worldly sustenance and comfort of his children, you will find that outwardly their lot is very various : but surely you must pause before you declare, that the difference is no other than that of happiness and mi sery. Look to the common gifts of nature ; air, food, light, health, the charms of the creation, and the delights of social converse : these, every rank of men may have in com- " SAME REASON IT WOULD BE " IMPOSSIBLE FOR ANY MAN." (It is a principle indeed which applies to all times as well as to all individuals : if it be im possible to do it now, it was equally so to do it at any time.) He adds, " that an attempt of " this kind introduced into any " interpolated copy of the scrip- " tures, would be immediately " detected by comparing such " interpolated copy with other " earlier copies." I cannot but think it a mat ter of pleasing interest, on a subject so momentous, to find the principles suggested by the common sentiments of human nature, and by the circum stances of the case, so exactly verified by historical facts. Par ticulars, similar to those now stated, are abundantly frequent in the early writers of the church : and a great variety of details, tending to confirm this representation, may be found in the third chapter of Daill« on the Right use ofthe Fathers, and dispersed through the se cond part of Lardner's Credibi lity, but more particularly in those portions of it which relate to Augustin, and to the Mani- chees. On the whole, then, history concurs with general principles of reasoning in leading us to this conclusion : That it was much easier to forge and inter polate the writings of the Fathers, than it was to vitiate the text of scripture, or to in troduce supposititious materials into the canon of it ; therefore the authenticity of the scrip tures is in itself a thing of great er certainty than the authenti city of the writings ascribed to the Fathers ; and the testimo nies to the scriptures which are derived from the Fathers, can not be so evident as the point itself is, which those testimo nies are adduced to prove. 72 LECTURE II. mon ; the possession of them is no distinction of the rich, nor the privation, of the poor. How great is the amount of these common benefits, in comparison with that of the showy trappings and the costly refinements, the elegance of life and elaborate sensuality, which distinguish the fortune of the rich! For of these latter, however much they be objects of general desire, it may well be questioned, whether they have a lawful claim to be ranked among the constituents of hap piness. Much may be said on both sides of the question : it is certain that experience does not yield any uniform testimony to their value : and wise and good men have felt encumbered by their presence. Compare this with the different measures allotted to mankind of spiritual advantage. All men are required to embrace the Gospel : all men are to believe it upon evidence. Judge then, which class has the better evidence. You have seen that of the learned, you have seen that of the poor : if I have truly represented the matter of our present consideration, the poor man's evidence is stronger, safer, and more obvious, than that of the learned. You may say, indeed, that the learned must have the advantage : for he enjoys the poor man's evidence in common with that which is pecu- LECTURE IL 73 liarly his own. The distinction is admitted, the advantage is denied ; for in truth it amounts to no more than this : here are two paths leading to the same point: the one, common to men in general, is clear, direct, and short ; the other, peculiar to the learned, is dark and intricate and circuitous : for such in truth it is, if men will be at the pains of going up to the primary sources of informa tion. Ofa truth then may we conclude, that the Divine mercies are over all the sons of men ; that the common Father of us all is equally benign to all his children ; that he is no respecter of persons, but that in every state of life, he that feareth God and worketh righteousness shall be accepted of him. LECTURE III. THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT HISTORI CALLY EXAMINED. 2 Thess. iii. 17. The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the toleen in every epistle : so I write. XIV. JVIY last Discourse was chiefly employ ed in laying down the principles, on which we may be enabled to vindicate the canon of the New Testament. Of such vindication it would be unreasonable to deny the utility : because, if the books of scripture are verified as the genuine writings of the authors to whom they are ascribed, and of persons writ ing under the circumstances professedly con nected with the composure of those writings ; then, little further is in fact required, to wards substantiating the fullest and the clearest proof of the truth of Christianity. In like manner would I argue for the ne cessity of being provided with such vindica tion in every case where it is called for : in- 76 LECTURE IIL asmuch as till it is made, the whole state of the question appears to be loose and unsettled, and the apologist for religion is unable even to grasp the substance of that which he is bound to defend. You will also be sensible of the reasons which I have advanced, to dis play the importance of vindicating the canon by the employment of such data, as are acces sible to the knowledge, not of the well edu cated only, but of mankind in general : for it is to them that the Gospel is offered. I cannot, however, deny, that while I am fully satisfied of the validity of those prin ciples which I have employed, it is possible that they may be assailed by an objection: and this objection is of such a nature, that I do not conceive it to be either expedient or reasonable to decline the encounter of it. For it may be said : These principles are entirely of a general and abstract nature, re garding only the common influence and ope ration of the motives of human conduct : but if the matter be tried by a reference to his torical facts, it will appear, that the canon was not by any means received and esta blished in the way which, as you contend, affords the only reasonable account of its present existence and constitution. LECTURE III. 77 Now it appears to me, that the objection thus stated, creates a reason for looking to some extent, into the historical account of the canon of the New Testament. At the same time such examination of it need not be carried further than is necessary to shew, that the state of the case, reviewed histori cally, does not invalidate those abstract prin ciples which were applied to it in the last Dis course : in other words, that the fact agrees with the theory. For it is here, as it would be in a case of geometrical argument: if there lay a fallacy in the reasoning, few men might be able to detect it ; but the test of ex perience would satisfy every man that such fallacy must exist. Of the confirmation to be thus obtained to the authenticity of the canon, it is right that we should not overestimate the value, and certainly that we should not, for the satisfac tion of men in general, insist upon the neces sity. The justice of this remark will be esta blished by the following considerations. To illustrate the subject by a parallel. It would be deemed most unfair, to try the va lidity of any sublunary interest by the princi ples commonly applied to the consideration of the genuineness of the Scriptures. If an hereditary honour or estate were the point at 78 LECTURE IIL issue, who would think of questioning the title of the family in possession, by pretending a flaw in the original grant, at a distance of five centuries back ? Who would think, at this distance of time, of calling for the evidence requisite to disprove the existence of such a flaw? Who does not see, that a title of this nature ought to be presumed to be good ; that it would not have been admitted from the first, if its legality had not been fully proved; and that the evidence must, in the nature of things, have now perished, which formed its original basis ? Why then desire to try over again, at this time, a question, the true grounds of which have unavoidably been swept away from human knowledge? Yet it is by such a process that we would try the authenticity of the canon of Scripture : this is what the enemies of revelation demand; and it is a demand in which the advocates for revelation are too ready most injudiciously to acquiesce. It would not, however, be diffi cult to shew, that such principles of investi gation are more unreasonable when applied to this subject, than they would be in refer ence to any temporal interests : while the ap plication of them to such interests would be unanimously resented by mankind, as an out rage upon reason and justice. For let us LECTURE III. 79 suppose the case of any temporal dignity or estate : doubtless there would be many obsta cles to prevent the establishment, upon any basis connected with an ostensible show of justice, of a false title to it : there would be opposing interests, vigilant to discover imper fections in the claim, and there would be a demand for a strong mass of evidence which it would be difficult to fabricate or to falsify. But how much more difficult would it be to gain credit to a writing, professing to come from a man, authorized by God, and carrying the credentials of God in the exercise of a miraculous power ; while the injunctions of that writing were at the same time found to contravene the workings of nature, and to dictate such a change in the whole tenour of a man's life, as no man would submit to with out a sure title to everlasting happiness as the reward of his self-denial ? It cannot, I think, but appear that the caution of mankind would, in the latter case, be much greater than in the former, inasmuch as the pending interest would be greater also; the vigilance also would be infinitely more diffused: for a temporal estate would be a matter of interest to few persons ; in this, few only are concerned : but with the gospel it is different ; here a vigilant eye would be exerted by all men, for it is addressed to 80 LECTURE IIL all men ; and it demands of all men to surren der every thing, if duty call them to it, in order to secure the happiness of another life ; to deny the delights which are before them for the prospect of others, of which no man living can declare the experience, and the nature of which is, in general, very remote from our pre sent appetites and capacities of enjoyment. I have already enlarged upon the difficulty of forging, with success and with credit, any lite rary work whatever : he that would procure credit for two pages of his own, ascribed to Cicero or to Plato, is a man of greater talent than the world probably has yet seen. Judge then of the total impossibility of procuring credit to any supposititious books passing themselves off under the authority of Christ and his apostles: and doing this at a time when, from the circumstances of the case, the means of detection must have been in the hands of every man, and when martyrdom would be the probable consequence of sub mitting to an imposture. You cannot in this case, as in that of a secular interest, say, that the title might be bad in the beginning, and gain a valid acknowledgment by length of time; for at whatever time you would sup pose the beginning of that fictitious title, whether in the apostolical age, or at any later LECTURE IIL 81 period, you will find your supposition contra dicted by the most obvious principles of rea son and of human nature. You cannot but see, that these difficulties are inherent in the case ; and you will find, that historical evidence will confirm their reality and display their operation. It was to be expected, that the early Christians would be remarkably suspicious of all pretensions to miraculous power, and equally vigilant against imposture with regard to books professing to contain the doctrines of their faith. It was not in human nature they should be otherwise. That man would naturally be vi gilant against imposture, who, in consequence of the evidence which he admitted, or the book which he received, might be called upon to sacrifice his life to his conscience. The fact is, that they were so: with regard to the reality of miracles, their slowness of credit could be surpassed only by the incredulity of atheists ; and the genuineness of their sacred writings was watched with equal suspicion. What other conduct can you expect from men, who might be called upon to attest, by death and by all the most excruciating pains of martyrdom, the convictions they embraced ? We may reason ably suppose that this natural suspicion would produce the delay, which occurred previously 82 LECTURE IIL to the general recognition in the church, of some books of the New Testament: such books being undoubtingly received in some countries, where the proof of their genuine ness was prompt and obvious, at an earlier period than in others, less favourably situated as to the means of verifying their authority. And thus it has happened, that the anxious care which guarded the church against the introduction of supposititious books, may have been the occasion of throwing unjust doubts on a portion of the present canon : whereas it ought, in truth, to be a ground of security and confidence with regard to the genuine ness of the whole. There is, then, much reason to complain of those, who demand the evidence on which any particular book was first received into the canon of Scripture. It must be obvious to reason, from the very nature of the case, that such evidence must, by this time, have pe rished : and it is most unjust to try over again a question, which could be fairly tried only by contemporaries: to try it over again now, I say, when the witnesses are dead, and the great bulk of auxiliary proofs has been de stroyed. If it be said, that it is too much to expect of us, that we should thus attach our faith to LECTURE IIL 83 the understandings of those who lived before us : I answer, first, that the nature of the case admits of no other proof ; and, secondly, that it does not require it. The nature of the case, I say, admits of no other proof. We ascribe the works to men whose authority is verified by miracles. How then is further evidence to be supplied ? Shall fresh writings be continually set forth attested by fresh miracles ? or shall the same writings be maintained by a perpetual and connected chain of miracles, wrought for the satisfaction of each succeeding age ? No other mode can be imagined, of supplying the deficiency of evidence thus complained of: but neither of these two would, I conceive, be admissible ; for they both of them suppose such a fre quency and perpetuity of miracles, as would frustrate the purpose for which miracles were professedly given, and would thus deprive re ligion of the confirmation they are designed to yield. Secondly, I say, that the nature of the case does not require any further proof. It is enough for us to know, upon the strongest moral evidence, that these writings never could have established themselves in the credit and character they now have, unless they had been what they profess to be. If you doubt G 2 84 LECTURE IIL it, consider whether any man could, at this day, obtain currency for a spurious writ ing of his own, pretending to the character of a work written by the Apostle St. Paul ? You will probably admit this to be impossible. I say, then, that the same impossibility will discover itself in connection with every previ ous age. Let us compare this question with a simi lar one. In treating the necessity of a law ful call and ordination to the ministry of the church, we may justly insist on the necessity of a continuation and perpetuity (through the medium of a regular succession) of that commission which was first given by Christ to his apostles. This continuation we contend to flow in the line of episcopal succession from the foundation of the church down to the present time. But here it may be, and in deed it is, objected to us : how can you prove an unbroken chain of episcopal succession down to this day ? How can you, with re spect to those who now administer the epis copal function, prove, that there has not, in the course of so many centuries, occurred any instance, unknown to us, of an intruding bi shop without ordination, or of some defect of the things needful to constitute a lawful appointment? Now to attest by eyewit- LECTURE IIL 85 nesses or records, the validity of every epi scopal ordination through a series of eighteen centuries is plainly out of the question. But what then ? Shall this avail to discredit, or to render dubious the validity of their appoint ment, who now act in the church as the pro fessed and ostensible successors of the apo stles ? Certainly, in good reason, it ought not. For, not to insist now on the promise of our Lord's perpetual presence with the ministry of his church : not to insist, that if there were no lawful ministry, the promise would seem to have come to no effect; and that the scrip ture appears to recognise as lawful, no minis try but that, of which the power is conferred by those previously authorized for the pur pose, and conferred in the way of an express and exterior and visible designation : not, I say, to insist on these things, there is one consideration which may set our minds at rest on the subject. Would it be possible at this day that any man, without lawful ordi nation, should procure himself to be received and credited as a person invested with that character, and thus succeed in usurping the administration of the episcopal office ? Or would you not at once pronounce this to be a total impossibility? Let me then ask you: How could it be more possible in any age g8 86 LECTURE IIL which has elapsed since the first establish ment of the Christian church, than it is now? In hke manner let me put the question, Could any man at this day pass off, as an Epistle of the apostle St. Paul, a forged writ ing of his own ? If it would not be possible now, why should it be more possible in any former age? Certainly, if you go up to the earliest period of the church, the difficulty must appear insuperable : for the vigilance of men against imposture would naturally be most alive, when the profession of the faith was attended with the greatest danger. If, on the other hand, you select any interme diate period, as the season for such an at tempt: then, the very time of its first ap pearance would be to all men a palpable proof of its forgery. For the very tenour and profession of the book itself, and the authoritative character which it professes to have, will suffice to convince you, that if it were genuine, it could not have been lost: and that if writings thus essential to the Christian religion could thus fall into oblivion, the religion must have fallen into oblivion also. To cut the matter short, and make it plain to all men : If it be impossible at this day to forge a book of the New Testament, it was equally so at any former time ; if it be LECTURE IIL 87 impossible for any man now living, it must have been alike impossible for any man living at any time. Thus, in fact, it is that the case stands. A question has been decided by those who lived before us : we are quite sure, that it never would have been decided without the fullest possible evidence : that evidence, from the necessity of things, has unavoidably disap peared: and yet we would now try the ques tion over again. XV. On these general principles respecting the canon I insisted in my last Discourse. They are principles which come home to the under standings of all men : nor do they require any previous acquaintance with matters of deep and intricate research. Let us, however, now consider, whether it be possible that their va lidity may be shaken, by any allegation of facts historically connected with the forma tion of the canon. This inquiry is of no trivial importance: for the truth of princi ples cannot be sustained in defiance of such a test: nor can such principles be warrant- ably asserted, if, however suited to the con viction of simple and unsuspecting minds, we knew them to be hollow and deceptive. Pious frauds are equally contrary to morals and to expediency. If the salvation of all G 4 88 LECTURE IIL mankind could be effected by propagating a single falsehood, the end would never sanc tify the means ; and the employer of such means would be subject to the eternal penalty denounced against every one that maketh a lie. Towards opening the subject, it is necessary to premise the following remark. I desire at this time to vindicate historically the validity of those general principles which in my last Lecture I applied to this subject. Now for this purpose, the greater part of the books of the New Testament are so circumstanced, that they can create no difficulty : neither the names of these books, nor any circumstances relating to them, would ever be alleged to shake the validity of those propositions, which ] have asserted for the vindication of the canon. It remains then, that I state the names of those books which connect with the pre sent inquiry the necessity of more mature examination. They are the seven following: the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistle of St. James, the second Epistle of St. Peter, the second and third Epistles of St. John, the Epistle of St. Jude, and the Apocalypse. Re specting these I would prove from the books themselves, and from external circumstances, that if they had not been entitled to a place LECTURE IIL 89 in the canon, they would never have obtained it. If this can be proved, the general princi ples which I have previously applied to this subject may honestly be maintained. And thus concerning the entire writings of the New Testament, I would prove that they are authentic works. Let us first then advert to the circumstance which has occasioned all the difficulty. It is this fact: that some ofthe books ofthe present canon were not received universally by the Christian church so early as others ; the books thus distinguished from the others being those, which I have named. Hence then may occasion be taken to argue thus respect ing the principles insisted on in the last Lec ture : " Though such principles may appear " conclusive in themselves, they are neverthe- "less fallacious, since they are contradicted " by fact : some of the canonical books having " been doubted of for about three centuries, " and afterwards obtained a general reception : " and it is plain, that the evidence of their " authority could not, at the end of these " three centuries, have been so strong as it "was at the beginning: therefore they may " have obtained a place in the canon, though " not entitled to it: since those who decided " in their favour could not, on this footing. 90 LECTURE IIL " have been more competent than those who " doubted of their authority." Such is the possible objection : it has in effect been actu ally urged. Now if this objection be thought to invalidate the canonical authority of those seven books which I have just named, it will go far towards subverting the principles which I have advanced towards establishing the authority of the whole canon. Hence arises the necessity of historically examining the subject. The objection is indeed very plausible : but I trust it will appear in the sequel, that it is only one of those numerous mistakes, into which men are liable to fall, when they give their opinions on subjects which they have not been at the pains to thoroughly under stand. In fact, the objection proceeds on an assumption of what is false : when the matter is examined, there will be good reason to con clude, that those who lived at the end of the three centuries, were better judges of the question, than the majority of those who lived when the books were written. Now, in order to bring this great ques tion to a satisfactory adjustment, there are four leading points of exposition and of ar gument to which I would beg your atten tion. LECTURE IIL 91 I. XVI. The first of these leading points re gards the intricacy and confusion with which, in studying the records ofthe primitive church, this subject occurs to our notice. I shall therefore briefly represent the causes in which they have arisen : the doing of which will at the same time account in part for the compa ratively late period at which some of the books obtained a general recognition, and contribute to present the general subject clearly to our view. One of these causes is, the practice of the ancient church respecting the books publicly read in their assemblies. The authoritative scriptures were thus read, as books possessing an authoritative character : but other books were also read, in the character of works con ducive to piety and to useful instruction. The former class of books are termed canonical; the latter ecclesiastical. Of this second de scription is the book of the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach. For though the council of Trent has received it into the canon, their forefathers seem to have annexed the word " Ecclesiasticus" to the title of it, as an ex press caution against their so doing^ * A similar cause must, I plication of the term catholic think, have occasioned the ap- to the Epistles of St. James, St. 92 LECTURE IIL In this way, the Epistle ascribed to St. Bar nabas, and the Epistle which is entitled the Peter, St. John, and St. Jude. These books, or some part of them, were not so early au thenticated (by a proper refer ence to the test which will here after be described) as some other canonical books. For the whole of these catholic Epistles, even those which were the sub ject of temporary doubts, were read in churches, as were also the Epistle of Clement and the Pastor of Hermas, and were thus in danger of being con founded with ecclesiastical books. But further : until their cano nical authority was determined, there might be a doubt whether they might not be supposititious : for the name of an Apostle being in some cases prefixed to them, or his authority being claimed for them, it might seem, that no .intermediate character could be long to them ; but, that if they were not authoritative, they must have been forgeries. We may suppose then, that by those who had received the earliest proofs of their authenticity, the word catholic was inscribed on them for the sake of distinction, and for the guidance of others : on the same principle that the word ecclesiastical was inscribed on the Wisdom of the Son of Si rach. Thus the word catholic would, in this use of it, be syno nymous with canonical, and would be opposed to heretical or apocryphal : these last terms having the same import, inas much as the apocryphal Scrip tures were in almost all cases forged by heretics. The pro priety of the term may indeed apply to four only of the seven Epistles : for it was of these four only that doubts were enter tained: but the term itself might naturally come to be applied to them all as a common name for those of the epistles which were not written by St. Paul. This explanation is confirmed byCas- siodorus and Gelasius, who, in speaking of these Epistles em ploy the term canonical instead of catholic. As to the expla nation of the term catholic, which is given by Leontius, as arising from the circumstance of these Epistles being addressed to all nations in general, and not to one in particular ; this sense of the term is manifestly incon sistent with the superscriptions with