IhHH

omLE«¥MII¥]lIESIIirYo • ILIllBlBiftlKSr •

fQO^i

THE

EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY;

IN THEIR

EXTEENAL, OE HISTOEIOAL, DIVISION:

EXHIBITED IN A
COURSE OF LECTURES,
BY
CHARLES PETTIT M'lLVALNE, D.D.,
BISHOP OP THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE STATE OP OHIO.
Sint castse dellciae meae scripturee tuze ; nee fallar In els, nee fellam ex els.— Augustinb.
TWENTY-FIFTH THOUSAND.
REVISED AND IMPROVED BY THE AUTHOR, WITH THE ADDITION
OF A PREFACE,
BY OLINTHTJS GREGORY, D.D., LL.D.

3|ittlattel})fita;
SMITH, ENGLISH & CO.,
40 NORTH SIXTH ST.
18 5 9. "

Entered by the author, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1832, in the
office of the Clerk of the District Court of the United States for the Southern
O.strict of New York.

COLLINS, PRINTER

PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION.
BY OLINTHUS GREGORY, D.D., LL.D.
The English friends of the author of these Lectures on
the Evidences of Christianity are unanimous in deciding that
they will constitute a valuable addition to our sacred litera
ture. On a subject which has been repeatedly treated, and
often by men of distinguished talent and learning, much that
is essentially new is not to be expected. Yet the specific
purpose for which a work of this kind is undertaken may
cause the main arguments to be placed in such a position,
while some of the subordinate topics may be exhibited in so
strong a light, as to give to the whole an air of light and fresh
ness well fitted to convey high gratification in union with
rich instruction. Several, indeed, of the trains of reason
ing pursued by the author seem to be entirely original ; at
the same time that they are conducted with considerable
skill, and by their accumulative property, lead to an ultimate
issue that must make a deep and salutary impression on the
mind of any candid investigator of this ever momentous
subject. It may, farther, be added, that the Christian feel
ing, benevolence, and warmth with which the author con
ducts his inquiry, in its several stages, honourably distin
guish this work from many of its predecessors ; while they
show that, instead of regarding Christian truth as supplying
matter for a pleasing speculation, he considers it as that
which alone can make men truly holy, happy, honourable,
and useful, and transform the world from an Aceldama to
the Paradise of God.
May 1st, 1833.

PREFACE.

The history of the following lectures may be given in few word3. In the
autumn of eighteen hundred and thirty-one, when the University of the City
of New York had not yet organized its classes, nor appointed its instructers,
it was represented to the Council, that a course of lectures on the Evidences
of Christianity was exceedingly needed, and would probably be well attended
by young men of intelligence and education. On the strength of such repre
sentation, the author of this volume was requested, by tlie Chancellor of the
University, to undertake the work desired ; not, he is well aware, on account
of any special qualifications for a task which many others in the city would
have executed much more satisfactorily; but because, having lectured on the
Evidences of Christianity, while connected with the Military Academy at
West Point, he was supposed to be in a great measure prepared at this time
for a similar effort. It was under a considerable misunderstanding of the
extent to which the proposed engagement would be expected to go, that the
author expressed a hesitating willingness to assume its responsibility. The
next thing was the honour of an appointment, by the Council of the University,
to the office of " Lecturer on the Evidences of Christianity." Alarmed at the
prospect of so much additional work, but desirous of serving a rising and
most hopeful institution, as well as of advocating the gospel of the Led Jesus
Christ; he consented to the appointment, with the expectation of finding, in
the manuscripts of the former course, enough preparation already made to
prevent any considerable increase to his accumulated engagements. What
was his disappointment, on inspecting those compositions, to find himself so
little satisfied with their plan and whole execution, that instead of attempting
to mend their infirmities and supply their deficiencies, it seemed much better
to lay them all aside in their wonted retirement, and begin anew both in study
and writing! Thus, in the midst of exhausting duties, as a parish minister,*
and in a state of health by no means well established, he was unexpectedly
committed to an amount of labour which, had it been all foreseen, he would
not have dared to undertake. Mean while, a class of many hundreds, from
among the most intelligent in the community, and composed, to a considerable
' The author was at that time Rector of St. Ann's Church, Brooklyn, N. Y.

ii PREFACE.
extent, of members of the " New York Young Men's Society for Intellectual
and Moral Improvement," had been formed, and was waiting the commence
ment of the course. A more interesting, important, or attentive assemblage
of mind and character, no one need wish to address. The burden of prepara
tion was delightfully compensated by the pleasure of speaking to such an
audience. The lecturer could not but feel an engrossing impression of the
privilege, as well as responsibility of such an opportunity of usefulness.
He would thankfully acknowledge the kindness of divine Providence, in his
having been permitted and persuaded to embrace it, and for a measure of
health, in the prosecution of its duties, far beyond what he had reason to
expect. His debt of gratitude is inexpressibly increased by the cheering
information, that much spiritual benefit was derived from the lectures by
some whose minds, at the outset of the course, were far from the belief of the
blessed gospel, as a revelation from God.
The idea of publication did not originate with the author. He began the
work with no such view. Had it not been for the favourable opinion of the
Council of the University, as to the probable usefulness of the step, and
the urgent advice of distinguished individuals of that body ; he would have
shrunk from contributing another volume to a department of divinity, already
so well supplied by authors of the highest grade of learning and intellect.
After the recent lectures of Daniel Wilson, D. D., the present excellent bishop
of Calcutta, not to speak of many other and earlier works in the same field,
it will not seem surprising to the present author if some should think it quite
presumptuous, at least unnecessary, for a writer of such inferior qualifications,
in every sense, to offer an additional publication. But all have not read, nor
may all be expected to read the books which have already been issued.
Nothing can be more conclusive ; and yet, to multitudes of readers, they must
remain as if they were not. A work of inferior claims may find readers, and
do much good, in consequence of local circumstances drawing attention to its
pages, where all others would be overlooked. Vessels of moderate draught
may go up the tributary streams of public thought, and may deal advantage
ously with the minds of men, where others of heavier tonnage could never
reach. Should such be an advantage of this unpretending publication, its
apparent presumption may be pardoned, and its author will, by no means,
have laboured in vain. That many faults will be found in it, he cannot but
anticipate. That any have arisen from haste, carelessness, or want of pains,
he will not dishonour his sense of duty, however he might excuse his under
standing, by the plea. He can only say that he has tried to do well, and to do
good. If, in the opinion of any qualified critic, he has succeeded, he desires
to regard it as a matter of thankfulness to God, not of praise to himself. 11
he has failed, let the infirmities of the lecturer, not the merits of the subject,
receive the blame.
That many books have been consulted in the preparation of this volume,
and that the author is greatly indebted to the more learned labours of numerous
predecessors, he need not acknowledge. It seems unnecessary to mention

PREFACE. iii
more particularly than is done in the margin, the various works from which
assistance or authority has been derived. Wherever quotations occur they
are marked, and almost always credited to their respective authors. The
elaborate work of Lardner on the Credibility of die Gospel History, and the
books of Josephus, being more frequently cited than any other ; it may be
well to mention that the edition of Josephus, referred to in the marginal notes,
is that of Whiston's translation, in one volume octavo, London, 1828; and
the quotations from Lardner are out of the quarto edition of his works, in five
volumes, London, 1815.
And now, without further preface, let this humble attempt to promote the
saving truth of Jesus Christ be committed to Him whose blessing alone can
honour it. Should it receive but little favour from man, and yet be made, in
the Lord's hand, the instrument of leading some misguided soul from the
darkness and barrenness of infidelity to the precious light and hope of the
gospel, its name will then be written in heaven, and its unworthy author will
have a rich reward. C. P. M.
PREFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITION.

So many, and such remarkable instances of a divine blessing having
been graciously vouchsafed in the reading of this book, have come to the
author's knowledge, that he cannot but regard it as a duty to see that it
be no longer allowed to remain out of print, as it has been for some time
past. It would make a very interesting little book were it in the power
of the author to recollect and relate the particulars of the many cases of
persons who have ascribed their conversion from infidelity, and their af
fectionate embracing of the gospel, under the blessing of God, to the use
of this little, unpretending work. In many instances, the accounts were
given to the author by the persons themselves, earnestly seeking an in
terview for the purpose ; in others, by their friends made happy by their
conversion ; or by those who had advised the reading of the book, and
wished its writer to be partaker, with them, in the joy of knowing that it
had been made a signal blessing. Some are now in the ministry of the
gospel, who, when they began the perusal, were in the darkness of infidel
ity. A copy of the first edition was sent by the author, as a present, to the
library of a literary institution. Some time after, he received a request
for another copy, with the reason that the first had got worn out before it
ever reached its destination. The explanation was, that an officer of the
institution had lent it to a person living in a neighbouring village, who
was well known among the inhabitants as an infidel, and who had suc
ceeded in poisoning the minds of many in the vicinity against the gospel.
God blessed the book to the breaking up of that man's whole boasted sys
tem of opinion. He became a Christian, and then sent the volume, as a

IV

PREFACE.

missionary, among those whom he had poisoned. When its rounds were
done (which were greatly blessed), it was worn out, and a new ono was
requested for the library.
The author is sensitively aware of the delicacy of his speaking of these
things, lest he should seem to regard them with feelings of self-compla
cency, and to mention them with a view to his own praise. God forbid !
How can he take praise to himself for that which is, and must be so ex
clusively, the work of the mighty power and unsearchable grace of God,
as the conversion of a sinner from a hardened infidel to being an hum
ble, obedient follower of Christ 1 He has three motives in speaking of
these things. One is, that he may thankfully acknowledge the goodness
and condescension of God in having made use of an instrument so humble
and unworthy, for the accomplishment of such a wonderful and infinitely
precious end as the turning of immortal souls "from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan unto God." Certainly, when these lectures
were composed, and when the author concluded to print them, he little
suspected ever to be greeted with such accounts of their usefulness as
have come to his ears.
Another motive is, that persons may be encouraged to put this, or
similar books, into the hands of those who unhappily have taken up with
sentiments opposed to the gospel of Christ. There is a mass and a so
lemnity of strength in the evidences of Christianity, when properly pre
sented ; there is visible upon them so distinctly the handwriting of God,
that they cannot fail to be exceedingly impressive to any mind that is
once induced to consider them. The author is persuaded that professing
Christians are too little informed on this subject for their own benefit and
usefulness, and that the importance of the general circulation of well-di
gested, serious, earnest, spiritually-minded works thereon is not rightly
appreciated by the Christian community.
A third motive is, to point out one reason which may account for the
fact that, in the circulation of this book and others of the same class, in a
certain respect which will presently be mentioned, there have occurred
so many more instances, not merely of the removal of skeptical doubts,"
but also of the actual work of God's grace in turning sinners to himself,
than have usually been known in connection with books on the Evidences
of Christianity. No explanation can be found in any greater skill, or
weight of argument ; in any new evidences, or any new logical method
of arraying what had often been exhibited before. It seems to be in this,
that the argument is not presented merely as an argument, abstractedly
from the great and infinitely momentous interests which depend upon the
conclusion to which the reader shall come, but is kept in close connec
tion with the question, What must I do to be saved ? and thus its whole
lorce becomes a matter of serious and solemn impression, as well as ol

PREFACE. V
intellectual conviction. This is seen in the admirable lectures on the
Evidences, by Bishop Wilson, and also in the forcible volume on the
same subject, by one whom the present writer cannot speak of without
an expression of veneration and love for one of the most eminent Chris
tians and philosophers of his age — his deceased friend, the late Olinthus
Gregory, LL.D. Those books exhibit gospel truth, as well as prove that
lie gospel is true. The earnestness of the Christian preacher accom-
anies the argument of the scholastic reasoner. The question stands be
fore the reader as one of conscience as well as of judgment. It seems
invested with all that is serious in the worth of his soul and in the con
sideration of eternity. God blesses such books of Evidences more than
others, as He blesses those sermons more than others which, though they
may be inferior in argument, in talent, in eloquence, have more of the
seriousness and earnestness of the gospel. Perhaps the writer may be
aHowea" to insert here, in confirmation of these views, the opinion of one
whose judgment he is glad of an opportunity of honouring. The present
noble president of the British and Foreign Bible Society, Lord Bexley,
addressed to the writer, in 1833, a very kind letter concerning this vol
ume, in which he said, " In one important respect, it seems to excel other
works ol a similar kind, namely, that while the chain of argument is de
duced with great clearness and force, no opportunity is lost of giving it a
practical application, and of impressing holiness on the heart, as well as
conviction on the understanding. The want of this renders many books
dry and repulsive, which are much to be admired for sagacity and extent
of information."
In the year 1833, this work was reprinted in England, under the advice
and superintendence of the late Dr. Olinthus Gregory, of the Royal Mil
itary Academy ; and to that edition it is probably owing that a communi
cation has been received from the committee of the venerable society of
the Church of England " for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge,'
requesting the author's approbation to its being adopted by that society
and printed as one of its works for distribution. C. P. M'lLVAINE.
Gambier (Ohio), Jan., 1844.

CONTENTS.

LECTURE I.
INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS, p. 15.
The Difficulty of presenting the Evidences of Christianity arises, not from any
lack of Arguments, but from the Difficulty of a just Selection and Arrangement
where Materials are so abundant, p. 16.
I. The high Importance of the Investigation proposed, p. 17.
The Question is, Is the Religion of Jesus Christ, as exhibited in the New Testa
ment, a Revelation from God, and, consequently, possessed of a sovereign Right to uni
versal Faith and Obedience ? p. 17.
We must have the Religion of Christ or none, p. 17.
Deism, the only imaginable Substitute, shown to offer no Refuge, p. 18
The Investigation urged on the experimentally convinced Christian, as a mat
ter of spiritual Pleasure and Improvement, p. 25 ; and as a matter of Duty to the
Cause of Truth, and to the Good of his Neighbour, p. 25.
The same urged on the merely nominal Christian, as necessary to a rationul and
steadfast Belief of what he professes not to doubt, p. 26 ; and for a deeper Impres
sion of the Solemnity of its Truth, p. 27.
The Investigation derives additional Importance from the peculiar Character of
the present Times, as those of Licentiousness, under the Boast of Freedom, in such
Inquiries, p. 28.
It derives, also, advantage from the present Times, as distinguished for scientific
Research and Discovery, p. 32.
II. The Importance of strict Attention to the Spirit in which this Investigation is con
ducted, p. 34.
The Opposition between the Precepts of Christianity and the natural Disposi
tions of Man makes the Question one of Feeling as well as Evidence, and has a
Tendency to magnify Objections, and to depreciate the Contrary, p. 34.
The Pride of humam Reason is often deeply offended at the Claims of Christian
ity, p. 36.
It is true of Christianity, as of many other very important Matters of Truth, that
Objections are more easily invented than answered, p. 39.
Phenomena which these Considerations account for, p. 40.
Docility of Mind j
A deep Seriousness of Purpose ;
And Prayer, earnestly recommended as necessary to this Investigation, p. 40.
LECTURE II.
AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, p. 42.
The Study of the Evidences of Christianity may be brief or extended, accord
ing as the Object is simply Conviction ; or, in addition to that, the Pleasure of
collecting all the various Lights which may be concentrated on this Subject.
The Evidences are of two general Classes, viz., External or Historical, and In
ternal, p. 42.
A brief Account of what each Head includes, p. 42.
The present Course of Lectures confined to the External.
Thfi complete treatment of this Division would begin with the Necessity of a Di
vine Revelation, as the History of Mankind exhibits it, p. 43.
We begin with the Authenticity of the New Testament, p. 44.
Difference between Authenticity and Credibility, as used in these Lectures, p. 44.
The Question is, How does it appear that the several Parts of the New Testament
were written by the Men to whom they are ascribed, the original Disciples of Christ,
and are therefore Authentic ? p. 45.
The same Course pursued as in ascertaining the Authenticity of any othei
Book, p. 45. A general Sketch of the Argument, p. 47. vii

Vlll CONTENTS.
I. The Boohs of the New Testament are quoted, or alluded to, by a series of Writer*,
who maybe followed up in unbroken succession from the present Age to that of the Apos
tles, p. 48.
This shown by reference to Catalogues, &c, from the 4th Century to the Age
of the Apostles, p. 48-57.
Particulars included in the above which require a more special Notice.
1st. The Books of the New Testament, when quoted or alluded to, are treated
with supreme Regard, as possessing a singular Authority, and as conclusive in
Questions of Religion, p. 57.
2d. They were united at a very early Period in a distinct Volume, p. 58.
3d. They were at a very early Period publicly read and expounded in the
Churches, p. 58.
4th. Commentaries were written on them, Harmonies constructed, Copies dili
gently compared, and Translations made into different Languages, p. 59.
5th. The Agreement of the ancient Churches as to what were the Authentic
Books of the New Testament was complete, p. 60.
6th. There was as entire an Agreement among the Heretics of the earliest Cen
turies as among the Orthodox, p. 61.
7th. These several Heads of Evidence cannot be pretended to be in favour of
any Apocryphal Scriptures, p. 62.
Six Evidences of Spuriousness, all of which are found in the Apocryphal Scrip
tures, none of them in the New Testament, p. 64.
Confirmation given by the Existence of Apocryphal Writings to the Claims of
the New Testament, p. 65.
Lesson to the Believer from what has been exhibited, p. 67.
LECTURE III.
authenticity and integrity of the new testament, p. 68.
From the Tenor of the preceding Lecture, it is Evident that the Cation of the
New Testament was not made without the most intelligent and careful Investigation, p. 68.
This farther appears from the numerous Catalogues that have come down to us,
p. 69.
From the Pains taken to procure Information, and the decisive Censure with
which an Attempt to pass a spurious Book was visited, p. 70.
The gradual Steps by which the Canon was completed afforded the best Oppor
tunity for the settlement of the Claim of any Book to Authenticity, p. 70.
Some Remarks concerning the Formation of the Canon of the New Testament,
p. 71.
The canonical Authority of the Epistle to the Hebrews ; of James ; the Second
of Peter ; the Second and Third of John ; of Jude ; and of the Book of Revelation,
p. 75-80. The Testimony of the Adversaries of Christianity, p. 81.
The preceding Evidence confirmed by a Reference to
The Language and Style of the Books of the New Testament.
1st. They are in perfect Accordance with the local and other Circumstances of
the reputed Writers, p. 85.
2d. They are in perfect Harmony with the known Characters of the reputed
Writers, p. 88.
The Result is that, if the Books of the New Testament be not Authentic, no
thing less than a Miracle can account for their early and universal Currency, p. 89.
On the Integrity of these Books, that they have undergone no material Al
teration, we reason,
1st. From the perfect Impossibility of any material Alteration, p. 94.
2d. From the Agreement among the existing Manuscripts, p. 96.
3d. Brom the Agreement of the Text with the numerous Quotations in the
Works of early Christian Writers, and with ancient Translations, p. 97.
LECTURE IV.
credibility of the gospel history, p. 99.
A Book may be Authentic and not Credible, p. 99.
Aim of this Lecture to prove that what the Gospel History relates as Matter of

CONTENTS. IX
Fact is worthy of Reliance as such, independently of all Inferences or Doctrines
connected therewith, p. 100.
The Credibility of the Gospel History ascertained precisely like that of any
other History, p. 100.
The Peculiarity of the present Case such as that, having proved the Authenticity
of the Books containing the Gospel History, we have proved the Credibility of the
History, p. 100.
But a broader Plan of Argument is taken :
A general View of the Proof of Credibility, p. 103. The two Points to be
made out in relation to any Historical Document are competent Knowledge and
trustworthy Honesty in the Writer, p. 105.
I. The Writers of the Gospel History had Opportunities of possessing adequate
Knowledge as to those Matters of Fact which they related, p. 106.
II. There is abundant Evidence that they were too Honest to relate anything but truth.
p. 107.
1st. The Narratives are in a high degree Circumstantial, p. 107.
2d. The Authors manifest no Consciousness of narrating anything about which,
as a Matter of Fact, there was the smallest Doubt, p. 109.
3d. There is a minute Accuracy in all the Allusions to the Manners, Customs,
Opinions, political Events, &c, of the Times, p. 111.
4th. The Argument greatly strengthened by considering the New Testament
as a Collection of Writings by eight perfectly independent Authors, p. 1 12.
The Consideration that the Writers of the Gospels were Disciples and Minis
ters of Christ should be regarded as strengthening their Testimony, p. 113.
Absurd Consequences of supposing them not to have been Sincere in their
Statements, p. 117.
The Gospel History has all the Testimony that could possibly have been ex
pected, in the Nature of Things, from the Enemies of Christianity, p. 119.
It was utterly impossible that the Gospel History should 'lave gained such Cur
rency as it had in the Apostles' Time, had it not been True, p. 121.
LECTURE V.
MIRACLES, p. 126.
Authenticity of the Books, and Credibility of the History contained therein, being
ascertained, we are prepared to open the Contents of the New Testament. The
first thing we perceive is, that it professes to teach a Divinely-revealed Religion.
And the Question is,
What are the Evidences that the Religion contained in the New Testament is a Di
vine Revelation ? p. 126.
The Lord Jesus Christ constantly appealed to Miracles for his Credentials as
an Ambassador from God, p. 126.
The sufficiency of Miracles as Credentials, when well attested, acknowledged
by Infidels, p. 127.
Reasons for not proceeding directly to the Proof of such Credentials, p. 128.
The present Lecture devoted to certain preliminary Considerations.
I. There is nothing Unreasonable or Improbable in the Idea of a Miracle being wrought
in Proof of a Divine Revelation, p. 128.
II.' If Miracles were wrought in Attestation of the Mission of Christ and his Apos
tles, they can be rendered Credible to us by no other Evidence than that of Testimony,
p. 131.
III. Miracles are capable of being Proved by Testimony, p. 133.
Hume's Argument against Miracles, in Proof of a Divine Revelation, stated
and answered, p. 134.
IV. The Testimony in Proof of the Miracles of the Gospel has not diminished in
Force by the increase of Age, p. 146.
V. In being called to examine the Credibility of these Miracles by the Evidence of
Testimony, we are more favourably situated than if we had been enabled to subject them
to the Evidence of the Senses, p. 148.
The whole Truth exhibited in this Lecture calls us to adore the Wisdom of
God, p. 152.

X CONTENTS.
LECTURE VI.
MIRACLES, p. 155.
Have we satisfactory Evidence that genuine Miracles were wrought by the
Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles ? p. 155.
This Question is settled by the Proof of Credibility.
Another line of Argument adopted.
The Religion of the Bible is the only one which, in its first Introduction, ap
pealed to Miracles for Evidence of the Divine Authority of its Teachers, p. 156.
I. Supposing the Works related of Christ to have actually occurred, many of
them must have been genuine Miracles, p. 1 59.
II. The alleged Miracles of Christ were such as admitted at once of the Test of
the Senses, p. 160.
III. They were performed in the most public Manner, p. 160.
IV. They were very Numerous and of great Variety, p. 161.
V. The Success was in every Instance Instantaneous and Complete, p. ] 62.
VI. There is no Evidence of an Attempt on the part of Christ or His Apostles
to perform a Miracle in which they were accused of a Failure, p. 163.
VII. The Length of Time during which they professed to perform miraculous
Works, p. 164.
VIII. Their Works underwent the most rigid Examination from those who had
every Opportunity of ascertaining their Character, p. 165.
IX. Their Adversaries had every Advantage in the Fact that these Miracles
were published and appealed to immediately after, and in the Places where they
occurred, p. 166.
X. These Arguments derive important Aid from a Consideration of the Agents
whose Works were subjected to such Scrutiny, p. 168.
XI. None of those who were Eyewitnesses of what Jesus or His Apostles
wrought, were ever induced to confess themselves deceived, or that they had
ever seen anything but Truth in those miraculous Gifts by which they had been
persuaded to embrace the Gospel, p. 169.
XII. The Character of the Miracles themselves, p. 171.
XIII. Evidence from the primitive Adversaries of Christianity, p. 172.
XIV. Testimony of all who were converted to Christianity. Such Testimony
ehown to be stronger than that of Adversaries, p. 176.
The Absurdities which must be believed by those who maintain that the Mira
cles were Fictions, and, consequently, that their Authors were Deceivers, p. 179.
LECTURE VII.
PROPHECY, p. 184.
In having proved the Genuineness of the Miracles attesting the Divine Mission
of Christ and His Apostles, we have made out a complete Proof of the Divine Au
thority of Christianity. But our Object being, not only to prove this, but to show
by how many Ways it may be proved, we take up a new Line of Argument derived
from Prophecy, p. 184.
What a Prophecy is. The Application of fulfilled Prophecy to the Proof of a
Divine Revelation, p. 185.
Prophecy furnishes an Argument which, in point of Force, is continually grow
ing, p. 186.
In much of the Argument from Prophecy, the Evidence is before our Eyes, ad
dressed to our Senses, p. 188.
The Religion of the Bible is the only one which, on its first Introduction, ap
pealed to Prophecy for the Credentials of its Founder, p. 190.
The Weight of the Evidence from Prophecy, and the moral Grandeur witn
which it appears in Evidence of Christianity, can be appreciated only bv a fu'1
View of the immense Scheme and Extent of the Prophecies in the Bible, p. 193.'
The Fulfilment of a Selection of miscellaneous Prophecies exhibited, p. 198.
Prophecies concerning Zedekiah, p. 198 ; the Destruction of Babylon, p. 198 ; and
of Tyre, p. 199 ; concerning Egypt, p. 200 ; concerning the Country and Cities ol
. udea, p. 201 ; concerning the Jews, p. 202 ; concerning the Empires of Chaldea,
»'ersia, Macedon, and Rome, in Daniel, p. 206.
The Fulfilment of Prophecies concerning Christ, p. 208.

CONTENTS. XI
1st. Those which relate to the Time and Circumstances of His Advent, p. 208.
2d. Those which speak of His Life, Sufferings, Death, Resurrection, and In
crease of His Kingdom, p. 209.
The Idea of Chance, as explaining the Coincidences mentioned, p. 213.
Three Conclusions from the prophetic Argument, as exhibited, p. 215.
LECTURE VIII.
I'ROFHECY, p! 216.
Christ was the Author, as well as the Subject, of Prophecies.
By Prophecy, as well as Miracles, He proved His Divine Mission. None of
His Prophecies more Impressive than those concerning the Destruction of Jerusa
lem. These selected for present Consideration, p. 216.
Is it well ascertained that these were published before the Event? p. 217.
1st. The Prediction of the appearing of False Christs, deceiving Many, by
Signs and Wonders, prior to the main Event, p. 219.
2d. Of Wars and rumours of Wars preceding the Siege of Jerusalem, p. 220.
3d. Of Famines, Pestilences, and Earthquakes, in divers Places, p. 221.
4th. Of fearful Signs from Heaven, p. 222.
5th. Of the Persecution of Christians as one of the Signs of approaching Des
olations, p. 224.
6th. A consequent declension of Religion among the professed Disciples of
Christ, p. 225.
7th. The preaching of the Gospel in all the World for a Witness before the
Event should come, p. 225.
8th. Jerusplem compassed with Annies, and the Escape of the Christians, p. 227.
9th. The Method of the Siege, p. 230.
10th. The unparalleled Tribulation, p, 231.
Uth. The complete Destruction of the City and Temple, p. 234.
12th. The Captivity of the Jews in all Nations, p. 238.
Jerusalem trodden down of the Gentiles, p. 239.
Attempt of Julian to rebuild the Temple, p. 240.
Brief View of the Condition of Jerusalem to the present Time, p. 242.
Reflections on the preceding Particulars, p. 245.
Postscript, containing an Application of the Theory of Probabilities to the Proph
ecies considered above, showing the Argument negatively, p. 247.
LECTURE IX.
THE PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY, p. 251.
The Proof of Christianity as a Divine Revelation has already been twice finish
ed : first, by the Argument from Miracles ; secondly, by that from Prophecy, p. 251.
A third independent Proof is now to be undertaken.
In estimating the propagation of the Gospel as an Evidence of Divine Attesta
tion, consider,
I. The Difficulties which its first promulgators encountered, p. 252.
1st. The Novelty of the Idea of propagating a new Religion, to the Exclusion
of all others, p. 252.
2d. The Peculiarity of the Gospel, as a System of Doctrine, and a Rule of Heart
and Life, p. 254.
3d. From the above, it results that the Propagation of Christianity must have
been opposed by all the Influence of every Priesthood, Heathen and Jewish, p. 256.
4th. The Opposition of the Magistrate was added to that of the Priest, p. 258.
5th. To these associated Powers were added the opposing Prejudices and Pas
sions of all People, p. 259.
6th. The Wisdom and Pride of the Heathen Philosophers were not the least fol
midabie Opponents, p. 260.
7th. All these Opponents derived the greater Influence from the peculiar Charac
let of the Age, p. 261. .
8th. They appear the more formidable in contrast with the peculiar Character of
the Men to whom the Propagation of the Gospel was committed, p. 262.
9th. And by a Consideration of the Circumstances of Depression and Discourage
ment under which those Men began their Work, p. 263.

Xll CONTENTS.
10th. And of the Mode they adopted, p. 264.
11th. They were met everywhere by the fiercest Persecution, p. 265.
It is certain that they understood the Difficulties and anticipated the Dangers
of their Undertaking, p. 267.
II. The Success of the Apostles in propagating the Gospel, p. 268.
A brief View of the Progress of Christianity during about seventy Years from
the Commencement of its Promulgation, p. 268-274.
This rapid Extension compared with that of the Doctrines of Heathen Philoso
phers, p. 274.
And with the Propagation of Mohammedanism, p. 275.
And with the Success attending Efforts at the present Day for the Establish
ment of Christianity among the Heathen, p. 278.
The Propagation of the Gospel by the Apostles was a Miracle, p. 280.
The Absurdities necessarily attaching to any Effort to account for it on other
Grounds than that of the Power and Favour of God, p. 280.
The Argument from Propagation is not yet Complete. It is yet to receive im
mense additional Force from the Success which is yet promised to the Gospel,
p. 283. LECTURE X.
THE FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY, p. 284.
A fourth Line of Argument, and a fourth independent Proof commenced in this
Lecture. The true Results of any System of Doctrine are always a correct Exponent of
its Character, as True or False.
This is a Test to which the Saviour Himself directed us, p. 284.
It were well if Infidelity were more frequently tried by this Test, p. 285.
The Consideration of the Fruits of Christianity divided into,
I. The Effects of Christianity on Society in general.
IL Its Effects on the Character and Happiness of its genuine Disciples, p. 285.
The Former made the Subject of this Lecture.
A brief Survey of the moral Condition of the World at the first Publication of
the Gospel, p. 285.
1st. The Religion of the Heathen in the Age of the Apostles, p. 286.
2d. The Spirit of Cruelty that reigned among them, p, 288.
3d. Their degrading Vices, p. 291.
The striking Contrast wherever genuine Christianity has reigned, p. 294-299.
There is no possible Way of accounting for this Contrast but by ascribing it to
the direct Influence of Christianity, p. 299-302.
Confessions of Infidels, p. 302.
Illustrations of the Fruit of Christianity in modern Missions among the Hea
then, p. 302.
Defence of Christianity against the Charge of being the Cause of the Wars,
Persecutions, &c, which are connected with its History, p. 306.
Application of the Argument. The Absurdities necessarily involved in the
Creed of the Infidel, p. 312. LECTURE XI.
THE FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY, p. 317,
The Trial of Christianity by its Fruits is as Philosophical as it is Scriptural.
Eighteen Centuries have afforded all conceivable Opportunities of ascertaining
what are its genuine Fruits, p. 317.
The present Lecture confined to the Fruits of Christianity in the Character and
Happiness of its genuine Disciples, p. 318.
Reason for placing such Fruits among the external Evidences, p. 318.
I. The moral Transformations which the Gospel in all Ages has notoriously
wrought cannot be accounted for but on the Supposition of a Divine Power ac
companying its Operations, p. 318.
II. The Fruits of Christianity in the Lives of its genuine Disciples contrasted
with those which notoriously characterize the Lives of its Opposers, p. 326.

CONTENTS. Xlil^
III. The Fruits, &c, as displayed in the Deaths of its genuine Disciples, con
trasted with those exhibited in the Deaths of its Opposers, p. 341.
Practical Conclusion, p. 356. LECTURE XII.
SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT AND APPLICATION TO OBJECTIONS, p. 357.
The Recapitulation of the Argument in the preceding Lectures, p. 357-369.
¦ This Review leads to the Consideration of,
1st. The Plainness and Simplicity of the Evidences of Christianity, p. 369.
2d. Their great Variety and Accumulation, p. 370.
3d. Their Impressiveness, p. 372.
4th. The whole Array is strictly Philosophical, p. 375.
The Objection founded on the Mysteriousness of certain Things in Christianity
answered, p. 382.
The Objection that we cannot understand the Reason of certain Things for
which Christianity is responsible answered, p. 385.
The Injustice done to Christianity by placing her so exclusively on the Defen-
sive. Let Infidelity be placed in the same Position, p. 389.
LECTURE XIII.
INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES AND CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS, p. 392.
Christianity and the Scriptures are essentially Associated. But the Proof of
Divine Revelation in the Former is no Pioc of Divme Inspiration in the Latter.
Need of Inspiration in the Book which tej us what Christianity is, p. 392
The Proposition to be sustained in this Lecture is, that
All Scripture is given by Inspiration of God, p. 393.
Inspiration defined, p. 393.
Having Established the Credibility of the Saviour and His Apostles as Messen.
gers sent of God, our direct Reference in the present Inquiry is to what they have
asserted, so that our simple Question is, Does the New Testament bear Witness that
the several Books of the Bible were treated by the Saviour or His Apostles as Divinely
inspired ? p. 394.
1. The Inquiry begun with regard to the Books of the Old Testament, p. 394.
1st. The Saviour and his Apostles regarded the Old Testament with at least as
much Reverence as did the Jews in their day, p. 394.
2d. We have the direct Assertion of the Inspiration of the Books of the Old
Testament by St. Paul, p. 396.
II. The Inquiry continued with regard to the Books of the New Testament.
1st The Inspiration of the New Testament may be naturally and reasonably
inferred from that of the Old, p. 397.
2d. The same Conclusion necessarily follows from the evident Inspiration of
the Apostles in their Preaching and other official Acts, p. 399.
3d. If the Apostles did not intend to produce this Conviction, and it be not
well founded, they adopted the most likely Means of leading us into a most im
portant Heresy, p. 401.
Practical Address to Readers in Conclusion, p. 405.
1*

EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.

LECTURE I.
INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS.
I appear before those who have come this evening to
favour me with their attention, as sustaining, under appoint
ment from the University of the city of New York, the office
of Lecturer on the Evidences of Christianity. It is but jus
tice to my own feelings, to assure you that I had not thought
of entering on so much responsibility until earnestly requested
to do so by respected individuals belonging to the Council of
that institution. I am not without much apprehension of
having ventured far beyond my qualifications in acceding to
their desires. When I think of the many in. this city of
much superior furniture of mind and spirit, to whom the
office might have been intrusted, and of my own daily and
engrossing occupations in the duties of the ministry, leaving
so little time or strength for any other occupation, however
important, it is a matter almost of alarm that I find myself
committed to a series of lectures for which the very best in
tellect, the soundest judgment, and the most deliberate study,
are so much needed. But having undertaken the work, 1
trust the Lord has ordered the step in wisdom, and, if I seek
his guidance, will enable me to go forward in a strength
above my own; so that I may be the instrument, under his
hand, of contributing something to promote the improve
ment and everlasting happiness of those to whom I may have
the pleasure of speaking.

16 LECTURE I.
The present lecture will be exclusively of an intraductal y
kind. I pause at the threshold, in remembrance of the woid
and promise of God : " In all thy ways acknowledge Him,
and He shall direct thy steps.'" I would devoutly acknow
ledge God as the omniscient witness in this undertaking ;
the only source of wisdom, strength, and blessing, " from
whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works
do proceed." May his Holy Spirit, through the mediation of
his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is " the way, the truth,
and the life," " God, blessed for ever," condescend to guide our
way and help our infirmities, that all may see and embrace
the TRUTH.
The subject to which we are to direct our attention, has
engaged the powers of wise, learned, and good men, in ^ most
all ages since the promulgation of Christianity. Minds of
every class, and in all departments of intellectual occupation.
have directly or indirectly, by design or unwittingly, contri
buted materials for its elucidation. Thus it has come to pass
that the difficulty of an appropriate exhibition of the evi
dences of Christianity is rather on the side of selection and
arrangement and the just proportioning of arguments, than
of their sufficient multiplication. To give the various branches
of the subject their just measure of relief and prominence ;
to determine what should be displayed strongly and com
pletely, and what should be sketched with a lighter pencil,
and placed in the background of the picture ; to adjust the
uumerous parts in such symmetry as will present the whole
with the most undivided and overcoming effect, is a difficulty
of no little magnitude, where attention to space and time is
of so much consequence as in the present undertaking. The
nicest discrimination, the most logical taste, and a talent for
extensive combination, may here find room for the exercise
oi all their powers. The danger is that one will lose him
self amidst the wide spread and accumulated treasures of
illustration and evidence ; that he will fail so entirely in their

LECTURE I. 17
classification as to see and exhibit them confusedly and un
justly, and for want of a good discipline among his own
thoughts will lead out his forces in feeble detail, instead of
forming them into compact masses, and meeting the enemy
on every side with a self-sustained combination of strength.
Before we proceed to the main question on which our sub
sequent lectures are to be employed, it will be well to call
your attention to,
I. The high importance of the investigation on which we
are about to enter. You are to unite with me in examining
the grounds on which the religion of the gospel claims to be
received, to the exclusion of every other religion in the
world, as containing the only way of duty and the only
foundation of a sinner's hope of salvation ; so that you may
be enabled to answer satisfactorily to your own consciences
and to all who may ask a reason of your belief, this great
question : Is the religion of Jesus Christ as exhibited in the
New Testament, a revelation from God, and consequently
¦possessed of a sovereign right to universal faith and obe
dience ?
There are considerations intrinsically belonging to this
question, which place it in an aspect of unrivalled importance.
We must have the religion of Christ or none. A very
little reflection will make it apparent, that the question as to
the truth of Christianity is not one of preference between two
rival systems of doctrine, having conflicting claims and
nearly balanced arguments and benefits ; it is not whether
the gospel is more true and salutary than some other mode
of religion, which though inferior would still secure many
of the most essential and substantial benefits for which reli
gion is desirable. But it is no other than the plain and
solemn question, shall we believe in the faith of Christ, or in
none? Shall we receive and be comforted by the light which
the gospel has thrown over all our present interests and fu-
'ure prospects ; or shall our condition in this life — our rela-

18 LECTURE I.
tion to the future — what we are to be, and what we are to
receive hereafter and for ever, be left in appalling, impenetra
ble darkness ? Such is the real question when we inquire
whether Christianity is a revelation from God. Do any ask
the reason ? Because if such be the divine origin and autho
rity of the religion of Christ, there can be no other religion.
It claims not only to stand — but to stand alone. It demands
not only that we believe it — but that, in doing so, we consider
ourselves as denying the truth of every other system of faith.
Like the one living and true God, whose seal and character
it bears, it is jealous, and will not share its honour with ano
ther ; but requires us to believe that, as there is but one Lord,
so there is but one faith — the truth as it is in Jesus. On the
other hand, if Christianity be not of divine origin, it is no
religion; its essential doctrines must be false; its whole
structure baseless. Suppose then, for a moment, that such
were the case, what could we substitute for the gospel ? We
must either plunge into the abyss of atheism, or find some
thing in the regions of paganism that would answer ; or be
content with the religion of Mohammed ; or else find what
our nature wants in that which is unjustly distinguished as
the Religion of Nature, in other words, we must become
Deists. But is there a creed among the countless absurdi
ties of pagan belief and worship which any of us could be
persuaded to adopt? Could we be convinced of the pro
phetic character of the Arabian impostor, and receive as of
divine authority the professed revelations and unrighteous
features of the Koran, after having rejected such a book as
the New Testament, and such evidences as those of Jesus ?
Where else could we flee ? To atheism ? But that is the
gulf in which all religions are lost. — Darkness is on the face
of the deep. Nothing remains that does not acknowledge
the divine revelation of Christianity, but the self-styled reli
gion of nature — deism. And what shall be said of this ? 1
am unable to give an account of it more definite than that it

LECTURE I. 19
is the denial of Christianity, on the one hand, and of atheism,
on the other, and is to be found somewhere between these
two infinitely distant extremes ; but is never stationary,
changing place with the times ; accommodating its charac
ter to the disposition of every disciple, and permitting any
one to assume the name of Deist who will only believe these
two articles of faith — that there is a God, and that Chris
tianity is untrue. Such is the religion which, according to
Paine, " teaches us without the possibility of being mistaken
all that is necessary or proper to be known." And yet
notwithstanding this boasted fulness and infallibility of in
struction, there is no agreement among Deists as to what
their natural religion consists in, or as to the truth of whatsome
of them consider its most fundamental doctrines. Their chief
writers are altogether at variance as to whether there is any
distinction between right and wrong, other than in the law of
the land, or the customs of society ; whether there is a Provi
dence ; whether God is to be worshipped in prayer and praise,
or the practice of virtue is not the only worship required ;
whether the practice of virtue forbids or encourages deceit,
suicide, revenge, adultery, and all uncleanness ; whether the
soul is mortal or immortal ; whether God has any concern
with human conduct. Now without spending a moment
upon the question as to what evidence or what adaptation to
the wants of men and of sinners, deism could pretend to, after
the rejection of evidence and excellence such as those of the
gospel ; let me ask whether deism can with any propriety be
called religion ? Does that deserve the name of a system of
religious faith which has no settled doctrine upon the most
essential points of belief and practice ? which may acknow
ledge as many contradictory forms, at the same moment, as il
has disciples, and never could remain long enough in one
position or under one countenance for the most skilful pencil
to take its portrait ? But aside from all this, it is too notori
ous to be argued, that whatever pretensions may have been

20 LECTURE I.
advanced by Deists to something like a theory of religious
belief, it is at best a mere theory ; utterly powerless in prac
tice, except to liberate its disciples from all conscientious
restraint upon their passions, and promote in the public mind
the wildest licentiousness as to all moral obligation. Substi
tute deism for Christianity, and none acquainted with the
nature or history of man can help acknowledging that as to
all the beneficial influence of religion upon heart and life, in
promoting either the moral purity of individuals, or the hap
piness of society, we shall have no religion at all. When
have Deists ever maintained a habit of private, family, or
public worship ? Attempts have been made among them to
keep up some mode of congregational service, but total failure,
in every instance, has proved how forced was the effort, and
how little it would have been thought of, had it not been for
the surrounding influence of Christianity. The first attempt
was by a man in England, who styled himself the Priest of
Nature. He relapsed from being a dissenting preacher in
England, of an orthodox creed, to socinianism, thence to
deism ; after which he set up in London a house of worship,
formed a liturgy, was patronised by some persons of influ
ence, preached and collected some disciples. But most of
his people became Atheists ; and after an experiment of four
years, the congregation was reduced to nothing, funds failed,
and the effort was abandoned. The most formidable enter
prise in this way took place in France during the revo
lution. Having found by some experience that to acknow
ledge no God was to have no law ; and to be without religious
institutions was to want civilization and peace ; certain per
sons distinguished for learning, and calling themselves Theo
philanthropists, set up a society for the worship of God on
the principles of deism. The desolated churches of Paris
were given for their object. A directory of deistical worship
was published, containing prayers and hymns. Lectures
were substituted for sermons. The ceremonies were simple,

LECTURE 1. 21
tasteful, and classical. Music added its. charms. The form
of worship was sent into all parts of the country, and great
exertions were made by the powers of the state to get up this
religion in every town. Circumstances were exceedingly
propitious to the enterprise. Christianity had been banished.
Her witnesses were in sackcloth. She had none to oppose
themselves to the scheme of her enemies. The country was
sick of the horrors of atheism. Some religion was demanded
by public feeling. This contrivance had nothing in it offen
sive to the sinner, while it seemed to be skilfully adapted to
the people and the times. Moreover, it was patronised by
government, and conformed to by the learned. The cere
monies were well performed — the musical accompaniments
excellent. But all would not do. No sooner had novelty
ceased, than the assemblies were thinned. The trifling
expenses of music and apparatus could not be raised out of
the liberality of the people. The society was split up with
lissensions, some refusing the manual of worship; others
complaining against the lecturers as aiming at too much
power ; others demanding that the creed of the society
should be more liberal and allow a greater latitude of belief.
None at last could be got to lecture. To keep up the popular
interest, and to escape the charge of bigotry, religious festi
vals were appointed, in which a union of service was
attempted to be formed between Jews, Protestants, Catholics,
Deists, and Atheists. There were festivals in honour of
Socrates, of Rousseau, and of Washington. At one of these
a banner inscribed with the name Morality was carried by a
man notorious as a professor of atheism. But all would not
do. The great principle of religion was wanting. There
was no devotional spirit. The body was dead, and therefore
soon tumbled to dust. A short time after, a counsellor of
France, in a public address, declared the result of the expe
riment in these words : " For want of a religious education
for the last ten years, our children are without any ideas of a

22 LECTURE 1.
Divinity, without any notion of what is just and unjust ;
hence arise barbarous manners, hence a people become fero
cious. Alas ! what have we gained by deviating from the
path pointed out by our ancestors ? What have we gained
by substituting vain and abstract doctrines for the creed
which actuated the minds of Turenne, Fenelon, and Pas
cal ?"* I cannot omit, in connexion with these striking con
fessions, the description given by one of the most famous
infidels in those times, of all that class of philosophers whose
views and schemes we have been noticing. Thus writes
Rousseau : " I have consulted our philosophers, I have
perused their books, I have examined their several opinions,
I have found them all proud, positive, and dogmatizing even
in their pretended scepticism, knowing every thing, proving
nothing, and ridiculing one another ; and this is the only
point in which they concur, and in which they are right. If
you count their number, each one is reduced to himself; they
never unite but to dispute. I conceived that the insufficiency
of the human understanding was the first cause of this pro
digious diversity of sentiment, and that pride was the second.
If our philosophers were able to discover truth, which of them
would interest himself about it ? Where is the philosopher
who for his own glory would not willingly deceive the whole
human race ? Where is he who in the secret of his heart
proposes any other object than his own distinction ? The
great thing for him is to think differently from other people.
Under pretence of being themselves the only people enlight
ened, they imperiously subject us to their magisterial decisions,
and would fain palm upon us, for the true causes of things,
the unintelligible systems they have erected in their own
heads. Whilst they overturn, destroy, and trample under foot,
all that mankind reveres ; snatch from the afflicted the only

* For more particulars, see Alexander's Evidences — D wight's Sermons
1 191.

LECTURE 1. 23
comfort left them in their misery ; from the rich and great
the only curb that can restrain their passions ; tear from the
heart all remorse of vice, all hopes of virtue ; and still boast
themselves the benefactors of mankind. ' Truth,' they say,
'is never hurtful to man.' I believe that as well as they ; and
the same, in my opinion, is a proof that what they teach is
not the truth."* Such are the singular expressions of a
noted infidel, into whose mind the truth sometimes forced an
ento-ance, in spite of all his levity of mind and profligacy of
life. They are the confessions of one of the chief actors in
the farce of natural religion, and by leading us behind the
scenes, display in a most impressive light, that if deism be
the only substitute of Christianity, we must have no religion
or that of Jesus. So that, in examining the evidences of
Christianity, we should solemnly feel that the question before
us is of no less magnitude than whether life and immortality
have been brought to hght by the gospel, or they are still
involved in deep and confounding darkness ; whether religion
is revealed in the Bible, or every thing on earth under the
name of religion is false and impotent. "Now, when it is
considered what desolation would sweep at once over all the
interests of society, were the restraint of religion withdrawn
from the flood-gates of human corruption ; what immense
benefits have ensued, and must ensue, even by the confession
of some of its most violent opposers, from the diffusion oi
the gospel ; what happy effects upon the character and pre
sent happiness of its genuine disciples it has always pro
duced ; reforming their lives, purifying their hearts, elevating
their affections, healing the wounds of the guilty, taking
away the sting of death, and lighting even the sepulchre
with a hope full of glory ; when it is considered what high -
claims the gospel asserts to an unlimited sovereignty over all

* Gandolphy's Defence of the Ancient Faith : quoted in Gregory's Lctr
ters, i., p. p. 6 and 7.

24

LECTURE I.

our affections and faculties, requiring our entire submission,
promising to every devout believer eternal life, and to all that
refuse its claims everlasting wo : it must at once be evident
that the subject before us is no matter of mere intellectual
interest, but one in which every expectant of eternity has an
immeasurable stake. No mind has any right to indifference
here. Without the most wonderful folly no mind can be
indifferent here. Whether the claims of the gospel are the
claims of God is a question to which in point of importance
no other can pretend a comparison, except this one — Believ
ing in those claims, am I surrendered to their governance ?
But I speak to a great many who have no difficulty on this
head, being fully satisfied that the gospel of Christ is a divine
revelation. What concern have they with the investigation
before us ? " Much every way." The question for them to
ask, is, on what grounds are we satisfied ? Are we believers
in Christianity because we were bom of believing parents,
and have always lived in a Christian country ; or because
we have considered the excellence and weighed the proofs of
this religion, and are intelligently persuaded that it de
serves our reliance ? I am well aware that there are many
truly devoted followers of Christ who have never made
the evidences of Christianity their study, and in argument
with an infidel, would be easily confounded by superior skill
and information ; but whose belief nevertheless is, in the
highest degree, that of rational conviction, since they possess
in themselves the best of all evidence that the gospel of
Christ is " the power and wisdom of God," having experi
enced its transforming, purifying, elevating, and enlightening
efficacy upon their own hearts and characters. Did such
believers abound, Christianity would be much less in need of
other evidence. Were all that call themselves Christians
thus experimentally convinced of the preciousness of the
gospel, I would still urge upon them the duty and advantage
rf studying as far as possible the various arguments which

LECTl'RE I. 25
illustrate the divinity of its origin. I would urge it on con
siderations of personal pleasure and spiritual improvement.
There is a rich feast of knowledge and of devout contempla
tion to be found in this study. The serious believer, who has
not pursued it, has yet to learn with what wonderful and
impressive light the God of the gospel has manifested its
truth. Its evidences are not only convincing, but delight
fully plain ; astonishingly accumulated, and of immense
variety, as well as strength.. 'He who will take the pains
not only to pursue the single line of argument which may
seem enough to satisfy his own mind ; but devoutly to follow
up, in succession, all those great avenues which lead to the
gospel as the central fountain of truth, will be presented, at
every step, with such evident marks of the finger of God ;
he will hear from every quarter such reiterated assurances of:
" this is the way ; walk thou in it ;" he will find himself so
enclosed on every hand by insurmountable evidences shut
ting him up unto the faith of Christ, that new views will
open upon him of the real cause and guilt and danger of all
unbelief ; new emotions of gratitude and admiration will
arise in his heart for a revelation so divinely attested ; his
zeal will receive a new impulse to follow and promote such
heavenly light.
But I would urge this study on all serious believers, who
have the means of pursuing it, as a matter of duty. It is
not enough that they are well satisfied. They have a cause
to defend and promote, as well as a faith to love and enjoy.
It is enjoined on them, by the authority of their Divine
Master, that they be ready to give to every man that asketh
them, a reason of the hope that is in them. They must be
able to answer intelligently the question : Why do you believe
in Christianity ? For this purpose, it is not enough to be
able to speak of a sense of the truth, arising from an inward
experience of its power and blessedness. This is excellent
evidence for one's own mind ; but it cannot be felt or under
2*

26

LECTURE I.

stood by an unbeliever. The Christian advocate must have
a knowledge of the arguments by which infidelity may be
confounded ; as well as an experience of the benefits for
which the gospel should be loved. To obtain this in pro
portion to his abilities, he is bound by the all-important con
sideration that the religion of Jesus cannot be content while
one soul remains in the rejection of her light and life. She
seeks not only to be maintained, but to bring all mankind to
her blessings. The benevolence of a Christian should stimu
late him to be well armed for the controversy with unbe
lievers. Benevolence, while it should constrain the infidel
most carefully to conceal his opinions lest others be so
unhappy as to feel their ague and catch their blight, should
invigorate the believer with the liveliest zeal to bring over
his fellow-creatures to the adoption of a faith so glorious in
its hopes and so ennobling in its influence. Even on the
supposition that Christianity were false, unspeakably better
should we think it, to be deluded by consolations which,
though groundless, would be still so precious ; than enlight
ened by an infidelity which shrouds its disciples in such
darkness, and drowns them in such confusion.
But if such are the weighty considerations which should
induce an experienced Christian to study the evidences of
Christianity, while he carries in his own breast the strongest
of all assurances of its having the witness of the Spirit of
God, how much more should this subject receive the attention
of that numerous portion of the population of a Christian
land who, while they are called Christians, have never expe
rienced in their hearts the blessedness of the gospel. These
are eminently dependent on this study for all rational and
steadfast belief. Being destitute of the anchor obtained by
an inward sense of the divine excellence of the truth as it is
in Jesus, they must spread their sails to the influence of
external evidence, or be liable to be tossed about with every
wind of doctrine, and wrecked against the cliffs of infidelity

LECTURE I. 27
It is a matter of great importance that the attention of this
class should be much more extensively obtained to the proofs
of the religion in which they profess to believe. Multitudes
of men, well informed on other subjects, are believers, for
hardly any other reason than because their parents were so,
and the fashion of society is on this side. The same con
siderations that make them Christians in this land, would
have made them enemies of Christianity in others : Pagans
in India, Mohammedans in Turkey. They can give a better
reason for every other opinion they profess, than for their
acknowledgment of the gospel of Christ. The efforts of
infidels, combining ingenious sophistry with high preten
sions to learning, and coming into alliance with strong dis
positions of human nature, have an open field, and must be
expected to do a fearful work among minds thus undisci
plined and unarmed. It is only in the lowest possible sense
of the word that they can receive the name of believers,
Instead of adding strength to the cause of Christianity, by
their numbers, they rather embarrass it by their ignorance
of its weapons, and bring it into disrepute by the ease with
which they are entrapped in the snares of the enemy. They
have no conception what a truth that is which they so care
lessly acknowledge ; how impressively it is true ; with what
awful authority it is invested ; what a wonder is involved in
professing to believe and refusing to obey it. Do I speak to
any who are thus situated? I would earnestly exhort them,
for their own satisfaction and steadfastness as believers in
revelation, for the purpose of realizing how solemnly the
living God has called them to submit as well as assent, to
the gospel of Christ, and for the honour of a religion which
so abounds in the best of reasons, to make a serious study of
the evidences of Christianity.
To any whose minds are not settled with regard to this
momentous question ; or who consider themselves as having
arrived at a definite opinion against the divine authority of

28 LECTURE I.
the gospel, need I say a word to show why they, of all others,
should give the subject in view their most serious and dili
gent attention ? Suppose they should become fixed in the
rejection of Christianity, and to the influence of their exam
ple on the side of infidelity, should add the effort of argument,
tending to weaken the faith of others, and to increase the
number of enemies to Christ ; and finally, should be con
vinced on the verge of the grave (as many of this mind have
been most painfully convinced,) or in eternity, should have
it discovered to them that what they have been setting at
nought was no less than God's own revelation, the gospel of
him who cometh to judge the quick and dead ; and that
what they had embraced, and led others to embrace, in its
stead, was only a miserable offspring of human pride and
folly, a spirit of delusion and eternal destruction ; what then
would seem the importance of a serious application of mind
and heart to this study ; the madness of treating it with in
difference, or pursuing it without the strictest impartiality ?
That such a discovery is at least as likely as the contrary,
even infidels, in their continual declarations that all beyond
the grave is unknown, have given impressive confessions.
That it is at least exceedingly probable, independently of
positive evidence, the unbeliever cannot but fear when he
surveys the history of the world, and sees what minds and
what hearts, what men of learning and of holiness have been
ready to suffer any earthly loss or pain, rather than be unas-
sociated with the eternal blessedness of the discipleship of
Christ. I have now exhibited something of the incomparable im
portance of the question before us, as considered by itself.
There is an additional importance in its present investiga
tion, arising out of the peculiar character of the present
times. We rejoice with others in the belief that this age, in com
parison with all before it, merits distinction as an age of free-

LECTURE I. 25
dom. We rejoice that it is an age of freedom, as well in the
investigation of all truth as in the assertion of all political
rights. But what is called the spirit of freedom is not every
where identical with the cause of truth and right. In one
region, it is the calm, deliberate determination to be governed
only by just and equal, laws; in another, it is the furious,
desolating despiser of all laws, but those of one's own pas
sion and selfishness. This is seen, as well in the discussion
of religious truth, as in the vindication of assumed principles
of civil liberty. There are certain just and necessary laws
to govern us in reasoning, as much as in acting ; to regulate
the investigation of moral and religious, as well as physical
and political subjects. True liberty of mind consists in the
right of being governed by these laws, and no other ; and at
the same time asserts their absolute necessity. But there is a
spirit abroad which, under the name of freedom of opinion,
would set at defiance all the fundamental laws of reasoning
and denounce, as the offspring of intellectual despotism,
whatever principles of moral evidence are at variance with
itself. This is licentiousness ; not freedom. It is the enemy
of law, not of oppression: the very menial of mental degra
dation, instead of what it boasts itself, the prompter of manly,
elevated, independent intellect. This spirit of evil is greatly
on the increase, because the name and boast of freedom are
circulating far more rapidly in this world, than the know
ledge of its character or the possession of its blessings ; be
cause it is so much easier for the mass of society to burst at
once the whole body of law by which mind is restrained,
than to separate between the precious and the vile; and
chiefly because with the many, there is too little reflection
and too little moral principle, when religion is in question,
to appreciate the important difference between the oppression
of opinion in matters of reason, and the just government of
reason in matters of opinion. Nothing, in truth, has so pro
moted the freedom of thought, of opinion, and of action, as

30 LECTURE I.
Christianity. If any thing, under her name, has been guilty
of the opposite, it has been, so far forth, the corruption of
her character and the denial of her principles. Pure Chris
tianity has ever proclaimed liberty to the captive, as well in
mental as in physical slavery. The ages of the purest
freedom have been those of her greatest advancement. She
courts investigation when it is free; but rejects it when
licentious. She is the patroness of law, and will be judged
only by law. Bring her trial to the judgment seat of that
inductive philosophy which one of her own children first
illustrated, and which, on other subjects, the world has
learned to use so well and prize so highly: let her be judged
by the evidence of fact, and she is satisfied. But this reason
able privilege it is more than ever the spirit of self constituted
philosophers, in their loud declamation against the slavery of
opinion, and their licentious rebellion against all the laws of
reasoning, to refuse. Hence the greater importance that out
present subject, in all its departments, from the most funda
mental principles of evidence, to the highest point of induct
ive argument, should be thoroughly studied by all whose
interest it is to know, and whose duty it is to vindicate, tht
truth. But there is one more consideration, in connexion with
the present age, illustrating the peculiar importance of the
study you are now commencing. The evidences of Chris
tianity, while specially assailed, in these times, with a licen
tiousness and effrontery which the dignity of no truth can
countenance, and the chastity of religious truth should never
meet, are favoured, at the same time, with advantages for
convincing illustration such as no preceding age ever fur
nished. Time, while it has impaired the strength of none of
our ancient arguments, has greatly increased the weight of
some, and has added, and is daily adding, new auxiliaries to
a body of proof which its enemies have never ventured to
attack in front. Every new year, in the age and trials of our

LECT L RE I. 31
holy faith, is an additional evidence that, like the pyramids
of Memphis, it was made to endure. It wears well. Chris
tianity has been journeying, for the last eighteen hundred
years, throjgh unceasing trials. While as yet an infant in
a land of almost Egyptian darkness, a Jewish Pharaoh
'attempted to strangle her in the cradle. She grew up in
contempt and poverty, and began her course, like Israel of
old, through a Red Sea of relentless persecution. Bitter
waters awaited her subsequent progress. Amalek with all
the principalities and powers of earth, during more than
three centuries, opposed her march. Fiery serpents in the
wilderness of sin have ever been stinging at her feet. The
world has opened no fountain, nor vouchsafed any bread to
sustain her. What alliances the nations have ever made
with her cause have only given them the greater power to
encumber and divide her strength. Her drink has been
drawn from the rock ; her bread has been gathered in the
desert. Nothing that malice, or learning, or power, or per
severance, could do to arrest her goings, has been wanting.
Even treachery in her own household has often endea
voured to betray her into the hands of the enemy. No age
has encountered her advance with such a dangerous variety
of force ; or with a more boastful confidence of success, than
the. present. And yet in none, since that of the primitive
Christians, has her triumph been so glorious, or her conquest
so extensive. At a time of life when, considering her fiery
trials, one ignorant of her nature would expect to see her
wrinkled with age and crippled with manifold infirmities, it
may be said of her, with perfect truth, that though for more
than eighteen hundred years she has been journeying through
conflicts and trials innumerable, her eye is not dim, nor her
natural force abated. She remains unchanged by time, the
same precisely as when first proclaimed in the streets of
Jerusalem. The shield of faith, the breastplate of righteous
ness, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit are

32 LECTURE I.
neither Droken nor decayed, but as ready as in the begin
ning, to go forth "conquering and to conquer." This long
and hard experiment proves that she is made for eternity,
It is the privilege of our age to appreciate the evidence of
this with more satisfaction than any preceding it. But how
different, this sublime immutability of Christianity, so much
like the eternity of God, from the childish fickleness of infi.
delity. What is the history of infidelity, but a history ol
changes ? Where is the resemblance between the writings
of its modern and those of its ancient disciples ? What
Celsus and Porphyry attempted to maintain against primi
tive Christianity, none at present wouid think of advocating;
while the positions and reasonings of recent infidels would
have been subjects of ridicule among their earliest brethren.
" The doctrines which Herbert and Tindal declared to be so
evident that God could not make them more evident, were
wholly given up as untenable by Hume ; and the scepticism
of Hume sustained no higher character in the mind of
D'Alembert. Mere infidelity gave up natural religion, and
atheism mere infidelity. Atheism is the system at present in
vogue. What will succeed it, cannot be foreseen. One
consolation, however, attends the subject, and that is : no
other system can be so groundless, so despicable, or so com
pletely ruinous to the morals and happiness of mankind."*
But there is another aspect in which the study of the
evidences of Christianity is presented as especially interesting,
in connexion with the present age. This is an age pe
culiarly distinguished for scientific research and discovery.
Never did science travel so widely, explore so deeply, analyze
so minutely, compare so critically the present with the past,
orinciples with facts ; histories of ancient times, with monu
ments of ancient things ; truths of revealed relio-ion with
results of experimental philosophy. And what is the con-

* Dwight on Infidel Philosophy.

LECTURE I.