which we find the greater number of these Epistles intro duced. There is a fact recorded in the early history of the Church (1 am sorry I cannot at this moment give a particular reference to my authority) which may serve to confirm what I have here said, and to illustrate the general feehng of hatred entertained for apocryphal works, and the prompt condemnation of those which assumed the name of Apostles. One of the Fathers composed a work to which, as a title, he innocently gave the name of some Apostle or scrip tural character : on the same principle that Cicero might pre fix that of Cato or Lselius to LECTURE IIL 93 first of St. Clement to the Corinthians, were also publicly read in the churches ; upon the same principle that the Homilies of the church of England, though not pretending to canonical authority, are now set forth to be read in our churches. This practice was not unreasonable in its origin. For, as the church might authorize some to speak in the public assemblies, respecting whom, never theless, it was not believed that they were infallibly directed in what they said: it might, on the same view to edification, attach a si milar value to a written discourse, which, though not authoritative, might be consider ed as instructive and edifying. For example, it will be found that the Alexandrine manu script (which critics have assigned to the fourth or fifth century) contains in it the two Epistles ascribed to Clement of Rome. On the other hand, it might from the same principle occur, that a book, acknowledged to be canonical, might be omitted in a volume containing other canonical scriptures: such one of his treatises. This gives natural, that every book which occasion to one of his friends to carried an authoritative name, advise him to choose some other and was not genuine, should no name for his book : for that if longer be regarded as an eccle- he did not, he might expect that siastical, or even as an innocent his work would come to be reck- book, but altogether condemned oned in the number of apocry- as an imposture. phal forgeries. It was indeed 94 LECTURE IIL omission being occasioned by the fact, that the same book was also omitted in the pub hc readings of the church. Thus there is a canon'' of the council of Laodicea, di recting what books are to be read in churches, and the catalogue of books thus prescribed does not contain the Apocalypse: it is not impossible, as a consequence of this canon, that some volumes of Scriptures, in which the Apocalypse was not contained, might be prepared for the use of churches. This might furnish a partial occasion for doubt respecting the authority of a book. But I trust it will fully appear in the sequel, that such doubt was capable of solution on clear and determinate grounds ; and that, though some Christians of the early church may have been affected by this structure of their scrip tural and liturgical books, it furnishes no just occasion of perplexity to us"'. ^ This canon is frequently al- this canon is not genuine : I leged as containing a complete know not the grounds of this opi- list of canonical books: but it nion,but it plainlydoes not affect really contains the names of the use which I have made of it those only, which it directs to be for the purpose of illustration. read in churches. We cannot "" Yet such it has been made. wonder that the Apocalypse This, I think, is the tendency should be omitted here: since of some representations con- the practice of our own church tained in archbishop Wake's is in this respect nearly agree- Preliminary Discourse to his able to that prescribed by the Translation of the Apostolical council of Laodicea. It has been Fathers. [See more particu- contended (see Michaelis, as re- larly ch. x. §. ii. and 25.] As ferred to in the next note) that the archbishop seems, at some LECTURE IIL 95 Secondly, the same matter may be partly accounted for on this footing. Of the an cient versions of the New Testament, some are of so early a date, that they appear to have been anterior to the time, when the latest of the books of the New Testament were composed. Of this description is the old Syriac version ; from which the absence of the Apocalypse and of four of the catholic Epistles has been explained on the supposi tion, which is contended to be highly pro bable, that those canonical books had not been written at the time when the version was made''. From this it appears that col- times, almost inclined to enlarge the catalogue of canonical Scrip tures, so professor Michaelis dis covers an inclination to reduce it, and he, in hke manner, em ploys this topic. Speaking (in the fourth section of his chap ter relating to the Apocalypse) of the Alexandrine manuscript, he says, that "it contains the " whole Bible, and with it the "Apocalypse. But then," con tinues he, " the Codex Alex- " andrinus contains likewise " other books, which are cer- " tainly not canonical : for in- " stance, the first Epistle of " Clement to the Corinthians, " and also several hymns. Con- " sequently we cannot infer, " that the writer of this manu- " script considered the Apoca- " lypse as canonical : for if we " draw this conclusion of the " Apocalypse, we must draw " the same in respect to the " first Epistle of Clement." But to this I say. No : the two cases are widely different. The Epistle of Clement does not claim the character of a divine and authoritative book : it might therefore be read in churches, not for authority but for edifi cation J not as canonical but as ecclesiastical. But the Apoca lypse does claim the character of a divine and authoritative book : therefore if not esteemed canonical, it would have found no place in a collection of books to be read in churches, but would have been discarded alto gether as a forgery. '' " The old Syriac version " has not in it the four catholic 96 LECTURE III. lections of these writings were made, earlier than the whole of them were given to the world : and this circumstance might probably for some time cast a doubt on those scrip tures, which were not contained in such re ceived collections : for a collection of all that had been published down to a certain date, might naturally, from a mistaken veneration, be looked upon as a collection of the whole. Thirdly, of our difficulties relating to this subject, another cause presents itself in the mutilated and interpolated condition of the writings of the ancient Fathers : respecting which writings, I have already proved, that we cannot have the same reasonable assurance of their genuineness and purity, that we have respecting the Scriptures themselves. This applies more especially to the catalogues " Epistles, (viz. the 2d of Peter, " were not yet received into the " the 2d and 3d of John, and " number of canonical books. " the Epistle of Jude,) nor the " Now, whichsoever of these be " Revelation : — which I take to " said, the antiquity ofthe ver- " be a considerable proof of the " sion will be fully' established. " antiquity of the version. For " But the first of these seems " their being wanted must ne- " most probable; because, as 1 " cessarily proceed from one of " shall hereafter shew, the " these three causes, viz. either, " churches of Syria did both " I, Because they were not " know and receive several of " written when this version was « these books at least as cano- " made : or, 2. Because the " nical in the second century, as "knowledge of them was not yet "it is certain they do now." « come to the Syrian churches, Jones on the Canon, vol. I. "for whom this version was p, 112. " made : or, 3. Because they LECTURE III. 97 which they contain of the Scriptures : for a catalogue, containing a long string of names, following each other without syntac tical arrangement, furnishes one of the most probable occasions both for mistake and for fraud on the part of a copyist. Of this you may find an example in the list of canonical books of the Old Testament, which Eusebius has given us from Origen% and which is distinguished by the omission of the twelve minor prophets. Here the error is so fla grant, that it exposes itself: but it is not im probable that other catalogues may be vi tiated in such a manner, as really to mislead us respecting the judgment of the writers of them. A fourth cause, and one of no inconsider able operation, presents itself in the confused statements, the mistakes, and misrepresenta tions, of learned men. Such was Eusebius among the ancients : and of the moderns, Lardner, Michaelis, and others, may properly be named, as having imparted a false colour ing and an incorrect representation to the evidence and the testimony relating to this point, which are derivable from the works of early Christian writers. ^ Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. vi. c. 25. Lardner's Works, vol. v. p. 26. ed. 1788. H 98 LECTURE III. I would now proceed to lay down a funda mental principle, which I desire to establish by argument, illustrate by example, and ap ply to the solution of the various difficulties connected with this subject. XVII. But before I do this, I feel it necessary for the information of the younger portion of my hearers, to explain certain terms, which, in the progress of these Lectures, I shall have occasion to employ, and respecting which it is necessary, in order to a right comprehen sion of my argument, that a very distinct conception should be entertained. These terms are catholic and heretic. I would observe then, that the term he retic, as it is applied to the state of the early church, is a term very remote from that laxity of indiscriminate application in which it is now used ; and according to which it has become little else, than a term of angry re proach among religious parties. Previously to the Nicene council, the whole catholic church was, with the exception of the schisms of the Novatians and the Donatists, united in one body and in one communion. To the members of this undivided church, living under the go vernment of bishops appointed by lawful suc cession from the apostles, the term catholic applies. But besides these, there were others. LECTURE IIL 99 professing to believe in Christ, but who were not included in the body of catholic be lievers: either because they wilfully sepa rated from that communion, or else, because they were, by reason of their heterodox te nets, expelled from it and excommunicated. To these latter, in the early church, the term heretic properly applies K For there was at this time no confusion as to the question, who was and who was not a heretic : and the term itself, in the earlier period of its eccle siastical use, simply denoted a fact, without any other expression of reproach, than what that fact itself, in the estimation of those who used the term, necessarily implied : as indeed the word heresy is found to be employed, in Scripture itself, in a way far from indicative of censure ^. Having spoken of the Novatians and the Donatists, it remains that I add a few words f Lardner's definition of the this definition. It signifies the word is perfectly unobjection- universal church, or, (as it is " able. It is generally allowed, designated in the Apostles' " that a heretic is one who pro- Creed,) the holy cat/ioZic church : "fesseth to be a Christian, but and consists of all Christian be- " is not supposed to be one of lievers Hving in lawful commu- " the church, having either sepa- nion under bishops who are le- " rated himself from it, or been gitimate successors to the au- " excluded from it by others." thority of the Apostles. Hist, of Heretics, b. i. sect. 3. « Acts v. 17. xv. 5. xxvi. 5. Itisonlynecessary,forthe avoid- The word in our translation is ing of misconception, to explain sect, but in the original it is al- the term church as it occurs in fta-j;. H 2 100 LECTURE IIL respecting the peculiarity of their case. Ac cording to the general sense of the ancient church, those communities would not, I think, be denied to form a part of the catholic church : I say this on the supposition, that they were governed by bishops and pastors of lawful or dination ; for this is the ground on which I should deem them entitled to be regarded as a part of the universal church. But with re gard to individual members of those commu nities, the term catholics would not be applied to them : that term being, I think, confined to those, who not only belonged to the body, but also maintained the unity, of the church; and being also found in use as a term of distinction from the members of these same communities of Novatians and Donatists. If therefore we would adopt an ecclesiastical term for the purpose of distinguishing them from both catholics and heretics, their proper designation will be that of schismatics. II. XVII. After this necessary explanation, I proceed to lay down the fundamental principle of which I spoke: and which forms the second of those leading points which I desire to offer to your consideration. That principle is as follows : When it appears, that a book of the New Testament has, from, the earliest times, LECTURE IIL 101 been undoubtingly received as canonical by any considerable portion of the catholic church, this is good proof of the canonicalness of that book: but when, on the contrary, it appears, that such book was not at first received by some portion of professing Christians, this does not afford a valid argument for impugning the canonicalness of that book. Thus with regard to the Apocalypse : if it shall appear, that this book was, at an early period, received by the Roman church, and by numerous other churches in the west and east, this is a valid proof of its canonicalness : if during some time it was not received by the Greek and Syrian Christians, this is no proof to bar its title to the canonical character. In like man ner respecting the Epistle to the Hebrews : if it was early and undoubtingly acknow ledged by some churches, this is evidence of its being canonical : but though it should appear, that it was for some time doubted of, or at least not received by others, this is no evidence to set aside its canonical character. The former member of this proposition rests on the following grounds. Under the circum stances of the early Christians, it was morally impossible that any book should obtain a canonical authority if it was not entitled to it. Christianity at all times demands such H 3 102 LECTURE IIL renunciations of natural appetite and dispo sition, as men, without a strong security or a fixed persuasion of great and preponderat ing advantage, are unwilling to make. But this applies much more forcibly to the early Christians than to men in ordinary times. For in their case, the profession of the gospel was connected with the hatred of mankind ; with the persecution of the ruling powers; with the loss of every worldly interest and delight ; with the probable prospect of mar tyrdom and of torture, excruciating and pro tracted beyond all parallel. Men thus situated would not be the dupes of credulity with re spect to books, professing to contain the sub stance of a doctrine, for which they might be called upon to abandon every thing and to suffer every thing. Now with regard to those books of which the first reception was not universal ; it will nevertheless be found that the reception of them was extensive, and that it was obtained under circumstances incompatible with light credulity and inade quate proof. I now proceed to the second member of this fundamental principle: which is, that the partial non-reception of a book is no valid ground for impugning its canonicalness. For this non-reception is in a great degree LECTURE IIL 103 to be regarded, merely as the silence of a person on a subject unknown to him. Such silence is plainly different from the evidence of a decided judgment. One man can identify a document ; this proves it to be genuine : another man cannot identify it ; this does not prove it to be spurious. To apply this to a case. It appears that the Epistle to the Hebrews was not received by Cyprian : for his remaining works contain no quotation from it, nor any reference to it. The same appears to have been the case with Novatus, a contemporary of Cyprian : and the silence of Novatus is the more striking, be cause that Epistle contains passages, of which it might be supposed that he would gladly avail himself, in order to justify the funda mental doctrine of the schism which he in troduced into the church ''. I would say then, ^ The passages referred to are " that cometh oft upon it, and Heb. vi. 4 — 8. x. 26 — 29. "For " bringeth forth herbs meet for " it is impossible for those who " them by whom it is dressed, " were once enlightened, and " receiveth blessing from God : " have tasted of the heavenly " but that which beareth thorns " gift, and were made partakers " and briers is rejected, and is " of the Holy Ghost, and have " nigh unto cursing ; whose end " tasted the good word of God, " is to be burned." " For if we " and the powers of the world " sin wilfully after that we have " to come, if they shall fall " received the knowledge of the " away, to renew them again " truth, there remaineth no " unto repentance 5 seeing they "more sacrifice for sins, but " crucify to themselves the Son " a certain fearful looking for " of God afresh, and put him to " of judgment and fiery indig- " an open shame. For the earth " nation, which shall devour the " which drinketh in the rain " adversaries. He that despised H 4 104 LECTURE IIL that this is a fact, which may be explained on the supposition, that the authority of that Epistle was not known to either of those two writers. This fact, however, cannot reasonably be allowed to warrant a denial of canonicalness. For there are proofs still extant, that that Epistle had, at a much earlier time, been re garded as an authentic and authoritative book : since it is plainly quoted by Clement of Rome ', a man contemporary with the apostles, and one who does on no occasion allege the authority or employ the language of any apocryphal book. It is also evident, that this Epistle was generally received in ancient times by the very numerous churches of the eastern Christians who used the Greek language ; and there can be little doubt of its very ancient and undoubted reception by the Christians of Syria, Mesopotamia, and the adjacent countries. Such is the positive proof of its early and extensive acknowledgment. " Moses' law died without mer- " of grace ?" The schism of the " cy under two or three wit- Novatians rested on an opinion, " nesses : of how much sorer that the church had no power " punishment, suppose ye, shall to pardon great and wllfiil sins " he be thought worthy, who committed after baptism. " hath trodden under foot the ' A doubt has been raised on " Son of God, and hath counted this head, but I cannot think it " the blood of the covenant, a reasonable one. The reader " wherewith he was sanctified, may judge for himself by refer- " an unholy thing, and hath ring to Lardner's chapter on " done despite unto the Spirit Clement of Rome. LECTURE IIL 105 Let us now Tevert to a principle of moral evidence which has been already asserted and applied to the canonical books in general : it cannot be denied that such principle is fairly applicable to this book in particular. The principle is this : That under the circum stances of the early Christians, a scriptural book could never have been acknowledged as canonical, if it had not been genuine. Though it appears then, that the reception of this Epistle in the first three centuries was not universal, yet it was sufficiently extensive to satisfy us, that the principle fully applies to it. The Greek and Syrian Christians, em bracing many millions of persons, and those living at a time when they were competent to judge, and when fraud would have been of easy detection : they, I say, were sufficient ly numerous and sufficiently qualified for the purpose of evidence ; and the data, though not in this case so comprehensive as in some others, are nevertheless abundantly sufficient to warrant the conclusion. The number of witnesses is, in this case, quite equivalent, on the principles of moral evidence, to the whole of mankind. If you allow this reasoning to be valid in its application to the Epistle to the Hebrews, it is to be observed, that it applies in an equa 106 LECTURE IIL degree to others of the seven books. Thus the Epistle of St. James, and the Apocalypse^ are both of them among the books which for some time were only partially received : yet the evidence of this reception rises, in the case of them both, to the very highest an tiquity which can be reasonably desired ; it also fixes .the reception among persons, emi nently qualified to judge of their authority, and sufficiently numerous to warrant that conclusion, which, on the soundest view of moral evidence, I would deduce respecting them ''. The Apocalypse, indeed, is remark~ ably distinguished by very early, and very con clusive, testimony. This is an important con sideration to be balanced against the fact of a partial and temporary suspense. The doubt of some is accompanied by the decision of others : while the decision is grounded upon evidence, and the doubt occasioned by the want of it. But now, it may naturally occur to propose the question : How did it happen that these books were ever doubted of at all ? Of this I shall proceed to furnish an explanation. It is undeniable, that some of our cano nical books were not only doubted of, but ¦^ I say this, as far as the Epi- the ground of its being contain- stle of St. James is concerned, on ed in the ancient Syriac version. LECTURE III. 107 even rejected, by some Christians in the early ages. This applies not exclusively to the seven books with which we are now more particularly concerned, but to the canon of the Old and New Testament in general. By the heretics, some books were forged in the character of canonical writings : and of others, really canonical, the authority was denied : the apparent purpose of the proceeding being, in both cases, to favour the peculiar tenets espoused by the professors of any particular heresy. It is indeed common, in the history of early heresies, to meet with occasions in which, on a principle of consistency with pro fessed opinions, we meet with both additions to the canon, and substractions from it. In some, I think in a generality, of these cases, the supposititious books thus introduced, will plainly be found to want that confirmation which attaches to the canonical ones : I mean, that which arises from the evidence of sin cerity on the part of those who received them. For while it was regarded by the catholics as an undeniable duty to sacrifice life rather than deny the faith ; it was a common tenet of heresy, that it was lawful for a man to save his life by a denial of his faith. For example: Basilides is said to have forged a Gospel. Now if this Gospel was received by 108 LECTURE III. his followers, such reception is no evidence of its being genuine : for Basilides is also said to have taught, that it was lawful to deny the faith in order to avoid martyrdom. A book therefore received by the followers of Basilides, is very differently circumstanced from one received by the catholics : it did not, in this case, form a part of that doctrine, which men were ready to attest by the sa crifice of their lives. It is plain then, that such books cannot possess any confirmation of moral evidence. This remark is one of ex tensive application : for almost all the apocry phal scriptures of the New Testament were the works of heretics : and it was a prevail ing tenet of heretical doctrine, under various denominations and distinctions of sects, to deny the obligation of martyrdom. As to their rejection of books, there is not, I beheve, one in the New Testament, which has not had its authority denied by some or other of the early heretics. But it will, I trust, suffi ciently appear from the sequel, that their practice carries with it no weight, towards disturbing the minds of men respecting the present canon. I now proceed to apply my explanation to the seven books with which we are prin cipally concerned, and to the doubts and de- LECTURE IIL 109 lay which occurred respecting them among catholic Christians. It was in the nature and necessity of things, that every one of these books must have been received earlier in some places than in others. Thus, on the supposition that the Epistle ascribed to St. James was written by the first bishop of Jerusalem; that Epistle would be received in Palestine and Syria earlier than it would in the western parts of the Roman empire : for the evidence of its authenticity would be more speedily communicated. A- gain, it was unavoidable that the general re ception of some books would be earlier than of others : thus (waving the consideration of dates) the Epistle to the Romans, published at the capital of the civilized world, was, from the nature of the case, adapted to meet with a more speedy diffusion and acknowledgment, than the second or third Epistle of St. John, which are addressed to single persons in pri vate life. Indeed the same may in truth be said of all St. Paul's Epistles when compared with the others : for this might be a natural fruit of his great celebrity, arising from his more abundant labour in the ministry, and from the greatness ofthe cities, such as Rome, Athens, Corinth, and Ephesus, at which he sustained a conspicuous character. In ge- 110 LECTURE IIL neral the earlier or later reception would be greatly influenced, by the means which were at hand of diffusing the proofs of authenti city \ ' Towards explaining the progressive formation of the ca non, the following remarks of Dupin are well deserving of at tention. " It is no ways ditfi- " cult to explain how, without " a new revelation, the church " might become more assured " of the genuineness of a work " than .she was at first ; the " manner is as follows : When " St. Paul, for example, wrote " his letter to the Romans, it " was at first known only to " those to whom it was wrote, " to those who saw him write " it, or had heard from himself " that he had wrote it : there " were none but those that " could be assured of it : by de- " grees it was published, many " copies of it were wrote, it " became more common and " known, and more people were " assured of it : in a word, it " became so public, that St. " Paul had wrote it, that no- " body could be ignorant of it. " But there was some time re- " quired to bring it to this. " Let us suppose, that St. Paul " did not set his name to it, as " he did not to the Epistle to " the Hebrews, and that he " would not have been known to " any but those he wrote to; " it is certain people would " have been longer in doubt of " it ; and that, nevertheless, in " the close, they might have " been certain of it, by the tes- ¦ timony of those to whom it ¦ was wrote, and of those to '¦ whom he had entrusted the '¦ secret. Let us suppose that the knowledge of this had ¦ not for some time reached a particular church, but had at last come to them : should the temporary ignorance of ¦ that church hinder the things ' becoming certain at last ? Let us further suppose, that a let ter be wrote to particular per- ' sons, as the two last Epistles ' of St. John: they could neither ¦ be so famous nor so speedily • known, as those that were ¦ wrote to great churches : there ' must be time to multiply the ' copies ; but when once they ' are public, there is no further doubt concerning them. In ¦ fine, let us suppose that some ' authors reject a piece, be- ' cause they find extraordinar)' ' things in it that they do not • understand, as in the Revela- ¦ tions ; or, because they meet ' with something that offends ' them, as in the Epistle of St. ' Jude. If afterwards those dif- ' Acuities be removed, and the ' antiquity of those monuments ' demonstrated, ought not that ' to remove the doubt ? This ' may be explained by the ex- ' ample of other works which ' are not canonical. Though ' some contemporary authors ' have called in question the ' works of writers of their time. LECTURE IIL 111 If now we would estimate these means, we shall have occasion to consider the circum stances of the early church. These were far from propitious to the diffusion and authen tication of Christian documents. For such purposes would naturally require correspond ence and intercourse between those various cities and countries, very remote from each other, in which the several books were first published: tranquillity, freedom of commu nication, and uninterrupted access to persons and to records, would therefore be the appro priate facilities of the case. But such facili ties were quite inconsistent with the perse cuted and aflflicted state of the primitive be lievers : during a period, when the intolerant spirit of the Roman laws was hostile to peace able intercourse and society among Chris tians ; when the possession of the Scriptures would probably be followed by loss of life to " or raised objections against " Apostles' writings, whereof " them: yet afterwards they have "some people doubted, and " received them, and been per- " which some churches did not " suaded that they were wrote " at first receive, were after- " by those authors, either by " wards received and acknow- " the agreement of style, by new " ledged by all the churches, " testimonies they had of it, by " and that subsequent testi- " manuscripts they discovered, " monies gave them a canonical " or because the objections which "authority, which they would " occasioned their doubt were " not have had if the doubt " removed. It was very pos- " had continued." History of " sible, then, as we have de- the Canon, vol. ii. chap, i . sect. " monstrated, that some of the 9. 