33

sequence? Has the Pentateuch suffered by him who found
the key, and applied it to the hieroglyphical memorials on the
marbles and porphyries of Egypt? Did the geological
researches of the lamented Cuvier enfeeble his belief in the
Mosaic history?*
I venture to say there never was an age in which it could
be asserted, with so much practical witness, that science and
every extension of human knowledge are strengthening and
multiplying the evidences of Christianity. Add to this, the
ever accumulating force of the argument from prophecy, a
source of evidence in which we exceed by far the primitive
times of the gospel, and which must be increasing as long as
one prediction of the Bible remains to be fulfilled. Then
consider what new exhibitions the present age of signal
enterprise, in all things, has furnished, and is daily presenting
of the power attendant upon the gospel to overcome every
obstacle, and make the moral desert a garden, and savages
meek and lowly of heart. Look at the missionary stations
of the Pacific and of Hindoostan, and among our own frontier
tribes. There it will be seen that Christianity has still her
apostles, her martyrs, her conquests. The idol cast to the
ground ; the idol temple purged of its pollutions, and conse
crated to Jehovah ; the multitude, once naked devotees of
demons, now clothed and in their right mind, and sitting at
the feet of Jesus ; these are some of our additional testimonies
to the gospel, that her arm is not shortened that it cannot save.
But they are not all. Every new traveller into regions
hitherto but little known, as he developes the condition of
nations destitute of the gospel, increases our evidence of the
utter helplessness of human reason, and the total prostration
* It is an interesting fact, well worthy of being recorded, that Cuvier,
whose death has been recently announced, was to have presided at the next
annual meeting of the Bible Society of Paris ; and had proposed, as the topic
of his address, the agreement between the. Mosaic history and the model n dis
t.overies in geology. o

34

LECTURE I.

of human nature, without the light which we enjoy, and
consequently, our evidence of the universal need of a reve
lation like ours, as well as of the benefits which have follow
ed in the train of Christianity wherever she -has been re
ceived. And last, but not least, our experience of the tender
mercies of infidelity is more impressive than that of prece
ding ages. Its nature, spirit, personal and public consequen
ces have now had time to speak out, and make a full display
of their benefits to all classes of mankind. Our times have
seen enough ; any of us have heard enough to form some
adequate idea of what society would be favoured with, in
personal consolations ; in domestic peace and purity ; in pub
lic security and order, should the principles of infidelity be
generally adopted as the basis of individual, family, and na
tional government.
I have now endeavoured to illustrate the importance of a
diligent attention to the great subject we have undertaken to
treat, by considerations arising out of its own intrinsic nature,
and from its special aspect as associated with the distinctive
character of the present age. I will occupy but a little while
longer in speaking of,
II. The importance of strict attention to the spirit in
which we should examine the evidences of Christianity.
" Blessed (said the Saviour) is he whosoever shall not be
offended in me." There is a great deal in the religion of
Jesus at which the natural dispositions of man are offended.
He is proud — the gospel demands humility ; revengeful — the
gospel demands forgiveness. Man is prone to set his affec
tions on things on the earth ; the gospel requires him to set
them on those which are above. He is wedded to self-
indulgence, glories in being his own master, idolizes himself',
encourages self-dependence, boasts his own goodness, lives
without God in the world. All this the gospel peremptorily
condemns ; requires him to repent of it, to deny himself
renounce all right over himself, give up his will to that of

LECTURE I. 35
Gtxl, live for the Lord Jesus, and lean upon and glory in him
alone as all his strength, hope, and righteousness. Hence it
is evident that the natural heart and the precepts of Chris
tianity are directly at variance. " The mystery of an incar
nate and crucified Saviour must necessarily confound the
reason and shock the prejudices, of a mind which will admit
nothing that it cannot perfectly reduce to the principles of
philosophy. The whole tenor of the life of Christ, the
objects he pursued, and the profound humiliation? he exhi
bited, must convict of madness and folly the favourite pur
suits of mankind. The virtues usually practised in society,
and the models of excellence most admired there, are so
remote from that holiness which is enjoined in the New Tes
tament, that it is impossible for a taste which is formed on the
one to perceive the charms of the other. The happiness
which it proposes in a union with God, and a participation
of the image of Christ, is so far from being congenial to the
inclinations of worldly men, that it can scarcely be men
tioned without exciting their ridicule and scorn. General
speculations on the Deity have much to amuse the mind, and
to gratify that appetite for the wonderful, which thoughtful
and speculative men are delighted to indulge. Religion
viewed in this light appears more in the form of an exercise
to the understanding, than a law to the heart. Here the soul
expatiates at large, without feeling itself controlled or alarmed.
But when evangelical truths are presented, they bring God
so near, if we may be allowed the expression, and speak with
so commanding a voice to the conscience, that they leave nie
alternative, but that of submissive acquiescence or prouu
revolt."* Hence the question as to the truth of Christianity is pecu
liar. You can investigate the truth of a narrative in com
* Robert Hall

36 LECTURE I.
mon history, or of a phenomenon in physical science, or of
a principle of political economy, with the coolness of a mere
intellectual exercise. One sets out in such pursuits with no
feelings already enlisted. Had this been the case, with regard
to the divine origin of Christianity, " a tenth part of the tes
timony which has actually been given, would have been
enough to satisfy us; the testimony, both in weight and
quantity, would have been looked upon as quite unexampled
in the whole compass of ancient literature."* But here the
question is one of feeling, as well as evidence ; enlisting the
heart, as well as the head. Powerful dispositions crowd
around the investigation. Hence one is in danger, unless
his natural inclinations be subdued, of looking at the argu
ment through a medium which, while it diminishes the
importance of the evidence, will magnify the objections.
This explains sufficiently how it has happened that there
have been men of learning and talents and much practical
wisdom, in many departments, who have become and con
tinued unbelievers. Their dispositions were stronger than
their talents, and moulded the latter to their own service,
instead of yielding to their guidance. The examination
was conducted rather by the test of inclination, than of
evidence. Now it is no part of the profession of Christianity
to furnish eyes to those who will not see. Evidence that
will force its way irresistibly through prejudice and unwil
lingness, compelling submission, she does not promise.
Enough to satisfy, abundantly, every candid, serious, dili
gent, humble inquirer, she does profess to give. If she ever
exhibit more, it is beyond her stipulation, and more than any
have reason to demand.
The pride of human reason is often deeply offended at
the claims of Christianity. The gospel demands to he
received as a revelation of truth, communicated by autho-

? Chalmers;

LECTURE I. 37
nty, so that a wise man shall have no room to ascribe his
knowledge of God and of His will, to his own powers of
discovery ; but has to sit, just where the ignorant and lowly
must sit, at the feet of Jesus. This pleases not the specula
tive and ambitious turn of the human intellect. Men hke to
find out truth by reasonings of their own, instead of the
authoritative declarations of another, even though that other
be infallible wisdom. They love to theorize and conjecture,
and try the ingenuity of their own faculties, so as to praise
themselves for whatever is ascertained. Hence, in matters
of science, there was a long and hard struggle before they
could be brought down from the proud flights of speculation,
and consent to the self-denial of the inductive method, sub
mitting to be instructed only by the revelations of experiment,
and in the unpretending school of fact. To adopt the same
method in matters of religious investigation, many are not
yet willing. To give up all speculation — philosophy, " falsely
so called" — and consent to receive, instead of being ambitious
to discoverr religious truth ; to receive it at a source where
the humblest and the loftiest mind must drink together, out
of the same cup ; to receive it on the simple testimony of a
well attested revelation, which lies as open to the peasant as
the philosopher : this the wise men of the world are slow of
heart to consent to. Their pride of reason is offended. Did
an account come to them from the other continent of certain
novel and interesting phenomena recently observed in the
heavens ; they would see at once how unphilosophical it
would be to commence theorizing upon the question of their
truth, and then reject them because inconsistent with certain
previous speculations of their own. They would institute
but the one inquiry: Is there reason to depend upon the
accuracy of the observations, and the honesty of the reports
of those from whom these statements proceed ? Satisfied on
this head, they would at once receive the phenomena, and
every truth resulting therefrom, on the great principle o'
3"

38 LECTURE I.
modern science, that whatever is thus collected by induction
must be received, notwithstanding any conjectural hypothesis
to the contrary, until contradicted or limited by other phe
nomena equally authenticated. Now we only ask them, not
to disown the philosophy of Newton in examining the evi
dence of the religion of Christ ; to try the celestial wonders,
the " mecanique celestej" as given by Christ and his apostles,
not by theory or speculation, but precisely as they would try
any other, in the open field of fact and induction. We do
not ask them to believe, unless upon the credit of facts. But
we do ask that whatever is thus proved, they will receive,
notwithstanding any conjectural hypothesis to the contrary.
The whole argument for Christianity, so far from being in
any degree theoretical or speculative, is eminently one of
experimental evidence and inductive simplicity. We take
the position that our Lord Jesus Christ professed to make a
revelation from God. It is conceded that if he attested his
communications by miracles, he sealed that profession as
true. We say he did thus attest them. But miracles are
facts — phenomena — to be proved by the testimony of eye
witnesses, like any phenomena in physics. To such testi
mony we appeal. We ask the unbeliever to refute it ; and
if he cannot, to receive the revelation, and bow to its decla
rations as the attested word of God. But here, unfortunately,
we set the rule of sound philosophy against the dispositions
of an unhumbled heart. The latter has the victory, often ;
and the wise man goes to work to oppose our facts, with his
theories ; our testimony, with his speculations, till he flatters
himself, because he has covered up his eyes in his own
mazes, that he has refuted the evidences of Christianity.
Hence, therefore, another cause that learned men are not all
believers in Christianity. They are not all humble enough,
in a question with which heart and life are so much con
nected, to abide by the results to which the principles of phi
losophical investigation would naturally lead them. But

LECTURE I. 39
hence, also, a most important reason that whoever of you
may have doubts as to the gospel of Christ, should, in the
pursuit on which we have entered, be cautious, candid, ready
to learn, and determined to embrace the truth wherever it
should be found.
One consideration more. It is true of Christianity, as of
many other excellent'subjects, that objections are more easily
invented than answered. Objections in such matters are
usually light affairs, floating on the surface of men's thoughts.
Answers, to be solid, must be heavier and lie deeper, requiring
like the pearl, both labour and skill to bring them up and
fashion them for use. But Christianity is peculiarly exposed
to objections ; from the simple fact that as it meets every
body and compels every body to say yea or nay to its require
ments, every body must needs have something to say, how
ever unreasonable, in its favour or against it. Few indeed
would venture to give an opinion, without some study, on a
question in science or polite literature ; but the most ignorant
and unthinking will undertake an opinion upon the merits
of the gospel, and raise an objection in a breath which would
require much patience and some learning to refute. Hun
dreds hear the objection ; thousands relish, retain, and are poi
soned by it ; while, perhaps, not one of them has the dispo
sition to hear, or patience enough to understand, the reply.
Evil hearts can do what only good and well instructed minds
can undo. " Pertness and ignorance may ask a question, in
three fines, which it will cost learning and ingenuity thirty
pages to answer. When this is done, the same question will
be triumphantly asked again the next year, as if nothing
had ever been written on the subject. And as people, in
general, for one reason or another, like short objections better
than long answers ; in this mode of disputation (if it can be
styled such) the odds must ever be against us ; and we must
be content with those for our friends who have honesty and

40 LFCTURE I.
erudition, candour and patience, to study both sides of the
question."* These observations explain the lamentable fact, that, in a
large portion of society, there is so much more acquaintance
with the cant and slang of infidelity, than with the reason
ings in support of Christianity ; that our young men are often
so familiar with the boasting and floating calumnies which
the troubled sea of infidelity is ever casting up, with its mire
and dirt, in the face of the gospel ; while, with the innume
rable efforts by which christian science has scattered all such
poisonous exhalations to the winds, many have not the most
trifling acquaintance.
All these considerations are at least sufficient to impress us
with the eminent importance of the most serious attention to
the spirit and manner in which one proceeds in the study of
the evidences of Christianity.
Let me urgently recommend docility, in this pursuit. By
this, I mean nothing resembling credulity ; but an open-
hearted and humble-minded readiness to weigh evidence
with simplicity of purpose in the most even scales of truth ;
and then to submit to, and follow the truth, wherever it may
lead, with singleness of heart, in the fear of God.
Let me also recommend a deep seriousness of purpose, in
this pursuit. I mean that calm and settled earnestness of
mind, which a just sense of the unspeakable importance of
the subject, and of the responsibility under which all, even
the most indifferent, must treat it, will necessarily inspire.
Lastly, prayer is by all means to be employed in this pur
suit. It is written most wisely : " If any man lack wisdom,
let him ask of God." But do I forget that I am speaking
from the chair of a lecture room, instead of the pulpit of a
church? Prayer ! How do I know but that I am addressino
many who are already on the side of infidelity ? Would I

* Home's Letters on Infidelity.

LECTURE I. 44
say to them, study the evidences of Christianity with prayer 7
Is it not equivalent to begging the question ? Is it not asking
them to do what, as professors of infidelity, they object to 1
In one sense, I verily believe it is begging the question. A
spirit of serious, earnest prayer, for the knowledge of truth,
is utterly inconsistent with the spirit of infidelity. Who does
not feel the singularity involved in the idea of seeing a tho
rough infidel engaged in secret, earnest prayer, to be pre
served from all bias in search of truth, and to be led in the
way in which God would have him to go ? And yet, if he
be not an Atheist, he can have nothing to say against the
propriety of such a step. But is it true that infidelity and
the spirit of prayer are practically so inconsistent ? Is it
true that we have already accomplished at least half our
work of conviction, when we have persuaded an unbeliever
to make religious truth a subject of serious supplication at
the throne of grace ? What does this say for the gospel ?
Any, who are very anxious to continue in unbelief, had
better not pray. They might find out more than would be
convenient, by such an effort. Infidelity cannot tolerate so
much seriousness. But if any feel that they lack wisdom.
in this great concern of eternity, and desire to know the way
of fight and life : " let them ask of God, who giveth to all
men liberally and upbraideth not ; and it shall be given
them."

42

LECTURE II.

LECTURE II.
AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
Our last lecture was only introductory to the important
subject to which I have undertaken to lead your attention.
In the present, we enter directly upon one of its principal
branches. The study of the evidences of Christianity may be either
brief or extended, according to the object with which it is
pursued. If it be merely the possession of some one distinct
and conclusive train of reasoning, perfect in itself, the inves
tigation may soon be ended. The student may take any
single miracle or fulfilled prophecy ; he may choose his
premises from the narrative of the resurrection of Christ, or
the conversion of St. Paul, or the propagation of Christianity,
and, confining his argument to the point selected, may deduce
a finished proof of the divine authority of the gospel. But
if he desire not only rational satisfaction for his own mind,
but a full view of all those great highways of evidence
which, from every quarter, concentrate upon Christianity ; if
he would behold, not only that it is capable of conclusive
proof, but how variously and wonderfully its Divine Author
has encompassed it with proofs of every kind, drawn from
innumerable sources, and prepared, at all points, for every
objection, he may lay himself out for a work of extensive
research, as well as of rich gratification and improvement.
The evidences of Christianity are classed under two gene
ral denominations : external or historical, and internal evi
dence. Under the latter, are included whatever proofs of
divine original may be drawn from the doctrines of the gos
pel ; its incomparable system of morality; the adaptation of
the religion of Christ to the condition and wants of mankind ;

LECTURE 11. 43
the holy and elevated character of its Founder ; together
with all those incidental, but striking and various marks of
uprightness, accuracy, and benevolence, which appear in the
spirit and manner of the New Testament writers, or which
are seen by a comparison of their several books one with
"another. Such are the principal heads of internal evidence.
Under the name of external or historical evidence, we find
whatever exhibits the need of a revelation, as apparent in
the state of human opinion and practice among the most
enlightened nations at the commencement of the gospel; the
argument establishing the authenticity of the scriptures, and
the credibility of the history contained therein ; the proofs
arising from miracles ; from fulfilled prophecy ; from the
propagation of Christianity, and from the social and personal
benefits which have always accompanied its promotion,
according to the degree in which its native character and
influence have had room to appear. Such are the principal
heads of external evidence.
The present course of lectures, for want of time to carry
it further, will be confined to the department last described ;
which is chosen in preference to the other, not because it is
more important or conclusive, but as more capable of having
justice done it, in a series of discussions such as that to which
the circumstances of these lectures restrict us.
Should we embrace in our view of this grand division of
evidence whatever belongs to it, your attention would first
be called to the indispensable necessity of a divine revela
tion, as the history of the ancient world displays it, and as it
is still exhibited in the dark places of the earth. This, how
ever, we have not room to include in our course. Though
extremely impressive, and worthy of investigation, it is not
an essential argument. The straight forward method of phi
losophical inquiry directs its attention to the testimony sim
ply that an event did occur, and will not suspend assent till
the need of such an event shall have been fully explained.

44 LECTURE II.
If convincing evidence be adduced to the matter of fact that
a revelation has been given; we may be reasonably content,
while our limits forbid the proof that it was needed. Who
ever should desire to read on this head will find it well dis
cussed in the first volume of Wilson's Lectures on the Evi
dences, &c., or in the admirable letters on the same subject,
by Olinthus Gregory, L. L.D., Professor of Mathematics
in the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, one of the
most scientific and pious laymen of the age ; or, more at
large, in the learned volume of Leland, on the Advantages
and Necessity of a Divine Revelation.
Let us begin with the authenticity of the Neio Testament.
We possess a venerable volume, under this title, consisting
of twenty-seven independent books or writings, reputed to
have been composed by eight different authors. It professes
to contain, and is continually appealed to as containing, not
only an accurate account of the history and doctrine of Jesus
Christ, but an account written in the first age of Christianity,
by its earliest disciples and advocates, who were contempo
raneous with its author, and were, most of them, eyewit
nesses of the events related. Now, before we can be rea
sonably warranted in placing implicit reliance in the New
Testament, as the book of the facts and doctrines of the gos
pel, two important questions must be determined. First : is
there satisfactory evidence that the several writings, of
which it is composed, were written by the men to whom they
are ascribed ? This involves the authenticity of the
New Testament. Secondly: is the New Testament de
serving of implicit reliance as to matters of historical detail,
so that we may receive any mwrative, as unquestionably
true, because contained therein ? This refers to the credi
bility of the New Testament.
Thus you perceive, that whether a volume be authentic,
and whether credible, are two widely separate questions,
neither, necessarily implying the other, however the evidence

LECTURE II.

45

of one may bear upon the proof of the other. Writings
may be authentic, composed by the men whose names they
bear, and yet not credible. They may be credible, because
correct in their statements, and yet not authentic. The
question of authenticity refers to the author; that of credi
bility to the narrative. " The Pilgrim's Progress" is authen
tic, because it was actually composed by John Bunyan, to
whom it is ascribed ; but as a narrative, it is not credible,
being an allegory throughout. The book entitled " Travels
of Anacharsis the Younger," is credible, so far as it professes
to exhibit a view of the antiquities, manners, customs, reli
gious ceremonies, <fcc, of ancient Greece ; but it is not authen
tic, having been written in the eighteenth century by Barthe-
lemy, and fictitiously ascribed to the Scythian philosopher.
" Marshall's Life of Washington" is both authentic and
credible, being a true history, and worthily honoured with
the name of that eminent and excellent man, from whose
pen it professes to have come. That the New Testament is
also authentic and credible, we undertake to show. We
exclude the more ancient portion of the sacred volume, not
because of any deficiency in its evidence, but for the sake
of unity and clearness in our inquiries ; and because, when
the argument for the New Testament is set forth in a
conclusive form, the authenticity and credibility of the
other is rendered, as will hereafter appear, a necessary infe
rence. The two questions will be the subjects of different
lectures. To that of authenticity our attention will, this
evening, be confined. Let us begin with the following :
How does it appear that the several writings composing
the volume of the New Testament were icritten by the men
to whom they are ascribed — the original disciples of Christ—
and are consequently authentic ?
We pursue precisely the same method in determining the
authorship of the New Testament, as in ascertaining that
of any other book of a passed age. Fox example; we

46 LECTURE II.
possess a celebrated poem entitled Paradise Lost. It bears
the name of Milton. How do we know that Milton com
posed it ? The answer is easy. Our fathers received it, as
his production, from their fathers ; and they, from theirs.
By such steps, we ascend to the very year in which the book
was first published, and find it invariably ascribed to Milton.
Moreover, the history of the age in which he lived, speak;
of it as unquestionably and notoriously his work. Writers
of every succeeding age refer to, and quote it as well known
to be his. The language of the poem bears the characteristic
marks of Milton's times. Its spirit, genius, and style, dis
play the distinctive features of Milton's mind and character.
And, finally, though Milton had many enemies, and lived
in a time of great divisions, and this poem redounded greatly
to his praise, and many must have been disposed, had they
been able, to discover some false pretensions in his claim to
its authorship ; no other person in that age was ever men
tioned as disputing his title, but all united in acknowledging
him as the writer of Paradise Lost. On this evidence,
although the poem professes to have been written as far back
as the year 1674, we are so perfectly certain of its authentici
ty, that the man who should dispute it would be justly
suspected of idiocy or derangement. And had Milton lived
in the 7th, instead of the 17th century, a similar body of
evidence would have been equally satisfactory. If, instead
of the 7th century, he had lived in the first of the Christian
era, similar evidence, reaching up to his time, would still
prove, beyond a question, that he wrote Paradise Lost.
Thus it is evident that time has no effect to impair the force
of such proof. Whether a book be ascribed to the Christian
era or to five centuries before or after ; the evidence, being
the same, is equally satisfactory. It as well convinces us
that the history ascribed to Herodotus, in the 5th century,
before Christ, was written by that historian, as that the
Mneid was written by Virgil, a little before the birth of

LECTURE II. 47
Christ ; or the " Faerie Queene" by Spenser, in the 1590th
year after that event. We are no less satisfied of the authen
ticity of the orations of Demosthenes, than of Newton's
Principia ; — though between the dates of their publication,
there is an interval of more than two thousand years. So
little does the age of a back affect the evidence required to
establish its authenticity.
Now in ascertaining the authorship of the New Testa
ment, we are furnished with evidence precisely similar to
that which settles the question so conclusively as to either of
the works above mentioned.* An unbroken chain of testi
mony ascends from the present generation to the preceding,
and thence to the next beyond, and thence onward again, till
it reaches the very age of the apostles, exhibiting an uninter
rupted series of acknowledgments of the New Testament,
as having been written indeed by those primitive disciples to
whom its several parts are ascribed. Besides this, historians
and other writers of the age ascribed to this volume, as well
Heathen and Jewish, as Christian, not only recognise its
existence in their day, but speak of it as notoriously the
production of its reputed authors. The language is charac
teristic of their age, nation and circumstances. The style
and spirit exhibit the well-known peculiarities of their re
spective minds and dispositions. And again, although the
New Testament at the time of its first appearance, either in
parts or collectively, was surrounded with numerous, learned,
and ingenious, as well as most bitter enemies, both among
Heathens and Jews ; and although there arose at an early
period, many animated controversies between the real be
lievers in gospel truth, on one side, and sundry heretical

* "We know," says St. Augustine, "the writings of the Apostles, as we
know the works of Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Varro, and others ; and as we
know the writings of divers ecclesiastical authors ; for as much as they have
the testimony of contemporaries, and of those who have lived in succeeding

48 LECTURE II.
pretenders to the christian faith, whose cause would often
have been materially served by a well sustained denial of the
authenticity of certain of the books of the New Testament;
none in the primitive ages, whether heretics or open enemies,
ever denied that this volume contained the genuine writings
of the original apostles and discrples of Christ. On the
contrary, all received, argued, and acted upon it as unques
tionably authentic. Thus we have the same evidence that
the books of the New Testament were written by those
whose names they bear, as that Paradise Lost was written
by the man whose name it bears. The force of this evidence
is in no wise diminished by the consideration that the apos
tles lived in the first, and Milton in the seventeenth century.
Thus have you received a general outline of the argu
ment. We proceed to a more particular view.
I. The books of the New Testament are quoted or alluded
to by a series of writers who may be followed up in unbroken
succession from the present age to that of the apostles. In
proof of this, it is unnecessary for the satisfaction of any
person of ordinary information to trace the line of testimony
from the present time, or from any point of departure lower
down than the fourth century. Whoever has the least
acquaintance with the history of the civilized world, as far
upward as the fourth century, must know that the acknow
ledgment of the New Testament, as composed of authentic
writings, is interwoven with all the literature, science, and
political, as well as religious institutions, of every subsequent
age. We begin, therefore, the chain of testimony at the
fourth century.
It is a veryimpressive evidenceof the high estimate in which
the New Testament was universally held at this period, that
beside innumerable quotations in various writings, no less
than eleven distinct, formal catalogues of its several books
were composed at various times, during the fourth centurv
hy different hands ; and two of them by large and solemn

LECTURE II. 49
councils of the heads of the christian church. All of these
are still extant ; and all agree, in every particular important
to the present argument, with the list of the New Testament
writings as at present received. In the year 397, a national
or provincial council assembled at Carthage, consisting of
forty-four bishops — Augustine, bishop of Hippo, was a mem
ber. The 47th canon of that council is thus written : " It
is ordained that nothing beside the canonical scriptures be
read in the church under the name of divine scriptures ; and
the canonical scriptures are these," &c. In the enumeration,
we find precisely our New Testament books, and no more.*
About the same time Augustine wrote a book entitled " Of
'.he Christian Doctrine," in which is furnished a catalogue of
what he considered the authentic writings of the evangelists
and apostles, agreeing entirely with ours. " In these books
(saith he) they who fear God, seek his will."^
A short time before this, Rufinus, a presbyter of Aquileia,
published an "Explication of the Apostles' Creed" in which
he includes a catalogue of the scriptures. It commences
thus : " It will not be improper to enumerate here, the books
of the New and Old Testament, which we find, by the monu
ments of the fathers, to have been delivered to the churches,
as inspired by the Holy Spirit." This list differs in nothing
from ours.t
Jerome, a contemporaneous writer, universally allowed 10
have been the most learned of the Latin fathers, in a letter
concerning the study of the scriptures, enumerates the books
of the New Testament in precise correspondence with our
volume. With regard to the Epistle to the Hebrews, he
states that by some it was not considered as the work of
Paul ; though it is evident, from other places of his writings.
that he was satisfied of its authenticity, and numbered it
among the canonical scriptures. §
* Lardner's Credibility of the Gosp. Hist ii. 574.
t Lardner, ii. 578. t Ib. ii. 573. S Ib. ii. 54&
4*

50 4 LECTURE II.
In the year 380, wrote Philastrius, bishop of Brescia. In
a book " Concerning Heresies," he gives a catalogue agree
ing entirely with ours, except that it omits the Epistle to the
Hebrews, and the Book of Revelation. But it does not fol
low that these were not considered canonical. The object of
his catalogue is to enumerate the books appointed to be read
in the churches. The Epistle to the Hebrews, he says, was
read in the churches " sometimes." " Some pretend (he
writes) that additions have been made to it by some hetero
dox persons, and that for that reason it ought not to be read
in the churches, though it is read by some." Philastrius
himself received it, and frequently quoted it as the work of
St. Paul, and reckoned it a heresy to reject it. He received
also the book of Revelation, mentioning its rejection by
some among the heresies of the age. " There are some
(he writes) who dare to say that the Revelation is not a
writing of John the apostle and evangelist."*
About the year 370, flourished Gregory Nazianzen, bishop
of Constantinople, who in a work " On the True and
Genuine Scriptures," enumerates all the present books ot
the New Testament, except that of Revelation. This how
ever he has quoted in his other works.t
At the same time, wrote Epiphanius, bishop of Constantia,
in Cyprus ; " a man of five languages." He wrote against
heresies, and gave a list of the New Testament books which
agrees exactly with ours.J
About the year 350, another catalogue was published by
the Council of Laodicea, differing in nothing from ours but
in the omission of Revelation. The decrees of this council
were, in a short time, received into the canons of the univer
sal church ; so that as early as about the middle of the 4th
century, we find a universal agreement, in all parts of the
world in which Christianity existed, as to the constituent

• Lardner, ii. 522. t Ib 470, 71 * lb. 416.

LECTURE II. 51
parts of the New Testament, with the single exception of
the book of Revelation. That this was also generally
received, and why any doubted its authenticity, will appear
in our subsequent progress.*
Athanasius and Cyril, the latter bishop of Jerusalem, a
little earlier in the century, have furnished catalogues — that
of the former agreeing entirely with ours — that of the latter
in every thing but the omission of the Revelation of St.
John. The last catalogue to be mentioned in the 4th century, is
that of Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, who flourished about
the year 315. " A man (says Jerome) most studious in the
divine scriptures, and very diligent in making a large collec
tion of ecclesiastical writers." In his Ecclesiastical History,
he mentions, as belonging to the canon of scripture, all our
present books. While he speaks of the Epistle of James,
the second of Peter, the third of John, and the book of Re
velation, as questioned by some, he states that they were
generally received, and declares his own conviction that they
ought not to be doubted.t
The above testimonies, though capable of great multipli
cation, are amply sufficient to exhibit the universal confi
dence of Christians, of the fourth century, in the authen
ticity of the New Testament. Let us proceed to the third.
In this, among other important names, we find that of the
celebrated Origen, who flourished about the year 230, having
been born A. D. 184. Jerome speaks of him, as the greatest
doctor of the churches, since the apostles — that he had the
scriptures by heart, and laboured day and night in studying
and explaining them.J Great numbers of all descriptions of
men attended his lectures. Heathen philosophers dedicated
their writings to him, and submitted them to his revisal. He

* Lardner, ii. 414. Alexanderon the Canon, p. 150.
tlb. ii. 368 &c. lib i. 527.

52

LECTURE II.

wrote a three-fold exposition of the books of scripture, on
which he bestowed all his learning. He lived within a hun
dred years of the death of St. John, and was therefore so
near the time of the publication of the books of the New
Testament, that he could hardly avoid obtaining the most
accurate knowledge of their origin and authors. His enu
meration of these writings contains no other books than
those of our sacred volume, and includes all that we receive,
except the Epistles of James and Jude, which could not have
been omitted by design, as in other places he expressly
acknowledges them as part of the sacred canon.
Beside Origen, we have in the third century, Yictorinus, a
bishop in Germany; Cyprian, bishop of Carthage; Gregory,
of Neo-Ceesarea, and Dionysius, of Alexandria, in whose
writings are found most copious quotations from almost
every book of the New Testament.
We proceed to the second century. Here we meet with
Tertullian, a native of Carthage, born about the year 150,
within fifty years of the last of the apostles, and renowned
in his day as a learned, vigorous, and voluminous writer in
defence of Christianity. His works abound in quotations of
the most direct kind, and with long extracts from all the
books of the New Testament, except four of the minor
Episties, which, as he nowhere professes to give a formal
catalogue, he may easily be supposed to have passed un
quoted, without entertaining any opinion unfavourable to
their authenticity. Tertullian's quotations occupy nearly
thirty folio pages. " There are more and larger quotations
of the small volume of the New Testament in this one
christian author, than of all the works of Cicero  in the
writers of all characters for several ages."*
The same is true with regard to Irenaeus and Clement of
Alexandria, both writers of the second century. In what

* Lardner, i. 435.

LECTURE II. CM
spirit these early Christians regarded the authority of the
New Testament books, may be judged from the manner of
their quotations. Irenseus writes : " As the blessed Paid
says, in the Epistle to the Ephesians, v. 30 : ' For we are
members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.' " And
so Clement, " The blessed Paul, in the first Epistle to the
Corinthians : ' Brethren, be not children in understand
ing,' " &c.
It deserves to be specially noted that, in this early age, the
book' of Revelation is expressly ascribed to St. John. The
testimony of Irenseus to this effect is so full and strong, that
it may justly be considered as putting its authenticity entirely
beyond reasonable dispute.*
There is abundant evidence that, in the second century,
the books of the New Testament were open to all, and well
known in the world. In Tertullian's Apology, addressed to
the Roman presidents, he challenges an inspection of the
scriptures. "Look into the words of God, our scriptures,
which we ourselves do not conceal, and many accidents
bring into the way of those who are not of our religion."
In this appeal, he calls the attention of the heathen rulers
to the Epistles and Gospels, as constituting, " the words of
God, our scriptures."!
There is good reason to believe that, in the time of Ter
tullian, the very autographs, or original letters of the apos
tles, were in the possession of those churches to which they
had been specially directed. " If (says this ancient writer)
you be willing to exercise your curiosity profitably in the
business of your salvation, visit the apostolical churches, in
which the very chairs of the apostles still preside ; in which
their very authentic letters are recited, sounding forth the
voice, and representing the countenance, of each one of
them. Is Achaia near you ? You have Corinth. If you
* Lardner, i. 372 t Ib i. 434

54 LECTURE II.
are not far from Macedonia, you have Philippi, you have
Thessalonica," &c* If Tertullian did not mean that the
original manuscripts, but only authentic copies of the Epis
tles to the Corinthians, Philippians, <fcc, were to be seen by
application to those churches, why send inquirers thither?
Could an authentic copy of the Epistle to the Philippians
be seen nowhere but at Philippi ; or of that to the Corin
thians, nowhere but at Corinth ?t
The quotations from the New Testament, in the writings
of the second century, are so numerous that were the sacred
volume lost, a large part of it might be collected from them
alone. Passing by the testimonies of Melito, bishop of
Sardis, who wrote a commentary on the book of Revelation,
and of Hegesippus, converted from Judaism, and of Tatian,
who composed a harmony of the gospels, all born about the
time of the death of St. John, we come to Justin Martyr,
born about ten years prior to that event. Before his conver
sion from heathenism, he studied philosophy in the schools
of the Stoics, Peripatetics, Pythagoreans, and Platonics.
After becoming a Christian, he occupied a high stand in
learned writing and holy living. His remaining works con
tain numerous quotations from, as well as allusions to, the
four Gospels, which he uniformly represents as containing
" the genuine and authentic accounts of Jesus Christ and of
his doctrine." The same is true in relation to the Acts of
the Apostles, and the greater part of the Epistles. The
book of Revelation is expressly said by Justin to have been
written by " John, one of the apostles of Christ." Having
lived before the death of that apostle, he had the best opportu
nity of knowing.
We finish the second century with Papias, bishop of
Hierapolis in Asia, whom Irenaeus speaks of as a hearer of
John, and a disciple of Polycarp, a pupil of John the apostle.}
Lardner, i t"24. t Alexander on the Canon, p. 143. t Lardner, i. 336.

LECTURE II. 55
How he obtained his information, will appear from the only
fragment of his writings remaining. It is found in Eusebius.
" If at any time, I met with one who had conversed with
the elders, I inquired after the sayings of the elders (presby
ters) : what Andrew or what Peter said ; or what Philip,
Thomas, or James, had said ; what John or Matthew, or
what any other of the disciples of the Lord, were wont to
say."* Thus we have a witness who lived near enough to
the beginning, to inquire of those who had conversed with
the apostles, if not to listen to St. John himself. Too little
remains of .his writings to furnish many testimonies, especially
as he had it not in view to confirm the authenticity of any
part of scripture ; but still he gives a very valuable testimony
to the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, and the first Epistles
of Peter and John. He alludes to the Acts and the book
of Revelation.
Thus we have ascended to the apostolic age. But we
may reach still higher. We have in our possession the well
authenticated writings of five individuals and fathers in the
primitive church, who, because they were contemporary
with the apostles, are called apostolical fathers. Three of
them, Barnabas, Clement, and Hermas, are mentioned by
name in the New Testament ;f the fourth, Polycarp, was
an immediate disciple of St. John ; the fifth, Ignatius, enjoyed
the privilege of frequent intercourse with the apostles.
There is scarcely a book of the New Testament, which one
or another of these writers has not either quoted or alluded
to. Though what is extant of their works is very little, it
contains more than two hundred and twenty quotations, or
allusions to the writings of our sacred volume, in which
they are uniformly treated with the reverence belonging to
inspired books, calling them " the Sacred Scriptures;" "the
* Lardner, L 337.
t Acts xiii. 2, 3 ; 46, 47. 1. Cor. ix. 4—7. Phil. iv. 3. Rom. xvi. 14

56 LECTURE II.
Oracles of the Lord." Their testimony is not universal,
inasmuch as it is incidental. They had no design of enu
merating for posterity, or their contemporaries, the books of
scripture. There was no controversy on that subject in their
age. It would have seemed a needless waste of words, had
they attempted to decide a question which no one asked. It
is very natural, therefore, considering the brevity of their
remaining' works, and the incidental character of their quo-
cations, that some of the shorter writings of the New Testa
ment should not be alluded to ; while the fact that, by one
or another, almost every book is quoted or alluded to, and
that the whole number of quotations or allusions is upwards
of two hundred and twenty, accompanied with every mark
of reverence and submission, is a most impressive proof that
the authenticity and inspired authority of the New Testa
ment books were then notorious and unquestioned among
Christians. Thus we have ascended the line of testimony into the
presence of the apostles. Our evidence has been collected
from only a few out of the many witnesses that might have
been cited. It has been derived from writers of different
times, and of countries widely separated — from philosophers,
rhetoricians, and divines, all men of acuteness and learning
in their days, all concurring in their testimony that the
books of the New Testament were equally known in distant
regions, and received as authentic by men and churches that
had no intercourse with one another. The argument is now,
therefore, reduced to this. The apostles and disciples of Christ
are known to have left some writings. That those writings
have been lost, none can give a reason for believing. It is
not pretended that any other volume than that of the New
Testament contains them. The books contained in this
volume, were considered to be the writings of the apostles,
by the whole christian church, as far back as those who
were their contemporaries and companions, being continu-

LECTURE II. 57
ally quoted and alluded to as such. It was impossible that
such witnesses should be deceived. Contemporaries and
companions must have known whether they quoted the
genuine works of the apostles, or only forgeries pretending
to their names. Our evidence, therefore, is complete. What
I have presented, exceeds, above measure, the evidence for
the authenticity of any other ancient book. Should the
fiftieth part of it be demanded for any Roman or Grecian
production, its character must be condemned as unworthy of
confidence. Before relinquishing this department of evidence, there
are certain very important particulars which, though em
braced in what has been already advanced, require a more
special notice.
1st. It is worthy of distinct remark, that when the books
of the New Testament are quoted or alluded to by those
whose testimony has been adduced, they are treated with
supreme regard, as possessing an authority belonging to
no other books, and as conclusive in questions of religion.
For example ; Irenasus, born about A. D. 97, calls them
" divine oracles ;" " scriptures of the Lord." He says that
the Gospel was " committed to writing, by the will of God,
that it might be, for time to come, the foundation and pillar
of our faith."* " He fled to the Gospels, which he believed
no less than if Christ had been speaking to him ; and to the
writings of the apostles, whom he esteemed as the presby
tery of the whole christian church." Origen, born about
A. D. 184, says, " Christians believe Jesus to be the Son of
God, in a sense not to be explained and made known to
men, by any but by that scripture alone which is inspired by
the Holy Ghost ; that is, the evangelic and apostolic scrip
ture, as also that of the law and the prophets."t Cyprian,
bishop of Carthage, born about the end of the second een-
» Lardner, 1 372. t Ib. i. 545.

58 LECTURE II.
tury, earnestly exhorts "all in general, but especially christian
ministers, in ail doubtful matters, to have recourse to the
Gospels and the Epistles of the apostles, as to the fountain
where may be found the true original doctrine of Christ."
" The precepts of the Gospel (he says) are to be considered
as the lessons of God to us ; as the foundations of our hope,
and the supports of our faith."*
2d. The books of the New Testament were united at a
very early period in a distinct volume. Not to mention, in
evidence of this, that in all the earliest writers, the Gospels
and Epistles are spoken of as constituting a notorious col
lection of sacred authorities, divided into those two parts ;
we have Tertullian, born only fifty years after the death of
St. John, calling the collection of the Gospels the " evange
lical instrument ;" the whole volume, the " New Testa
ment ;" and the two parts, the " Gospels and apostles."
3d. The books of the New Testament were, at a very
early period, publicly read and expounded in the congrega
tions of Christians. Chrysostom, born about A. D. 347,
testifies that " the Gospels, when written, were not hid in a
corner, or buried in obscurity, but made known to all the
world, before enemies as well as others, even as they are
now." Irenaeus, about two hundred years earlier, says that,
in his time, " all the scriptures, both prophecies and Gospels,
are open and clear, and may be heard of all."\ Still earlier,
we find Justin Martyr giving the emperor an account of the
christian worship, in which it is written : " The memoirs of
the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, accoid-
in-g as the time allows ; and when the reader has ended, the
president makes a discourse, exhorting to the imitation of so
excellent things."! The custom here mentioned, is- evidently
spoken of as notorious and universal. This was about the
year 140. But a practice thus general and familiar could

Lardner, ii. 27, and 592, 3. t Ib. i. 372. t Ib. i. 345.

LECTURE 11.

hardly have grown up in less than forty years before the
writing of this last witness. Thus we reach the life of St.
John, and may, therefore, consider it as satisfactorily proved
that, at a period as early as the last years of St. John, the
scriptures of the New Testament were publicly read and
expounded in the churches of Christians. Such is the
natural inference, from many passages in the works of
Augustine, of the fourth century. For example, " The
canonical books of scripture being read every where, the
miracles therein recorded, are well known to all people."
" The Epistles of Peter and Paul are daily recited to the
people." And to what people ? Aid to how many people?
Listen to the Psalm : " Their sound hath gone out into all
the earth." Again : " The genuineness and integrity of the
same scriptures may be relied on, which have been spread
all over the world, and which from the time of their publi
cation were in the highest esteem, andt have been carefidly
kept in the churches*
4th. During the primitive ages of Christianity, commen
taries were written upon the books of the New Testament ;
harmonies of them were formed, copies diligently com
pared, and translations made into different languages. In
proof of these assertions, it is needless, after the citations
already made, to call up testimony. It may be found abun
dantly in Paley's Evidences ;t where it is well said, that " no
greater proof can be given of the esteem in which these an
cient books were holden by the ancient Christians, or of the
sense then entertained of their value and importance, than
the industry bestowed upon them. Moreover, it shows that
they were then considered as ancient books. Men do not
write comments upon publications of their own times :
therefore the testimonies cited under this head, afford an
evidence which carries up the evangelic writings much be-
* Lardner, ii. 593, 4. tP. I.e. ix. c vi.

60 LECTURE II.
yond the age of the testimonies themselves, and to that o4
their reputed authors." There is but a single example of a
christian writer during the three first centuries, composing
comments upon any other books than those in the New ' fes-
ment. Clement, of Alexandria, is mentioned by Eusebius as
having written short notes upon an apocryphal book, called
the Revelation of Peter ; but that he did not consider it
as having authority, may be inferred from the fact men
tioned by Eusebius, that in his other works it was nowhere
quoted* 5th. From the view we have taken of primitive testimony,
it appears that the agreement of the ancient church as to
what were the authentic books of the New Testament, is
complete. Out of twelve catalogues, the earliest of which was
furnished by Origen, living within a hundred years of St.
John ; all of which were drawn up, either by solemn coun
cils, or distinguished heads of the church residing in various
and widely remote parts of the world ; out of twelve,
seven, including the earliest, agree exactly with our New
Testament list ; three others differ only in the omission of
the book of Revelation, for which they had a special renson
not implicating its authenticity ; and in the two which remain,
the books omitted and spoken of as doubtful, in the esti
mation of some, were acknowledged and quoted as authentic
by the framers of the catalogues. The fathers, in all their
writings and of all ages and countries, appeal to the same
scriptures as infallible authority. The consent of the ancient
church was therefore universal. So far as the argument for
the divine revelation of the Gospel is connected with the
authenticity of any of the books it was without exception.
The books omitted in some writers and catalogues, have no
essential reference to the great question whether the Gospel
of Christ is of divine revelation.

* Lardner, i. 410.

LECTURE II. 01
Gth. The agreement among the various sects of heretics
in the earliest centuries, is as entire as that of the orthodox
fathers. The authenticity of the books of the New Testa
ment was acknowledged even by those to whose sectarian
interest their authority was extremely detrimental. Instead
of venturing to dispute their having been written by their
reputed authors, they sought refuge in arbitrary interpreta
tions of such passages as opposed their favourite views.
Some among the Gnostics, for example, unable to escape the
apostolic character of the sacred books, maintained the ne
cessity of giving an allegorical turn to their declarations.
And when, in the course of time, heretics did undertake to
question the authenticity of some portions of the New Tes
tament, their accusation was not based upon any historical
o'r testimonial objections, but confined to some trifling and
pretended internal causes of exception, which only their
own convenience could discover. Some of these later here
tics, being opposed to the doctrine of the influences of the
Holy Spirit, denied the gospel of St. John, because it con
tains the promise of that divine Teacher and Comforter.
But with regard to those of an earlier date, Irenaeus of the
second century, writes, " So great is the certainty in regard
to our Gospels, that even the heretics themselves bear testi
mony in their favour ; and all acknowledging them, each
endeavours to' establish from them his own opinions."* Ori
gen, on account as well of his candour and acquaintance
with the heresies of his times as of the early age in which
he lived, should be considered a competent witness on this
head. He states that the heretics endeavoured to impose
upon people by alleging texts of scripture for their particu
lar tenets, though they quoted them in a very unfair and
mutilated manner ; and that they appealed to them because
they were the only writings whose authority was umver-

* Storr & Flatt's Bib. Theol. i. 67.
5*

g2 LECTURE 11.
sally allowed.* Testimony more impressive than this, to
the apostolic authorship of the New Testament books, can
not be demanded.
7th. The several heads of evidence which have, now been
made out in proof of the authenticity of the New Testa
ment, cannot be pretended to with regard to any of those
writings which are called Apocryphal Scriptures. To some
who are aware that in the early ages of Christianity there
existed a variety of apocryphal gospels and other composi
tions, pretending to have been written by the apostles, it may
be difficult to imagine by what rule the true works of the
inspired writers were separated, without embarrassment and
with sufficient confidence, from all mere pretenders to that
high original. But it greatly enhances one's sense of the
prodigious weight of evidence in support of the true scrip
tures, to learn how broad and unquestionable was the dis
tinction. Among the apocryphal writings, there are two classes.
One is that of histories which assumed the names of the
apostles, but were literally forgeries and therefore spurious,
as well as apocryphal. The other consists of certain writings
of a christain character, and either entirely or in part histo
rical, which are not spurious, but called apocryphal because
their age and authors are unknown, or their authority is of
no weight.
Of the first class, it may be asserted, without any hazard,
that none are quoted within three hundred years after the
birth of Christ, by any writer now extant or known ; or if
any are quoted, it is invariably with marks of censure and
rejection-! The only possible exception is the gospel accord
ing to the Hebrews, " Which (says Lardner) was probably
either St. Matthew's gospel in his original Hebrew, with some
additions ; or, as I rather think, a Hebrew translation of St.

•Lardner, iv. 521, 2. +6 Paley's Evidences,

LECTURE II. 63
Matthew's Creek original, with the additions above mention
ed." But this is quoted nowhere, without marks of discredit
except in one place in the works of Clement of Alexandria.
Of the second class, none but a book called the Preaching
of Peter, and another entitled the Revelation of Peter, are
quoted, without positive condemnation, by any writer of the
three first centuries. These are spoken of only by the same
Clement of Alexandria. Compare with these facts, the
immense mass and variety of concurrent testimonies to the
books of the New Testament in the writers of the three first
centuries ; testimonies from all countries and all classes — ¦
orthodox or heretics ; remember for example that you may
find in the extant works of Tertullian, or of Irenaeus, or of
Clement of Alexandria, more and larger quotations of the
small volume of the New Testament, than you can find in
writers of all characters, for several ages, of the works of
Cicero, though voluminous and always so universally popu
lar ; and it will be evident that the apocryphal writings
could have presented no difficulties in ascertaining the
authentic books of the apostles. None of them were read
as having apostolic authority in the churches of Christians ;
nor admitted into their sacred volume ; nor included in their
catalogues ; nor noticed as authentic by the adversaries of
Christianity ; nor appealed to by all parties calling them
selves Christians, as authority in their controversies ; nor
treated with sufficient respect to be made the subjects of
commentaries, collections or translations, unless the brief
notes on the Revelation of Peter, by Clement of Alexandria,
should merit exception. So wide was the contrast between
the true and the false; so easily were the true scriptures dis
tinguished from all unauthorized pretenders to that honoura
ble name.
But this is capable of being exhibited still more impres
sively. We have stated several important evidences ol
authenticity, all of which are found in the New Testament.

64 LECTURE II.
and none in any of the apocryphal writings. We will now
exhibit certain evidences of spuriousness, all of which are
found in the apocryphal writings, and none in those of the
New Testament. The reasons which render the authen
ticity of a work suspicious, are thus enumerated in the
learned Introduction to the New Testament by Michaelis :
1. When doubts have been entertained, from its first ap
pearance, whether it was the work of its reputed author.
2. When his immediate friends who were able to judge,
have denied it to be his. 3. When a long series of years
has elapsed after his death, in which the book was unknown,
and in which it must have been mentioned or quoted, had it
been in existence. 4. When the style is different from that
of his other writings ; or in case no others remain, different
from what might be reasonably expected. 5. When events
are recorded which happened later than the time of the pre
tended author. 6. When opinions are advanced contradic
tory to those which he is known to have maintained in other
writings.* Now it may be affirmed, without fear of contra
diction, that the apocryphal books exhibit all these evidences
of spuriousness ; none of them being exempt from nearly
the whole list, and few of them deficient in any particular.
While, with equal confidence, it is asserted that the books of
the New Testament exhibit none of them. In no book of
that holy volume, are opinions professed that are contradic
tory to any which the reputed author is known elsewhere to
have maintained; nor are facts recorded which happened
later than the age in which he lived ; nor is the style differ
ent from that of his other writings, or from what might rea
sonably have been expected from his pen. No book of the
New Testament was unknown during a long series of years
subsequent to the death of the individual to whom it is
ascribed ; none can be shown to have been denied by the

* Miehaelis' Int., i. p. 25.

LECTURE II. 65
near friends of the reputed author as his production ; no
doubts can be proved to have been entertained of the au
thenticity of any part of the New Testament at the time of
its first publication.
That apocryphal writings existed in the first centuries, is
a fact which so far from embarrassing the evidence for the
authenticity of the New Testament books, and the truth of
the gospel history, very materially confirms it. Had it not
been notorious that the apostles did write Gospels and Epis
tles, it is not likely that so many would have attempted to
pass off spurious Gospels, &c, in their names. Had it not
been that the fame of Christ and his apostles was very great
in all lands, from the beginning, it is not probable that all
these apocryphal authors would have thought of writing
about them, or in their names ; much less that they would
have expected a market for their works. Had it not been
notorious and universally allowed that Christ and his apos
tles wrought miracles, and did many wonderful works, it is
not probable that all these writers would have taken it for
granted, and sought to build up their particular opinions
upon the assumption. " They all suppose the dignity of
our Lord's person, and a power of working miracles, toge
ther with a high degree of authority, as having been con
veyed by him to his apostles."*
That apocryphal books should have been published in
the name of the apostles, is precisely what was to be ex
pected from the wid-e circulation, great popularity, and emi
nent reverence, which their authentic writings had obtained.
Current notes soon awaken a disposition to counterfeit them.
Popular medicines soon bring into the market apocrypha)
inventions wearing their names. The effort to pass off the
latter is the best proof of the estimation of the former.
The New Testament writers have been treated, in this
* Lardner, iii. 131

66 LECTURE II.
respect, precisely like others. So writes Augustine : " No
writings ever had a better testimony afforded them than
those of the apostles and evangelists ; nor does it weaken
the credit and authority of books received by the church
from the beginning, that some other writings have been
without ground, and falsely, ascribed to the apostles ; for
the like has happened, for instance, to Hippocrates ; but
yet his genuine works have been distinguished from
others, which have been published under his name.,:*
Such, also, has been the case with many others. Several
spurious orations were published under the names of Lysias
and Demosthenes. Works were ascribed to Plautus, and
Virgil, and Horace, which had no title to their names. But
it was no difficult matter for the Greek and Roman critics to
separate the genuine from the apocryphal works of those
authors. Thus it was also with the early Christians. They
proved all things, and held fast that only which was good.
" We receive Peter and the other apostles, as Christ (said
Serapion, bishop of Antioch) ; but as skilful men, we reject
those writings which are falsely ascribed to them."
Here we might safely leave the question of authenticity ;
for, if the evidence adduced does not prove the New Testa
ment books to have proceeded from the apostles, no book of
a passed age has any pretension to authenticity ; that Milton
wrote Paradise Lost must be considered unworthy of credit ;
that the orations bearing the name of Cicero, were composed
or delivered by that orator, must be condemned as one of the
apocryphal inventions of some age of monks and darkness
" I find more sure marks of authenticity in the New Testa
ment (said Sir Isaac Newton), than in any profane history
whatever." But inasmuch as your minds cannot be furnished with
too much information on this fundamental subject, 1
* Lardner, iii. 134.

LECTURE II. 67
will reserve some important views for a subsequent lec
ture. There is a lesson for the believer, in what has been exhi
bited, of great practical interest. It is manifest, from the
testimonies adduced, that the scriptures of the New Testa
ment were treated, among the primitive Christians, not only
as true and possessed of inspired authority, in reference to
all questions of doctrine and obedience ; but as very pre-.
cious, " more to be desired than gold." They loved them as
an inestimable treasure ; they kept them, consulted them,
and exalted them in their hearts, and houses, and assemblies,
as a companion for every trial ; a guide in every difficulty ;
a gift of God, for the preservation and honour of which they
were ready to shed their blood. They felt them to be " pro
fitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in
righteousness." How does all this rebuke the lukewarm-
ness with which the scriptures are regarded by too many
professing Christians of the present day. In primitive times,
believers would read them, though they paid for the privilege
with their lives. In these days, multitudes who call them
selves believers, can hardly be persuaded to search the scrip
tures, though every facility is afforded, and the Bible is in
honour. What a tremendous account must he give to God,
who neglects His word ! Let us imitate not only the affec
tionate devotion with which the primitive Christians read.
the Bible, but also the diligent zeal with which they sur
mounted innumerable obstacles, in circulating copies of its
books through the world. We possess facilities for such an
object which they had not. The press is placed in our hands
for this very purpose. It is our gift of tongues. Let us
realize the responsibility we are under, for the improvement
of so rich a talent ; and speed its work, and multiply its
branches of application, till the sound of the Gospel has gone
out into all the earth, and the words of Jesus to the ends of
the world ; and there is nothing hid from the light thereof

6S LECTURE III.

LECTURE III.
AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY OF THE NEW
TESTAMENT.
Our attention was exclusively occupied, during the last
lecture, in tracing up the line of testimony by which the
church of Christ, in these days, is certified that her sacred
books, composing the volume of the New Testament, are.
those very books which were written by the apostles of the
Lord Jesus. A series of attestations was followed up, by
which we were conducted into the very age and presence of
the apostles, and enabled to inquire of those who, having
been their contemporaries, and in habits of intercourse with
them, must necessarily have known what books they wrote.
A mass of evidence was obtained, by which the authenticity
of the New Testament was placed on the most immoveable
basis. But, inasmuch as we are now laying the foundation
of our subsequent and more direct arguments for the truth
of Christianity as a divine revelation, it is of the greatest
importance that, in respect to this preliminary subject, every
mind be well assured, and that nothing of importance to the
impressiveness, as well as sufficiency, of the evidence, be
omitted. In the present lecture, therefore, we pursue still
farther the question to which the last was devoted.
From the whole tenor of the previous lecture, it is evi
dent that the canon, of the Neio Testament ; in other words,
the collection of those books which were considered as the
inspired and authoritative writings of the apostles and evan
gelists, to the exclusion of all others, was not made without
great care, and the most deliberate, intelligent investiga
tion Such is the witnessing of an eminent writer of the

LECTURE III. 69
fourth century. " Our canonical books (says Augustine),
which are of the highest authority among us, have been set
tled with great care : they ought to be few, lest their value
should be diminished; and yet they are so many, and writ
ten by so many persons, that their agreement, throughout, is
wonderful."* The method pursued by the early Christians
in determining what books had a just claim to the character
of canonical scriptures, was precisely that by which we have
been investigating the same subject. It was not enough, for
the reception of a writing, that it came to them under the
name of an apostle, and was considered by some as justly
entitled to that honour. Its descent was carefully traced.
How was it regarded by the preceding generation, and by
the generation before that? Was it known by those who
lived nearest the time and the person associated with its
claims ? Had it been received by the churches ; referred to
and quoted, as possessing canonical authority, by christian wri
ters since the period of its general publication ? Had it been
handed down by the general and concurrent tradition of the
church, written and unwritten, as the work of the writer
whose name it bears? Such v/as the mode which, we know
from the remaining works of Irenaeus, Tertullian, Eusebius,
Cyril, and Augustine, &c, was employed in their days, and
in all times of the primitive church. " The books of the
canonical scriptures (says Augustine), established in the times
of the apostles, and confirmed by the testimony of the suc
cession of bishops and churches, in all following times, are
placed in a peculiar degree of authority, to which the judg
ment and understanding of all pious men are subject."
The numerous catalogues which have descended to us
from the early centuries, are sufficient evidence of the care
with which the canon of the New Testament was settled.
In primitive times, when, from a variety of causes, spurious

* Lardner, ii. 596.
6

(0 LECTURE III.
books abounded, and the distant and scattered churches,
incapable of much intercourse with those near the centre
of christian light, were most liable to be deceived, these
catalogues were of the greatest importance. How nume
rous they must have been, may be, in somewise, conceived
from the fact that, although a very small portion only of
the works of the first four centuries are extant, there are
among them no less than thirteen independent catalogues,
all of them composed by authors scattered over only about
one hundred and eighty, out of the first four hundred years
after the birth of Christ.
The same care is seen in the pains that were taken to
obtain the most exact information as x> the authenticity of the
books bearing apostolic names ; as well as from the decisive
censure and aversion with which an attcnv >t to pass a spu
rious work upon the church, was visited. Pidus and learned
heads of the churches used to journey to Palestine, and reside
there for a considerable length of time, for the express object
of obtaining whatever valuable k towledge might be found
there, as to the New Testament writfngs. And of the treat
ment bestowed upon attempted lc rgeries, we have an example
in the case of 'a certain presbyte- of A?ia, soon after the death
of St. John, who publish d a book, waich is still extant, un
der the title of the Acts of Paul and Thecla. The attempt
at imposition was charged upon the author, and confessed.
Whereupon he was degraded from his office, and the whole
matter was notified to the churches, that they might feel the
need of the strictest care thereafter.*
The gradual steps by which the books of the New Testa
ment were multiplied to their present number, afforded the
best opportunity for a careful and accurate determination of
their authenticity. Had they all appeared at once, claiming,
in their collective form, to be received by the churches as in-

* Lardner, i. 435.

LECTURE III. 71
spired scripture ; the attention of Christians being thus divi
ded among 'twenty-seven independent writings which pro
fessed to have been written by eight different authors, the
diligence of their investigation would have been also divided;
its accuracy would have been endangered, and the opportu
nity of imposition greatly increased. But such was not the
case. ' The books of the New Testament were published
Singly. They came before the churches, one by one, with
considerable intervals between them, thus giving time for the
claims of each to be deliberately and singly examined. The
Epistle to the Romans appeared at the bar of the church in
the city of Rome, and had its authority as a writing of St.
Paul determined, without embarrassment from any question
as to the authenticity of the Epistle to the Ephesians. The
Ephesians received the Epistle directed to them, and could
sit in judgment upon its claims, without any necessity of de
ciding, at that time, upon the authenticity of the Epistle to the
Romans, or Corinthians, or Philippians. Thus were there
several years between the beginning and completion of the
canon of the New Testament. For a little while, a portion of
the church might possess an additional book, which a distant
region, on account of the difficulty of multiplying and trans
mitting copies, would not have received. It may have been
a period of some years before a church in the distant parts of
Asia received and was enabled satisfactorily to authenticate
the Epistle to the Romans. Meanwhile the canon of scrip
ture might be composed of more books at Rome than at the
church supposed.
How long this state of things continued ; or when precisely
the canon was closed, is a question rather of curiosity than of
importance ; the authenticity and canonical character of any
particular book being independent of its determination. We.
know that the principal parts of the New Testament were
collected before the death of St. John, or at least not long sub
sequent to that event. But what individual, or what assem-

LECTURE III.

blage of persons, collected them; where, and precisely when.
the work was done, we may indulge in plausible conjecture,
but cannot certainly ascertain. But what connexion have
such matters with the question of apostolic origin ? If the
Epistle to the Romans, or the gospel of Matthew was written
by the disciple whose name it bears, it surely matteis little
when it became the companion of other authentic books in
the formation of a separate volume ; or who arranged its
place in that volume ; or when an assemblage of christian
fathers inserted its name in a catalogue, and published it to
the churches as a canonical writing. It was canonical as
soon as it was composed. It was a part of the New Testa
ment from the moment of its birth. Had the books of scrip
ture never been collected into a volume, but kept in separation,
as they were first published, to the present time, all hough
their preservation would have been more difficult, their au
thority would have been the same, and the canon of the New
Testament complete. Had no father of the church, nor any
ecclesiastical council ever issued a declaration of opinion as
to what writings should be included in the list of canonical
scriptures, we should have wanted indeed much valuable
testimony now possessed from such sources ; but the essential
claim of each inspired book to a place in the canon would
have remained unaltered. To substantiate the title of any
portion of the New Testament to so honourable a place, we
need only the proof that it was written by the apostle or
evangelist to whom it is ascribed. For this we require the
testimony of primitive antiquity. So far as the opinion of
ancient councils or authors is deserving of attention, as a
matter of testimony, it is of value in the settlement of the
canon ; and in this view, such opinion is unquestionably of
the highest importance; and what we have already exhi
bited of this kind, deserves the greatest consideration. But
the point to be especially noted is, that the proof of authen
ticity \\\ the subject before us, is the proof of canonical authc-

LECTURE III. 73
rity , that the canon began when the first Gospel or Epistle
was published ; that it increased with every additional pub
lication by inspired men, and was complete and closed, the
moment the last writing of the New Testament was issued
to the churches ; though at the same time but few of them
may have been acquainted with it ; no ecclesiastical assem
bly may have sanctioned it, and no union had been made
with other inspired books, so as to present them to the
churches as a collection of canonical writings, under the
general name of the New Testament.
As to the arrangement of these books in a single volume,
it must have been a work of time, according to the relative
situation and intercourse of any particular region of Chris
tianity. "Those churches which were situated nearest to
the place where any particular books were published, would,
of course, obtain copies much earlier than churches in remote
parts of the world. For a considerable period the collection
of these books in each church must have been necessarily
incomplete, for it would take some time' to send to the church
or people with whom the autographs were deposited, and to
write off fair co pies. This necessary process will also account
for the fact, that some of the smaller books were not received by
the churches so early, nor universally, as the larger. The soli
citude of the churches to possess, immediately, the more exten
sive books of the New Testament, would doubtless induce
them to make a great exertion to acquire copies ; but, proba
bly, the smaller would not be so much spoken of, nor would
there be so strong a desire to obtain them without delay.
Considering how difficult it is now, with all our improve
ments in the typographical art, to multiply copies of the
scriptures with sufficient rapidity, it is truly wonderful how
so many churches as were founded during the first century.
to say nothing of individuals, could all be supplied with
copies of the New Testament, when there was no speedier
method of producing them than by writing every letter with
6*

74

LECTURE HI.

the pen. Even as early as the time when Peter wrote his
second Epistle, the writings of Paul were in the hands of
the churches, and were classed with the other scriptures.*
And the citation from these books by the earliest christian
writers, living in different countries, demonstrates that, from
the time of their publication, they were sought after with
avidity, and were widely dispersed." "How intense the
interest which the first Christians felt in the writings of the
apostles can scarcely be conceived by us, who have been
familiar with these books from, our earliest years. How soli
citous would they be, for example, who had never seen Paul,
but had heard of his wonderful conversion and extraordinary
labours and gifts, to read his writings ? And probably they
who had enjoyed the high privilege of hearing this apostle
preach would not be less desirous of reading his Epistles !
As we know from the nature of the case, as well as from
testimony, that many uncertain accounts of Christ's dis
courses and miracles had obtained circulation, how greatly
would the primitive Christians rejoice, to obtain an authentic
history from the pen of an apostle, or from one who wrote
precisely what was dictated by an apostle ? We need no
longer wonder, therefore, that every church should wish to
possess a collection of the writings of the apostles ; and
knowing them to be the productions of inspired men, they
would want no further sanction of their authority. All that
was requisite, was to be certain that the book was indeed
written by the apostle whose name it bore."t Hence the care
of St. Paul, as he commonly wrote by an amanuensis, to
have the salutation in his own hand, or to annex his signa
ture : as, for example, in the second Epistle to the Thessa
lonians : " The salutation of Paul with mine own hand,
which is the token in every Epistle : so I write." Hence,
also, the care so often manifest in the Epistles, to designate

? 2 Peter, in. 14, 15. t Alexander on the Canon, p. 138, &c.

lecture i rr. i a
those by name to whom the office of carrying them, whitl ter
they were addressed, was intrusted.
From the authorities quoted in the previous lecture, it
must be full in your recollection that while the agreement
of the ancient churches may be considered to have been
complete, so far as is important to the argument for the di
vine origin of Christianity ; still there was a difference of
opinion as to the authenticity and canonical authority of the
Epistle to the Hebrews ; of the Epistle of James ; the se
cond of Peter ; the second and third of John ; the Epistle of
Jude ; and the book of Revelation. This diversity was not,
by any means, so great or important as some suppose. Had
it not been for the great care and candour of those early
Christians, from whom we learn the fact, it would have
seemed of too limited an extent, and too inconsiderable in its
origin, to merit any more than a very transient notice in their
writings. But we have no reason to regret the publicity
they have given it. They have thus put into our hands a
very strong proof of the discriminating care and jealous vigi
lance with which the primitive churches investigated the
title of any book to admission into the canon of the New
Testament. That some were doubted, though afterwards
universally acknowledged, exhibits in a very strong light the
certain authenticity of all those of which there was never a
question. The canonical authority of the six Epistles above named,
as well as of the Apocalypse, has no material connexion with
the argument of the ensuing lectures. The evidence of the
divine origin and revelation of Christianity is entirely inde
pendent of the question of their authenticity. Should we
acknowledge them to be spurious, no point of christian doc
trine or duty would be removed ; no gospel truth would be
shaken ; no evidence of divine revelation would be dimin
ished. To vindicate their authenticity cannot, therefore, be
required of a lecturer on the evidences of Christianity. It is

70 LECTURE 1IL
the appropriate office of the biblical critic, and belongs to dis
cussions on the canon of scripture, and to the prolegomena
of a commentary, instead of the course we are now pursuing.
But lest the mere statement of the fact that doubts were once
entertained as to the authenticity of these writings, should
leave on some minds an impression unfavourable to their
character, as inspired scriptures, it will be well to bestow a
moment's attention to the amount of importance to which
those doubts are justly entitled.
With regard to the Epistle to the Hebrews, no question
was entertained as to its being the work of St. Paul, among
the churches of the earlier centuries, except those of the
Latin Christians. The fact that the Arians were the first in
the Greek churches who are said to have denied that it was
written by St. Paul, is an important testimony in its favour.
The objections of the Latins did not pretend to any ecclesi
astical tradition, or any authority of earlier churches, in op
position to its Pauline origin ; but were based entirely on its
internal character, and especially on the handle which the
fourth and fifth verses of the sixth chapter seemed to afford
the sect of the Montanists, in vindication of their prominent
doctrine, that those guilty of grievous transgressions should
be irrevocably cut off from the church. Hence it was that
Jerome and Augustine, though of the Latins, could not adopt
the opinions held by many of their contemporaries, being
convinced of their incorrectness, by the testimony of the an
cient churches to the authenticity of the Epistle.
It should be remarked, that all those who questioned the
canonical authority of this Epistle, treated it with high re
spect as a christian and very ancient writing of the apostolic
age, if not by an apostle's hand. They ascribed it either to
Barnabas or Clement. But for this they had no testimony to
appeal to. On the contrary, the testimony of the earliest
christian writers is very decidedly for St. Paul. The fathers
of the Greek church unanimously ascribed it to him. Je-

LECTURE HI. 77
rome, of the fourth century, testifies that it was received as a
production of that apostle, not only by the eastern churches,
but by all the Greek ecclesiastical writers. " I receive it
(said he) as genuine — guided by the authority of the ancient
writers." Eusebius, the historian of the church of the fourth
century, quotes it as the work of St. Paul, and says it had,
not without reason, been reckoned among the other writings
of the apostle. Theodoret positively asserts that Eusebius
received this Epistle as St. Paul's, and that he manifested
that almost all the ancients were of the same opinion. Au
gustine said "he followed the opinion of the churches of the
east, who received it among the canonical scriptures." Ori
gen, born A. D. 184, expresses his opinion that "it was not
without cause that the ancients (i. e. the immediate succes
sors of the apostles) regarded this as an Epistle of Paul."
The internal evidence is decidedly in favour of its having
been written by that apostle. The salutation from the Jew
ish Christians who had been driven out of Italy (Heb. xiii.
24.), and the mention of Timothy as his fellow traveller (xiii.
23.), are very applicable to Paul. Not only does the general
scope of this Epistle tend to the same point on which so
much stress is laid in his other writings, that we are justified
only by faith in Christ, and that the works and institutions
of the law are of no avail to our salvation ; but there are
also various propositions found in it which are conspicuous
in his other works. The same characteristic warmth and
energy of expression appear in this as in all writings ascribed
in the New Testament to the pen of St. Paul. Hebraisms
abound in it as in his other Epistles. It contains particular
expressions, phrases, and collocations of words, which are
either peculiar to him, or are most frequent in his composi
tions.* But as this is not the place to do justice to a question
of so much importance, and yet not material to the argument
• Smucker's translation of Storr and Flatt's Bib. Theology,

78

LECTURE HI.

of these lectures, 1 must refer you, for further knowledge and
satisfaction, to the learned and ^complete work of professor
Stuart, of Andover, on the Epistle to the Hebrews, or to an
excellent article in the " Biblical Notes and Dissertations,"
recently from the pen of Joseph John Gurney, of the society
of Friends, in England.
The Epistle of James, being addressed to Jewish believers,
was for some time, to a considerable extent, unknown to the
Gentile Christians. While this was the case, its authenticity
was questioned, or rather was not certified among the Gen
tiles. As soon as this ceased to be the case, its authenticity
wns undoubted. It is of great importance to the character
of this Epistle, that in the Syriac version, made at the end of
the first or the beginning of the second century, while the
second Epistle of Peter, the second and third of John, and
the Apocalypse, are omitted, the Epistle of James, written
particularly to the people for whom the version was made, is
included and placed on an equality with all those books about
which there was never a question in the church. In pro
portion as it became known among the Gentile Christians, it
passed through a severe and accurate scrutiny, till, in a short
time, it was universally received, and has ever since been
universally honoured, as an authentic and inspired portion
of the oracles of God.
With regard to the remaining Epistles, concerning the
authenticity of which doubts were for a while entertained, it
will suffice to remark in this place, that the fact of their no;
having been immediately recognised throughout the church
as the works of the apostles, only shows that the persons
who were in doubt had not yet received sufficient informa
tion to make up their judgment ; and that the primitive
Christians, so far frbm being so greedy after additions to the'
sacred canon as to be easily deceived by a plausible preten
sion to apostolic origin, were extremely deliberate and cautious
in examining every candidate for admission into the cata-

LECTURE III. 79
logue of scripture. Such being the case, tl le subsequent re
ception of these Epistles, as soon as full time was given them
to be universally circulated and known, is pt rfect proof that
they were capable of enduring the most trying investigation
of their inspired origin, and were honoured with a unanimous
verdict as the veritable writings of those to whcm they were
ascribed, and as part and parcel of the word of God. The
reader may find abundant satisfaction, with regard to them,
in Dr. Alexander's excellent work on the canon ol' scripture.
It has been stated, that at one period doubts were entertain
ed in the churches as to the authenticity of the book of Reve
lation. Those doubts imply no deficiency of testimony.
Until the fourth century, the character of this book was un
doubted, and its authority was universally acknowledged ;
only one writer questioning whether John the evangelist was
its author, and even he admitting that it was written by in
spiration of God. About the commencement of the fourth
century, the Millenarian controversy having arisen and dis
tracted the churches, and the mysterious character of the
book having been extensively employed in the support of
new and extravagant doctrines, its character declined ; and
without any reference to testimony in the case, its authenti
city was by some, though by no means universally or for a
long time, brought into question. Thus Eusebius, of that
century, after having given a catalogue of the books univer
sally acknowledged, writes : " After these, if it be thought fit,
may be placed the Revelation of John, concerning which we
shall observe the different opinions at a proper time." And
in another place : "There are, concerning this book, different
opinions." " This is the first doubt expressed by any re
spectable writer, concerning the canonical authority of this
book ; and Eusebius did not reject it, but'would have placed
it next after those which were received with universal con
sent. And we find, at this veiy time, the most learned and
judicious of the fathers received the Revelation without scru-

80 LECTURE III.
pie, and annexed it to their catalogues of the books of the
New Testament."* It is of no small importance that a book
so full of evidence against the heresies of the celebrated Dr.
Priestley, should have received from his pen the following
testimony : "This book of Revelation, I have no doubt, was
written by the apostle John. Sir Isaac Newton, with great
f ruth, says, he does not find any other book of the New Testa
ment so strongly attested, or commented upon so early as
this. Indeed I think it impossible for any intelligent and
candid person to peruse it without being struck, in the most
forcible manner, with the peculiar dignity and sublimity of
its composition, superior to that of any other writing what
ever ; so as to be convinced that, considering the age in
which it appeared, none but a person divinely inspired could
have written it.'t It is true, and at first may seem surpris
ing, that while a majority of the ancient catalogues contain
this book, there are many in which it is omitted ; though it
is known that the authors of some of these acknowledged its
authenticity. The omissions are satisfactorily explained by
the consideration that the object of these catalogues was the
guidance of the people in reading the scriptures ; and since
the mysteriousness of this book and the use made of it, on
the side of the Millenarian errors, when the catalogues were
chiefly composed, seemed to render it inexpedient that it
should be as generally read as the other scriptures, its name
was excluded from several lists of books for universal use,
without any intention of pronouncing upon its canonical
character. Having now exhibited satisfactory evidence of the authen
ticity of all the books of the New Testament, be it remarked
that, while every part of the sacred volume is of inspired au
thority, and therefore of such importance as that no man can
take away from it or add unto it without heinous offence

* Alexander on the Canon. t Priestley's Notes on Scripture.

LECTURE III. 81
against God ; still the argument for the divine mission of
Jesus and for the divine origin of Christianity depends chiefly
upon the historical portions, and would exhibit no deficiency
were no attention paid to the authenticity of the others. In
what remains to be said, by way of addition to the various
and unequalled evidence already adauced, we shall have a
view particularly to the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles.
The testimony of the adversaries of Christianity.
It may be said, with some appearance of a plausible ob
jection to the testimony hitherto produced, that it is all de-a
rived, either from the devoted friends of the gospel, or else
from those who professed to be its disciples. Is there no
testimony from enemies ? The books of the New Testament
were widely circulated; christian advocates, in their contro
versies with the Heathen, freely appealed to them ; Heathens,
in their works of attack and defence, must have spoken of •
them. In what light did they regard them ? Did they as
cribe them to their reputed authors, or question their authen
ticity? Now we do not grant that the testimony already
produced is justly liable to the least disparagement on account
of its having been derived exclusively from the friends of
Christ. That certain ancients believed the facts contained
in Caesar's Commentaries has never been supposed to dimin
ish the value of their testimony to the authenticity of that
work. We will take occasion, by and by, to show that the
very fact that an early witness to the New Testament his
tory was not an enemy, but a friend, of the gospel, and had
become a friend from having been once an enemy, is just the
ingredient in his testimony that gives it peculiar conclusive
ness. Still, however, we are under no temptation to under
value the importance of an appeal to the opinions of adver
saries. Let us inquire of enemies as well as friends — and
first of Julian.
Julian, the emperor, united intelligence, learning, and
power, with a persecuting zeal, in a resolute effort to root out
7

82 LECTURE III.
Christianity In the year 361, he composed a work against
its claims. We may be well assured that if any thing could
have been said aga inst the authenticity of its books, he would
have used it. His work is not extant; but from long ex
tracts, found in the answer by Cyril, a few years after, as
well as from the statements of his opinions and arguments
by this writer, it is unquestionable that Julian bore witness
to the authenticity of the four Gospels and of the Acts of
the Apostles. He concedes, and argues from, their early
date ; quotes them by name as the genuine works of their
reputed authors; proceeds upon the supposition, as a thing
undeniable, that they were the only historical books which
Christians received as canonical — the only authentic narra
tives of Christ and his apostles, and of the doctrine they
delivered. He has also quoted, or plainly referred to, the
Epistles to the Romans, Corinthians, and Galatians, and
nowhere insinuates that the authenticity of any portion of
the New Testament could reasonably be questioned.* Let
us ascend a little higher.
Hierocles, president of Bithynia, and a learned man, of
about the year 303, united, with a cruel persecution of
Christians, the publication of a book against Christianity,
in which, instead of issuing even the least suspicion that
the New Testament was not written by those to whom its
several parts were ascribed, he confines his effort to the hunt
of internal flaws and contradictions. Besides this tacit
acknowledgment, his work, or the extracts of it that remain,
refer lo, at least, six out of the eight writers of the books
of the New Testament, t Let us ascend still higher.
Porphyry, universally allowed to have been the most
severe am I formidable adversary, in all primitive antiquity,
wrote, about the year 270, a work against Christianity. It. is
evident that he was well acquainted with the New Testament.

? Lardner, iv. 341. t Ib. iv. 259.

LECTURE III. 83
In the little that has been preserved of his writings, there
are plain references to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark,
and John, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistle to the
Galatians.* Speaking of Christians, he calls Matthew their
evangelist. "He possessed every advanl age which natural
abilities or political situation could afford, to discover whether
the New Testament was a genuine work of the apostles
and evangelists, or whether it was imposed upon the world
after the decease of its pretended authors. But no trace of
this suspicion is any where to be found ; nor did it ever occur
to Porphyry to suppose that it was spurii >us." t How well
this ingenious writer understood the value of an argument
against the authenticity of a book of scripture, and how
greedily he would have enlisted it in his war against Chris
tianity, could he have found such a weapon, is evident from
his well known effort to escape the prophetic inspiration of
the book of Daniel, by denying that it was written in the
times of that prophet. We may ascend still higher.
Celsus, esteemed a man of learning among Ihe ancients,
and a wonderful philosopher among modern infidels, wrote
a laboured argument against the Christians. He flourished
in the year 176, or about seventy-six years after the death
of St. John. None can accuse him of a want of zeal to
ruin Christianity. None can complain against his testimony,
as deficient in antiquity. An industrious, ingenious, learned,
adversary of that age, must have known whatever was
suspicious in the authorship of the New Testament writings
His book entitled " The True Word," is unhappily lost ,
but in the answer, composed by Origen, the extracts from
it are so large, that it is difficult to find of any ancient book,
not extant, more extensive remains. The author quotes,
from the Gospels, such a variety of particulars, even in
these fragments, that the enumeration would prove almost

* Lardner, iv. 234. t Marsh's Michaelis, i. 43.

84 LECTURE III.
an al iridgement of the Gospel narrative. * Origen has noticed
in them about eighty quotations from the books of the New
Testament, or references to them. Among these there is
abundant evidence that Celsus was acquainted with the
Gospels of Matthew, Luke and John. Seveial of Paul's
Epistles are alluded to. His whole argument proceeds upon
the concession that the christian scriptures were the works
of the authors to whom they were ascribed. Such a thing
as a suspicion, to the contrary, is not breathed ; and yet no
man ever wrote against Christianity with greater virulence.
Hence it appears, '¦' by the testimony of one of the most
malicious adversaries the christian religion ever had, and
who was also' a man of considerable parts and learning, that
the writings of the evangelists were extant in his time, which
was the next century to that in which the apostles lived ;
and that those accounts were written by Christ's own disci
ples, and, consequently, in the very age in which the facts
there related, were done, and when, therefore, it would have
been the easiest thing in the world to have convicted them
of falsehood, if they had not been true." t " Who can for
bear (says the devout Doddridge) adoring the depth of divine
wisdom, in laying up such a firm foundation of our faith
in the gospel history, in the writings of one who was so
inveterate an enemy to it, and so indefatigable in his attempts
to overthrow it." J Who, I will add, can help the acknow
ledgment that in Celsus, Porphyry, Hierocles, and Julian,
all of them learned controversionalists, as well as devoted
opponents and persecutors of Christians, extending their
testimony, from the seventieth year after the last of tlie
apostles, to the year of our Lord 361 — every reasonable de
mand for the testimony of enemies is fully met, and a gra-

* Doddridge, in Lardner, iv. 145 and 7.
t Answer to "Christianity as old as the Creation," by Leland, vol. il. e.
v. p. 150—154.
t Doddridge, in Lardner, iv. 147

LECTURE III. 85
cious Providence has perfected the external evidence for the
authenticity of the New Testament ?
We proceed to confirm the abounding proof, already ad
duced, by a brief reference to the language and style of the
New Testament.
I. The language and style are in perfect accordance with
the local and other circumstances of the reputed writers.
They were Jews by birth ; Jews by education ; Jews by
numerous and strong attachments ; Jews in all their asso
ciations of thought and feeling. Jews were, in great part,
the persons to whom they wrote. Jewish prejudices, objec
tions, and peculiarities, were, to a great extent, the obstacles
in their way. The religious and political institutions of the
Jewish nation, though perfectly exterminated in a few years
after they wrote, were in full establishment, till after the death
of all of them except St. John. Hence it is reasonably ex
pected that Jewish peculiarities should be found frequently
and broadly stamped upon any writings truly professing to
have proceeded from their pens. Such, notoriously, is the
case with the writings of the New Testament. None but
Jews could have composed them. None but Jews who li ved
before the destruction of their temple, and city, and polity,
and nation, could have cast them in their present mould ; or
marked them with all those indescribable and inimitable
touches of a Jewish hand, which their style and language
every where exhibit. The use of words and phrases which
are known to have been peculiar to Judea in the times of the
apostles ; the continual, familiar, and natural allusions to the
ceremonies and temple service of the Jews, as then existing,
and which soon passed away ; the universal prevalence of
a mode of thinking and of expression, which none but a
Jew, brought up under the Old Testament, always accus
tomed to think of religion through the types and shadows of
the law, and reared amidst the usages, prejudices, associa
tions, and errors of the Jewish people, as subsisting in the
7*

86

LECTURE III.

times of the apostles, could have introduced without awk
wardness and obvious forgery; all bear decided witness, not
only that the writers of the New Testament were Jews origi
nally, in every sense ; but that they must have formed their
habits of thinking, feeling and writing, before the destruction
of the Jewish state ; in other words, before the fortieth year
after the death of Christ. From that time, so entirely was
every vestige of the religion and polity of the Jews destroyed,
that, except among those whose minds had been moulded
under pre-existing circumstances, the writing of a book in
the language and style, and abounding in the peculiarities
of the New Testament, would have been, at leasl, next to
impossible. This conclusion will appear the more inevitable, when you
consider the characteristic features by which the Greek of
the New Testament is distinguished. In the times of the
apostles, Greek was almost a universal language. It was
spread over all Palestine. The Jewish coast, on the Medi
terranean, was occupied by cities, either wholly, or half
Greek. On the eastern border of the land, from the Anion
upwards, towards the north, the cities were Greek ; and,
towards the south, in possession of the Greeks. Several
cities of Judea and Galilee were either entirely, or, at least,
half peopled by Greeks. " Being thus favoured on all sides,
this language was spread, by means of traffic and inter
course, through all classes, so that the people (thou oil with
many exceptions), considered generally, understood it;
although they adhered more to their own language."* But
the Greek, thus spoken in Palestine, was not like that of
Attica, nor of the cities of Asia Minor ; but having become
degenerated, in consequence of its associations with people
whose native tongue was Hebrew, by means of Chaldee and

? Hug on tlie Greek languages in Palestine. — Bib. Repositirv, No. III.
Andover

LECTURE HI. 87
Syriac intermixtures, into Western Aramean, it contained a
large share of the idioms and other peculiarities belonging
to this heterogeneous neighbour. Such was the language
in which the apostles must have written. Now, if the books
of the New Testament be their writings, they must contain
the characteristic features of that Palestine Greek. Such is
most manifestly the case. These books are in Greek, but
not pure and classic, such as a native and educated Grecian
would have written ; but in Hebraic Greek ; in a language
mixed up with the words and idioms of that peculiar dialect
of the Hebrew which constituted the vernacular tongue of
the inhabitants of Judea and Galilee in the age of the apos
tles. Had it been otherwise ; were the lanoriap-e of the New
Testament pure and classic ; then the writers must have
been either native and educated Grecians, or else Jews, of
much more Attic cultivation than the apostles of Christ.
In either case a suspicion would attach to the authenticity
of our sacred books. Neither case being true, the evidence
of authenticity is materially confirmed.
But we go further. The Greek of the New Testament
could not have been written by men who had learned their
language after the age of the apostles. This mingling of
Grecian and Aramean, as it is preserved in the New Testa
ment, ceased to be the familiar tongue of Christians in Pales
tine before the death of St. John. When Jerusalem, with
the whole civil and religious polity of the Jews, was, in the
seventieth year of the christian era, entirely destroyed, and
the descendants of Abraham were rooted out of the land,
and foreigners came in from all quarters to take their places ;
the language of the country underwent such a change that,
except with the scattered few who had survived the desola
tion of their country, the Greek of the New Testament was
no more a living language. When St. John died, there was
probably not a man alive who could speak or write precisely
that tongue. In the second century, an attempt to compose

88 LECTURE III.
a book in the name of the apostles, and in imitation of their
Greek, would have been detected as easily as if a full bred
Frenchman, never out of France, should attempt to com
pose a volume in a dialect of English, and endeavour to
pass it off as the work of a plain, sensible, but unpolished
Yorkshireman. Hence, while doubts were entertained for
a while, in some parts of the church, as to the authenticity
of some portions of the New Testament, it was never
doubted whether they were written by men who had lived
when the Greek of Palestine, as it had been in the apostolic
age, was yet alive.
II. The language and style of the Neiv Testament are
in perfect harmony with the known characters of the reputed
writers. The apostles and evangelists were men of plain,
sound understanding, but without any polish of education,
and not likely to adorn their writings with much rhetorical
dress. Paul, the only exception to this character, was well
read in Jewish, and, we have reason to believe, in Grecian
literature. From other sources, besides the New Testament,
we are informed of certain peculiarities of natural character,
as having distinguished some of those to whom the books of
the New Testament are ascribed. John, for example, is
always represented in ecclesiastical history as having been
remarkable for meekness, and gentleness, and a manner and
spirit full of mild affection. Paul, we always read of as
characterized by prompt, energetic zeal and animated bold
ness. If the books bearing their names were written by
those apostles, we must expect to find in them the distinctive
stamp of their respective characters. So it is. In the his
torical books, none of which the educated Paul composed,
there is no ornament of style; but merely the simplicity,
and directness, of plain, sensible men, honestly relating what
they familiarly knew, and disregarding style in their intent-
ness upon truth. In the Epistles of Paul, however, the
case is entirely different. There we behold the style of a

LECTURE III. 89
writer brought up in the schools, though obviously in the
schools of Judea. Accustomed to writing and to argument,
he reasons precisely as we should expect of Saul of Tarsus,
after having been educated at the feet of Gamaliel, and ar
rested by divine power and grace on the road to Damascus
and made to " count all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ." Every where in the epistles,
bearing his name, are written the strong characters of the
peculiar zeal and boldness, as well as education, that belonged
to Paul ; while throughout the writings ascribed to John,
there breathes the sweet spirit of gentleness and tender
affection, so characteristic of "that disciple whom Jesus
loved." Similar statements might be made with regard to
other writers of the New Testament, in proportion as their
peculiarities of temperament are known and conspicuous.
From all that has now been said, it may easily be made
to appear, that if the historical books of the New Testament,
the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, on which our subse
quent argument will chiefly depend, be not authentic; in
plainer terms, if they be forgeries, nothing liSs than a mira
cle can account for their early and universal currency. Re
member that John lived to the end of the first century. It
cannot be supposed that books, falsely pretending to have
been written by those very evangelists, with whom he had
been so intimately associated, and one of them professing to
have been written by himself, could have gained a reputable
currency in the churches while he lived. He certainly knew
what he and the other evangelists had published ; and no
motive can be assigned that could have induced him to suffer
a forgei y to pass unexposed. We conclude, therefore, that
if these books be not authentic, they must have been palmed
on the churches after the death of John ; that is, after the
beginning of the second century. Suppose we descend to
the third. Can it be imagined that the deception was intro
duced after this century commenced ? Impossible ; since by

90 LECTURE III.
this time, the books in question were read, every Lord's
Day, in all the churches ; quoted by writers of all countries ;
universally received rs the oracles of God. If a deception
was introduced at all, it was brought in somewhere between
the death of John and the third century— somewhere in the
course of the second. Now, to obtain a clearer view of the
difficulties which such an attempt must have had to over
come, let it be supposed that during the present year, a vol
ume containing a digest of laws, under the title of " Laws
of the city of New York," should appear among us, pre
tending to be a code of municipal regulations, composed,
about seventy years ago, by a few of the most distinguished
inhabitants of that period ; and to have been received by the
citizens, and appealed to in their municipal courts ever since,
as the book of the laws of this city ; claiming, moreover, to
be acknowledged and obeyed by the present generation as
the very code inherited from their fathers. What would be
its chance ? A moral impossibility would prevent its sue
cess. Nothing but lunacy would undertake such a scheme.
It would be enough for lawyers and judges and people to
say : " It was never heard of before. It has never been
known in our courts." But this is only a feeble illustration
of the case before us. If the books in question were forged
in the name of the evangelists, you must suppose, that at
some period, within a hundred years of St. John, while
many were living who had either known him personally or
conversed with those who did enjoy that privilege, a volume
appeared among the churches, differing widely from those
books which, as works of the evangelists, they had received
and read from the beginning, and yet demanding to be con
sidered as nothing more nor less than those very works.
You must suppose the abettors of the imposition to have
said to the various nations of Christians : " These are
the genuine Gospels in which you were educated ; which
your fathers died for ; which your persecutors endeavoured

LECTURE III. 9]
to destroy, and your martyrs laboured to save ; which have
been daily read in your families, expounded in your churches,
quoted in your writings, and appealed to in all your con
troversies with heretics and enemies." And yet it must
be supposed that Christians, notwithstanding their notorious
love for the writings of the evangelists, and their great care
in preserving them, were so easily and universally imposed
on, as never to perceive that these fraudulent works, instead
of having been expounded and read and quoted and appealed
to in all their churches, had never been heard of before.
You have to suppose, moreover, that while Christianity was
surrounded on all sides and opposed at every step by keen-
sighted and determined enemies — Jews, on the one hand,
with all their cunning — Greeks and Romans on the other,
with all their skill and power, ever watching, accusing, and
persecuting — none of them ever pretended to the discovery
that these books, so fraudulently introduced, were not those
which the apostles wrote and Christians had always read ;
but all believed them to be the identical writings to which
the churches had invariably referred as the law and the
testimony. You must go still further, and suppose that notwithstand
ing the wide publicity which the genuine works of tht;
apostles had obtained among the primitive churches, so
immediately did these spurious productions expel them from
the notice and recollection of all people, that no interval is
known during which the question between the two conflicting
volumes was so much as even debated. Instantly, (you
must suppose), that the spurious were treated every where
with the reverence belonging to inspired books ; that though
divers sects of heresies were starting up in various parts, all
recognised their authority ; that the churches of Rome, Co
rinth, Ephesus, Colosse, Philippi, Galatia, and Thessalo
nica, all believed that these several epistles, falsely Pretending
to have come to them from St. Paul, were thosf zery ones,

92 LECTURE III.
the autographs of which were then in their possession, and
copies of which they had been continually reading in public
from the time the originals were received from the apostle.
Lastly, it must be supposed, that so perfect was the forgeiy,
that although every weapon and artifice that wit, and learn
ing, and power, could contrive, has been employed, during
eighteen hundred years, for the single purpose of under
mining the foundations of Christianity, no labourer in the
cause has yet succeeded in picking a flaw in the authenticity
of its books. He that can digest all this for the purpose of
maintaining that our sacred writings are not authentic, can
swallow the most abject absurdity. He supposes an endless
succession of miracles wrought upon innumerable minds for
the promotion of imposture. He believes the laws of nature
to have been continually violated, under the government of
a holy God, to countenance unrighteousness. In sustaining
this belief, he must adopt a principle with regard to miracles,
the boldness and novelty of which, even Hume would have
been jealous of. He was so modest as only to maintain that
no testimony can prove a miracle. Here, however, the scep
tic must maintain that the most absurd miracle can be proved,
not only without any testimony, but against all testimony.
Enough has now been said to enable you to judge whether
the learning or the honesty of the miserable Paine is most to
be admired, when he says : " Those who are not much ac
quainted with ecclesiastical history, may suppose that the
book called the New Testament has existed ever since the
time of Jesus Christ ; but the fact is historically otherwise.
There was no such book as the New Testament till more
than three hundred years after the time that Christ is said
to have lived." Whether we ought to save this poor sceptic
from the charge of a gross and deliberate falsehood, by im
puting to him disgraceful ignorance, I leave you to decide.
And n-'W, having maintained our cause, permit me to say,
that in a ument with unbelievers, we cannot, in justice, be

LECTURE III. 93
required to present any of the evidence to which you have
been listening. The whole burden of proof lies with the
objector. Should the authenticity of Paradise Lost be called
in question, no believer in its Miltonian origin would feel
himself called upon to prove it. We should wait in calm
ness, till the sceptic had sustained his objection. The book
has lived long enough with a fair reputation to be considered
authentic, till proved to be spurious. So would common
justice warrant us in saying with regard to the New Testa
ment. Eighteen centuries of high and holy reputation are
enough to sustain its authenticity, till sceptics, besides pro
nouncing, shall prove it a forgery. Let the objector be kind
enough to state the proof of its spuriousness ; let him show
(he deficiencies in its evidence ; let him establish objec
tions to its legitimacy, which all the enemies that sur
rounded its birth were unable to venture ; then will it be
time for friends to stand on the defensive, and prove its
apostolic parentage. But this we know not that any opposer
of Christianity ever pretended to have done. How these
books were forced upon the world ; when Christians were so
asleep as not to perceive that they were not the books which
they had always been reading, and consulting, and expound
ing, and loving, and suffering for ; when the enemies of
Christians were so miraculously blinded and the den of lions,
in which the church for so many centuries existed, was so
miraculously hushed and overruled, that such an imposture
could gain admission, and dwell in universal quietness, with
out so much as one paw to pounce on the prey, or one vigil
ant foe to discover its existence — what is the evidence that
such an event ever took place ; I never heard of a human
being undertaking to show. You might as well pretend to
prove that the Declaration of Independence, circulated in
numberless copies through the country, is not authentic ;
that our revolutionary fathers published no such document,
or else that ours is not the declaration which they published

94 LECTURE III.
The adversaries of Christianity are wary. It would require
learning, and time, and talents, to make even a plausible
show of strength, in conflict with the testimony to the au
thenticity of the New Testament; but it takes no time, re
quires no talent, or knowledge, for such persons to insinuate
that its books are forgeries — to put out a wise suspicion that.
they were not written by the original disciples. No argu
ment can refute a sneer, nor any human skill prevent its
mischief. They know that many a mind will catch the
plague of infidelity by the touch of their insinuation, with
out ever finding, or caring to seek, the antidote. Any body
can soil the repute of an individual, however pure and
chaste, by uttering a suspicion, which his enemies will be
lieve, and his friends never hear of. A puff of idle wind
can take up a million of the seeds of the thistle, and do a
work of mischief which the husbandman must labour long
and hard to undo ; the floating particles being too trifling to
be seen, and too light to be stopped. Such are the seeds of
infidelity — so easily sown — so difficult to be gathered up,
and yet so pernicious in their fruits. It is the work of God,
much more than of man, that they do not spread more ra
pidly and widely. The hand of Divine Providence inter
poses to arrest it, where the regular array of human reasoning
would have no room to use its strength.
Here we should leave the subject, were it not that one
question of importance remains to be answered. How do
we know that the New Testament has preserved its integ
rity ? While it appeals so conclusively that our present
books are verily those which the evangelists and apostles
wrote, and the primitive churches loved and read ; how does
it appear that they have undergone no material alteration
since those times? On this head, the answer is complete.
We may reason from the perfect impossibility of any ma
terial alteration. The scriptures, as soon as written, were
published. Christians eagerly sought for them ; copies

LECTURE III. 95
were multiplied ; carried into distant countries ; esteemed a
sacred treasure, for which disciples were willing to die.
They were daily read in families, and expounded in churches ;
writers quoted them ; enemies attacked them ; heretics en
deavoured to elude their decisions ; and the orthodox were
vigilant, lest the former, in their efforts to escape the inter
pretation, should change the text. In a short time, copies
were scattered over the whole inhabited portion of the earth.
Versions were made into different languages. Harmonies,
and collations, and commentaries, and catalogues, were care
fully made and published. Thus universal notoriety, among
friends and enemies, was given to every book. How, in such
circumstances, could material alterations be made without
exposure ? If made in one copy, they must have been made
universally; )r else some unaltered copies would have de
scended to us, or would have been taken notice of and quoted
in ecclesiastical history, and the writings of ancient times.
If made universally, the work must have been done either
by friends, or by heretics, or by open enemies. Is it suppo
sable that open enemies, unnoticed by Christians, could have
altered all or a hundreth part of the copies, when they were
so continually read, and so affectionately protected ? Could
the sects of heretics have done such a work, when they were
ever watching one another as jealously, as all their doings
were continually watched by the churches? Could true
Christians have accomplished such a task, even if any mo
tive could have led them to desire it, while heretics on one
hand, and innumerable enemies on the other, were always
awake and watchful, with the scriptures in their hands, to
lay hold of the least pretext against the defenders of the
faith ? It was at least as unlikely that material alterations
in the New Testament should pass unnoticed and become
universal, in the early centuries and in all succeeding ones,
as that an important change in a copy of the constitution of
the United States should creep into all the copies scattered

96 LECTURE III.
over the country, and be handed down as part of the original
document, unnoticed by the various parties and jealousies
by which that instrument is so closely watched, and so con
stantly referred to. Such was the precise assertion of a
writer of the fourth century, on this very subject. "The in
tegrity (says Augustine) of the books of any one bishop, how
ever eminent, cannot be so completely kept as that of the
canonical scripture, translated into so many languages, and
kept by the people of every age ; and yet some there have
been, who have forged -writings with the names of apostles.
In vain, indeed, because that scripture has been so esteemed,
so celebrated, so known."* Reasoning with a heretic, he
says : " If any one should charge you with having interpo-
lated some texts alleged by you, would you not immediately
answer that it is impossible for you to do such a thing in books
read by all Christians ? And that if any such attempt had
been made by you, it would have been presently discerned and
defeated by comparing the ancient copies ? Well, then, for
the same reason that the scriptures cannot be corrupted by
you, neither could they be corrupted by any other people." \
The agreement among the existing manuscripts of the
New Testament, proves that this holy volume has not been
corrupted. Of no ancient classic are the extant manuscripts
so numerous, as those of the New Testament. Griesbach,
in making his edition, collated more than three hundred and
fifty. These were written in different ages and countries.
Some of them are as old as the fourth or fifth century.
Some contain all, others only particular books or parts of
books of the New Testament. Several contain detached
portions or lessons, as appointed to be read on certain occa
sions in the churches. In none of them have we any thing
differing in essential points from the text at present received.
ft is true, and it sounds to uninformed ears quite alarming
* Lardner, ii. 594. t Ib. ii. 22a

LECTURE III. 97
that in the manuscripts collated for Griesbach's edition of the
New Testament, as many as one hundred and fifty thou
sand various readings are said to have been found. But all
alarm will seem gratuitous when it is known that not one in
a thousand of these various readings makes any perceptible,
or at most any important variation of meaning ; that they
consist almost entirely in manifest mistakes of transcribers,
such as the omission or transposition of letters, errors in
pointing, in grammar, in the use of certain words instead of
others of similar meaning, and in changing the position of
words in a sentence. The very worst manuscript, were it
our only copy of the New Testament, would not pervert one
christian doctrine or precept. By all the omissions and all
the additions contained in all the manuscripts, no fact, no
doctrine, no duty, presented in our authorized version, is ren
dered either obscure or doubtful. The diversity of readings
is ample proof that our present manuscripts were made from
various copies in ancient times ; while the inconsiderable
importance of this diversity of readings shows how nearly
those copies conformed to the original scriptures, and how
little difference would be seen between our present New Tes
tament and the autographs of its writers, could they be now
collated. No ancient book has preserved its text so uncor-
rupt as those of the New Testament. None is attended with
so many means of detecting an inaccurate reading. A com
mon reader, could he compare the various manuscripts,
would be sensible of no more difference among them than
among the several copies of his English Bible, which have
been printed during the last two hundred years.
The uncorrupt preservation of the text of the New Testa
ment is also evident from its agreement with the numerous
quotations in the works of early christian writers, and with
those ancient translations which are now extant. In the
remaining books of the fathers of the first three centuries,
quotations from the New Testament are so abundant, that

98 LECTURE III.
almost the whole of the sacred text could be gathered from
those sources. Excepting some six or seven verses, the
genuineness of which is not perfectly settled, there is an
exact agreement, in all material respects, between those quo
tations and the corresponding parts of our New Testament.
The same confirmation, though still more satisfactory, is
derived from ancient versions. We possess, in various lan
guages, versions of the New Testament, reaching as far
back as the early part of the second century. The Masso
Gothic version, discovered by Mai in 1817, and made by
Ulphilas, bishop of the Masso Goths, in the year 370, of
which only fragments were possessed before, has the same
text as ours. The old Syriac version, called Peshito, is con
sidered by some of the best Syriac scholars to have been
made before the close of the first century. It was certainly
in existence and general use before the close of the second.
Though never brought into contact with our copies of the
New Testament, because not known in Europe till the six
teenth century ; though handed down by a line of tradition
perfectly independent of, and unknown to, that by which our
Greek Testament was received ; yet, when the two came to
be compared, the text of the one was almost an exact version
of the text of the other. The difference was altogether
unimportant. So clearly and impressively has Divine Pro
vidence attested the integrity of our beloved scriptures.
It is now high time we had relieved your attention. You
will allow me to proceed, in the subsequent lectures, on the
belief that the authenticity and integrity of the New Testa
ment have been satisfactorily proved. But let us not sepa
rate without acknowledging, in thankfulness of heart, our
debt of gratitude to Him who, on a subject of such unspeak
able importance, has given us such abundant reason for
complete conviction. He has made the great truth, for
which we have been contending, like "the round world, so
mre, that it cannot be moved."

LECTURE IV. 99

LECTURE IV.
CREDIBILITY OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY.
In the last two lectures our attention was occupied with
the authenticity and integrity of the New Testament. A
body of proof was presented, of such variety and conclu
siveness, as should cause us to feel that, in taking these
important points for granted in our subsequent course, we
assume nothing which every candid mind should not acknow
ledge to have been satisfactorily established. You will
allow me, therefore, to treat the books of the New Testa
ment as needing no further argument to prove that they were
written in the age to which they are ascribed, and by the
authors whose names they bear.
But it should be remembered, that a book may be authen
tic, and yet not credible. It may have been written indeed
by the reputed author, and yet its narrative may not be
worthy of confidence. This, I say, is a possible case. Ex
amples illustrating it are not numerous. So generally do
authentic histories prove to be true, that when we have ascer
tained a book to have been composed by the individual whose
name is on it, we have a strong presumptive argument for
the truth of all the conspicuous and important features in its
narrative. But inasmuch as these two things are not always
associated, an important question remains to be determined,
before we can open the New Testament as the book of the
life and religion of the Lord Jesus Chiist, and worthy of
entire reliance, as an account of what was done and taught
by himself and his apostles. ' Does the New Testament con
tain a true history of events connected with the ministry of

100 LECTURE IV.
Jesus and his primitive disciples, so that we may receive as
historically accurate whatever is related therein? This
refers to what is usually called the credibility of the gospel
history, and expresses the subject of our present lecture.
Bn t lest the bearing of my remarks should not be distinctly
understood, I will endeavour to state the subject still more
precisely. Observe then ; it is not the inspiration of the
gospel history, or that it was written by holy men as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost, that we shall seek to prove
this evening ; nor that it contains a revelation from God ;
nor that its doctrines are true ; nor that any of its facts were
miraculous ; these are subjects which it would be premature
to introduce at present. All at which we now aim, is to fur
nish conclusive evidence that the gospel history is true, in
the same sense as Marshall's Life of Washington is true-
that what it relates, as matter of fact, is worthy of entire
reliance as matter of fact, independently of all inferences or
doctrines with which it may be connected.
How do we prove the credibility of the gospel history 7
I answer : precisely as you would ascertain the credibility of
any other history. Though, as in the case of authenticity,
we are ready to produce a variety and an abundance of evi
dence, far exceeding what the best established and the most
unquestionable books of ancient profane history can pretend to,
still the nature of the evidence is the same in one case as the
other. The fact that one history is called sacred, and the
other profane ; that in one book, the actions of a holy and
extraordinary philanthropist, named Jesus, are related ; and
in another the actions of a wicked and extraordinary man-
slayer, named Caesar, are related ; occasions not the least
difference in the nature of the evidence by which the credi
bility of both must be ascertained.
Here it would be perfectly safe and reasonable to rest the
question of credibility upon the proof arrived at in the last
lecture. Although it does not follow, in all cases, that to

LECTURE IV. 101
prove a book authentic, is to prove it credible also, with
regard to its principal events, yet in the case before us, the fact
that the books of the New Testament were written in the
first century of Christianity, and by the apostles and original
disciples of Christ, is complete evidence that, in respect to
the main events of the gospel history, they are true. If one
should write a romance, calling it the memoir of some well
known and distinguished personage, and publish it, not as
grave, credible biography, but under the character of a novel,
the authenticity of the work would have no connexion with
its truth. But should he issue a book professing to be the
true biography of Washington ; should he vouch in every
way for its truth, and stake his reputation upon its accuracy,
in the midst of a generation familiar with the life of that
noble man, and still containing some who were his compan
ions and the eye-witnesses of many of his deeds, it would be
reasonably inferred that, unless the author were an idiot or a
madman, his work must be correct, at least, in the great mass
of its statements and in all its conspicuous events. He must
be aware that, under such circumstances, no important nar
rative without truth could escape detection. The fact, there
fore, that he has published, in the midst of this generation,
what he expects to be received as a correct biography of
Washington, is sufficient warrant that, however inaccurate
it may be in minute details, and however deficient in many
respects of good writing and useful history, we may safely
receive its principal narratives. Such a thing cannot be pro
duced as a book published in the age to which its events
are said to have occurred, and among the people to whose
minds those events are said to have been familiar ; a book
which its author gravely avowed, and defended, as true and
accurate ; and yet in its principal narratives, in its prominent
characters and occurrences, was not in accordance with fact,
Men have too much sense, if not too much honesty, to at
tempt such a Quixotic adventure ; especially when character

102 LECTURE IV.
and worldly interests are committed by the falsehood. But
there is no book, to which this remark is so applicable as the
New Testament. Not only was it published in the age in
which the events related are asserted to have occurred, and
among the people to whom they are said to have been noto
rious ; but in an age and among a people awake to the whole
subject of its history ; determined to sift its correctness to
the uttermost; capable of the severest scrutiny, and anxious
to take advantage of the smallest inaccuracy. This the
writers were perfectly aware of. They must have known
that in the brevity of the history ; in the fewness of its prin
cipal facts ; in the great prominence and notoriety of each ;
in the few persons to whom they belong, as their leading
agents ; in the few places and the confined region in which
they are said to have occurred ; and in the brief space of
time within which they were all embraced ; their adversaries
possessed advantages for investigation which nothing but
bold and plain truth could confront, and no fiction could pos
sibly elude. That, in the face of all these advantages, they
did publish, and stake their characters and fives upon the
correctness of their narratives, is a full warrant that they
published truth. This argument can only be escaped by
charging the writers of the New Testament with a degree of
idiocy or madness, which the eminent wisdom and excellence
of their works prove to have been impossible. I venture to
say, that should the same argument be alleged with equal
force in behalf of any other ancient book of history, its
credibility, as to the main events related would be considered,
independently of any other evidence, as placed beyond a
reasonable suspicion.
Here, then, we might proceed to open the New Testament
as a book of correct narrative ; certified that, because authen
tic, it is therefore, as to all important matters of fact, credible.
But v/e are not restricted to a single method of proof. The
subject is compassed about with a cloud of witnesses. We

LECTURE IV 103
take up another and broader plan of argument, the force of
which none can mistake.
Let me ask by what sort of evidence you would feel
assured of the credibility of any history, professing to relate
events of a passed age? Suppose you should discover a
" volume hitherto concealed, professing to have been written
by some well known individual of the Augustan age, and to
contain a narrative of events in the personal history and
domestic life of Augustus Caesar. You would first examine
into its authenticity. That settled, you would inquire into
the credibility of its narrative. The first question would be,
did the writer possess every advantage of knowing the events
in the personal history of Augustus ? May I depend on the
sufficiency of his knowledge ? Now he may not have lived
with Augustus, and yet his knowledge may have been per
fectly adequate. But your mind would be fully satisfied on
this head, should it appear that the writer was not only a
contemporary, but that he was domesticated with Augustus ;
conversed familiarly with him, lived at his table, assisted at
his councils, accompanied him on his journeys.
The question of adequate knowledge being thus at rest,
another would remain— -May I depend on the honesty of the
writer 7 In ordinary cases, you would be satisfied if nothing
appeared in the book itself, or in the testimony of contempo
raneous writings, impeaching his honesty. But your satis
faction would be much increased should you discover, in the
style and spirit of the narrative, in its simplicity, modesty,
and freedom of manner, in the circumstantial character of
its details and the frequency of its allusions to time, place,
and persons, those internal features of honesty, which it is
so extremely difficult, if not impossible, to counterfeit. Your
confidence would grow exceedingly if, on a comparison of
the book with other well established histories of the same
times, you should discover, not only that there is no contra
diction in any particular, but that all its allusions to the

104 LECTURE IV.
customs, institutions, prejudices, and political events of the
times, are abundantly confirmed from other sources. This
would set the honesty of the writer in a very favourable light.
But suppose that, at this stage, you should discover three
other books, upon the same subject ; each evidently written
by a person in the family and confidence of Augustus, or
else with equally favourable opportunities of knowing him ;
each evidently an independent work, and having all the
inward and outward marks of truth before detailed. Sup
pose, that on comparing these four histories together, you
find that, while each contains some minor facts which the
others do not, and relates, what all contain in common, in
its own style and language, there is no disagreement among
them ; but on the contraiy, the most perfect confirmation,
one of another. Surely, after this, no further evidence could
be demanded of the veracity of all those historians. But
still, though you would have no right to require, you might
perhaps discover additional evidence. You might search
collateral history for the private characters of those writers ;
and how would it heighten your satisfaction to find that
universally they were esteemed beyond reproach, even by
their personal opponents. You might also inquire what mo
tive they could have had for deception ; and how conclusive
would it seem in their favour to discover that, so far from
any suspicion of such a motive attaching to them, they had
undertaken to publish what they did, with the certainty of
sacrificing every thing earthly, and actually plunged them
selves by it into poverty, contempt, and suffering. One can
hardly imagine stronger evidence of truth. None could,
with any reason, require it.
But yet there might be additional evidence. These histo
rians, perhaps, had many and bitter personal adversaries.
How did they treat their books ? The books were published
during the lifetime of many who had seen Augustus, and
had witnessed the principal events described: they were

LECTURE IV. 105
published in the very places where those events took place,
and in the midst of thousands who knew all about them.
How, -then, did their enemies treat these histories? Now,
should you discover that the personal adversaries of these
four writers, however disposed, were unable to deny, but on
the contrary acknowledged, assumed, and reasoned upon
their narratives as true ; and furthermore, that the thousands
who had witnessed the principal events recorded, never
contradicted those narratives, but in numerous instances af
forded all the confirmation they were capable of ; I am sure
you would think the whole evidence for the credibility of
those four histories, not only conclusive, but singularly and
wonderfully so.
I have thus sketched a mass of evidence, and a variety of
adequate evidence, which, were the half of it required for
any book of ancient history but the Bible, would bring its
credibility into utter condemnation. If a book, with all this
in its favour, ought not to be believed, historical truth, or
the possibility of ascertaining it, must be given up. But
who would think of resisting such evitlence ? What would
be thought of the intellect, not to speak of the candour of
the man, who, with all this before him, should take up the
memoirs of the life of Augustus Caesar, as above supposed,
and not feel that it were the absurdest folly to question the
accuracy of their statements ? In laying out this sketch, I
have exhibited a general view of the evidence for the credi
bility of the gospel history. In proceeding, now, to more
particular details, I hope to show you that every branch of
the evidence I have glanced at, however vain to seek it in
favour of any other ancient history, can be cited in attesta
tion of the credibility of that in the New Testament.
From the brief view we have taken of the evidence which
may be brought for the credibility of any historical docu
ment, it appears that the great points to be made out in favour
of the writer are these two — competent knowledge and trust-

106 LECTURE IV.
worthy honesty. Did he know enough to write a true ac
count? and then, was he honest enough to be unable to
write any other than a true account ? Establish these, and
the book is established — the question is closed. Let us take
this plan as to the history before us. We have several inde
pendent writings containing the gospel history. Let us
select that of St. John, and try the question first upon it.
We begin, then, with this most important inquiry :
I. Had the writer of this book sufficient opportunities of
possessing adequate knowledge as to those matters of fact
which he has related 7 I do not suppose that much array of
argument can be necessary to prove that he had every oppor
tunity. It is to be first considered that the amount of
knowledge required to enable John, or either of the other
evangelists, to give an accurate account of so much of the
life of Christ and of the transactions connected with his
cause, as he has embraced in his narrative, was not very con
siderable. The gospel history is contained in a small space.
Twenty-nine or thirty pages, of a common family Bible,
comprise the whole of what John has related. It is a plain
straight forward account of a very simple intelligible train
of events. There are no labyrinths of historical truth to
trace out — no perplexed involutions of circumstances to un
ravel. Consequently, when you consider that John, by the
testimony of all tradition, as well as that of the gospel history,
was a member of the household of Christ — admitted into his
most unreserved and affectionate intercourse — the disciple
whom he specially loved — who accompanied him in all his
journeyings, followed him into his retirements, stood beneath
his cross, and was a constant companion of the other disci
ples, and a witness of their actions — you will readily grant
that John must have possessed all desirable opportunities of
knowing, and must actually have known the gospel history
so perfectly as to be fully competent to write an accurate.
account. I shall therefore refrain from any further remarks

LECTURE IV. 107
upon this branch of the argument, and shall pass to the
second, in entire confidence that I leave no mind in any
reasonable doubt of the adequateness of our historian's
knowledge. The second and the main question to be pursued is this :
Have we reason to rely with implicit confidence upon the
honesty of this historian? Believing him to have known-
enough to relate the truth, may we also believe that he was
too honest to relate any thing but the truth? This is a fai r
and plain question. Prove the negative, and John's history
must be given up. Prove the affirmative, and it " is worthy of
all acceptation." We begin the argument for the affirmative.
II. There is abundant evidence that the writers of the
gospel history were too honest to relate any thing but truth,
We will apply, in the first place, to the history itself.
There are certain characteristic marks of historical honesty,
which can hardly be counterfeited to any extent, and always
produce a favourable impression. Take up the history
written by St. John. I call your attention to the obvious
fact that;
1st.' Its narrative is in a very high degree circumstantial.
A false witness will not need to be cautioned against the
introduction of many minute circumstances into his statement.
The more he connects it with the particulars of time, and
place, and persons, so as to locate his facts and bring in
living men as associated with them, the more does he multi
ply the probability of detection. He gives the cross-examina
tion every advantage. It would be impossible for a false
statement, abounding in such details, and at the same time
exciting general interest in the neighbourhood where, and
soon after, they are alleged to have occurred, to escape
exposure. Consequently, when we take up a narrative thus
minutely circumstantial, and which we are sure did excite
among all classes, where its events are located, the very
highest and most scrutinizing interest, and that, too, within

108 LECTURE IV.
a short time after the period to which the events are referred ;
we always feel impressed with a strong persuasion that the
writer had the consciousness of truth and the fearlessness of
honesty. It is evident that he had no disposition, and there
fore no cause, to shun the closest investigation. On the
other hand, if you take up any books professing to be histories
of events within the reach and investigation of those among
whom they were first published, but yet in a great measure
untrue, you will find a great deficiency of such minute
details of time, place, and persons, as would serve to test
their faithfulness. Compare them with the histories of the
Peloponnesian and Gallic wars, by Thucydides and Julius
Caesar, and you will see directly how strong a feature of
true narrative, in distinction from whatever is in a great
degree invented, is a circumstantial detail of minute par
ticulars. Generality is the cloak of fiction. Minuteness is the
natural manner of truth, in proportion to the importance
and interest of the subject. Such is the precise manner and
continual evidence of the honesty of St. John. His history
is full of the most minute circumstances of time, place, and
persons. Does he record, for example, the resuscitation of
Lazarus ? He tells the name of the village, and describes
the particular spot where the event occurred. He gives the
names of some of the principal individuals who were present;
mentions many unbelieving Jews as eye-witnesses ; states
the precise object for which they had come to the place ;
what they did and said ; the time the body had been buried;
how the sepulchre was constructed and closed; the impres
sion which the event made upon the Jews ; how they were
divided in opinion in consequence of it ; the particular ex
pressions of one whose name is given ; the subsequent
conduct of the Jews in regard to Lazarus. This, you
perceive, is being very citcumstantial. It is only a specimen
of the general character of St. John's Gospel. It looks

LECTURE IV. 109
very much as if the writer was not afraid of any thing the
people of Bethany, or the survivors of those who had been
present at the tomb of Lazarus, or the children of any of
them, might have to say with regard to the resurrection.
Now, when you consider that John's history was widely
circulated while many were yet living, who, had these events
never been, in Bethany, must have known it ; and among a
people, who, in addition to every facility, had every desire to
find out the least departure from truth, I think you will
acknowledge that the circumstantial character of this book
is very strong evidence that the author must have written in
the confidence of truth.
2d. Another striking evidence, to the same point, is seen
in this, that the author exhibits no consciousness of narra
ting any thing, about which, as a matter of notorious fact,
there was the smallest doubt. He takes no pains, evinces
no thought of attempting, to convince his reader of the
truth of what he relates. On the contrary, the whole
narrative is conducted with the manner and aspect of one
who takes for granted the entire notoriety of his statements.
He comes before the public as one familiarly known, needing
no account of himself or of his pretensions to universal
confidence. He goes straight forward with his story, de
livering the least and the most wonderful relations in the
same simple and unembarrassed manner of ease and confi
dence, which nothing but an assurance of unimpeachable
consistency can explain. Nothing is said to account for
what might seem inexplicable ; to defend what would
probably be cavilled at ; to anticipate objections which one
feeling himself on questionable ground, would naturally
look for. The writer seems to be conscious that, with
regard to those for whom especially he wrote, all this were
needless. He is willing to commit his simple statement
alone, undefended, unvarnished, into the hands of friend
or foe. 9*

110 LECTURE IV.
Nothing is more remarkable in this connexion than that,
while he could not have been ignorant that he was relating
many very extraordinary and wonderful events, he shows
no wonder in his own mind, and seems to expect no wonder
among his readers. This looks exceedingly like one who
writes, not of extraordinary events, just contrived in his
own imagination, but of extraordinary events which, what
ever the wonder they excited when first known, are now
perfectly notorious, not only to himself, but to all his
readers. It is one thing to relate a series of astonishing
occurrences which we feel are perfectly new to the readers,
and a very different thing to relate the same to those who
have long since been familiarly acquainted with their promi
nent particulars, and desire only a more circumstantial and
confidential account. In the former case, the writer would
naturally, and almost necessarily, betray in his style and
the whole texture of his statement an expectation of the
wonder and probable incredulity of his readers. In the
latter, he would deliver his narrative as if he were thinking
only of an accurate detail of truth, without particular refe
rence to whether it was astonishing, or the contrary. Thus
it is with St. John. There is no appearance of his having
felt as if any of his Gospel would be new, or excite any
new emotions of wonder in his readers. The marvellous
works of Christ were, at that time, notorious. When first
heard of, they excited universal astonishment. " His fame
went abroad, and all the people were amazed." But so
much time had now elapsed, that emotions of wonder had
subsided, under the influence of repetition and familiarity.
In striking consistency with this is the whole aspect of
St. John's narrative. He goes directly forward in the rela
tion of events, in themselves exceedingly impressive and
astonishing, exhibiting no sign of any astonishment in his
own mind, anticipating none in his contemporaneous readers.
How is this to be explained ? One can discover no plausible

LECTURE IV. Ill
explanation but in the supposition that he was consciou-s
of recording events, with which, in their chief particulars,
the public mind had been entirely familiarized. This may
deservedly be considered a strong indication of truth.
3d. I see another plain evidence, to the same point, in
the minute accuracy which marks all the allusions of this
narrative to the manners, customs, opinions, political events,
and other circumstances of the times. The situation of
Judea, in the time of the Saviour, was such as to bring
it frequently under the eye of the profane writers of that
age. From them we derive a great many particulars,
illustrating the several modifications in the civil and religious
institutions of the Jews, by their subjection to Rome. And
hus we have a great many points of comparison between
the gospel history and the other histories of the same times.
The former contains innumerable references to the pecu
liarities then existing in the Jewish state — its laws, courts,
punishments — as well as to the opinions, prejudices, and
customs then prevailing. This was dangerous ground for
the inventor of a story. The continual fluctuations in public
affairs ; the numerous and complex changes in the supreme
officers of Judea and the neighbouring provinces ; as well
as in the boundaries and character of their governments,
within the period embraced in the gospel history, must have
added greatly to the difficulty of an inventor of a narrative
located in such circumstances, and filled with allusions
to them. We have a Jewish historian of the same age, with
which to confront the gospel history. Josephus has furnished
us with a full and minute account of those internal affairs
if the Jews, both civil and religious, to which allusions are
nade in the gospel history. It would be evidently very far
beyond the limits of a lecture, to attempt a proof that all
the minutest allusions in our sacred history are not only
uncontradicted, but wherever the same things are spoken of,
are positively confirmed by the secular authority to which

112 LECTURE IV.
we have referred. But we assert it as a fact, well knowi; to
every student of the gospel history, and of which any who
have the disposition to examine the question, may easily be
satisfied. Now it seems to me it would have been next to
impossible for the inventor of a story, exciting such general
and intense interest, branching out into such circumstantial
details, and connected, at so many points, with the pecu
liarities of the times, to tread upon ground so covered with
snares, without being caught.
4th. Hitherto we have directed your attention to the
gospel history as furnished by only one of its witnesses.
But suppose you should unexpectedly discover in the ruins
of Herculaneum three distinct writings, heretofore entirely
unknown, but containing the most satisfactory evidence of
authenticity, and evidently written in the first century of
Christianity, by three several and independent authors, each
possessed of the best opportunities of knowledge. And
suppose that in every one of them there should be found
a history of Christ and his Gospel ; what an uncommon
opportunity would it seem of trying the accuracy of this
book of St. John. Even if these three newly discovered
authors were bad men ; yet if their statements should agree
with his, it would determine the accuracy of his history.
But if it should appear that they were all good men, how
much more complete would be their confirmation. Suppose,
however, it should turn out that these three writers were
not only good men, but, like St. John, disciples of Christ
and ministers of his Gospel, what effect would their concur
rent testimony then have upon his accuracy? Would it be
diminished in conclusiveness by the discovery of their
christian character ? I believe that, in the minds of multi
tudes, it would ; but most unjustly. Precisely the contrary
should be the consequence. If four of the chief officers in
Napoleon's staff had published memoirs of his life, I venture
to sav that the concurrence of their several statements

LECTURE IV. 113
instead of having its evidence weakened, because they were
all attached to Napoleon and admitted to his domestic circle,
would be greatly strengthened, in your estimation, by that
very circumstance, inasmuch as it would ensure the accuracy
of their knowledge, without impeaching their integrity.
But some seem to suppose that the laws regulating the force
of testimony are all changed as soon as the matter of fact,
in question, is removed from the department of profane to
that of sacred history.
How much has been made of the testimony of the Roman
historian, Tacitus, to some of the chief facts of the gospel
history. It is the testimony of a Heathen, and, therefore,
supposed to be incomparably valuable. Now suppose that
Tacitus the Heathen had not only been persuaded of the
facts he has related, but had been so deeply impressed with
the belief of them as to have renounced heathenism and
embraced the christian faith, and then published the history
we now possess— who does not know that, with the infidel,
and with many a believer, his testimony would have greatly
suffered in practical force ? No reason for this can be given,
except that we have a vague idea that a Christian in the
cause of Christianity must be an interested witness. To be
sure he is interested. But is his testimony the less valuable ?
A scientific man, bearing testimony to a phenomenon in
natural history, is an interested witness, because he is de
voted to science, but his testimony is not the less valuable.
A good man, bearing testimony to the character of another
good man, is an interested witness, because he is the friend
of virtue and of all good men, but his testimony is not the
less valuable. In this, and no other sense, were the original
disciples interested witnesses. They were interested in
Christianity, only so far as they believed it true. Suppose
them to have known it to be untrue, and you cannot imagine
the least jot or tittle of interest they could have had in it
In such a case, on the contrary, the current of all their

114 LECTURE IV.
interests and prepossessions would run directly and power
fully in opposition to Christianity. This then, being all the
way in which they can be regarded as interested, the force
of their testimony, so far from being in the least impaired,
is greatly enhanced by the consideration. The bare fact
that any primitive writer, bearing witness to events related
by St. John, was not a Heathen, or a Jew, but a Christian,
is the very thing that should be regarded as completing his
testimony. Is the evidence of Tacitus, who relates such
events, but remained a Heathen, any thing like so strong ;
as if we could say, it is the evidence of Tacitus, who was a
Heathen, but believed those events so firmly that he became
a Christian ? If a man speak well to me of the virtues of
a certain medicine, but does not use it himself, is his opinion
half so weighty as if he were to receive it into his own
vitals, and administer it in his family? Would it be
reasonable, in this case, to refuse his testimony, because you
might denominate him an interested witness ?
I have thus enlarged upon this head, because I am going
to present you with the concurrent testimony of seven
ancient writers, in confirmation of the accuracy of the gos
pel history, as given by St. John. They are writers whose
testimony has this particular value, that, whereas once they
were Jews and enemies to the gospel, they were afterwards
converted to its belief and service ; became Christians, and
as Christians wrote, and gave every practical evidence that
what they wrote they believed. Of these, three composed
regular histories of the life and labours of Christ, similar in
object to that of John. One of them, beside a memoir of
Christ, has carried on the subsequent history of Christianity,
under the name of the Acts of the Apostles. Four others
composed various letters to different individuals, or bodies of
Christians, in which they allude continually to events related
in the narratives of the former. Now all these several
writings are perfectly independent, each of the rest. We

LECTURE IV. 118
have them bound up in one volume, and are apt to overlook
the fact that they are as independent productions as if they
had never been in contact with one another. Written by
various authors in widely remote countries, in all parts of
the first century from its forty-first to its ninety-seventh year,
in as many different styles and methods as they had writers ;
these productions cannot, with the least reason, be suspected
of having been composed in concert. Of the competency of
the knowledge of each writer, we can have no more doubt
than in the case of St. John. In each of their histories we
see the same circumstantiality, the same striking internal
characteristics of honesty as we have already noticed in that
of the other evangelist. Now, let us divest ourselves of the
delusion so apt to arise out of the thought that they are chris
tian witnesses ; and as if this were a question as to the truth
of a history of Pythagoras, by one of his disciples, and these
other writers were also contemporaneous disciples of Pytha
goras, let us bring them face to face, and see how they agree.
Here, then, we have four independent histories of the life of
Christ, all of them by his contemporaries, besides the other
documents we have mentioned. Now, "it is an extraordi
nary and singular fact that no history since the commence
ment of the world has been written by so great a number of
the companions and friends of an illustrious person, as that
of our Saviour. One contemporary history is a rarity —
two is a coincidence scarcely known — four is, so far as
appears, unparalleled."* We have therefore, an unequalled
opportunity of coming at the truth. We compare our seve
ral histories. If we find them contradictory, our confidence
declines. If they bear a systematic, particular, and yet com
prehensive resemblance, we must suspect collusion. But we
perceive neither the contradiction nor the resemblance. We
see great variety. What one relates, another sometimes
* Wilsqn's Lectures.

116 LECTtRE IV.
leaves out. They differ in arrangement, in minuteness, and
sometimes as to fact, in such manner that the reader might
be alarmed at first view, lest there should be found a contra
diction ; while such is the actual agreement, that all difficul
ties vanish before a strict investigation ; and, down to the
utmost minuteness of statement, their mutual support is
undiminished by a single opposing representation. The
attempts of infidels to make out the appearance of a con
tradiction, show to what shifts they have been driven, and
how accurate is the concurrence. Now this unfailing agree
ment of four several, independent, and cdntemporaneous
historians— each so circumstantial — each so full of allusions
to the events, and institutions, and customs of the times —
and none contradicted by any evidence whatever — is as
convincing an evidence of the honest accuracy of all, as
any mind should require. Were the gospel history untrue,
such evidence would have been morally impossible. It is
peculiar to that history. No other can plead it, to any simi
lar extent. And here we feel that we might safely leave the
question of credibility. But there are two or three points
remaining, which must not be left unnoticed.
Should I occupy enough of your time to take any thing
like a full view of the whole of this argument, I should here
introduce the uncontradicted acknowledgment of Jewish and
Heathen enemies of the gospel, to the purity and integrity
of the primitive disciples of Christ ; the strong evidence of
their having possessed these virtues, exhibited in the pecu
liarly modest and humble manner in which the evangelists
speak of themselves, never concealing or excusing what
might make exceedingly against them, but always mention
ing what might seem humiliating or honourable to them
selves in the same plain, simple way as they relate any
other matter of fact. We should also introduce the variety
of incidental confirmations obtained from profane writers,
and from coins, of various particulars contained in the gos-

LECTURE IV. 117
pel history. We should cite especially the testimony of
Tacitus to the time and the fact of the Saviour's crucifixion ;
as well as the records called the Acts of Pilate, bearing wit
ness to the same event, and appealed to by early christian
writers as notoriously laid up among the papers of the
Roman senate. But since we have not room for every
thing, we must dispense with these particulars.*
Let it be remembered that we are still employed upon the
honesty of the writers of the gospel history. Suppose, then,
for a moment, that they were not honest in their statements —
that they knew they were endeavouring to pass off a down
right imposition upon the world. We will not speak of
their intellect in such a case, but of their motive. Now, it
would be difficult to suppose that any man could devote
himself to the diligent promotion of such an imposture
without some very particular motive. Much more that,
without such motive, the eight various writers concerned in
the New Testament should have united in the plan. What
motive could they have had? If impostors, they weie bad
men ; their motive, therefore, must have been bad. It must
have been to advance themselves, either in wealth, honour,
or power. Take either, or all of these objects, and here,
then, is the case you have. Four historians, with four other
writers of the New Testament — all, but one of them, poor
unlearned men — undertake to persuade the world that certain
great events took place before the eyes of thousands in Judea
and Galilee, which none in those regions ever saw or heard
of, and they know, perfectly well, did never occur. They see
beforehand that the attempt to make Jews and Heathens be
lieve these things will occasion to themselves all manner of dis
grace and persecution. Nevertheless, so fond are they of thei r
contrivance, that though it is bitterly opposed by all the habits
prejudices, dispositions, and philosophy — all the powers and

? See Home's Introd. vol. i.
10

118 LECTURE IV.
institutions of all people— they submit cheerfully to misery
and contempt— they take joyfully the spoiling of their goods —
they willingly endure to be counted as fools and the offscour-
ing of all things— yea, they march thankfully to death out
of a mere desire to propagate a story which they all know
is a downright fabrication. At every step of their progress
they see and feel, that instead of any worldly advantage,
they are daily loading themselves with ruin. At any moment
they can turn about and renounce their effort, and retrieve
their losses ; and yet, with perfect unanimity, these eight,
with thousands of others equally aware of the deception,
persist most resolutely in their career of ignominy and
suffering. Not the slightest confession, even under torture
and the strong allurements of reward, escapes the lips of
any. Not the least hesitation is shown when to each is
offered the choice of recantation or death. He that can
believe such a case of fraud and folly as this, can believe
any thing. He believes a miracle infinitely more difficult
of credit than any in the gospel history. I charge him
with the most superstitious and besotted credulity. In
getting to such a belief, he has to trample over all the
laws of nature and of reasoning. Then on what an un
assailable rock does the honesty of the writers of the New
Testament stand, if it can be attacked only at such sacrifices.
How evident it is, not only that they could have had no
motive to deceive, but that in alL their self-devotion and
sacrifices they gave the strongest possible evidence of having
published what they solemnly believed was true. *
Now, if I have produced satisfactory proof from all the
unquestionable marks of honesty in the gospel history;
? " We cannot make use (says Hume) of a more convincing argument"
(in proof of honesty) " than to prove that the actions ascribed to any persons
are contrary to the course of nature, and that no human motives, in such
circumstances could ever induce them to such a conduct." Philosophical
Essays.

LECTURE IV. 119
from the concurrence of profane historians with many of
its facts ; from their being contradicted by none ; from the
unprecedented harmony of eight independent writers in
their minutest events and allusions ; from the impossibility
of supposing any motive to deception, and from the sacrifices
the apostles endured in the promotion of Christianity; if
from these sources I have satisfactorily shown that the
writers of the gospel history could not have intended to
record any thing but truth — then, having previously ascer
tained that they must have known whether what they wrote
was true or false, we have those two requisites which ensure
the credibility of any history — knowledge and honesty. This
shuts up the question. But it is not the whole strength of
the argument. A question may be shut up and locked ;
but then it may have bolts and bars besides. The truth of
the gospel history is not only sealed, but sealed seven-fold.
It has all the testimony that could possibly have been
expected, in the nature of things, from the enemies of
Christianity. It would have been unreasonable to expect
that a Heathen or Jew would come forward with a detailed
statement to acknowledge the events narrated by the
evangelists. We have not this ; but we have much better.
We have the confession of the whole nation of Jews and of
all the Greeks to the same point. None ever ventured in
any publication to deny the statements of the evangelists.
Unquestionably they would have done it, every where, had
they been able. When Luke published in Jerusalem, that
a man lame from the birth was healed by Peter and John,
while sitting, begging, at the gate of the temple, and that a
great multitude came together on account of the wondeiful
deed; had the Jews of Jerusalem been able to deny it,
would their persecuting enmity have permitted them to be
silent ? Be it remembered that the gospel history was pub
lished in the places where its events are said to have
occurred — in the lifetime of many enemies who are said to

120 LECTURE IV.
have seen them. Now it is certain that no adversaries
either in Judea, or Greece, or Rome, rested their opposition
to the gospel, in any degree, on the denial of these events.
What is the consequence? They could not deny them.
What is the meaning of this silence? Being interpreted,
it is nothing less than a universal testimony from all Jews
and Heathens, who were capable of knowing any thing of
the matter, that these things were so. But they did not stop
here. Tacitus, the Roman historian, positively asserts some
of the chief events of the gospel. * Celsus, a bitter anta
gonist of Christianity, in the second century ;t Porphyry, a
learned as well as earnest opposer, in the third ; % and
Julian, the apostate emperor, in the next century ; § all
acknowledge not only the authenticity of the New Testament
books, but, so far as they refer to them, the historical correct
ness of their narratives, even as to the most extraordinary
particulars, not excluding the miracles of Christ. But we
have stronger witness still.
About thirty-two years after the crucifixion, took place the
first Roman persecution, under Nero. The number of
Christians discovered in the one city of Rome, and con
demned, is called by Tacitus "a vast multitude." \\ Of
course they must have been exceedingly numerous in all
other places taken together. These but a few years before
were all either Jews or Heathens. Many resided in Jerusa
lem, Capernaum, Antioch, Philippi, Ephesus, Corinth, &c.
By the time of this persecution, all the Gospels, but one, as
well as the Acts of the apostles, had been published. The
events recorded in these books are said to have taken place
before the eyes of the people of the cities just mentioned.
it was an easy thing for those people to ascertain whether
tney, or their neighbours, or parents, had seen them. What

* Lardner, iii. Gil. t Ib. iv. 121—130 j 133, 4. t Ib. 234—8. § Ib. 341 2.
i Tac. Annal., lib. xv. c. 44. Lardner, iii. 610 — 14.