112 LECTURE IIL the owner ; and when Christians were care ful to conceal their copies, not to save their own lives, but to save (what was far more precious to them) the sacred writings them selves from spoliation and burning. During this period, doubts would natu rally prevail respecting books which claimed a canonical authority. Every book of this kind must have been doubted of, so long at least as was necessary for reasonable satisfac tion respecting its pretensions. For all pru dent persons will doubt of every thing, re specting which they have not yet obtained adequate grounds for belief or disbelief. When a book was propounded, as containing a part of the doctrine for which men would proba^ bly be required to die ; when it was pro pounded, as a book of that class, respecting which they felt it their duty to die rather than surrender them : was it not natural for men thus situated to doubt till they were satisfied, and to regard every such book with the most wakeful suspicion ? It is certain that this was, in fact, the feel ing of the primitive Christians : and the long continuance of a suspended judgment con cerning the seven books was a fruit of this natural sentiment. But independently of this cause, the practices of the heretics would LECTURE III. 113 supply other excitements to the exercise of it. As they rejected some books, they might assign reasons for so doing, which, whether true or fabricated, might contribute to aggravate the doubts of the catholics. Then as to those which they forged : their efforts in this way were so assiduous, and their productions so numerous, so bold in pretension, and occa sionally so pompous in the titles they give them ; that it was a plain dictate of pru dence to be extremely circumspect in guard ing against imposition. Again, it might occa sionally happen, that the title of one of their supposititious books would be the same with that of a canonical book, or very similar to it: here would be a fresh occasion for mis take, and a fresh necessity for vigilance. It was probably owing to such a circumstance, that the Apocalypse was so long doubted of: for it appears that a book under the same title was set forth by Cerinthus; and it is not improbable (from the account of it pre served by Eusebius) that the forgery of the heretic may have been inscribed with the name of St. John "". Indeed, the records of the early church bear witness to the great " Kripivdos 6 St AiroKaKvyjreav c. 28. The supposition is fur- as 'yiio AHOSTOAOY MEFA- ther confirmed by the words AOY TErPAMMENQN — Caius a- cited in the same chapter from pud Euseb. Eccl. Hist. lib. iii. Dionysius of Alexandria. 114 LECTURE III. aversion entertained by the catholics for all apocryphal books, and to the suspicions thus occasioned respecting some that are canon ical : for there are several of these latter which appear to have been suspected on the sole ground, of their being supposed to quote or refer to apocryphal books. It was on this ground, that very strong doubt was entertain ed respecting the Epistle of St. Jude : it is not improbable that the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the second Epistle of St. Peter, may have been affected by the same consideration : and it is upon record, that even an Epistle of St. Paul (namely, the second to Timothy) has had its authority called in question on the same ground °. III. XIX. I would hope that the foregoing con siderations will warrant me in asserting, that the doubts of the early church respecting the canon were natural and reasonable : that they were unavoidably generated by the na ture of the case : and that the character and incidents of the time, had a remark able tendency to increase them. It is now fit that we should advert to the solution of those doubts : this is the third of those leading points to which my remarks are di- '¦ See the twenty-fifth section of Lardner's chapter on Origen. LECTURE IIL 115 rected. With reference to this particular, I trust I shall be able to produce satisfactory reasons for saying: That these doubts were not of such a nature that they must unavoid ably last for ever, but that the progress of time, down to a certain period, would bring to light the surest means of dispelling them. I would thus encounter the notion, that the doubts respecting the authenticity of the books, must unavoidably gather strength in proportion to the length of time which elapsed from the composure of them : a no tion which, in its application to ordinary books, (such for instance, as the Eikon Basi- hke) may be tolerably correct; but which, when applied to the canon of the New Tes tament, is altogether paralogistical. The evidence of this truth may fitly be in troduced with a passage from Eusebius", "Even " to this day," says he, " the bulk of the Chris- " tian world are divided in their judgments " for and against the authority of the Apo- " calypse." After which follow these remark able words : " Nevertheless this book also " will in due time be decided upon by the ° Ttjj 8' airoKoKvyJAccos fj) (Ka- oiKeia Kaipa rr/v eTTiKpuriv Se^frai. repov en vvv irapa tois jroXXoty (cai avTr/. Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. C. irepieXKeTat fj ho^a. op,a>s ye firfv 24. fK T);t T' Sjj- " God is the Maker of them. p,iovfyov &eov. Ei yap ck tjj; eii " For if, from the general evi- ra oXa amov ivuap.ea(; eyivua-KOV " dences of his power, they avrov t^v 6eoT^ra, eyuaa-av an OTt " were led to acknowledge his km to, lia, tod a-up,a,Toi epya tov " deity : they would acknow- Xpiarov, ovk aySpuiciva, a.'k'ka. mv " ledge also, with respect to navrup o-aTVjfo; ea-n 10V 06OU Aoyou. " the works which Christ did De Incarn. Verbi Dei, c. 53. M 3 166 LECTURE IV. for, to all appearance, nature and miracle would thus be confounded, and their several effects would be hardly distinguished. Hu man increduhty is very stubborn in rejecting all such evidence as men do not like to re ceive, and it is in an equal degree ingenious in vindicating its own obstinacy by the exco gitation of reasons for disbelief. We may find this exemplified in Sacred Writ : and the ap pearance of it is perfectly agreeable to the workings of the human heart. But suppose that miracles were afforded with a degree of frequency, less indeed than the amount of our last supposition, but still surpassing the mea sure which God has actually dispensed : who shall decide the exact degree in which they would be useful, and beyond which they would be hurtful, to the cause of religion ? Alas ! who but God can decide this question ? And who then can say, that God has not fixed the matter according to the surest dictates of wis dom and of love to man ? Who can say, that he has not so regulated the measure of his miraculous dispensations, as to produce the utmost effect by their just proportion, and to avoid the counteraction of that effect by their excess ? It is quite agreeable to human nature to suppose, that miracles, in propor tion as man became familiar with them, would LECTURE IV. 167 become less striking, and would lose their power of conviction over his mind: and, when the nature of man is properly considered in this point of view, we shall have little rea son to be surprised at those many remark able instances, occurring in both the Old and New Testaments, in which we meet with a stubborn resistance to an authority, accre dited by the most stupendous and repeated wonders. Thus, an undue frequency of mira cles would in all probability be followed by a contempt for them : and the contempt thus entertained for miracles of daily occurrence, would recoil upon those connected with the introduction of our faith, and thus undermine the very foundations of that faith itself In fact, the true state of the case seems to be this: Every dispensation of religion requires that degree of evidence which may satisfy a well disposed and reasonable mind : if this will not produce its due effect, neither would that effect be produced by any degree of evi dence whatever, even though miracles were as thick as drops of rain : but, on the con trary, all redundancy would be counteractive, rather than promotive, of the purpose. We have therefore great reason to see the force of that benediction which is pronounced on those, who believe a miracle without having M 4 168 LECTURE IV. seen it: "Thomas, because thou hast seen " me, thou hast believed : blessed are they " that have not seen, and yet have believed '." We may likewise discover good reason for that declaration, which says in effect, that a miracle seen by a man's own eyes, would not convince him whom the Scriptures themselves do not convince. " If they hear not Moses " and the Prophets, neither will they be per- " suaded, though one rose from the dead^." When again we find our Lord saying : " The " works that I do in my Father's name, they " bear witness of me. Believe me for the very " works' sake ^ :" when, I say, we find him thus appealing to miracles as the proofs of his authority, and contrast these declarations with the foregoing : do we not find strong reason for that marked difference of provi sion which is thus adapted to the difference of the two cases ? Do we not find an acknow ledgment, that miracles are a matter of rea sonable demand for the proof of a new doc trine ; but not for the support of that same doctrine after it has become established, and after the character of it has become such, that without miracles it cannot reasonably be thought to have gained its establishment ? ' John XX. 29. s Luke xvi. 31. '> John x. 25. xiv. 11, LECTURE IV. 169 Are there not, even in the present state of the world, circumstances tending to confirm this representation? Look to the present condition of the Jewish people : the world hath never seen any thing parallel to it : no human causes nor ordinary principles can avail to account for it. If a man be unaf fected by this, it is surely doubtful whether any further evidence would avail to impress and satisfy his mind. Perhaps even the un believer, if the phenomenon were not familiar to him, would declare hypothetically, that the production of such a case would at once re move his scruples. Look again to the fact that the Christian religion now exists and prevails in the world. To what was this owing? the effect must have a cause. If it began without miracles, then must its present existence be more miraculous than any of the mighty works alleged in proof of it '. The ' St. Chrysostom argues to " miracle of all: jxeynnov o-ij- this effect: "If the infidel says, " p.eiov km icapaio^ov 8aup.a." [See " that the apostles wrought no his 4th Homily in Princ. Actor. " miraclesj I will answer him : vol. iii. of his works, pages 92, " Then do you magnify the pow- 93. ed. Par. 1721.] The poet " er of the Apostles and the Dante has the same argument: " grace of God far beyond the .^^^^^ ^„ ^^^ ,^„^,j^ ^^.^ j_ ,t„„,j " supposition which we em- i,ave been turn'd " brace; inasmuch as you think To Christian, and no miracle been " that the aposties could, with- wrought, „ „ I . 1 • J r • 1 t. Would iu itself be such a miracle, out the aid of miracles, have ,1.1, . „f „ i„,„.i,.».iti, r,.j,.V ' . The rest are not an hnndredtli part converted so vast a portion g^ great. " of the world to Christianity : Paradise, Canto 24. " this would be the greatest 170 LECTURE IV. fact is, that incredulity and credulity are con current vices : they always go together : the ebb at one point has a flow at another : slow ness of belief in what is reasonable is, and must be, attended with a readiness of assent to the incredible. So it is in this case: for even in the present state of the world, mi racles, though we see them not, are infinitely more probable, than the supposition, that the Xjrospel could, without them, ever have ob tained its present footing among mankind. The demand of further evidence is, under such circumstances, not a healthy appetite, but a distemper : it cannot be satisfied, but requires to be healed. XXXI. Little now remains to be noted in conclusion. Hitherto I have been concerned with that portion of the evidence of Chris tianity which is distinctively called the exter nal evidence. This has been made to rest up on principles of remarkable simphcity. With regard to the authenticity of the Scriptures, and the settlement of the canon, I have hither to declined to speak of their internal power of conviction : but I have rested the proof of their authenticity upon this principle, that writings of such a character could not pos sibly have been admitted into the canon if they had not been genuine. The fact then LECTURE IV. 171 of their being so admitted, combined with the principle now stated, and with the reasons on which that principle is founded, constitutes what I would call the exterior attestation to them. With regard to the proof of miracles, I have argued, that if the writings be genuine, it is impossible to evade the conclusion, that the introduction of Christianity must have been miraculous : I have also argued, that the present establishment of Christianity in the world cannot reasonably be accounted for without admitting, that its introduction was miraculous, and that the effect which we thus witness, in the existence of a visible church, must, from the nature of things, have sprung from this cause. Herein is provided a strong body of evidence : no matter of undisputed credit among mankind was ever so power fully substantiated by proof: and the proof is capable of being unfolded in the utmost plain ness of popular representation, so as to in struct and to convince, with perfect facility, every soul who is called upon to receive it. Yet still it may be argued, that a difficulty of belief might, even in a reasonable mind, connect itself with a scheme of religion thus powerfully attested. To illustrate this point, I will suppose a case. I receive, from a man of character well known to me, a written man- 172 LECTURE IV. date. I find this mandate stamped with his own seal, and it is delivered by his accredited messenger. This might satisfy me that the writing was no imposture. But I proceed to read the mandate. With respect to the supposed writer, I know him to be infinitely merciful and compassionate: but the mandate commands me to be cruel. I know the man to be remarkable for virtue and self-denial: but here it appears, that he enjoins me to indulge the utmost excess of licentious sensuality. I know the man to be anxiously desirous, by every possible means, to advance my happi ness : but the mandate enjoins me to do such things as would surely be followed by total wretchedness. On this view, however the writing might be attested by outward marks, I might, to say the least, be greatly perplexed, and indulge reasonable suspicions of fraud. But let it be supposed — if the supposition be rather violent, it matters not : for hypothe tical statements are not restrained by the laws of probability — let it be supposed, 1 say, that the mandate, when perused, contained such strong marks of wisdom and goodness, as af forded me the utmost reason to be convinced, that no other person existing in the work! could have written or have dictated its con tents. Noiv every doubt must be satisfied, LECTURE IV. 173 and every suspicion must be at rest : all further hesitation of credit would be incom patible with a sane understanding. Thus may we understand the value and import ance of that which is called the internal evi dence : which consists of those proofs which the Christian religion carries within itself of its own Divine authority : and from which the believer derives his convictions, not only that it is a scheme of doctrine containing nothing unworthy of God, but that it is more over such a scheme, that no other being than God could have made and produced it. These remarks will serve to introduce the subject which, by God's help, I shall propose to your consideration on the next occasion of my addressing you. LECTURE V. THE INTERNAL EVIDENCE. John vii. 46. Never man spahe like this man. XXXII. J. HE course of argument requires that I should now speak of the internal evi dence of Christianity. This part of the sub ject will naturally claim a high degree of im portance in a disquisition, which proposes to illustrate the popular nature of the proofs of religion. For it is a species of evidence lying open to every man, who has access to the contents of a Bible. It shall then, in the pre sent Discourse, be my purpose, so to treat of the internal evidence as to shew, its adapta tion to common minds ; its conclusive power; and its security from all objections which may aim at perplexing our use of it. With this view, I shall endeavour to accomplish a clear exposition of my subject, by drawing up my remarks under the three following heads. First, I will treat of the faculty which 176 LECTURE V. embraces such evidence. Secondly, I will il lustrate the nature of the evidence itself Thirdly, I will consider the distinct nature of the subject from which such evidence may be properly derived. I. XXXIII. First, then, I am to treat of that faculty of the mind which embraces the in ternal evidence of the holy Scriptures. It cannot be denied that the soul of man is gifted with a kind of intuitive power of discriminating objects. Whether it be simply a perception ; or whether there be combined with such perception, a moderate exercise of the reasoning faculty : is of little import to our present purpose. It will suffice that there is such a power, and that it is one of conti nual exercise and necessity for the purposes of life. You may take the following as ex amples of its operation. In the visible works of creation there is not one of the most inconsiderable produc tions, such as a plant or an insect of the simplest form ; of which it is not easy to dis tinguish the reality from all counterfeit re presentations. Every eye can perceive the difference between the light that comes down from heaven, and that which is produced by LECTURE V. 177 human contrivance. Thus it is throughout the whole universe of things. Nature is ea sily discernible from art : in other words, the works of God are easily discernible from those of man. This discernment is true and exact, though it be not framed upon any communicable or definable reasons. Take, for instance, any animal or vegetable production. Who does not know when he sees it ? Yet who is able so to define it, as to present a distinct image to the mind of him, who never saw it ? Again : suppose any artificial imitation of a natural object. A very simple man might distinguish that imitation from the real object: yet a very wise one might, in some instances, be baffled in attempting to explain, on reasonable grounds, the distinction which he feels. For the resources of language are far from com mensurate with all that variety of tints, and shades, and degrees, and modifications, which is cognizable by sensible perception. How, indeed, can it be otherwise, when the one are limited, and the other boundless ? It will not suffice, then, with regard to this discerning power, that we should therefore question its existence or its availableness, because we cannot explain the principles by which it de cides. 178 LECTURE V. Such is the case with regard to those out ward objects which strike upon the senses. We cannot deny that we possess a faculty, thus capable of separating, into their proper classes, the objects which fall under its no tice. If it be so with regard to objects of bodily perception : is it not reasonable to think, that there is also a faculty analogous to it, relating to objects of perception purely mental ? such objects, I mean, as thought imparted, know ledge communicated, and matters propounded in order to be believed and assented to. And is it not also reasonable to think, that this faculty, whether by intuition or reason ing, may, in the case of a doctrine proposed as a revelation from God, be able to dis tinguish the essential characters of truth, from those of imposture ? I mean, to dis tinguish them with such a degree of clearness and conviction, as may suffice for the reason able satisfaction of the judgment ? XXXIV. To deny at once that we have, or may have, such a faculty : is to venture an assertion which cannot be proved, and which no philosophy can justify. The powers of the human mind, it has been well remarked, are never so feeble and uncertain, as when they look inwardly upon themselves. It far LECTURE V. 179 exceeds the subtlety of the most refined me taphysics to determine the negative of such a supposed possibility : nor can any assertion to that effect be warranted, if it proceed not from the authority of Him, who created the human soul and imparted its endowments. Now if it be only admitted, that the real ity of such an endowment cannot be dis proved : then it must follow, that it is im possible to falsify, by any conclusive reason ing, the convictions arising from the internal evidence of the Scriptures. XXXV. But it may be objected. That it must in this case, for the reason alleged, be as impossible to prove, as to disprove, the reality of this faculty. To this I reply: We do not pretend to prove such reality by any process of metaphysical investigation : but if we will reason upon analogies, and upon outward effects and appearances, we shall find the strongest grounds for inferring the certain existence of this discriminative power. At the same time it must appear, that the negative proof is in this case im possible : for it would require a knowledge, unattainable to us, of the inherent powers, properties, and perceptions of the human soul. The power of discriminating objects ofsen- N 2 180 LECTURE V. sible perception, may justly be viewed as a part of the provision, which God has mercifully and wisely made for the ends and uses of our being. But these ends and uses are as much concerned with the apprehension of objects addressed inwardly to the mind. Thus, the subject of a future retribution has quite as much connexion with the present happiness of a moral and accountable being ; as any of the objects among which he lives, and concerning which it is important to him to know, whe ther they are genuine or fabricated, salutary or hurtful. In the latter case, it seems to be acknowledged, that God has impressed upon things their differential marks, and imparted to the soul a power of perceiving their dif ferences : so that there exists a mutual adap tation of sensible objects and of mental ap prehensions. Transfer this then to the case of a doctrine coming from God and profess ing to teach the way of eternal life. Is it not reasonable to suppose, that the same merciful provision should operate here, in a case of far more moment than the last ? Surely it is in the highest degree reasonable : and if so, it is only reasonable to think, that God, in offer ing a revelation to his accountable creatures, should both impress upon that revelation, the distinctive characters of his own wisdom and LECTURE V. 181 goodness; and also impai't to man, an ade quate and adapted faculty of perceiving and discriminating those characters. "If," says a Greek father % " you have well " considered the examples of bodily things, let " us proceed to the contemplation of spiritual. " Every nature requires to be nourished by " food peculiarly suited to itself. But the " proper food of a reasonable nature is the " word of God." To pursue this analogy of Origen : Shall we say that food is of more import than truth? If, in bodily matters, man is able, by his perceptive organs, to dis tinguish aliment from poison : shall we think it unreasonable, that he should also have re ceived a discriminative power in the matter of religion ? that he should thus be able to distinguish the proper sustenance of an im mortal spirit and of a Divine life, from the principles of misery and death? Or shall we think that God, who has been so bountiful to " Si sufficienter rerum cor- me, from the sense of the pas- poralium considerastis exem- sage, to have been introduced plum, nunc ab iis ad intelligen- by the mistake of a copyist ; tiam spiritalium veniamus. Om- and indeed its position (so near nis natura rationabilis propriis to the following words, natum et sibi competentibus nutriri rationabilis) renders such a mis- indiget cibis. Cibus autem ve- take very natural. But it is rus natura; rationabilis sermo also to be observed, that this Dei est. [Origenis in Numeros portion of Origen's works comes Homil. xxvii.] The word ratio- to us through the medium of nabilis, where it first occurs in Rufinus, who does not profess the foregoing extract, seems to to be an exact translator. n3 182 LECTURE V. the animal nature, has been less considerate of the spiritual, and less regardful of that part of us which displays the radiance of his own image? XXXVI. Such is the nature of that faculty, for the existence of which I now contend: the faculty of clear apprehension and discri mination respecting matters of Divine know ledge. As for what Scripture teaches us re specting this matter, few will deny that we may learn from it thus much : namely, that man had this faculty in his time of innocence ; that he has lost it since the fall ; that he may now recover it by Divine grace ; and that such grace is dispensed by God to all who are will ing to receive it. But in order