LECTURE IV. 121
did they do ? They came forward in great multitudes ;
they threw off Judaism ; threw off paganism ; espoused the
gospel, and suffered unto death, sooner than renounce it. This
was but thirty-three years after the events recorded of Christ;
it was in the life-time of Paul. I say, therefore, that every
Christian of those days was a witness — the strongest
witness — far more impressive in his attestation than any
enemy could have been, to the shining, powerful truth of
the gospel history. "We are compassed about," therefore,
" with a great cloud of witnesses ;" witnesses who did not
just acknowledge these things, and still remain what they
were before ; but witnesses adding to their acknowledgment
the testimony of their conversion ; the evidence of their
lives, which were wholly devoted to these things ; the seals
of ten thousand martyrdoms, endured solely on account of
their perfect assurance of these things.
Now consider a moment, and see the utter impossibility
that the gospel history should have gained such currency
for a single year, had it not been notoriously true. In about
eight years after the crucifixion, Matthew publishes his
Gospel among the Jews. He tells the people of Jerusalem
that, only eight years from that time, while a great multitude
of them were witnessing the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus,
there was darkness over the whole land, from twelve to three
o'clock in the afternoon, and " the veil of the temple was
rent in twain, and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent."
Suppose all this to have been a fabrication ; would Jerusa
lem have held her peace ? could a book of such barefaced
untruth have lived an hour ?
The book of the Acts of the Apostles was published about
thirty years after the ascension of Christ, and was immedi
ately circulated among the churches, and open to the perusal
of the enemies of Christianity: It is related in the second
chapter of that work, that on the day of Pentecost, soon
after the death of Christ when a great multitude, collected
10*

122 LECTURE IV.
from all parts of the earth, were assembled at Jerusalem, a
deep impression of astonishment was produced on the public
mind by a rumour of certain miraculous events in the com
pany of the apostles, so that " the multitude came together
and were confounded, because that every man heard them
speak in his own language." Parthians, and Medes, and
Elamites, and Cretes, and Arabians ; dwellers in all coun
tries ; men of every speech, were amazed at hearing those
Galileans, who were well known to have learned no other
tongue than that of Palestine, speaking in all varieties of
foreign languages, the wonderful works of God. Such is the
relation in the Acts of the Apostles. How could a writer, in
his senses, attempt to pass it upon his readers had it not been
notorious that such things had actually occurred? The
lapse of thirty years could not have so obliterated every
recollection of that feast ; or so swept the world of surviving
witnesses, as to prevent the certainty, that wherever this book
should circulate it would meet with persons capable of
remembering or of ascertaining whether these things were so.
Had not the fact of the apostles having spoken in the pre
sence of thousands, in various tongues, been undeniable, wit
nesses innumerable would have arisen against the book {hat
related it. Had no such event occurred, the Acts of the
Apostles could have gone into no part of the world without
finding those who would stand up and declare that they were
at the feast referred to, and saw nothing and heard nothing
of the marvellous things declared by its author. I say,
therefore, the fact that the gospel history was received, loved,
and read, every where among Christians ; that it has out-
lived all the withering of time, and all the weapons of
enemies ; that Jews could not gainsay it, nor Heathens resist
it ; that eighteen centuries of scrutiny and trial have only
added new assurance to its truth, is one which reduces the
supposition of imposture to a perfect and ridiculous absurd
ity. Therefore was it not in the power of such modern

LECTURE IV.

123

infidels as Hobbes, and Chub, and Bolingbroke, to deny the
point in question. The latter, as an example of the others,
speaking of John and Matthew, acknowledges that " they
recorded the doctrines of Christ in the very words in which
he taught them ; and they were careful to mention the sev
eral occasions on which he delivered them to his disciples or
others. If, therefore, Plato and Xenophon tell us, with
a good deal of certainty, what Socrates taught, these two
evangelists seem to tell us, with much more, what the Sav
iour taught, and commanded them to teach."
Here I think we may safely leave the question of credi
bility. So conclusive and certain have seemed to my mind
the several consecutive arguments to which you have listened,
that instead of feeling at each step as if any candid hearer
would wait for additional proof, 1 have felt not unfrequently
as if I were tiring your attention with an unnecessary accu
mulation. Why this heaping of argument upon argument,
one may say, when from the very outset of the question,
from the certain authenticity of the Gospels, united with
their internal evidence, we have a proof of credibility with
which any rational mind should be perfectly satisfied ? We
acknowledge the reasonableness of the inquiry. If the
history under consideration related to the life of Alexander
the Great and his generals, instead of that of the meek and
lowly Jesus and his apostles, who would think it necessary
to go into all this detail of evidence to establish its truth ?
That it contained no internal marks of dishonesty ; that it
was uncontradicted by contemporaneous writers and by
other histories of the same times ; that it had been received.
ever since, as a true account ; would be considered an ample
warrant of its historical correctness. Few, if any, profane
histories, can produce more positive proof of credibility than
this. Try them by the scale on which the gospel history is
measured ; require them to present one half of the weight
of evidence which infidels demand, and Christians bring in

124 LECTURE IV.
support of the sacred narrative ; and you must exclude them
from all claim to the confidence of their readers. We migh'
speak of the unfairness of requiring so much more in proof
of a history because its character is sacred, and its facts are
connected with religion. I see not that the inferences arising
from an event, are entitled to any influence in changing the
amount of evidence necessary to its proof. Whether an
evangelist be worthy of dependence, when he relates the
works of Jesus, is a question of testimony to be determined
by the same degree of proof as should satisfy us as to the
accuracy and honesty of any other writer, on any other sub
ject of history. But we have no disposition to complain
that so much has been demanded in evidence of the gospel
narrative. It has only served to quicken the investigations
of the friends of truth, and to exhibit, with a more impres
sive assurance, those great events, on which all that is
precious in a Christian's faith is founded. It has showed,
not only how amply, but how wonderfully the God of truth
and grace has made the anchor of our hope to be sure and
steadfast. It teaches how, in the hands of Divine Wisdom,
the wrath of man is made subsidiary to the praise of God ;
how the fiery darts of the wicked are not only broken against
the shield of faith, but made the means of increasing the
light by which the Christian is guided, and often of carrying
back confusion into the ranks of the enemy. It should lead
the believer to adore, with admiring gratitude, the goodness
of Him, who, for the sake of those that love Him, causes all
the schemes and assaults of unbelievers to work together
for good ; making it more and more manifest, by the defeat
of eveiy new attack, that this is "the true light" — "the
shining light, which shineth more and more unto the
perfect day."
Had we time, or were it needful, to enter upon a particular
view of the authenticity and credibility of the Old Testa
ment volume, this would be the place for the argument

LECTURE IV. 125
But we have room only to advert to it. The connexion
between the truth of the christian scriptures and that of the
Jewish is so obvious and essential ; the dispensation of
Christ so continually assumes the divine authority of that
of Moses, and is so evidently built on its foundations ; the
writings of the apostles so frequently quote and refer to the
law and the prophets, as authentic, credible, and inspired
scriptures ; the argument for the books of the Old Testa
ment is so parallel, in its mode and means, to that for the
books of the New ; and the cavils of sceptics, in relation to
the former, are so similar in objection, principle, and reason,
ing, to those with which they assail the latter ; that in hav
ing established the authenticity and credibility of the one, we
may be fairly said to have done the same, in outline, for the
character of the other. Certain we are, that one who is
intelligently convinced of the authenticity and credibility of
the New Testament, will not halt between two opinions as
to the writings of Moses and the prophets, but will read
them as assuredly the writings of those whose names they
bear; and deserving, in relation to all matters of fact, the
character of credible scriptures.

126 LECTURE V.

LECTURE V.

MIRACLES.

Our last lecture was on the credibility of the gospel
history. In a previous one, we ascertained the authen
ticity of the books in which it is contained. If the
evidence adduced in proof of both these fundamental articles
appeared as satisfactory to the hearers, as to the speaker, we
are then prepared to open the New Testament with the
assurance that the books it contains were written by those
original disciples whose names they bear ; and that we may
confidently depend on the historical correctness of their
statements. The seals, therefore, of the volume are now
unloosed. Immediately on inspecting the contents, it appears
that the grand and continual reference is to Jesus Christ, as
a Teacher and Saviour sent from God, to communicate
personally, and by his apostles, a revelation of truth and
duty to man. This revelation, the New Testament professes
to contain. Now, the grand question is, what are the evi
dences that the religion contained in the New Testament is
a divine revelation 7
When an ambassador from a foreign power presents him
self at our seat of government, charged with certain commu
nications from his sovereign, he first exhibits his credentials
of appointment. These being satisfactory, whatever he may
communicate, in his official character, is received with as
much reliance as if it were heard from the lips of his sove
reign himself. It is treated as a revelation of the mind or
will of that sovereign. In the New Testament we read that
our Lord Jesus Christ appeared among men as an amhassa

lecture v. 127
dor from God, charged with certain important proposals to
the world. Before we can be justified in receiving them as a
divine revelation, we must know the credentials of the ambas
sador ; we must have sufficient evidence that he was sent of
God. Furnish this, and we are bound to receive his commu
nications, as confidently as if they should be heard directly
from the throne of the Most High. Thus the Jews said to
him : " What sign showest thou, that we may see and believe
thee ? What dost thou work ?"* The Saviour, admitting
the propiiety of the demand, appealed to his works, as his
credentials. " The works that I do, they bear witness of me.'
On another occasion, he called up his miracles. " The blind
(said he) receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up."t As if
he had said : " Such works can only be done by the direct
and supernatural interposition of the power of God. They
are done at my word and will. They are therefore a perfect
attestation that God is with me, and that my claim to your
confidence as His ambassador is true." Nicodemus under
stood this, and expressed no other than the plain dictate of
common sense, when he said to Jesus : " We know that thou
art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these mira
cles which thou doest except God be with him.''+ The
credentials of the apostles, as subordinate agents of divine
revelation, are expressed in like manner. " God also bear
ing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with
divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost."§ None can
question the absolute certainty of such credentials. This
has been acknowledged even by the most famous advocates
of infidelity. Woolston says : " I believe it will be granted
on all hands that the restoring a person indisputably dead to
life is a stupendous miracle, and that two or three such mira
cles, well attested and credibly reported, are enough to
• John, vi. 30— ii. 18. t Mat. xi. 5. t John, iii. 2. § Heb. ii. 4

128 LECTURE V.
conciliate the belief that the author of them was a divine
agent, and invested with the power of God."* Make good,
therefore, the evidence that the Saviour and his apostles
wrought miracles in attestation of their divine mission, and
the christian religion, as contained in the New Testament,
and taught by them, must be a divine revelation.
Our way, therefore, is plain. We must inquire into the
evidence on which it can be established, that the Saviour
and his apostles did work miracles. To this inquiry we
should proceed immediately, were it not for the peculiar
circumstances which meet us in the way. The adversaries
of the gospel have had wit enough to see that either the
evidence of miracles must be overthrown, or they must
surrender the contest. Unable to meet the direct and
abounding testimony by which the wonderful works of
Christ and his apostles are proved, they have taken position
and entrenched themselves upon the advanced and desperate
ground of the insufficiency of any testimony to prove a
miracle. Thus have we a redoubt in our way, command
ing the whole field of controversy, which, though easily
carried when properly assailed, would be of great damage,
¦ if left in our rear. The present lecture will be occu
pied, therefore, with the discussion of certain preliminary
subjects, anticipating a direct application to the evidence
of miracles, in our next. We commence with the following
proposition. I. There is nothing unreasonable or improbable in the
idea of a miracle being wrought in proof of a divine reve
lation. I know not but that all persons, of ordinary infor
mation, have a sufficiently correct idea of what is meant by
a miracle, without the aid of a definition. No one would
mistake the rest ration of sight to the blind, by the use of
human skill, however wonderful it might be considered, for
• Scheme of Literal Prophecy, pp. 331, 332.

lecture v. 129
a miracle. No one could mistake the sudden communication
of sight to one born blind at the mere word of another,
without any intervening cause, for any thing else than a
miracle. The former result, though astonishing, would be
according to the common course of nature, or to what are
called the laws of nature. The latter would be beyond, or
different from those laws. One would be a natural, the
other a supernatural event, or a miracle*
Now the idea of a revelation from God, and the idea of a
miracle to attest the divine commission of those who make
it, are essentially connected. If one or more individuals be
sent to communicate the revelation, they must prove their
mission by some credentials. What can their credentials be
but miracles? The necessity of these will be evident from
a little consideration. They can appeal to but three sorts of
proof; the internal excellence and fitness of their communi
cations ; their own integrity and judgment ; and the miracu
lous works attendant on their ministry. With regard to the
two former, it is manifest that, in the most favourable circum
stances, they would need too much time, and evidence, and
discrimination, for their own establishment; and would
always remain of a character too uncertain to permit their
being used with any effect in proof of a divine revelation.
They would answer well as auxiliaries ; but would require
something of a much more positive nature to sustain the
chief burden of proof. The claim to be received as a mes
senger of God, for the purpose of making a revelation to the
world, could never be substantiated on such grounds. Evi
dence is needed which all minds may appreciate. It must
be something that has only to be seen, to be understood and
acknowledged. When a plenipotentiary presents himself at
the seat of government, intrusted with certain communica
tions from a foreign power, of great importance on both

* See Gregory's Letters, i. 167.
11

130 lecture v.
sides, and requiring to be immediately acted upon, it would
not answer for him to plead, in evidence of his delegated
authority, that his personal integrity is unimpeached, and
his communications are such as might be expected from his
government. The time for action would be lost while such
proof was being proved. He must exhibit credentials which
carry on their face the direct evidence of his commission.
He must show the broad seal of his sovereign stamped upon
their hand writing. So must an ambassador from God.
What then can he show but miracles ? What else can
set to his communications the seal of God? "In fact, the
very idea of a revelation includes that of miracles. A reve
lation cannot be made but by a miraculous interposition of
Deity."* So that the idea of miracles can be unreasonable or
improbable only so far as it is unreasonable or improbable
that God should commission one or more persons to make a
revelation of his truth and will. That such a revelation
was needed in the world at the time when Christ appeared,
can be denied only by asserting that the additional light now
possessed, in consequence of the gospel, is superfluous and
useless. This denial can only be maintained by showing
that the world, sunk in idolatry, vice, and darkness, as it
was universally before the gospel came, had all the know
ledge of God, and all the assurance of his will, and of the
retributions of a future state, that were important to its hap
piness. A matter of proof which I suppose no one here
imagines to be possible. Then if it cannot be shown that
a revelation was not needed ; it cannot be proved that the
idea of a revelation, from a God of infinite goodness and
mercy, was either unreasonable or improbable. But a reve
lation can be attested only by miracles. They are insepara
ble. Consequently, in the idea of miracles being wrought
* Gregory's Letters.

lecture v. 131
n proof of divine revelation, there is nothing either unrea
sonable or improbable.
It would not be difficult to show, that in the circum
stances of the world at the christian era, a revelation was
not only probable but necessary ; and, by manifest conse
quence, that miracles, as its necessary attestations, were also
not only probable but necessary. Having thus endeavoured
to show that there is no presumptive evidence against a
miracle, except as it lies equally against a revelation ; and
that the one is probable, in proportion as the other may be
expected ; let us proceed to our second proposition.
II. If miracles were wrought in attestation of the mission
of Christ and his apostles, they can be rendered credible to
us by no other evidence than that of testimony. There are
various descriptions of evidence, as the evidence of se?ise—
the evidence of mathematical demonstration — the evidence
of testimony. Each of these has its own department of
subjects. A question of morals cannot be demonstrated by
mathematics, or proved by the senses. A question of his
torical fact can be settled only by testimony. It might as
well be put to the tests of chymistry, as to have applied to it
either the evidence of mathematical demonstration, or of the
senses. Not only is there a separate department for each of these
species of evidence ; but each is sufficient, in its appropriate
place, for the complete establishment of truth. By this 1
mean, that when the quantity of an angle is proved by
mathematical demonstration, we have a result of no more
practical confidence than when the existence of this house
is proved by the senses, or that of the city of London is
proved by testimony. Proof in either case is the foundation
of entire belief. We are just as certain that such a man as
Napoleon once lived, as that any proposition in geometry is
true — though one is a matter of testimony, the other of
demonstration. We are quite as sure that arsenic is poison-

132

LECTURE v.

ous, as that food is nutritious — though one is, to most of us
at least, a matter of testimony only ; while the other is, to
all, a matter of sense. We are perfectly certain of all these
things. It is likely that some minds are led into erroneous notions
of the comparative conclusiveness of testimony on one side,
and that of mathematical demonstration and of the senses on
the other, on account of the technical name by which the
former is distinguished in philosophical discussions.* It is
called probable evidence. It would seem to some as if,
because probable, it must be less satisfactory than the other
kinds ; since in common speech, what is merely probable is
not certain. But in philosophical language, the word pro
bable is used, not in distinction from certain evidence, but
simply from that which is sensible or demonstrative, without
reference to the measure of certainty attached to it. Thus,
our belief that the sun will rise to-morrow, or that we are all
to die, or that London was once visited with a dreadful
plague, is founded on what is called probable evidence;
though we should be suspected of lunacy did we question
the propriety of acting upon it with perfect assurance.
Such, then, being the sufficiency of testimony to convey a
perfect assurance of any thing in its appropriate sphere,
however distant in point of time or place ; I return to the
proposition that if miracles were wrought by Christ and his
apostles, they can be rendered credible to us, of the nineteenth
century, by no other evidence than that of testimony. Mathe
matical evidence is evidently inapplicable to the question. It
is a matter of fact belonging to another century, and therefore
intangible by sense. Nothing remains but testimony. This
is perfectly appropriate to the question. If, therefore, the
gospel miracles are true, they must be substantiated by tes
timony, or not at all. We proceed to the next proposition.
* Stewart's Phil. ii. p. 179.

LECTURE V. 133
ILT. Miracles are capable of being proved by testimony.
This I consider as true and obvious as that miracles are
capable of being proved by the evidence of the senses.
That a certain person was dead and buried yesterday ; and
that he is alive and walking the streets to-day ; the senses
are perfectly competent to decide. I never heard of this
being questioned. But if I and twenty others saw these
facts, is there no way of making them credible to my neigh
bour who did not see them ? Will it be pretended, that if
twenty men of unquestionable honesty and intelligence,
should solemnly and by every means of conviction in their
power, assure me that they saw the man dead, buried, and
in corruption, I would have no sufficient reason to believe
their assertion ? Will it be pretended, that if the same men
should in the same way assure me, that subsequently they
saw the same man alive, and conversed with him ; I would
have no reason to believe their assertion ? I think there are
none among us who could avoid belief in such a case. It
would evidently be a case of miracle, believed on testimony ;
and to maintain that it would be believed without reason,
and that no conceivable addition of honest testimony could
furnish reason for the belief of those two simple facts, that
the man was dead yesterday and is alive to-day, would seem
an absurdity too gross to be touched by argument.
Here I should leave the mattter, confident in the common
sense of my hearers, were it not that the very absurdity, in
view, has been so mystified with the drugs of false phi
losophy, so disguised under the dress of logical forms and
ceremonies, and so followed, in its circulation, with the
influence of one -of the chief names in modern scepticism,
as to perplex many minds unaccustomed to the entangle
ments of sophistry. The principle that no conceivable
amount of testimony can prove a miracle, with David
Hume for its original champion, has been eagerly adopted
by the many whose convenience makes them unbelievers
11»

134 LECTURE V.
but whose convenience it would not suit to attempt an
honest, manly answer to the abounding testimony by which
the miracles of the gospel are proved. A labour-saving
machine was wanted, by which the whole business of
silencing the inconvenient variety and troublesome multitude
of christian evidences might be done at once, as well by the
ignorant as the learned. Hume invented it. Any body can
work it. It is not necessary, any more, that a man should
study the Bible, to refute its claims. He may never have
seen it ; but if he can only retain in his memory these few
talismanic words, " No testimony can prove a miracle," it is
enough. At the rubbing of this marvellous lamp, the
fabric of Christianity passes away. The terrible genii of the
gospel mysteries dissolve in air. Like a similar assertion,
and equally philosophical doctrine of the same writer, that
there is no external world — that this house is nothing but an
idea, built not of matter, but only of mind — this happy
invention of sceptical ingenuity digs so far below the founda
tions of all truth and common sense, that the man whose
convenience bids him use it, may feel assured that not many
advocates of Christianity will descend low enough to spoil
him of his consolation.
A brief attention to this matter will not be out of place at
present. The argument of the writer referred to, is abridged, in
the Encyclopedia Britannica, as follows: "Our belief of
any fact from the testimony of eye-witnesses is derived from
nc other principle than our experience of the veracity of
human testimony. If the fact attested be miraculous, there
arises a contest of two opposite experiences, or proof against
proof. Now a miracle is a violation of the laws of nature ;
and as a firm and unalterable experience has established
these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very
nature of the fact, is as complete as any argument from
pxnerience can possibly be imagined; and if so, it is an unde-

LECTURE V. 135
niable consequence that it cannot be surmounted by any
proof whatever, derived from human testimony."
Now all this is very conclusive, provided we admit its
premises. The grand hinge of the whole is this, that our
belief in testimony is founded on no other principle than
OUR EXPERIENCE OP THE VERACITY OF HUMAN TESTIMONY.
Hence the reasoning is, that a miracle being, in the author's
estimation, contrary to experience, opposes and contradicts
the very foundation of its evidence, and therefore destroys
itself. But let me ask, admitting that a miracle is contrary
to experience, (which is not true,) what experience is it
contrary to? The argument requires that it should be
contrary to our experience of the veracity of human
testimony. To say merely that it is contrary to experience
of some sort, without specifying this particular sort, does not
touch the question. It is its contrariety to that particular
kind of experience, on which our faith in testimony (accord
ing to Hume) is built, that must destroy the credibility of
a miracle, if it is to be destroyed at all. But this, it would
be ridiculous to assert. So far from miracles being incon
sistent with our experience of the veracity of human te^ti
mony ; the truth is directly on the other side. Deny that
miracles were ever wrought, and your whole experience oi
the truth of testimony is directly and violently opposed.
But again — Is our belief in testimony founded in our
experience of its veracity 7 Prove that it is not, and the
whole argument of our author is undermined. The proof
is easy. None depend more absolutely upon testimony than
those whose experience is almost a nullity. Children are
perfect believers in its veracity. All writers on the philoso
phy of the mind, but the one before us, consider it an
original principle of nature that we should rely on testimony,
until there is proof, either of suspicious competency to know,
or of suspicious honesty to speak, the truth. This principle
is necessary to human nature, long before any experience

136 LECTURE V.
can be gathered up. Without it, how could children begin
to learn ? How could they avoid poison, or receive whole
some food, if they must wait for an experience of the
veracity of their parents, and nurses, and teachers, before
they can believe what they testify? The plain truth is, that
instead of experience being our whole dependence for the
credibility of testimony, it is just the school that makes us
sometimes suspicious of that credibility. It teaches us that
testimony may be false, and furnishes the characteristics by
which we may distinguish between that which is suspicious,
and that which may be confidently relied on. We deny,
therefore, and with evident reason, the whole foundation of
the argument we are considering.
But again. Another essential hinge, in this argument, is
the assertion that a miracle, being, as the author defines it,
" a violation of the laws of nature," is contrary to experience.
Here we might deny that a miracle is a violation of the
laws of nature. It is only a deviation from those laws, or
from the customary mode of the divine operations. But,
waving this, what is meant by a miracle being contrary to
experience? Have we, or others ever experienced the
opposite of any of the miracles of Christ ? I cannot con
ceive how this could be, unless we had been on the spot
when the miracle is said to have taken place, as when
Lazarus is said to have risen from the dead ; and instead of
seeing him rise, had seen him continue dead. That is the
only way in which I can conceive of opposition between
experience and a miracle. The resurrection of Lazarus is
not contrary to my experience, any more than a volcano is
contrary to it. All I can say of either, in this respect, is,
that I have never experienced it. It is beyond, not in
opposition to, my experience.
But when our author asserts that miracles are contrary to
experience, what are we to understand? Does he mean
one's own personal experience? or the experience of all

LECTURE V. 137
mankind? If the former, then it would follow that testimony
can render no event credible to us which we have not
personally experienced. But this would be too sweeping,
even for the most absolute scepticism. On this ground, a
native of the torrid zone might refuse the testimony of the
rest of the world in evidence of the fact that water in winter
is so congealed that we can drive our carriages upon its
surface. He need only say, " It is contrary to my experience.
I have never seen it, and therefore no testimony can make it
credible." *
But does our author mean to be understood as affirming
that miracles are contrary to the experience of all mankind ?
His argument will then stand as follows : 'Belief in testimony
is founded on experience. But miracles are contrary to the
experience of all mankind. They contradict, therefore, the
credibility of testimony, and cannot be proved by it.' But this
is a manifest assumption of the whole question. Whether
miracles are contrary to the experience of all mankind, is
the precise point in debate. We assert that mankind, in
different ages and places, have experienced them. Our
author is at liberty, if he pleases, to assert the contrary. But
it is too much to expect us to receive his assertion until it is
proved. And if his argument cannot be sustained without
thus taking for granted, in one of its premises, what it
seeks to demonstrate in the conclusion, its correctness is
certainly very suspicious.
The admission of the principle on which the argument
under consideration is founded, would lead to perfect ab
surdity. " There was a time when no one was acquainted
with the laws of magnetism ; these suspend in many
mstances the laws of gravity ; nor can I see, upon the
principle in question, how the rest of mankind could have

* On Hume's argument, in general, see the references in Home's Introd.,
vol; i. p. 243.

138

LECTURE V.

credited the testimony of their first discoverer ; and yet to
have rejected it, would have been to reject the truth. But
that a piece of iron should ascend gradually from the earth,
and fly at last with an increasing rapidity through the air,
and, attaching itself to another piece of iron ore, should
remain suspended, in opposition to the action of its gravity, is
consonant to the laws of nature. I grant it ; but there was
a time when it was contrary, I say not to the laws of nature,
but to the uniform experience of all preceding ages and
countries ; and at the particular point of time, the testimony
of an individual or of a dozen individuals, who should have
reported themselves eye-witnesses of such a fact, ought,
according to the argumentation (of Mr. Hume) to have been
received as fabulous. And what are those laws of nature,
which, according to this writer, can never be suspended?
Are they not different to different men, according to the
diversities of their comprehension and knowledge? And
if any one of them (that, for instance, which rules the opera
tions of magnetism or electricity) should have been known
to you, or to me alone, whilst all the rest of the world were
unacquainted with it ; the effects of it would have been new
and unheard of m the annals, and contrary to the expe
rience, of mankind, and therefore ought not in your opinion
to have been believed."* If this be the legitimate result
of the principle in question ; if no testimony could have
rendered the phenomena of magnetism credible, in the
dawn of knowledge on that subject, because they were con
trary to experience; it is evident that a certain truth in
Hume's principle would have been, in that case, directly in
opposition. But whether the experience of mankind be
opposed by phenomena above the laws of nature — miracles
— or by phenomena which, though in reality according to
those laws, are perfectly new, and, to all human view, incon-

? Bishop Watson.

LECTURE V. 139
sistent with the established order of nature, is of no conse
quence to the argument. Experience is opposed in both
cases alike. It cannot be less absurd in one than in the
other, to maintain, that because the phenomena have never
been experienced, no testimony can make them credible.
But if the argument of Hume, with all its assumptions,
and false statements, and equivocal expressions, were true ;
it would prove not only that miracles cannot be proved by
testimony, but that they cannot be proved at all. Now, that
it is possible for God to work a miracle, none will deny.
Consequently, that it is possible that the miracles related in
the New Testament are true, none will deny. Suppose them
to be true, how can they be proved to us ? If testimony will
not do, what remains? Mathematical evidence — the evi
dence of the senses — are perfectly inapplicable. But there
is no other description of evidence. If, therefore, those
miracles are to be proved to us, it must be done by some
species of evidence not now in existence, entirely foreign to
the laws of nature. In other words, it must be miraculous.
Miracle must be brought to prove miracle. And since no
testimony, according to the principle we are considering, can
prove a miracle, the very miracle which is brought in proof
of those in the New Testament, must itself be proved by
another before it can be believed by any who did not see it.
But what an absurdity is here ! If Jesus did open the eyes
of the blind, who can maintain that God has no way of
giving all generations reason to believe it without an unceas
ing series of miracles in all places, for the purpose ?
There is but one way of evading this extreme and absurd
conclusion. It must be denied that we have any reason to
believe that God can work a miracle. For as long as it is
acknowledged to be possible that God, by the apostles, did
work miracles, the possibility of His making them credible to
us, without other miracles to prove them, and by the natural
means of human testimonv, must alsc oe acsnowiedged :

140 LECTURE V.
the latter, to say the least of it, being no greater effort of
power than the former. To this necessity, the sagacity of
our philosopher was not blind. Nor does he scruple at em
bracing it, rather than give up his favourite discovery.
Speaking of some alleged miracles, he writes : " What have
we to oppose to such a cloud of witnesses, but the absolute im
possibility or miraculous nature of the event ?" In this sen
tence, it is evident that " absolute impossibility," and " miracu
lous nature," are used as equivalent expressions. But else
where he endeavours to persuade us that there is no reason
to suppose that a miracle is possible with God. " Though
the Being (he says) to whom the miracle is ascribed, be, in
this case, Almighty, it does not, on that account, become a
whit more probable ; since it is impossible for us to know
the attributes or actions of such a Being, otherwise than
from the experience which we have of his productions, in
the usual course of nature." This brings us directly to
atheism. The argument is thus. We know the attributes
of God only by the experience of his works in the usual
course of nature. But, according to our philosopher, we
have no experience of a miracle among those works. Con
sequently, we have no knowledge that there is any divine
attribute by which God can produce a miracle. Now,
besides the folly of denying the possibility of a miracle,
because nothing like it is found in the usual course of nature,
when a miracle, by its definition, is out of the usual course
of mature ; we have here the plain denial of the omnipo-
'ence of God. For if we have no reason to believe that
God can produce an event differing frcm and above the
ordinary course of nature, we have no reason to suppose
that he is Almighty ; or that he is the Sovereign of Nature ;
or that He created, and preserves, and governs, all things.
'1 he nature and majesty of God are denied by this argu
ment. It is atheism. There is no stopping place for con
sistency between the first principle of the essay of Hume,

LECTURE V. 141
and the last step in the denial of God with the abyss of
darkness for ever. Hume, accordingly, had no belief in the
being of God. If he did not positively deny it, he could not
assert that he believed it. He was a poor, blind, groping
compound of contradictions. He was literally "without
jlod and Avithout hope ;" " doting about questions and strifes
jf words ;" and rejecting life and immortality out of defer- -
t nee to a paltry quibble, which common sense is ashamed of.
"An unfortunate disposition to doubt every thing," said
Lord Charlemont, one of his particular friends and admirers,
" seemed interwoven with the nature of Hume, and never
was there, I am convinced, a more thorough and sincere
sceptic. He seemed not to be certain even of his own
present existence, and could not. therefore, be expected to
entertain any settled opinion respecting his future state."
But it was very needless for our author to give himself so
much intellectual effort as must have been required for the
invention of this short and easy method of undermining the
evidences of Christianity, when he had previously produced
a much shorter and easier plan. He had already proved, in
his estimation, that there is no external world — nothing but
ideas ; consequently there can be no external miracles —
nothing but miraculous ideas. Why not hold to this?
It was certainly just as reasonable ; just as consistent with
philosophy and common sense, as the idea that no testimony
can prove a miracle.
But our sweeping sceptic was not quite so well satisfied
with his arguments against all testimony and all sense, as
would at first appear. Speaking of his speculations, he
says: "they have so wrought upon me, and heated my
brain, that I am ready to reject all belief and reasoning, and
can look upon no opinion even as more probable or likely
than another. Where am I, or what ? From what causes
do I derive my existence, and to what condition shall I
return 'l Whose favour shall I court, and whose anger must
12

142 LECTURE V.
I dread ? What beings surround me, and on whom have I
any influence, or who have any influence on me ? I am
confounded with all these questions, and begin to fancy
myself in the most deplorable condition imaginable, envi
roned with the deepest darkness, and utterly deprived of the
use of every member and faculty." A sad confession this
of the satisfaction of what he calls " the calm, though obscure
regions of philosophy."
But he proceeds : " Most fortunately it happens that since
reason is incapable of dispelling these clouds, nature herself
suffices to that purpose, and cures me of this philosophical
melancholy and delirium, either by relaxing this bent of
mind, or by some avocation and lively impression of my
senses, which obliterates all these chimeras. I dine, I play
a game of back-gammon, I converse and am merry with my
friends ; and when, after three or four hours amusement, I
would return to these speculations, they appear so cold, and
strained, and ridiculous, that I cannot find in my heart to
enter into them any farther." A sad exhibition this of the
dignity and consolations of scepticism. But if Mr. Hume
was sometimes constrained to look upon his own specula
tions as strained and ridiculous, we may be pardoned if they
appear to us in the same aspect. Indee"d, it was more than
he could do, to write consistently with them, for any length
of time. His own common sense insisted, sometimes, on the
privilege of speech ; so that, after all the show of reasoning
to which we have been attending; after having asserted
that " a miracle, supported by any human testimony, is more
properly a subject of derision than of argument" we find
him apparently coming to himself, and making the following
most singular acknowledgment : "I own there may possibly
be miracles of such a kind as to admit of proof from
human testimony." He then states an imaginary case of
miraculous occurrence, attested by a measure of proof,
which, he says, philosophers ought to receive as certain

LECTURE V. 143
testimony. But how is this ? Has he entirely abandoned
his ground ? One would think so. But mark his method
of escape. We quote his words : " But should this miracle
be ascribed to a new system of religion, men in all ages
have been so imposed on by ridiculous stories of that kind,
that this very circumstance would be a full proof of the
cheat." Here, evidently, the whole ground is changed. Mi
racles are no more considered as incapable of proof by
testimony. They are no more set at nought because con
trary to experience. It is admitted they may be proved by
testimony, whether with object or without it, except when
the object is religion. It is nothing, therefore, in the nature
of a miracle, but only in its application, that renders it
incredible. This is indeed a change. A miracle may be
proved any where but in the service of a revelation from
God. But why ? Because, says our author, " men in all
ages have been so imposed on by ridiculous stories of that
kind." Now, besides that it is untrue that any religion, but
that of the Bible, ever attempted to set up its claims by the
credentials of miracles, this is utter trifling. After all the
metaphysical parade to which we have been attending ; are
we brought to this, that, because some men have been knaves
and fools, therefore all must be such ? Can we believe in
the sincerity of none, because hypocrites have been many 1
Must we refuse belief in any accounts of physical phe
nomena, because men in all ages have been imposed on by
ridiculous accounts of such things? Must we decline
iccepting any notes issued by our banks, because men have
so often been imposed on by counterfeit currency ? On the
contrary, counterfeit currency is positive proof that there is
>uch a thing as a sound and honest currency. And in like
nanner, the fact of spurious pretensions to miracles, so far
iom being a reason for rejecting all accounts of miracles, is
a strong presumptive proof that some of them are true. An
argument which finds itself constrained to seek refuge

144 LECTURE V.
under the shadow of such a position as this, must indeed
have been reduced to an extremity.
We have dwelt on this desperate effort of the most noted
and acute sceptic of modern times, much longer than was
called for by any thing either difficult or important in itself,
because it affords a very strong presumptive proof of the
impossibility, by any force of talent or skilfulness of ma
noeuvre, of breaking the solid mass of testimony by which
the miracles of the gospel are defended. Such a mind, as
that of the historian of England, would never have descended
to the absurdity of denying the credibility of any testimony
in proof of a miracle, had it not been that all his efforts to
pick a flaw in the testimony of those of Christianity had
utterly failed. Show me a man endeavouring to pick his
way through the stone wall of a prison, and I need not
be told that he is shut up, and has despaired of escape
by the door.
The pains which all sceptics have taken to escape from
being shut up to the faith of Christ, adopting every other
conceivable method than the one simple and equitable plan
of refuting the direct evidences of Christianity, should be
considered unequivocable proof that there is a force in those
evidences which their enemies dare not encounter face to
face — something that persuades the bold champion of infi
delity that in this warfare, " discretion is the better part
of valour."
But we cannot relinquish this division of our lecture,
without pausing to draw a lesson from the scepticism of
Hume. Tnat he was a learned and very ingenious writer
none can deny. That he was much more amiable and less
unexemplary in his temper and habits than infidel cham
pions generally are, we have no disposition to question.
But these commendations only render his case the more
affecting, and his insidious sophistry the more dangerous.
The pride of reason was his master. The praise of a phi-

LECTURE V. 145
losopher was his idol ; to doubt what others believed, his
habitual tendency; to maintain a paradox against the
world, his prevailing ambition. Under the influence of these
dispositions, the very fact that the religion of Christ was a
revelation, requiring him to sit at its feet and learn, instead
of a theory, flattering the sufficiency of his own powers to
discover truth, was its condemnation. The more it possessed
the sanction of ages and of the greatest minds, the more did
it rouse him to its rejection. The imposing multitude and
weight of its evidences were the strongest stimulants of his
unbelief. He first denied the miracles of the gospel, and
then set his wits to contrive some grand argument by which
all the testimony in their favour might be undermined. He
reasoned himself almost out of his own existence, and sur
rounded himself with impenetrable darkness. The present
was all contradiction, the future all " an enigma," to his
mind. Poor, unhappy, philosopher ! How little his learn
ing could do in the search of truth, for want of humility !
How easily can all human knowledge, and all mortal wisdom,
become foolishness, when the wise man leans to his own
understanding, instead of acknowledging and seeking God
in all his ways ! That Hume was accustomed to pray for
guidance in his investigations of truth, it is impossible to
suppose. The great fountain of light being thus denied,
God gave him up to the devices and desires of his own
heart. Verily, " He taketh the wise in their own craftiness."
Thus, most justly, did our philosopher meet with darkness
in the day-time, and was permitted to grope in the noonday
as in the night. One just view of himself as a sinner would
have refuted and broke up his whole system of proud unbe
lief. I have known a good deal, by experience, of the conflict
which infidels maintain behind the entrenchments of Hume
and other champions of their cause ; I have known also
something, personally, of conversions among such people , -
and it has often astonished me to see how immediately a
12*

146 LECTURE V.
whole system of well jointed infidelity tumbles to pieces ;
how entirely the most darling argument against the gospel
is changed into folly, and given to the winds, as soon as
one realizes that he is a sinner, and must stand before God
in judgment.
IV. Let us pass to our fourth proposition. The testimony
in proof of the miracles of the gospel has not diminished
in force by the increase of age. It is not an uncommon
idea that the transmission of remote events, by successive
testimony, from generation to generation, weakens their
evidence in proportion to the time. It is supposed, that had
we lived in the fourth instead of the nineteenth century, we
should have possessed the testimonial evidence of the chris
tian miracles in much greater force than it is now enjoyed.
But we deny that there is any reason for this supposition.
Mere oral tradition must weaken with age. But written
testimony cannot suffer loss as long as the genuineness of the
document containing it is unimpaired, and the character of
the witnesses is substantiated. For example : suppose it be
recorded on the minutes of the Young Men's Society of New-
York, that on the 13th day of January, 1832, this lecture
was delivered to its members, on the Evidences of Chris
tianity, and those minutes be laid up among its records ;
and the society exist from generation to generation, keeping
a regular account of its transactions, for 400 years ; and at
the end of that time, some one, searching into its early
papers, should read the minutes- of the above event ; the
evidence of the fact would be considered as conclusive, as if,
instead of 400 years, only 50 had elapsed since its occur
rence. The event would be as certain as the genuineness
of the record, and would have no reference to the age of
either. Let the society continue 1 000 years, and its records
being still preserved uncorrupted, the evidence will remain
undiminished. We rely upon the testimony in proof of the
invasion of Britain by Julius Caesar, or of Italy by Hanni-

LECTURE V. 147
bal, with quite as much confidence as we re^d of the wars
of Charles the First in England. And if our present ac
counts of those widely remote events shall be preserved to
the end of the world, the confidence of our posterity at that
time in their historical correctness, cmteris paribus, will be
as complete as ours. Indeed, it is only with regard to the
facts related in the Bible that men ever talk of any diminu
tion, by the lapse of years, in the credibility of testimony.
But with how little reason is evident when you remember
that a matter of historical fact is of the same nature in re
gard to testimony, whether it be found between the covers of
the Bible, or those of a Roman historian. For precisely the
same reason that the event of this lecture, recorded in the
minutes of the Young Men's Society, would retain its evi
dence unimpaired as long as the Society and its minutes
should exist together, does the testimony to the great events
of primitive Christianity continue to this day unabated.*
The christian church is also a society which was in
existence when the events recorded in its scriptures occurred.
Its principal institutions are founded upon them. Our New
Testament books are its records, which, like those of any
other institution of past ages, have been handed down from
generation to generation. The members of the christian
church have died from age to age, but the church, the
society, the living keeper of these records, the librarian of
the scriptures, has never died. The passing away of the
several individuals who, since the commencement of chris
tianity, have belonged to this society, has no more to do with
the permanence of the institution itself, than have the rapid
changes in the particles of the human body, with the perma
nence of the man. There is a personal identity in the
midst of continual change. The man of seventy is the
very identical man that he was at twenty, though many
* Gregory's Letters.

148 LECTURE V.
times have the particles composing his body been entirely
changed. Thus the christian church in her nineteenth
century is the same identical society that existed under
that name in the days of the apostles, though so many
generations of members have lived and died. She is as
capable of remembering the events of her youth, as we
are of remembering the events of ours. The records made
by her members in testimony of those events, and in the
age of their occurrence, having been preserved in her
possession with the greatest vigilance and the most zealous
attachment, are as certain evidence at present, as when
they were written, of the facts related therein. She has
been reading those records in her places of' worship, in all
parts of the world, ever since they were written ; and she
knows as well that they have preserved their personal
identity, and, in all important respects, their uncorrupt, un-
mutilated character, as any of us can know that our family
bibles are the same now as when they were purchased. Thus,
I think, we are warranted in considering our proposition
sustained, that the testimony in proof of the miracles of the
gospel has not diminished in force by the increase of age*
V. We proceed to our last proposition, that, in being, called
to examine the credibility of the gospel miracles by the evi
dence of testimony, we are more favourably situated in
regard to moral probation and discipline, than if we had
been enabled to judge of them by sensible evidence. This
will appear from the consideration, that evidence obtained
by investigation, and appreciated by reflection, is more con
sistent with the state of probation, and of moral discipline
and responsibility in which we are placed, than evidence
forced upon us by the involuntary agency of the senses.
We are under trial and discipline, as well as to our under
standing, as our conduct. We are responsible as well for
* Wilson's Lectures.

LECTURE V. 149
what we believe, as what we do. Precisely the same causes
that would persuade a man to immoral practice, may per
suade him to immoral principle. The same disposition that
would induce him to disobey the precepts, may lead him to
deny the doctrines and evidences of the gospel. It is there
fore his trial, in part, whether in forming his opinion of
religious truth, he will so resist evil example and prejudice
and so deny himself the influence of all sinful inclinations
and* partialities, as to enter with honest candour upon the
investigation of what he ought to believe and do, with a full
determination to embrace the truth wherever it may appear.
Now, with the nature and responsibility of this probationary
condition, the evidence of testimony in proof of the christian
miracles is specially consistent. Did those miracles appear
before us, as once for special reasons they did before
multitudes, forcibly arresting our senses ; not only com
pelling attention, but almost compelling submission, by the
palpable and amazing evidences attending them ; it is evident
that there would remain comparatively but little room for
any freedom of mind or will ; and consequently for any
moral probation. Liberty of will and of decision would
be suspended in proportion to the degree in which the
senses should be directly and impressively addressed. But
the miracles of the gospel addressing, not our senses, but our
minds, through the medium of testimony, possess a degree
of evidence which, while amply sufficient to satisfy all who
examine it with suitable impartiality, is not so overcoming
but that one may reject it, if he choose ; not so irresistible,
but that persons of indolence and indifference, or of pride
and prejudice — persons who examine to refute it, more
than to ascertain its truth, or whose habits and dispositions
set them in direct opposition to the holiness of the gospel — ¦
may receive their reward in being allowed to continue un
convinced. They are thus dealt with in a way peculiarly con
sistent with their character as moral and accountable agents.

150 LECTURE V.
The exercise of an active solicitude for the discovery of
truth thus presented, and of a fair, impartial consideration
of its evidence before conviction, is as truly an exercise of
morality ; as much an act of moral discipline and of a cor
rect temper of mind, as a correct religious practice would be
in one already convinced. It is also as really an exhibition
of immorality and dissoluteness to manifest a spirit of in
difference, or of prejudice, or aversion, in relation to a
matter of such infinite importance, as if one should display
the same spirit in regard to the most necessary duties of
moral living. " Thus, that religion is not intuitively true,
but a matter of deduction and inference ; that a conviction
of its truth is not forced upon every one, but is left to be by
some collected with a heedful attention to premises ; this as
much constitutes religious probation ; as much affords oppor
tunity for right and wrong behaviour, as any thing what
ever." * It tests the heart of the inquirer.
But to illustrate our doctrine, take the case of one who is
disposed to put religion away from him ; who comes to its
evidences with a decided wish that it may appear untrue,
and examines them under strong aversions and prejudices.
Suppose him suddenly arrested by the sight of a miracle
wrought in his presence, so that in spite of all his dislikes'
and evil dispositions, he cannot escape believing. Take then
the case of another, bearing a precisely similar character,
who, having no evidence but that of testimony, is obliged,
either to discipline his mind into a frame for candid, honest
investigation ; or else hazard the consequences of an inquiry
conducted under the influence of habits and tempers directly
hostile to the clear view and impartial acknowledgment of
tiuth. Suppose him to choose the latter alternative, and that
he is permitted, in reward for this voluntary perversion of
his judgment, to continue in unbelief. I ask which of these
?Butler's Analogy, p. ii. c. vi.

LECTURE V. 151
individuals is treated in a way most consistent with his con
dition as a moral and accountable agent ?*
But besides the greater adaptation to a probationary state,
there is greater spiritual profit in the way by which we of
latter days must arrive at the truth of the miracles of the
gospel. Take the case of two Christians; let one be a
disciple of these days, and the other, Thomas, one of the
apostles. They are equally convinced of the Saviour's resur
rection, but by different means; Thomas by the force of
sight and touch ; the other, by a careful, honest examination
of the testimony we now possess. Which, in becoming a
disciple, expressed the greater love of the truth ? Which, the
greater readiness to receive and submit to it ? Thomas had
* "If (says Butler) there are any persons who never set themselves heartily
and in earnest to be informed in religion ; if there are any who secretly wish
it may not prove true, and are less attentive to evidence than to difficulties,
and more to objections than to what is said in answer to them — these persons
will scarce be thought in a likely way of seeing the evidence of religion,
though it were most certainly true, and capable of being ever so fully proved.
If any accustom themselves to consider this subject usually in the way of
mirth, or sport; if they attend to forms and representations, and inadequate
manners of expression, instead of the real things intended by them, (for
signs often can be no more than inadequately expressive of the things sig
nified), or if they substitute human errors in the room of divine truth — why
may not all, or any of these things, hinder some men from seeing that evi
dence which really is seen by others, as a like turn of mind, with respect to
matters of common speculation and practice, does, we find by experience,
hinder them from attaining that knowledge and right understanding, in mat
ters of common speculation and practice, which more fair and attentive minds
can attain to'! And in general, levity, carelessness, passion, and prejudice,
do hinder us from being rightly informed with respect to common things ; and
they may in like manner, and perhaps in some farther providential manner,
with respect to moral and religious subjects; hinder evidence from being
laid before us, and from being seen when it is. The scripture does declare
that every one shall not understand. And it makes no difference by what
providential conduct this comes to pass; whether the evidence of Christianity
was originally and with design, put, and left, so that those who are desirous
of evading moral obligations, should not see it, and that honest-minded
persons should; or whether it comes to pass by any other means.''
Butler's Analogy, p, ii. n vi.

152 LECTURE V.
only to open his eyes, and reach forth his hand ; the other
pursued a course of candid, patient, serious reflection. Thomas
required for his conviction that the Saviour should stand
before him, and say : " Be not faithless, but believing." The
other went forth seeking " the truth as it is in Jesus," through
all the reasoning and objections ; all the patient consideration
and study, which circumstances placed in his way, not de
manding to be constrained by the arrest of his senses, but
prepared to submit as soon as the testimony was sufficient.
Now it is plain that in this case there is a simplicity of
heart; a love of truth; a candour in its pursuit, and a
willingness to bow to it at all cost, such as are by no means
implied in the conviction of Thomas. It is plain, also, that
the moral discipline to which the former was subjected — and
the state of mind involved in the mode by which he came
at the truth, are far more conducive to his happiness, and
afford a much higher promise of steadfast and elevated at
tachment to the service of the truth, than if, like Thomas, it
could be said of him : "Because thou hast seen, thou hast
believed." So that we may now acknowledge the truth of
chose words, "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet
have believed; and may repeat our proposition, that in
having to try the credibility of the gospel miracles by the
evidence of testimony, we are more favourably situated, in
a very important sense, than had we been present to judge
them by the evidence of our senses*
From the whole truth exhibited in this lecture, we are
called to adore the wisdom of God. " His ways are not as our
ways ; neither his thoughts as our thoughts." Why, in such
a momentous business as that of religion (demands some
weak mortal), was not truth rendered intuitively certain, so
that the most careless could not mistake? Why (asks
another) should such tremendous matters be necessarily
* See Saurin, on Obscure Faith.

LECTURE V. 153
settled by investigation and argument; by the weight of
testimony, and the records of distant ages ; instead of bring
ing them at once to the test of every one's experience?
" Show us a sign /" is still the requisition of multitudeL,
who, if they must believe, desire to do it without trouble ;
but would much rather be excused from both. God is infi
nitely wiser. " He knoweth whereof we are made." He
has dignified us with reason, as well as sense ; and made, us
capable of learning by reflection and study, as well as of
knowing by instinct and necessity. He deals with us- as
rational beings. He makes us responsible for the use of our
minds, as well as of our limbs. He requires the obedience
of the will, the labour of our thoughts, and the pains-taking
of all our intellectual and moral faculties, in order that we
may know and serve him as becometh our natures. To
this end, He has so constructed religion, and delivered to us
its evidences, that whoever is sufficiently interested in His
will to bestow his best thoughts, and affections, and efforts,
upon the work of its discovery, truly desirous of knowing
that he may embrace it, and earnestly looking up to God for
protection against prejudice, and for guidance in the way of
light, will certainly come to the knowledge of the truth, what
ever the grade of his intellect, and will arrive at it by a way
most wisely adapted to make him hold fast and obey it. On
the other hand, God has so framed the gospel, and set before
us its credentials, that whether one will believe or not, is left
to his free and voluntary choice ; his probationary character ~
is inviolate ; his reason and his will are perfectly responsible.
If he desire not to believe ; if his heart revolt against the
gospel on account of the humility, and repentance, and holi
ness, and self-denial, it demands of him ; if he study its
nature and evidence carelessly, proudly, and partially ; if he
consult more the objector than the advocate, and try to invent
reasons for unbelief more than arguments for the contrary :
if he love vice, and would retain his sins; he mav easily con-
13

154 LECTURE V.
vince himself against the claims of the gospel. God has
•left unclosed many avenues by which such a man may
escape into infidelity. He is wisely punished by being per
mitted to go in thereat. God may justly take him at his
word, and condemn him to the darkness and final misery of
rejecting what he investigated so unjustly. It is the wisdom
of God that His truth does not, in offering conviction to
such examiners, afford at the same time, encouragement to
such unworthiness.

LECTURE VI. 155

LECTURE VI.
MIRACLES.
Our last lecture was occupied in settling certain prelimina
ries, for the purpose of being enabled, in this, to enter
directly upon the work of weighing the testimony to the
miracles of Christ and his apostles. The question to which
we now proceed may be stated thus : The Lord Jesus Christ
claimed to be received as a teacher, come from God for the
purpose of communicating a divine revelation. His apostles
claimed to be received as his inspired and divinely com
missioned agents in publishing that revelation. All appealed
to miracles, as the credentials of their embassy. None can
deny that such credentials, plainly ascertained, are certain
proof of the sanction of God. The appeal to them is, there
fore, unquestionably fair. The point, then, which remains
to be determined, is : Have we satisfactory evidence that
genuine miracles were wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ
and his apostles ?
In answer to this question, we might proceed on a plan
of argument which would occupy but a few moments. In
the lecture preceding the last, we ascertained the credibility
of the gospel history ; in other words, that we have the strong
est reason to rely implicitly on the narratives contained there
in, as to all matters of fact. Now it is there related, that
on a certain occasion our Saviour was followed by five
thousand men, into a desert place, where they were an
hungered — that all the food in his possession was five barley
loaves, and a few small fishes — that of these he commanded
his disciples to distribute to the multitude ; and after they
had all eaten and were filled, the fragments remaining were

156

LECTURE VI.

much more, in quantity, than the original loaves and
fishes. These, are plain statements, related in the gospel
as unquestionable facts. The gospel history being credible,
they must be true. To call that a credible history, and then
suppose it unworthy of reliance in such prominent particu
lars, would be absurd. But these facts constitute a miracle.
There must have been a miraculous multiplication of the
loaves and fishes. Consequently, in having proved the
credibility of the Gospel history, we have proved that in this
case a miracle was wrought.
Thus might we proceed with regard to a great variety of
other statements, as to the works of Christ and his apostles ;
and I fully believe that, in strict justice, nothing more ought
to be required in evidence of the gospel miracles, than what
has been already adduced in proof of the credibility of the
narratives contained in the New Testament. But inasmuch
as our object is not merely to exhibit a sound and conclusive
argument, such as ought to satisfy every mind, but so to
present the great variety and abundance of proof in support
of Christianity, that no attentive candid mmd can help being
satisfied, we will adopt a broader plan.
Before proceeding any further, let it be remarked, that the
religion of the Bible is the only one which, in its first intro
duction, appealed to miracles for evidence of the divine
authority of its teachers. Under the religion of the Bible I
include the dispensation of Moses and that of Christ, as exhi
biting essentially the same religion ; though more largely
and clearly revealed under the latter than under the former.
Both dispensations were introduced and sanctioned by mira
cles. Now, I know, it is a common supposition, that the
same mode of attestation was resorted to by all the false
religions that ever gained acceptance in the world ; and that
this was the chief cause of their ascendency in the public
mind. But the truth is, that no religion, except that of the
Bible, was ever set up by appeal to miracles as the creden-

LECTURE VI. 157
tials of its founder. We speak of miracles which are capa
ble of being witnessed and investigated by others. It is not
asserted that many wonderful things, of a miraculous nature,
have not been pretended to and boasted among the disciples
of sundry false religions. The annals of paganism abound
with relations of auguries, and oracles, and apparitions.
many miraculous, not to say ridiculous, marvels are asserted
of Mohammed. But the remark is applicable to all of these
things, and is of great importance in connexion with our
present object, that they were asserted not as proofs of re
ligions appealing to them for credentials, but only as ap
pendages of religions already set up, and received on con
siderations entirely independent of their truth or falsehood.
It was the credit and influence of the established religion
which gave them all their currency ; and not their evidence
which established the religion with which they were re
spectively connected. The prodigies of heathenism, unac
companied as they were by any pretence of proof, had no
manner of reference to the setting up of a new system of
faith, or of a teacher pretending to a divine commission.
Miraculous stories were published of Mohammed by writers
of six and eight centuries after his death ; but no such pre
tensions were made by himself. On the contrary, he ex
pressly disclaimed miraculous powers. In the Koran it is
written of him : " Nothing hindered us from sending thee
with miracles, except that the former nations have charged
them with imposture." Again : " They say, unless a sign
be sent down unto him from his Lord, we will not believe ¦
answer, signs are in the power of God alone, and I am no
more than a public preacher. Is it not sufficient for them
that we have sent down unto them the book of the Koran, to
be read unto them?" We grant that Mohammed did give
out to the credulity of his followers a few marvellous doings ;
but they were such as cannot be included under the title of
sensible miracles, inasmuch as he always took the discreet
13*

158 LECTURE VI.
precaution of having no witness but himself, entirely avo*J-
ing the hazardous experiment of resting the evidence of
his divine mission upon the testimony of any eyes more
disinterested than his own.
But how can it be accounted for, that one of such high
pretensions — aware, as he was, of the success which mira
cles had obtained for the gospel in times past — should have
neglected so powerful a means of proselyting the world ? It
was not for want of importunity on the part of others ; for
his opposers were constantly teazing him with their demands
on this head. It was not because he could anticipate no
favourable influence from a well-sustained pretension to
miracles; for his adversaries assured him, even by oaths,
that on the evidence of one such sign they would own his
claims. Nor was it that Mohammed was too honest. The
marvellous tales of the nocturnal visits of Gabriel ; of his
own night-journey ; and of the transmission, from time to
time, of parcels of the uncreated book from heaven, prove
what this impostor was capable of attempting when allured
by a prospect of success. Nor was it that this unequalled
adventurer was deficient in an unusual degree of craft and
address for the management of bold imposture. His whole
biography would refute such an opinion. Nor was it that
he was surrounded with a' people peculiarly prepared, by
knowledge and cultivated discernment, for the detection of
such frauds. The age was one of the darkest in the annals
of man, and his country, one of the darkest of that age.
Nor could it have been that his cause needed no such auxil •
iary ; for the fruits of his labour, during the first three years,
were only fourteen disciples ; and in ten years his cause had
not advanced beyond, and had made but little progress
within, the walls of Mecca. Then if Mohammed was
ueither too honest to attempt the forgery of miracles, nor too
unskilful to manage it with cunning and address ; if his
cause needed it, and his enemies demanded it, and the bar-

LECTURE VI. 159
barity of the people and age favoured it ; no earthly reason
can be given for his having disclaimed the attempt, except
that he considered it too difficult and hazardous ; too certain
of detection, even among a barbarous, credulous, and super
stitious race. The religion of the Bible is the only one that
ever ventured on such evidence in proof of divine original.
This single fact, united with the well known truth that,
however her miracles may have been derided and suspected
by enemies, none ever pretended to have discovered an impo
sition, is strong presumptive evidence that they had a reality
which no human device could rival — a truth which no
human scrutiny could alarm.
In coming, therefore, to our present examination, we
should feel that the religion of the Bible stands alone, not
only as to the wisdom and grandeur of her communications,
but equally so as to the boldness of her evidence ; the subli
mity of her credentials ; and the godlike dignity with which
she cometh to the light, that her deeds " may be made mani
fest that they are wrought in God."
We proceed to the testimony connected with the miracles
of Christ.
I. We observe, in the first place, that supposing the works
related of the Lord Jesus to have actually occurred, many
of them must have been genuine miracles. They cannot
be ascribed to natural causes. If five thousand men were
fed, when all the food to feed them with, prior to the act of
Jesus, was a few loaves and fishes ; if the centurion's servant
was healed, at the word of Jesus, while the latter was no
where within the sight, or hearing, or knowledge, of that
servant ; if the man born blind was made to see by no other
physical act than that of Jesus putting clay on his eyes, and
his washing it off in the pool of Siloam ; if Lazarus, having
been dead four days, did come forth from the sepulchre, at
the word of Jesus ; then we have facts for which no natural
causes can account. They are unquestionable miracles, and

160 LECTURE VI.
we are forced to the alternative of either denying, in the
face of all evidence, the truth of the statements contained
in the gospel history ; or else acknowledging that miracles, in
the fullest sense, were wrought at the word of Christ.
II. The miracles of Christ were such as could at once be
brought lo the test of the senses. It is an essential requisite
to a rational belief in miraculous agency, that one be pre
sented with facts of such a nature as that the senses of those
present could easily decide upon their reality and their super
natural character. Now, that the senses of the most ignorant
were as competent as those of the most learned ; that the
senses of any man or woman in Judea were perfectly compe
tent to decide whether the son of the widow of Nain, having
been dead and carried out to be buried, did arise and sit up
at the word of Christ, and continue thereafter to reside, a
living man, in Nain ; that any one's senses were perfectly
competent to judge whether thousands of men were fed with
a few loaves and fishes, or the blind received their sight, or
the lepers were cleansed, or those, notoriously lame from
their birth, were enabled to walk at the bidding of Christ, it
would be folly to doubt.
III. The miracles of Christ were performed for the most
part in the most public manner. It is the detracting cir
cumstance of all the most plausible pretensions to miracles,
exclusive of those of the scriptures, that they were done in
a corner, or in the presence only of those already inclined to
believe them, or under favour of circumstances calculated
to prevent a free examination. Just the contrary is the
fact with regard to a great portion of the wonderful works
of Christ. Not only were they accessible to the senses of
witnesses ; but to the senses of multitudes of witnesses, of
witnesses of the most eager and violent enmity to the claims
of Jesus ; witnesses of all ranks and classes in society — the
learned and mighty, as well as the ignorant and feeble — the
scribes and Pharisees, the priest and the centurion, as well

LECTURE VI. 161
as the publicans and beggars. It was in the synagogues, in
the streets, in the open fields, surrounded by thousands — in
the midst of Jerusalem, and at the time of the great annual
festivals, when an immense concourse of Jews, from all parts
of the world, crowded the holy city, that almost all of the
mighty works of Jesus were performed. In this way, as in
other ways, he could say to his persecutors, " I spake openly
to the world."
His miracles were wrought upon subjects so numerous, in
so many places, and in such circumstances, as that none
could suspect the cases to have been previously selected and
prepared. What the condition of the subject had been
before the miracle, thousands knew, and all could easily
ascertain. What it was, for a long time after the miracle,
was equally notorious. Those who were cured of blindness,
or leprosy, or lameness, or palsy, or who had been raised from
the dead, did not die immediately after, nor hide themselves
from public inspection; but continued to go in and out
among the people, as living examples of the power of Christ.
The grave of Lazarus was surrounded with unbelieving Jews.
They saw him come forth. They had as much opportunity,
as disposition, to find out whether it was Lazarus or some
one else ; whether the man was alive, or only pretending to
be alive. Instead of being immediately snatched from their
view, he was seated some time after as one of the guests at
a supper, in Bethany ; and so well known was the fact,
that " much people of the Jews" came to the place to have
a sight of one who had been raised from the dead. " The
chief priests consulted that they might put him to death,
because that, by reason of him, many of the Jews went
away and believed on Jesus."
IV. The miracles of Christ and his apostles were very
numerous, and of great variety. It has been a characteris
tic of all cases of imposture, that the wonderful works pre
tended to were but few in number, and of great sameness

162 LECTURE VI.
The sect of the Jansenists, in the church of Rome, pretended
to miracles at the tomb, and by the posthumous intercessions,
of the Abbe Paris. But, besides the want of evidence that
any of the facts recorded were miraculous, they were neithei
numerous nor various. Could this be said of the works of
Christ, it would deprive them of one of the most palpable
evidences of the fearless integrity in which they were
wrought. But his history is full of miraculous works.
Besides about forty that are related at large, we frequently
meet with such accounts as this : " His fame went through
out all Syria, and they brought unto him all sick people
that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and
those which were possessed with devils, and those which
were lunatic, and those that had the palsy, and he healed
them." Similar declarations are made as to the miracles of
the apostles. As, for example, in Acts, v. 16 : " There came
also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem,
bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with un
clean spirits ; and they were healed every one."
But the miracles of the Saviour and his apostles were
also of great variety. It was not disease of one or two
classes only that Jesus removed, but disease of all kinds.
Not diseases only, but all kinds of human calamity, departed
at his will. Even death surrendered his captives at his com
mand. The blind from their birth ; the hopeless leper ;
those that were lame from the womb ; those that had long
been bowed down with infirmity ; the withered, the palsied,
the insane — all were alike delivered of their affliction. On
two occasions, thousands were fed with a mere pittance of
food. Thrice, beside the instance of his own resurrection,
did Jesus raise the dead. A corresponding variety character
izes the works of his apostles.
V. It is a matter of great importance to remark, that
amidst all this variety, the success in every instance was
instantaneous and complete. The sick were perfectly healed.