that the na ture of this faculty, and its use, may be more clearly understood; it will be useful to attend to the following remarks. In every science connected with practical results, there is an important principle to be borne in mind. Unless there be certain mo ral dispositions concurrent with the intellec tual exercise employed upon them, those sci ences cannot be cultivated to any profitable issue. Passion will disturb and fancy will se duce : the former must be subdued, the latter must be recalled from its excursions. You may see this exemplified every day, in the LECTURE V. 183 different effects which arguments have on the minds of men. For it is obvious that the same argument must at all times carry with it the same logical value : and yet its influ ence upon the mind will be extremely dif ferent. The argument which convinces one man will not satisfy another. This distinc tion is happily recognized in the common phraseology of mankind : for it is common to say, that such an argument does not strike such a man : though we do not, by such an expression, mean to imply, that the argument, considered in itself, is inconclusive. Now this prevails so far, that the same argument will strike even the same individual at one time and not at another: and the difference will be found to arise entirely from the passions and feelings with which he is at those dif ferent times affected. Thus, with a young man, arguments for sensuality and licentious pleasure will perhaps be more striking, than those for religious sobriety and seriousness : with an old man, the latter will oftentimes be more striking than the former : and the same man, in different periods of his life, will be thus differently affected by the very same rea sonings addressed to his understanding. To reason further on the case we have sup posed for an example. We may find in some N 4 184 LECTURE V. instances, that this difference of assent to the same reasonings will be found to prevail, not withstanding there be entertained, at both the periods of life, a belief of future judgment and human responsibility, in this case, when the arguments of piety produce no effect, the understanding is plainly disordered by the will. But there is still another influence of sin ful propensities, in determining the regards which men bestow on religious arguments : it is worse than the last, and it oftentimes flows from it. It is this : men will sometimes throw off altogether the sense of future judgment and all other doctrines of religion, because they are led away by obstinate propensions to acts, against which the wrath of God is denounced. How comes this to pass? It is not^ that men have made up their minds to brave the dreadful judgments of God. No : it is because they are glad to disbelieve any thing which crosses the appetites they are determined to gratify. A mind thus disposed will be well prepared to reject good argu ments and embrace weak ones : for, such is human nature, a fallacy concurrent with our prevailing disposition will be more striking, than a sound and valid reason which miU- tates against them. LECTURE V. 185 To speak then hypothetically. Only sup pose, (as a thing which we do not yet re gard as established by proof,) that the Gospel is true: Suppose also that its evidences are sound and convincing, and easy of apprehen sion. Yet notwithstanding this, it will be per fectly natural, that a man whose propensities are at war with the Gospel, shall be blind to its evidence. Nor is this any just matter for surprise: for long before the Gospel was given, Aristotle' had maintained the same principle, and had maintained it upon the same ground that we now apply to the Gospel : he had de clared, that unregulated passions, inasmuch as they resist the dictates of morality, would al ways present an inaptitude for the study of it. But suppose again, the case of a man, who, in order to obtain the blessedness of a future life, is willing to subdue and mortify every sinful desire. It is clear that, in this case, the veil, which previously darkened the evidence of religion, is taken away ; the truth which was concealed before may be obvious now. This is the frame of mind which, according to Scripture, enjoys the promise of knowing the truth : it is the only state of mind which fits a man for Divine illumination. It cannot reasonably be objected, that this ' See the earlier part of his Nicomachean Ethicks. 186 LECTURE V. is taking for granted the thing to be proved. I have indeed alleged the authority of Scrip ture ; but it must be borne in mind, that the truth of Scripture must be tried agreeably to the view which it gives of its own doctrines : for to try it otherwise, is to judge a case on a partial view of it. It must therefore be con sidered, as a principle essential to our present reasoning, that the representation of Scripture may be true. And this is enough for the pre sent ; while we contend for a mental faculty, qualifying men for the apprehension of its doctrines. We have before declared, that it is impossible to disprove the existence of such a faculty. For it is plainly a faculty which the abstract principles of metaphysics cannot reach : it is plainly also a case secure from the contradiction of experience. For there never was an instance ofa man, who had fairly made good the required qualification, (of surrender ing all his sins and all his inclinations to the will of God,) and yet was unable, when the Gospel was fully propounded to him, to sa tisfy his mind of its truth. And surely there are strong reasons for supposing, that such a man's convictions must be true. For, on the one hand, a mind undisturbed by sensual ap petite is, in itself, better qualified for clear dis cernment, than one which is rent bv the storm LECTURE V. 187 and darkened by the clouds of passion. And again, if we consider what may reasonably be expected from God to his creatures, it may justly be thought, that the preference of his favour, as to every inward as well as outward blessing, will be to the obedient; and that, with regard, especially, to the revelation of his will, the secret of the Lord will be with them that fear him. Nor will it avail to confound the clear im pressions of such a faculty, with the workings of fantastic delusion and heated fancy. For the state of body, of mind, and of life, conse quent upon this moral determination, is least of all adapted to the production of wild and foolish imaginations. And, if you refer to the outward proofs of sound and vigorous intellect, you will find them to be strong in favour of those who believe the Gospel : for these men are as clear and strong in the exercise of reason as any others : and they are, most of all men, exempt from those ex cesses and excentricities, which result from the predominance of a wanton fancy. But I ought not at present to dwell upon this matter any further : because it will be the object of a separate Discourse to shew, that the convictions of Faith, in embracing the Gospel, are clearly distinguishable from 188 LECTURE V. the deceits of fanaticism. It shall now be my purpose, to describe that condition of mind, to which, according to the tenor of Scripture, the knowledge of Divine truth is accessible. XXXVII. It is a well known doctrine of our faith, that we are, in consequence of our fall from original righteousness, infected with va rious evil dispositions. Of these, one is, a to tal unfitness for the reception of Divine truth, and an innate repugnancy to the doctrines relating to the grace of God which bringeth salvation. The things of the Spirit of God are the proper subjects of a spiritual discern ment : so that they cannot be received by the natural man, but are esteemed foolishness by him. To this our evil condition it appears, that the grace of God has provided a remedy : the purpose and professed effect of which is as follows : To all who embrace this remedy, the way of everlasting salvation is laid open with such degrees of clearness and evidence, as are amply sufficient for the varying circumstances and wants of every man. This remedy is of a character very remote from the learning and science of this world. So much so, that some men, conspicuously adorned with these advantages, have lived and died in unbelief; while multitudes of LECTURE V. 189 simple and unlettered persons have attained that full assurance of faith, which no subtlety could confound, nor persecution subdue. It was agreeably to this, that our Divine Master, speaking of the things relating to his evangelical kingdom, declared, that God had hidden them from the wise and prudent, and had revealed them unto babes". Such is the grace which God dispenses through the ministration of his Holy Spirit. The character and efficacy of this blessing, may be understood from the promise of our blessed Saviour : " I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever ; even the Spirit of truth ; whom the world can- ' not receive, because it seeth him not, nei ther knoweth Him : but ye know him ; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world ' seeth me no more ; but ye see me : because ' I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my command- ' ments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me : and he that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will >" Matt. xi. as. 190 LECTURE V. " manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto " him, (not Iscariot,) Lord, how is it that thou " wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto " the world? Jesus answered and said unto " him, If a man love me, he will keep my " words : and my Father will love him, and " we will come unto him, and make our abode " with him"." You see, that in these words, the dwelling of God the Father and of Christ in the soul through the abiding influence and operation of the Holy Spirit, is spoken of, as the means of manifesting the Saviour of mankind to the believer's soul. You see also, the kind of character to whom this blessing is promised ; namely, to him who is willing to forsake his sins : for so it is ex pressed, " He that hath my commandments " and keepeth them." Lastly, you see from the tenor of the whole passage the solution of that question : how the doctrine of Christ can be evidently revealed to one man while it is not to another : " Lord, how is it that thou " wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto " the world?" The difference lies not in the object, but in the visual power : not in the object, for that is impartially displayed before all men ; but in the visual power, which, in the children of the world, is left to its natu- " John xiv. 1 6 — 23. LECTURE V. 191 ral darkness, but in the children of light, is healed and restored by Him, who can cause the film to drop from the eye, and can give sight to the blind. Thus far I have considered the faculty, to the contemplation of which the internal evidence of the Gospel properly belongs. I have shewn, that the faculty of distinguish ing Divine from human, in words as well as in works, may reasonably be supposed to have belonged to the original constitution of our nature : I have shewn also how that faculty, though lost or greatly impaired, may now be restored : I have spoken of those ad vantages, in the way of Divine succour, which are needful to the healthy condition and ex ercise of it : I have also considered the hu man disposition which is required to be con current with it. This state of mind, these advantages, and this disposition, must be pre supposed, as the requisite qualifications of him to whom the internal evidence of the Gospel is propounded: the question then is; Whe ther to a mind thus prepared and qualified, such evidence will be conclusive ? Having said this, I now proceed to the second head of my Discourse, in which I proposed, II. XXXVIII. To illustrate the nature of the internal evidence itself. 192 LECTURE V. There is, in an excellent work by a living writer, a remark to the following effect: " The " words of God, now legible in the Scriptures, " are as much beyond the words of men, as " the mighty works which Christ did were " above their works, and his prophecies be- " yond their knowledge °." Should this be the fact, it must surely be possible for a per son gifted with that spiritual discrimination which we have above described, and of which the Gospel itself supposes the necessity : it surely, I say, must be possible for such a per son, to discern in it those essential criteria, by which Divine truth is distinguished from human imposture. By all who read their Bibles with purity and meekness, it will readily be felt, that the wisdom of that book is not the wisdom of this world : that the virtue which breathes in it, and which it breathes into us, is not the vir tue of this world : that the doctrine which it teaches is a doctrine, which man could not in vent : that the peace which it gives is a peace, which this world cannot bestow : and that the frame and character of the Scriptures throughout, are such, as infinitely to surpass the utmost human power of contrivance : that " Twopeny's Dissertations on supposed unsuitable to the Di- some parts of the Old and New vine Attributes, page 210. ed. Testaments, which have been 1824. LECTURE V. 193 the character of Jesus Christ is a character, such as no man could feign : and that the display of such a character can have ema nated from no other fountain than Him, in whom dwells infinite power, wisdom, and goodness. These things any man may know, who, on the one hand, knows his Bible, and, on the other, his fellow creatures, their powers and moral propensities. By improving and pur suing such reflections, he will be able to trace upon the Christian revelation, God's own image and superscription : and he will be able to do this in a way, totally distinct from all the pleas which can be offered in favour of any false and pretended revelations. Much of this will arise from the sublime morality of the Gospel, and from that merci ful aspect of God to the forgiveness of man, which is therein revealed, and of which no impostor could have formed a- conception. But there are other convictions, no less powerful, and perhaps even more grand, which result from the entire view of the whole scheme of revelation taken together. The general argument for the authenticity of the Scriptures, has been already stated : such authenticity will then, in the present, ar gument, be considered as a point taken for o 194 LECTURE V. granted. Look then to the holy Scriptures, as a work relating to one design, carried on by instruments whom it was impossible to confederate for that purpose : the writers of it living at different periods, through a space of fifteen hundred years : the several dispen sations of it stretching through a period of more than four thousand : the subject matter of the entire revelation, surpassing the ut most powers of human thought : while the agreement of the detached parts of it, far transcends all possibility of human combi nation : the type and symbol of the Law corresponding with the reality of the Gospel, the prophet harmonizing with the evangehst, the priest in unison with the Messiah, the victim with the Lamb of God : thus indicat ing a perfect adjustment and agreement of parts remotely detached ; while, through the progress and succession of those parts, there appears a train of providential arrangement marching onward from the rise to the con summation of the whole plan. Here the revelation itself must appear far beyond the power of man, and the agreement of remote agents beyond his contrivance. Let this contemplation be opened to a mind duly prepared for the reception of it : and then consider (the authenticity of those LECTURE V. 195 writings being already supposed) whether the Scriptures may be judged to comprise within themselves the evidence of their own Divine authority. It is common for the proof of a Deity, to refer to his visible works. Should any one now allege that these works, embracing as they do, the magnitude, the sublimity, and the harmonious movements of the heavenly bodies, together with all the transcendent wisdom and matchless contrivance of animal and vegetable nature : that these works I say, were fabricated by art, for the sake of deluding mankind into the belief of a deity : would not the reason of every man revolt from this supposition ? Consider, then, in connection with this view, the nature of our spiritual faculties : and sup pose them to enjoy that sound and healthy state, which shall fit them for contemplating, agreeably to reality and truth, the appro priate objects of spiritual apprehension. To a mind thus affected, will not the scheme of revelation, in all its grandeur, harmony, and unity of purpose, appear as much to sur pass the contrivance of man, as the order of the visible world does ? May it not thus im press a mind rightly affected, while to another mind it shall be wholly void of such effect ? o 2 196 LECTURE V. I do not now propose to go through the detail of the internal evidence : but I have felt it necessary to adduce so much of it, as may be needful to illustrate its excellent and peculiar power. What we have seen of it will abundantly warrant this inference. In order to substantiate to ordinary minds the proof of Christianity, it is of the greatest use to exercise ourselves in meditations on the internal evidence. And the study of various treatises in which that subject has been judi ciously handled, will obviously be valued by reason of their conduciveness to the same end. But I would here remark, that the internal evidence of the Gospel is, in itself, an inex haustible subject : that it affords materials adapted to every mind : and that it is of such a nature as to offer its suggestions sponta neously without the aid of a teacher. If we had occasion to judge of the purity of a metal, we might perhaps hesitate on viewing that metal alone by itself But if the genuine and the adulterate were placed to gether, and judged of by their comparative appearance and effect in operation: the dis tinct characters of the two would then be come manifest. The true and the counter feit would illustrate one another by the force of contrast. LECTURE V. 197 It is not at all unreasonable to think, that the same should hold good with regard to moral and theological doctrines. He who can estimate the conduct and opinions of men, from whatever quarter he may view them, is enabled to feel the contrast which there is between the wisdom, the virtue, and the powers, of man, on the one hand ; and those which, on the other hand, occur in the plan and structure, the precepts and senti ments, of the holy Scriptures. This view is confirmed by facts. If we attend to the accounts of many remarkable conversions to the Christian faith : it will ap pear, that a great proportion of them have derived their occasion from the mere read ing of the Scriptures : and it may be pro bably thought, that a reasonable faith does, in most instances, thus obtain the materials of its conviction. Why is this ? Plainly be cause the mind discovers herein, plain cha racters of distinction from every thing hu man: while these distinctive marks are, at the same time, strongly evidential of perfect veracity and goodness. Let us now view the matter in another light. Some have been brought up in the profession of Christianity, with such know ledge of it, as hath been afforded by esta- o 3 198 LECTURE V. blished and ordinary methods of popular in struction : but these methods have in their case unhappily been unproductive of convic tion and faith. At length, some new scene of observation has occurred: this has been adapted to open to them, on the principle of contrast, a true view of Christianity. Thus, in one instance, the study of the Greek philosophy has been the occasion of open ing the mind of an unbeliever to the ac knowledgment of the Gospel : because he has thus had occasion to feel the blindness and imbecility of the human soul, when im proved by the highest culture, but unaided by revelation. In another instance, you meet with the case of an eminent French scholar : respecting whose infidelity it may with great probability be supposed, that it was dispelled by witnessing the atrocities of the revolution in that country : for thus was another occa sion supplied, of learning the nature of Chris tianity, from the genuine acts of those who rejected its authority p. Men have thus be- P The person alluded to is and coadjutor of those, who Larcher, the celebrated transla- were labouring to accomplish tor of Herodotus. We have the overthrow of Christianity. two editions of his translation. But after these machinations The first, published in 1786, had produced the legislative ab- abounds with notes which dis- rogation of the Christian wor- cover an obvious patronage of ship, and thus displayed, with infidelity : it was prepared at a some degree of danger and mo- tirae, when Larcher was a friend lestation to himself, the genuine LECTURE V. 199 held, in a fresh view, the object, which, under the influence of familiar contemplation, had made no impression. It is on this ground I would say, that the internal evidence of Christianity is bound less : because there is no end to that variety of accidents, in combination with which it may be seen ; nor can any time exclude some new conjuncture of circumstances, which may serve, by force of contrast, to illustrate the wisdom that is from above, and to distinguish it from the wisdom of man. XXXIX. I am led by this to notice the ef fects of Christianity on the human character. This I consider an additional evidence of its truth : and it is plainly one, which lies open to the understanding of every man. If it be ferocity of men exempted from sence of a revolutionary coni- religious control ; he viewed mittee, and by the terror of a Christianity in a very different guillotine : this was quite a- light: and his second edition, greeable to the common course published in 1802, contains in of things. The Psalmist says, its preface very strong expres- [Psalm Ixxviii. 34.] " When he sions of contrite recantation. " slew them, then they sought 1 should, however, add, that the " him, and they returned and conclusion which 1 draw from " inquired early after God." these facts is my own ; I cannot And a heathen poet painted say that the words of Larcher from nature, if he did not from bear out the construction which real fact, when he thus de- 1 have put on the case. But scribed the conduct of men in still I will contend that my con- extreme peril and distress : struction is a reasonable one. 0eou? 8e t^ If the sense of religion was in To ¦irpiv vop-iCfm oviap,ov, tot' rjv- this case excited, or awakened %€to to an examination of the sub- Anaia-i. jEschyli Persse; ject, by standing in the pre- o 4> 200 LECTURE V. not strictly a part of the internal evidence of religion, it is near allied to it : for, in fact, it is nothing else than a visible exemplification of its doctrines. Example has been in numberless instances a powerful auxiliary to the Gospel. The early church derived from this influence a rapid enlargement of its borders. Men were melted and convinced by the virtuous purity, the innocence, the patience, the fortitude, the ardent love of God, the unextinguishable charity to the worst and cruellest of men ; of which, in the lives and sufferings of the pri mitive Christians, they beheld undeniable ef fects. If Christianity display its own evidence in its authentic writings, scenes like these unfold the same argument in living colours : they present it in a form which cannot escape re mark : and they shew it forth under all cir cumstances, which admit of discriminating the principles of conduct. To explain this matter, let us refer to par ticulars. Take then for example St. Luke's narrative of the death of St. Stephen : take a similar and most deeply affecting narrative given by Eusebius \ of the martyrdom of 1 Eusebius's account, (in his tine, under the persecution of history of the martyrs of Pales- Dioclesian,) is to this effect: LECTURE V. 201 Paulus : take from the annals of the prime val church a great multitude of similar facts. As to the martyrdom of the thrice blessed Paulus, how ' can I worthily describe it r ¦ When his sentence was on ¦ the point of being carried into ¦ effect, he implored the execu tioner to grant him a moment 'of time. This being allowed, ' he then, with a clear and loud ¦ voice, so that his companions ' might join with him, uttered ' a prayer to God. And first, ' in behalf of his fellow Chris- ' tians, he entreated, that God ' would be reconciled to them, ' and that they might speedily ' enjoy deliverance and peace. ' Then he prayed for the con- ' version of the Jews. Then ' he implored the same mercy ' for the Samaritans. Next he ' prayed for the heathens, that ' the darkness of their minds ' might be dispelled, and that ' they might be brought to em- ' brace the Christian faith. Nor ' did he neglect the special re- ' commendation to God of the ' mingled crowd by which he ' was surrounded. After all ' these, O great and unutter- ' able forgiveness ! in the hear- ' ing of the executioner and of ' all the spectators, he implored ' the God of all things, in be- ' half of the judge who had ' sentenced him to death, in be- ' half of the emperors, and of ' the very man by whose hand ' he was instantly to die, that ' God would on no account lay ' to their charge the fault they ' had committed against him. ' Having thus prayed with a " loud voice, so that almost " every one who beheld him " was melted with compassion, " and shed tears, regarding him " as a man unjustly condemned : " he prepared himself for exe- " cution, and presented his neck " to the sword." If such displays of character illustrate in any degree the truth of Christianity : — and it cannot, at least, be denied, that they were greatly instrumental in obtaining for Christianity its triumph over the resistance of the world : — what can we think of the following ? It occurs in a work of the late Mr. Joseph Milner, which he has thought proper to designate, A History of the Church of Christ. Describing, in a. passage of rchich the tenour is manifestly eu- logetical, the defence made by Jerome ofPrague, just before the atrocious condemnation of him by the council of Constance : Mr. Milner says, " He declared " that he hoped one day to see " his accusers, and to call them " to judgment before the tri%u- " nal of the sovereign judge of " the world .'" Fortitude, in defence of truth, is to be admired, and all hu man sufferings are to be deeply commiserated : but surely this language is, even in the com memoration of a martyr, no proper topic of panegyric. Such an incident, instead of inviting admiration, might with more propriety prompt the soul to ejaculate in the words of our li- 202 LECTURE V. If you would see the point illustrated by con trast: look to the account transmitted by Eu sebius, of the conduct of the Christians dur ing the pestilence which desolated the city of Alexandria ; and compare it with the account given by Thucydides, of the same calamity at Athens. You are to observe, that this kind of evidence arises out of every fresh occasion of remark, (whether afforded by books or by real life,) which shews the difference between the Christian and the worldly mind : we might think, therefore, that it never can be wanting, as long as both the Gospel, and the natural depravity of man, shall continue to exert and to display their opposite and con flicting powers. turgy : " O holy and merciful sibly justify a suspicion of that " Saviour, suffer us not ^ our unhappy state of mind, which " last hour, for any pains of is not responsible for its acts. " death, to fall from thee." God, we trust, will reward the Which of the two cases, that fidelity of his servants, and will of Paulus or of Jerome, is most not lay to their charge involun- adapted to convince the world, tary ignorance and infirmity. tlj^t Christianity is true? But, This sentiment we may pro- alas I Calvinism is too prone to perly indulge : but who would attempt the construction of its think of fixing on such a parti- own fabric, by demolishing the cular as that here noted, as the foundations of Christianity. subject oi praise ? Yet it is plain My complaint, be it observ- that Mr. Milner does this : for ed, is against the historian, the passage is manifestly pane- With regard to the martyr, no gyrical : and Mr. Milner does man who has examined the sub- not, in this account, occur to ject, can reasonably question, us, as a straight-forward narra- that his estimate of Christianity tor from authorities lying be- was very incorrect : and the fore him, but as one who se- circumstances of his conduct, lects and modifies circumstances when inquired into, may pos- to suit his own views. LECTURE V. 203 And now, to reason upon these and similar examples. If you find them to be the pecu liar fruits of Christianity, and distinct from all other moral influences : if you find them at once so salutary, and so remote from every thing of human culture and of earthly pro duction : is it too much to think, that of such fruits the seed must have dropped from hea ven? Here we may not improperly notice, in alliance with the tendency of such scenes, the real effects and impressions they have pro duced. What then was the reflection of the centurion on witnessing the example of our Redeemer in his last agonies? Did it not carry an acknowledgment of something to tally distinct from human virtue, and supe rior to it ? " Truly this was the Son of God." In the case of St. James, it is upon record*^, that the accuser, who procured his martyr dom, was converted to Christianity, by be holding his demeanour at the moment of his sentence; and that he sustained the proof of his sincerity by immediate submission to the same death. Eusebius, in relating the beha viour of a Christian at one of these agonizing trials, declares the effect of it thus : " It ma- " nifested," says he, " to all men, that a Di- r Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 1. ii. c. 9. 