LECTURE VI. 163
The deaf, and blind, and lame, were perfectly delivered
from their infirmities ; the leper was entirely cleansed ; the
dead arose, not merely to life, but to health and strength.
These effects were as immediate as they were perfect. No
sooner was the voice spoken, or the thing done, that was
required of the applicant, than all was finished. Did Jesus
say, " Let there be light ?" there was light ; let there be
health ? there was health. He left no time for second causes
to operate — no room for human means to intervene. " He
spake, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast."
VI. There is no evidence of an attempt, on the part of
Christ or his apostles, to perform a miracle in which they
were accused of having failed. It is notoriously true of the
wonderful works ascribed to the tomb of the Abbe Paris, for
example, that the cases in which any beneficial effects
resulted to the applicants were very inconsiderable in num
ber, compared with those in which there was a manifest
and total failure. But although the ministry of Christ lasted
between three and four years, during which he was continu
ally resorted to by multitudes, with a great variety of cases,
seeking his miraculous aid ; and although the ministry of
his apostles continued many years longer, during which time
they are said to have been attested by " divers miracles" no
case is mentioned in which an attempt was unsuccessful, or
in which an applicant was denied. The language of the
history in relation to the multitudes that applied to Christ
is continually, " he healed them all." The enemies of the
gospel, who were eye-witnesses of these applicants, did never
maintain that the power of Christ, or of his disciples, was
exerted unsuccessfully in a single instance. Had such an
event taken place, would they not have discovered it ? Had
they discovered it, would they not have proclaimed it far
and wide ? Would any of the books, written against Chris
tianity in the first centuries, have omitted so important a
fact ? The total absence of all insinuation of such a thing

164 LECTURE VI.
in the whole controversy between the primitive Christians
and their adversaries, is certain evidence that an unsuccessful
attempt was never made, and that an unsuccessful appli
cant was not known.*
Now, on the supposition that the miraculous doings
recorded in the gospel were all a cheat, what a miracle is
here ! That all was contrivance, and imposture, and acci
dent, and yet not an enemy ever detected an instance of
failure; that the machinery was never out of place, out of
time, or out of order ; that it was equally successful in all
cases, equally ready at all seasons, always invisible, yet
always at hand, and always instantaneously effectual — what
a miracle ! Who is the man of weak credulity ? — the
believer or the infidel ?
VII. The length of time, during which the Saviour and
his apostles professed to perform miracles, should be specially
considered. Seventy years elapsed between the commence
ment of the ministry of Christ and the death of the last of
the apostles. During all this interval, the miraculous gifts,
in question, were exercised. Now, as every repetition in
case of imposture multiplies the dangers of detection, and
every extension of time makes it the more difficult to keep
up the confederated plan, it is no inconsiderable evidence of
the genuineness of the miracles of the gospel, that they
continued to be wrought and inspected during a period of
so many years, and yet so securely.
This consideration is the more important when you reflect
that the miracles were not confined to one or two places ;
were not wrought in little villages, or among the poor and
ignorant only — but that the scenes of most, of them were in

* The case mentioned in Mat. xvii. 14 — 21, would have been an example
of failure, had the narrative ended with the inability of the disciples. But
the Master performed what they, being as yet in their noviciate, had attempted

LECTURE VI. 165
the chief cities of the Roman empire. Instead of remaining
together in one place, or moving together wherever they
desired to produce an impression, and then confining them
selves to such places as might be most easily deceived ; the
apostles, with singular folly, on the supposition that they
were confederated for an imposture, separated to all parts of
the world. They went alone to the most populous, polished,
and enlightened cities. They put themselves in the most
public places of those cities; thus making combination im
possible, and rendering their success, as mere counterfeiters
perfectly miraculous.
VIII. We have the most perfect certainty that the miracles
of the gospel underwent, at the time they were wrought,
and for a long time after, the most rigid examination from
those who had every opportunity of scrutinizing their
character. Forged miracles may pass current, where power
and authority, or the favourable dispositions of the people
protect them from too close an inspection. But let the power
of the magistrate, the authority of public opinion, and the
partialities of those concerned, be once leagued in opposition,
and the imposture cannot escape. Such was the league
against the miracles in question. Never was the power cf
the state in more perfect alliance with public opinion, or more
zealously supported by all the envy, hatred, and malice, of
which popular feeling is capable, than when it set its face
against the gospel. Not only were these miracles exposed,
by their great publicity, to universal examination, but they
were of such a nature that any mind was capable of examin
ing them. Not only did they present themselves to the wise
and the great, in the chief places of concourse, and in the
o-reat cities of the world ; but they were such as necessarily
provoked every description of scrutiny. Being performed in
avowed support of a religion which could not be successful
without destroying the whole hierarchy of the Jews, and
advancing its victories over the ruins of heathenism ; they
14

166

LECTURE VI.

roused at once into united and stern opposition, all the civil
power of the governments ; all the enmity of Jewish
and Pagan priesthoods ; all the partialities, and prejudices,
and national attachments, of all people. The enmity of the
scribes and Pharisees; of the doctors, and lawyers, and
priests, of the Jews, must have been fired with peculiar
indignation. As miracles multiplied and disciples increased,
the deepest interest must have been awakened in relation to
them among all classes of society. This we know to have
been the case. Hence it is certain that they did not escape
the most thorough examination ; that all the ingenuity and
diligence of contemporaries and eye-witnesses, animated by
the strongest motives, and favoured by every conceivable
advantage, were enlisted in the trial ; and this, not for a day,
or a week, or a month, but as long as miracles were pro
fessed, and a hope of detection remained.
IX. It is a matter deserving of special remembrance, that
the adversaries of the gospel were placed in the most favoura
ble circumstances for a thorough investigation of the reality
of its miracles, by their being published and appealed to
immediately after, and in the very places where, they occur
red. The miracles ascribed to the founder of the society of
Jesuits are sufficiently answered by the fact that, during his
life, and for many years after his death, nothing was heard
of them. Those of Francis Xavier, one of the first disci
ples of Loyola, are deficient in evidence, because, having
been wrought (as it is stated) in the far distant East, they
were first published in the western world; and the narratives,
if they ever reached the places to which they relate, could
not have been known there till long after the opportunity
of a close investigation had passed away, and must have
been published among a people too indifferent to be at the
pains of inquiring into their truth or falsehood. But the
miracles of the gospel were published immediately after, and
in the very places of, their occurrence. It is true, indeed,

LECTURE VI. 167
that the earliest gospel, that of St. Matthew, is not by any
supposed to have been published earlier than the seventh or
eighth year after the death of Christ. Supposing this to
have been the first publication of the miracles, it was suffi
ciently near their date to afford every reasonable opportu
nity of investigation.
But we know from the gospel history, that during the
three years of the Saviour's ministry, and all the while the
apostles laboured, their miracles were notorious. The
scribes and Pharisees met in council on the subject. Many,
unable to deny them, ascribed them to demoniacal power.
Herod, when he heard of them, said : " This is John the
Baptist ; he is risen from the dead ; and therefore mighty
works do show forth themselves in him."* The fame of the
miracles of Jesus, at the beginning of his ministry, " went
throughout all Syria," so that multitudes, with all kinds of
afflictions, flocked to him from all quarters to be healed, and,
vhen healed, returned to publish still more widely the
vorks of their deliverer.! The raising of Lazarus was so
videly published in Bethany, where it took place, and in the
region round about, that, in a few days, " much people of
the Jews came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might
see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead."!
When, at the word of Peter and John, the impotent man, at
the gate of the temple, had been made whole, they imme-
liately published the miracle on the spot, to the multitude of
Jerusalem ; appealing to it in evidence of the power of their
Lord. " His name (said they), through faith in his name,
hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know : yea,
the faith which is by him, hath given him this perfect sound
ness in the presence of you all."h Only about fifty days
was Jesus risen from the dead, when his disciples began to
proclaim every where, and first at Jerusalem, among those
* Mat xiv. 1 and 2. t Ib. iv. 23—25. t John, xii. 9. § Acts, iii. 16.

168 LECTURE VI.
who slew him and had set the guard at the sepulchre, this
chief of miracles. They appealed to it in every discourse ;
challenged every examination ; defied all contradiction. All
the miracles of Christ, they declared before the very people
whom they asserted to have witnessed them. " Ye men of
Israel, hear these words (said Peter) ; Jesus of Nazareth, a
man approved of God among you by miracles, and wonders,
and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye
yourselves also know."* How eminently this bold and im
mediate publication must have aided, as well as~ stimulated,
the investigation of the enemies of the gospel, furnishing
those, who had every disposition, and all power, and all
intelligence and cunning, with every opportunity to try the
minutest circumstance, and ferret out every clue to the
detection of imposture, I need not show.
X. Now consider, who the agents were, whose works were
obliged to stand such trials. Had they been men of learning,
of power, of wealth, accustomed to any thing that was
calculated to furnish them for the work of imposing upon
mankind, the case would not be quite so strong. But, on the
supposition that Christ was a mere man and pretender, what
was he or what were his apostles, by education or standing
in society, that they should be qualified for such an unparal
leled effort of ingenuity and concealment? Is there any
miracle more marvellous than that which is involved in the
idea of a poor and unlearned individual of Nazareth, followed
by twelve obscure, unlettered Jews, for the most part accus
tomed to nothing but their nets and fishing-boats, having
practised such a system of imposture, under such circum
stances of risk and exposure, without an individual among
their numerous enemies to discover their secret, or detect
the deceit?
XI. Consider, moreover, that notwithstanding all thai
* Acts, ii. 22.

LECTURE VI. 169
was done to entice and intimidate the early Christians who
were eye-witnesses of what Jesus or his apostles wrought,
none were induced to confess themselves deceived ; or that
they had seen any thing but truth in those miraculous gifts,
by which they had been persuaded to embrace the gospel.
It is not asserted that none who professed to be converted
from Judaism or paganism to Christianity, ever renounced
the cause of Christ. The persecution of enemies was some
times successful in forcing their victims to forsake the gospel,
and do sacrifice to idols, rather than be burned at the stake,
or thrown to wild beasts. But the case cannot be brought
of one such unhappy deserter, whether man or woman,
having been persuaded to bear witness against the christian
miracles. A convert, after having united himself to the
apostles ; been received to the fellowship of the church ; and
become an agent in advancing its cause ; must have become
acquainted with its secrets. He must have often looked
behind the scenes, and had many opportunities of knowing
the hidden machinery by which the imposition, if any existed,
was carried on. Had the evidence of contrivance and
forgery been ever seen by the primitive christians ; those
who deserted the cause had every motive to divulge it.
Their own indignation at having been deceived ; the rewards
which they might have expected from the enemies of
Christianity, would have been sufficiently persuasive. That
none ever went a step further than simply to give up the
profession of the gospel, through fear of torture ; that none
ever turned round upon the apostles by whose miracles they
had been convinced, and charged them with fraud ; is abso
lutely inexplicable on any other supposition than their
thorough conviction that fraud did not exist.
This evidence is specially strong in the case of Judas
Iscariot. He was one of the twelve who always companied
with Jesus. He was the treasurer of the family — admitted
to every opportunity of knowing whatever secrets may have
14*

170 LECTURE VI.
belonged to the works of Christ. That he knew what and
where the imposition was, if any existed in the gospel
miracles, cannot be doubted. That he was treacherous
enough to betray it, is manifest from his having betrayed
the Master himself. That he had every inducement to do
so, none can question who knows how precious the chief
priests and Pharisees would have considered such a disclo
sure. Did he come forward with any such thing? He
delivers up the person of Christ ; does he accuse his charac
ter ? — deny his works ? — expose his cause ? The Saviour is
arraigned before his powerful enemies — witnesses are called.
Where is Judas ? False witnesses are brought. Where is
Judas ? Has he nothing to say against him whom he has
already sold for thirty pieces of silver? The enemies of
Christ cannot be ignorant of the importance of such a witness;
nor can he be ignorant of the gain that would accrue from
his delivering such testimony. But he is not there. The
Jews never pretended to have obtained any accusation from
that traitor. Not a word is spoken, in all the controversy with
primitive adversaries, about the treachery of Judas as having
turned to their advantage. On the contrary, it is written in
the gospel history, and was never denied by those men, that
he not only abstained from any accusation, but in the strong
est possible manner confessed the truth and excellence of
Jesus and his cause. Under the stings of conscience, and in
spjte of the covetousness of his disposition, he went and
delivered up the money he had received for his iniquity into
the hands of those' who had paid it. Nor was this all. He
was constrained to confess to the chief priests and elders,
whose wrath he knew it would inflame to the uttermost,
saying : " I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent
blood." " And he cast down the pieces of silver in the tem
ple, and departed, and went and hanged himself"* Stronger
* Mat. xxvii. 3, 4, 5.

LECTURE VI. 171
evidence of truth and righteousness, it is impossible for any
works or any cause to possess.
XII. Having considered in another place the character of
che individuals by whom the miracles of the gospel were
performed, it is important now to remark the character of
the miracles themselves. Either they were real miracles, or
false. If false, the individuals who performed them could
not, by any excess of infatuation, have supposed them true.
They must, therefore, have been the deliberate asserters of a
divine commission, which they knew had not been given
them ; and the persevering exhibiters of credentials which
they knew were forgeries. Hence it is not possible that
they could have been honest men ; much less, good men.
And inasmuch as they must have acted from some motive
and with some object in view, and we cannot suppose that
such impostors would be sacrificing themselves merely out
of a benevolent disposition to promote the happiness of their
fellow-creatures and relieve their woes ; it must have been
some object of ambition or of gain which they were pur
suing. We do not pause now to show what perfect idiots
they must have been to select such a scheme out of ambi
tious or pecuniary motives. But since, on the supposition
that their works were fictitious, we can imagine no other,
the question arises, how do these miracles correspond with
the idea that the agents were impostors, and their motives
ambitious or covetous ?
Now I maintain, that considering how many and various
are the miracles recorded in the New Testament, in what
various circumstances and by what various agents they were
performed, and that not for a month or year only, but many
years, in full assemblages of enemies ; it would have been
quite miraculous, supposing them false, had they been in
every instance garnished with a concealment so perfect, that
nothing low, or mean, or undignified — nothing betraying
the spirit of designing, ambitious, or covetous men — should

172 LECTURE VI.
ever have been manifested. Take up the accounts of any
confessedly fictitious miracles, in any age or country, and
you will soon detect the hand-writing of the spirit and mo
tives that produced them. But most singularly — contrary
to all experience and all law, on the assumption that the
miracles of Christ and his apostles were fictitious, you dis
cover nothing in them but what is entirely worthy of the
majesty, holiness, justice, and goodness of that God, by
whose power they professed to be wrought. The most
perfect correspondence appears between the exalted and holy
character and office in which the Saviour and his apostles
claimed to be received, and the works by which their claim
was sustained. Propriety, dignity, disinterestedness, benevo
lence of the loveliest spirit, and compassion of the tenderest
sensibility, distinguished them. Not the least trace is mark
ed on them of any ambitious or other suspicious motive.
Though the Lord Jesus and his apostles were compassed
about with reproachful and persecuting enemies, you discern
nothing vindictive or resentful. Though always in personal
poverty, " despised and rejected of men," their miracles
discover nothing ostentatious — nothing to gratify curiosity
— no anxiety for repute — no aim at wealth or temporal pow
er. While feeding the hungry by thousands, Jesus continued
in poverty. While, as the good Shepherd, ever following
the lost sheep through suffering and want, that he might
administer to their necessities, he showed no sign of any
care for himself. Now, if Jesus and his apostles did not
work miracles in truth ; if their high claims were false, and
they consequently were prosecuting a scheme of imposture
with selfish purposes, either of ambition or gain ; there is
something in all this singularly unaccountable — very unlike
the iaws of nature — exceedingly miraculous.
XIII. But that the miracles of the gospel were not ficti
cious, but genuine and undeniable, we have the plainest and
strongest confession from the primitive adversaries of Christ

LECTURE VI. 173
and his cause. In the first place ; we have a very conclu
sive and impressive confession, though silent, from the whole
Jewish nation and the whole Gentile world. It consists in
this unquestionable fact, that no individual among them
ever detected, or was publicly supposed to have detected, an
imposture. You are to remember that these miracles were
addressed to the senses ; performed in open daylight ; with
all possible publicity; that they were exceedingly numerous
and various ; wrought by many different agents ; in many
and remote countries ; before citizens of the most enlightened
cities, and in the most enlightened age of the Roman empire ;
that those of the Apostles did not cease until nearly seventy
years from their commencement, during all which time they
must have endured the very closest scrutiny that the com-
oined forces of learning, enmity, and political authority,
could institute. You are to remember, also, what kind of
men were those who performed them, and that the accounts
of them which we now possess were published far and wide
in the very places where the works were done, and among
the very people who are said to have witnessed them. You
ire to remember, for example, the miracle of the gift of
tongues on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, how it was
published abroad in Jerusalem and the whole empire, that,
on that day, an immense multitude of people of all languages
were amazed at hearing the twelve apostles, who were well
.mown as unlettered Jews, preaching the gospel in so many
different languages, that all, whether Cretes, Arabians, Meso-
potamians, or of any other name, all heard, in their respec
tive tongues, the wonderful works of God. You are to con
sider, that in publishing an account of this astonishing
transaction, as was done by the apostles in all their preach
ing, and a few years afterwards, by Luke in the Acts of the
Apostles ; an open, honest appeal was made to all the hun
dreds of thousands who had been assembled on that day in
Jerusalem, to come forth and deny that these things did then

L74

LECTURE VI.

and there occur. Hence was every possible facility afforded
for the detection of imposture. Without a miracle for its
concealment, it could not have escaped. Had there been a
detection with regard to but one of all the miracles,/ we
should have heard of it. Judea, and Greece, and Rome,
would have rung with the news. The books of Jewish
and Heathen adversaries would have reiterated its publica
tion in illuminated pages and golden capitals. All the
generations of succeeding adversaries would have quoted it
as one of the dearest bequests of classic antiquity. Is there
any such thing ? I sound the inquiry through the whole
region of Jewish, and Grecian, and Roman history, and I
hear nothing in answer, but the echo of my own voice :
" Is there any such thing 7" I must answer it myself.
There is no such thing, in all that has come to us from
antiquity, as even a pretence to the detection of imposture
in the gospel miracles.
This I think you will join me in considering a very im
pressive and conclusive confession, though a silent one, from
the whole Jewish nation and Gentile world, to the undeniable
reality of the miracles of Christ and his apostles. It is all the
evidence we could with any reason expect from enemies.
When Deists bid us produce the testimony of enemies, as
well as friends, it is perfectly unreasonable to require that we
should find enemies, in those days of bitter hostility to Chris
tianity, positively acknowledging that it was attested by
miracles. That they did not deny it ; that Jews and Gentiles ;
that the Mosaic and the Pagan priesthoods ; that the Phari
sees of Jerusalem, and the philosophers of Corinth, and
Ephesus, and Rome, were silent, on this head, one would
suppose, is a great deal to get from such adversaries.
But we can go further. Unreasonable, as it is, to demand
more positive testimony from enemies, we can meet the de
mand. Having, in a previous lecture, ascertained the credi
bility of the gospel history, we may now appeal to it for

LECTURE VI. 175
the acknowledgment of enemies. Peter on the day of
Pentecost assumed the fact that the multitudes of Israel, to
whom he was speaking, acknowledged that Jesus of Naza
reth had approved himself among them by " miracles, and
wonders, and signs."* " This man doeth many miracles,' t
was the confession of the chief priests and Pharisees, in
council, relative to Jesus. " What shall we do to them ?
(said the Jewish rulers,, in relation to Peter and John) For
that indeed a notable miracle has been done by them is
manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot
deny it."% You know that the only way of escape the Jewish
rulers could find, while they could not deny the miracles,
was to ascribe them to magic, or the power of demons. " He
casteth out devils by Beelzebub" &c. But we have similar
testimony, without recourse to the scriptures. The Jewish
rabbies, in the Talmud, acknowledge these miracles, and
pretend that they were wrought by magic, or by the power
attendant upon a certain use of the name Jehovah, called
tetragrammaton, which, they pretend, Jesus stole out of the
temple. § But we have positive testimony also from Hea
thens. Celsus, who wrote in the latter part of the second
century, not only allows the principal facts of the gospel
history, but acknowledges that Christ wrought miracles, by
which he engaged great multitudes to adhere to him as the
Messiah. That these miracles were really performed, so far
from denying, he tries to account for by ascribing them to
magic, which (he says) Christ learned in Egypt. II

* Acts, ii. 22. t John, xi. 47. t Acts, iv. 16.
5 duod Christus per hoc nomen quoque miracula sua ediderit, probavit ante
multos annos Purchetus. Ejus tamen fabulse illustrandDe causa, hoc addo,
quod apud Talmudicus reperi. Ut Christus in ea historia refertur descriptum
Shemhamphorasch (id est, nomen expositum, quod est ipsum nomen im), in-
clusisse in discissam cutem pedis, et ex templo eduxisse, ut sic per ejus vim
miracula postmodum ediderit. Buxto-rf
II Lardner, iv. 120— 130.

176 LECTURK VI.
Hierocles, president of Bythinia, and a persecutor of Chris
tians, in a work written against Christianity, does not deny
the miracles of Christ, but compares them with those which
he pretended had been wrought a long time before, by om-
Apollonius, of Tyanea, a heathen, complaining at the
same time that Christians made so much ado about the
works of Jesus, as to worship him for God.*
Julian, the emperor, in the fourth century, acknowledges
the miracles of Christ, and contents himself with trying to
depreciate their importance. "Jesus," he says, "did nothing
worthy of fame, unless any one can suppose that curing the
lame and the blind, and exorcising demons in the villages of
Bethsaida, are some of the greatest works." He acknow
ledges that Jesus had a sovereign power over impure spirits
and that he walked on the surface of the deep.f Now, ii
is a matter of no little wonder, to say the least of it, that iii
this nineteenth century, men should be so sagacious as t<
discover that Christ and his apostles did not attest their
claims and doctrines with miraculous powers, when learned
sagacious, and sufficiently hostile unbelievers of the earliest
centuries of Christianity, having opportunities for discovering
the state of the case such as they cannot pretend to, wen-
constrained to acknowledge precisely the contrary. I marvei
that Celsus, and Porphyry, and Hierocles, and Julian, and
the Scribes, and Pharisees, can rest in their graves, when
such reflections are cast upon the zeal and talents with which
they searched for imposture in the works of Christ.
XIV. But we have even better testimony than that of
enemies. Had Celsus found himself not only unable to deny
the miracles of Christ, but persuaded, by the mere force of
their truth, to renounce heathenism, and consecrate his life.
in the face of persecution and death, to the service of the
2-ospel, would not his testimony have been greatly increased
* Lardner, iv. 254. t Lardner, vol. iv. 332—342.

LECTURE VI.

177

in importance? Would not the very fact of his becoming a
Christian, under the power of evidence, be the consideration
which, instead of injuring his testimony as that of a friend
would have given it peculiar force as that of a friend who
was once an enemy 7 Then if I find cases precisely cor
responding with this — if I present you with hundreds and
thousands of such cases, and tens of thousands — will you
not own that their positive testimony is far stronger than
even that of the adversaries whom we have cited, and the
strongest of which in the nature of things we could be pos
sessed ? I find precisely such cases in the apostles of Christ
They are regarded as interested witnesses, because they
were friends. But what made them friends ? Were they
not men like others ? Jews, like others ? Consider Paul,
once a fierce persecutor of Christians ! What made him a
friend ? Consider the three thousand, converted from bitter,
persecuting Judaism to the faith of Christ, on the day of
Pentecost. What made friends and disciples of them?
Was it that they expected any earthly honours or gains from
taking up the cross of a crucified Master, in whose wonder
ful works they did not believe ? Was it that they coveted
reproach, enjoyed suffering, and loved death? or because, by
careful consideration, they were so convinced that the mira
cles of Christ, especially that of his rising from the dead,
were true, that no certainty of persecution, no sacrifices of
property, character, friends, or life, were sufficient to prevent
them from confessing him before men ? To these add the
hundreds of thousands, who, during the ministry of the
apostles, from having been Jews or Heathens, and ene
mies of the gospel, became its devoted followers and heroic
confessors. They bore witness, by word and deed, in
torture and death, to the great fact that the miracles of
Christ were true. And what is their testimony worth '*
What possible motive can you assign for the total change
which took place in all their habits, attachments, manners,
15

178 LECTURE VI.
and affections, when they became Christians, other than that
of deep, solemn conviction ? To suppose they were not con
vinced, is to suppose that they made the most tremendous
sacrifices, not only without motive, but in direct opposition
to the most powerful motives of the human breast. They
well knew the poverty, and persecution, and martyrdom, to
which they exposed themselves. Why, then, Sid they become
Christians ? When afterwards pursued as the off-scouring
of all things, and pests of the world ; when no name was so
odious as that of Christian ; when to bring those who bore
it to torture was universally accounted meritorious ; when it
was the study of magistrates and soldiers to invent new
modes of tormenting them ; when thousands of all ranks
and ages were daily slain for the testimony of Jesus, who,
by the act of a moment, could have stilled the storm to perfect
peace ; why did they persist and die ? To pretend to explain
their steadfastness, except on the supposition of their having
firmly believed what they professed, were perfectly absurd.
But did they not know ? Living in the same age with the
apostles ; living in the very places where the miracles were
performed ; they, if any on earth, must have possessed the
opportunity of discovering the truth with regard to them.
We have, then, the impressive fact of hundreds of thousands
of the adversaries of the gospel, in the first century of
Christianity, Jews, and Greeks, and Romans, many of whom
had been persecutors of Christians, bearing the most positive
testimony to, what they had every opportunity of investiga
ting, the reality of the miracles of Christ ; and sealing their
testimony in the renouncing of all that was dear to them by
birth, habit, or education, and embracing Christianity at the
expense of the keenest reproach and the most painful death.
Testimony stronger or more undeniable than this, I cannot
imagine. If this be not sufficient to prove a plain matter of
fact, such for example as that Lazarus was seen alive after
he. was known to have been dead ; then farewell all history

LECTURE VI. 179
and all knowledge. Nothing can be reasonably believed,
except on evidence of sense, and hardly then, after reject
ing this.
We have now arrayed as many of the materials of the
argument for the gospel miracles as our time would permit.
It only remains that we put them together into one view, so
as to enable you to appreciate their united strength. I know
not how to do this in a better way, than to take the supposi
tion that all the miracles of Christ and of his apostles were
fictions, and consequently their authors, deliberate deceivers ;
and then consider how far the supposition will carry us.
Let us do so. You understand the supposition. What must
be believed by those who will maintain it ?
They must believe that Jesus and his apostles, being
obscure, unlettered Jews, without a single circumstance to
give them influence, were so perfectly silly and mad as to
flatter themselves that they could set up a scheme of religion,
which, though in utter contradiction to the habits, passions,
prejudices, and institutions, of all the world, should succeed
in overturning the religious systems and institutions of the
most enlightened nations ; and yet that, with this uncounta
ble infatuation, they were so singularly wise, as to maintain,
throughout all the miracles which they professed to work in
proof of their system, the most perfect consistency with the
dignity and disinterestedness of the office they assumed, and
with the majesty, holiness, and goodness of that God in
whose name they professed to come.
They must believe that Jesus and his apostles were so
wicked, as to attempt an imposture which involved not only
continual dishonesty, but downright blasphemy, and this .
from motives of mere ambition or avarice ; and yet that
during the space of seventy years they kept up such an
invariable show of eminent goodness and disinterestedness,
as in all their works to manifest not the smallest appearance
of selfishness or any evil design ; but, on the contrary, the

180

LECTURE VI.

utmost evidence of self-denial, of self-humiliation, of purity,
of holiness, of the tenderest compassion, and the most labori
ous benevolence ; so that even their enemies never broug.ht
inconsistency to their charge.
They must believe the apostles to have been so strangely
in love, either with wealth, or honour, or power, or some
thing else, to be willing, even out of their obscurity and
weakness, as to seek it by such a desperate scheme as that
of Christianity; and yet that, when honours were offered}
they earnestly refused them ; when they saw the triumph of
their enemies in the crucifixion of Christ, and that nothing
awaited his followers but disgrace, poverty, and persecution,
they persisted in advocating the cause of their fallen leader ;
and when the storms of persecution grew darker and darker.
and ruin and death were the certain consequences of perse
verance, and one word of confession would have saved them,
such was their infatuated attachment to this scheme of im
posture, such their singular devotion to self, to honour, or
wealth, or power, or something else, that they drove on from
suffering to suffering, from shame to shame, ending at last
their pursuit in a bitter death, with the full belief, as Jews,
that in eternity they should be condemned to an awful retri
bution for their whole career.
They must believe that while the apostles were so utterly
destitute of common ingenuity that they selected precisely
that kind of credential which it was the most difficult to
forge, and instead of seeking, as other impostors would have
done, private, or confined, or solitary places, for their mira
cles, chose those of the greatest resort and publicity, and then
placed and left their miracles directly under the senses of the
multitude; that while they had so little contrivance that
instead of selecting a few masked friends, or the most igno
rant of the populace for witnesses, they seemed rather to
prefer having hardly any witnesses but enemies, and those
frequently of the highest, most literate, and powerful classes;

LECTURE VI. 181
that while so utterly wanting in the common cunning of
impostors, that instead of keeping their doings to one or a
few places, they performed them any where, upon any sub
jects, however suddenly or confusedly presented, and, instead
of ceasing when they had done a few with success, continued
the hazard for many years, in innumerable instances, and
while they were widely separated from one another ; I say
it must be believed, that Christ and his apostles, with all
these evidences of extraordinary idiocy or lunacy, were yet
so wonderfully ingenious, wary, and wise ; so singularly
skilled in imposture ; so learned in human nature and the
world ; such a marvellous match for the combined efforts of
the wise, and mighty, and diligent, of Judea, and Greece,
and Rome ; laid their plans so deeply ; concerted their move
ments so skilfully ; kept their secrets so closely ; carried on
the whole complicated plot for many years so consistently, that
though ever watched while together and while separated ; con
tinually scrutinized by all sorts of witnesses and of enemies ;
none could ever detect the least flaw in their pretensions ;
none could discover that the blind did not see ; the lame did
not walk ; the dead did not rise. On the contrary, the peo
ple of Bethany were so deceived as actually to believe that
they daily saw one of their townsmen, whom they knew to
have died, living and eating among them. The people of
Jerusalem were so deceived as to believe, that they saw a
man whom they knew to have been lame from his birth,
daily walking among them perfectly well. The five thousand
were fully persuaded that they did all eat and were filled with
a few loaves and fishes. The people of Syria were so
tricked as really to believe that their multitudes of sick with
divers diseases and torments, whom they had brought to
Jesus, went home with them perfectly well, without an ex
ception. Yea, the whole Jewish and Heathen world was so
imposed upon by these unlettered, simple, despised, persecu
ted Jews, as tacitly to confess the genuineness of their mita-
15*

182

LECTURE VI.

cles. Philosophers and rabbies, when they attacked chrip
tianity, did not deny it ; several of them positively, in their
books, acknowledged it ; and hundreds of thousands in the
age of the apostles, out of the most polished cities and most
respectable classes, were so entirely taken captive and spell
bound by the magic scheme of these weak men, that they
forsook all and took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, and
yielded themselves to fire and sword and wild beasts, rather
than not confess and follow Christ.
Such are the wonderful things ; such the violations of the
laws of nature and of common sense ; such the wicked and
contradictory^ miracles which necessarily follow as true, as
soon as the miracles of Christianity are rejected as false.
Now, tell me on which side the charge of credulity lies with
the greatest weight. Now, give the reason why our modern
unbelievers, instead of meeting the testimony of the gospel
miracles in front, are so conscientiously scrupulous never to
know any thing about it, and always expend their ingenuity
in ridiculing the dignity, or in picking out what they would
represent as inconsistencies in the books, of scripture. Now
explain the singular phenomenon that the grand high-priest
of modern infidelity should have invented the convenient
principle which sceptical philosophy had ever before so
painfully sighed after, that no testimony can prove a miracle.
Ah ! yes. It was his only hope. The testimony of the
christian miracles is perfect. It is so overwhleming, that if
there be any difficulty about them, it arises from the very
brightness of their evidence itself. It is almost inconceiva
ble that such works, wrought so publicly and frequently, and
with such incontrovertible marks of a divine hand, should
not have made more converts ; that all who beheld them did
not yield at once to the great Teacher whom they attested,
and espouse his cause. But the explanation is not difficult.
The human heart is depraved enough for the most desperate
rejection of such a master as the Lord Jesus. Men will go

LECTURE VI. 183
to the greatest lengths of folly and unbelief to gratify their
passions, foster their pride, retain their prejudices, and escape
the necessity of making sacrifices for conscience's sake. The
truth that so many Jews and Heathens, with this blaze of
testimony before them, did not submit to the gospel, is not so
astonishing as what is seen every day among ourselves :
persons believing the New Testament, and that Christ is the
only Saviour of sinners — that eternal blessedness awaits
those who follow him, and eternal wo those who neglect his
salvation — and yet, for all practical ends, as unmoved by
these truths as if they were fables — as little engaged in the
service of Christ as if they had never heard his name.
But we must conclude. I trust you will henceforth allow
me to consider the miracles of the gospel as proved to be
genuine. If so, we must consider the credentials of Christ
and his apostles as acknowledged. They were therefore
what they professed to be, divinely commissioned and in
spired teachers. God was with them. What they published
as a revelation from God, we are consequently bound to
receive as a revelation from God. That publication is con
tained in the New Testament. We have already ascertained
the authenticity and credibility of the New Testament as
containing it. We cease, therefore, this evening, with the
conclusion that the religion published in the New Testament
is a revelation from God.
May the greatest and best of all the works of the Lord Jesus
be wrought in all of us ; even the blessed work of his grace,
awakening the sinner from spiritual death ; changing, exalt
ing, purifying all the affections of his depraved nature ; open
ing the eyes of his understanding to behold the glory of God ;
leading him, in repentance and faith, to the cross for pardon
and peace ; shedding abroad in his heart the spirit of divine
love ; and causing him to rejoice in the blessed assurance
of a crown of glory that fadeth not away !

184 LECTURE VII.

LECTURE VII.
PROPHECY.
Having shown the genuineness of the miracles recorded
in the New Testament, in attestation of the divine mission
of the Saviour and his apostles ; we are now to take up the
subject of prophecy. But while proceeding to this additional
source of evidence, it is important to be observed, that we
do so, not because we consider the reasoning in proof of
Christianity, as a divine revelation, to which you have
already listened, in any sense incomplete. Had our course
of lectures been terminated with the last, the argument
would have been brought to an incontrovertible issue. Hav
ing made out the great point that genuine miracles were
wrought by the Saviour and his apostles, in attestation of
the divine authority of what they did and taught ; we have
established, by necessary consequence, the great truth that
Jesus Christ was a teacher come from God, and that the
New Testament, as an authentic publication of the religion
taught by him, is to be received as containing a divine reve
lation of truth and duty. One line of evidence, therefore-
one road leading to the scriptures, as the great central
fountain of divine truth, we have travelled over ; and it has
set us down beside the water of life. Now, if this were the
only road, it would be amply sufficient. The loftiest intel
lect need not be ashamed ; the weakest need not fear to walk
therein.* But God has not only furnished us with the
plainest, but with the most various and abundant evidence.

* A celebrated infidel once acknowledged that even atheism would be
refuted by the proof of a single miracle of the gospel. Spinoza declared that

LECTURE VII. 1S5
And since the object of these lectures is not only to prove
the divine authority of the gospel, but also to give you an
idea of the diversified character of the many ways by which
the proof may be established; we propose now to return
from the position we have reached by the argument of our
last lecture, and endeavour to arrive at it again by a route
entirely different. We take up the prophecies, recorded in
the scriptures, and shall endeavour to produce from them
satisfactory and impressive evidence that in the Bible we
have divine inspiration, and in Jesus Christ a teacher sent
of God.
What is a prophecy, according to the sense of scripture,
and as we are now about to consider it ? It is a declaration
of future events, such as no human wisdom or forecast is
sufficient to make; depending on a knowledge of the innu
merable contingencies of human affairs, which belongs
exclusively to the omniscience of God; so that, from its
very nature, prophecy must be divine revelation. " The
prophecy came not in old time by the will of man ; but holy
men of' God-spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."
A prophecy, considered in itself, separately from its fulfil
ment, is no evidence of revelation. But as soon as fulfilled,
it is complete. The hand of God in it, is then attested.
The evidence that the person by whom it was uttered was
under the influence of the spirit of divine omniscience, is
finished. Then prophecy takes the place of miracle, and
becomes at once the highest and most unquestionable proof,
not only that the individual who declared it was the agent
of communicating, in that particular, a divine revelation ;
but also that a divine sanction is impressed upon that whole

he would have broken his atheistic system to pieces, and embraced without
repugnance the ordinary faith of Christians, could he have been persuaded
of the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead ! Was it not a foresight of the
arguments that would necessarily result from the proof of this miracle that
¦prevented him from being persuaded of its truth 1

186 LECTURE VII.
system of religion with which his prophecies may be con
nected.* " Future contingencies, such, for example, as those
which relate to the rise and fall of nations and states not yet
in existence, or to the minute concerns of individuals not yet
born, are secrets which it is evident no man or angel can
penetrate, their causes being indeterminate, their relations
with other things fluctuating and unknown. It follows.
therefore, that the prediction of such contingent events
cannot otherwise than proceed from God ; and farther, since
God cannot without a violation of His perfect holiness and
rectitude, visibly aid delusion and wickedness, the inference
is equally cogent and necessary, that the accomplishment
of predictions delivered by those who profess divine authority
amounts to a full proof that they really possess the authority
they assume. Other arguments may be evaded; other evi
dence may not convince. Strange effects (though not
miraculous ones) may be produced by other than divine
power."f But this can only be evaded by refusing to behold
it, and only counterfeited by him who is ingenious enough
to borrow omniscience in aid of imposture. " To declare a
thing shall come to be, long before it is in being (says Justin
Martyr); and then to bring about the accomplishment of
that very thing, according to the same declaration ; this, or
nothing, is the work of God."
There are considerations connected with this particular
source of evidence, which render it specially interesting and
valuable. Prophecy furnishes an argument, the force of which is
continually growing. The argument began, when first a
single prophecy was fulfilled. It increased more and more,
as predictions and fulfilments multiplied. In the age of the

* " All prophecies (says Hume) are real miracles, and as such only, can
Ue admitted as proofs of any revelation." — Philosophical Essays.
t Gregory's Letters.

LECTURE VII. |87
apostles, it was a powerful, as well as favourite weapon in
proof of ihe gospel. But during that period, many new pre
dictions were published, and many ancient ones remained to
be accomplished. The argument, consequently, was not yet
at its height. It has been growing ever since, as one century
after another has rolled out an additional fulfilment, or
completed and enlarged those already advanced. We, in
the present age, enjoy an expanse, and variety, and complete
ness of prophetic evidence far exceeding those which the
chart of history presented to St. Paul. There is to us, a
voice from the silent solitudes where Babylon and Tyre once
stood in pride, and reigned in power; from the modern his
tory of the prostrate Egypt ; from the wonderful annals and
present condition of the Jewish race ; from the desolate state
of the holy land and adjoining countries ; from the rise and
present aspect of the mystic Babylon — which the primitive
christians had not the privilege of hearing. The force of
this argument is yet to grow continually. A few years
hence, in all probability, will exhibit it invested with a bright
ness and glory, compared with which, all present evidence
will seem but as morning twilight. The end of the world
will be its full maturity. Prophecy having begun with the
history of sin, extends to the completion of its tragedy ; and
not till the blazing of the great conflagration when " the
earth and all that is therein shall be burned up," will its
every prediction be fulfilled ; or the fulness of glory with
which it was designed to show the truth of God in the gospel
of his Son, be made to appear.
Now it is this continual growing of prophetic evidence
that makes it so peculiarly valuable. The argument derived
from miracles, though it could never have been more con
clusive than it is to us, was certainly more impressive to
those who saw the miracles, or who lived in the age in
which they were wrought. And it is very difficult for most
persons to distinguish between the conclusiveness and the

188

LECTURE VII.

impressiveness of evidence. Because the lapse of centuries,
by removing the christian miracles far from us, has dimin
ished the sensible effect they would otherwise have had
upon our minds, it is very generally supposed? that the same
cause has enfeebled the evidence on which their genuineness
is maintained. This idea, though unfounded entirely, is
too natural, to those who do not think deeply, to be easily
removed. But with regard to the evidence arising from
prophecy, it cannot exist. Predictions, now in progress
of fulfilment, are miracles which centuries can only render
more certain and impressive. If there was a peculiar pri
vilege conferred on those who saw, in the miracles of Christ,
manifest to sense, the wonderful works of God's omnipo
tence ; there is also a similar privilege conferred on us, who,
in consequence of the ever increasing fulfilment of prophecy,
may see in the scriptures, more brilliantly illuminated than
ever, the hand-writing of God's omniscience.
There is another peculiarity in much of the evidence
from prophecy, which renders it peculiarly valuable. It is
evidence before our eyes, addressed to our senses. By
this we do not mean that the evidence arising from the
miracles of Christ and his apostles would be any more
conclusive, however much it would be increased in its
impression on our minds, did we behold the miracles, instead
of reading of them in well attested history. We believe, on
the contrary, that this description of evidence, as addressed
to us, is perfect. But still there is, and perhaps ever will be,
a class of minds that, like the disciple Thomas, will require
to see before they will believe. Either their indifference c r
sluggishness prevents them from pursuing a line of argu
ment that would carry them back amidst the testimonies of
antiquity; or else their willing scepticism, by ingeniju^
sophistry, would shield them from all the evidence derived
from miraculous agency, by the assumption that no testimony
can prove a miracle. The utter fallacy of this position, we

LECTURE VII. 189
trust, was satisfactorily shown in a preceding lecture. But
here are evidences with which, were it true, it comd have
no connexion. God, in his infinite wisdom and mercy, has
provided for all classes of mind, and all descriptions of infideli
ty ; so that all unbelievers may be without excuse. The argu
ment from prophecy may be rendered brief enough for the
most sluggish — tangible enough for the most obstinate oppo
sers of historical testimony. They have only to read in the
Bible the predictions with regard to the once proud cities of
Babylon and Tyre, or the once powerful empire of Egypt, and
then to open their ears to the accounts which almost every
wind conveys, or go and see for themselves the obscure rem
nants of the ruins of those cities, and of that once mighty
empire ; they have only to read in the books of Moses, what,
3300 years ago, was foretold of the history of the Jewish
people; and then to lift up their eyes, and behold the present
condition and the notorious peculiarities of that wonderful
race ; to see that the prophecies of the Bible have been
plainly and most particularly fulfilled — fulfilled in a manner
which no human sagacity could have foreseen, which no
human power could have brought to pass ; and consequently
that the authors of those prophecies were inspired men, and
the religion they taught was the word of God. In these and
various other examples, which might be adduced, of the
present and visible fulfilment of prophecy, the miracles of
the Jewish and Christian dispensations are in fact continued
among us. " Men are sometimes disposed to think that if
they could see a miracle wrought in their own sight, they
would believe the gospel without delay, and obey it unre
servedly. They know not their own hearts. ' If they believe
not Moses and the prophets, neither would they believe"
though one rose from the dead.' But in the whole range of
prophecy now fulfilling before their eyes, they have in fact a
series of divine interpositions, not precisely of the nature of
miracles, in the sense of brief, and instant, and visible sus
16

190

LECTURE VII.

pensions of the laws of nature, but evidently so in the sense
of supernatural interference, in the rise and fall of cities, and
nations, and empires ; in the arrangement of times and circum
stances ; in that wonderful display of infinite foreknowledge
and infinite power, apparent in the control of the wifis of un
numbered free and accountable agents to a certain result."*
In our last lecture we stated that the religion of the Bible
is the only one which, on its first introduction, appealed to
miracles in evidence of the divine authority of its teach
ers. We make a similar remark, with still more evident
truth, with regard to prophecy. The sublime appeal of men,
professing to be commissioned of God, to the events of
thousands of years thereafter, as witnesses of their truth ;
the moral grandeur of that appeal, which, after having
deposited in the hands of nations, a prediction of minute
transactions, which the innumerable contingencies of a
long retinue of centuries are to bring out, stakes its whole
cause upon a perfect fulfilment, thus resting itself singly
upon the omniscience and omnipotence of God, and separa
ting to an infinite distance all possibility of human support ;
this is a dignity to which nothing but the inspiration of the
scriptures can pretend ; a noble daring on which nothing
else was ever known to venture. The corruptions of Chris
tianity, as existing in the church of Rome, have attempted
to prop up their feeble foundations on the credit of miracles,
easily refuted indeed, but widely boasted of. But prophecy,
even the effrontery of that " man of sin," " whose coming
(saith St. Paul) is with all deceivableness of unrighteous
ness," has never pretended to. Although Mohammed did
not profess to support his pretensions by miracles, and the
Koran expressly concedes that miraculous power was not
given him ; yet his followers, hundreds of years after his
death, related many miracles as having been performed
* Wilson's Lectures.

LECTURE VII. 191
under his hand. But that Mohammed, though styled the
prophet of God, never declared a prophecy, on the fulfilment
of which he rested his claims to inspirations, none ever
asserted. The history of pagan nations, indeed, abounds with stories
of auguries, and oracles, and detached predictions ; but it
was with no reference to the establishment of paganism that
they were uttered. On the contrary, the fact that paganism
Was established already gave them all their reverence. But
what an immeasurable distance separates all the pretended
oracles of paganism, from the dignity of the prophecies in
the Bible. The avowed end of the former was to satisfy
some trivial curiosity, or aid the designs of some military or
political leader. The influence of intimidation or of bribery
produced them. They were never spontaneous. The ora
cles were careful to take advantage of the security of silence,
until obliged to speak in answer to a direct appeal. Then
they never uttered a syllable without getting time for prepa
ration. Inquiries were rendered as difficult and as expensive
as possible, in order, not only to enrich the oracles, but to
diminish the occasions of exposure. Every inquiry must be
attended with numerous "and minute ceremonies on the part
of the applicant, as well as the prophet ; in order that omis
sions or mismanagements might afford frequent excuses for
the failure of the response, without implicating the inspira
tion of its author. The god was not always in a humour to
be consulted. " Either he was talking, or he was pursuing.
or he was in a journey, or peradventure he was sleeping.
and must be awakened." This afforded a very convenient
opportunity of putting off a difficult case. " Omens were to
be taken, and auguries examined, which, if unfavourable in
any particular, either precluded the inquiry for the present,
or required further lustrations, ceremonies, and sacrifices, to
purify the person who had' consulted, and render him fit to
receive an answer from the gods, or to bring their wayward

192 LECTURE VII.
deities to a temper suitable to the inquiry."* When no means
of evasion remained, the answers given were either so am
biguous as to suit any alternative, or so obscure as to require
a second oracle to explain them. When the prediction failed,
there was no want of subterfuges by which to maintain the
credit of the oracle. It was conveniently discovered, either
that the gods were averse to the inquirer, or that he had not
been in a proper state for the consultation, or that some in
dispensable ceremony had been omitted or mismanaged. But
all these precautions and artifices were not sufficient to pre
vent those oracles from falling into utter contempt with the
more enlightened heathens.t Who could think of comparing
such pitiful mockeries of divine omniscience with the
dignified, and sublime, and holy prophecies which are spread
out so openly and widely in the scriptures ? To point out
the particulars in which the prophets of the Bible were dis
tinguished above all the oracles of the Pagans, were to
suppose a measure of ignorance among my hearers, as to the
most conspicuous features of the scriptures, with which I
cannot believe them chargeable. But our assertion remains,
and deserves to be repeated, that neither in the rise, nor hi
the progressive advancement of any religion, but that of the
Bible, have prophecies been professed or appealed to ; in
evidence of its truth. This single fact, that all other reli
gions have shrunk from attempting such dangerous ground;
that notwithstanding the boldness with which other descrip
tions of evidence have been counterfeited among Pagans and
Mohammedans, and in support of the corruptions of popery,
all have kept aloof from this ; and yet that this very evidence,
so extremely hazardous — so certain of ultimate exposure in
case of imposition — is every where professed in the Bible,
and forms the golden chain that holds all its parts together,

* Nare's View of Prophecy.
t Stillingfleet's Orig. Sacras, 1. 2, c. 8, p. 221.

LECTURE VII.

193

and by which it spans the world, touching at once its
beginning and ending, the first and the last; this, I say,
independently of the question of fulfilment, is a strong
presumptive argument that the Bible contains something of
great importance which no other religion possessed ; some
thing to warrant it in venturing where nothing but Divine
Omniscience is able to tread ; in other words, that its writers
were holy men, who " spake as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost."
The overpowering weight of the evidence from prophecy,
and the moral grandeur with which it attests the inspiration
of God and the Messiahship of Christ, can only be appre
ciated by a full view of the immense scheme and the vast
extent of the prophecies in the Bible. Their record occupies
a large portion of the scriptures. In the third chapter of
the Bible, it begins ; in the last, it ends. Its spirit arose with
the fall of man in Eden ; its predictions will only end with
his perfect recovery in heaven. During the progress of
more than four thousand years, the scheme of prophecy was
continually opening ; its predictions were continually multi
plying; its grand object and purpose were continually
becoming more distinct and luminous. The spirit of pro
phecy first uttered its voice when as yet our fallen parents
had not been expelled the garden of innocence. Cain heard
in it the warning of his punishment. Enoch continued its
declarations. Noah transmitted its strain. Abraham's whole
life was guided and encouraged by its inspirations. Isaac
was the child, as well as the instrument of prophetic com
munication. Jacob with his last breath foretold the future
history of his twelve sons in their generations, and the reign
of a lawgiver in Judah till Shiloh should come. The harp
of prophecy remained in silence, while the posterity of Jacob
remained in Egyptian bondage; but no sooner was Israel
free, than the Spirit again breathed upon its strings, and in the
hand of Moses it spake of the great Prophet who was to come
16*

194 LECTURE VII.
to the church, and sketched the Jewish history, with wonder
ful minuteness, down even to the present and far future times.
Between Moses and David, lived Samuel, a prophet of the
Lord. Immediately after him, began what may be styled,
with emphatic distinction, "the age of prophecy." It opened
with the elevated and sublime poetry of David. It advanced
with the stern ministry of honoured Elijah. As he went
up in the flaming chariot, translated to heaven, his mantle
descended upon the "man of God" Elisha. Among the
minor prophets who carried on the spirit of this age of seers,
were Hosea, Amos, and Micah. Then followed Isaiah, as
full of the spirit of the gospel, as of the spirit of prophecy ;
and Jeremiah, overflowing as well with tender lamentation
for the affliction of Israel, as with the sublimest predictions
of the days when the Lord would heal and comfort them ;
then Ezekiel, with as many visions of the future, as the
eyes in his mysterious wheels, prophecying " in the midst of
the valley which was filled with bones." Ezekiel connected
in his person the age of prophecy with that of the captivity
of Judah. Daniel succeeded him, and beside the prophetic
interpretation of the hand-writing on the wall, foretold the
succession of the four powerful monarchies, and the feeble
rising and ultimate dominion of the fifth, and determined
the time when the daily sacrifice would cease, and Messiah
be cut off — not for himself. Haggai and Zechariah contin
ued the prophetic strain, after the return of Judah from cap
tivity. Malachi terminated the line of Old Testament
prophets and the canon of Old Testament scriptures, with
the sublime annunciation of one who was to come, in the
spirit and power of Elijah, to prepare the way of the Lord.
Again the harp of prophecy was silent as during the bond
age of Egypt, until "that Prophet" like unto, but infinitely
greater than, Moses arose. Jesus, the great object of pro
phecy from the beginning— himself " the spirit of prophecy ;"
—foretold, besides his own death and resurrection, the

LECTURE VII. 195
calamities that should befall Jerusalem, as well as the utter
destruction of the Jewish state. Paul followed his Master's
steps, as well in the walks of prophecy, as of martyrdom,
forewarning the church of " that man of sin, the son of |
perdition, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with
'all power, and signs, and lying wonders."* John closed the
succession of prophecy, and the canon of scripture together,
with predictions, the awful sublimity of which no pen can
rival, and the wonderful expanse of which, nothing but the
events of all future time can measure.
Thus have we a train of holy men, reaching from the
earliest age of mankind, through a period of more than four
thousand years, and extending their prediction to the world's
end. I see in them the utmost variety — as well as to condi
tion and character, as to the ages in which they lived —
princes, patriarchs, priests, legislators, shepherds, fisher
men. Exceedingly various in natural qualifications, in
education, habits, and employments ; they wrote in various
styles, but each as he was moved by the Holy Ghost. Now
when, in connexion with this variety in the prophets them
selves, I consider the vast variety and extent of the subjects
on which their predictions are employed, embracing not only
the history of the Jews for many centuries, but that also of
the minor nations immediately around, with that of the
more remote empires of Egypt, and Assyria, and Chaldea,
and Persia, and Macedon, and Rome ; when I consider that
in this immense vastness of extent, so great is their minute
ness of detail, that sundry particular events and features in
their destruction, not only of the city of Jerusalem, but also
of Nineveh, and Babylon, and Tyre, are predicted with the
most graphic and striking precision ; when, in the midst of
such wonderful diversity of authors, ages, circumstances,
and of subjects, from the downfall of an empire, to the
* 2 Thess. ii. 3—9.

196 LECTURE VII.
tumbling of a wall, I perceive not the smallest inconsistency
or collision, but, on the contrary, the utmost harmony, as well
of execution as of purpose and of spirit — the whole array
of prophecy, from first to last, bearing down and concentra
ting upon one grand object — the testimony of Jesus — the
rise, progress, and eternal accomplishment of his plan of
redeeming love ; in a word, when I behold a scheme so vast,
as to embrace all time, and yet so minute that it can detail
the events of an hour ; so general that, in a few lines, it
predicts the history of the four mightiest empires, and yet so
particular that chapters are devoted to the history of one
individual ; so diversified in its materials, as to be made up
of contributions from men of all ages and minds, during a
period of four thousand years ; and yet so identical that one
spirit and one grand, harmonious purpose animate the
whole ; when I compare all this, arrayed, as it is, in the
richest poetry and loftiest eloquence that eye of man ever
read, with whatever else in the world ever pretended to
the praise of prophecy ; I behold a grandeur of conception
— a sublimity of design — an all-controlling power of execu
tion — a unity and self-depending supremacy of mind which
bespeak the omniscience and omnipotence of Him who
" was, and is, and is to come, the Almighty." I say nothing
yet of the .fulfilment of any portion of this stupendous plan ;
1 only say, look at the plan itself in all its comprehensive
ness and minuteness, and tell me if it be not utterly at vari
ance with all human experience, and in itself perfectly
incredible, that imposture should have conceived such a
scheme, or should ever have dared to commit its cause to a
venture that could only succeed by a continuance of miracu
lous fortune through all ages of the world. Consider the
plan itself, the various minds that carried on the succession
of its several predictions, forming a line of holy men from
the earliest periods of antediluvian history, down to the last
of the apostles of Christ : see how they all agree in spirit

LECTURE VII. 197
and purpose, while yet so different in character and circum
stances ; see how they all unite in testifying of Christ, so
that, as the last of them said, " the testimony of Jesus is the
Spirit of prophecy /' then tell me how imposture can be
supposed to have wrought, unexposed, for so many thousands
of years ; how it could have chosen its agents out of forty
centuries — out of circumstances so disadvantageous, and bid
them embrace such an immense range of subjects for their
predictions, and yet without any inconsistency, or want of
harmony, or any thing incompatible with the idea of one
all-pervading mind having regulated the whole. I do not
now say that so much as one prophecy has been fulfilled.
I only say, and I challenge all denial, that not a single pre
diction in the whole succession can be shown to have failed ;
or to have been contradicted by the times or events to which
it referred. I only assert that, while many of the prophe
cies remain unfulfilled, because the times they relate to have
not arrived; a very great number must have either been
fulfilled already, or have utterly failed ; and "yet no unbeliever
could ever put his hand on that portion of history which
contradicted the truth of any. I ask you to remember this
important and undeniable fact, and then say whether it is
not most impressive evidence that another mind than that of
man was the author of the prophecies of the Bible ; whether
it can be supposed possible in the nature of things that
human ingenuity could have contrived a volume of predic
tions — reaching so far — extending so widely — telling so
much — assuming such particularity, without having been
contradicted by a single event in the history of nearly six
thousand years.
We now enter upon the question of fulfilment. 1 under
take to show that the history of the world has wonderfully
responded to the prophecies of the Bible, and echoerl back to
the holy men who uttered them, a complete assurance that
they "spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. But

198

LECTURE VII.

where shall I begin ? It were easier to write a volume on
this one subject, than to compress the matter within our
necessary limits, so as to do it any tolerable justice. Select
ing some insulated portions of the train of prophecy, we
must content ourselves with exhibiting their accomplishment
as specimens of the whole. To this, the remainder of the
present lecture, and the whole of the next, will be devoted.
As an example of minute prediction and singular fulfil
ment, compare Jeremiah, xxxiv. 2 and 3, with Ezekiel, xii.
13. In the former scripture, it was foretold by one prophet,
that Zedekiah, the king of Judah, should be delivered into
the hand of the king of Babylon, and behold his eyes, and
speak with him mouth to mouth, and go to Babylon. In
the latter, it was foretold by another prophet, that Zedekiah
should not see Babylon, though he should die there. But is
there not a contradiction here? How could Zedekiah be
taken to Babylon, and behold her king, and die there, and
yet never see the city ? The history of the kings of Judah,
written without any design of pointing out the fulfilment
of prophecy, fully explains the difficulty. Zedekiah was
delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon, and beheld
his eyes, and spake with him mouth to mouth ; not, how
ever, at Babylon, but at Riblah. There his eyes were put
out by command of his captor. In this state, he went to
Babylon, and died there, having never seen the city of his
captivity. Another example of wonderful minuteness is found in
the prophecies of the fall and destruction of Babylon. We
can notice only a small part of them. " It shall never be
inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in, (said the prophet,) from
generation to generation. Neither shall the Arabian pitch
tent there, neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there, and the houses
shall be full of doleful creatures ; and owls shall dwell there,
and satyrs shal' dance there, and the wild beasts of the

LECTURE VII. 199
desert shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in theii
pleasant palaces."* "I will also make it a possession foi
the bittern, and pools of water : and I will sweep it with the
besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts." These
words were uttered when Babylon was " the glory of king
doms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency," about 160
years before she was brought down. " How hath the golden
city ceased !" " Her pomp is brought down to the grave."
Sixteen centuries have passed since her foundations were
inhabited by a human being. Deterred by superstitious
fears of evil spirits, which are said to haunt the place where
she stood, and by the more rational dread of reptiles and
wild beasts, the wandering Arab never pitches his tent there.
In a plain once famous for the richness of its pasture, the
shepherds make no fold. Reptiles, bats, and " doleful crea
tures" — jackals, hyenas, and lions — inhabit the holes, and
caverns, and marshes, of the desolate city. In the fourth
century, Babylon was a hunting ground for the Persian
monarchs. By the annual overflowing of the Euphrates,
pools of stagnant water are left in the hollow places of the
ancient site, by which morasses have been formed, so that
Babylon has indeed become a possessuni for the bittern,
and pools of water. It has been swept with the besom
of destruction. The fertile plain of Shinar, renowned fot
its ancient abundance, is an uninterrupted desert, strewed
with the confused ruins of Grecian, Roman, and Arabian
towns. A modern traveller, in his " search after the walls
of Babylon," describes " a mass of solid wall, about thirty
feet in length, .by twelve or fifteen in thickness," as the only
part of them that can now be discovered.! Thus, accord
ing to the words of the prophet, is she cast up as heaps,
destroyed utterly ; nothing of her is left.*
Tyre was once the emporium of the world, " the theatre
* Is. xiii. 20 21, 22. 1 Buckingham's Travels * Jer. 1. 26.

200 LECTURE VII.
of an immense commerce and navigation, the nursery of
arts and science, and the city of perhaps the most industrious
and active people ever known."* Situate at the entry of
the sea, she was a merchant of the people for many isles.
All nations were her merchants in all sorts of things. The
ships of Tarshish did sing of her in the market ; and she
teas replenished and made very glorious in the midst of the
seas."* It was of this mistress of princes, that Ezekiel
prophesied in the name of the Lord : " I will scrape her dust
from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be
a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea."%
How singularly particular ! She was not only to be utterly
destroyed, but the use that would be made of her site, and
the kind of men who would inhabit it were pointed out more
than a thousand years before her complete destruction.
How precise the fulfilment ! Shaw, in his book of travels,
describes the port of Tyre as so choked up, that the boats
of the fishermen, who now and then come to the place, and
dry their nets upon its rocks and ruins, can hardly enter.§
Bruce describes the site of Tyre as " a rock whereon fishers
dry their nets." But the testimony of the infidel, Volney, is
more valuable. " The whole village of Tyre contains only
fifty or sixty poor families, who live obscurely on the produce
of their little ground and a trifling fishery '."II
Egypt, the most ancient, was also the most powerful and
wealthy of kingdoms. But a prophecy went forth against
her while yet she was in all her pomp and pride, that the
pride of her power should come down ; that her land and all
that was therein should be made waste by the hand of stran
gers ; that there should be no more a prince of the land of
Egypt, and the sceptre of Egypt should depart away.l,

* Volney's Travels. 1 Ezek. xxvii. t Ib. xxvi. 4, 5.
5 Shaw's Travels, ii. p. 31. II Travels, ii. p. 212.
If Ezek. xxx. 6, 12, 13.— Zech. x. 11.

LECTURE VII. 201
How universally this once fertile country, the granary of
the world, has been wasted, and her innumerable cities have
been buried; how remarkably the hand of strangers has
done it, and how deplorably the remnant of this populous
nation is now, and has been for many centuries, under
slavery, and ignorance, and poverty, and rapine, and every
crime, I need not describe. The most remarkable portion of
the prophecy is that which declares that there shall be " no
more a prince of the land of Egypt." From the conquest
of the Persians, about 350 years before Christ, to the present
day, the sceptre of Egypt has been broken ; she has been
governed by strangers ; every effort to raise an Egyptian to
the throne has been defeated. Out of the mouth of Volney,
the Lord has caused to be declared the fulfilment of
His word. Of Egypt, that most unwilling agent in esta
blishing the truth of scripture writes : " Deprived, twenty-
three centuries ago, of her natural proprietors, she has
seen her fertile fields successively a prey to the Persians,
the Macedonians, the Romans, the Greeks, the Arabs, the
Georgians, and at length the race of Tartars, distinguished
by the name of Ottoman Turks. The Mamalukes, pur
chased as slaves and introduced as soldiers, soon usurped the
power, and elected a leader. If their first establishment was
a singular event, their continuance is not less extraordinary.
They are replaced by slaves brought from their original
country. The system of oppression is methodical. Every
thing the traveller sees or hears reminds him he is in the
country of slavery and tyranny."*
Among the most interesting fulfilments of prophecy, are
those discovered in the present condition of the country and
cities of Judea. For a very striking view of them, the
reader is referred to Keith on Prophecy, a valuable work
lately republished in this country. But there is one predic-

* Travels, ii. p. 74, 103, 110, 198.
17

202 LECTURE VII.
tion in this department which I cannot pass over. After
describing the divine judgments upon the land, the prophet
adds : " The generation to come of your children, and the
stranger that shall come from afar land, shall say, when they
see the plagues of that land, and the sickness which the Lord
hath laid upon it : ' Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto
this land 7 What meaneth the heat of this great anger 7' "*
About three thousand years after these words were written,
a famous traveller, a scoffer at the scriptures, walks through
this smitten country. He is a stranger from a far land.
Deeply impressed with the aspect of all things around him,
and in all probability entirely ignorant of the prophecy he is
about to fulfil, he exclaims : " Good God ! from whence pro
ceed such melancholy revolutions ? For what cause is the
fortune of these countries so strikingly changed ? Why are
so many cities destroyed ? Why is not that ancient popula
tion reproduced and perpetuated." "I wandered over the
country. 1 traversed the provinces. I enumerated the king
doms of Damascus and Idumea, of Jerusalem and Samaria.
This Syria, said I to myself, now almost depopulated, then
contained a hundred flourishing cities, and abounded Avith
towns, villages, and hamlets. What are become of so many
productions of the hands of man ?"t &c.
No prophecies deserve more of the attention of the student
of scripture than those concerning the Jews, which are scat
tered from one end of the Bible to the other. Their wonder
ful accomplishment is in every one's view. We can only
glance at some of the many particulars which they em
brace. Three thousand two hundred years ago, it was
written by Moses : " The Lord shall scatter thee among all
people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other ;
and among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither
shall the sole of thy foot have rest ; and thou shalt become an

? Deut. xxix. 22, .21. t Volney's Ruins, c. ii. p. 8.

LECTURE VII. 203
r
astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word among all the nations
whither the Lord shall lead thee ; and thou shalt be only
oppressed and crushed alway ; and the Lord will make thy
plagues wonderful, and the plague of thy seed, even great
plagues and of long continuance."* But notwithstanding all
this, the Jews were not to be destroyed without recovery.
" Yet for all that (saith the prophet), when they be in the land
of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I ab
hor them to destroy them utterly."! " I will make a full end
of all the nations whither I have driven thee, but I will not
make a full end of thee."+ " For the children of Israel shall
abide many days without a Icing, and without a prince, and
without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an
ephod, and without teraphim : afterwards shall the children
of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David
their king ; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the
latter days."§
There is nothing in the history of nations so unac
countable, on human principles, as the destruction and the,
preservation of the Jews. " Scattered among all nations ;"
where are they not ? Citizens of the world, and yet citizens
of no country in the world ; in what habitable part of the
world is not the Jew familiarly known ? He has wandered
every where, and is still every where a wanderer. One
characteristic of this wonderful race is written over all their
history, from their dispersion to the present time. Among
the nations, they have found no ease, nor rest to the soles of
their feet. Banished from city to city, and from country
to country; always insecure in their dwelling places, and
liable to be suddenly driven away whenever the bigotry, or
avarice, or cruelty of rulers demanded a sacrifice ; a late decree
of the Russian Empire has proclaimed to the world that

* Deut. xxviii. t Lev. xxvi. 44. t Jer. xlvi. 27,
5 Hosea, iii 4, 5.