204 LECTURE V. " vine power, mitigating their pains and con- " firming their fortitude, is undoubtedly at " hand to support those, who, for the sake of " piety, are ready to endure every possible " extremity \" Lastly, I would allege the authority of Constantine the Great ; of Con stantine, who was himself a convert, and a competent judge : and who thus describes, in connexion with his own case, the impressions produced on his mind by the spectacle of Christian virtues. He speaks to this effect: " No human discipline or institution was ever " available to the production of virtue in " man : all the excellent qualities of men " have been the gifts of God and the effects "of Christianity'." If such incidents, and such views of them, were only to prompt inquiry, and to put the mind upon seeking a proportionate cause for the subjects of its observation : this would be much : for such a beginning of inquiry would not be far from the right conclusion. They present, however, not only a motive to in- " Epyoii dicatriv LTiehi^eii, otj ii) ijflto-i Kai Tpomi; fi;8oKi/*ei 'napa TOi? flcia Suva/Aif T015 OTJ tot' ow j(;aXf- tiovv exovaiti. — airij esTtti ^ irept) mv imp eva-e^eia; imp.emv(7iy, eve- vikvj, to 8' aX»j9e? Kfatoq, to p£- Xa AOriS- Jews. E^ouo-i Tij; apttiiaeaK; t« ctti- MON. 2 Orat. cont. Arian. c.42. LECTURE VII. 283 ing towards ascertaining the true doctrines ofthe Gospel. This advantage will be view ed independently of that which arises from the simple interpretation of words. For the words of one language may be rendered by equivalent terms of another, and still there will remain, grounds of dispute respecting the doctrines they express. The branch of learning to which, for this purpose, I shall chiefly refer, is that which embraces the history of the Christian church, and the study of ecclesiastical writers ; espe cially of those who lived nearest to the first beginning of the church. I say, then, that this study is eminently useful towards en abling the mind to discriminate between the real doctrines, and the corruptions, of Chris tianity. Advert, then, to the many varieties of doc trine which have marked the different eras of Christian history. Many of these you will find to have been unknown for many centu ries after the first erection of the church: that is to say, you will find the strongest moral evidence that they were so. In the midst of copious remains of the Christian li terature of preceding ages, you will find not a single vestige of them. What shall we say then ? Shall we think that such doctrines are 284 LECTURE VIL really contained in the Scriptures, and yet were never during all this lapse of time, de duced from them? Shall we suppose, that the Scriptures were given under the disad vantage, of so great an inaptitude for the developement of their own meaning ? Or, if they do labour under such an inaptitude, shall we suppose that the lapse of many cen turies would confer fresh means of elucida tion ? that time would sharpen the sagacity of Christians ? that it would place the later generations on a better footing than their predecessors? than those who lived nearer the date at which the Scripture was written? than those who lived immediately after the Apostles? than those who conversed with the Apostles themselves ? View it as you like, most men will agree in this : If a doctrine was never known in the catholic church for a thousand years after the Gospel was pub lished, such doctrine cannot be contained in the Gospel. This very principle will at once clear away from Christianity a vast number of supposititious doctrines : doctrines which have been topics of accusation with the in fidel, and occasions of falling to the believer ; which have occasioned many to be shocked at the religion which was thought to contain them ; but for which, in truth, the Gospel is LECTURE VIL 285 no more answerable, than it is for the poly gamy of Mahomet or the transmigration of Pythagoras. But if we were even to wave the question relating to the t7mth of such doctrines, still it must appear, that they cannot be very im portant. For what can we think of all the Christians, whose day was anterior to the in troduction of them ? Shall we think, that the primitive martyrs ; men who, according to the word of Christ, have obtained ihe crown of their calling by suffering for the testimony of Jesus : shall we think that these men pe rished for an ignorance of doctrines never known till centuries after they were dead"? " Tertullian strongly insists [chap. 2.] he expresses himself upon this argument against he- in a similar style: "This rule," resy. In his treatise De Prse- says he, " has been handed scriptione Hereticorum [chap. " down to us from the very 29 and 30.] he argues to this " beginning of the Gospel ; it effect : " Did error reign till " is anterior in date to the ear- " heresy arose ? Did truth re- " lier heretics, and much more " main enthralled till Marcion " so to Praxeas, a man of yes- " and Valentinus sprung up for " terday : this will appear from " its deliverance ? And was it, " the comparatively late origin "in the meantime, a wrong " of the other heresies, and par- " Gospel, which was preached " ticularly from the upstart ap- " and believed ; of which the " pearance of the Patripassian " sacred offices were adminis- " doctrine. By which principle " tered ; which was supported " we are in like manner justi- " byextraordinary gifts of God; " fied in condemning all here- " and attested by martyrs ? " sies whatever : that doctrine " Where were the doctrines of " must be true which was the " Marcion and Valentinus be- " most ancient, and that must " fore the reign of Antoninus? " " be adulterate which is of late In his book against Praxeas " introduction." 286 LECTURE VIL Yet, to all who have studied the history of theology, these facts will be certain : first, that many tenets, which have been insisted upon as scriptural truths, were wholly un known to the church till many ages after the scripture was given ; secondly, that these tenets have, by the maintainors of them, been invested with such an importance, as if the salvation or perdition of men depended upon them. I wish it were not too true, that they have on many occasions been connected with such strong expressions of rancour and ha tred towards those who reject them, as even wilful heresy itself will not justify in the sentiments of man towards man : what shame, then, and remorse, ought it not to excite, when it is considered, that such venomous effusions have been directed, against what? Not against wilful error ; not against error of any kind ; but against a resistance to the corruptions and innovations of men. For such, if you admit the principle by which I propose to try them, must be the true cha racter of these tenets. LXV. It deserves also to be noticed, that the occasions and causes which have ori ginated certain theological dogmas, will fre quently, when historically and chronologi cally viewed, display their erroneous quahty. LJiiUTURE VIL 287 But I will proceed to illustrate this matter by examples. In what then originated the denial of the cup to the laity ? or the choice of a wafer for the symbol of Christ's body? These pecu liarities of the Roman church took their rise as consequences flowing from the doctrine of transubstantiation. For when it was once be lieved, that the matter of the eucharist had become substantially the flesh and blood of Christ: it was thought irreverent to suffer the profanation, of allowing the crumbs accident ally to fall on the ground, or the fluid to be defiled by any accidental foulness, proceeding from the bodily infirmity of the communi cants. If, then, the denial of the cup be founded on the doctrine of transubstantiation, on what basis does that foundation itself stand ? Sure ly, that can hardly be thought a genuine doctrine of the Scriptures, which was never esteemed such for a thousand years after the Scriptures had been given. What then is the first authority for an article of faith, thus late emerging into the acknowledgment of the church ? No other than that of an auda cious and arrogant pontiff, dictating, in the thirteenth century, his own decisions, and proclaiming those decisions to the world un- 288 LECTURE VIL der the name and sanction of a general coun cil °! The supremacy and infallibility of the bi shop of Rome involve principles, which, if founded in truth, are strong enough to sup port any doctrine, however detestable, to which they may be applied. Now when did these doctrines originate ? Were they known to the first three centuries? Were they known to the Nicene Fathers ? Were they known to those primitive saints, those apostolical men, those martyrs and confessors of the rising church, to whom the church of Rome even now ascribes the fulness of joy in the beatific vision of God ? The farthest from it possible ! The fifth century may perhaps be thought, by portentous symptoms, to indicate the sub sequent parturition of these monsters. But the small beginnings of papal supremacy are little earlier than the seventh century : the first slight pretensions to this elevation were advanced by a bishop, not of Rome, but of " The ninth century may be till tiie fourth Lateran council, thought to discover some ap- held in i 2 1 5 by pope Innocent proach to transubstantiation : the Third : who himself drew but here it presents itself to us up certain ecclesiastical canons, as a strange and novel doctrine, including that relating to tran- In the tenth century we find substantiation, and presented this doctrine stiffly maintained those canons to the Lateran by Ratherius bishop of Verona, fathers : who never debated the But it never was acknowledged subjects thus propounded, but is an article of faith, nor was the whose silence was construed as word transubstantiation known, an approbation of the canons. LECTURE VII. 289 Constantinople : and these pretensions were, on that occasion, denounced by a bishop of Rome, as being antichristiati, blasphemous, in fernal, and diabolical^. Again, ecclesiastical history serves to sub stantiate the characters of falsehood, by a re gard, not only to the introduction, but to the progress, of heterodox opinions. This point may be illustrated by a reference to the doc trine of Arius. The first principle of this doctrine pre sented itself in the supposition, " that there " was a time when the blessed Son of God " did not exist." Now it has truly been remarked, " that the " consequences of an opinion may be so bad, " that this may be a good reason to reject it " without any further consideration''." Let us look then to the consequences, which spring from this fundamental principle of the Arian creed. These are truly described by Athana sius to be such ; so full of manifest and self- convicted blasphemy ; that a Christian is na turally prompted by horror to close his ears when they are pronounced '. For thus it is P See the Life of Gregory the "J Clagett. See the thirteenth Great in Bower's History of the chapter of Stebbing's Treatise Popes ; and also the epistles of on the Operations of the Holy Gregory, relating to this mat- Spirit. ter, which are there referred " Athan. Orat. I. cont. Arian. *"¦ c. 35. U 290 LECTURE VII. argued, that as the Son of God is a creature, so is he, like other rational creatures, cor ruptible, peccable, and liable to extinction. When we hear such propositions, can we believe that principle to be true, of which the consequences, to every unsophisticated believer of Scripture, will appear so false and so horridly blasphemous ? If the leading principle of Arianism be admitted, it is not easy to see how its consequences are to be resisted. And we are to remember, that we are not now drawing consequences from the positions of our adversaries, which those ad versaries would gladly deny : but viewing the subject historically, we find, that the conse quences thus springing from their cardinal tenet, are consequences of their own deduc ing, which they avowed, and in which they gloried. The great Athanasius frequently reproaches the Arians with the novelty of their doctrine, as an indication of its falsehoods And has this doctrine no origin more ancient than the time of Arius ? Yes truly : it is found very near the beginning of Christianity. But where ? Among the vile brood of Simon Ma gus, the loathsome Gnostics, in connection ¦¦ See particulariy the thirty- his second Oration against the fourth and fortieth chapters of Arians. ijjiiUiuKi!; VIL 291 with every kind of disgusting folly, wicked ness, blasphemy, impurity, and hypocrisy'. And now, will it not be admitted, that this historical regard to any particular doctrine, and to the forms and circumstances under which it has appeared in the world, must in some degree contribute to illustrate the value of its pretensions ? Guided by the same chronological regard, what can we think of various other dogmas, which have at times been magnified by the abettors of them, almost as if they comprised the very essence of Christianity? In what light, for instance, can we regard the abso lute decrees of Calvin, which were never known in the church before the time of Au gustine'? What can we think of the modern ' Athanasius (in his second book ii. chap. 4. last paragraph.] Oration against the Arians, Would it not be more natural chapter 21.) speaks of the A- to infer from this fact, that the nans holding a similarity of te- doctrine of absolute predestina- nets with Valentinus, Marcion, tion does not express the true and Basilides. Abundant evi- sense of Scripture ? For these dence of this point will be Fathers, some of them con tem- found in the first chapter of poraries of the Apostles, must the third section of Bull's Def. have been more likely to un- Fid. Nic. derstand those Apostles, than ' It is very amusing to see Calvin or even Augustine. This Mons. Daill^ enumerate, among doctrine was one of the topics those undeniable errors which of accusation brought by Celsus ought to destroy the credit of against Christianity ; and Ori- the ancient Fathers, the fact of gen, in his Reply to Celsus, their having known nothing of declines to notice the charge, absolute predestination. [See otherwise than by speaking of his Right Use of the Fathers, the doctrine as one palpably u 2 292 LECTURE VIL notion of regeneration, lately the subject of hot and uncharitable controversy, but never recognised among the tenets of any Christian community, earlier than the sixteenth cen tury? Were the Scriptures, during all the anterior centuries, so deplorably defective in the explication of their meaning ; were the whole of God's elect people so blind to the true discernment of their faith : till the great men arose, who first propagated these noveL ties? On the same principle, in what light can you regard the attempt to place upon one common footing, the doctrine of the blessed Trinity and that of transubstantia tion ? when you find, with regard to the former, the sense of Scripture attested by primitive doctors and apostolical men ; by an unbroken succession, and an overwhelming multitude, of catholic writers and churches : while the latter presents itself to you as the fruit of papal excogitation in the thirteenth century. What can you think of those dis tinctive peculiarities of the Calvinistic theo logy, which were never known to primitive Christianity, except among the tenets of he resy ? and of which the modern enunciation heretical, maintained by the tians. [Orig. cont. Cels. lib. v. Valentinians, but disowned and p. 271. Cantab. 1677.] condemned by catholic Chris- LI^UTUUi] VII. 293 bears so close a resemblance to the recorded doctrines of Gnosticism, that they seem to have been almost copied from the accounts of those doctrines, transmitted to us by the ancient Fathers?" Such are the benefits derivable from the study of Christian history and antiquity, and especially of the ancient Fathers ofthe church. Of these latter, the value and the proper ap- phcation have been much disputed: but if you would fix the very lowest estimate of them, you can hardly dispute that measure of utihty, which has been assigned to them by a writer, little disposed to amplify their merit ; and which, if admitted, will fully en title them to be regarded as proper objects of diligent and industrious attention. " The " authority of the Fathers," says Daille, " is " of very great use to the church, and serveth " as an outwork to the Scriptures, for the re- " pelling the presumption of those, who would " forge a new faith ^" To the same effect. " The general subject of this tion of his works. paragraph is well illustrated in ^ See the last chapter of his a tract by the great Mr. Leslie, work, page 190. ed. 1675. He entided, "A Dissertation con- had just previously expressed " earning the Use and Author- himself, most admirably, in the " ity of Ecclesiastical History, words which follow, and which " In a Letter to Mr. Samuel I am sorry to have been pre- " Parker, on his Abridgment of eluded, by my prescribed limits, " Eusebius." It is contained in from inserting into the body of the first volume of the folio edi- ray Lecture. " There sometimes u 3 294 LECTURE VII. the just and rational observation of archbi shop Potter, may properly be applied to il lustrate the great benefit which, even on the most restricted admission of its usefulness, this department of study is calculated to afford. " A great difference," says that pre late, " must be made between the reasonings " of the ancient Fathers and their testimony. " In the former, we have full liberty, upon a " candid and unpartial examination, to follow " their conclusions or to reject them, as we " find them well or ill grounded. But in " the latter, since we look on them as men of " probity, and such as would not willingly " deceive us, we cannot deny them our as- " sent, when they relate things done in their arise such troublesome spirits, as will need broach doctrines, devised of their own head, which are not at all grounded ' on any principle of the Chris- ¦ tian religion. I say, therefore, ' that the authority of the an- ' cients may very properly and ' seasonably be made use of, ' against the impudence of these ' men : by shewing, that the ' Fathers were utterly ignorant ' of any such fancies, as these ' men propose to the world. ' And if this can be proved, ' we ought then certainly to ' conclude, that no such doc- ' trine was ever preached to ' mankind, either by our Sa- ' v'lour Christ, or by his Apo stles. For vv'hat probability is there, that those holy doctors of former ages, from whose hands Christianity hath been derived down to us, should be ignorant of any of those things, which had been re vealed and recommended by our Saviour as important and necessary to salvation ? — That they should all of them have been ignorant of any article, that is necessarily requisite to salvation, is altogether impos sible. For, after this account, they must all have been de prived of salvation: which, I suppose, every honest soul would tremble at the thought of." LJl^CTURE VIL 295 "own times, or in the times of those with « whom they conversed. They who refuse " to allow them this authority, may, with the " same reason, reject all history whatever''." It is obviously impossible that I should, at this time, enlarge upon the general use of the study of the Fathers. But I may briefly remark, that it aids the evidence of the Gos pel, in the same degree as it furthers the right comprehension of words and doctrines. For the evidence of Christianity properly ap plies to its true doctrines, not to any scheme of doctrine which may at any time have been passed off to the world under the name of it : the doctrine being the very essence, of the subject to which the external evidence ap plies, and of the materials from which the internal evidence is derived : nor can any form of proofs be properly applied to Chris tianity, which does not regard a pure esti mate of its theology and precepts. The in ternal evidence of the Gospel is also aided, by a kind of strong representations, abound ing in the Fathers, but not found in the writings of later divines: for the lustre of truth is more discernible by contrast: and the impressions made upon their minds by 1 Discourse on Church Go- of his works, [Oxford, 1753,] vemment, in the second volume pp. 158. iS9- u 4 296 LECTURE VIL the comparison between Christianity and pa ganism, were naturally more vivid, at a time when paganism was flourishing, than they can be to us, after its extinction. Yet these representations may well be serviceable to the cause of the Gospel : for the colours thus obtained towards painting the state of man, when separated from revelation, will readily, by their proper force, discover themselves to be those of reality and nature. And though the early Fathers may be little valued as cri tical expositors of the sacred text : yet their indirect contributions to its elucidation are of no mean value : since they traditionally discover to us the sense in which it was un derstood at a time, which, being little remote from that of the writers, and even in some cases coetaneous with it, affords little proba bility of the true meaning having been for gotten. Every code must be best understood by the men nearest to the date of its promulga tion, and best illustrated by the practice im mediately subsequent. A law enacted at this day, must be more intelligible now than it can be eighteen centuries hence. Should the interpretation of that law be questioned at that remote period : what better materials of elucidation could be provided, than a know- LI^CTURE VIL 297 ledge of the practices and opinions imme diately consequent upon the passing of it ? Should any man say, that such a law might be better understood on an abstract construc tion of its words, than it would under the advantage of historical light, thus thrown upon it : would that man be deemed a wise expositor of law ? Little better than this is that theology, which, dismissing all regard to the primitive Christians, to their manners, their practices, and their construction of the Divine oracles; professes to regard our ver nacular translation of the Bible as a book, to which no stores of extraneous elucidation can profitably be applied. But if you admit the principle of discard ing learning from the support of religion, to what will it lead? Can a greater absurdity be imagined? For, at this rate, the teacher of religion can neither enjoy the benefit of a translation of the Scriptures, nor any know ledge of the original tongues : such assistance and knowledge being plainly a part of the advantages of learning. Then again : if learn ing be at all admitted, what kind of it is most available? This ought to be particularly weighed by those, who, while they disparage the ancient Fathers, entertain no such con- 298 LECTURE VIL tempt for recent theological systems and ex positions. If Greek and Hebrew may be studied for the construction of the text: why may not history be applied to a discovery of its meaning, and to the explanation of the subjects to which it relates ? Were not Poly carp and Ireneeus more likely to understand St. John, and Clemens Romanus to under stand St. Paul ; than any Lutheran or Cal vinistic divines ? whose writings, neverthe less, are highly appreciated by many, who express great contempt for the study of the Fathers. LXVI. But to what use is all this subservi ent ? Is it intended that a pastor, in his dis courses to unlettered people, should allege as proper topics of popular evidence, the au thority of Fathers and of councils? Far from it ! His arguments must proceed upon data known in common to his hearers and him self. But it does not therefore follow, that the reproach of total uselessness is to be af fixed to every branch of knowledge, which is unfitted to the purpose of vain and unedi- fying display. He is to appeal to reason, and his approaches to it will be the more success ful, in proportion to the enlargement of his own knowledge and the improvement of his LECTURE VII. 299 own mind. The more he is master of his subject, the better must he be qualified for teaching it. His facilities towards a true understanding of Scripture, must be facilities towards a true representation of it : and the more true the representation, the more the work of reason must be assisted in tracing upon it the characters of Divinity. An or dinary man may judge of such representa tions, though he might be quite incompetent to set them forth : as he might know the genuine quality of any material substance, though he had not dived into the abyss, or traversed the desert, in order to obtain it. This also will greatly aid the purpose of consistency in our expositions of Scripture. I need not again dwell upon the force of ar gument arising, from the wonderful harmony, far beyond all power of human production, which characterizes the written dispensations of God. But it will be worth while to con sider, in what way learning may be made con ducive to this important benefit. Suppose, then, for example, it be the object of a divine to shew, that Calvinistic predes tination is not the doctrine of Scripture. I have already dwelt on those historical facts, which plainly evince, that Scripture was never, for ages after it was in the possession of the 300 LECTURE VIL Christian world, understood to express that doctrine. To insist on such facts for the con viction of common minds, might be objected to, as inconsistent with the great principle which I have throughout maintained: but it will nevertheless be a considerable advan tage, if the teacher of religion shall, by such historical elucidation, be able to convince him self. For he will thus be spared the mis chievous industry, of perverting the whole volume of Scripture, so as to make it harmo nize, not with St. Paul, but with that which he ignorantly thinks St. Paul to mean. This surely must yield much support to the in ternal evidence. For, when the whole form is distorted and discoloured, who can descry the lineaments, and proportions, and com plexion, which indicate a Divine hand ? A man, thus instructed, will be the more in clined to lay to the account of his own igno rance, many obscurities and seeming contra dictions of Scripture : he will gather the tenor of the Divine will, relating to any par ticular point, from those declarations of it which are least obscure and most numerous : and will avoid that pestilent interpretation, which proceeds, from an ignorant dogmatism respecting .the sense of obscurities, to force the accommodation of plain and simple de- ijiiiUiUJlJ^ VII. 301 clarations to an unnatural harmony with its own conceits ^ On the whole, then, the general subservi ency of learning to the evidence of religion stands thus. It is not that men are to be called upon, to believe facts on the simple credit of those who declare them : but it is, that the advocates of religion, in proportion to the extent of their own knowledge and observation, will be better enabled to place their arguments and representations in the light of nature and of truth. They will de mand no submission except to reason : but they will thus better understand the methods by which reason may be successfully appealed to : they will be enabled to treat their subject with those advantages, which, in order to a sound determination, reason would desire. Every branch of learning and science which aids the comprehension of scriptural language and doctrine, carries with it a corresponding measure of support to the evidence of truth. I might substantiate this point, by going ^ Similar to this was Cicero's ritur habebit resolutionem, nee reproof of some ancient philo- ambiguitas per aliam ambigui- sophers : Vos autem cum per- tatem solvetur, apud eos qui sen- spicuis dubia debeatis illustrare, sum habent, aut senigmata per dubiis perspicua conamini tol- aliud majus aenigma : sed ea lere. [De Fin. iv. 24.] Ire- quae sunt talia, ex manifestis, et nieus supplies the true principle consonantibus, et claris, acci- relating to this matter : Oninis piunt absolutiones. [Adv. Hcer. quaestio non per ahud quod quae- ii. 10. ed. Grabe.] 