204

LECTURE VII.

their banishments have not yet ceased. Never certain of
permission to remain, it is the notorious peculiarity of this
people, as a body, that they live in habitual readiness to
remove. In this condition of universal affliction, how sin
gular it is that among all people the Jew is " an astonishment,
a proverb, a by-word." Such is not the case with any other
people. Among Christians, Heathens, and Mohammedans,
from England to China, and thence to America, the cunning,
the avarice, the riches of the Jew are proverbial. And how
wonderful have been their plagues ! The heart sickens at
the history of their persecutions, and massacres, and im
prisonments, and slavery. All nations have united to oppress
them. All means have been employed to exterminate them.
Robbed of property ; bereaved of children ; buried in the
dungeons of the inquisition, or burned at the stake of de
plorable bigotry ; no people ever suffered the hundredth part
of their calamities, and still they live ! It was prophecied
that, as a nation, they should be restored ; consequently they
were not only to be kept alive, but unmingled with the na
tions, every where a distinct race, and capable of being
selected and gathered out of all the world, when the time for
their restoration should arrive. The fulfilment of this, forms
the most astonishing part of the whole prophecy. For nearly
eighteen hundred years, they have been scattered and mixed
up among all people ; they have had no temple, no sacrifice.
no prince, no genealogies, no certain dwelling places. For
bidden to be governed by their own laws ; to choose their
own magistrates ; to maintain any common policy ; every
ordinary bond of national union and preservation has been
wanting; whatever influences of local attachment, or of
language, or manners, or government, have been found
necessary to the preservation of other nations, have been
denied to them ; all the influences of internal depression and
outward violence which have ever destroyed and blotted out
the nations of the earth, have been at work with unprece-

LECTURE VII. 205
dented strength, for nearly eighteen centuries, upon the
nation of Israel ; and still the Jews are a people — a distinct
people — a numerous people, unassimilated with any nation,
though mixed up with all nations. Their peculiarites are
undiminished. Their national identity is unbroken. Though
scattered upon all winds, they are perfectly capable of being
again gathered into one mass. Though divided into the
smallest particles by numerous solvents, they have resisted
all affinities, and may be traced, unchanged, in the most con
fused mixtures of human beings. The laws of nature have
been suspended in their case. It is not merely that a stream
has held on its way through the waters of a lake, without
losing the colour and characteristic marks of its own current ;
but that a mighty river, having plunged from a mountain
height into the depth of the ocean, and been separated into
its component drops, and thus scattered to the ends of the
world, and blown about by all winds, during almost eighteen
centuries, is still capable of being disunited from the waters
of the ocean ; its minutest drops, having never been assimi
lated to any other, are still distinct, unchanged, and ready to
be gathered, waiting the voice that shall call again the out
casts of Israel and the dispersed of Judah. Mean while,
where are the nations among whom the Jews were scattered?
Has not the Lord, according to his word, made a full end of
them?* While Israel has stood unconsumed in the fiery
furnace, where are the nations that kindled its flames?
Where the Assyrians and the Chaldeans ? Their name is
almost forgotten. Their existence is known only to history.
Where is the empire of the Egyptians ? The Macedonians
destroyed it, and a descendant of its ancient race cannot be
distinguished among the strangers that have ever since
possessed its territory. Where are they of Macedon ? The
Roman sword subdued their kingdom, and their posterity

* Jer. xlvi. 28.
17*

206

LECTURE VII.

are mingled inseparably among the confused population of
Greece and Turkey. Where is the nation of ancient Rome,
the last conquerors of the Jews, and the proud destroyers of
Jerusalem? The Goths rolled their flood over its pride.
Another nation inhabits the ancient city. Even the language
of her former people is dead. The Goths ! where are they ?
The Jews ! where are they not ? They witnessed the glory
of Egypt, and of Babylon, and of Nineveh ; they were in ma
ture age at the birth of Macedon and of Rome ; mighty
kingdoms have risen and perished since they began to be
scattered and enslaved ; and now they traverse the ruins of
all, the same people as when they left Judea, preserving in
themselves a monument of the days of Moses and the Pha
raohs, as unchanged as the pyramids of Memphis, which they
are reputed to have built. You may call upon the ends of
the earth, and will call in vain for one living representative
of those powerful nations of antiquity, by whom the people
of Israel were successively oppressed ; but should the voice
which is hereafter to gather that people out of all lands, be
now heard from Mount Zion, calling for the children of
Abraham, no less than four millions would instantly answer
to the name, each bearing in himself unquestionable proofs
of that noble lineage.
What is this but miracle ? Connected with the prophecy
which it fulfils, it is double miracle. Whether testimony can
ever establish the credibility of a miracle, is of no import
ance here. This one is obvious to every man's senses. All
nations are its eye-witnesses.
Among the most striking and comprehensive, and yet
particular prophecies, are those of Daniel. The history of
the four great empires of Chaldea, Persia, Macedon, and
Rome, is embraced in his predictions. We mention these,
not that we intend to trace out their fulfilment, but merely, in
passing, to insert a remarkable testimony concerning them
from one of the most learned expositors of the prophetic

LECTURE VII. 207
scriptures, and another from the most learned and acute
of the ancient opposers of Christianity. Bishop Newton,
speaking of that portion of Daniel's prophecies which relates
to the kingdoms of Egypt and Syria, from the death of Alex
ander the Great to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. a
period of 148 years, remarks : " There is not so complete
and regular a series of their kings — there is not so concise
and comprehensive an account of their affairs — to be found
in any author of those times. The prophecy is really more
perfect than any history. No one historian hath related so
many circumstances, and in such exact order of time, as
the prophet hath foretold them ; so that it was necessary
to have recourse to several authors, Greek and Roman,
Jewish and Christian, and to collect here something from
one, and to collect there something from another, for the
better explaining and illustrating the great variety of par
ticulars contained in this prophecy."* Thus far, the testimony
of a learned friend of Christianity. The corr -spending
testimony of a learned enemy, we have in the celebrated
Porphyry, of the third century, to whom the exact corre
spondence between the predictions and the events was so
convincing, that he could not pretend to deny it. lie rather
laboured to confirm it ; and from the very exactness of the
fulfilment, forged his only weapon of defence, in the assei-
tion that the prophecy could not have been written by
Daniel, but must have been written by some one in Judea,
in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes.t Others after him
have asserted the same thing, not only without any proof,
but contrary to all the proofs which can be had in cases of
this nature. They preferred the denial of the plainest his
torical evidence of the time when the prophecy was written
to the acknowledgment that its author must have written
" by inspiration of God." Paine, however, whose willing
* Newton on Prophecy, ii. 149. + Lardner, iv. 211 .

208 LECTURE VII.
ness to escape the argument from prophecy cannot be
questioned, and who was probably ignorant of what Por
phyry had acknowledged as to the correspondence between
the words of this prophet and those of subsequent history,
confessed the authenticity of the book of Daniel. Here,
then, we have one famous infidel acknowledging that the
prophecy was written at the time and by the man to whom
it is ascribed; and another, verifying the exactness of its
fulfilment in the history of a subsequent age. Paine denied
the fulfilment; Porphyry, the authenticity. Porphyry ac
knowledged the fulfilment; Paine, the authenticity. "He
taketh the wise in their own craftiness."
I now call your attention to the prophecies concerning our
Lord Jesus Christ. They are scattered every where through
out the prophetic portions of the Bible. " To him bear all
the prophets witness." None of them could lay down the
pen of inspiration till they had written something, directly or
indirectly, of Jesus.
1. The first class of these predictions consists of those
which relate to the time and circumstances of tlie advent of
Christ. Daniel, A. C. 556, determined the year of his com
ing, when 490 years should be accomplished from the going
forth of the command to rebuild Jerusalem. Jacob, more
than a thousand years before Daniel, had said it would be
when the sceptre was departing from Judah, and a lawgiver
from between his feet.* Haggai and Isaiah declared that it
would be before the destruction of Jerusalem, and during the
existence of the second temple.t Micah designated Bethle
hem Ephratah as his birth-place.* Many prophecies pre
dicted that he should come, not only of the stock of Judah,
but of the stem of Jesse.§ Isaiah and Malachi spake of the
messenger who should go before him, in the spirit and power
of Elijah, to prepare his way.ll
* Gen. xlix. 10. t Is. xl. 9— xii. 27.— Hag. ii. 6— S. t Mic. v. 2.
§ i*. xi. 1. I Is. xl. 3.— Mai. iii. 1— iv. 5.

LECTURE VII. 209
2. The next class of predictions, concerning our Lord,
contains those which speak of his life, sufferings, death,
resurrection, and the increase of his kingdom. These are
so numerous and particular, and so familiar to most readers
of the Bible, that we shall content ourselves with a rapid
summary. They predicted that Christ, or Messiah, would
be born of a virgin ;* that he should enter Jerusalem on the
foal of an ass ;t that in his manner of teaching he should
be characterized by special gentleness and compassion ;+ that
he would be distinguished as wise "to speak a word in
season to him that is weary ;"§ that he should blind the
eyes of the learned and proud, II and preach good tidings to
the poor and despised; that under his ministry the lame
should be made to walk, the deaf to hear, the blind to see,
the dumb to speak, the captive to be loosed, and the dead
raised up ;H that he should teach the perfect way, and be the
instructer of the Gentiles ;** that he should be a sacrifice
for sin, be rejected of the Jews, who themselves should be
rejected of God ;tt " that the kings of the earth and all peo
pie should worship him ;U but that the people who rejected
him should continue a distinct people, and yet be scattered
over all nations, and wander about without princes, without
sacrifices, without an altar, without prophets, looking for
deliverance and not finding it, till a very distant period. §§
The correspondence between the several particulars re
lated of the death of Christ, and the predictions scattered
through the Bible, is extremely striking. The evangelists,
in this respect are but echoes of the prophets. I can give but
j. rapid sketch. These predictions include the treachery and
awful end of Judas ;|||( the precise sum of money for which

? Is. vii. 14. t Zech. ix. 9. t Is. xiii. 1, 2, 3. § Is. 1. 4.
II Is. v. 15. IT Is. xxxv. 5, 6— ix. 2. ** Is. xiii. 6.
tt Is. liii.— viii. 14, 15. ft Is. Ix. 10, 11, 12, &c— liii. 12.
§5 Jer. xxxi. 36.— Hos. iii. 4, 5. 1111 Ps. xii. 9— Iv. 12, 13 14, 15

210 LECTURE VII.
he betrayed his Master ; and the use to which it was put.*
They specify not only the sufferings of Christ, but of what
they should consist. That his back should be given to the
smiters, his face to shame and spitting ;t that he should be
put to death by a mode which would cause his hands and his
feet to be pierced ; that he should be wounded, bruised, and
scourged;+ that, in his death, he should be numbered with
transgressors, § and in his sufferings, have gall and vinegar
given him to drink ;|| that his persecutors should laugh him
to scorn, and shake their heads, reviling him, and saying :
" He trusted in the Lord that he would deliver him ; let him
deliver him."1T Although it was the custom to break the
bones of those who were crucified, and although the bones
of the thieves crucified with him, were broken, yet it was
predicted that " not a bone of him should be broken ;"** and
moreover, that his garments should be divided, and lots cast
for his vesture ;tt that while he should "make his grave with
the wicked," as he did in being buried like the wicked com
panions of his death, under the general leave for taking down
their bodies from the cross, he should at the same time make
his grave " with the rich," as was done when they buried
him in the sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea.tt I might
enumerate many more details of- prophecy centering upon
the life and death of Christ. What have been mentioned
are abundantly sufficient for our present argument. I have
only recited a concise list of the predictions. I cannot sup
pose any of you so unacquainted with the history of Christ
as not to be able, familiarly, to refer to all those passages in
f is life and death by which they were minutely and wonder-

» Zech. xi. 12, 13. t Is. 1. 6. t Zech. xii. 10.— Ps. xxii. 16.
§ Is. liii. 4, 5, 8, and 12. II Ps. lxix. 21. "IT Ps. xxii. 7, 8.
** Numb. ix. 12.— Ex. xii. 46.— Ps. xxxiv. 20. tt Ps. xxii. 18.
ft Is. liii. 9. — The translation of this verse in Lowth's Isaiah is much
more to the point than that of the common text: " And his grave was ay-
voinUd-with the wicked; but with the rich man was his tomb."

LECTURE VII. 211
fully fulfilled. Now, consider that no question is raised by
any one, whether these predictions were made and published
several centuries before the birth of Christ. The enemies
of Christ, his crucifiers, have been the librarians of these
writings.* The Jews preserved them for us, with sacred
care, for many hundreds of years. They were translated.
from Hebrew into Greek, at least two hundred years before
Christ. The Jews then understood them to refer to the
Messiah, as we do now ; and it was on account of some of
them that a general expectation of the speedy coming of
Messiah, prevailed so widely in Judea at the time of the
public appearance of Christ.
That all these particulars were most remarkably combined
in the person, character, works, sufferings, and burial of the
Lord Jesus, I need not say. If the predictions did not ori
ginally refer to him, and only happened to be accomplished
in him, it would be reasonable to. suppose that out of the
innumerable millions of men that have lived since they were
published, some other individual, if not hundreds, would
have appeared, exhibiting the same correspondence. Where
is the record of such an event ? Can the person be men
tioned, in whom there was even an approximation to the
fulfilment exhibited in the history of Jesus? I need not
say, that no one ever pretended to be able to find such a per
son. These prophecies describe a combination of gentleness
with power ; merit with ignominy ; benevolence with con
tempt ; they bring together details of ancestry, of family, of

* Augustine, in the fourth century, spoke very often of the great advan
tage which Christians had in their arguments for the truth of the gospel, from
the subsistence and dispersion of the Jewish people, who every where bear
testimony to the antiquity and genuineness of the books of the Old Testa
ment ; so that none could say they were afterwards forged by Christians.
He therefore calls the Jews the librarians of the Christians ; he compare")
them to servants that carry books for the use of children of noble families ¦ oi
that carry a chest or bag of evidence for n disputant. — Lardner. ii. 598

212

LECTURE VII.

birth, of time, of works, of sufferings, of death, which it
were ridiculous to pretend have been united in any individual
whose name is in the annals of man, except the Son of man,
Christ Jesus.
But it may be said, that among these predictions, there are
some which human design might have brought to pass. If
may be suggested, that a band of men undertaking to pro
mote an imposture, and having these predictions before them,
might have selected for their leader one who had been born
at Bethlehem, of the lineage of David, and might have
ordered his appearance at the precise time of the prophecy.
Let this be supposed, and let us overlook the fact that no
possible motive can be assigned that could induce a band
of impostors to desire the setting up of such a cause as that
of Christ ; still, how would imposture contrive to unite in
its leader the fulfilment of prophecies which, on one hand,
foretold him as eminent for wisdom and benevolence ; and
on the other, for shame and suffering ? How, on this supposi
tion, could all those predictions have been accomplished
which relate to the agonies of the cross ? Would a deceiver
seek crucifixion for the sake of fulfilling prophecy? How
was it managed that one should betray him ; and afterwards,
out of remorse, hang himself? How was it contrived that
the enemies of Christ should measure the price of his blood
at the exact sum predicted ; and then, that the mercenary
traitor should return it to them again, and they should use it
in purchase of the predicted potter's field? How did im
posture so artfully combine in its cause all the persecutors of
Christ, that, without any design to advance its interests, they
should have chosen precisely that mode of execution ; those
expressions of contempt; those instruments of torture; those
companions of his sufferings; that mixture for his drink;
that severity to his body, while he was alive, and that for
bearance to it after he was dead, which, if they had been
anxious to prove him the true Messiah, foretold in the scrip-

LECTURE VII. 213
tures, would have composed the most effectual means they
could possibly employ ? Most evidently, the bitter adversa
ries of Christianity — not its friends — brought out the demon
stration that Jesus was he to whom gave all the prophets
witness. And now is there any possible escape from the absolute
necessity of acknowledging that the Spirit of God was in
the writers of the Bible, and that this Spirit has testified of
Jesus? Will any one pretend that in the idea of chance
there is any explanation of the coincidences which have
been mentioned ? It will not be useless to spend a moment
on this matter of chance. It is conceivable that a prediction,
uttered at a venture, confining its terms to but one event, and
expressing that in a general way, may happen to result so
plausibly as to seem like a genuine prophecy. But only let
it descend to the minutiae of time, place, and incidents, and
it is evident that the possibility of its success, by a fortui
tous concurrence of events, will become extremely desperate.
Hence the oracles of heathen antiquity always took good
care to confine their predictions to one or two particulars, and
to express them in the most general and ambiguous terms.
Hence, in the whole range of history, except the prophecies
of the scriptures, there is not a single instance of a predic
tion, expressed in unequivocal language, and descending to
any minuteness, which bears the slightest claim to the praise
of fulfilment. But to set this in a more impressive light, I
will quote a few sentences from one of the most scientific
laymen of the present day. " Suppose (says Olinthus Gregory)
that instead of the spirit of prophecy, breathing more or less
in every book of scripture, predicting events relative to a
great variety of general topics, and delivering besides almost
innumerable characteristics of the Messiah, all meeting in
the person of Jesus ; there had been only ten men in ancient
times who pretended to be prophets, each of whom exhibited
only five independent criteria as to place, government con-
18

214 LECTURE VII.
comitant events, doctrine taught, effects of doctrine, character,
sufferings, or death ; the meeting of all which in one person
should prove the reality of their calling as prophets, and of
his mission in the character they have assigned him : sup
pose, moreover, that all events were left to chance merely,
and we were to compute, from the principles employed by
mathematicians in the investigation of such subjects, the
probability of these fifty independent circumstances happen
ing at all. Assume that there is, according to the technical
phrase, an equal chance for the happening or the failure of
any one of the specified particulars ; then the probability
against the occurrence of all the particulars in any way, is,
that of the fiftieth power of two to unity ; that is, the proba
bility is greater than eleven hundred and twenty-five millions
of millions to one, that all these circumstances do not turn
up even at distinct periods."* But this calculation, you must
observe, specifies no particular period for these things to
take place ; but allows, from the time of uttering the predic
tions, to the end of the world, for all the fifty particulars to
occur. But if a time be fixed, at or near which they must
happen, the immense improbability that they will take place
exceeds all the power of numbers to express. This, more
over, is on the supposition of every thing being under the
disposal of that fiction of unbelief, a blind chance. How
infinite does the improbability appear, when it is remembered
that "all events are under the control of a Being of matchless
wisdom, power, and goodness, who hates fraud and decep
tion ; who must especially hate it when attempted under his
name and authority." This is enough, one would think, to
silence for ever all pleas of chance, as furnishing an unbe
liever the least opportunity of escape from the evidence of
prophecy. What then is the conclusion to which, by the con
siderations presented in this lecture, we are authorized to come ?
' Gregory s Letters,

LECTURE VII. 215
First: That in the Bible, there is a great variety of
prophecy relative to the Messiah, which has been so re
markably fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and so entirely unfulfilled
in any other individual of whom we have any history, that
the correspondence necessarily proves the predictions to have
been given by inspiration of God, and Jesus Christ to be the
person to whom that inspiration, in the uttering of those
predictions, referred.
Secondly: That the Bible, in thus containing genuine
prophecies scattered through its several books, contains a
revelation from God, and exhibits numerous and wide-spread
impressions of the seal of divine authority.
Lastly: That Jesus Christ, being thus pointed out and
honoured by the Spirit of God, breathing on the lips of holy
men, who in various centuries before his coming concurred
in rendering him their testimony, as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost, was and is to come, no other than what he
said — the Son of God — the Saviour of sinners — " King of
kings and Lord of lords."
"Behold (saith He) I come quickly: blessed is he that
keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book." " He that
confesseth me before men, him will I also confess before my
Father who is in heaven." But " how shall we escape if we
neglect so great salvation?"

216

LECTURE VIII.

LECTURE VIII.

PROPHECY.

Our blessed Lord was a prophet, as well as the grand sub
ject of prophecy. Not only did he possess omnipotence to
call up the dead from the sepulchre, but omniscience also to
bring forth from the darkness of the future what to uninspired
man lies as secret as the mysteries of death. By prophecy,
as well as miracles, he established the divinity of his mission.
In the latter, his appeal was to the senses of eye-witnesses :
" The works that I do, they bear witness of me." In the
former, it was to the testimony of subsequent history : "Now
I tell you before it come to pass, that when it is come to pass,
ye may believe that I am he." He predicted not only his
own sufferings, and death, and resurrection, but the manner
and circumstances attending them ; the treachery of Judas ;
the denial of Peter ; the particulars of his ignominious treat
ment in the council of the Jews, and under the hands of
Pilate and his soldiers. He foretold the rapid spread Of the
gospel ; the persecutions of his disciples ; the precise manner
of Peter's martyrdom ; the continuance of John till after the
destruction of Jerusalem ; the rejection of the Jews, and the
bringing of the Gentiles into the church of God.
But none of our Saviour's prophecies are more impressive
than those concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, contained
in the Gospels of Mark and Luke ; but most at large in the
twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew. These we select as the
subject of our consideration at present ; believing we shall be
enabled to show, by most impressive evidence, that Jesus did
indeed possess the spirit of prophecy, and consequently was
divinely commissioned in setting up the faith of the gospel.

LECTtivE VIII. 217
There is but one preliminary question to be answered, at
tL e commencement of this investigation : Is it well ascer
tained that these prophecies were published before the de
struction of Jerusalem ?
This has been already settled, in our lecture on the subject
of authenticity; in which it was shown that the several books
of the New Testament were written in the age to which they
are referred, and by the men whose names they bear. It will
be sufficient to state in this place, that of the three evangelists
who have related these prophecies, Matthew and Mark are
well ascertained to have died, and there is good reason to
suppose that Luke also was dead, before the destruction of
Jerusalem. The Gospel of Matthew, which contains the most com
plete account of the predictions in question, is commonly
acknowledged to have been written first. Its date is about
the eighth year after the death of Christ. The destruction
of Jerusalem being in the seventieth year of the christian era,
the prophecies in relation to it were published by Matthew
about thirty years, and were declared by our Saviour about
thirty-seven years, before their fulfilment. Several years
elapsed, also, between the publication of the same prophecies
by Mark and Luke, and the events to which they relate.
John, the only one of the four evangelists that lived and
wrote subsequently to the ruin of the holy city, is the only
one that omits an account of the predictions concerning it
But we have the most satisfactory evidence that no suspicion
of an ex post facto origin can justly attach to these prophe
cies, in the important fact, that although familiarly quoted
by the early christian writers as striking evidence of the pro
phetic character of Jesus, we read of no writer against
ehristianity in the primitive centuries having attempted to
paralyze the argument by maintaining that they were not
published till Jerusalem was destroyed. If enemies, so near
the events predicted, had nothing to say ; will any deny us
IS*

218 LECTURE VIII.
the privilege of proceeding in oui present investigation un
embarrassed by any question on this head ?*
There is a history of the destruction of Jerusalem, which,
if it had been composed for the express purpose of attesting
the complete accomplishment of our Lord's predictions, could
have hardly been made more appropriate to our present
object. It was written by an eye-witness of the tragedy ; a
learned witness ; a witness who, having been first an eminent
leader among the troops of Judea, and then a prisoner to the
Roman commander, and continually kept about his person
for the sake of his services, cannot be accused of having"
written without accurate information. His book was com
posed at Rome ; and having been presented by the author to
the emperor Vespasian, and to his son Titus, who had com
manded at the siege of Jerusalem, the latter not only desired
its publication, but subscribed his own hand in confirmation
of its correctness. It was also presented to, and approved by,
several Jews, who had been present at the scenes described.t
We could not desire a more complete attestation of the
fulfilment of our Saviour's prophecies than this book affords.
And yet the writer was a Jew to the day of his death, and
consequently an enemy of Christianity, and could have had
no design in favour of the prophetic spirit of its founder. I
speak of Josephus. It is remarkable that one of the most
minute prophecies in the Bible should have, from an enemy,
the most minute of histories to show its fulfilment. No great
event in profane history is related with so much attention to
all the particulars connected with it, as is the destruction of
Jerusalem by this Jewish writer. When we consider these
things, and remember the extraordinary manner in which
Josephus was several times protected from almost inevitable
death, we may clearly discern the hand of a wise Providence,

* On this subject, see some excellent remarks in Paley's Evidences, Part
ii. c. i.
t Josephus' Life, § 65, p. 23.— Contr. Apion. b. i. 5 9

LECTURE VIII. 219
preparing the way of the gospel. A witness was preserved
and chosen of God, to write an account of the divine judg
ments upon Jerusalem, whose testimony neither Jews nor
Heathens could deny or suspect. We proceed to compare his
statements with the prophecies in question.
I. Let us begin with those events which the Saviour
foretold as signs of approaching desolation. Thus it is
written : " Take heed that no man deceive you, for many
shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall
deceive many."* Here are two distinct predictions. Many
pretenders to the character of the Messiah, and their success
in deceiving many. As the prophecy draws nearer to the
chief event, it enlarges on this particular sign : " There shall
arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great
signs and wonders." Here it is intimated, that as the great
catastrophe should approach, these deceivers would multiply;
and that they would pretend to signs and miracles. The
very places where they would appear, and whither they
would lead their followers, are also pointed out. " If they
shall say unto you, Behold he is in the desert; go not forth :
Behold he is in the secret chambers ; believe it not"\
Now it is worthy of note, that, until the day when these
words were uttered, there had been no events in Jewish
history in any manner corresponding with those which they
describe. Two years, however, had not elapsed before their
fulfilment began. Simon Magus, very soon after the crucifix
ion, was heard boasting himself as the son of God ; deceiving
the people of Samaria with sorceries ; to whom, they all gave
heed, saying this man is the great power of God.t Anotner,
named Dositheus, a Samaritan, pretended that he was the
Christ foretold by Moses. In about the tenth year after the
death of Christ, appeared one Theudas, who assured the
people that he was a prophet, promising to show a miracle
in dividing the waters of Jordan. § "By such speeches,"
* Mat. xxiv. 4,5. t Ib. xxiv. 26. t Acts, viii. 9, 10.
5 The impostor, mentioned above, must not be confounded with him of the

220 LECTURE VIII.
says Josephus, in the very words of the prophecy, " he
deceived many."* As we approach nearer the final event,
(A. D. 55.), these deceivers multiply. " The country was
filled with impostors who deceived the people," and " persua
ded them to follow them into the wilderness ; where, as they
said, they should see manifest wonders and signs."t Not
only were the people thus seduced into the deserts, but also
into " the secret chambers." The inner apartments of the
temple were the secret chambers referred to in the prophecy.
Josephus relates that a great multitude whom the Roman
soldiers destroyed in the " cloisters" of the temple, had been
led there by a false prophet, who had made a public procla
mation, that very day, that God commanded them to get
upon the temple, and that there they would receive miracu
lous signs for their deliverance. At that crisis, " there was
a great number of false prophets.'" Thus have we have all
the particulars of the prophecy, so far as it has been quoted :
— Many false Christs and prophets, deceiving many ; pre
tending to signs and wonders ; leading their followers into
the deserts and secret chambers ; and multiplying as the
destruction drew near.
II. " Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars : see
that ye be not troubled : for all these things must come to
same name, spoken of by Gamaliel, Acts, v. 36. There were two noted
characters of the name of Theudas. The one referred to by Gamaliel appear
ed about thirty years prior to the time of the council which that learned
Pharisee addressed. But he was a mere insurrectionist, making no pretension
to any of the honours of that great prophet whom the Jews were expecting.
The oerson referred to in the text, appeared in Judea in the time of Cuspius
Fadus, the governor, and professed to be inspired, to be a prophet, and to
have the gift of miracles. Judas of Galilee, or the Gaulonite, mentioned also
by Gamaliel, was a political partizan, in opposition to the enrolment made
by Cyrenius in Judea, whose doctrine was that the Jews were free, and
should acknowledge no dominion but that of God. Neither he, nor the elder
Theudas, can with any propriety be numbered among " false Christs," or
" false Prophets,'' such as the Saviour spoke of in the prophecy under consi
deration. See Lardner, i. 221—225.
* Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, b. 20. c. v. 1. t Ib. c. viii. 5.
t Josephus' Wars of the Jews, b. 6. c. v. 5 2 and 3.

LECTURE VIII. 221
pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom."* At this time,
the Jews were at peace among themselves, and with all
nations. To human view there was so little reason to
expect a war, that even some years after when the emperor
Caligula ordered his statue to be set up in the temple, and
there was danger of slaughter, on account of the resistance
of the Jews, Josephus remarks that " some of them could
not believe the stories that spoke of a war."t Nevertheless,
such became in a short time the rumour of war, that the
fields remained uncultivated on account of the public anxiety.
The country was soon filled with violence. In Alexandria,
Caesarea, Damascus, Ptolemais, Tyre, and almost every other
city in which many Jews and Heathens were mingled, fierce
contentions arose, and dreadful slaughter ensued. In the
words of the Jewish historian : " The disorders all over
Syria were terrible. For every city was divided into parties
armed against each other ; and the safety of the one depended
on the destruction of the other. The days were spent in
slaughter, and the nights in terrors."* In addition to these
calamities, the Jewish nation rebelled against the Romans;
Italy was convulsed with contentions for the empire ; and,
as a proof of the troublous and warlike character of the
period, within the brief space of two years four emperors of
Rome suffered death. §
III. Another class of signs was predicted, as follows :
" There shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes,
in divers places."\\ These, together with the signs previously
mentioned, the Saviour said would be "the beginning of
sorrows." There came a famine not long before the war,
which extended all over the country of the Jews, and lasted
with severity for several years.lf Both before and after this
there were famines in Italy, which are mentioned by histo-
* Mat. xxiv. 6, 7. t Wars, &c. b. 2. c. x. § 1.
t Wars, etc., b. 2. c. xviii. § 1 and 2. § Keith on Prophecy.
If Mat. xxiv. 7, 8. ? Acts xi. 25—30. Ant. b. 20, c. ii. 6 ; c *. H

HZ2

LECTURE VIII.

rians of those days.* Pestilences raged in various places, as
the full time for Jerusalem's cup of trembling drew nigh.f
Josephus speaks of one at Babylon. Five years before the
destruction of the holy city, there was a great mortality at
Rome, while various parts of the empire were visited with
similar calamities. Earthquakes were also among the signs
of the times. Of these, the heathen historians, Tacitus,
Suetonius, Philostratus, &c, speak of many. Crete, Italy,
Asia Minor, and Judea, were visited at different times, and
some of them repeatedly, with earthquakes.! Josephus
describes one, in Judea, as so extraordinary in its awfulness,
that "any one (he remarks) might easily conjecture that
these wonders foreshowed some grand calamities that were
coming."§ IV. To the signs already mentioned, we find, in Luke's
account of these prophecies, the addition of "fearful sights,
and great signs from heaven." These sights and signs
Josephus sets himself to the work of narrating, with as much
particularity as if he had been specially bent upon making
good the words of Christ. He relates that just before the
desolating war, " a star resembling a sword stood over the
city, and a comet that continued a whole year." At the
feast of unleavened bread, and " at the ninth hour of the
night, so great a light shone round the altar and the holy
house, that it appeared to be bright daytime ; which light
lasted for half an hour." " The eastern gate of the inner
court of the temple, which was of brass and vastly heavy,
and had been with difficulty shut by twenty men, and had
bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor, was seen to be
opened of its own accord about the sixth hour of the night."
This, the learned of Jerusalem understood as a signal of
approaching desolation. Moreover, " before sun-setting,
chariots and troops of soldiers, in their armour, were seen
running about among the clouds and surrounding cities."
* Ant. b. 3. c. xv. 3. t Lardner, iii. 499. X Ib. iii. 499.
5 Wars, &c, b. 4. c. iv. 6 £

LECTURE VIII. 223
" At the feast of Pentecost, as the priests were going by night
into the inner court of the temple, they felt a quaking, and
heard a great noise, and after that they heard the sound as
of a multitude, saying : ' Let us remove hence.' " But the
sign which Josephus considered the most impressive, was
that of a man named Jesus, who, four years before the war,
at a time of entire peace, having come to the feast of taberna
cles, began suddenly to cry aloud : " A voice from the east —
a voice from the west — a voice from the four winds — a voice
against Jerusalem and the holy house — a voice against the
bridegrooms and the brides ; and a voice against the whole
people." With this cry he went through all the city, day and
night. No severity of punishment : no acts of kindness
could silence this voice. He spoke neither good nor ill to
any, whether they gave him food or scourging. For seven
years and five months, his solemn cry continued ; until its
warning was just about to be fulfilled. A little while before
the city was taken, as he was going round upon the wall, he
cried with his utmost force : " Wo, wo to the city again, and
to the people, and to the holy house ;" and just as he added,
" wo to myself also," a stone from one of the engines killed
him immediately.*
However incredible the narrative of these signs may seem
to some, it is not a little in its confirmation that the Roman
historian, Tacitus, speaking of the same time and place,
says : " There were many prodigies presignifying their ruin,
which were not to be averted by all the sacrifices and vows
of that people. Armies were seen fighting in the air with
brandished weapons. A fire fell upon the temple from the
clouds. The doors of the temple were suddenly opened. At
the same time there was a loud voice, declaring that the
gods were removing, which was accompanied with a sound as
of a multitude going out. All which things were supposed
by some to portend great calamities."t Whether all these
* Wars, &c. b. 6, c. v. § 3.
t Lardner, iii. 613. Tacit. Hist. b. 5, c. ix. — xiii.

224

LECTURE VIII.

things did really take place, or whether some or all of them
were not the conceits of superstitious and excited minds, I
shall not discuss ; nor is the question at all material to our
present object. Certain it is that they were regarded as reali
ties at the time, and consequently were in effect, "fearful
sights and great signs from heaven" to the Jews, whatever
they may have been in reality. It required as much of the
spirit of prophecy to predict that the Jews should believe
such things to have occurred, as to predict any thing else
that did certainly occur. Whatever Ave may conclude,
therefore, concerning the singularly concurrent testimony
of the Jewish and Roman historians, the prophecy of the
Saviour was most impressively fulfilled.
V. From the calamities of the nation and city, our Lord
continued his prophecy to those of his own followers : " Be
fore all these, they shall lay their hands on you and perse
cute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and into
prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my
name's sake."* " They shall kill you; and ye shall be hated
of all nations for my name's sake."* " / will give you a
mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be
able to gainsay nor resist."t For the proof of the accom
plishment of all this, the Acts of the Apostles afford abundant
evidence. Remember how Saul made havoc of the church,
entering into every house; punishing the christians in every
synagogue, and persecuting them even unto strange cities.
Peter and John were delivered to councils. Paul was brought
before kings. The former were also imprisoned. Paul and
Silas were not only imprisoned but beaten.h There was
given them indeed a wisdom, which their adversaries were
not able to gainsay nor resist. The very discourses of
Peter that caused his persecution subdued thousands into
obedience to the faith of Christ. II The murderers of Stephen
* Luke, xxi. 12. t Mat. xxiv. 9. t Luke, xxi. 15.
* Acts, viii. 3 —xxvi. 10, 11.— iv. 5.— xviii. 12.— xxiv. and v. — iv. 3.
B Acts, ii. 41.

LECTURE VIII. 225
were not able to resist the wisdom with which he spake*
The jailer that incarcerated Paul and Silas in the evening,
was their convert before the morning.t Felix trembled, and
Agrippa was almost persuaded to be a Christian, under the
speech of Paul. Stephen and James were put to death.
There is reason to believe that none of the original apostles
or evangelists, but John, died a natural death. Christians
were counted as the fifth of the world, being literally hated
for the very name they bore. About six years before the
destruction of Jerusalem, arose the tremendous persecution
under Nero, when it was enough that any one was called by
the name of Christian, to lead him to torture. Tacitus bears
witness, not only to their exquisite sufferings, but also to the
fact that they were held in universal hatred on account of
their religion and name.t
VI. " Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one
another, and hate one another ; and because iniquity shall
abound, the love of many shall wax cold"h The apostle of the
Gentiles, in his epistles, complains of Demas, and Phygellus,
and Hermogenes, and many others in Asia, who turned away
from him ; and that when he first appeared at the bar of Nero,
no man stood with him, but all forsook him.W And Tacitus
speaking of the persecution by Nero, says : " At first, those who
were seized confessed their sect ; and then, by their indica
tion, a great multitude were convicted."*^
VII. Immediately after the prediction of the outward
persecutions and internal defections by which the servants
of Christ were to be troubled, there follows this remarkable
prophecy : " This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached
in all the world, for a witness unto all nations ; and then
shall the end come."** The end, referred to, was that of the
Jewish polity, which entirely ceased at the destruction of the
Jewish metropolis and temple. Jesus prophesied that before
* Acts, vi. 10. t Acts, xvi. 32—4. t Lardner, iii. 498. Tac. Ann. 15. c. 44.
§ Mat. xxiv. 10—12. II 2 Tim. i. IS.— vi. 10.— iv. 16. IT Ann b. xv.
•» Mat. xxiv. 14. 19

226 LECTURE VIII.
this, that is, in forty years from the time when he uttered
these words, the gospel would be preached in all the world
Of all that was then in futurity, what could have been more
improbable, or to human view, more impossible than this ?
The gospel was then received but by a handful of unlettered
Jews. In a few days after, its author was crucified as a
malefactor; his disciples were scattered and discouraged;
his enemies triumphant, and the gospel seemed at an end.
When the infant church was gathered together in Jerusalem,
immediately after the ascension of its Head, the number of
the disciples that could be collected, was but one hundred and
twenty. What, but the omniscience of God could have
foreseen, that in less than forty years that church would be
extended into all countries of the known world ? But thus
it came to pass : " It appears from the writers of the history
of the church, that before the destruction of Jerusalem, the
gospel was not only preached in the Lesser Asia, and Greece,
and Italy, the great theatres of action then in the world, but
was likewise propagated as far northward as Scythia, as far
southward as Ethiopia, as far eastward as Parthia and India,
as far westward as Spain and Britain."* The epistles of
Paul, in the New Testament, were directed to churches
then flourishing in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi,
Colosse, and Thessalonica. In the Epistle to the Romans,
he asserts that the christian faith was then (ten years before
the end) " spoken of throughout the world."\ To the Colos
sians, about three years after, he asserts that " the gospel had
(then) been preached to every creature under heaven," I
mea ning that to all nations, without distinction, it had been
published. Tacitus bears witness that, in the sixth year
before the destruction of Jerusalem (Nero's persecution), the
religion of Christ had not only extended over Judea, but
through Rome also ; and that its followers were then so
numerous, that " a vast multitude" were apprehended and
condemned to martyrdom.5 Thus, impossible as such an
* Newton, ii. 257. 8. t Rnm. i. 18. t Col. i. 23. 5 Tap Ann k ™

LECTURE VIII. 227
Went must have seemed at the time when this prophecy was
ittered, the end did not come until the gospel of the kingdom
1/ Christ was preached " in all the world." We know not
which should be considered the most impressive evidence that
God was with the gospel; this wonderful fact, brought to
pass Dy such means, and in the face of such universal and
deadly opposition ; or the prophetic eye by which the Saviour
predicted, in circumstances so unpromising, that thus it
would be.
VIII. The next prophetic sign brings us almost to the
awful catastrophe. " When ye shall see Jerusalem com
passed with armies ;" or, as the expression is in Matthew :
" When ye shall see the abomination of desolation stand in
the holy place," " then know that the desolation thereof is
nigh." " Then let them which be in Judea flee to the moun
tains : let him that is on the house-top not come down to take
any thing out of his house : neither let him which is in the
field return back to take his clothes."*
By the abomination of desolation standing in the holy
place, Matthew expresses the same thing as when Luke
speaks of Jerusalem being compassed with armies. The
standards of the Roman armies had on them images to which
idolatrous worship was paid, and which were therefore an
abomination to the Jews. On this account, we read that a
Roman general, when conducting his army through Judea
towards Arabia, was besought by the principal Jews to lead
it another way.t "Every idol and every image," says
Chrysostom, " was called an abomination among the Jews."
These idolatrous ensigns being connected with a desolating
army, constituted them the abomination of desolation ; and
when the Roman army planted its standards around the holy
city, the abomination of desolation literally stood in the holy
place, or on holy ground. This the Saviour predicted. It
was to be the Signal to Christians that the desolation of
Jerusalem was nigh. Then they were to escape with haste
s- " ™ "*¦
" Luke xxi. 20. Mat. xxiv. 15 16, 17, 18. * Ant. b. 18, v. vi. § 3.

228 LECTURE VIII.
to the mountains. The warning implied that, even after the
city was encompassed with armies, they would have an oppor
tunity of escape ; but, at the same time, that the opportunity
would be brief. All this came to pass. One would suppose
that the Christians, in having delayed till the city was sur
rounded with a besieging host, would thus have waited till
all escape was cut off. But a remarkable providence took
care that they should await the sign, and yet obey the admo
nition to flee. Cestius Gallus, the Roman general, at the
commencement of the war, besieged the city; took possession
of the suburbs ; encamped over against the royal palace ; and
might easily, Josephus says, have got within the walls, and
won the city. Indeed "many of the principal men were
about to open the gates to him." But although the abomina
tion of desolation was thus in the holy place, the followers of
Christ were there also. The time of the end, therefore, was
not yet come. An opportunity must be found for them to
flee. The Lord sees to this. Just as the city was ready to
open its gates to the Roman chief, " he recalled his soldiers
from the place — without having received any disgrace ; and
retired from the city, without any reason in the world." This
the Jewish historian expressly ascribes to a special interposi
tion of Providence ; though he knew not its object. It could
be accounted for on no military or prudential considerations.
Josephus relates that many principal men of Jerusalem em
braced this opportunity to depart from the city as from a
sinking ship.* A short time after, when the Roman armies
were again approaching with the abomination of desolation
towards the holy place, our historian states that a great
multitude fled to the mountains.'t Among these, were
probably the disciples of Christ. But we learn more certainly
from ecclesiastical historians, of the early centuries, that, at
this crisis, all the followers of Christ took refuge in the
mountainous regions beyond Jordan ; thus obeying the pro
phetic warning of their Lord ; so that there is nowhere any
* Wa™ >». a- «- «- * l. t lb. b. 4. t>. viii. § 2.

LECTUBE VIII. 229
mention of a single Christian having perished in the siege
und destruction of Jerusalem.* But as the Saviour fore
warned them : what they were to do, they had to do quickly.
For as soon as Jerusalem was again encompassed with
armies, it was surrounded entirely with a wall, so that, in the
words of the historian, " all hope of escaping was now cut
off from the Jews."t
Who the enemy would be, and the power, and fury, and
universal spread of his desolations, the Saviour foretold, by
the use of this proverbial expression : " Wheresoever the
carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together."X
Prophecy often speaks a great deal in a few words. The
carcass was the Jewish nation given over, as thoroughly
corrupt and forsaken of God, to be devoured as by birds of
prey. An army is distinguished by its banners. They con
stitute its characteristic insignia. The banners of the Roman
army were, surmounted by eagles — emblems of strength, of
swiftness, and ferocity. By these the Saviour described it as
that which would desolate Jerusalem. Literally, wherever
the carcass was, these eagles were gathered. Josephus testi
fies that all parts of the land participated in the desolations
of Jerusalem. § The legions of Rome, like flocks of birds of
prey, flew from city to city, spreading devastation and
slaughter wherever they planted their standards. With
eagle-swiftness, they descended upon the unprepared popula
tion ; with eagle-strength, they triumphed over every oppo
sition ; with eagle-fierceness, they devoured and tore in
pieces, sparing neither age nor sex, sending into hopeless
slavery the few to whom the sword denied its mercy. The
melancholy record of Jotapata relates that all its population
were slain but infants and women. These were carried into
bondage. The rest, forty thousand, were slaughtered. Joppa
was demolished ; the neighbouring villages were destroyed ;
the whole region was laid waste. Of all the population of
* Lardner, iii. 507. Newton, ii. p. 266. t Wars, h 5, c. xii. § 2, 3.
t Mat. xxiv. 23. § Wars, b. 4, c. viii. § 1.
19*

230 LECTURE VIII.
Gamala, two women alone escaped. Here, not even infants
were spared the sword. Such was the extreme awfulness of
the slaughter, that many Jews in preference threw theil
children, their wives, and themselves, from the hill, on which
the citadel was built, into the deep abyss below. The num
ber that po-rished thus, was computed at five thousand.
These are but a few cases out of the many which illustrate
the perfect accomplishment of the prediction before us.*
IX. But our Lord foretold not only the enemy by whom
Jerusalem would be destroyed, but the means by which it
would be taken. " The days (said he) shall come upon
thee that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and
compass thee round, and keep thee in on every sidc\ A
trench and a wall or embankment always go together in
military operations. Both were certainly intended here.
But it was exceedingly improbable that such a measure
would be resorted to in the siege of Jerusalem. The nature
of the ground, and the great extent of the city, rendered it
extremely difficult. It had never been attempted in the
previous sieges of the same place. It was not necessary,
because, had the Roman general been content to wait a little,
the famine and the contending factions within the city would
soon have delivered it into his possession. After all, it was
contrary to the advice of his chief men, and was adopted
only because a more protracted siege would have been less
* How minutely were the enemy and his desolations described by Moses
as much as one thousand five hundred years before the war ! " The Lord
shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift
as the eagle flieth ; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand ; a
nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old nor
shew favour to the young: and he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the
fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed : which also shall not leave thee
either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep,
until he have destroyed thee, And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until
thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all
thy land; and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land
which the Lord thy God hath given thee. Deut. xxviii. 49—52.
T Luke, xix. 43.

LECTURE VIII. 231
glorious. The higher cause, however, was, that he was
God's instrument unwittingly, to fulfil the words of Christ.
Titus must confirm the prophetic character of Jesus. By
building a wall about Jerusalem, he was to build up the
defence of the gospel. The city was therefore literally com
passed round, and its inhabitants were kept in on every side
by a wall and trench, put up by the troops of Titus, and
measuring about five miles in circumference. Josephus is
very particular in stating precisely the direction of the wall
in its whole circuit.*
X. "These be the days of vengeance," said the Lord;
"for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not from
the beginning of the world to this time, nor ever shall be."*
Days of vengeance, indeed, they were, when all that was
written and threatened in Moses and the prophets was ful
filled. As if Josephus had written with the very words of
the Saviour in view, he bears record, that in his opinion,
" no other city ever suffered such miseries ; nor was there
ever a generation more fruitful in wickedness, from the
beginning of the world." " It appears to me, that the mis
fortunes of all men from the beginning of the world, if they
be compared to these of the Jews, are not so considerable."
" For in reality it was God who condemned the whole nation,
and turned every course that was taken for their preservation
to their destruction." It is impossible to describe the truth
in this case. " The multitude of those who perished (says
our historian) exceeded all the destructions that man or
God ever brought on the world."! At the commencement
of the siege, immense multitudes having come up from all
parts of the country to the feast of the passover, the nation,
literally, was crowded into Jerusalem ; so that the city was
supposed to have in it upwards of two million, seven hun
dred thousand souls. The miseries endured by this impri

» Wars, &c. b. 5, c. xii. § 2. + Luke, xxi. 22.
t Wars, &c. b. 5, c. a. § 5.— Preface to Wars, § 4.— Wars, b. 6, c. xiii
1 4.— b. 6, c. ix. § 4.

232 LECTURE VIII.
soned multitude are minutely detailed in the history of the
siege. Famine commenced, and numbered its thousands of
unburied and loathsome victims. This destroyer raged so
widely that the people devoured their shoes and girdles, the
soldiers the leather on their shields. Wisps of old straw
were turned into food. That which before they could not
endure to see, they now consented to eat. United to these
desolations were the remorseless cruelties of contending fac
tions. The city was filled with robbers, who divided its
population into parties, more destructive than all the soldiery
of the besiegers. Filled with rage and instigated by hunger,
they alike refused to be at peace with each other, or to capitu
late to the common enemy. They robbed the temple ; slew
the priests at the altar ; defiled the sanctuary with a sea of
blood. To keep each other from food, they fired storehouses
containing provisions for a siege of many years. Whenever
any corn appeared, bands of robbers instantly seized it.
They searched every house in which they suspected there
was food. Parents snatched it from their children ; chil
dren spoiled it from the mouths of their parents. There
was a lady of high birth and much wealth, who had come
from the country, and was kept in Jerusalem by the siege.
All her effects, and all the food she had saved for herself
and children, had been taken by the prowling bands that
continually ranged the streets for prey. By imprecations
and reproaches, she endeavoured in vain to provoke them
to take her life as well as bread. At last she prepared a
feast. Keen hunger found out a lamb. A mother's despera
tion slew and served it. Having consumed a part, the rest
was concealed. The smell of food soon brought in the
wolves. They threatened instant death unless she disco
vered it. With bitter irony she assured them that a fine
portion had been saved for them, and then uncovered what
remained of the lamb. It was the half-eaten body of her
infant son. Struck motionless with horror, they would not
partake of it. Then she upbraided them as pretendino- to

LECTURE VIIL 5233
more tenderness than a woman, and more compassion than
a mother. All the city, and the whole Roman camp, were
filled with astonishment at this horrid evidence of the reign
ing wretchedness ; so that the dead were envied for having
escaped the sight of such miseries.* But the wo went on.
The prisoners taken in endeavouring to desert the city were
nailed on crosses by the Roman soldiers, " some one way,
some another, as it were in jest," around the outside of the
walls, " till so great was the number, that room was wanting
for crosses, and crosses were wanting for bodies."t Thus
had the Jews, forty years before, crucified the Lord of glory
without the walls, with cruel jesting and bitter mockery.J
Those who continued within the city took refuge in caverns,
aqueducts, sewers, and other secret places, to escape from one
another. Titus, as he beheld the dead bodies that had been
thrown from the walls into the valleys, "lifted up his hands
to heaven, and called God to witness that this was not his
doing."§ The number of those who perished during these
" days of vengeance," is computed by Josephus at upwards
of one million, three hundred thousand ; and of these, one
million, one hundred and fifty thousand were of Jerusalem,
beside ninety-seven thousand carried into slavery, and an
innumerable multitude who perished uncounted in various
places, through famine, banishment, and other miseries. II
Add to this destruction of life, the complete ruin of their
holy city and magnificent temple, dearer to the Jews than
* How exactly did Moses, at least fifteen hundred years before, depict this
very scene ! He described even the rank, quality, and habits of the unhappy
woman. " The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not
adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and ten
derness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward
her son, and toward her daughter, and toward her young one that cometh out
from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear : for she
shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness where
with thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates." — Deut. xxviii. 56, 57.
t Wars, &c. b. 6, c. iii. § 4.— b. 5, c. xi. § 1.
t " His blood be on us and on our children."
i B. 5, c xii. 5 4. II Lardner, iii 529.

234 LECTURE VIII.
life; add moreover the universal desolation and almost
depopulation of Judea ; and you will find no difficulty in
interpreting the Saviour's prediction of " a tribulation such
as was not from the beginning of the world." It was when
our compassionate Redeemer had all this in full prospect
that " he beheld the city" from the mount of Olives, " and
wept over it, saying, if thou hadst known, even thou, in this
thy day, the things that make for thy peace, but now they
are hid from thine eyes."* How did the anticipation of all
this misery affect him, when, as he was going to his cross.
he turned to the women who wept and wailed because of
him, and said : " Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me,
but weep for yourselves and your children ; for behold the
days are coming, in the which they will say, Blessed are the
barren and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which
never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the moun
tains, fall on us, and to the hills, cover us !"t Who can help
reflecting here upon that solemn question, " What shall the
end be of them that obey not the gospel of God 7"
XI. We come now to the work of destruction, which
forms the most remarkable particular in this wonderful
prophecy. The ruin of the city was foretold in these words :
" They shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children
within thee : and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon
another that shall not be thrown down."t The ruin of the
temple was foretold as follows. As the disciples were show
ing to Jesus the stupendous buildings of the temple, he
answered : " Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left
here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down."k
Most wonderfully was the spirit of prophecy manifested in
these words. Every thing conspired to make the events
appear improbable, and to prevent their occurrence, when
the time predicted had arrived. Jerusalem was surrounded
with three massive walls of immense strength, rendering its
? Luke, xix. 42. t Luke, xxiii. 28, 29, 30. t Luke, xix. 44.
§ Matthew, xxiv. 2.

LECTURE VIII. 235
garrison almost unassailable, except by famine, or pestilence,
or internal discord.* Never were men more perfectly de
voted to the defence of a city than those of Jerusalem. None
cared for life at the expense of her ruin. The garrison was
ten times the number of the besiegers. It was, therefore,
exceedingly improbable that the city would even be entered
by the Romans. Such was the testimony of Titus, as he
looked around upon its towers. " We have certainly," said
he, " had God for our helper in this war. It is God who has
ejected the Jews out of these fortifications. For what could
the hands of men, or any machines, do towards throwing
down such fortifications."t But it was equally improbable,
even if the city were taken, that such complete destruction
would be made of all therein. Think of the difficulty of
completely destroying such an immense extent of triple wall,
and of buildings within. Think of the temple ! What a
pile to be laid low ! Its walls enclosed more than nineteen
acres ; that of the eastern front rose to a height of nearly
eight hundred feet from its base in the valley beneath. In
this, and the other walls, the stones were immense, the largest
measuring sixty-five feet in length, eight in height, and ten
in breadth. How great the difficulty of a thorough level
ling of such a structure, even under the instigation of the
strongest motive ! But what motive was likely to excite the
Romans to such destruction ? They prided themselves upon
a veneration for the arts, and upon the sacred care with
which, in all their conquests, the monuments of architect!! ral
taste were protected. The temple was emphatically such a
monument. The immensity of its walls ; its splendid gates
and beautiful marble colonnades ; the glory of its golden
sanctuary ; the grandeur of its whole appearance ; and all
* Gibbon, speaking of the strength of Jerusalem at this time, says : " The
craggy ground might supersede the necessity of fortifications, and her walla
and towers would have fortified trie most accessible plain."
Decline and Fall, vol. viii. c tvhi. p. 144.
t Wars, b. 6, c. ix. § I.

236 LECTURE VIII.
its associations of antiquity and of sacredness, constituted
the temple of Jerusalem precisely such an object as Roman
commanders had always gloried in preserving from the deso
lations of conquest. Even barbarians were used to spare
such monuments in their march of devastation. Genseric,
when, with his Moors and Vandals, he had sacked the city
of Rome, spoiled her wealth and carried away the ornaments
of her temples and capital, but spared her noble structures ;*
and to this day, after all the scenes of war that have raged
through her streets, the pillar of Trajan, the triumphal arch
of Titus, the unmutilated Pantheon, and the noble Colis-
seum, with numerous other monuments of art, attest the
ancient glory of the mistress of the world. How often have
hostile armies filled the streets of Athens, and hordes of
Gothic barbarians encamped amidst her sanctuaries ; and
yet the beautiful temple of Theseus is scarcely injured, as
a model of architecture, and the Parthenon, though defaced
and robbed, remains, a noble example still of the grandeur
and purity of Athenian taste in the age of Phidias and Peri
cles. How improbable then must it have seemed to one
beholding the temple in the days of our Lord, that Romans
should lay it even with the ground. Much more improbable,
had the cultivated taste, and the mild, amiable, and humane
disposition of Titus, their commander, been anticipated.
Still more improbable, when it is remembered how strongly
he was bent upon saving the city and temple from destruc
tion ; how he employed all the means in his power to induce
the Jews to surrender, before such extremities were neces-
sary.t When he had reached the temple, and saw the danger
it was in of being sacrificed to the obstinacy of its defenders
and the rage of his own soldiers, he was " deeply affected,"
and appealed to the gods, to his army, and to the Jews, that
ne did not force them to defile the holy house. "If (said he)
you will change the place whereon you will fight, no Roman
* Gibbon, v. 5.
r Wars, &c., b. 5, c. viii. § 1.— c. ix. § 2.— c. xi. § 2.— b. 6, c. ii. § 1.

LECTURE VIII. 237
shall either come near your sanctuary, or offer any affront
to it; nay, I will endeavour to preserve your holy house
whether you will or not."* But the Lord of that temple had
said : " Behold your house is left unto you, desolate." God
would not suffer the prophetic words of his son to return
unto him void. Now, therefore, even the authority of Titus
was of no avail with his troops. Now the discipline of the
Roman legion was broken up that all that was written might
be fulfilled. When the fire first reached the temple, their
commander despatched a force to extinguish it. As it broke
out again, he again used his authority to save the edifice.
A soldier, disobeying the will of his general, threw fire into
the golden window of the inner sanctuary. At this, Titus,
followed by all his chief officers, rushed to the place, and
by voice, and gesture, and force, exerted himself most ear
nestly to prevail with his troops to spare the building. He
ordered a centurion to punish the disobedient. But neither
his threatenings nor persuasions could arrest their fury. At
last, a soldier taking advantage of his absence, when he had
gone out of the sanctuary to restrain the others, " threw fire
upon the holy gate in the dark ; whereby the flame burst out
from within the holy house immediately ."t And thus was
it devoured by the fire. And now orders were given to
demolish to the foundation the whole city and temple.
Nothing was spared of the former but three towers, and so
much of the wall as was required for a shelter to the garrison
to be stationed there. " As for all the rest of the whole cir
cumference of the city, it was so thoroughly laid even with
the ground, by those who dug it up to the foundation, that
there was nothing left to make those who came thither be
lieve it had ever been inhabited.":! In quest of plunder, the
soldiers literally turned up the ground on which the city and
temple had stood, searching the sewers and aqueducts. Last
of all, it is related by the Jewish Talmud and Maimonides, that
• Wars, b. 6, c. ii. § 4. t Wars, b. 6, c. iv. I 2, 3, 4, 5, &c
t Wars, b. 7, c. i. § 1.

238 LECTURE VIII.
a captain of the army of Titus (Terentius Rufus), " did with
a ploughshare tear up the foundations of the temple."*
"A ploughshare," says Gibbon, "was drawn over the conse
crated ground, as a sign of perpetual interdiction." Thus
literally fulfilling that prophecy of Micah : " Therefore shall
Zion, for your sakes, be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem
become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high
places of the foresf't How forcibly is the perfect fulfilment
of the Saviour's prediction illustrated in the speech of Elea-
zer to a remnant of Jews in the city of Masada : " Where
is now that great city, fortified by so many walls, and for
tresses, and towers ; which could hardly contain the instru
ments prepared for the war, and had so many ten thousands
of men to defend it ? Demolished to the very foundations ;
and hath nothing left but the camp of the destroyers among
its ruins ; some unfortunate old men also lie upon the ashes
of the temple, and a few women are there preserved alive,
by the enemy, for our bitter shame and reproach."}:
XII. But the prophecy of our Lord did not end with the
destruction of the city and of the civil and ecclesiastical polity
of the Jews. His omniscient eye followed the unhappy race
in their subsequent dispersions and afflictions. " They shall
fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive
into all nations.""^ How many fell by the edge of the sword,
in fulfilment of these words, I need not state. Blood flowed
thr'ough the streets of Jerusalem like a river. But many who
escaped the sword were led away captive into various parts
of the earth. Before the city was taken, it is related that an
" immense number" of deserters, having fallen into the hands
of the besiegers, were sold "with their wives and chil
dren." || Besides ninety-seven thousand, who went into slavery
from Jerusalem alone, there were sent from Tarichea to Nero,
six thousand choice young men, while thirty thousand, from
the same place, were sold. Similar convoys of slaves were
» Whitby on Mat. xxiv. 2. t Mich. iii. 12. t Wars, b. 7, c. viii. 5 7.
5 Luke, xxi. 24. II Wars, b. 6, c. viii. § 2.

LECTURE VIII. 239
marched from many other desolated towns. Of the captives
from Jerusalem, the tall and handsome were carried to Rome
to grace the triumphal entry of Titus. Of the remainder,
many were sent as slaves to the public works in Egypt ; but
the greater number were distributed through the Roman
provinces, literally " into all nations" to be slain by gladia
tors, or exposed to wild beasts in the shows of the amphithea
tre. From that time to the present, the history of all the
nations of Europe, Asia, and Africa, is filled with testimonies
to the prophetic spirit of him, who, when Jerusalem was in
peace and strength, predicted the approaching and yet existing
calamities of her sons. In what country of the world, as
then known, have they not been persecuted and enslaved ?
But in addition to the captivity of the people, " Jerusalem
(saith the Lord) shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until
the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." It is well ascertained,
by corresponding passages of the Bible, that by this expres
sion, the times of the Gentiles being fulfilled, was intended
the universal ingathering of the nations to the faith of Christ.
This has not yet arrived. Jerusalem is therefore still trodden
down of the Gentiles, just as she has been, ever since the
ploughshare of the Roman desolation was first driven over
the ruins of her temple. The hand of Providence, in the
uninterrupted fulfilment of this prediction down to the present
time, is wonderfully manifest. Two things are specially to
be noted in the prophecy : First, that the Jews were never to
be re-established in Jerusalem ; and secondly, that it was not
only to be in possession of, but to be "trodden down of the
Gentiles" until the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled.
That the Jews have never been re-established in Jerusalem
since its destruction, has not been owing to any want of
desperate effort on their part ; nor because the power of the
Gentiles .has not been vigorously employed in their behalf.
In about sixty-four years after their almost total expulsion
from Judea, under the conquest of Titus ; Jerusalem was
partially rebuilt by the emperor Adrian. A Roman colony

240

LECTURE VIII.

was settled there, and all Jews were forbidden, on pain of
death, to enter therein, or even to look at the city from a
distance. Soon after this, the Jews revolted with great fury,
and made a powerful effort to recover their city from the
heathen. They were not subdued again without great loss
to the Romans, and immense slaughter among themselves.
In the reign of Constantine the Great, their effort was re
peated, and terminated as before, in perfect defeat, with in
creased massacre and oppression. But in the person of the
nephew of Constantine, their zeal for the rebuilding of their
temple was associated with the determination of the emperor
Julian to overthrow Christianity ; and between the power of
a Roman sovereign with a victorious army at his feet, and
the exulting enthusiasm of the whole remnant of the Jewish
people, a union was formed for the single object of rearing
up the temple with its ancient ritual, and of planting around
it a numerous colony of Jews, which, to all human judgment,
bore the assurance of complete success. The grand object
of Julian was to convert " the success of his undertaking into
a specious argument against the faith of prophecy, and the
truth of revelation."* A decree was issued to his friend
Alypius, that the temple of Jerusalem should be restored in
its pristine beauty. To the energies of Alypius, was joined
the support of the governor of Palestine. At the call of the
emperor, the Jews from all the provinces of the empire assem
bled in triumphant exultation on the hills of Zion. Their
wealth, strength, time, even their most delicate females, were
devoted with the utmost enthusiasm to the preparation of the
ground, covered then with rubbish and ruins. But was the
temple rebuilt ? The foundations were not entirely laid !
Why? Was force deficient? or zeal, or wealth, or perse
verance, when Roman power and Jewish desperation were
associated ? Nothing was lacking. " Yet (says Gibbon) the
joint efforts of power and enthusiasm were unsuccessful, and
die ground of the Jewish temple still continued to exhibit the
• Gibbon.

LECTURE VIII. 241
same edifying spectacle of ruin and desolation." There was
an unseen hand, which neither Jews nor emperors could
overcome. The simple account of the defeat of this threat
ening enterprise of infidelity is thus given by a heathen
historian of the day, a soldier in the service, and a philoso
pher in the principles of Julian. " Whilst Alypius, assisted
by the governor of the province, urged with vigour and dili
gence the execution of the work, horrible balls of fire break
ing out near the foundation, with frequent and reiterated
attacks, rendered the place, from time to time, inaccessible to
the scorched and blasted workmen ; and the victorious ele
ment continuing in this manner obstinately and resolutely
bent, as it were, to drive them to a distance, the undertaking
was abandoned."* " Such authority should satisfy a believ
ing, and must astonish an incredulous mind," acknowledges
even the sceptical Gibbon. He cannot but own that " an
earthquake, a whirlwind, and a fiery eruption, which over
turned and scattered the new foundations of the temple, are
attested, with some variations, by contemporary and respecta
ble evidence." One writer, who published an account of
this wonderful catastrophe, in the very year of its occurrence,
boldly declared, says Gibbon, that its preternatural character
was not disputed, even by the infidels of the day.* Another
speaks of it thus : " We ai 3 witnesses of it ; for it happened
in our time, not long ago. And now, if you should go to
Jerusalem, you may see the foundations open ; and if you
inquire the reason, you will hear no other than that just
mentioned.":!: Whether this attempt of Julian was defeated by miraculous
interposition, is a question which our present object does not
require us to argue.§ Two things are certain. First : That
the power and wealth of the Gentiles were united with the
* Ammianus Marcellinus. t Gibbon's Dec. and Fall, vol. iii. chap, xxiii.
t Chrysostom. See Lardner, iv. 324.
9 See the miraculous character of tnis event very ably advocated 'in Bishop
Warburton's Julian.

242

LECTURE VIII.

devoted enthusiasm of the Jews, to defeat the prophecy of
Christ, by rebuilding the temple, and by re-establishing its
ritual, and by reorganizing a Jewish population as possessors
of Jerusalem. Secondly : That contrary to all expectation,
when nothing was lacking for the work, and none in the
world lifted a finger against it, it was suddenly abandoned,
on account of sundry alarming and singular phenomena
bursting from the original site of the temple, by which even
the fanaticism of the Jews was deterred, and the enmity of
Julian to the gospel, defeated. These undeniable facts are
sufficient to show, with impressive evidence, the hand of God,
protecting the prophetic character of our Lord. When, in
connexion with these, you consider the great anxiety so
universally felt among the Jews of all centuries, to enjoy the
privilege of living and dying in Jerusalem ; that no risk of
life, or sacrifice of property, would be thought too great for
the purpose of once more setting up the gates and altars of
the holy city ; that the nation is now as numerous as at any
period of its ancient glory ; and yet that during almost the
whole period since the destruction of Jerusalem, so entirely
have Jews been prevented from living on her foundations,
that they have had to purchase, dearly, the permission to
come within sight of her nills ; and to this day are taxed
and oppressed to the dust/ as the cost of being allowed to walk
her streets, and look, at a distance, upon her mount Moriah ;
you will acknowledge that th« prediction of our Saviour, in
reference to their exclusion from Jerusalem, has been not
only most strikingly fulfilled, but fulfilled in spite of the most
powerful causes and efforts for its defeat.
But it was predicted that Jerusalem should not only be pos
sessed by the Gentiles, but "trodden down" by them, till their
times should be fulfilled. What the soldiers of Titus did,
has already been stated. From that time, during sixty-four
years, a Roman garrison alone inhabited the ruins. At the
end of these years, the city was rebuilt by the emperor Adrian,
under the name of CElia; a Roman colony was planted

LECTURE VIII. 243
there ; all Jews were banished on pain of death ; every
measure was used to destroy sacred recollections, and dese
crate what were esteemed as holy places. The city was
consecrated to Jupiter Capitolinus ; a temple was erected to
the pagan god, over the sepulchre of Jesus, a statue of Venus
was set up on mount Calvary ; and the figure of a swine,
placed in marble on the gate that looked towards Bethlehem.
Jerusalem continued in possession of the Roman emperors
till subdued in the year 637 A. D. by the Saracens. The
king of Persia had, in the mean while, besieged and plundered
it, but his dominion was too short-lived to claim an excep
tion from this statement.* In the hands of Mohamme
dans, sometimes of Arabian, sometimes of Turkish, and
sometimes of Egyptian origin, it continued to be literally
trampled down and desecrated, during a period of more than
four hundred years ; when having been taken by the crusa
ders, its government was assumed by one of their leaders,
and Christians alone were allowed to dwell therein. Only
about eighty-eight years elapsed, however, before the cres
cent of Mohammed was again planted upon the hill of Zion ;
where to this day, it has remained, with a single trifling
exception, undisturbed either by Jew or Christian. During
the seven centuries of this uninterrupted dominion of Ma-
hommedanism, Jerusalem has been captured and recaptured,
again and again by the various contending families and fac
tions of the followers of the Arabian prophet. The desola
tions of war ; the marches of contending hosts, have indeed
"trodden down" her melancholy hills. In the sixteenth
century, when Selim, the ninth emperor of the Turks, visited
the city, it lay, just as it had been seen by the famous Tamer
lane more than one hundred years before, "miserably deform
ed and ruined," inhabited only by a few Christians, who
paid a large tribute to the sultan of Egypt for the possession
of the holy sepulchre."t Its condition still, is thus stated by
* Gibbon's Decline and Fall, vol. vi. p. 206, c. xlvi.
t Newton on Prophecy, ii. 319 — 334.