302 LECTURE VIL through the various subjects, of ancient ver sions ; of various readings ; of the Hebrew and other oriental languages ; of Greek and Roman learning; of pagan mythology; and of a vast multitude of other studies. For what department of human knowledge does not thus supply contributions to theology? But it must suffice to lay open to view those spacious and fruitful fields, which there is not now time to explore. There is however one branch of science, respecting which I am tempted to offer a brief remark. Clement of Alexandria" has asserted the usefulness of logic as a protection against the attacks and deceits of heresy : and surely, a very slender acquaintance with theological controversy, and with the proper application of the dialectical art, will suffice to verify this estimate. Reflect on the false and pestilent doctrines which have been paralogistically de duced from the ambiguity of words: such ' 'H SiaXcKTjKij [a-vvepyei] trpoi p.eyij rai hXepaf Kara Tin a'Kii^eu^ TO f*») raoTTiTTTtiv Tali Kataipexoxi- em^ovXai, 1ifTo?. [Ibid. c. 2.] LECTURE VIL .S03 words for example diS faith, works, good works, free grace, regeneration, church, law, gospel, priest. But there is none of these more re markable than the word catholic, when you re gard it as a distinctive appellation, given to the schismatical adherents of an Italian bishop. The very misapplication of the term itself is pregnant with concessions, than which the Romanist himself could not demand any, more favourable to his cause. For it implies a con fession of heresy, or at least of schism, on the part of those who thus designate their adver saries: it implies also a confession of false hood in the doctrine which themselves pro fess, and a confession of being themselves excluded from the pale of the evangehcal covenant''. Such remarks are indeed com- '' This is not intended to " the matter continues in dis countenance the introduction " pute, ought to give and take into controversy of angry and " such names as ca.st no reproach reproachful terms. If the term " on themselves or their oppo- papist be offensive, it may well " neiits, but such as each of be abandoned : but it cannot in " them own." [See the History candour be expected by any re- of Infant Baptism, part ii. c. 5.] ligious party, that they should This sensible remark relates to be designated by their adversa- the question of infant baptism. ries in a way that implies, on Those who deny its validity are the part of those adversaries, a not to be called anabaptists, be- confession of wilful error as to cause they disown the practice points in dispute. The term of twice baptizing : they are not Romanist, or member of the Ro- to be called baptists, because nan church, being inoffensive, that name casts a reproach upon might properly be employed to those who differ from them, and supersede the wrong use of the implies that the latter do not term here objected to. " Every baptize at all. The proper term " party," says Dr. Wall, " while is antipcedobaptists. Surely those 304 LECTURE VIL monly represented as involving nothing more, than a contention about words. But the same censure might with equal truth be applied, if you were to complain of trans posing all the names of the different articles contained in a medical dispensary : this truly would be nothing else than a contention about words. And such a transposition, however mischievous, would be far less so, than the misapplication of theological terms has been. What, for instance, can be more dangerous, than teaching a man to speak of himself, as if he were not a catholic ? If he understands the term and the doctrine which he professes to believe : he must know that, if he is not a catholic, he cannot be safe as to the point, in which it most of all concerns him to be so. Again, I might advert to the many danger ous fallacies which have been constructed on the principle, of deducing universal principles from scriptural passages of particular and cir cumstantial regard : a principle which, if it be allowed, will give the fullest establishment and countenance to every possible variety of false doctrine, heresy, and schism. The art which confers facility and skill in the detec- who call themselves evangeli- evangelical, is the very question cats, ought to be contented with at issue between them and their the term Calvinist or Wesleyan : opponents. whether they are, or are not. LECTURE VIL 305 tion of such sophisms, must be useful to every man, who would repel error and propagate truth : and especially ought it to be valued by him, whose voluntary obligation obliges him " to banish and drive away all erroneous " and strange doctrines, contrary to God's " word^" I will only, in conclusion, briefly notice a possible objection to what has now been said. Are these extensive acquirements, it may be asked, needful to every pastor ? By no means : but any degree of progress in them will mani festly be useful towards enabling a man the better to discern, in the faith which he teaches, those characters of truth which he is bound to display ; towards enabling him, by methods of address suitable to reasonable beings, to clear obscurities, to solve difficulties, and to silence misrepresentations : and the measure of benefit will be proportioned to the profi ciency. But perhaps it will appear, that in this case, as in regard to many of the best objects of human enterprise, the difficulty of the task is much exaggerated ; and perhaps also, the true amount of it might be greatly reduced, by judicious efforts to simplify the study of theology, and by abridging the time commonly devoted to preparatory learning. <^ Office for the Ordering of Priests. X 306 LECTURE VIL At all events, I am most anxious to resist the conclusion, which, from the simplicity of the Christian scheme, and from its native power of conviction, would deduce an apology for ignorance and a vindication of sloth. I would also strongly condemn the notion, that be cause the bulk of mankind cannot acquire extensive learning, therefore their pastors are exonerated from it : and I would equally re probate that pretension to superior venera tion for the Oracles of God, which would establish itself on the neglect and disparage ment of knowledge, useful and subservient to the right understanding of them. LECTURE VIII. ON THE THINGS REQUIRED IN ORDER TO QUALIFY MEN FOR THE BENEFIT OF GOD'S PROMISE RE SPECTING THE MANIFESTATION OF HIS TRUTH. ETXOT 201 nPO HANTON $nT02 ANOIX0HNAI UTAAS- OT TAP 2TN0nTA OTAE 2TNNOHTA HASIN ESTtN, EI MH TOI 0EO2 Am 2TNIENAI KAI 'O XPI2T02 ATTOT. Apud Just. Mart. in Dial, cum Tryph. Jud. c. 7. John vii. 17. If any man will do his will, he shall know ofthe doctrine, whether it he of God. LXVII. J_ HE promises of God, relating to the manifestation of Divine truth, are quite impartial : and the light of the Gospel, like that of the heavens, is as much designed for the peasant as for the philosopher. Of proofs evincing the truth of Christiani ty, the most popular are the most conclusive : while others, of a more recondite nature, are proportionately embarrassed. Thus, the poor man's grounds of faith are the most impreg nable : and it is chiefly upon these that the learned, in common with the ignorant, must establish their hopes. x2 308 LECTURE VIII. But these promises are not unconditional : and therefore, in order to the benefit which they offer, it is greatly important to review the terms which they impose. These are various. But they are summed up in one comprehensive stipulation: namely, that we should in all things submit our own will to the will of God. A man thus purposed shall be enlightened from above : he shall thus be enabled to discern the evidence of things not seen, and to grasp the substance of things hoped for. But we are to remember, that this purpose must be without reserve : the surrender must be total. There must be an entire suppression of every imperious lust, of every unholy appetite, of every desire that rebels against God. There must be no com promise with evil habits, however inveterate : no declining of duties, however arduous ; nor of any privations or sufferings which duty may enjoin. Less than this will not satisfy the condition, on which God has promised to manifest himself to the soul. The terms may be thought hard ; and it is foreign to my pre sent purpose to vindicate their merciful cha racter. But, in order to obviate the offence of the cross, I will just remark, that the ri gour of them is such, only to our inconside rate regard : that they do, in truth, involve LECTURE VIII. 309 the great secret of happiness : that they for bid no pleasure that is innocent : that they forbid nothing, but occasions of grief and pu nishment : that they require us to embrace the least possible measure of evil that human life will admit, and the largest possible mea sure of good which God's paternal love can bestow : that they call upon us to exchange folly for wisdom, and danger for safety : that they bestow an unconquered freedom, and place the world, with all its powers of dis quietude, under our feet : and that every plan of happiness which excludes them, is nothing better than a desperate contradiction of reason and of God. This condition applies to every man on the supposition, of the Gospel being now for the first time propounded to him. But the same condition applies also to his continuance in the faith. He may be to-day a believer, and to-morrow an infidel: for the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him : and a blind understanding is the penalty of a sinful heart. Natural genius and sagacity, however useful in other matters, will not avail here: the light of our understanding is the gift of God: and the dispensation of this gift, though not arbitrary, is however conditional : though it x3 310 LECTURE VIIL has no respect for persons, it has for their qualities. LXVIII. Subordinate to this one general condition, which reaches to all the acts, the thoughts, and sentiments of man : there are various particulars which require to be dis tinctly noted. Be it considered then, that Christ has con stituted a Church ; and that all his evangeli cal mercies are stipulated only to the mem bers of it. He has likewise instituted a min isterial order : and it is, by his appointment, to the members of that order, and to them only, that belongs the power, of admitting into his church, and of transacting, on behalf of God, the covenant between God and man. He has also appointed sacramental ordinances, to be the outward means of solemnizing his covenant, and of admitting men to his evan gelical mercies. Respecting the ministerial order thus ap pointed, we are to notice the words, in which their commission is declared and their func tions are defined. " As my Father," says our blessed Lord, " hath sent me, even so send I you." Again : " Whose soever sins ye remit, they " John XX. 2 1. LECTURE VIIL 311 " are remitted unto them : whose soever sins " ye retain, they are retained''." Again : " He that receiveth whomsoever I " send receiveth me ; and he that receiveth " me receiveth him that sent me''." Again : " All power is given unto me in " heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and " disciple all nations, baptizing them in the " name of the Father, and of the Son, and of " the Holy Ghost : teaching them to observe " all things whatsoever I have commanded " you : and, lo, I am with you alway, even " unto the end of the world '^." It appears then, that Christ transmitted to this ministerial order, the power, which had been given to himself by God the Father : that the covenanted mercies of the Gospel are afforded only in connexion with their ministry: that this ministerial order must be lawfully appointed : and that none can be lawfully admitted into it, but those, whose authority, by legitimate succession, is derived from them to whom Christ first gave it. For they whom Christ sent, must have had the power of sending others : otherwise, we can not imagine how it can be said, that he trans mitted to them the power which himself ex ercised. We are also to consider, that their •> John xx. 23. " .John xiii. 20. <• Matt, xxviii. 18 — 20. X 4 312 LECTURE VIIL appointed work was not to terminate with their own lives : nor was it to be carried on by persons unauthorized. It must also appear, that the legitimate powers of this ministerial order carry with them an obligation upon the consciences of all men. A resistance therefore to this pow er, when lawfully exercised, annuls all title to the mercies of the covenant : of which mer cies, the grace of faith is one. In fact, the resistance of that power can be justified only by the unlawful exercise of it : and a case of such exercise, if it occur, must, in the present world, be decided on by every man's con science ; and must await the final judgment of him, who will weigh all things in a just and impartial balance. With respect to the two sacraments ; these are not to be regarded as matters of optional compliance. Of both, the necessity is plainly declared : of the one, to be received once for admission to the covenant ; of the other, to be repeated often for the renewal of it. How often this repetition should be ; is no matter for extended consideration at this time. It is a question, indeed, rather for those who are to administer, than for those who are to receive. For the lawful call and injunction of a lawful pastor is at all times binding : it LECTURE VIII. 313 cannot be disobeyed without resisting an au thority constituted by God. He who, by dis obeying, even in one instance, the call to the holy table, resists such authority, has plainly broken the conditions of God's promise : for he refuseth to hear him whom Christ hath sent in his own name. Nor will the cus tomary excuses avail. For the act itself, being a transgression, involves an equitable for feiture of covenanted privileges : and the un fitness which is alleged, discovers a confessed infringement of the very terms, on which God has promised to manifest his truth. The man who pleads that unfitness, declares himself to be one, excluded by his own act, from the proper intention and application of the divine promise. LXIX. Let us now review the proper qua lifications for the benefit of that promise. It is required then, that there be an entire readiness, in all things to fulfil the law of God : that there be a total surrender of the human to the Divine will : that every unholy lust be subdued by habitual discipline : that no painful or arduous duty be declined : that no evil propensities, nor wanton imaginations, be indulged : that the heart be pure, as well as the life innocent: that the affections, as well as the outward demeanour, be swayed by 314 LECTURE VIIL an entire prevalence of obedience and charity. It is required, that this be the habitual tenor of life: and that every occasional lapse of frailty be followed, on the return of reason, by a speedy recovery of the fall, and a re membrance of the first works. It is required, that there be an intense regard for heavenly and spiritual things, and a corresponding dis esteem of all that is worldly and carnal. It is required that there be a fervent love, and an unwearied study, of the Divine word. It is required, that there be a constant observ ance of all sacramental ordinances and means of grace. Lastly, it is required, that the love of divine truth should outweigh every secular aim, and that the desire of an eternal inherit ance should far surpass all the cares of this mortal life. Suppose then the case of a man, whose life and temper are of this complexion : was it ever known that such a man should say, that he had not been able to attain, or to keep alive, a reasonable conviction of the truth of Christianity? No : that man was never known. You are at the same time to observe, that if his moral standard fall below this description, the gospel does not profess to yield him the grounds of conviction : nor, on a view of hu man nature itself, is it reasonable to expect. LECTURE VIIL 315 that his understanding will acquiesce in truths, to which his heart is repugnant. You cannot, in this case, impeach the promise of God : for that promise is only to the obedient. Nor can you throw a doubt over his mercy : for the convictions of faith would be plainly un profitable to the man, who will not be re formed. LXX. I have contended, that the evidence of the gospel does not demand any advan tages, which the state of human life will not allow. This, however, does not require us to abandon any of those provisions, which are essential to Christianity itself. There is one of these which calls for further remark. I refer to the subject of an authorized ministry. It is of the utmost necessity that this mat ter, as a point of Christian instruction, should be fully explained, and prominently enforced. The pretensions of an authorized ministry must be fixed and ascertained. For it is to the acts of such a ministry, and not to those of any who may think proper to assume their functions; that the sanctifying and illumi nating graces of preaching and of sacraments are annexed. Now it is to be observed, that the authority of the ministerial order is a matter of easy proof, and of clear explication. 316 LECTURE VIII. Here I would have it understood, that in speaking of the ministerial order, I do it with a chief and primary regard to the order of bishops, as to those, in whom only the plenary power of the ministerial order dwells : while men of inferior rank in the ministry are to be regarded, only as persons deputed and dele gated, with restricted powers, to fulfil their appointed portion of the proper functions of the episcopate. So it is truly stated by arch bishop Potter. "The plenitude of power," says that prelate, " which is communicated to " inferior ministers by parts, according to " their respective orders, is wholly and alto- " gether lodged in the bishop ^" My reason for thus proceeding is as follows. The maintenance of the episcopal order, pos sessing the separate power of ordination, and the power also of extensive government over the church, has effectually maintained the clear evidence of legitimacy in the ministerial succession. If the episcopal and the presby- terial offices and powers had been one and the same, and had thus from the earliest time been administered by ordinary pastors, remote from the public eye of the church : I see not how some degree of confusion could have been avoided, or how we could have an as- " Discourse of Church Government, p. 208. Oxf 1753. LECTURE VIII. 317 surance, that the succession had never been vitiated. As the case stands, we see the great difficulty that error should arise by intrusion into the inferior ministry : if it do arise, we are sure that it cannot proceed far : should it at all occur, we reasonably hope, that the de fault of ignorance, unaccompanied by wilful neglect or presumption, on the part of those who may comply with an unlawful ministra tion, will not, by the God of mercy, be ac counted as a bar to salvation. To state then the true grounds of minis terial authority. The beginning of this min isterial order cannot reasonably be explained otherwise, than as having been introduced by that miraculous attestation, which forms the introduction of Christianity itself: and the continuance of it cannot be otherwise ac counted for, than by admitting a legitimate succession. For the case of an intruding bi shop would, in any age of the church, have presented the same moral impossibility which it does at this day. Thus, the present existence of this ministry, and the circumstances connected with it, fur nish an exterior attestation of its authority. Every ministry which claims the submission of men, must be thus attested. It must be attested, either by the present evidence of mi- 318 LECTURE VIIL racles, or by its derivation from a beginning miraculously accredited. But is it not possible that a man, without any external and visible ordination, may be inwardly moved by God, to take upon him this ministry ? In order to a right view of the case thus proposed, it is needful that we should discri minate between the inspiration of a prophet, and the ordinary sanctification of all the elect people of God. It is not to be doubted, that the souls of God's elect people are inwardly moved by him : and the experience of these heavenly influences may be fully understood, with all such degrees of clearness and assurance, as are needful for salvation. But with regard to these ordinary communications, it is to be remarked, that they are communications to him only to whom they are afforded. If there be alleged any divine communications, carrying with them an authority over the souls of other men : then, in proof of such au thority, men have a right to demand the evi dence of miracles. For they cannot reason ably submit to any ministry, or to any pro mulgations of a new doctrine, of which they are not persuaded, that its origin was mira culously attested. Nay more : not only can LECTURE VIIL 319 they not reasonably do it, but, as they have the fear of God before them, they must not acknowledge any such unaccredited preten sions. These positions will be found to rest upon the strongest arguments. The very employment of miracles imphes a recognition, that such credentials are need ful for the security of men. Otherwise why should God employ them ? Why should he thus verify the authority of Moses, of his prophets, and of his only begotten Son? Why should he demand no submission to any au thority, which is not thus attested ? It must be plain impiety to acknowledge the author ity of God, where it is not : for this is trans ferring to another the obedience, due to him only. Yet it is obvious, that miracles only can enable us to judge, whether this author ity does, or does not, belong to him wJio claims it. It must appear from Scripture, that God does not require the submission of men to any claim of Divine authority, which is not thus enforced. Miracles are expressly given as the ostensible warrant of those whom he has delegated. Thus in the case of Moses, the prophet reluctates in these words, against the appointment of himself as a Divine mes senger : " Behold, they will not believe me. 320 LECTURE VIIL " nor hearken unto my voice : for they will " say, The Lord hath not appeared unto " thee." How is this objection met ? by pro mising a power of mighty wonders, for the conviction of those to whom he is sent : " that " they might believe that the Lord God of " their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God " of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, had appeared " unto him'." Again, in the case ofthe na tion to whom Moses is sent : observe the ex postulations of God on account of their re bellion. What is the ground of such severe reprehension ? Is it not partly this ? that their disobedience to the prophet had been manifested, in resistance of miraculous evi dences ? Lastly, as the most decisive of all testimonies : is it not declared by our Lord himself, that if his mission had been un supported by miracles, the Jews would have incurred no guilt in rejecting him ? " If," says he, "I had not done among them the " works which none other man did, they had " not had sin ^." It is plain then, that we are not by God's word required to admit any unaccredited pretensions to Divine authority. But not only is this not required : it is forbidden. What else can be the import of ' See the fourth chapter of Exodus. » John xv. 24. LECTURE VIIL 321 those censures and judgments, which we find pronounced against the adherents of false prophets ? Where is the criterion, by which we are to distinguish the false from the true pretension ? Surely there must be such a cri terion : otherwise it would appear, that God requires what is impossible. This criterion can be no other than that, to which Elijah appealed, for the decision of the question at issue between himself and the prophets of Baal. A very remarkable illustration of this point is furnished in the history of the man of God, who prophesied against the altar at Bethel. For, in this instance, the Divine word is plain and declaratory, respecting the purpose and reason of the visitation which it records : the heavy judgment of God was provoked, by the very act of submitting to an unaccredited pretension of Divine author- This man had received a clear and posi tive injunction by immediate revelation from God. Such an injunction must be binding till God revokes it. Now, if God actually did revoke it : how could this be known ? There could be but two ways. Either the injunction must have been recalled in the same way of immediate revelation in which 322 LECTURE VIIL it was given : or else, it must have been re called by the ministry of another man, veri fying his authority by some exterior creden tial. But this prophet is met by another, who alleges a Divine authority to revoke the injunction, but gives no credential. " He " said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou " art ; and an angel spake unto me by the " word of the Lord, saying. Bring him back " with thee into thine house, that he may " eat bread and drink water. But he lied " unto him. So he went back with him, and " did eat bread in his house, and drank water. " And it came to pass, as they sat at the " table, that the word of the Lord came unto " the prophet that brought him back : and " he cried unto the man of God that came " from Judah, saying. Thus saith the Lord, " Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the " mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the " commandment which the Lord thy God " commanded thee, but camest back, and hast " eaten bread and drunk water in the place, " of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat " no bread, and drink no water ; thy carcase " shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy " fathers \" 'I I Kings xiii. 18—22. Sic stola [cap. iv. ver. i.] Nolite dicitur prima Johannis Epi- omni spiritui credere, sed pro- LECTURE VIII. 323 LXXI. If these principles be admitted, it will be found impossible to deny their ob vious utility, towards vindicating true, and nullifying false, pretensions to religious au thority. Among the affirmants of such pretensions, there are some who, though they recognise the Divine mission of Moses and of Christ, have nevertheless left behind them books, professedly authoritative, declaring their own agreement with anterior revelations, but wear ing, to the understandings of ordinary men, the clearest proofs of contradiction to them. Of this class are Mahomet and Swedenborg. Now whether you regard such persons as the promulgators of a new theology, or as the ex pounders of an old one : this, at least, is con- bate sp'iritus, si ex Deo sint ; velationem manifestam ; ergo, quoniam multi pseudoprophetce quousque constaret istud per si- exierunt in mundum. Sed iste milem revelationem, non teneba- virDei poterat incidere in pe- tur credere. Item, populares, riculum mortis, et violationis qui audiebant verba propheta- prscepd Divini, si consentiret rum, non obligabantur credere comedere in Bethel : ideo de-, illis, nisi prophetae ostenderent bebat nimis circa hoc cogitare, signa : Ergo, a fortiori, cum et non faciliter condescendere. iste Propheta audisset a Deo, Item patet hoc potissime : quod non deberet comedere in Quia Deus locutus fuerat ipsi Bethel, non debebat credere, viro Dei, quod non comederet nisi ostenderet manifestura sig- in Bethel ; ideo non debebat num propheta senex, qui loque- credere contrarium, quousque batur ei. Sed ille nullum sig- tam dare constaret sibi, quod num ostendit, nee iste petivit, Deus dixisset istnd, sicut con- sed immediate credidit. Ideo stabat sibi, quod Deus dixerat, peccavit credendo, et propter quod non comederet in Bethel, hoc occidit eum leo. Tostatus Sed illud constabat sibi per re- in loco. Y 2 324 LECTURE VIIL fessed : they profess to have had their doc trine by revelation from heaven. The case then is one of easy determination. The principles which establish the authority of the Prophets and Apostles, do not establish the pretensions of these men : for it is plain that no miracles are alleged in support of those pretensions. Thus also may we adjust the claims of lord Herbert of Cherbury. He also professes to have had a revelation from heaven. Now if you suppose the possibility of the fact, it concerns not us. For his pretended revela tion was to himself only : the pretence carries with it no visible evidence of obligation upon others : no sensible proof is afforded to ac credit and to verify it. In the next place, limiting our regard to the Christian world : we are thus enabled to discriminate the proper character of a lawful ministry from all unauthorized assumptions of the ministerial office. On this footing it will appear, that the constitution of presbyterian communities can never maintain its validity. We admit the claim of authority arising from the conti nuance of a ministerial order of which the beginning must have been miraculous: in this light do we regard the apostolical sue- LECTURE VIIL 325 cession : but the presbyterian ministry is not of this nature. For this system proceeds, upon a supposed equality or identity of bi shops and presbyters. But respecting the presbyters by whom this discipline was first established, it cannot be denied, that they never received, by ordination, any power of transmitting to others the authority which themselves possessed : their commission was restrained to the preaching of the word and the administration of the sacraments : it gave no power of sending labourers into the Lord's vineyard: this latter power being, by the terms of their appointment, exclusively vested in the order of bishops. From a ministry thus unauthorized, it is plain that the covenanted blessings, which God has connected with the functions of a lawful one, cannot warrantably be sought. Lastly, there are sectaries of many denomi nations, whose peculiar doctrines and worship are maintained without any apostolical min istry whatever; and who have among them either no ministerial order, or one which does not even pretend to an apostolical succession. Now it is plain, that if you admit those prin ciples which, in relation to this subject, I have sought to establish: then you cannot reasonably allow any pretensions, which can Y 3 326 LECTURE VIII. under such circumstances be advanced, to the power of administering Divine ordinances. All such administrations, being unauthorized, must be invalid; and, being invalid, they must be wholly unavailing to the purpose of giving a title to God's covenanted mercies. Of unaccredited pretensions to spiritual authority, both in kind and in degree, the world has beheld a vast number and a mon strous diversity. Let the case then speak for itself. If I am to believe a man armed with a Divine commission, while that commission is not verified by any thing more than his own word : then, whom am I to believe ? Why shall I believe one rather than another ? And how many shall I believe? For in this instance great multitudes claim my submission : the ground of their claims is, in all cases, exactly the same : while the several doctrines which they propound are dissonant and contradic tory. On this ground the Mussulman re quires me to embrace his Koran, and the Swedenborgian exacts my reverence for the doctrines of his new Jerusalem. The Calvin ist alleges an inward light for the proof of his absolute decrees : and the Wesleyan, for the proof of the contrary. The bishop of Rome has a variety of doctrines which rest upon no basis but that of a pretended infalli- LECTURE VIII. 327 bihty. The Arian, for believing the blessed Word of God a created being, pleads a spe cial revelation of the Deity*. Socinus pro fesses, from the same source of infallible dis covery, to have been instructed, that the exist ence of the Son of God was not earlier than his incarnation''. The names, so modestly assumed, of Gnostick, in the days of primeval heresy, and of Evangelical, in these times ; discover a fond alliance to the same preten- ' See the proofs of this point in the Epilogus of Bp. Bull's Def. Fid. Nic. page 293. ed. 1703. ^ Our Saviour says : " Be- " fore Abraham was, I am." [John viii. 58.] Laelius Soci nus thus expounds these words. " Before Abraham can be the " father of many nations, I " am." Faustus Socinus po sitively declares that his uncle obtained this exposition by special revelation from God. While vindicating it, he thus demands the submission of his controversial opponent : " Ve- " ritati concedat, et Deo nos " plurimum debere agnoscat, " qui viro illi," [sc. Laelio Socino] " per quern omnium primum " nostrasetatesententiani, quam " de Jesu Christi persona am- " plexi sumus, exponi voluit, " hunc non minus appositum " atque adeo necessarium, quam " egregium et verum in Christi " verbis sensum, olim patefece- " rit. Quod tamen non sine " multis precibus, ipsius Jesu " nomme invocato, impetravit " ille. Ut; qusedam etiam ver- " ba indicant, quae aliquando in " hunc locum commentans, cum " verum ipsorum sensum se non- " dum assecutum esse nosset, " tandem scripsit ; Si Christus, " inquit, prcesens esset, ridicula " ista omnia dissolveret ; sed nos " qumdam nubes op'mionis huma- " nee male vexat. Et credo hu- " jus loci explanationem aliquam " facillimam esse, sed qua mihi " nondum appareat. Jesus nos " erudiat, et liber et." F. Socini Opp. tom. ii. pag. 678. ed. Ire- nop. 1656. Magee on Atone ment and Sacrifice, vol. I. page 82. ed. 1812. As I would not have any man's opinions derive an appearance of absurdity from my representation of them : 1 add, that the vindication, ra tionally considered, of the fore going exposition (which my pre sent business does not require me to enter upon) will be found in connexion with the passage here extracted from Socinus. Y 4 328 LECTURE VIII. sions. Even Deism has not abstained from it. For it is thus that Lord Herbert presents himself, as a man authorized to proclaim to the world, that Christianity is false. In short, when was there any system of re ligious error, which did not thus attempt to supply the want of rational evidence ? Possi bly you will find scarcely one, except Atheism : which, by its own hypothesis, is precluded from recourse to this subterfuge. LXXII. You will readily perceive, how these remarks bear upon my leading design. We have already examined the Christian dis pensation, with a view to display its inherent powers of comnction. We now regard it, with reference to the promise of God : who has de clared, that he will manifest the truth of it to the souls of men. The question then is : Who are they that are entitled to this pro mise? Who are they that come within the terms of it ? And, in particular : If the pro mise be connected with the ministrations of a certain order of men, who are the individuals composing that order ? On this view, it can not be immaterial whether a ministry, pro fessing to administer the appointed means of grace ; of grace to illuminate, as well as to sanctify : whether such a ministry be author ized or not. LECTURE VIIL 329 LXXIII. But the magnitude of this consi deration appears to me to have been much obscured, by an unwarrantable latitudinarian- ism of certain divines. For it is too common to notice the expression of sentiments, which seem to be grounded on a notion, that it lies in the power of man, as a matter of private judgment and inclination, to relax or to straiten the terms of God's covenant. Such is the loose style in which forms of church go vernment are spoken of, as if they were mat ters, of indifference with God and of arbitrary selection with men ; and as if no rule, relat ing to this point, had been determined by su preme authority'. Thus, there are those, who will themselves hold to our own doctrine and ecclesiastical polity : while they will, at the same time, maintain, that a member of a pres byterian community, or of an independent congregation, is as much within the Christian covenant as themselves. Now if the foregoing ' In this style of speaking it " mandments. He that hath my is common to say, that sectarian " commandments, and keepeth differences are of little moment, " them, he it is that loveth me." provided that a man loves the If we desire to know what, as Lord Jesus in sincerity. The to this particular, is our Sa- remark is plausible, and it may viour's commandment, we can enjoy the credit of being li- hardly be perplexed when we beral. But surely we are to read such passages as these. learn from our Saviour himself, " As my Father hath sent me, what is the nature of that love " even so send I you. He that which he demands. " If," says " receiveth whomsoever I send he, "ye love me, keep my com- " receiveth me." 330 LECTURE VIIL principles are sound and well established : this view of things must be false. And, if it be false : can it be otherwise than dangerous and deadly ? Does it not countenance a con tempt for the way in which God has ap pointed his blessing, and the preference of another way, which has no Divine promise, nor warrantable hope ? Again : the subject has derived some de gree of confusion from the terms which have been used respecting it. Thus, some opin ions relating to this matter are occasionally praised as being liberal, while others are, in like manner, without any reference to the proper grounds of determination, stigmatized with the reproach of a narrow mind. But what, in a case of this nature, can such lan guage signify? Terms like these have no ar gumentative import. They relate to matters of private taste and variable feeling ; but are quite irrelevant to questions of truth and false hood, and to all matters, which, like the pre sent, come to us determined by obligation and law. The only questions respecting such a matter, for any reasonable man to entertain, are these : Has God determined the case ? If so, what rule has he ordained ? As to harsh sentiments relating to those, who, according to our doctrine, come not with- LECTURE VIIL 331 in the covenant of God : such sentiments can by no means be justified. Much less can it be endured, that man should sit in judgment upon man, and that he should, speaking as an individual and with regard to individuals, pronounce on their eternal state. The prin ciples of such conduct are not only unchari table, but false. For all scriptural condem nations of infidelity and error, proceed upon the supposition ; that the grounds of convic tion and the evidences of truth have been duly propounded. The case is very simple: it admits no imputations upon God: it allows no uncharitableness of censure, nor power of discretionary relaxation, in those who are to declare his will. If error be not wilful, it will not be punished : if it be wilful, then, hke all other wilful delinquencies, it is pro per to be punished. We have no right to Hmit the mercies of God to those, who stand within the pale of his covenant. His cove nants are binding upon us, but they impose no restriction on him. He may pardon and accept whom he will : and, we have scriptu ral grounds to believe, that some will enjoy the bliss of his everlasting presence, who ne ver were favoured with access to his sacra mental covenants. But this is for him, and not for us. We are the stewards of the 332 LECTURE VIIL mysteries of God, and it is required of stewards, that they be found faithful. We must not go beyond the word of God to do more or less. LXXIV. Nor let us fear, lest by such fide lity, we should make our ministry an occa sion of offence. This danger, were it real, would never justify a temporizing conduct: it would never warrant us to make, under pretence of charity, those concessions which are forbidden by truth. We are to do the will of God, and to leave the event to him. But it may be well considered, that all anti cipation of evil, as the result of such proceed ing, is totally groundless. However remote another man's religious judgment be from our own; though we regard his sentiments as ever so heterodox, or even heretical: it still remains for us to feel towards that man the utmost kindness, and to exhibit the most undoubted proofs of it. From this line we have, indeed, no right to swerve. The church has no power of secular judgment over the consciences of men. It is not for us to pre cipitate our judgment of him, for whom the long-suffering of God is still waiting ; nor to reprobate him, whom it may be that God will one day convert and take to his everlasting reward. Our Divine Master came not to LECTURE VIIL 333 condemn the world, but that the world through him should be saved ; and the judg ment of him who receiveth not the words of Christ, is not for this present life, but for the last day '^. It is a great mistake to think that we can recommend religion, by compromising truth in order to assimilate opinions. For truth is inflexible, nor are we permitted to disguise it : and the lustre of charity is never brighter, nor doth it ever exert a stronger power over the affections, or one more auxiliary to the Gospel ; than when it is seen, that kindness is not impaired by variance of judgment. This power could never be felt, if all men were from the beginning of the same mind : nevertheless, it has a blessed tendency to bring them to it. That Divine precept of charity : " Go and do thou likewise :" has a pointed regard to men, not of the same, but of a different faith. This is the doctrine of God our Saviour, which we are commanded to adorn : but how can he do this, whose be nevolence, however ardent, is restrained to his own communion? What shall we say then of that which, in a religious sense, is called liberality 9 If the word mean any thing allied to reason and to moral rectitude : it is m John xii. 48. 334 LECTURE VIIL so far from dictating a forced conformity, or a flexible accommodation, of opinions ; that it plainly supposes a contrariety of them, and enjoins the conduct which ought to be ob served towards each other, by men, among whom that contrariety exists. Where such contrariety is not, there this virtue cannot be. Let a man then exercise this good dis position, by the sacrifice of his substance, of his time, of his trouble, of his secular in terests ; but not by the sacrifice of truth. Let him thus manifest every kind affection to men of a different creed, and evince, on all occasions, a disposition to think the best that he possibly can of all men. But let him not surrender convictions, in order to harmonize with that, which he believes to be error : nor represent as unessential to salvation, any mat ters, which he believes God to have deter mined otherwise : nor indulge the perilous presumption, of attempting to modify, or to accommodate, agreeably to inclination or con venience, the terms of God's covenant. LXXV. Having now brought to a close my projected examination : it remains that I should submit to you a representation of the amount, the value, and the proper applica tion, of the conclusions at which I have ar rived. LECTURE VIIL 335 It has appeared that the Gospel is unen cumbered by any obstacles to an universal diffusion of its truth. It requires indeed concurrent dispositions on the part of man : but these dispositions are to be found in all who are willing, to obey God and live virtuously. It requires also a concurrent blessing from God : but this bless ing may be had by all who ask it ; and its proper effect can be frustrated, only by the rebellion of the human will. It may also be said with truth, that the propagation of the Gospel may be assisted, or impeded, by causes dependent on the hu man will : such, for instance, as the good or bad lives of Christians, and the zeal or indif ference, the fidelity or negligence, the learn ing or ignorance, of pastors. But all this in volves nothing impracticable or unattainable. It demands nothing which human life will not admit ; nothing which confuses the ranks, disturbs the obligations, or interrupts the humblest employments, of the political com munity. It does not demand historical know ledge and speculative talents in those, to whom God has denied them : nor again does it require of such men, that they should pros trate their own understandings before others. 336 LECTURE VIIL to whom fortune and philosophy have been propitious. If the Gospel be thus powerful in its own resources : if it require no concurrence of unattainable means or impossible conditions : then it must appear, that the cause of piety is capable of being advanced on easier terms than is commonly supposed ; and consequent ly, that the narrow extent of the family of believers, is an evil, not attributable to the want of a remedy, but to the neglect of ap plying it. On this view, it can hardly be thought, that the conversion of pagans is obstructed, by any impossibility inherent in the nature of Chris tianity. By many, however, the notion of such impossibility has been deeply imbibed, and by many it is industriously disseminated : and thus, in effect, it happens, that proposals towards furthering that good end, meet with little more attention than is due to the pro jects of insanity. If you acquiesce in the reasonings which I have submitted to you, I think you must admit, that such a persuasion is false. But it is not on abstract reasonings only that I will rest the evidence of this position. Let us look to facts : let us consult expe- LECTURE VIIL 337 rience and history. They will tell us, that this is no unattainable object ; and that it may be brought to good effect, by God's blessing on the employment of those ordinary means which are common to every age of the church. For I speak not now of those ages, which enjoyed the sensible evidence of miracles : I speak with reference to efforts, which do not profess to have had that ad vantage. What then has been the result of these efforts ? In the whole compass of ec clesiastical history, you can scarcely mention one — I think you cannot mention even one — which has been conducted agreeably to evan gelical truth, and charity, and prudence ; and which has not eventually led, to the ef fectual planting of Christianity in a new country. Such a fact ought strongly to recommend that particular department of learning, which illustrates the prospects and facilities of suc cess, in the holy enterprise of evangelizing the unconverted world. Ecclesiastical his tory may satisfy us, that it is vain to exte nuate, as to this point, our neglect of exer tion, by pleading the want of miracles. True it is, that the church could not have been at first founded without the attestation of mi racles : but the fabric standing on this foun- 338 LECTURE VIII. dation, is capable of being expanded to any dimensions, which are agreeable to the will of God : and these are, nothing less than the comprehension of all mankind. If we have not the power of miracles, we have the power of reasonable proof, to shew, that Christianity could not have gotten a footing in the world without them : so that, in fact, if we have lost the sensible, 'we still retain the rational, evidence of miracles : and facts substantiated by reason, afford as strong a testimony, as those which are manifest to the eye. It is the zeal of a Divine charity, and a holy ardour for the purposes which brought the Son of God from heaven : this, I say, is the great thing wanting towards the conver sion of the world. Let us see the day, when this object is prosecuted with the same energy, which mingles with schemes of human po licy. The gain of a slight commercial ad vantage, or the territorial comprehension of a barren rock or desert island; have often been regarded as adequate causes, for an im mense waste of treasure and of life. Let the same zeal be displayed for the salvation of mankind. Till it has been, this foul reproach must lie upon Christendom : it is the want of charity which prevents the extension of its borders. The children of this world are, in LECTURE VIIL 339 their generation, wiser than the children of light. But here again it is to be remembered, that this work requires the blessing of God as well as the labours of man : and that the blessing of God has been by himself con nected with the ministerial acts of evangelists and pastors, authorized by him. What can we say then, of those efforts for the conversion of the heathen, which, slender as they are, we find in actual employment ? In some instances, we find these enterprises conducted by preachers, who can give no rea sonable account of their own mission. Now the apostle asks, " How shall they preach ex- " cept they be sent " ?" So also may we ask : How shall they expect God's blessing on their work, if they be not sent with his authority? And again : to whom has this authority been given, unless to the apostles and their succes sors? If the ministrations of these men be unauthorized, can the promise of God be truly applied to them? Again: How can such evan gelists be provided with the needful resources for their own work ? If they have not the power of miracles, how can they verify their mission ? how can they evidence their au thority to administer the sacraments ? What ' Rom. X. 15. z2 340 LECTURE VIII. can they allege for this purpose, more than any impostor may allege as well as they ? It is not for me to condemn the work of these men : to their own Master they must stand or fall : but I will say, respecting such me thods of conversion, that I do not see how sincere and well informed members of an apostolical church, can rest satisfied with them. With regard to these latter : here also is just matter of reproof. We maintain the ne cessity of an episcopal order to the true con stitution of a church. How does our practice agree with our principle ? How many are, and have been, the cases, in which the outward establishment of religion has denied all access to episcopal ministrations ? Have not large clusters of islands, and vast continental tracts, covered, in some instances, with a dense po pulation ; been suffered to lie beyond all reach of any effectual government and ad ministration of a bishop ? Are such arrange ments consistent with the spiritual sustenance and edification of the church ? If a personal profession of the faith be required in adult persons, in order to ratify sponsorial obliga tions, and to qualify men, as living members of Christ's body, for ulterior means of grace : if none but the authorized ministers of Christ, LECTURE VIIL 341 are empowered to transact the things belong ing to his covenant : how can any church properly maintain itself without the presence and activity of bishops ? For it is plain, that inferior ministers have never been empowered and authorized to act in this matter. It is much to be lamented, that the neglect thus noticed, has been, in a great degree, occasioned by a perversion of the pure and simple notion of episcopacy : I fear also, that such perversion has been much countenanced, by weak and injudicious methods of defending the necessity of that sacred order. Let us now advert to the practical influence of the gospel on the state of societies into which it has been already received. The power of Christianity in the correction of moral evil is great: but unless there be a conviction of its truth, this power must be in operative. Observe then, how the state of so cial hfe must be affected by the principles we adopt. If it be admitted, that a reasonable conviction of Christianity is unattainable by the generality of men ; that the poor of every country must, in point of rehgion, take things as they find them, and embrace, with passive minds, that form of it which has come down to them from their fathers, and which they find ready prepared to their hands : on this z 3 342 LECTURE VIIL view of things, how can you expect that the Gospel will operate the correction of social disorders ? But if, as I have contended, this conviction