244 LECTURE VIII.
a recent traveller : " At every step, coming out of the city,
the heart is reminded of that prophecy, accomplished to the
letter: 'Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles.'
All the streets are wretchedness ; and the houses of the
Jews more especially (the people who once held a sceptre on
this mountain of holiness) are as dunghills." " No expres
sion could have been invented more descriptive of the visible
state of Jerusalem, than this single phrase, ' trodden down.' "'
" Not a creature is to be seen in the streets," says another
traveller, " not a creature at the gates, except, now and then,
a peasant gliding through the gloom, concealing under his
garments the fruits of his labour, lest he should be robbed of
his hard earnings by the rapacious soldier. The only noise
heard from time to time, in the city, is the galloping of the
steed of the desert."t " The Jerusalem of sacred history is,
in fact, no more. Not a vestige remains of the capital of
David and Solomon ; not a monument of Jewish times is
standing. The very course of the walls is changed, and the
boundaries of the ancient city are become doubtful."!
Thus, during a period of seventeen hundred and sixty
years, have the captivities, and dispersions, and oppressions
ff the Jewish people, together with the desolate condition of
their city and temple, most signally attested the prophetic
character of our Lord. Aid shall we not hence be confident
that what remains of his prediction will be accomplished ?
Will not the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled 7 Will not
Jerusalem continue, until then, to be trodden down of the
Gentiles ? And then, will it not cease to be subject to them ?
And does not the expression of the prophecy imply that it
will be again rebuilt and possessed by the Jews in the day
when " all Israel shall be saved ?" " For what reason can
we believe that, though they are dispersed among all nations,
vet by a constant miracle, they are kept distinct from all, but
for the further manifestation of God's purposes towards
* Jowett's Researches, p. 200. t Chateaubriand.
X Modern Traveller, Palestine, 75.

LECTURE VIII. 245
them ? The prophecies have been accomplished to the greatest
exactness, in the destruction of their city, and its continuing
still subject to strangers ; in the dispersion of their people,
and their living stih separate from all people; and why
should not the remaining parts of the same prophecies be as
fully accomplished in their restoration, at the proper season,
when the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled ?"*
We have now exhibited the exact fulfilment of all the par
ticulars of this remarkable prophecy, with one exception.
The Lord specified the time of those great events which he
so minutely foretold. " This generation shall not pass away
till all these things be fulfilled." Forty years had not
elapsed from the date of this prediction, before all things
referred to in it had taken place.
And now let me add but a few words in conclusion.
No charge can be brought against the prophecy which we
have been exhibiting, on the score of obscurity or ambigu-
ousness of expression. It is expressed in the plainest terms,
and admits of but one interpretation. Nothing can be said
in detraction from its claim to inspiration, on the ground of its
being general in its expression. It is singularly particular,
as well as comprehensive. Nothing can be said in denial
of the complete correspondence between these various pre
dictions and the history of the times and places to which
they refer. We have drawn the evidence from sources which
cannot be suspected of any partiality to the prophetic cha
racter of Jesus. The History of the Wars of the Jews by
Josephus, the Jewish priest ; the Annals by Tacitus, a Roman
consul ; and the History of the Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire by Gibbon, the English sceptic, are all the
vouchers we require. What, then, is the alternative to
which the student of prophecy is reduced? He must either
acknowledge that Jesus was possessed of the spirit of genuine
prophecy; or that he was so sagacious as to be able to fore
tell all these particulars, when no one else could see any sign
* Newton, ii. 336.

246 LECTURE VIII.
of them ; or that the Gospels containing these predictions
were written after the events. The first the sceptic is re
solved at all hazards to deny ; the second he cannot suppose ;
the last he must assert or give up his cause. For the same
reason, therefore, that the heathen Porphyry, when he could
not deny the strict correspondence between the prophecies of
Daniel and the subsequent history of Egypt and Syria, rather
than confess that Daniel was a prophet, contradicted every
principle of historical testimony for the sake of pretending
that he must have written after the occurrence of what he
foretold. So have some modern Porphyries been driven to
assert that the Evangelists who relate this prophecy of Jeru
salem must have written after the city was destroyed.* I
need not say that the only reason pretended to in support of
this assertion is the very thing we have been labouring to
show, the strict agreement between the prophecy and the
event. Their argument is neither more nor less than the fol
lowing : If these words were written before the destruction
of Jerusalem, Jesus was a genuine prophet. But we will not
believe him to have been a genuine prophet. Therefore
these words were not written before the destruction of Jeru
salem. A conclusion as shameless as it is senseless ; as oppo
site to the faith of all history as to the rules of all sound
criticism, and the opinion of the learned of all ages. It
shows the strength of the argument from prophecy, as well
as the infatuated obstinacy with which the human heart is
capable of resisting whatever would bind it to the obedience
of Christ.
But let us not forget that the destruction of Jerusalem,
with its signs and tribulations, is set in the scriptures as a
type of an unspeakably more awful and momentous event —
the end of the world. A day cometh when " the sun
shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and
the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the hea-
7ens shall be shaken : And then shall appear the sign of the
* Voltaire. — Watwn's An. for tiiWa. 169.

LECTURE VIII. 247
son of man in heaven : and then shall all the tribes of the
earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall
send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they
shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one
end of heaven to the other."* When that day shall arise
on the world, knoweth no man. One thing we know, that
it will find us just as death shall find us. Death, to each of
us, will be virtually the coming of the Son of man. Then
our eternal state will be sealed. Therefore doth wisdom
utter her voice : O ye sons of men, prepare to meet your
God ! for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man
cometh. Watch ! walk as children of light. Embrace the
promises of the gospel, and live by faith in Christ Jesus the
Lord ! " Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he
cometh, shall find so doing."
postscript.
The following remarks on the subject of chance, in connexion with prophecy,
though in a measure anticipated in the quotation from Dr. Gregory, at the end
of the last lecture, are too valuable to be omitted, and constitute a most appro-
Driate supplement to all that has been said on this most interesting branch of
the evidences of Christianity. They have been kindly prepared, at the request
of the author, by a friend and parishioner, who finds no incompatibility be
tween a supreme devotion of himself to the faith and service of Christ, and
an eminent proficiency in mathematical and other human sciences.
" The argument from the fulfilment of prophecy, which appears so strong
and conclusive in its affirmative aspect, is no less so when the negative mode
of reasoning is adopted. We may waive, for example, the idea of a divine
intelligence operating in the annunciation and fulfilment of prophecy, and
attempt to account for the facts mentioned in some other way. But upon
what other principle can we account for them 1 The prophetic scheme is evi
dently too vast and multifarious for huma?i agency ; and this excluded, there
remains only tire hypothesis of chance —the negation of all intelligence, human
and divine. The law of events, under this supposition, is the same as that by
which probabilities are calculated in some of the pursuits and occupations of
life ; and an argument on this point, therefore, resolves itself into a mere
application of the theory of probabilities to the subjects of prophecy. If it
result from such application that the fulfilment was an event to be calculated
upon with some degree of reasonableness, independently of any intelligent
 <  .  ___
? Mat. xxiv. 29, 30, 31

248 LECTURE VIII.
supervision, then are we at liberty to adopt the philosophy of chance; bul
otherwise we are bound to reject it.
" The laws of chance, applicable to the case, may be briefly stated as follows :
When circumstances seem to determine an event equally, in two different
ways, the chances are said to be equal; and the expectation of either result is
expressed, with evident truth, by the fraction 1-2. But when the determining
circumstances are unequally divided, so that any proportion, more or less than
half of the whole number, operates in favour of a particular result, the chance
of that result is expressed by the corresponding fraction. If a ball, for exam
ple, is to be drawn from a bag containing equal numbers of white and black,
the probability of a white one being drawn is expressed numerically by 1-2;
but if there be only one fifth of the whole number while, the ratio of expecta
tion will be 1-5, and so for any other proportion : and this is the general law
of simple probability.
" The probability of a joint occurrence, when two independent events are
expected, is determined by the product of their simple ratios ; for there must
evidently be, in this case, a whole range of possible results, as regards one
event, corresponding to each possible result of the other ; and by a parity of
reasoning, the same truth is made evident for any number of events jointly
considered. If balls, for example, are to be drawn concurrently from two or
more bags, containing different proportions of black and white, the probability
of the whole result being white will be found in the compound ratio of all those
proportions: thus, if one contains 1-2 white, another l-5th, another l-8th, and
another l-10th, there will be one chance in 800 that, in drawing one ball from
each, the whole four will be white; and this is the general law of compound
probability, " With these premises let us open the book of prophecy, and select an ex
ample from among the various remarkable events there predicted. We choose
one of so extraordinary a character as to place it among the most improbable
events (humanly speaking) of any age or nation ; but to be quite sure that
we do not over-estimate it, we suppose it to have an equal chance of general
fulfilment; expressed, as we have said, by the fraction 1-2. This does not,
however, include the particularities of time and place, both of which are com
prehended in the terms of the prediction. With regard to time, we observe,
that as there is no natural circumstance to determine the event spoken of to
one age or period more than another, the probability of exact fulfilment in this
respect must be inversely as the whole number of ages in which it might have
taken place. This, if we allow forty years for the average duration of an
age, is about sixty ; and the fraction l-60th, therefore, expresses the contingency
of time in the case supposed. With regard to place, the probability of exact
fulfilment is evidently determined by the relation of the locality named to the
wno.e worjd. This, in the case referred to, is not greater than that of one to
100,000; and the fraction 1-100,000, therefore, is the numerical factor for this
element of probability. Combining these three ratios, we obtain an aggre
gate of no less than twelve millions of chances against the fulfilment of the

LECTURE VIII. 249
assumed event at the time and place designated ; and this event is the personal
appearance of Jesus Christ upon earth as the Saviour of the world.
" Remarkably associated with this appearance in many ancient predictions,
was the continuance of the Jewish dominion, and of tlie temple at Jerusalem ;
the joint contingency of which, according to the principles explained, cannot
be rated at less than l-340th. A multitude of predictions are found, also, in
various parts of scripture, relative to extraordinary particulars in the life,
character, and death, of our Saviour, as well as with reference to the political
and social aspect of the times in which he appeared. Many of them are so
nearly miraculous in their nature, or so minute and circumstantial in their
details, as almost to preclude the idea of chance in any sense. And we are
very sure, therefore, that we do not assume too much in assigning to twenty
of them an average equal chance of non-occurrence. Proceeding upon this
ground, we find the probability of their joint occurrence opposed by a disparity
of more than a million of chances to one ; and it results from the combination
of all the ratios thus found, that the advent of our Saviour, in all its characte
ristic circumstances and relations, could not have been calculated upon as a
matter of fortuitous occurrence, with more than one in four thousand millions
of millions of chances. The term probability can scarcely be applied with
propriety to a case so very remote; but the argument does not stop here.
" Our Saviour, at a time when all the calculations of human forethought
were diametrically opposed to him, predicted tlie general dissemination of his
gospel, and the consummation of prophecy with regard to the destruction of
Jerusalem, in the short space of a single generation : and so it turned out. By
the laws of probability, neither event had, at the utmost, more than one
chance in ninety of occurring at that particular time ; and there was, there
fore, only one in 8,100 of their joint occurrence.
" The predictions relative to the siege of Jerusalem, tne subjugation of
Judea, and the dispersion and subsequent condition of the Jews, present many-
particulars equally remarkable in character and fulfilment. We select twenty
four, which have severally a degree of probability not greater than 1-2, and
the result is an aggregate of nearly seventeen millions of chances opposed to
their joint occurrence.
" The predictions of the Old and New Testament relative to the state and
condition of the church in various ages, and its influence upon the moral and
political welfare of mankind, furnish another class of particulars which have
been singularly verified. The individual probability of most of them would
be much less than 1-2; but we concede this, and limit ourselves to twelve
points, the aggregate contingency of which is about l-4000th.
"Finally, the prophecies of the Old Testament relative to the Gentile
nations around Judea, and the great empires Nineveh, Babylon, Tyre, Egypt,
&c., present about fifty particulars worthy of notice in this calculation. To
avoid, however, all possibility of error, we consider only half that number,
from which we deduce the expectation of their united fulfilment in about the
ratio of one to thirty-three millions. 21

250 LECTURE VIII.
" There remains still a vast number of correlative and circumstantial details,
not reducible to any of the foregoing heads, which are found scattered through
the pages of scripture, and furnish a " thick array" of corroborative evidence
for the affirmative view of the subject; but we need not fear to waive the use
of them in the present calculation. The composition of the ratios already
determined gives an aggregate which it requires nearly forty places of figures
to enumerate, and which the utmost powers of the human mind may vainly
attempt to appreciate. If we should even assume a single grain of sand for
the numerator of the fraction, the whole globe of the earth, repeated many
millions of times, would scarcely suffice for its denominator ; and such is the
extreme improbability of any consistent fulfilment of the scriptural prophecies
on the principles of chance.
" It will not be objected to this calculation that it regards the different sub
jects of prophecy as parts of one and the same system; for although they
were in fact uttered by different prophets and in different ages of the world,
they are all united by a common subject ; and that with a degree of consistency
and harmony scarcely less wonderful than the fulfilment itself."

LECTURE IX. 251

LECTURE IX.
THE PROPAGATION OP CHRISTIANITY.
There is a peculiarity in the argument for the divine
authority of Christianity, which we cannot but notice in the
commencement of this lecture. While the several parts unite
with the utmost harmony and prodigious strength in the
construction of one grand system of evidence ; each is a
perfect argument in itself, and capable of furnishing, had we
nothing else on which to depend, an ample support for the
whole fabric of Christianity. We speak of the several parts
composing that general division to which these lectures are
restricted — the external evidence— such as the miracles ; the
prophecies ; and that on which we are now about to enter,
the propagation of Christianity. The two former have been
discussed. We praise the subject, not the lecturer, in saying
that we have not only established on solid ground the genu
ineness of the miracles of the gospel, and the prophetic
attestation to the divine mission of our Lord ; but that, in
having done thus, we have twice finished the proof of Chris
tianity, as a divine revelation. It was complete when we
had shown that Jesus and his apostles were attended by the
credentials of genuine miracles. It was commenced again
and completed a second time, and by a course of argument
entirely different, when we had shown that Jesus was a
prophet, as well as the great subject of prophecy. We are
now to begin anew, hoping to prove a third time, and by a
course of evidence entirely different from either of the pre
ceding, that the Gospel of Christ is none other than " the
glorious Gospel of the blessed God." Our argument will be
drawn from the rapid propagation of the gospel, in contrast
with the difficulties it had to overcome.

252 LECTURE IX.
It was only forty days after the resurrection of Christ, that
he delivered to his little band of apostles the parting charge :
" Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every crea
ture." " Go, teach (or disciple) all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost." In other words ; Go, carry the war of the truth
into the midst of its enemies ; think not your work com
pleted till you have planted the cross upon the high places
of the heathen, and have gathered together my elect " from
the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Such
was the work intrusted to those few, unlearned, despised
disciples, who formed almost the whole strength of the
christian church in the day when their beloved Master was
received out of their sight, and ascended into heaven. Now
let us consider in the first division of this lecture :
I. The difficulties they had to surmount in executing
this command. Be it remarked,
1st. In the first place, that the idea of propagating a
new religion, to the exclusion of every other, was at that
time a perfect novelty to all mankind, with the exception of,
perhaps, a few individuals of the Jews, specially enlightened
in the prophetic declarations of the Old Testament scriptures.
The Jewish religion was, indeed, sufficiently exclusive; but
in its external organization it was neither designed nor adapt
ed for extensive promulgation. Nothing could have been
more perfectly foreign to all the reigning opinions, prejudices,
and dispositions of that insulated nation, in the days of the
apostles, than the thought of attempting to convert even a
single city of the Gentiles to their unsocial system of reli
gion. Their zeal was indeed extremely energetic in behalf
of whatever involved the security and honour of their faith ;
but, in regard to other nations, it was the zeal of jealousy to
keep them at a great distance, rather than of invitation to
bring them to a participation in their superior privileges.
The charge of the Saviour to his apostles was, if possible,
still more novel to the Gentiles than the Jews. Heathenism

lecture ix. 253
h*.l UEver been propagated from place to place. In its innu-
meiuble forms, it had grown up out of the depraved disposi
tions of human nature, all over the world ; as thorns and
thistles, though never sown by the husbandman, are found
every where on the face of the earth. Without a creed, it
was without principle ; and therefore had nothing to contend
for but the privilege of assuming any form, worshipping any
idol, practising any ritual, and pursuing any absurdity, which
the craft of the priesthood, or the superstitions and vices of
the people might select. It never was imagined by any de
scription of Pagans that all other forms of religion were not
as good, for the people observing them, as theirs was for
them ; or that any dictate of kindness or common sense
should lead them to attempt the subversion of the gods of
their neighbours, for the sake of establishing their own in
their stead. So that nothing could have been more perfectly
new, surprising, or offensive to the whole Gentile world, than
the duty laid upon the first advocates of Christianity, to go
into all nations, asserting the exclusive claims of the gospel,
denouncing the validity of all other religions, anu 'aborning
to bring over every creature to the single faith of Christ.
Had Christianity been content to stand, without urging its
right to stand alone, the heathen nations might have allowed
it as much toleration as they were accustomed to yield to the
various systems of idolatry among themselves. An altar
would, perhaps, have been vouchsafed, in many an idol
temple, to the Christian's God ; and an image, in honour of
Christ, might have been permitted a place among the divini
ties of the Pantheon. But its character being rigidly exclu
sive, and yet its spirit universally benevolent, the apostles
must have seen at once that they were charged with a work
not only perfectly new, but which would necessarily bring
them into conflict with all the institutions, passions, customs,
prejudices, and powers of all nations of the world.*
* A religion, under which all men could unite with one another, appeared
to the ancients an impossibility. " A man must be very weak (said Celsus;,
21*

254 lecture ix.
2d. But the difficulties to be surmounted by the apostles
were not confined to the novelty of their enterprise, and the
exclusiveness of their faith. In the whole character of the
gospel, as a system of religious doctrine, and a rule of heart
and life, there was a barrier in the way of its progress, which
to human wisdom and power would have rendered their cause
perfectly desperate. To propagate any religion at the ex
pense of every other, would have been to them, in their own
strength, destitute as they were of all earthly auxiliaries, a
hopeless task ; but to propagate the religion of the gospel,
was unspeakably more difficult. A system of doctrine jmr-
taking, in the least degree, of any of its characteristic quali
ties, was a thing entirely unimagined among the Heathen,
and scarcely thought of, by one in ten thousand of the
degenerate posterity of Abraham. Religion, among the Gen
tiles, was a creature of the state ; it consisted exclusively in
the outward circumstance of temples, and altars, and images,
and priests, and sacrifices, and festivals, and lustrations. It
multiplied its objects of worship at the pleasure of the civil
authorities ; taught no system of doctrine, recognised no
system of morality, required nothing of the heart, committed
the life of man to unlimited discretion, and allowed any one
to stand perfectly well with the gods, on the -trifling condition
of a little show of respect for their worship, to whatever
extent he indulged in the worst passions and lowest pro
pensities of his nature. Heathen religion, in all its forms,
was the most perfect contrast to every thing spiritual, holy,
humbling, self-denying. Nothing could have been more
foreign to every habit of thought, in the mind of a native
of Greece or Rome, than the scripture doctrine of the nature
and guilt of sin, of repentance, conversion, faith, love, meek
ness, and purity of heart. Their languages had scarcely
expressions sufficiently approximated to these subjects to
admit of their explanation without the coinage of new words
to imagine that Greeks and barbarians, in Asia, Europe, and Lybia, can evci
jmte binder the same system of religion."

LECTURE IX. 255
for the purpose. And in many respects the whole race of the
Jews, degenerate as they were in the time of the apostles,
were as little prepared for a spiritual, heart-searching reli
gion, as any people of the Gentiles.
Then imagine the incipient effort of the disciples- of Christ
to gain over the nations to the obedience of the gospel. What
could they say to them by way of conciliation, of all their
systems of religion and habits of living, to which, from time
immemorial, they had been accustomed? Nothing but
unqualified, uncompromising reprobation. What could they
offer as a substitute, and with what recommendations could
they propose it ? The unity of God, to the extermination
of all idolatry ; the fall of man and his entire ruin and
condemnation by sin, to the utter subversion of all their
proud conceit of their own merit, and of the dignity of their
degraded nature ; the necessity of a new heart, including
repentance and holiness, and humility, and the diligent
pursuit of all godliness of living, to the complete breaking
up of all their philosophy ; the mortification of all their
pride, and the direct prohibition of all those unbridled pas
sions and odious vices which then held such universal domin
ion in the world. It was no aid to the work of the apostles,
that, besides the above unwelcome truths and requisitions, the
gospel stipulated for a habit of secret prayer, a life of faith ;
a heart animated with patience, gentleness, forgiveness, and
benevolence, to all mankind ; and, above all, a single reli
ance for peace with God upon the death and intercession of
One who had been crucified as a malefactor, despised and
rejected even by the despised nation of the Jews.
It is easy to perceive from this brief sketch of some of the
peculiarities of the gospel, in contrast with all that was loved,
and practised, and gloried in by the nations of the earth, that
while a new religion, willing to make terms with the habit?
and corruptions of men, might; if aided by the fascination?.
of eloquence, the enticements of worldly interest, and the
arm of secular power, have gained, some advancement

25>3

LECTURE IX.

Christianity, with its uncompromising spirit; its holy require
ments, and its twelve unlettered and despised apostles for its
whole earthly strength, must have perished in its infancy, had
not the "Mighty Ruler of the universe" been its friend.
3d. From what has been said, it is manifest that the
enterprise of the apostles must have arrayed against it all the
influence of every priesthood both among Jews and Heathens.
In the beginning of Christianity the priests of the Jews were
not only very numerous and degenerate, but exceedingly
influential in their nation. They were, in reality, the nobility
of Judea. The power of the magistracy was, in a great
measure, in their hands. The people were educated under
their charge. They held the reins of public opinion, and
headed all the great public movements of the community.
What tremendous resistance they were capable of making
to the advancement of Christianity ; how bitterly they replied
to those claims which pronounced the dissolution of their
priesthood, and the termination of their authority ; and with
what deadly concert they persecuted its blessed Author,
thinking they had put also his gospel, when they had put his
person to the cross, I need not remind you.
We turn to the priests of the Gentiles. The enterprise
of the apostles was directly at war with their dignities, their
influence, and their gains. What resistance they were capa
ble of making, is obvious from a consideration of the exten
sive establishment, the high official dignity, the wealth, the
political influence, and the superstitious veneration, attached,
in the first years of Christianity, to a heathen priesthood.
"The religion of the nations," says Gibbon, "was not merely
a speculative doctrine, professed in the schools or preached in
the temples. The innumerable deities and rites of polythe
ism were closely interwoven with every circumstance of
business or pleasure, of public or of private life ; and it
seemed impossible to escape the observance of them without,
at the same time, renouncing the commerce of mankind.
The important transactions of peace and war were prepared

LECTURE IX. 257
01 concluded by solemn sacrifices, in which the magistrate,
the senator, and the soldier were obliged to participate." The
Roman senate was always held in a temple or consecrated
place. Before commencing business, every senator per
formed an act of homage to the gods of the nation. The
several colleges of the sacerdotal order, in the single city of
Rome — the fifteen Pontiffs ; the fifteen Augurs ; the fifteen
keepers of the Sibylline books ; the six Vestals ; the seven
Epuli ; the Flamens ; the confraternities of the Salians and
Lupercalians, ccc, furnish an idea of the strong establish
ment of the priesthood in an empire that embraced the known
world. The dignity of their sacred character was protected,
as well by the laws as the manners of the country. " Their
robes of purple, chariots of state, and sumptuous entertain
ments, attracted the admiration of the people ; and they
received from the consecrated lands and public revenue an
ample stipend, which liberally supported the splendour of the
priesthood, and all the expenses of the religious worship of
the state." The great men of Rome, after their consulships
and military triumphs, aspired to the place of pontiff or of
.augur. Cicero confesses that the latter was the supreme
object of his wishes. Pliny was animated with a similar
ambition. Tacitus, the historian, after his praetorship, was a
membe of the sacerdotal order. The fifteen priests, compos
ing the college of pontiffs, were distinguished as the com
panions of their sovereign. And as an evidence of what
accommodations paganism must have had in Rome in the
days of her glory; the number of its temples and chapels,
remaining in the three hundred and eightieth year after the
birth of Christ, when, for more than three centuries, Chris
tianity had been thinning the ranks of its votaries, and for
sixty years had been the established religion of the empire,
was four hundred and twenty-four* In connexion with
all this organization and deep rooted power of heathenism :
consider its various tribes of subordinate agents and interested
* Gibbon, vol. iv. c. xxviii.

258 LECTURE IX.
allies ; the diviners, augurs, and managers of oracles, with
all the attendants and assistants belonging to the temples of
a countless variety of idols ; the trades whose craft was sus
tained by the patronage of image-worship, such as statuaries.
shrine-mongers, sacrifice-sellers, incense-merchants ; consider
the great festivals and games by which heathenism flattered
the dispositions of the people, and enlisted all classes and all
countries in its support — the Circensian and other grand
exhibitions among the Romans ; the Pythian, Nemean, Isth
mian, and Olympic games, celebrated with great pomp and
splendour in almost every Grecian city of Europe and Asia
— the pride of the people, the delight of all the lovers of
pleasure or of fame, intimately associated with, and specially
patronised by the religion of idols ; and therefore directly
attacked by all the efforts of Christianity. Then say, what
must have been the immense force in which the several
priesthoods of all heathen nations were capable of uniting
among themselves, and with the priests of the Jews, in the
common cause of crushing a. religion by whose doctrines
none of them could be tolerated. That with all their various
contingents, they did unite, consenting in this one object, if
in little else, of smothering Christianity in her cradle, or of
drowning her in the blood of her disciples, all history assures
us. How she survived their efforts ; how the fishermen of
Galilee could have overcome their whole array without the
help of God, is a problem which infidelity only shows its
own weakness by attempting to solve.
4th. But the authority of the magistrate was united with
the influence of heathen and Jewish priesthoods in zealous
hostility to the gospel. In all countries, the support of the
religion of the state was the duty of the magistrate. Toler
ation, among the most civilized heathens, much as it has
been eulogized by infidels, allowed of no religion that would
not permit entire communion, on the part of its followers, in
the worship appointed by the state. On this condition it

LECTURE IX. 259
countenanced the utmost latitude of belief and practice.*
But to refuse conformity with the national rites, and worship
to the national gods, was an offence unpardonable, not only
to the gods, but to the civil authority. This it was that ex
cited so much wonder among the Gentiles, and nerved the
secular arm with such deadly offence against the disciples
of Christ. " Keep yourselves from idols" was a precept that
met the pagan Greek and Roman whenever he beheld a
Christian. " What can be the reason (said a Roman prefect
to an Alexandrian bishop) why you may not still adore that
God of yours, supposing him to be a God, in conjunction
with our Gods ?" " We worship no other God," was the
Christian's answer ;t a declaration which, from the sword of
a heathen magistrate, could have no forbearaiice, and being
every where received as a characteristic principle of the
gospel, called out the whole power of the civil governments
of the Gentiles to unite with their priesthoods in its de
struction. 5th. To these associated powers, were added the prejudices
and passions of all the people. These, among the Gentiles,
were powerful, not only in favour of their own idolatries, but
especially in aversion to a religion originating among Jews ;
still more to a religion advocated by Jews who were despised
and persecuted by their own despised countrymen ; and yet a
great deal more to a religion so spiritual and holy, so utterly
at war with vice and idolatry, as that of the gospel.
See, in the Epistle to the Romans, a picture from the pen
cil of a master, of the fierce passions, the vicious debasements,
which universally characterized the Gentile nations in the
days of St. Paul. " Filled with all unrighteousness, fornica-
* " The Athenian notion of toleration is well described by Socrates, and
much resembles the opinion on that subject that many entertain, even in our
own times. ' It appears to me, says Socrates, that the Athenians do noS
greatly care what sentiments a man holds, provided he keevs them to kvmself
but if he attempts to instruct others, then they are indignant.' "
Douglas on Errors, &c. 212.
t Euseb. Hist. Eccl. vii. c. xi.

260 LECTURE IX.
tion, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness ; full of envy,
murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters,
haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventers of evil
things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, cove
nant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerci
ful : Who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which
commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the
same, but have pleasure in them that do them."* This de
scription is borne out, to the letter, by the testimonies of
heathen writers. Paul has furnished a picture of the morals
of his own nation corresponding with it in all essential fea
tures. What, then, could the gospel, with all its holy
duties and spiritual doctrines, encounter in such a world, but
a most violent opposition from the whole mass of the people ?
6th. But the wisdom and pride of the heathen philophers
were by no means the least formidable enemies with which
the gospel had to contend. Their sects, though numerous
and exceedingly various, were all agreed in proudly trusting
in themselves that they were wise, and despising others.
Their published opinions ; their private speculations ; their
personal immorality ; made tliem irreconcilable adversaries
of Christianity. It went up into their schools, and called
their wisdom foolishness, and rebuked their self-conceit. It
" came not with excellency of speech," or " the enticing words
of man's wisdom," " doting (as they did) about questions and
strifes of words ;" but knowing nothing among men save
Jesus Christ and him crucified, it just bade them repent, be
converted, become as little children, and believe in a crucified
Saviour for peace with God. This was, indeed, "to the
Greek foolishness." " What will this babbler say ?" "He
seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gqds," were the taunt
ing words of certain of the Epicureans and Stoics when they
encountered St. Paul. Mockery was the natural expression
of their minds " when they heard of the resurrection of the

* Rom. i. 29—32.

LECTURE IX. 261
dead."* The apostles, therefore, in attempting to propagate
the gospel among the Gentiles, were opposed by all the wit,
and learning, and sophistry ; all the pride and jealousy, and
malice, of every sect of philosophers. And how formidable
was this hostility, is obvious, from the great credit, superior
ev en to that of the priests, among the higher classes of society,
which those sects had obtained. "Whoever pretended to
learning or virtue was their disciple ; the greatest magistrates,
generals, kings, ranged themselves under their discipline,
were trained up in their schools, and professed the opinions
they taughf't
7th. In connexion with these powerful adversaries, con
sider the character of the age in which the apostles under
took the propagation of Christianity. It was distinguished as
one of profound peace among the nations, when the minds of
men were peculiarly capable of deliberately investigating the
claims of the gospel ; it was the Augustan age, when phi
losophy thronged the cities with her disciples, and every
description of polite literature was in the highest cultivation.
Its peculiar feature was directly the reverse of credulity. No
age of the world, before or since, was so extensively charac
terized by scepticism. While the great mass of the plebeians
were superstitiously given to idolatry, the patricians were no
less corrupted with opinions which went to the denial of all
religion. Among the various schools which then divided the
learned of the Roman empire ; those which declared openly
against the most fundamental truths of religion were much
the most numerous. Of this description were the Epicure-
ansX and Academics ; the former maintaining that the soul
was mortal, and that, if gods there were, they took no care
cf human affairs ; the latter, that to arrive at truth was im
possible ; that, " whether the gods existed or not ; whether
the soul was mortal or immortal ; virtue preferable to vice,
* Acts, xvii. 18^ — 32. t Lyttletons's Conversion of St. Paul.
t Cicero complains that of all sects of philosophers, this made the most
remarkable progress and gained the most adherents. De Finlbat.

262 LECTURE IX.
or vice to virtue-" could not be ascertained. These two
sects, the one atheist, the other too sceptical even to believe in
atheism, were the most numerous of all others in the age of
the apostles, and were particularly encouraged by the liberality
of the rich and the protection of the powerful.* From thi3
prevalence of philosophy " falsely so called," the age was dis
tinguished for curious and bold inquiry ; the learned every
where, like those of Athens, spending their time in little
else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.* It was,
also, for the same reason, an age of special contempt for
whatever claimed to be received as supernatural. While
every city, through the influence of the priests and magis
trates, was wholly given to idolatry, so far as the multitude
and the external aspect of all classes were concerned ; yet, in
the inner schools of philosophy and the private opinions of
the educated, it was almost entirely pervaded with scepticism.
Add to this; its necessary companion, the universal preva
lence of unprecedented luxury and dissoluteness of living ;
and you will have a true outline of the character of the age
in which the apostles, by "the foolishness of preaching,"
\nowing " nothing among men save Jesus Christ and him
crucified," were to " destroy the wisdom of the wise," and
convert whole nations to Christianity.
Most evidently, was the age peculiarly and entirely unpropi-
tious. Nothing, on human calculation, could have been
more certain of utter rejection and contempt, at such a time,
than the simplicity, spirituality, and holiness of the gospel ;
especially its two cardinal points, humble repentance and
submissive faith.
8th. Consider, next, to whom the propagation of the
gospel was committed. Who were they that received the
commission, " Go preach the gospel to every creature," and
" make disciples of all nations ?" Men, adapted to such a
mighty work in no single qualification, except to show, in
their weakness, that their success was altogether of God !
? Mosheim's Hist., part I. § xxi. t Acts, xvii.

LECTURE IX. 263
They were neither philosophers, nor orators, nor educated
men. They were from a class of mankind denominated by
the ruling nations, barbarians ; they were of that nation
among the barbarians, whom all the rest of the world parti
cularly despised; they were of that portion of the nation,
which was least esteemed by its own members. They were
poor, without the least worldly consideration or influence.
They were acquainted with no craft but that of publicans
and fishermen. They had never learned any language but
that of Galilee, and yet they were to preach to people of ail
languages. Such were the men whose work it was to assault
the high and fenced walls of Judaism ; to break the power
of heathenism, though entrenched in the vices of the people ;
upheld by the craft of their priesthoods ; defended by the
power of all nations ; and sanctioned by the traditions of
immemorial ages. Such were the men who were to go into the
proud schools of philosophy; show their wisdom to be fool
ishness ; teach their teachers ; bring out captives to the
humble faith of the crucified Nazarene ; and baptize them
in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
Ghost. 9th. Consider the circumstances of depression and discou
ragement in which they commenced this work. The enemies
of their Master had just succeeded in putting him to the shame
of the cross, under accusation of capital guilt. Their taunt
ing language to the agonizing victim : " Come down from the
cross, if thou be the Son of God," shows what a death-blow
they supposed themselves to have given to his cause. All
his disciples had forsaken him and fled. The stone upon
the mouth of his sepulchre was not heavier than the weight
upon their hearts, when they beheld him dead and buried.
After a few days, they assembled together again in Jerusalem.
when an upper room contained the whole congregation of
those that believed in Christ. Their cause was universally
supposed to have died with its Master. The fact that he had
not been saved by the power of God from the disgrace of

264 LECTURE IX.
crucifixion, was regarded every where as a perfect answer to
all his claims. Such was the beginning of the propagation
of the gospel. These were the desperate circumstances in
which the unfriended, unprotected, ridiculed apostles were to
set up their banner. What could they do ?
10th. Consider the mode they adopted. They sought no
favour from worldly influence ; courted no human indul
gence ; waited for no earthly approbation ; paid as little-
deference to rank, or wealth, or human learning, as to poverty
and meanness. They spake as men having authority ; as
ambassadors, commissioned from a throne, and sustained by a
power before which, they had a right to demand that priests,
and philosophers, and kings, should submit. " Not with
enticing words of man's wisdom," did they seek to advance
their cause ; but in simple reliance upon " the demonstration
of the Spirit." Instead of selecting such doctrines as would
best conciliate their hearers, and concealing the rest ; they
fixed their preaching most emphatically on what they knew
was the special topic of derision and mockery both to Jew
and Greek : glorying in nothing save in the cross of Christ.
Instead of seeking retired and ignorant people as the subjects
of their efforts ; instead of a doable doctrine, as the philoso
phers had — one thing for the world, another for their disciples
— a part for the novice — the whole only for the initiated —
they kept back nothing, any where ; declaring boldly the
whole gospel in the most public places and before the greatest
enemies. "Jesus and the resurrection," were preached as
freely to Epicureans and Stoics in Athens, as to publicans and
sinners in Jerusalem. Instead of accommodating their declara
tions in any degree to the vainglorious and vicious characters
of those whom they addressed ; they declared the wrath of
God to be " revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men." To every soul that would be a
Christian, they issued the requirement, "depart from iniquity,"
" crucify the flesh, with its affections and lusts," and be willing
to be esteemed a fool and persecuted to death for Christ's

LECTURE IX. 265
sake. Such was the mode selected by these powerless Gali
leans, by which to subdue the fierce opposition of the proud,
self-righteous Jews, and to make Christians out of Greeks
and Romans, alike devoted to degrading vices, and puffed up
with the conceit of superior wisdom.
11th. Now let us see in what manner the attempt to propa
gate Christianity was received. It was met every where by
the most strenuous hostility, and the fiercest persecution
From the first discourse of the apostles, down to the three
hundred and fifth year of the christian era, persecution nevei
entirely ceased, while its more public and general onsets fol
lowed one another in such close succession, that the church
had hardly time to bury her dead before she was called to
prepare more candidates, by thousands at a time, for the
tortures and triumphs of martyrdom. The preaching of the
apostles began at Jerusalem, and there also persecution began.
Saul hunted Christians with the appetite of a bloodhound.
Stephen was the first victim. Soon the brethren were scat
tered far and wide by the fury of the storm. James was
slain with the sword ; Peter, imprisoned for execution ; Paul,
scourged and stoned, and pursued so continually that, in
every city, bonds and afflictions awaited him. Whatever
Jewish hate, goaded on by a jealous priesthood, could do, was
put in requisition to crush the cause. All the devices that
Roman governors, seconded by the superstitions and passions
of the several nations of heathenism, could employ, were
united in the one business of driving back the advancing
cause of Christ. His disciples were calumniated as atheists ;
enemies of man ; murderers and devourers of their own
children ; and as guilty of the most loathsome and horrible
practices.* Instruments of torture were exhausted. Jews
and Gentiles, soldiers, slaves, governors, and emperors, racked
* " The Atheists," was the universal name for Christians. To the charge
of dire hostility to all religion, was added that of combined rebellion against
all law and all mankind. " Irreligiosi in Casarcs, hostes Ccesarum, host:.
pi'puli Romani" was their universal character, among their enemien.
22*

266 LECTURE IX.
their ingenuity to find out new ways of tempting Christians
to unfaithfulness, and, when they were steadfast, of increasing
their agonies without hastening their death. Every province,
and city, and village, was a scene of martyrdom. The great
principle of the ruling powers was, that this " superstition,"
as they called it, must at all hazards be put down. " In a
short time, the punishments of death were so common, that, as
related by the writers of those times, no famine, pestilence, or
war, ever consumed more men at a time." The edict of
Trajan, commanding the presidents to inflict capital punish
ment on all who would not renounce Christianity, was never
abrogated while heathenism reigned in Rome.* What perse
cution was in the heart of the empire, it was also in Africa,
Persia, Arabia, Capadocia, Mesopotamia, Nicomedia, Phry
gia, and in almost every place where the christian name was
known. " Those who suffered for the cause of Christ, men,
women, youths of both sexes, were so numerous as to be
estimated only in the mass." "In torments they stood
stronger than their tormentors ; their bruised and mangled
limbs proving too hard for the instruments with which
their flesh was racked and pulled from them ; the blows,
however often repeated, could not conquer their impregnable
faith ; even though they not only sliced and tore off the flesh,
but raked into their very bowels." Such is the description
given by one of those who thus endured to the end.f The
strong language in the Epistle to the Hebrews is eminently
applicable. Some " were tortured, not accepting deliverance;
others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, more
over of bonds and imprisonment : they were stoned, they
were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword:
they wandered about in sheep-skins, and goat-skins ; being
destitute, afflicted, tormented : they wandered in deserts, and
m mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth."!
Christians were often the victims of popular fury, as well
as of public edicts and imperial authority. Every odious
* Lardner, iv. 300. t Cyprian. t Heb. xi. 35—38.

LECTURE IX. 267
slander was propagated against them for the purpose of
instigating the rage of the populace. The evidence of abject
slaves or of persons forced by torture to testify as an in
censed community desired, was used to justify the most
dreadful explosions of vulgar hate. Did a drought occur ? It
was a proverbial explanation, that " if God refused rain, the
Christians were in fault." Did the Nile refuse its annual
irrigation, or the Tiber overflow its banks ? Did earth
quake, or famine, or any other public calamity, excite the
popular mind ? A ready cause was in every mouth ; the
anger of the gods on account of the increase of Christianity !
A ready sacrifice to propitiate the offended deities was imme
diately resorted to ; the slaughter of the Christians ! How
the better informed of society endeavoured to stimulate the
mob to these hecatombs of innocent victims, may be judged
from the fact, that " Porphyry, a man who wished to be
accounted a philosopher, found a cause for the inveteracy of
an infectious and desolating sickness in this, that Esculapius
could not exert any effectual influence on the earth in
consequence of the prevalence of Christianity."*
Such, then, were the obstacles which opposed the propaga
tion of the gospel. Who, in their anticipation, must not
have said : " If this cause be of man, it must come to naught?"
Either it must die a natural death in the obscurity of its
birth, or be torn to pieces at the first onset of its foes, or else
it must be of God, — protected and advanced by His power.
Before proceeding to speak of the success of the apostles,
we may deduce, from the premises we have established, a
conclusive proof of the power by which they acted.
It is certain that they understood the difficulties, and anti
cipated the dangers, of their work. As men of ordinary
understanding, they must have foreseen, while, by the pre
dictions of Christ, they were distinctly apprised of, the obsta
cles and perils they would encounter. Nevertheless, with a
perfect knowledge of their own weakness, they undertook
* Neander's Ch. Hist.

268 LECTURE IX.
to propagate the gospel ail. ong all nations. Why? What
was there in reproach and beggary, in racks and prisons, in
wild beasts and flames, so inviting? Must they not have
been sincere in their professions ? Could any thing short of
a thorough belief that Jesus was risen, and had promised to
be with them in all their labours, have induced them to
undertake such an enterprise? It is impossible, without
ridiculous absurdity, to question their entire persuasion of
this. But is this a proof that Jesus was risen, and that, in
divine power, he was with them ? We do not pretend that
in general, the fact of the advocates of a doctrine being con
vinced, is valid evidence, of its truth. But in the case of the
apostles it should be thus regarded, inasmuch as they could
not have been deceived. Whether Jesus wrought genuine
miracles or not; whether he had appeared to them "at sundry
times and in divers manners" after his burial ; whether he
had eaten with them, conversed with them, journeyed with
them, during the space of forty days subsequent to his death ;
whether they heard and saw him, at the end of those days.
solemnly give them their charge to propagate the gospel, and
the promise of his presence and power wherever they should
go ; they must have known. Consequently, when, with such
undeniable knowledge and unquestionable sincerity, they
went into all the world preaching Jesus and the resurrection,
neither deceived nor wishing to deceive, the evidence was
perfect that they laboured in the service of truth ; that their
faith stood not " in the wisdom of men, but in the power
of God."
II. Let us now consider the success of the apostles
in executing their Master's charge. On the fiftieth
day after his death they commenced. Beginning in Jerusa
lem, the very furnace of persecution, they first set up their
banner in the midst of those who had been first in the cruci
fixion of Jesus, and were all elate with the triumph of that
itagedy No assemblage could have been more possessed of
dispositions perfectly at war with their message, than that to

lecture ix. 269
which they made their first address. And what was the
tenor of the address? "Jesus of Nazareth (said Peter),
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknow
ledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have
crucified and slain ; whom God hath raised up. Therefore
let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath
made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord
and Christ." One would have supposed that the same hands
that had rioted in the blood of his Master, would now have
wreaked their enmity in that of this daring and, to all human
view, most impolitic apostle. But what ensued? Three
thousand souls were that day added to the infant church.*
In a few days the number was increased to five thousand ;*
and in the space of about a year and a half, though the gos
pel was preached only in Jerusalem and its vicinity, " multi
tudes, both of men and women," and " a great company of
the priests, were obedient to the faith,"t Now, the converts
being driven, by a fierce persecution, from Jerusalem, " went
every where preaching the word ;" and in less than three
years churches were gathered "throughout all Judea, Galilee,
and Samaria, and were multiplied."§ About two years after
this, or seven from the beginning of the work, the gospel was
first preached to the Gentiles ; and such was the success, that
before thirty years had elapsed from the death of Christ, his
church had spread throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria ;
through almost all the numerous districts of the lesser Asia ;
through Greece and the islands of the iEgean sea, the sea-
coast of Africa, and even into Italy and Rome. The number
of converts in the several cities, respectively, is described by
the expressions, "a great number," "great multitudes,"
"much people." What an extensive impression had been
made, is obvious from the outcry of the opposers at Thessa
lonica, " that they, who had turned the world upside down,
were come hither also." Demetrius, an enemy, complained
of Paul that, " not only at Ephesus, but also throughout all
? Acts, ii. 41. t Acts, iv. 4. t Acts, v. 14; vi. 7. § Acts, viii. 4; ix. 13.

270 lecture ix.
Asia, he had persuaded and turned away much people."*
In the mean while, Jerusalem, the chief seat of Jewish ran
cour, continued the metropolis of the gospel, having in it
many tens of thousands of believers.* These accounts are
taken from the book of the Acts of the Apostles; but as
this book is almost confined to the labours of Paul and his
immediate companions, saying very little of the other apos
tles, it is very certain that the view we have given of the
propagation of the gospel, during the first thirty years, is
very incomplete. In the thirtieth year after the beginning
of the work, the terrible persecution under Nero kindled its
fires ; then Christians had become so numerous at Rome,
that, by the testimony of Tacitus, " a great multitude" were
seized. In forty years more, as we are told in a celebrated
letter from Pliny, the Roman governor of Pontus and Bythi-
nia, Christianity had long subsisted in these provinces, though
so remote from Judea. " Many of all ages, and of every
rank, of both sexes likewise," were accused to Pliny of being
Christians. What he calls "the contagion of this superstition"
(thus forcibly describing the irresistible and rapid spread of
Christianity), had " seized not cities only, but the less towns
also, and the open country," so that the heathen temples
" were almost forsaken," few victims were purchased for
sacrifice, and " a long intermission of the sacred solemnities
had taken place."t Justin Martyr, who wrote about thirty
years after Pliny, and one hundred after the gospel was first
preached to the Gentiles, thus describes the extent of Chris
tianity in his time : " There is not a nation, either Greek or
barbarian, or of any other name, even of those who wandei
in tribes and live in tents, among whom prayers and thanks
givings are not offered to the Father and Creator of the
universe by the name of the crucified Jesus." Clemens Alex-
andrinus, a few years after, thus writes : " The philosophers
were confined to Greece, and to their particular retainers ;
? See Paley's Evidences. t Acts, xxi. 20. " Uooai uvpialcs."
T Lardner, iv. 13 — 15.

lecture ix. 271
but the doctrine of the Master of Christianity did not remain
in Judea, but is spread throughout the whole world, in every
nation, and village, and city, converting both whole houses
and separate individuals, having already brought over to the
truth not a few of the philosophers themselves. If the Greek
philosophy be prohibited, it immediately vanishes ; whereas,
from the first preaching of our doctrine, kings and tyrants,
governors and presidents, with their whole train and with
the populace on their side, have endeavoured, with their
whole might, to exterminate it, yet doth it flourish more
and more."
There is no reason for diminishing the wonder which this
rapid success of the gospel so necessarily excites, by the
supposition that all these conversions, or the greater part of
them, were little more than a change of profession and
name ; the substitution of a christian church, for a heathen
temple — a mere transition from one system of religious
ceremonial to another. In times of fierce persecution the
reality of a conversion is tried " as by fire." There was
little during the first three hundred years of Christianity to
encourage a profession of its faith, except so far as the
heart had become sufficiently devoted to its holy and self-
denying duties, to be willing to suffer on their account the
loss of all things. Mere cold assent and dead formality
were not likely to put themselves in the way of being torn
by wild beasts, or buried in the mines. The change wrought
in the converts was, for the most part and notoriously, a
change of heart and of life, as well as an entire change of
opinion. The striking alteration in those who embraced the
gospel, bore a powerful attestation to its divine authority
Philosophers complained that men improved but little, in
goodness, under their instructions ; while Paul could say to
the Christians of Corinth, a city famous for the profligacy of
its inhabitants, " Such were some of you : but ye are washed,
ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name of the Lord
Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." " The doctrine of

272 lecture ix.
Christ," says a writer of those times, "did convert the most
wicked persons who embraced it from all their debaucheries,
to the practice of all virtues."* So remarkable was the
difference between the Christians and those whom they had
once resembled, that Origen, defending their faith against the
attacks of Celsus, challenges a comparison between their
moral character and that of any other societies in the world.
Even the sceptic Gibbon unites in this testimony. Speaking
of these early converts, he says : " As they emerged from sin
and superstition to the glorious hope of immortality, they
resolved to devote themselves to a life not only of virtue,
but of penitence. The desire of perfection became the
ruling passion of their soul." "Their serious and sequestered
life, averse to the gay luxury of the age, inured them to
chastity, temperance, economy, and all the sober and domes
tic virtues. The contempt of the world exercised them in
the habits of humility, meekness, and patience. The more
they were persecuted, the more closely they adhered to each
other. Their mutual charity and unsuspecting confidence
has been remarked by infidels, and was too often abused by
perfidious friends. Even their faults, or rather their errors,
were derived from an excess of virtue."t From all these
authorities, it is evident that the propagation of the gospel
was not only of great rapidity, but of great power in trans
forming the hearts and lives of the multitudes who em
braced it.
In connexion with the moral power and vast extent of
this work ; it should be considered, that among those who
were brought to the obedience of Christ, were men of all
classes, from the most obscure and ignorant, to the most
elevated and learned. In the New Testament, we read of an
eminent counsellor, and of a chief ruler, and of a great
company of priests, and of two centurions of the Roman
army, and of a proconsul of Cyprus, and of a member of
the Areopagus at Athens, and even of certain of the house-
? Origen cont. Celsum. t Gibbon, ii. xv. 138—9.

lecture ix. 273
hold of the emperor Nero, as having been converted to the
faith. Many of the converts were highly esteemed for talents
and attainments. Such was Justin Martyr, who, while a
heathen, was conversant with all the schools of philosophy.
Such was Pantsenus, who, before his conversion, was a
philosopher of the school of the Stoics, and whose instruc
tions in human learning at Alexandria, after he became a
Christian, were much frequented by students of various
characters. Such also was Origen, whose reputation for
learning was so great, that not only Christians, but philoso
phers flocked to his lectures upon mathematics and philosophy,
as well as on the scriptures. Even the noted Porphyry did
not refrain from a high eulogium upon the learning of
Origen.* It may help to convey some notion of the charac
ter and quality of many early Christians ; of their learning
and their labours ; to notice the christian writers who
flourished in these ages. St. Jerome's catalogue contains one
hundred and twenty writers previous to the year 360 from
the death of Christ. The catalogue is thus introduced :
" Let those who say the church has had no philosophers, nor
eloquent and learned men, observe who and what they were
who founded, established, and adorned it."t Pliny, in his
celebrated letter to Trajan, written about sixty-three years
after the gospel began to be preached to the Gentiles, expressly
states that, in the provinces of Pontus and Bythinia, many
of all ranks were accused to him of the crime of being
Christians.! * Stillingfleet's Orig. Sac. 273^. t See Paley, 346.
t The early advocates of Christianity, in controversy with the heathen of
Greece and Rome, were accustomed to dwell with great stress upon the argu
ment from its propagation. Chrysostom, of the fourth century, writes :
" The apostles of Christ were twelve, and they gained the whole world."
" Zeno, Plato, Socrates, and many others, endeavoured to introduce a new
course of life, but in vain ; whereas Jesus Christ not only taught, but settled
a new polity, or way of living, all over the world." " The doctrines and
writings of fishermen, who were beaten and driven from society, and always
lived in the midst of dangers, have been readily embraced by learned and
unlearned, bondmen and free, kings and soldiers, Greeks and barbarians.'
£3

274 lecture ix.
We have now prepared the several facts that constitute the
materials of our argument. Here is an unquestionable his
torical event. — The rapid and extensive spread of Christianity
over the whole Roman empire in less than seventy years
from the outset of its preaching. Has any thing else of a
like kind been known in the world ? Did the learning and
popularity of the ancient philosophers, powerfully aided by
the favour of the great, and the peculiar character of the
age, accomplish any thing in the least resembling the success
of the apostles ? It is a notorious fact that only one of them
" ever dared to attack the base religion of the nation, and
substitute better representations of God in its stead, although
its absurdity was apparent to many of them. An attempt
of this kind, having cost the bold Socrates his life, no others
had resolution enough to offer such a sacrifice for the general
good. To excuse their timidity in this respect, and give it
the appearance of profound wisdom, they called to their aid
the general principle that it is imprudent and injurious to
let people see the whole truth at once ; that it is not only
necessary to spare sacred prejudices, but, in particular cir
cumstances, an act of benevolence to deceive the great mass
of the people. This was the unanimous opinion of almost
all the ancient philosophical schools."* No further proof is
needed that such men were incapable of effecting any thing
approximating to the great moral revolution produced in the
" Though kings, and tyrants, and people strove to extinguish the spark of
faith, such a flame of true religion arose as filled the whole world. If you go
to India, and Scythia, and the utmost ends of the earth, you will every where
find the doctrine of Christ enlightening the souls of men." Augustine, of the
same century, speaking of the heathen philosophers, says : " If they were to
live again, and should see the churches crowded, the temples forsaken, and
men called from the love of temporal, fleeting things to the hope of eternal
life and the possession of spiritual and heavenly blessings, and readily
embracing them, provided they -were really such as they are said to have been,
perhaps they would say : ' These are things which we did not dare to say to
the people ; we rather gave way to their custom than endeavoured to draw them
over to our best thoughts and apprehensions.' "
_ . , „ _ Lardner, ii. 614 and 597.
• Reinhard's Plan. n. 165. 6.

lecture ix. 275
world by the power of the gospel. How different the apos
tles ! boldly attacking all vice, superstition, and error, at all
hazards, in all places, not counting their lives dear unto
them, so that they might " testify the gospel of the grace of
God." But where else shall we turn for a parallel to the -
work we have described? What efforts, independently of
the gospel, were ever successful in the moral regeneration of
whole communities of the superstitious and licentious ?
The only event in the annals of time that has ever been
supposed to bear any resemblance to the propagation of
Christianity, is the rapid progress of Mohammedanism. But
a little reflection will show you that the single fact of its
rapid and extensive progress is the only point of resemblance ;
while, in every thing else, there is direct opposition. The
Koran based its cause upon no profession of miracles, and
therefore had no detection to fear. The gospel rested all
upon its repeated miracles, and, consequently, unless it had
been true, would have been certain of detection. Moham
med was of the most powerful and honourable family in
Mecca, the chief city of his nation ; and though not rich by
inheritance, became so by marriage. Jesus was of a family
of poor and unknown inhabitants of an obscure village in
Judea, and had not where to lay his head. Mohammed
began his work among the rich and great. His first three
years were consumed in attaching to his cause thirteen of the
chief people of Mecca. Jesus commenced among the poor.
During his three years of ministry on earth, twelve obscure
Jews, many of them fishermen, all unlearned and powerless,
were his chosen disciples. Of the first thirteen apostles of
the Koran, all ultimately attained to riches and honours, to
the command of armies, and the government of kingdoms
Of the twelve apostles who commenced the propagation of
the gospel, all attained to the utmost poverty, contempt, and
ignominy ; and all, but one, to a violent death on account
of their cause. The age, when Mohammed set up his ban
ner, was eminently propitious to his enterprise. " Nothing

276 lecture ix.
can equal the ignorance and darkness that reigned in this
century."* Science, philosophy, and theology, had every
where declined into almost nothingness. The age when the
apostles of Christ began their work was eminently unpro-
pitious to any cause but that of God. It was the Augus%
tan age. Mohammedanism took its rise in an interior town
of Arabia, among a barbarous people, and its first conquests
were among the rudest and least enlightened of the most
ignorant regions of the world. Christianity arose in the
splendid metropolis of a populous and intelligent nation, and
achieved her earliest victories in some of the most polished
and enlightened cities of the world. In the town of Mecca,
where Mohammed opened his mission, there was no estab
lished religion to contend with. In the city of Jerusalem,
where Jesus and his apostles began their work of love,
an established religion was powerfully fortified within the
triple wall of priest, magistrate, and people, and defended
by all the powers and passions of the nation. When
the prophet of Arabia appeared, his cause was favoured
by the feuds that prevailed among the Arab tribes around
him, and by the bitter dissensions and cruel animosities then
reigning among various sects of degenerate Christians ; dis
sensions that filled the greater part of the east with such
enormities as rendered the very name of Christianity odious
to many. When the great Prophet of Christianity appeared,
the temple of Janus was shut, in token of universal peace,
so that all the schools of philosophy, all sects of superstition,
and all the powers and animosities of the nations were free
to combine against his gospel. Mohammed attempted to
conciliate the prevailing religion of the empire, by preachino-
to the ignorant generation of Christians that his religion was
no other than what had been originally their own. The
unity of God, the prophetic character of the patriarchs and
prophets of the Old Testament, and the divine mission of
Jesus, he carefully and artfully asserted; pretending to restore
* Mosheim.

lecture ix. 277
the purity, instead of attacking the foundations, of the reli
gion they had taught. This was politic. The apostles, on
the other hand, attacked, boldly, and unsparingly, the religion
of all the world. While asserting the essential principles of
the religion of Moses, they aimed directly at the subversion
of its, then, degenerate institutions ; and, as to all Gentile
nations, pretended to nothing but uncompromising opposi
tion. This certainly was any thing but politic. Moham
med, while he required nothing of his followers that called
for self-denial,* expressly sanctioned and promoted their
strongest passions. Impurity, revenge, ambition, pride, were
his cardinal and honoured indulgences. Thus he enticed
human nature. I need not say that the requisitions and
allurements proclaimed by the apostles of Christ were pre
cisely the contrary. But thus they repelled human nature.
Even, with all these advantages in his favour, Mohammed,
at the end of the first twelve years of his enterprise, had not
extended his cause beyond the walls of Mecca, and had
gained but few disciples within them, because his efforts had
been confined to persuasion. While Christianity with all its
disadvantages, in half the time from the beginning of the
ministry of Christ, could number more than ten thousand
disciples in Jerusalem, and churches throughout all Judea,
and Galilee, and Samaria ; and yet her efforts were also con
fined to persuasion. But Mohammed, after twelve years
experience, discovered that, even with all his indulgence to
passion and pride,' some argument much more cogent than
that of persuasion was necessary to convince the nations.
This was found at the edge of the sword. He sounded the
trump of war ; promised the spoils of nations, the fairest of
the captives, and the most luxurious arbour in Paradise, to
those who would join his standard. Then, proselytes were
multiplied. The roving Arabs, converted to the faith for the
* The prohibition of wine, the fast of Ramadan, and the pilgrimage to
Mecca, were no part of Mohammedanism until several years after its com
mencement, when military successes had completely established its authority
23*

278 lecture ix.
sake of the plunder, flocked to his cause. Death or conversion
was the only choice of the idolater. " The Koran, the tri
bute, or the sword," was vouchsafed to Jews and Christians.
Henceforward the demon of Mohammedanism was always
seated on the hilt of the sword, and made its way by force
and slaughter. How and why, it prevailed both rapidly and
extensively from this time, I am as little bound to explain, as
to account for the martial prowess of Napoleon, or of the
Goths and Vandals. It was the success of the warrior, not
of the prophet.
But I may not leave this subject, without turning what to
some may have seemed almost parallel to the success of the
gospel, into an auxiliary illustration of its superhuman power.
It is a strong fact, in evidence that God was on the side of the
apostles, that when they had every thing on earth to contend
with, they succeeded, by mere efforts of persuasion, in sub
duing kingdoms, and bringing innumerable multitudes to
holiness of life ; while Mohammed and his apostles, in the
most favourable circumstances, were confined, as long as
they used no weapon but that of persuasion, to a few follow
ers, and, had they never taken the sword, would probably
never have been heard of beyond the sands of Arabia.
But should it still be contended that the success of the
apostles may be accounted for without reference to super
natural aid ; let the question be answered why, when the
same human means have since been employed in so many
instances, nothing even approximating to the same results
has ever ensued. Jews are found at present as numerous as
ever. Some of the strongest obstacles which opposed the
success of the gospel among them, in the apostolic age, do not
now exist. They have no religious establishment ; no regu
lar priesthood ; no power to persecute. Christianity, on the
other hand, is established. Instead of appearing to the Jew
as a thing of yesterday, advocated but by a few obscure men,
as she did of old ; she now presents herself under the sanc
tion of eighteen centuries, illustrated by the learning of her

lecture ix. 279
disciples, professed by all civilized nations. It cannot be said
that less human effort, in the aggregate, has been employed
for the conversion of the Jews, than was used by the twelve
apostles. Much more money has been expended; much
more learning has been devoted ; much more human power
has been exerted; many more individuals have been em
ployed. The same gospel has been preached. The same
arguments have been urged. And why should not corre
sponding effects appear ? " There is reason to think that
there were more Jews converted by the apostles in one day,
than have since been won over in the last thousand years."*
The simple explanation is and must be, that the great power
of God was with the apostles for the establishment of tht
truth, in a degree far greater than that in which it is now
vouchsafed to his ministers in promoting the wide extension
of the truth.
From the Jews turn to the heathens. There is no reason
to believe that the heathenism of the present day is any more
opposed to the propagation of Christianity, than that of the
world in the age of the apostles. Instead of twelve, there are
hundreds of labourers in this field — men of education, talent,
indefatigable zeal, undaunted devotion. The art of printing
has furnished them with facilities of which the apostles, un
less it be conceded that they possessed the miraculous gift of
tongues, were entirely destitute. The scriptures are now
circulated in full ; while in the days of St. Paul, the canon
being incomplete, they were circulated only in parts, hi
addition to all this, Christianity is recommended among many
heathen nations, by the political importance of the countries
from which its preachers have gone, and in some, by the
actual co-operation of christian powers ruling in the midst of
pagan institutions. With these important advantages ; what
is the success of present efforts among the heathen ? Enough,
indeed, to reward all the zeal expended in their support;
enough to show that still the power of God is with the gospel,
* Bryant on the Truth of Christianity.

280 lecture ix.
and that ample encouragement is given for all the increase
of effort which Christians can ever bestow on the heathen ;
but nothing comparable with the success of the apostles. Paul
was instrumental in converting more heathens, in thirty years,
than all modern missionaries in the last five hundred. Ex
plain this fact ! It is absurd to attempt it, in view of all the
circumstances of the case, except you admit the solution
given by Paul himself — " I have planted, and Apollos water
ed ; but God gave the increase." Without this grand truth,
" God gave the increase ;" Christianity would have perished
on the cross of its founder.
I have now set before you a miracle, the evidence of which
no eye can be too blind to see : Christianity universally
propagated ; and yet propagated by no earthly influence but
that of the apostles. This is the miracle. It is as directly
contrary to the laws of nature and to universal experience,
as if, at the word of man, the desert of Arabia should bud
and blossom like a fruitful garden, or the sepulchre give up
its dead. As long as this one fact, the propagation of Chris
tianity, shall remain ; the gospel will be supported by a
pillar of evidence which infidels can only remove by taking
away the foundation of all inductive evidence, and bringing
down the whole temple of human knowledge to their own
destruction. Now, in conclusion, let us see what an unbeliever must
believe in consistency with his profession. He must believe
that the apostles were either such weak-minded men as to
imagine'that their crucified Master had been with them, from
time to time, during forty days after his burial, had conversed
with them, and eaten with them, and that they had every
sensible evidence of his resurrection, while in truth he had
not been near them, but was still in his sepulchre ; or else
that they were so wicked and deceitful as to go all over the
world preaching that he was risen from the dead, when they
knew it was a gross fabrication. Suppose the unbeliever to
choose the latter of these alternatives. Then he believes, not

lecture ix. 281
only that those men were so singularly attached to this un
truth as to give themselves up to all manner of disgrace, and
persecution, and labour, for the sake of making all the world
believe it, knowing that their own destruction could be the
only consequence ; but also, what is still more singular, that
when they plunged, immediately at the outset of their ministry,
into an immense multitude of those who, having lately cruci
fied the Saviour, were full of enmity to his disciples ; they
succeeded, without learning, eloquence, power, or a single
conceivable motive, in making three thousand of them be
lieve that he, whom they had seen on the cross, was indeed
alive again ; and believe it so fully, as to renounce every thing,
and be willing to suffer any thing, for the sake of it, and this
on the very spot where the guards that had kept the sepulchre
were at hand to tell what was become of the body of Jesus.
He must believe, moreover, that although in attempting to
propagate a new religion to the exclusion of every other, they
were undertaking what was entirely new, and opposed to the
views of all nations ; although the doctrines they preached
were resisted by all the influence of the several priesthoods ;
all the power of the several governments ; all the passions,
habits, and prejudices of the people ; and all the wit and pride
of the philosophers of all nations ; although the age was such as
insured to their fabrications the most intelligent examination,
with the strongest possible disposition to detect them ; although,
in themselves, these infatuated men were directly the reverse
of what such resistance demanded, and, when they com
menced, were surrounded by circumstances of the most de
pressing kind, and by opposers specially exulting in the confi
dence of their destruction ; although the mode they adopted
was of all others most calculated to expose their own weakness
and dishonesty, and to imbitter the enmity and increase the
contempt of their opposers, so that they encountered everv
where the most tremendous persecutions, till torture and death
were almost synonymous with the name of Christian ; al
though they had nothing to propose, to Jew or Gentile, as a

282 lecture ix.
matter of faith, but what the wisdom of the world ridiculed,
and the vice of the world hated, and all men were united in
despising ; although they had nothing earthly with which to
tempt any one to receive their fabrication, except the necessity
of an entire change in all his habits and dispositions, and an
assurance that tribulations and persecutions must be his por
tion: Yet when philosophers, with all their learning, and rank,
and subtlety, and veneration, could produce no effect on the
public mind, these obscure Galileans obtained such influence,
throughout the whole extent of the Roman empire, and espe
cially in the most enlightened cities, that, in thirty years, what
they themselves (by the supposition) did not believe, they made
hundreds of thousands of all classes, philosophers, senators,
governors, priests, soldiers, as well as plebeians, believe, and
maintain unto death ; yea, they planted this doctrine of their
own invention so deeply that all the persecutions of three hun
dred years could not root it up ; they established the gospel so
permanently that in three hundred years it was the established
religion of an empire co-extensive with the known world, and
continues still the religion of all civilized nations. This, says
the unbeliever, they did simply by their own wit and in
dustry; and yet, he well knows that, preachers of the gospel,
with incomparably more learning, with equal industry, in far
greater numbers, and in circumstances immeasurably more
propitious, have attempted to do something of the same kind
among heathen nations, and could never even approximate
to their success. Still the apostles had no help but that of
their own ingenuity and diligence ! Such is the belief of
the unbeliever. To escape acknowledging that the apostles
were aided by miraculous assistance, he makes them to have
possessed in themselves miraculous ability. To get rid of
one miracle in the work, he has to make twelve miracles
out of the twelve agents of the work. The Christian takes
a far different course. " Paul planted, Apollos watered, but
God gave the increase." The weapons of their warfare
were, not carnal, but mighty through God, to the pulling

lecture ix. 283
down of strong holds. To which solution, philosophy or
common sense would award the prize of rational decision, it
is easy to determine.
The argument from the propagation of Christianity is not
yet complete. Satisfactory already, it is yet to receive an
immense accession of strength. " The wilderness and the
solitary place," the immense regions of Pagan and Moham
medan desolation, shall yet be glad for the blessings of the
gospel, and "the desert rejoice and blossom as the rose."
Every nation and kindred shall be brought " into captivity
to the obedience of Christ," for the word hath gone forth out
of the mouth of the Lord : " I will give thee the heathen for
thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for
thy possession." How should every heart respond Amen !
and pray : " Thy kingdom come ; thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven '."