is attainable by all men : then it will appear, that a mighty obstacle to moral reformation has been removed: a prejudice, calculated to paralyse all our exertions, has been obviated. We no longer feel ourselves, while pursuing this end, as men impeded by unsurmountable obstructions : but we ought to feel ourselves placed in a sphere of duty, of which God requires the fulfilment, and under the encouragement of a hope, fully adequate to excite and to justify our utmost zeal. We live in an age, distinguished by great pretensions to advancement in wisdom and knowledge. It may be doubted, whether this estimate is true. It may admit of a doubt, whether a generation of men may not be affected in a way similar to individuals : among whom, self-conceit is commonly found to accompany defective intellect and scanty information. Among the characteristics of the present generation, the following, when judged hymen remote from contemporaneous feelings, will possibly be regarded as no indication of re markable sagacity. LECTURE VIIL 343 Theories are afloat, which profess to aim at obviating, by means of legislative arrange ments, the possibility of civil corruption. Now it is not denied that the end is good. It is not denied, that legislative measures ought to be adapted to circumstances, and that circumstances are continually changing : they lie, therefore, under a constant necessity of conforming themselves, by progressive mo difications, to those alterations in the state of things, which, from time to time, will cer tainly arise. Yet still, it cannot reasonably be doubted, that all human legislation which aims at the production of a moral influence, will, if it proceed upon a sole regard to its own in trinsic force and unassisted power, disappoint the hopes of such as rely upon it. Every scheme of political reformation, if it lay not the chief stress upon reforming the moral principle of individuals, must be vain and delusive. The mass of society must be amended, by the care which is employed to amend the separate members of it. To think of so classifying and arranging men, that they shall not have the power to be corrupt if they will ; is a project, little superior in value and dignity to the speculations of children. Your fabric may display a grand conception, and a z 4 344 LECTURE VIIL beautiful symmetry : yet this will be of little avail, if its component materials are unsound and worthless : that fabric will not endure. If, on the other hand, you desire to coun teract the principle of corruption in the hu man soul : then your endeavour can never be hopeless, so long as Christianity shall be ap plicable to the state of man. This method of reformation demands only honest purposes and sincere efforts, directed by that wisdom, which God denies to none that will ask him, which issues from his gift, and is inscribed in his holy word. Many are the individual cases, known to us all, in which the due culture of early life has been followed, by a golden fruitfulness of Christian piety and moral worth. Is it not plain that this culture may be applied to one case, as well as to another ? and that the most extensive application of it demands only aug mented measures of diligence and charity ? Is it not plain, that the principles of duty, when they have grown up from the beginning of reason, have kept pace with the increase of its power, and been progressively confirmed by habit; will be strong enough to overpower the unruly appetites of manhood ? while the same principles, when first instilled at a ma ture period, may be too feeble to struggle LECTURE VIII. 345 against a mighty opposition, or even to take root in a neglected soil ? Does not experience teach us, that these principles, so indispens able to all personal happiness and social wel fare, if not taught in childhood, will probably never be learned at all ? In other matters, we can readily perceive the reasonable course. If a wild and unpro fitable stock is in one instance reclaimed, the same husbandry is patiently applied to any multitude of instances in which the same re sult is desired. Such a proceeding, in a se cular concern, is viewed as a mere act of com mon sense : in a case of duty, of charity, and of religious obligation, it is too commonly re garded as wild, romantic, and Utopian. I need not dwell on the particular applica tion of these last remarks. If, according to the view which I have endeavoured to sub stantiate, there be not, in the generality of mankind, any inaptitude or incapacity to weigh the evidence of religion, and to per ceive its conclusive power : then it cannot be a desperate enterprise to produce, in the mass of society, the proper fruits of religious con viction. If the mass is to be purified, it must be purified chiefly by this means. To frame any arrangements of society, which shall take away from human depravity the means and 346 LECTURE VIIL opportunities of action, is a task far surpass ing the utmost stretch of political wisdom : but it is quite feasible, in the use of methods which God has provided, to repress the out ward acts of crime, by counteracting that evil principle of nature which prompts the commission of them. Christianity must be the basis of every moral reformation : and the materials on which it is to work, ought to be placed within its influence, before they have become untractable and stubborn. I would not close these discourses without a brief suggestion which pecuharly applies to us as an academical body. We have seen that the evidence of Divine truth is greatly obscured by the misrepresen tations of ignorance : and that the learning of the ministerial order forms the appropriate remedy to this inconvenience. If this be thought to establish the great value of theo logical studies : may it not justify a doubt, whether that value is sufficiently recognised in our present arrangements ? I doubt not that many, who rightly estimate the im portance of knowledge subsidiary to such a purpose, may feel themselves impelled, by a conscientious zeal, to the proper sources of illustration to the pure doctrines of Chris tianity. But it is to be considered, whether LECTURE VIII. 347 this ought to depend wholly on a voluntary sentiment ? Or whether it be not rather a just principle of education, to further so great and good a purpose, by specific direction and encouragement? We cannot but admit the great necessity there is, that the future pas tors of the church should be fitted for their evangelical work, by the diligent use of every means, contributory to a right com prehension of the sacred word, which they will be bound to dispense, to expound, and to vindicate. Can any season of life be more propitious to such pursuits, than the years passed at a place, where all the facilities of learning are brought together ? If these pur suits be neglected now: is it not probable, that they will be wholly excluded by the unavoid able cares and active duties of subsequent life ? May it not also deserve your considera tion, whether, by encouraging to its present extent, the cultivation of preparatory learn ing ; we do not in effect, by this alienation of the time applicable to theology, discoun tenance and exclude the necessary attention toit? While I have felt it my duty to submit to you these remarks, I have not been appre hensive that they would be subject to any construction of offence. The state of human 348 LECTURE VIIL life continually brings forth fresh occasions and demands for improvement : and every movement towards that end must begin somewhere. A suggestion of this nature may be thought, perhaps, not wholly unbefitting the oflfice of which I am fulfilling the duties. If it should be thought unsuitable to the person : I am sure you will agree with me, that every such suggestion ought to be tried according to its own intrinsic qualities, apart from every adventitious consideration. In a matter so important, 7ion disputantis auctori- tas, sed disputationis ipsius Veritas, requiritur" : At all events, it must be understood, that my words have not been unaccompanied by those sentiments, which are due to men, whose stations and whose characters demand the reverence of those intrusted to their charge, and the honourable estimation of the world : while their conscientious and enlightened zeal for the application, to their legitimate and best uses, of the institutions and endowments of this place, may well confront the boldest ac cusation. To conclude. The consequence of the foregoing examination must effectually si lence one great plea, which might be alleged to extenuate the remissness of our efforts in ° Minucius Felix. LECTURE VIII. 349 the cause of religion. It has been seen, that the evidence of the gospel is not of such a nature, as to involve any demand of impossi bilities. It does not demand, that men should surrender their understandings : or that they should embrace convictions without reasons : or that they should be versed in historical mo numents which they cannot read; or endued with philosophical talents which they cannot attain. But it does require, that they should forsake their sins : that they should profit by the light which God affords them : that they should embrace the appointed means of grace : that they should fulfil, without reserve, all obligations of piety and obedience ; and allow the proper force to all arguments, adapted to their own knowledge and comprehension. The poor man who does this, shall not want the heavenly light: the learned man who does it not, shall not enjoy that light. It is on this view we are to contemplate our obli gations, respecting the propagation of Chris tian truth. Our duty is not impracticable : it will not disturb the world, but maintain its peace, and establish its order. Lastly, we are to remember, that the part assigned to us is not optional, but imperative : that our labours are to keep pace with our facili ties : and that the solemn account of a fu- 350 LECTURE VIIL ture day will carry with it, an awful regard to the means and opportunities we enjoy, of extending the dominion of our blessed Re deemer. To whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, three Persons and one God, let us ascribe, as is most due, all glory and goodness, majesty and dominion, now and for ever. APPENDIX. ADDITIONAL NOTE ON LECTURE v.* XHE following quotations are placed toge ther, because, when thus viewed, they illustrate, by an impressive contrast, the peculiar influence of Christianity on the characters of men. The two cases here described, are, in their external circumstances, exactly concurrent ; and both are of such a nature, as to call forth the undis guised expression of real feelings : the difference of them being entirely moral, and created by the difference of religious sentiment. The lat ter of the two representations may, in the noble contempt of death which it portrays, be thought to discover something of excess : but it is to be considered, whether, in any possible state of man, we are warranted in expecting, to find even the most sublime virtue unaccompanied by a tincture of human infirmity. I. A description of the plague at Athens : from Thucydides. Thucyd. lib. ii. cap. 47. Dr. Bloomfield's Translation. XLVII. Toi^ 6e eepovs evevs XLVII. Immediately on the apxafxevov neXoirovvrjcrm Kai ol commencement of the spring, * See page 202, line 2. A a 3.54 ADDITIONAL NOTE lvixp,a)(OL, ra bvo pepr), wcnrep Kai. TO TtpaiTov, ecre^aXov es rrjv Attiktiv fiyeiTO be Apxibapios o Zev^ibap,ov, AaKebaipoviav /3a- criKevs. /cat Kade^opevoi ebrjovv rrjv yrjV. kul ovrav avraiv ov TToXXas TTW rip.epas fv ttj Attikt) rj voaos TipcoTOV Tjpf aro yevecrOai rots AOrjvaioLs, Xeyopevov p,ev Kai TTporepov TroXAaxofre eyKa- TaaKrpjrai, Kai Trepi Arjpvov Kai ev aXkois xapiois, ov pievToi roa- ovTos ye Xoip,os ovbe (pdopa ov- Tots av6pa>TTU>v ovbapov epvr}p,o- vevero yevecrOai. ovre yap la- Tpoi rjpKovv TO -npcarov Oepaitev- oires ayvoiq,, akk' avroi paki- ara eOvrjaKov oaai Kai pLakiara ¦npoo-ijea-av, ovre akkrj avOpcaireia rexvT] ovbepia' oaa re itpos ie- pois iKerevaav rj pavreiais Kai rot? Totourots exprjaavro, iravra avcoipekrj r)v, rekevTcovres re av- Tcov airecTTrjaav, vtto tov kukov viKajjievoL. the Peloponnesians and their allies, as before, vrith two- thirds of their forces, made an irruption into Attica, under the command of Archidamus, son of Zeuxidamus, king of theLacedasmonians; and after encamping, laid waste the country. And when they had not been many days in Attica, the pestilence, which after wards so much afflicted the Athenians, made its appear ance, and which was said to have previously spread its ra vages in other parts; as at Lemnos and elsewhere. Be that as it may, so great a pestilence, and so sweeping a mortality of the human race, had never elsewhere been known in the memory of man. For at first not even the phy sicians, through ignorance of the disorder, were able to de vise any effectual remedy for it (nay, they themselves, from their nearer approach to the sick, died the fastest) ; nor did any other human art aught avail. And as to supplica tions at the temples, or con sultations of oracles, and other religious rites, all were alike vain and useless; insomuch that, overcome by the vio lence of the calamity, the people at last wholly discon tinued them. TO LECTURE V. 355 XLVIII. H/)£aro 6e to fxev TtptaTOV, d)S A.eyerat, ef A1610- mas rrjs xmep AiyviTTOv, eireira Se Kai es Aiyvurov Kai Aifivr)v KaTejSri (cat es ttjv jBaaikecos yrjv Tr\v Ttokkrjv. es be ttjv A6r]vaiv ¦nokiv e^amvaicas eve-necre, Kai TO TrpwTov ev rw Iletpatet rj\j/aTo Tuv avOpwnwv, wore (cat ekexdr] im' avTwv a>s ot IleAoiroz'i'Tjcnot ^apfiUKa earj3el3kr]K0iev es ra (fjpeara' Kprjvai yap ov-wbi rjaav avToOi. varepov be Kai es ttjv avoo irokiv as eKaaros yi- yv(it(TKei, Kai larpos Kat ibiatTTjs, a(^ OTOV eiKOs rjv yeveadai avro, Kai Tas aiTias aarivas z'o/xtCet Toaavrrjs p,eTal3okr]s iKavas eivai hivap,iv es to jxeTaaTrjaai ayeiv eyctf 8e otoz^ re eytyi^ero Aef &), (cat a

v av Tis ctkottcov, et wore /cat allots eTTiTrecrot, [lakiaT av eXoi Ti TTpoeibas jxrj ayvoeiv, TavTa br]k(i>(TO), avros re voa-r)- tras KOt avros ibaiv aAAovs wa- trxoiTuy. XLVIII. The contagion is said to have had its origin in that part of ^Ethiopia, which is situated beyond Egypt, and from thence to have passed into Egypt and Libya. After spreading over a considerable part of the king of Persia's dominions, it at length broke out suddenly at Athens, and made its first attack in the Piraeus, where it was reported that the Peloponnesians had thrown poison into the wells ; for as yet there were no foun tains there. Afterwards it ex tended itself to the upper city, and then the mortality rapid ly increased. And now I leave every one (whether physician or other) to pass his own opin ion concerning it, pointing out from whence it was like ly to rise, and what causes he thinks sufficient to produce so entire a charige of the con stitution ofthe human body. For my own part, I shall merely relate the manner of it; and, having been myself sick of it, and seen others af flicted, I shall point out those symptoms ofthe malady, from a consideration of which any one may have some previous knowledge of it, and not be altogether ignorant of its na ture, should it ever again make its appearance. A a 2 356- ADDITIONAL NOTE Here follows a medical description ; which, being irrelevant to the present object, I omit. L. Tevop.evov yap Kpeiacrov koyov TO eibos rrjs voaov ra re akXa )('i^f'''''^repa)s rj Kara ttjv avdpbiTTeiav cfivaiv TrpoaeTriVTev e/cao-T(i), /cat ev ro)6e €br]kV \XeV TOlOVTbiV opviOoiv eiTi- Aeti/fts aa(lirjs eyevero, Kai ov^ ewpavTO ovre akkas ovre Trept ToiovTov ovbev ol be Kvves pak- kov ai(Tdr]s e/cacrrci) eTT^yxai'e rt biadjepovTcas erepa irpos ere- pov yiyvopevov, toiovtov rjv ewt TTav Trjv ibeav. Kai akko irap- ekvTtei Kar eKeivov tov \povov ovbev Totv emOoTOiV 6 be Kai yevoiTo, es tovto erekevra. eOvrja-Kov be ol p,ev ap,ekeiq, ot L. For as this was a kind of disorder which baffled all description, nay, even ex ceeded human nature, in the virulence which it exercised on the sufferers, so in the following respect it plainly evinced itself to be something wholly different from any of the ordinary distempers. For though there were many un buried corpses, those birds and beasts which prey on human flesh, either approach ed them not, or, if they tast ed, perished. A proof of which was seen in the total disappearance of all birds of prey, which were found nei ther about the carcasses, nor elsewhere. But the dogs, from their domestic habits and familiar intercourse with men, afforded a more mani fest evidence of the thing. LI. Such, then (to omit many other cases of peculiar virulence, each having some symptoms differing from those of others) was the general nature of the disor der. And none of tlie usual or endemic maladies made their attacks during its conti nuance ; or, if they did, soon ON LECTURE V. 357 be Kai Tiavv OepaTrevopevoi. ev re ovbev Karearr) iap,a as etiretv, ort x/"?^ Ttpocr^epovras mcpe- keiv TO yap rco ^vveveyKov, akXov TOVTO ejSkaTTTev. craipa Te avrapKes ov ovbev biecpavrj irpos avTO ia-)(vos wept rj aaOe- veias, akka navra ^vvrjpei Kai Ta wacrrj Statrjj depaT!evop.eva. beivorarov be iravros rjv rov KaKOV f] Te aOvpia, oitore tis at- (xdoiTo Kapv(i)v{T7pos yap to avek- nicTTOV evOvs rpa-nopevoi ttj yvoi- prj TTokkia pakXov TipoievTO acpas avTovs Kai ovx avreiyov,) Kai on erepos a0' erepov Oepaiieias avainp.Ttkapevoi, wcnrep ra -npo- ^ara, eOvrjcTKOV Kai tov Trkeia- Tov (pdopov TOVTo aveiToiei. etre yap prj Qekoiev SeStores akXr}- kois TTpoaievai, aircakkvvTO eprj- p,oi, Kai oiKiai TTokkai eKevca- dtjo'av aTTopiq tov Oepa-nevcrov- Tos' eiTe Tipocnoiev, biecf>0eipovTO, Kai pakiara ol aperrjs ti piera- iroiovpevoi' aiiv avTcav, eaiovres irapa Tovs (f>ikovs, ewet /cat ras oXo- (^iipcrets T(t>v anoyiyvopevuiv TekevTdiVTes Kai ol oiKeioi efe- Kap,VOV, VTTO TOV TTokkoV KaKOV viKCopevoi. ewt irkeov be 6pv aypcav es to aoTV, Kai ov^ fjaaov rovs eweX- ^ojras. oiKuov yap ov^ virap- \ov(TU)V, aXX' ev KakvjBais ttvi- yrjpais apa erovs biaiT(ap.ev6opos eyiyvero ovbevi /co(rp,>vTo wpore- pov wept ras racpas, eOairrov be ft)S e/caoTOS eSui'aro. /cat woXXot es avaiayyvTovs drjKas erpo- ¦wovTO, airavei rcav emTTjbeibiv bia TO a-vx^ovs rjbrj rrporeOvavai (TCpio'iv' ewt TTvpas yap akXo- Tpias, (l)6aaavTes tovs vrjaav- Tos, ot pev eTiiOevres tov eavTcav veKpov v(^rjT!Tov, ol be Kaiojxevov alO^ov avcadev eTTi^akovres ov (pepoiev airrjecrav. LIII. UponTov re rjp^e Kai corpses lay stretched out one upon another as they had died; and half-dead corpses were seen tumbling over each other, both in the streets and about every fountain, whither their rage for water had hur ried them. The very temples too in which they had hutted, were full of the corpses of those who had expired there. For as the violence of the ca lamity exceeded all bounds, and men knew not what to have recourse to, they fell into a neglect alike of sacred and social duties. All laws, too, and customs which had been in force respecting se pulture, were confounded and violated; men burying just where and how they could ; and many, for want of funeral necessaries, (so many deaths having before occurred in their families,) had recourse to very indecorous means for the interment of their friends. For some resorting to funeral piles which were raising for others, would, before they were completed, lay their own corpses thereon and set them on fire. Others, when a corpse was burning, would toss upon the pyre another which they had brought with them, and go their way. LIII. This pestilence too, A a 4 360 ADDITIONAL NOTE es raXXa ttj woXet ewt irkeov avopias TO voffrjpa. pqov yap erokpa tis, a rrporepov awe(cpiiw- rero prj Kaff fjbovrjv iroieiv, ayxi- arpocpov ttjv jxeTafSokrjv opavres Tcov T evbaipovatv Kai ai(pvibiv, evdvs be TaKeivav exovrav. tocrre raxeias ras eTTavpecreis Kai wpos to rep-nvov rj^iovv Troieio'dai, es fjyovpevoi. Kai to pev TTpoa-Takaniaipeiv rw bo^avTi /caXo) oi/Sets TTpoOvjxos rjV, abrjkov vop.i((av et wptf ew' avTO ekOeiv bia(j)daprjv ei:iKpep.a(j6rjvai, fjv irpiv epireaeiv, et/cos etfat tov jSiov Ti aTTokavaai. in other respects, gave rise to that unbridled licentiousness which then first began to be prevalent in the city ; for now every one was readier to ven ture openly upon those grati fications which he had before dissembled or indulged in secret, when he saw such sudden changes — the rich hurried away, and those who before were worth nothing, coming into immediate pos session of their property : in somuch that men were will ing to snatch the enjoyment of such fugitive delights as of fered themselves, and to live solely for pleasure, regarding their lives and theirpossessions as only held by the tenure of a day. As to bestowing labour or pains on any pursuit which seemed honourable or noble, no one cared about the mat ter, it being uncertain whe ther or not he might be snatched away previously to the attainment of his object. In short, whatever any person thought pleasurable, or such as might in any way contri bute thereto, that became with him both the honour able and useful. No fear of the gods, or respect for hu man laws, operated as any check : for as to the former, they accounted it the same ON LECTURE V. 361 to worship or not to worship them, since they saw all alike perish; and as to the latter, no one expected that his exist ence would be prolonged till judgment should take effect, and he receive the punish ment of his offences; nay, they supposed that a far hea vier judgment, already de nounced against them, hung over their heads; and before it fell upon them, they thought it right to snatch some enjoy ment of life. II. A description of the plague at Alexandria in the third century : by Dionysius, bishop of that city. Eusebii Eccl. Hist. lib. vii. Translation.* cap. 22. Mera ravra Xot/.it(crjs Toz; wo- 1. When the noisome in- kepov biakaj3ovinjs voaov ttjs re fection had overtaken these eopnjs -nktjaia^ovarjs, avdis bia civil wars, . and the feast of ypa<^s Tois abekcpois opikei, ra Easter now drew nigh, he [i. e. Tijs avp(j)opas eincTripaivopevos Dionysius] wrote letters unto •naOrj bia tovtcov " rots p.ev ak- the brethren, and mentioned ' Xots avdpcoTTois, OVK av bo^eie those lamentable afflictions in ' (catpos eoprrjs eivai ra irapov- these words. " Other men ' ra' ov8e ecrrtj' avrots ovre " may think these times not ' ovros, ovre ris erepos ovx " fit for any feast : no more ' owciis T)Trjpiov. (f>ai- " bporarrjv be iraacav rjyayov " eoprrjv ot reXetot jiaprvpes " eviaxjjBevTes ev ovpava' pera " be ravTa woXejuos /cat kipos " eireka^ev, a rots edveai avv- " birjveyKap.ev, jxovoi pev viro- " aravres, 6aafjp,iv ekvjirjvavTo' " Ttapanokavaavres be Kai av " akkrjkovs eipyacravTo re Kai " ireirov6a(Ti. " are the grounds of sorrow " to sinful man, that] not only " the mournful periods of life, " but even those which we " may esteem the most pros- " perous, are unsuitable to " joy. Now all is replenish- " ed with lamentations: every " man doth nothing but mourn " and howl throughout the " city, by reason ofthe multi- " tude of corpses and the " daily dying. 2. " As it is written ofthe " first-born of the Egypt- " ians : so now, a great cry " is heard. There is no house " where a dead body is not " found : and oh! that I could " say, there is only one in " every house. For the cala- " mities which happened be- " fore were many and griev- " ous. First, they expelled " us [Christians from the " city.] And we alone, though " persecuted by all men, and " being delivered over to " death ; yet nevertheless, " even at that time celebrated " the feast. And every place " of several afflictions, was " used by us, as a church, for " our holy assemblies : the " field, the wilderness, the " ship, the inn, the prison. " But the most joyful feast of " all, was that, which those " [of us] did celebrate, ban- " queting in heaven, whose ON LECTURE V. 363 " Kat rrj Xptorov waXtv evrjv- " (j)pav9rjp,ev eiprjvrj, fjv piovois " rjpiv e6aj(ce. ^paxyTarrjs be " rjp,v abekcftav " rjp.(3iv 6t' virep^akXovaav aya- " iTTjv Kai (^tXaSeX^taz' a(pei- " bovvres eavTotv Kai akkrjkb>v " exopevoi, eiriaKOirovvres a(^v- " kaKTcas TOVS voaovvras, kiira- " pais inrjperovpevoi, Oepairev- " ovres ev Xptana, avvairrjk- " karrovTo e/cetvots aa-pieve- " arara' rov nap erepcov ava- ' martyrdom was perfected ' [in this persecution.] After- ' wards there ensued war and ' famine, which we endured ' in common with the hea- ' then : while we suffered ' alone their injury towards ' us, and endured a share of ' the evils occasioned by ' their hostility towards each ' other. 3. " Again, we were che- ' rished with the peace which ' Christ sent : this was to our- ' selves only. But after that ' they and we had breathed a ' very little time, this pesti- ' lence befell : a thing, unto ' them, more terrible than ' any terror, andmore lament- ' able than any calamity : and ' (as a certain historiographer ' of their own reported) which, ' beyond all other things, far ' exceeded the imagination ' of all : yet of us not so ' counted, but as an exercise ' and trial, inferior to none of all the others which had be- ' fallen us. For it spared not ' even us : but it raged with ' great violence against the • heathens." Again, after a few lines he writeth : " Most of the brethren, by reason of their great love and bro therly charity, sparing not themselves, cleaved one to another, visited the sick 364 ADDITIONAL NOTE iTijxirkapevoi iradovs, /cat rtji' voaov ecj) eavrovs ekKovres auo raiv irkrjaiov, Kai eKovres avapaaaopevoi ras akyrjbo- vas. " Kat woXXot voaoKoprjaavres /cat patcravTes erepovs, ereXev- TTjaav avTOi, rov eKeiva>v 6a- varov ets eavrovs p,erao-rrjcra- pevoi, /cat TO brjputbes prjp.a, ^oi'Tjs aet boKovv (j)ikov nap fjpiv abek(f)(i>v rovTov TOV rpoiTov e^exotprjaav rov jSiov, wpeo-/3vrepot re rtz^e? /cat biaKOVOi, Kai tcov awo rov kaov kiav eiraivovpevoi' as Kai TOV davarov rovro to ei bos, bia irokkrjv evae^eiav Kai TViariv layvpav yivopevov, prj- bev aiTobeiv paprvpiov boKeiv. Kai ra awpara be t(ov ayia>v vTTTiais X^P""' '''^' Kokirois virokajxPavovTes, Kadaipovvres re TOVS o(j)6akpovs, Kai aro- para crvyKkeiovres, u>po(^op- ovvres re Kai biariOevres, upocTKokkwipevoi, avp.irkeKo- pevoi, kovTpois re Kai wept- oToXats KaTaKOdjMvvres, jxera without weariness or heed- taking, and attended upon them diligently, administer ing to them in Christ, and most gladly died with them. For, filling themselves with the grief of the others, they took the infection of their neighbours, and translated of their own accord the sor rows of others upon them selves. 4. "And many, after hav ing cured and confirmed other sick persons, died themselves, transferring to their own persons the deaths of those whom they had saved : thus fulfilling, in practice, the common say ing, that only friendship is always to be retained ; and departing this life, they seemed the offscouring of others. In this sort the best of our brethren depart ed this life : whereof some were presbyters, some dea cons, and others laymen, held in great reverence : so that this kind of death, for the great piety and strength of faith, seems to differ nothing from martyrdom. Moreover, they took the bo dies of the departed saints into their uplifted arms and breasts, wiped their eyes and closed their mouths, ON LECTURE V. 365 " piKpov ervyxavov rav ktcov' " aet T(av virokeiiropevoiv e(|>- " enopevoDV tois irpo avrcav. " Ta be ye eOvvj irav rovvav- Tiov Kai voaeiv apxopevovs aiTcadovvTo, (c«t aire