<i8i lecture x.
LECTURE X,
THE FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY.
In our preceding lectures, we have followed the currents
of three independent arguments, each of which was found
sufficient to conduct us to a complete proof of the divine
authority of the gospel of Christ. That, to which we now
proceed, is especially capable of being " known and read of
all men," and deserves to be ranked in the highest class of
the evidences of Christianity. Our blessed Lord, speaking
of false pretenders to divine revelation, delivered the follow
ing rule, by which they might be distinguished : " Ye shall
know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of
thorns, or figs of thistles 7 Even so every good tree bring
eth forth good fruit ; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil
fruit. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." This
is a test universally approved of, and necessarily employed.
Its influence on our judgment is unavoidable ; and when
properly applied, its results are certain. The- goodness of a
tree cannot be doubted, while we know the excellence of its
fruit. No more reason have we to question the holy charac
ter and divine origin of religion, while its legitimate effects
on the lives and hearts of its genuine disciples are holy.
We may come to an erroneous conclusion by judging erro
neously of the fruit ; by ascribing effects to causes which did
not produce them ; by charging upon religion a train of
consequences of which it was only the incidental occasion,
instead of the natural cause. But these are errors in the
application, and independent of the correctness of the test.
Whenever you have ascertained the true results of any sys
tem of doctrine, you have found a plain and certain expres
sion of it? intrinsic character. It is good in proportion as

lecture x. 285
the fruit is good. If its fruit be godly, it must itself be
of God.
Let infidelity be always tried by this equitable rule, so as
to receive the full credit of all the evils which may easily be
found to have grown upon its branches ; let it be stripped of
all those adventitious circumstances of a favourable kind for
which it is indebted to the surrounding influence of Chris
tianity ; and few eyes will fail to see that the root is one of
bitterness, and the tree fit only to be cut down as a cumberer
of the ground. If men would judge Christianity also, by
the fair application of this rule, carefully separating from
her genuine productions all those of which, however enemies
may love to lay them to her charge, she is only the innocent
occasion ; it would require but little discernment to be con
vinced of her heavenly origin, and of the duty of all to
spread the knowledge and acceptance of her divine revela
tion. Such will be the object of the present lecture. Chris
tianity may be known by its fruits. Christians are desirous
that their faith should be judged by this test, as well as by
every other that is just and equal. We set out, therefore,
with this question : What are the fruits of Christianity 7
In the examination of this subject, we will consider,
I. The effects of Christianity on society in
GENERAL. II. Its effects on the character and happiness
of genuine disciples.
Reserving the latter of these divisions for another lec
ture, we devote our attention at present exclusively to the
former. In proceeding to illustrate the beneficial effects of Chris
tianity on society in general, I know of no way so direct as
to consider in what condition the countries now blessed with
its influence would have remained, had they been left to the
several forms of religion under which they had previously
subsisted. Let us take a brief survey of the moral state of
the ancient world in the age when the preaching of the cross
9A

286 lecture x.
effected its wonderful revolution in the whole fabric of soci
ety. And that we may not be accused of unfairness, let us
take into view, not the more distant and uncivilized pro
vinces, but those chief central states, where all the light and
moral vigour of the heathen world were concentrated. Let
our survey be confined to the society of Italy and Greece,
where philosophy held her court, and literature and the arts
were cultivated with the utmost devotion and success. Un
fortunately for the interests of truth, the history of Greece
and Rome has fallen, for the most part, into the hands of
writers much more concerned with their intellectual and
martial prowess, than their moral attainments and social
virtues ; so that while the reader is occupied in admiring the
acuteness of their schoolmen, the taste of their poets, the
perfection of their arts, and the warlike character of their
soldiery, he is seldom called to look within the enclosures of
society, and inquire how they lived, what manner of men
they were in their families, in their social relations, in their
moral principles, and their private habits.
A certairi eminent writer, who lived in the age to which
we refer, addressing the people of Rome, describes the heathen
population of the civilized world as given up to the vilest,
most unnatural, and beastly affections ; filled with all unrigh
teousness and degrading wickedness ; full of envy, murder,
deceit, malignity ; disobedient to parents ; covenant-breakers,
without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful, not only
committing such things as were worthy of death, but having
pleasure in them that did them. Such, according to St.
Paul, were the polished Grecians and the sterner Romans.*
1st. Consider their religion. "Professing themselves to
be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the
uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible
man, and to birds and four-footed beasts, and creeping
things."! Deities were multiplied till there was a god for
every thing, and any thing answered for a god. Athens was
• Rom. i. 29—32. t Rom. i. 22, 23.

lecture x. 287
full of statues dedicated to different deities ; those of various
countries being so crowded together, that it was said to be
"easier to find a god than a man." There was the god
Caius Cassar, and the god Augustus Cassar, and the god Lu -
eius Caesar, and the goddess Julia, the profligate daughter of
Augustus, to whom the rulers of Athens ascribed the title of
Providence. The senate of the Areopagus, and that of the
six hundred, erected her statue, and enacted her divinity ; an
altar having been consecrated many years before, to " the
Unknown God." Rome exceeded Athens in the number of
her gods, only by having, as the mistress of the world, all
nations to collect from, and all forms of paganism to counte
nance. " The deities of a thousand groves and a thousand
streams possessed, in peace, their local and respective influ
ence ; nor could the Roman, who deprecated the wrath of
the Tiber, deride the Egyptian who presented his offering to
the beneficent genius of the Nile. Every virtue and even
vice acquired its divine representative ; every art and pro
fession its patron, whose attributes in the most distant ages
and countries, were uniformly derived from the character of
their peculiar votaries. It was the custom (of the Romans;
to tempt the protectors of besieged cities by the promise of
more distinguished honours than they possessed in their
native country. Rome gradually became the common tem
ple of her subjects, and the freedom of the city was bestowed
on all the gods of mankind."* "In this mania for foreign
gods, the nobles and the emperors themselves set the most
corrupting examples. Germanicus and Agrippina devoted
themselves especially to Egyptian gods. So also Vespasian.
Nero served all gods with the exception of the Dea Syra.
Marcus Aurelius caused the priests of all foreign gods and
nations to be assembled in order to implore aid for the Roman
empire against the incursions of the Marcomanni. Commodus
caused himself to be initiated into the mysteries cf the Egyp
tian Isis and the Persian Mithras. Severus worshipped
* Gibbon's Dec. and Fall, i. 32, 35, 36.

288 lecture x.
especially the Egyptian Serapis ; Caracalla chiefly the Egyp
tian Isis ; and Heliogabalus the Syrian deities ; though he
was desirous of becoming a priest of the Jewish, Samaritan,
and Christian religions."*
The traditions of the principal divinities of the ancient
heathen are a true guide to the vices of their worship. What
the gods were said to have been in their lives, their worship
pers were actually in their service. " It is a shame," said one
who knew them well, " even to speak of those things which
were done of them in secret." The chief oracles of the hea
thens appointed human sacrifices ; so that not only the barba
rians, but even the Athenians, Lacedaemonians, and Romans,
were accustomed to worship idols in the blood of their fellow-
creatures. What must have been the state of public morals
when gods were patrons of vice, and their rites encouraged
both cruelty and obsceneness, it is easier to imagine than de
scribe. " Eusebius is compelled to use language when de
scribing the height of wickedness and impurity which the
worship of the heathens attained, such as no virtuous man
can read without shuddering." The gods were entreated, by
costly offerings, on splendid altars, to favour the indulgence
of unnatural lusts ; the perpetration of murders ; the robbery
of the orphan and the widow. Seneca exclaims : " How great
is now the madness of men ! They lisp the most abomina
ble prayers in the ears of the gods. And if a man is found
listening, they are silent. What a man ought not to hear,
they do not blush to rehearse to God."t Well might St. Paul
describe them as "given up to uncleanness through the
lusts of their own hearts."\
2d. Consider the spirit of cruelty that reigned among those
people. It was not solely owing to the madness and depravity
of a Tiberius, a Caligula, a Nero, or a Caracalla, that a cruel
and sanguinary spirit, in their day, was so universal. Had
not the whole mass, the peasant, the soldier, the citizen, and
* Prof. Tholuck on Heathenism.— Biblical Repository,
* Epist. 10 t See Potter's Antiquities, ii. 301.

lecture x. 289
he senator, as well as the prince, been foully tainted, the
monstrous enormities of those vicious tyrants could never
have been perpetrated. Such was the cruelty of Romans to
their slaves, that it was not unusual to put the aged and use
less to perish on an island in the Tiber ; and some masters
would even drown them, as food for the inhabitants of their
fish-ponds.* Scenes of blood and slaughter were the public
diversions of the people. Witness the shows of gladiators in
the crowded amphitheatre, when to celebrate a birth-day or
gratify a popular whim, crowds of captives were set to mutual
slaughter, or else to contend with the fury of wild beasts.
What must have been the moral sensibility of those nations,
of which the most refined females delighted in such revolting
cruelties, criticising the skill of the ferocious swordsman, and
exclaiming with enthusiasm at the graceful stroke that opened
the heart of the vanquished, and poured out his lifeblood
upon the arena ! t St. Paul describes the heathen community
as full of murder and malignity. Hume, speaking of " the
* " The custom of exposing old, useless, or sick slaves on an island of the
Tiber, there to starve, seems to have been pretty common in Rome; and
whoever recovered after having been so exposed, had his liberty given him
by an edict of the emperor Claudius." " The ergastula, or dungeons, where
slaves in chains were forced to work, were very common all over Italy." ¦' A
chained slave for a porter, was usual in Rome, as appears from Ovid and
other authors." The evidence of slaves " was always extorted by the most
exquisite torments." — Hume on the Populousness of Ancient Nations.
t " Who," says Hume, " can read the accounts of tlie amphitheatrical en
tertainments without horror 1 or who is surprised that the emperors should
treat people in the same way the people treated their inferiors 1 One's hu
manity is apt to renew the barbarous wish of Caligula, that the people had
but one neck. A man could almost be pleased, by a single blow to put an
end to such a race of monsters." — Note to Essay on the Populousness of Ancient
Nations. How Cicero, "the mildest of all pagan philosophers and orators," regarded
with an inhuman approbation the cruelties above named, may be seen from
his sayings, as quoted in Jortin's Discourses concerning the truth of the
Christian Religion. He states that the supplications of a poor wretch begging
his life, on the arena, only made the spectators, as a matter of course, the more
violent against him, and the more set upon his death. See the Oration fot
Milo.
24*

290 lecture x.
most illustrious period of Roman history," says that " at thai
t ime, the horrid practice of poisoning was so common, that
during part of a season a praetor punished capitally for this
crime above three thousand persons in a part of Italy, and
found informations of this nature still multiplying upon him!
So depraved in private life," adds the historian, " were that
people whom in their history we so much admire."* Murder
was in common practice among all classes. " Such," says
Gibbon, "was the unhappy condition even of Roman empe
rors, that, whatever might be their conduct, their fate was
commonly the same ; almost every reign is closed by thf
same disgusting repetition of treason and murder." Suicidi
was not only extensively practised, but advocated as a right,
and commended as virtuous. Seneca pleaded for it. Cicero
was its advocate. Brutus, and Cassius, with many others,
both defended and practised it. Cato is praised by Plutarch
for having been his own murderer. These, in their day,
were among the lights of the heathen world ! What then,
must have been the awful deeds of darkness among the more
ignorant populace !
They were " without natural affection." Nothing could
exhibit, in a more appalling light, their utter annihilation of
moral principle and natural affection, than the fact that "the
exposition, that is, the murder of new born infants, was an
allowed practice in almost all the states of Greece and Rome:
even among the polite and civilized Athenians, the abandon
ing of one's child to hunger or to wild beasts was regarded
without blame or censure."t " This practice," says Hume,
" was very common ; and is not spoken of by any author of
those times with the horror it deserves, or scarcely even with
disapprobation. Plutarch, the humane, good-natured Plutarch,
mentions it as a merit in Attalus, king of Pergamus, that he
murdered, or, if you will, exposed all his own children in
order to leave his crown to the son of his brother, Eumenes.
Ii was Solon, the most celebrated of the sages of Greece that
? Essay on Politics. t Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments.

lecture x. 291
gave parents permission by law to kill their children."* Phi
losophers supported the custom by argument. Aristotle thought
it should be encouraged by the magistrates. Plato maintained
the same inhuman doctrine. It was complained of, as a great
singularity, that the laws of Thebes forbade the practice.
In all the provinces, and especially in Italy, the crime was
daily perpetrated. From one end to the other of the Roman
empire was stained with the blood of murdered infants.
Think of the state of domestic virtue, when such was a
prevailing inhumanity of parents ; and the learned defended
it as wise ; the magistrate countenanced it as useful ; and
public sentiment regarded it as innocent ! Such was the
power of a father by the Roman law, that his adult children
might be sent to the mines, sold into slavery, or destroyed
at his will ; his daughter could be compelled, at his discretion,
to forsake a husband whom he himself had approved, while
his wife could be dismissed at pleasure ; and for certain
crimes, some of them of a very trivial nature, might be put
to death. The authority of the father was that of a despot.
The subjection of his family was that of slaves.
3d. But the Greeks and Romans were as notorious for their
departure from the lowest grade of decency, as for their
savage disruption of all the ties of natural affection. Sallust,
speaking of the Roman youth in the time of Cicero, says :
"Luxury, avarice, and pride, enslaved them ; they wantoned
in rapine and prodigality ; undervalued their own, and
coveted what belonged to others ; trampled on modesty,
friendship, and continence ; confounded things divine and
human, and threw off all manner of consideration and
restraint." " Men and women laid aside all regard to
chastity."* We cannot name the degrading crimes which in
Greece were sanctioned by the public laws, and at Rome
were practised, in the time of Seneca, without shame. It
was considered a singular example in Athens, that the most
* Hume on the Populousness of Ancient Nations.
t Rose's Translation.

292 lecture x.
moral philosopher did not indulge in them. Even Cicero
could speak, without any sign of disapprobation, of Cotta,
an eminent Roman, as having owned an habitual addiction to
the vileness we are alluding to, and as having quoted the
authorities of ancient philosophers in its vindication. There
was no species of degrading crime which had not its
attempted justification in the written doctrines, and its
shameless perpetration in the avowed practices, of the wise
men, and such as are usually supposed to have been the
good men, of the most civilized nations of antiquity.
Q,uinctilian, speaking of the philosophers of the first century
of the Christian era, says : " The most notorious vices are
screened under that name ; and they do not labour to main
tain the character of philosophers by virtue and study, but
conceal the most vicious lives under an austere look and
singularity of dress."* Such, also, is the acknowledgment
of Plutarch, with regard to the ancient philosophers in
general. While he owns that they were generally noted for
a certain infamous vice which we cannot name ; he excuses
them by the plea that they improved their minds at the
same time that they corrupted their bodies. Lucian and
others unite in this representation. Neither Seneca, nor
Xenophon, nor Plato, nor Aristotle, nor even Socrates,
whose morals have been extolled by infidels, as surpassing
any thing in the Bible, is excepted from the revolting
account of these writers. Granting that jealousy and
calumny, among the ancients, included some of those illus
trious names under a charge so degrading ; what must
have been the character of the great mass of the philoso
phers, when calumny durst venture so far ?t
Such were the men whom our modern reformers would
hold up a> the public as patterns of virtue. " They opposed
each other," says Voltaire, " in their dogmas ; but in morality
they were all agreed." " There has been no philosopher, in
all antiquity, who has not been desirous of making men
* Quirctilian, Inst. Oral. t See M'Knighi on Rum. i. 2S 27.

lecture x. 293
better." To the truth of the first assertion, we have no
reason to object. In a sense directly opposite to that in
which the writer intended it to be understood, they were
indeed in morality all agreed. As to their unanimous
desire of making men better, we can only say that they
adopted the most singular means of effecting it. A Roman
citizen, of the Augustan age, described them as those who,
being past feeling, had given themselves over unto lascivious-
ness to work all uncleanness with greediness*
We have now exhibited some of the prominent features in
the moral character of the society of Greece and Rome, in
their most enlightened ages. From what has been stated,
we may form a conception sufficiently accurate of the condi
tion of things in all those departments of morality on which
depends whatever is important to personal, domestic, and
public happiness. We have been speaking of the most
cultivated people of the ancient world. Unspeakably darker
and more appalling would have been the picture, had we
described the spirit, habits, and prevading crimes of any
other pagan nations. But we are content that a fair repre-
* Among the philosophers of the time of Cicero, the Cynics were held in
great repute, and were widely spread throughout the Roman empire. The
wise man of this school "gave up all human relations towards mankind;
contemned his country, his kindred, and the joys of wedded love, and sought
his consolation in a self-complacent beastliness. One might see these beastly
men half naked, moving about every where, with a great cudgel and a bread-
bag, performing the animal necessities of their nature before the eyes of all ;
thrusting themselves, with extreme rudeness, among the multitudes, and there
stepping forward as teachers of wisdom; not in a regular discourse, but with
abrupt and broken language of vulgar sport and derision." And yet even the
New Platonic philosophers greatly revered Cynicism, and represented
Diogenes, its leader,as a godlike man.
Whoever may desire a more extended account of ancient, classic heathen
ism, in regard to its gross superstition, its disgusting sensuality, its obscene
idols and ceremonies, its human sacrifices, its legalized cruelties, the odious
vices of those who conformed to it, and its utter impotency for all purposes
of moral improvement, is referred to an article, already quoted, ov the Nature
and, Influence of Heathenism, by Prof. Tholuck, of Halk, in Nos. vi. and
vii. of the Biblical Repository, Andover.

294 lecture x.
sentation of the best, should also be received as a good
likeness of the worst communities of ancient heathenism.
We ask, what has become of all these deep rooted defor
mities ? Look around upon the countries over which the
influence of Christianity has been exerted; those especially
where the religion of Jesus has been enjoyed in the greatest
purity, and cultivated with the truest devotion. Where are
the remains of the abominations we have described ! Crime
remains indeed ; but only in hidden dens. It shuns the
ight. Laws do not afford it countenance. Public sentiment
drives it into concealment. What would the feeling of soci
ety now say to a show of gladiators ; to the legalized expo
sure of infants by the hands of mothers ; to the public, deli
berate murder of worn out slaves ; to the justification of
suicide, and theft, and lying, and assassination, and the ac
knowledged practice of the most odious sensuality, by those
who are looked up to as the moral teachers and examples of
society? How would idolatry, with all its cruelties and
obscenities ; its profligate deities ; its human sacrifices ; its
hidden mysteries of iniquity ; and its public ritual of vice,
affect the public mind, were its temples, and images, and
lascivious ceremonies now set up in our cities ? It is not
enough to say that in countries where all these abominations
once rioted without restraint and in full sympathy with the
public taste, they have long since been driven away with
abhorrence. Positive blessings, in every form and for every
class of society, have risen up in their place. A measure of
virtue which would have singled out an ancient philosopher
as a wonderful exception to the rest of the world, is absolutely
necessary at present to a character of ordinary decency.
Benevolence, such as was not known in Greece or Rome, and
had it appeared, would not have been comprehended, is now
a matter of common, daily intercourse between man and
man. An incalculable improvement has been effected in all
departments of human affairs, from the administration of
national government down to the most retired relations of

lecture x. 295
the family circle. What rulers would have been remarkable
once for not doing, the people would now expel them for
attempting. A spirit of equity, moderation, and respect for
the interests and happiness of the community, is required in
the governments of countries under the influence of Chris
tianity, which was hardly conceived of by the nations of
antiquity, and, if it ever appeared, was a marvellous excep
tion to general rule. Laws, regenerated in their principles,
are enacted in wisdom, and executed with a faithfulness
unknown to the heathen. Instead of the despotic harshness
with which a father was once permitted to rule his children
and his wife, as his tools and slaves ; universal sentiment
demands it, as necessary even to decency, that he shall be
kind to them as his own flesh, and as the rightful sharers in
all his comforts. Women have been elevated from the rank
of beasts of burden, to an equal participation in all the
refinements and blessings of society. The condition of the
dependant classes of the community has been raised from
that of contempt, and oppression, and utter ignorance, to a
level, in point of natural right, with all; while education
shines upon their dwellings, and religion seeks their souls, as
worthy of all sacrifices which christian benevolence can
make for their salvation.
Efforts to provide for the sick, the destitute, the orphan,
the widow, were unknown among the ancients. Rome,
Athens, Corinth, contained no hospitals, no asylums, no pub
lic charities, no systems of gratuitous education. Such deeds
of benevolence were impossible among a people who were
accustomed to look upon all forms of human suffering with
indifference, and to derive enthusiastic amusement from their
promotion. In vain are the writings of their moralists
examined for exhortations to any thing like an active con
cern for the poor or the ignorant. An orphan child was no
object of public compassion in countries where orphans were
daily and deliberately made, and left to perish by cold-blooded
ibandonment on the part of their parents.

296 lecture x.
But what new sympathies sprung up immediately where
the gospel prevailed ! It was made the duty of the whole
christian community to provide for the stranger, the poor,
the sick, the aged, the widow, and the orphan. For this one
object, public contributions, at the time of divine service,
were established, and private donations were multiplied.
How much such benevolence was insisted on, may be judged
from a passage of Tertullian, where, speaking of the impedi
ments which a christian woman would encounter by mar
riage with a heathen, he says : " What heathen will suffer
his wife, in visiting the brethren to go from street to street,
into strangers', and even into the most miserable cottages ?
Who will suffer them to steal into prisons, to kiss the chains
of martyrs ? If a stranger-brother comes, what reception
will he find in a stranger's house? If she has alms to bestow,
the safe and the cellar are closed to her."
What the gospel effected, in promoting benevolence, and
trampling down all the obstacles of selfishness and fear,
when good was hardly to be done but at the cost of life, may
be seen from the following representation of Dionysius, bishop
of Alexandria, who had an opportunity of observing the
contrast between heathens and Christians, when a terrible
pestilence was raging in that city. " That pestilence appeared
to the heathen as the most dreadful of all things, as that
which left them no hope ; not so, however, did it seem to
us, but only a peculiar and practical trial. The greater part
of our people, in the abundance of their brotherly love, did
not spare themselves ; and mutually attending to each other,
they would visit the sick without fear, and ministering to
them for the sake of Christ, they would cheerfully give up
their life with them. Many died, after their care had restored
others from the disease to health. The best among our
brethren, some priests and deacons, and some who were cele
brated among the laity, died in this manner, and such a
death, the fruit of great piety and strong faith, is hardly infe
rior to martyrdom Many who took the bodies of their

LECTURE X. 297
christian brethren into their hands and bosoms, closed their
mouth and eyes, and buried them with every attention, soon
followed them in death. But with the heathen, matters stood
quite differently; at the first symptom of sickness, they drove
a man from their society ; they tore themselves away from
their dearest connexions ; they threw the half dead into the
streets, and left the dead unburied ; endeavouring by all the
means in their power to escape contagion, which, notwith
standing all their contrivances, it was very difficult for them
to accomplish."
" In the same manner," writes Neander, from whose church
history the above is taken, " the Christians of Carthage let
the light of their love and christian conduct shine before the
heathen in a pestilence which visited North Africa a little
before, in the reign of Gallus. The heathen, out of cowardice,
left the sick and the dying; the streets were full of corpses,
which no man dared to bury ; and avarice was the only
passion which mastered the fear of death ; for wicked men
endeavoured to make a gain out of the misfortunes of their
neighbours ; and the heathen accused the Christians of being
the cause of this calamity, as enemies of the gods, instead
of being brought by it to the consciousness of their own guilt
and corruption. But Cyprian required of his church that
they should behold, in this desolating pestilence, a trial of
their dispositions. ' How necessary is it, my dearest bieth-
ren,' he says to them, ' that this pestilence, which appears to
bring horror and destruction, should prove the consciences
of men ! It will determine whether the healthy will take
care of the sick, whether relations bear tender love one to
another, and whether masters care for their sick servants.'
That the Christians should show a spirit of mutual love
among themselves, was not sufficient to satisfy a bishop who
formea his notions afterVhe model of the great Shepherd.
He therefore called his church together, and addressed them
thus: 'If we do good only to our own people, we do no more
than publicans and heathens. But if we are the children
25

298 LECTURE X.
of God, who makes his sun shine and his rain to descend
upon the just and the unjust ; who sheds abroad his bless
ings, not on his own alone, but even upon those whosb
thoughts are far from him ; we must show this by our
actions, endeavouring to become perfect as our Father in
heaven is perfect, and blessing those who curse, and doing
good to those who persecute us.' Encouraged by this pa
ternal admonition, the members of the church addressed
themselves to the work ; the rich contributing money, and
the poor their labour ; so that in a short time the streets were
cleared of the corpses who filled them, and the city saved
from the dangers of a universal pestilence."*
That the spirit of primitive Christians is still the charac
teristic spirit of Christianity, in regard to all works of charity,
may easily be seen. Go where the gospel has attained the
greatest supremacy, and behold how every form of human
misery is met by the self denying diligence, and comforted by
the munificence, of the benevolent. What conceivable method
of removing distress, of preventing vice, and disseminating
happiness, has not been put in operation ? The whole Roman
empire had not one benevolent institution. The single city
of London counts her three hundred ! And why is so little
said or thought of them, except that the public mind has be
come so accustomed to the noblest efforts of benevolence, that
they are now regarded almost as matters of course — the
natural consequence of prevailing principles of brotherly
kindness and charity ?
It is not my design to exhibit any thing like a full length
portrait of the contrast between the civilization of modern,
and that of ancient nations. It is seen in all the relations of
life ; in the whole fabric of society, from the government of
the family, to that of the state ; from the tender cares of the
cradle and the mother to the wide concerns of communities
and rulers. Every thing has felt the change. Though not
perfect, it is immense. Much remains to be done, but mighty
» Rtirh.'s translation of Meander's Ch. Hist.

LECTURE X. 299
improvements have been effected. Were the whole work
undone • should the sun, which now enlightens the moral
world, be commanded to go back, and suffer the classic
paganism of Greece and Rome to resume its sway ; every
joint in the mechanism of society would groan with pain ;
every corner in the household of civilized beings would be
filled with darkness ; the transition from the arts and litera
ture of England to those of Hottentots or New Zealanders,
would not be greater than such a change from the moral
elevation of the present age, to the highest refinements of the
purest nations of antiquity.
Such is the fact. It remains to be accounted for. What
produced this change? The religion of ancient heathens
pleads " not guilty" to the charge. It had no reference to
morals. The vilest crimes and the highest repute for piety
were perfectly consistent with each other, among heathens
of the Augustan age. It was no part of the business of theil
priests to teach men virtue. No religion but that of the
Bible ever possessed or aimed at the power of reformation.
Equally clear are the literature, and philosophy, and arts of
antiquity from the imputation of this mighty revolution.
Never did they prevail so extensively among the heathen, as
in the first century of Christianity ; and never weie they ac
companied with such moral degradation. Philosophy had
as little disposition, as ability to reform. Whatever light it
may have possessed, it monopolized ; holding its truth in un
righteousness, and studiously conforming its practice to the
worst abominations. " Cicero declares that the ancient phi
losophers never reformed either themselves or their disciples ;
and that he knew not a single instance in which either the
teacher or the disciple was made virtuous by their principles."*
* Dwight on Infidel Philosophy.
" In their writings and conversation, the philosophers of antiquity asserted
the independent dignity of reason ; but they resigned their actions to the com
mands of law and custom. Viewing with a smile of pity and indulgence the
various errors of the vulgar, they diligently practised the ceremonies of their
fathers, devoutly frequented the temples of the gods ; and, sometimes conde-

300 LECTURE X.
But it may be supposed that, without any other cause
than its own natural fluctuation, the moral condition of
ancient nations may have taken a change, like the tides of
the ocean, and begun to rise from the mere fact of being re
duced to so low an ebb. Answer this by the present state of
those nations that continued under the native influence of
paganism. In which of them was such a thing ever known,
as a reformation of public morals ? Their unvaried history,
from the days of Moses to the present, settles the matter, that
heathenism has no power, but of progressive corruption;
and, left to itself, can only reduce its votaries into deeper
and deeper debasement. Then, if the vast improvement in
question is neither the consequence of the religion, nor the
philosophy, nor the arts, nor the literature, nor of any
natural reaction in the moral state of the ancient heathen ; to
what other cause must it be assigned ? History has but one
answer. Reason has but one answer. Christianity alone ;
single-handed, persecuted Christianity, by the agency of
twelve obscure Jews, began the wonderful change, and under
the favour of God, has accomplished its every step of ad
vancement. Till such a thing as the religion of Christ ap
peared in the world, a reformation of heathen society was
never dreamed of. Till Christians appeared among the
Gentiles, none had ever adventured, none were ever disposed,
to labour for the improvement of mankind. Christian writers
were the first that dared to drag the abominations of classic
antiquity to light, and brand them with the condemnation
of truth and righteousness. The first christian emperor
scending to act a part on the theatre of superstition, they concealed the senti
ments of an Atheist under the sacerdotal robes. It was indifferent to thero
what shape the folly of the multitude might choose to assume; and they ap
proached, with the same inward contempt and the same external reverence,
the altars of the Lybian, the Olympian, or the Capitoline Jupiter."— Gibbon's
History, i. 34.
A sorry tribute, by a philosopher, to the benevolence and honesty of his
ancient brethren. Paul would have drawn their picture with a darker pencil
stm Paul's Master would have named thrm "hypocrites," "whiled sepulchres."

LECTURE X. 301
issued the first prohibition of inhuman practices and amuse
ments, which many centuries had sanctioned. Till the
gospel set up its churches and gathered its disciples, the
gentile world had never seen such a spectacle as that of a
society united by bands of love; shining in the beauty of
holiness ; animated with zeal to do good at the expense of
self-denial and sacrifice.
How exclusively the happy effects of which we have been
speaking are the fruit of Christianity, is evident from the fact
that, when you take up a map of the world and mark out
the boundaries of Christendom, you mark also the boundaries
of all civilization and refinement ; that as you approach the
regions where the Bible is best known and most obeyed, you
perceive a rapid increase of all the virtues, and charities, and
blessings of which the society of man is capable ; that the
highest elevation of the human character is where Chris
tianity reigns in her purest form, and the blackest page in
the history of Christendom, the page most polluted with vice,
and red with cruelty and murder, is the record of the people
who trampled down the institutions of the gospel, decreed the
living God out of existence, and attempted to raise the deities
of ancient paganism from the dead. That many individuals
who deny the truth, and profess to be free from the influence
of Christianity, are decent men and far removed from the
condition of the heathen in point of moral precept, as well
as practice, is no evidence against our position. The light
of Christianity is all about them, and they cannot help seeing
by its aid. They have learned christian truth from their
childhood, and it cannot be unlearned. Do what they may,
they cannot think or act without its influence. They may
boast the sufficiency of their own reason, but they can no
more exercise their reason without the aid of revelation, than
they can breathe the air of spring without the fragrance of
its flowers. " On all questions of morality and religion, the
streams of thought have flowed through channels enriched
with a celestial ore, whence thev have derived the tincture
25*

302

LECTURE X.

to which they are indebted for their rarest and most salutary
qualities."* What a community of deists would be without
Christianity, can only be known by remembering what deists
were before Christianity came into the world, and what they
became, when in France they supposed they had almost ban
ished her from the earth.
How remarkable are the confessions of infidels to the
excellent fruit and indispensable influence of the gospel !
Bolingbroke acknowledges, " that Constantine acted the part
of a sound politician in protecting Christianity, as it tended
to give firmness and solidity to his empire, softened the fero
city of the army, and reformed the licentiousness of the
provinces, and by infusing a spirit of moderation and sub
mission to government, tended to extinguish those principles
of avarice and ambition, injustice and violence, by which
so many factions were formed." "No religion," says the
same opposer of Christianity, " ever appeared in the world
whose natural tendency was so much directed to promote the
peace and happiness of mankind. It makes right reason a
law in every possible definition of the word. And therefore,
even supposing it to have been purely a human invention, it
had been the most amiable and the most useful invention
that was ever imposed on mankind for their good." Thus
even Rousseau : " If all were perfect Christians, individuals
would do their duty ; the people would be obedient to the
laws ; the magistrates incorrupt ; and there would be neither
vanity nor luxury in such a state." Such are the confessions
of many other writers of the same class. And yet these
men would riin the ploughshare through the foundations of
the church of Christ, so that one stone should not be left upon
another. So much for the consistency, the virtue, and dis
interested benevolence of infidelity ; or rather so much for
the contradiction between its head and its heart, its convic
tions and its vices.
I know of nothing, in the way of fact, more strikingly
* Robert Hall.

LECTURE X. 303
illustrative of the legitimate fruits of Christianity ; more com
pletely in proof that all the social and moral blessings which
civilized nations at present enjoy, are to be ascribed to her
influence; and that what she once was, as a tree of life to the
nations, she is now, and ever will be ; than the history of the
missions among the heathen, which protestant Christians are
now sustaining. Here we have experiments of her power
in all climates, over all habits and dispositions, and with all
classes of mind. She has gone in among the ice-bound in
habitants of Greenland, whose intellect was as slow, and
sleepy, and creeping, as the seals they lived on ; and whose
hearts were as barren and cold as their perpetual snows.
She has entered among the inhabitants of the southern
extreme of Africa, the Hottentots, the very lowest gradation
of human nature, whose souls were supposed to be as incapa
ble of enlightening and enlargement as the instincts of the
vermin that covered them. She has tried her powers among
the ferocious tribes of American Indians ; upon warriors
nourished with blood, and breathing a spirit of slaughter
which no sufferings nor dangers could ever tame. She has
lifted up her voice in the islands of the Pacific, among sav
ages uniting with the most inhuman idolatry, the most beastly
vices and unnatural cruelties ; and from all this heteroo-e-
neous display of unshapen depravity, by the mere influence
of her truth and love, she has led forth a multitude of disci
ples for the Lord Jesus, in whom are found precisely the
same distinctive features of meekness, humility, love, and
holiness. Look at the Sandwich, or the Society Islands !
Within our own times were they universally pagan, having
no altars but those of daemons; no law but that of violence ;
no morals but those of unbridled passion. Theft was the
most national art. Polygamy ; crimes against nature ; the
murder of prisoners taken in war ; the destruction of infants
and the sacrificing of human victims, prevailed throughout
their population. What is the change ! Where are now
their idols? In the museums of our missionary societies, as

304 LECTURE X.
trophies of the victories of the cross ; or cast " to the moles
and the bats" ty those who once adored them. The plan
and mould of society have been recast. Laws, wisely
enacted and well admistered, keep the peace and promote
improvements. Crimes of all kinds are obliged to cease or
go into concealment. Marriage has given parents new affec
tion for their children, and their children new ties among
each other. Benevolence, unknown before, has awakened a
desire to go about doing good. The Sabbath is reverenced
and widely kept for rest and worship. The arts of peace are
cultivated where formerly the only art desired was that of
war. The march of civilization is visible in all domestic
comforts and private affairs ; in agriculture, commerce, build
ings, cleanliness, dress, manners, and government. Schools
are spread through the islands, and education is eagerly
sought by a large portion of the people of all ages and classes.
Such are the fruits of Christianity in our day. Nothing else
could have produced such fruits. Just after infidelity had
given the world a full length portrait, in the French revolu
tion, of her power to tear down, and tear in pieces, and drown
in blood, whatever is lovely and of good report ; then Chris
tianity set out, on the opposite side of the. world, to furnish
a striking contrast, in the missions of the Pacific, of her
benign influence to exterminate whatever is odious and
depraved.* * It is well known to the autrlor that travellers and voyagers not unfre-
quently bring back reports of the effects of missionary labours in the regions
they have visited, which stagger the minds of many sincere friends of foreign
missions. The accounts of what those honoured and devoted servants of
Christ, called missionaries, are doing, and of the advances which the gospel
is making under their influence, may all be true; much more than they relate
may be true; and yet it is very conceivable, yea, natural, that such men as
our ordinary visiters of foreign lands should return from those regions, having
neither seen nor heard any thing of the matter. Suppose a missionary were
accomplishing, with his schools and his preaching, among a tribe of Indians
in the centre of the state of New York, about as much as is reported of the
American labourers in the island of Ceylon ; how long might an intelligent
traveller, with no interest in religion, no relish for its intelligence, no love for

LECTURE X. 305
Not only has the religion of the gospel pioduced such
fruits, but the experiment of eighteen hundred years is per
fect proof, that in proportion as it shall ever be possessed in
the society of its disciples, no knowledge of its journals — a man of fashion
and gayety, mingling only with the literary and worldly-minded ; how long
might he reside in the fashionable circles of the city of New York, and sail
up the Hudson, and stop at Saratoga, and visit Niagara, and yet know abso
lutely nothing of that diligent missionary and his usefulness 1 Men who
have lived all their days in a city which abounds in religious institutions and
christian labours, without having become sufficiently informed to give a stran
ger a correct account even of their respective characters, much less of their
real usefulness, will touch at a port in the Sandwich islands, see the port
population, go no further than the coast, inquire of none but the ungodly, and
then come home and report that the missionaries have clone nothing to civilize
or convert the people. How should such men know 1 On their principles
of judging, it might be reported, with equal reason, that Christianity has
secured no influence, and done no good, in the city of New York. An anec
dote will illustrate how such authorities deserve to be regarded. A gentle
man, not long since, returned to his native city in England, after having spent
some three or four years in India. The pious people of his acquaintance
(not considering the extent of the Indies, and his indifference to the cause of
Christ) supposed that of course he had seen the missionary stations, and
knew by his own observation all about the reported progress of religion in
that country. They inquired of him the state of things in this respect. He
assured them that the accounts they had read of missionary doings and suc
cesses in the East had no foundation — were mere traps to get contributions.
He had been in India, and travelled extensively, and had seen nothing of any
inroads upon heathenism, nor any changes among the people ; had scarcely
heard of the existence of missionary stations. The people were amazed !
Much harm was doing ; when a clergyman of the place, hearing of the mat
ter, took an opportunity to converse with the traveller. Before disclosing his
object, he said to him : " You are probably familiar with the national
school system of instruction in this country. What do you think of itl"
" Why no," answered the traveller, " I really am not acquainted with it.''
•' But you doubtless know that there is such a system, and have probably seen
its establishments, and heard much of its usefulness."—" Why no, I have
never happened to do so, though I have a indistinct idea of the existence of
such a system."—" Well," said the clergyman, "I will tell you. The national
school system has been established for several years in England. Its schools
are all over the country ; its pupils are many hundreds of thousands ; its
influence is universally felt. It maintains more than one school in your imme
diate neighbourhood. Almost all your life has been spent in England, a
small country, and yet you know nothing of these interesting facts. You
have been a short time in the immense region of India, over which a few

306 LECTURE X.
native soundness, and have room and freedom to spread its
roots and extend its branches, it will continue to bear such
fruit, more and more abundantly and perfectly, to the end of
time. This tree of life was planted to live through all ages,
and spread its shadow over all nations. The trials it stood
in its infancy ; the fierce assaults of every species of enmity,
which in every age of its subsequent growth have endea
voured in vain to destroy it, are evidences that, as no human
power could have thus protected it, so no human opposition
can hereafter prevent its increase ; that it must grow, and
spread, and blossom, till time shall be no more.
I am well aware, and I desire not to conceal, that it is very
common with infidels to ascribe wars, intrigues, bloodshed,
and persecutions, to the influence of Christianity, and to
assert that the world has been covered with slaughter by the
hand of the gospel. The truth is, that whenever any evils,
such as wars or persecutions, arise, though infidels by pro
fession, or mere nominal christians, are at the bottom of
them ; though originated and carried on out of direct enmity
to the gospel ; yet, because the christian name is involved in
the contest, infidels set down the whole to the account of
a religion, which, nevertheless, their chief men confess, has
a direct tendency to make every body do his duty* and " lo
promote the peace and happiness of mankind."* But on
the other hand, whenever any good is done in society, such
as the banishment of the crimes and vices of heathenism ;
the promotion of virtue, peace, good laws, good institutions,
benevolence, domestic and public happiness ; then infidels
have great difficulty in seeing how these blessings are con
nected with Christianity, even though, by their own acknow-
missionary stations are scattered, as drops upon a desert ; and because, in
visiting a few prominent places, you heard or saw nothing of their influence
upon the millions of heathen, you would persuade us that what we have read
is all untrue. How much more should we believe that the national school
system is a fable !" The traveller was silenced ; the people were satisfied.
* Rousseau. t Bolingbroke.

LECTURE X. 307
ledgment, the fife of Jesus " showed at once what excellent
creatures men would be, when under the influence and powei
of that gospel which he preached."*
It is freely granted that in countries called christian, great
evils remain to be cured ; their history abounds with wars,
some of which have been on account of the christian religion,
and have been accompanied with great slaughter and lasting
enmities. But before these deplorable facts can justly be at
tributed to the influence of the peaceful and gentle religion
of Jesus, a number of important questions, which we shall
presently name, must be decided. By the confession of one
of the most noted infidels : " We have in Christ an example
of one who was just, honest, upright, and sincere, and above
all, of a most gracious and benevolent temper and behaviour.
One who did no wrong, no injury to any^man-; in whose
mouth was no guile ; who went about doing good, not only
by his ministry, but also in curing all manner of diseases
among the people. His life showed what excellent creatures
men would be when under the influence and power of that
gospel which he preached unto them."t But hear on this
head the eloquence of the profligate Rousseau, venturing for
once to speak the truth : " I will confess that the majesty of
the scriptures strikes me with admiration, as the purity of
the gospel has its influence on my heart. Peruse the works
of our philosophers with all their pomp of diction ; how con
temptible are they compared with the scriptures ! Is it possi
ble that a book at once so simple and sublime should be merely
the work of man ? Is it possible that the sacred personage
whose name it records, should be himself a mere man ? What
sweetness, what purity in his manner ! What sublimity in
his maxims ! What profound wisdom in his discourses !
Where is the man, where the philosopher, who could so live
and so die without weakness and without ostentation ? If
the life and death of Socrates were those of a sage, the life
?.Chubb's True Gospel, § viii. 55, 6.
t Chubb's True Gospel, § viii. 56, 57.

308 LECTURE X.
and death of Jesus were those of a God." Such are the con
fessions of a man whose vice and vanity constrained him to
say : " I cannot believe the gospel." No wonder, when at
the same time he was saying in his heart, I will not renounce
my debaucheries.
But such confessions abound in the writings of infidels, so
that " the whole christian argument might be maintained on
the admissions of one or other of the leading infidel writers ,
and no contest remain, unless, if it could then be called one,
with the miserable, ignorant ferocity of Paine and his asso
ciates."* On the ground of such acknowledgments, and of the ac
quaintance which any who ever read the New Testament
must have with its principles and tendency, let the following
questions be answered : Is there any tendency in the princi
ples of the gospel to the enkindling of strife, hatred, war, or
bloodshed ? Was the character of its founder ; were the
characters of the apostles and primitive Christians among
whom the native influence of Christianity was most unequivo
cally exhibited, in any manner indicative of such a tendency
in its principles ? Is not the whole history of the purest ages
of the gospel, as well as every page in the New Testament,
directly in proof of the very opposite effect ? Did not all the
evils of war and national dissension prevail much more
universally before the establishment of Christianity, than they
have done since ? Is not the influence of this religion plainly
visible in mitigating those horrors of war which she has not
exterminated? And as to those which have continued to
subsist, are they in direct consequence, or in spite of her in
fluence ; the fruit of the tree, or the poisonous weeds at its
root, which oppose its growth ? Are the men who have been
concerned in promoting these evils, and who are called Chris
tians, believed to have been real Christians ? Do not infidels
discriminate sufficiently between genuine and nominal reli
gion, to understand that, in thus acting, they were departing
* Wilson's Lectures.

LECTURE X. 309
from the principles of the gospel, and proving that they were
Christians but in name? "Have not the courts of princes,
notwithstanding Christianity may have been the professed
religion of the land, been generally attended by a far greater
proportion of deists, than of serious Christians ; and have not
pi iblic measures been directed by the counsels of the former,
much more than by those of the latter? It is well known .
that great numbers among the nobility and gentry of every
nation consider religion as suited only to vulgar minds ; and
therefore either wholly absent themselves from public wor
ship, or attend but seldom, and then only to save appearances
towards a national establishment. In other words, they are
unbelievers. This is the description of men by which pub
lic affairs are commonly managed, and to which the good or
the evil pertaining to them, so far as human agency is con
cerned, is to be attributed."*
It is a favourite manoeuvre with infidels to charge Chris
tianity with all the persecutions on account of religion, and,
at the same time, to speak in high terms of " the mild tole
rance of the ancient heathens;" of "the universal toleration
of poly theism ;" of "the Roman princes beholding without con-
cern a thousand forms of religion subsisting in peace under their
gentle sway."t Better information on this subject is greatly
needed in the community. Heathen toleration was any thing
but virtuous, and much less universal than its modern eulo
gists would represent. It allowed all nations to establish
whatever description of religion they pleased, provided each
would acknowledge that all, in their several spheres, were
equally good. But pagan nations required of every citizen
conformity to the national idolatries. This yielded, he might
believe and be, whatever he pleased. This denied, immedi
ately toleration ceased. Take a few examples. Stilpo was
banished Athens, for affirming that the statue of Minerva, in
the citadel, was no divinity, but only the work of the chisel
of Phidias. Protagoras received a similar punishment for
* Fuller's Gospel its own Witness. t Gibbon.
26

310

LECTURE X.

this single sentence : " Whether there be gods or not, I have
nothing to offer." Prodicus and his pupil, Socrates, suffered
death for opinions at variance with the established idolatry
of Athens. Alcibiades and iEschylus narrowly escaped a
like end for a similar cause. Plato dissembled his opinions ;
and Aristotle fled his country, under the lash of the mild and
universal toleration of the Grecian mythology. Cicero lays
it down as a principle of legislation entirely conformable to
the rights of the Roman state, that " no man shall have sepa
rate gods for himself; and no man shall worship by himself
new or foreign gods, unless they have been publicly acknow
ledged by the laws of the state."* The speech, in Dion
Cassius, which Maecenas is said to have made to Augustus,
may be considered a fair index of the prevailing sentiment
of that polished age. " Honour the gods," says Maecenas,
" by all means, according to the customs of your country,
and force others so to honour them. But those who are
for ever introducing something foreign in these matters, hate
and punish, not only for the sake of the gods, but also because
they who introduce new divinities mislead many others into
receiving foreign laws also. Suffer no man either to deny
the gods, or to practise sorcery." Julius Paulus, the Roman
civilian, gives the following as a leading feature of Roman
law : " Those who introduced new religions, or such as were
unknown in their tendency and nature, by which the minds
of men might be agitated, were degraded if they belonged to
the higher ranks, and if they were in a lower state, were
punished with death." Under this legislation, ma^r of the
governors endeavoured to compromise with Christians, by
allowing them to believe and honour what they pleased in
their hearts, provided they would observe outwardly the reli
gious ceremonies ordained by the state.t
Examples to the same effect, might be greatly multiplied.
I have furnished enough to show in what sense the*heathen
princes " beheld, without concern, a thousand forms of reli-
* De Legibus, ii. 8. t See Neander's Church History.

LECTURE X. 311
gion subsisting in peace under their gentle sway ;" and how
far Voltaire was accurately informed or honestly disposed,
when boasting that the ancient Romans " never persecuted a
single philosopher for his opinions from the time of Romu •
lus till the popes got possession of their power."
It is willingly conceded that persecutions on account of
religion were enormously increased immediately after the
promulgation of Christianity ; inasmuch as nothing had ever
before attacked the superstitions and vices of the heathen
with her undaunted, uncompromising spirit. But did Chris
tianity persecute ; or was she the object of persecution '.'
Was Jesus the persecutor of Pilate ? Did Paul persecute the
worshippers of the Ephesian Diana, or the heathen of Ico
nium, or those who stoned him at Lystra ? By whose intole
rance was it, that, for three hundred years, the christian
church was continually overflowed with the blood of her
martyrs? Did the multitudes who perished for Christ's
sake, under the paw of the lion, and the sword of the gladia
tor, and the screws of the rack — did they persecute the hea •
then priests, and people, and magistrates — Nero, and Trajan,
and Diocletian — with their proconsuls, and governors, and
executioners? I grant that in the lapse of centuries the
guilt of persecution did attach to the church. Christian
powers, and ministers, and people have, in various ages, been
justly liable to this lamentable charge. But who does not
know that the church, before ever she began to persecute,
had manifestly degenerated from the purity of the gospel,
ind become deeply poisoned with the spirit of the world, hav
ing her chief places occupied by such men as infidels know
were not influenced by vital Christianity ?* Who is so blind _
as not to see that wherever such evils have existed among
* The emperor Julian acknowledged that persecutions were the inventions
of the later Christians; that neither Jesus, nor Paul, nor any other of the
first preachers of the gospel, had taught men to kill others for being of a
different religion, or for differing about lesser matters among themselves.-
Lardner, iv. 337.

312 LECTURE X.
any people called Christians, they have been because those
people had so little of the spirit of the gospel, and not because
they had any of it ? They have been directly the reverse
of the religion professed by such persons ; the fruits of theil
own native disposition, combined with the character of the
ages they lived in, assimilating them thus far to infidels,
who have always been persecutors in proportion to their
power. True Christianity desires but one favour : liberty lo
preach "Jesus Christ and him crucified^' Her whole
dependence is on " the demonstration of the Spirit." " God
giveth the increase."
We have now applied to Christianity the test by which she
claims to be proved ; one universally employed as safe, and
approved as just ; the tree is known by its fruits. The
religion of the gospel we have seen coming into the world at
a period when every moral evil abounded. The grossest
idolatry, attended with the most inhuman and indecent rites,
prevailed among the most enlightened nations. Spectacles
of slaughter and suffering constituted the public amusements.
Parents without natural affection, children in slavery to their
parents, and at the mercy of their displeasure, the female sex
degraded to a rank of servile inferiority, murders and cruel
ties characterized the age. Vices of the most beastly kind
were practised and avowed in the highest and most influ
ential classes of society. What would now shame out of the
world the most degraded of mankind, could then be ac
knowledged, even by a public teacher of morals, without
reproach. Public opinion, the thermometer of public virtue,
had no condemnation for habits not only against all the
securities of domestic happiness and social welfare, but
against every dictate of nature, and requiring for their per
mission the lowest debasement of the moral sense of the
community. Among all the gentile nations, none possessed
the benevolence to attempt, nothing had power to effect, the
reformation of a world thus sunk in wretchedness, and para
lyzed with vice. It was the era, indeed, of the world's wis-

LECTURE X. 313
dom ; but of a wisdom by which the world knew not God.
For centuries, had the wise men after the flesh been teaching,
and writing, and boasting ; and as long had every wo been
increasing, and every school becoming more perplexed in its
doctrines, and more abandoned in the practice of its disciples.
No change, for the better, was hoped for from any human
source. Then appeared "the wisdom of God." Chris
tianity, uninvited, unwelcomed, rejected ; Christianity, perse
cuted as intrusive, despised as foolishness, ridiculed as weak
ness, commenced at this crisis the bold work of regenerating
the world. Wherever she gained acceptation the face of
society was renewed. Order, purity, benevolence, justice,
mercy, every personal, domestic, and public virtue increased
as her influence extended. Under her charge, immense com
munities of men and women were formed, who soon became
famous in the world for their earnest self-denying benevo
lence, and their devotion to holiness. No sooner was chris
tianity professed by the rulers of the Roman empire, than
idolatry, with every unnatural crime and cruel amusement,
was abolished from society, or compelled to deny its exist
ence. In proportion as this religion has reigned in any age
or country, there has been a manifest increase of all the bless
ings of civilization, all the arts of peace, all the virtues of in
dividual character, all the securities of a wise and equitable
government. Nothing has retarded the growth of these
benefits but what has alike retarded the progress of Chris
tianity. No christian people have suffered on account of
any evil, which Christianity has not directly opposed. Pre
sent efforts to spread this holy religion among the heathen
demonstrate that her natural force is not abated, nor her
influence changed. What she did among the pagans of the
first, she is accomplishing, though as yet by slower steps,
among those of the nineteenth century. Such has been
from the beginning ; such is now ; and such, we have every
reason to believe, ever will be the fruit of Christianity. By
this she is known. Bv this let her claims to truth and divine
26*

314

LECTURE X.

original be judged. Every honest mind is capable of appre
ciating the evidence, and of applying the law. It is a case
by itself. No party appears to claim the credit of what Chris
tianity ascribes to herself. Philosophy and the light of na
ture are joined to their idols and vices, and cannot come to
ihe trial, and must therefore be excused. Infidelity was
tried during the " Reign of Terror" in France, and received
its sentence at the guillotine, and therefore cannot come.
Either the blessings we have described must be adjudged,
according to the plea, to the gospel of Christ, or pronounced
to be effects without a cause. Do they belong to the gos
pel, or to nothing ? We speak the language of every con
science and of all common sense when we say, the gos-
pel alone produced them, and the gospel alone could produce
them ; and should the gospel be thoroughly conformed to in
all the world, the whole world would be morally renovated.
and all those physical evils which proceed from the vices of
mankind would pass away.
What, then, is Christianity ? " Do men gather grapes of
thorns, or figs of thistles ?" " Can a corrupt tree bring forth
good fruit ?" This religion is either a truth or a fable ; the
revelation of God, or the wicked and blasphemous contrivance
of man. If it be the work of human contrivance, it must be
unspeakably offensive to God, inasmuch as it ascribes all its
doctrines directly to His teaching ; exalts its Founder to the
dignity of the divine nature, calling him the Son of God,
and making him equal to the Father in power and glory.
Between its entire truth as a divine revelation, and its un
paralleled audacity and impiety as a human imposture, there
can be no middle ground. The unbeliever, in rejecting the
former, must resort, if consistent, to the latter. Then let us
see how much he is bound to believe in maintaining his
position. He must believe that since the truth, according tc
.lis views, does not reside in Christianity, it does reside in
some or all of the systems of religion, or of philosophy, or of

LECTURE X. 315
infidelity, to which Christianity is opposed. His creed, there
fore, is substantially the following: 'I believe that in pro
portion as the world has ever been committed to the influence
of those antichristian systems among which the truth is to
be found ; it has been continually increasing in all moral de
generacy, having in it no spirit nor power of reformation.
I believe, also, that in proportion as Christianity, which should
be regarded only as a human contrivance of the grossest
blasphemy and impiety, has reigned in the hearts and lives
of men ; the world has been morally renovated, society hu
manized, benevolence invigorated, personal and public happi
ness extended and purified. Consequently, I believe that a
God infinitely wise, holy, and true, has so constituted man
kind, that for the improvement and well-being of society, we
are under the necessity of believing and promoting what is
not only false, but heinously offensive to Himself; truth must
be concealed because we learn by experience that its currency
can only be accompanied with the greatest evils to the morals,
the peace, the whole interest of mankind ; teachers of error
and darkness must be depended upon as instruments of hu
man elevation, while teachers of the truth should be discounte
nanced as capable of nothing but the unhinging of the whole
frame-work of private and public welfare.' These, I say, are
the articles of belief which, whether avowed or not, do lie
wrapped up in the rejection of Christianity. The proof of
this assertion is in the lecture we are now closing. I need
not say that it sets, in strong and shining relief, the truth of
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, as a revelation from Him
who is the giver of every good and perfect gift. " For the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness : but
unto us which are saved it is the power of God. When; is
the wise ? Where is the disputer of this world ? Hath not
God made foolish the wisdom of this world ? For after that
in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God,
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them

316

LECTURE X.

that believe ; for the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek
after wisdom : But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews
a stumbhng-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness : But unto
them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the
power of God and the wisdom of God."*
* 1 Corinthians, i. 18—24.

LECTURE XI. 317

LECTURE XI.
THE FRUITS OP CHRISTIANITY.
The rule by which Christianity was tried in our last lec
ture, is as philosophical as it is scriptural. It is the rule of
experiment, in distinction from all the whims of conjecture
and ingenious theory, and has an application, as legitimate
and conclusive, to the character of Christianity, as to that of
any tree, or food, -or medicine. None can deny that the
experiment of the religion of Christ has been varied suffi
ciently to put it to the fairest trial, and continued long enough
to develope its most hidden qualities. Exposed to all ex
tremes of physical and moral temperature ; tried upon all de
scriptions of human beings ; required to preserve its purity
amidst all contagions ; to display its energies under all con
ceivable burdens and bonds ; to bear its fruit under the most
blasting influences ; and to stand against all possible combi
nations of enmity ; sometimes subjected to the action of the
fire, then of the rack, and then of the knife, of unrelenting
persecutors ; eighteen hundred years have measured out its
trial, during which, whatever could be effected by science
united with industry, malice united with power, or vigilance
united with hypocrisy, has been done unceasingly to torture
it into a confession or a display of something at variance
with divine original. The trial, therefore, is sufficient. The
tree has had time and ample opportunity to be known by
its fruits. If it may not be finally tried by this rule, in the
nineteenth century of its budding and bearing, the fault
must be sought in the rule itself, not in the subject of inquiry.
In our last lecture we confined our attention to the fruits
of Christianity in regard to society in general. In che
present we are to consider.

318

LECTURE XI.

Its fruits in regard to the character and happi
ness OF ITS GENUINE DISCIPLES.
It is not without reflection that I introduce this subject
into the department of external evidence. I am aware that
it is generally considered as belonging exclusively to the class
of arguments denominated internal ; but I see not with what
propriety. So far as any effects of Christianity on individual
disciples are incapable of being brought under the observa
tion of others, being confined to the inward experience of
the true believer, they are unquestionably internal in their
character, and do not belong to our present department. But
if they be such effects as witnesses can take knowledge of;
if the proof of them may be seen and appreciated by those
that are without, and who can look only on the outward
appearance ; I see not but they belong, as appropriately, to
the external evidence, as any of the effects of Christianity
upon society at large. Without further vindication of a
matter of mere classification, I proceed.
I. The moral transformations which the gospel, in all
ages, has notoriously wrought, and by unquestionable proofs,
exhibited to the world, in the characters of those who have
become its genuine disciples, cannot be accounted for,
but on the supposition of a divine power accompanying
its operation.
To illustrate my meaning, let me describe what has been
witnessed under the ministry of Christianity so repeatedly,
that hardly any who have been in the way of such things
can have failed to become acquainted with apposite examples.
Persons of all grades of society and of intellect, and of all
degrees of enmity to the religion of Jesus ; in circumstances
the most unpropitious to its influence on their hearts ; even
while they were filled with the spirit of malice and persecu
tion against its truth and disciples ; have had their minds
suddenly arrested by some simple expression of the Bible, or
home unpretending statement of christian doctrine or expe
rience ; perhaps it dropped from the lips of a minister against

LECTURE XI. 319
whom, at that very time, they were nerved with anger ; or
was read in a Bible, or a little despised tract, that seemed
accidentally to lie in their way, and at which, as if by acci
dent they condescended to look. It told them nothing new ;
nothing but what they had often heard or read before without
"the smallest effect. And yet, without any argument to shake
their ungodly principles, or special application, by any hu
man being, of the word, thus heard or read, to their particu
lar condition ; they felt their minds seized upon by an
influence from which no effort of infidel argument, nor strug
gle of pride, nor drowning of thought, nor exertion of cour
age, nor devices of company and amusement, could enable
them to escape. A hand seemed to be upon them which all
their efforts to shake it off only fastened with more painful
power. They could get no peace of mind till they submitted
to its arrest. They were induced to listen to the gospel of
Christ, even while deeply conscious of a cordial opposition
to its requirements. A conviction of sin and condemnation,
such as they had ever derided, soon brought them to a pos
ture of body and a spirit of supplication before God, in
which, a short time before, they would not have been seen
for the world. Soon they submitted to the claims of the gos
pel ; became believers in Jesus ; confessed him before men,
and appeared, to all that had known them before, — in what
aspect 7 As new creatures ! Only a few days have elapsed
since they were notorious scoffers, bold blasphemers, angry
persecutors ; of profligate habits, impure conversation, and
hardened hearts, armed at all points against religion ; im
moveable, in their own estimation, by any thing christians
could say, and regarded by almost all that knew them as
utterly beyond conversion.
Now behold the change ! It is a change not merely of
belief, but of heart. Their whole moral nature has been
recast ; affections, desires, pleasures, tempers, conduct, have
all become new. What each hated, a few days since, he now
affectionately loves. What then be was devotedly fond of.

320

LECTURE XI.

he now sincerely detests. Prayer is his delight. Holiness
he thirsts for. His old companions he pities and loves for
their souls' sake ; but their tastes, conversation, and habits,
are loathsome to his heart. Feelings, recently obdurate, have
become tender. A temper, long habituated to anger, and vio
lence, and resentment, is now gentle, peaceful, and forgiving.
Christians whose company and intercourse he lately could
not abide, are now his dear and chosen companions, with
whom he loves to think of dwelling for ever. The proud un
believer is an humble disciple. The selfish profligate has
become self-denied and exemplary, animated with a benevo
lent desire to do good. All these changes are so conspicuous
to others ; he has become, and continues to be, so manifestly
a new man, in life and heart, that the ungodly are struck
with the suddenness and extent of the transformation.
This is a drawing from life. That such cases have fre
quently occurred, and have been followed by all the perma
nent blessings of a holy life, in thousands of places, and
before witnesses of all descriptions, it were a mockery of
human testimony and of the faith of history to question.
There is scarcely a faithful preacher of the gospel, whose
ministry has not been blessed with such fruits. There is
scarcely a village in this country, whose inhabitants cannot
tell of many such examples. They began when Christianity
began. They have been repeated as pure Christianity has
been promoted and extended. Such a case was that of Saul
of Tarsus. One moment he was a furious enemy of Jesus ;
learned, talented, proud ; of high reputation ; of brilliant
prospects ; the champion of Judea against the gospel of
Christ ; bearing the commission, and full of the spirit of a
persecutor. The next, he was on his face on the ground,
calling upon Jesus in the spirit of entire submission and
deep repentance. In a few days, he was preaching Christ in
the synagogues, at the risk of life, having made a total sacri
fice of all earthly prospects and possessions, and given him
self up to reproach, poverty and universal hatred, for the

lecture xi. 321
sake of the gospel. All his dispositions, affections, and ha
bits, had in that short space undergone so complete a change,
without any human agency, that he had become, and con
tinued to be, directly the opposite of his former character.
Many similar examples must have been included in those
three thousand converts of the day of Pentecost, who
although when the morning rose upon them they were filled
with all the enmity of Jews and of crucifiers of Jesus, before
the day was over, were bowed at the feet of the same Jesus,
as his baptized disciples. So changed were they in every
worldly disposition, that they "sold their possessions and
goods, and parted them to all men as every man had need ;"
and all this under no human influence, but that of the preach
ing of men whom they began to hear with contempt, and of
a doctrine to Avhich they began to listen with the most ran
corous aversion. How many thousand cases of the same
kind would the domestic history of the first century of the
gospel furnish ! What volumes might be filled with similar
examples, which the annals of Christianity in the nineteenth
century, and especially in this country, would exhibit ! Who
has attended to the blessed effects with which the distribution
of tracts and bibles has been accompanied, and cannot call
to mind instances in which the wonderful changes that were
wrought in the Earl of Rochester, in Col. Gardiner, and ii?
the once degraded, and afterwards excellent John Newton
have in all important respects been equalled? Since I com
menced the preparation of this lecture, a case in point has
come to my view. Called from my study, to see a man who
had come on business, I found in the parlour a well-dressed
person, of respectable appearance, good manners, and sensi
ble conversation — a stranger. After a little while, he looked
at me earnestly, and said : " I think, sir, I have seen your
face before." — " Probably," said I, supposing he had seen me
in the pulpit. " Did you not once preach, in the receiving
ship, at the navy-yard, on the prodigal son, sir ?" " Yes."
" Did vou not afterwards go to a sailor sitting on his chest.
27

322

LECTURE XI.

and take his hand, and say, 'friend, do you love to read youi
Bible V " " Yes." " I, sir, was that sailor ; but then I knew
nothing about the Bible or about God : I was a poor, igno
rant, degraded sinner." I learned his history, in substance,
as follows. He had been twenty-five years a sailor, and
nearly all that time in the service of the British navy, indulg
ing in all the extremes of a sailor's vices. Drunkenness,
debauchery, profaneness made up his character. The fear
of death, or hell, or God, had not entered his mind. Such
was he, a sink of depravity, when an humble preacher of
the Methodist denomination, one day, assembled a little con
gregation of sailors in the ship to which he was attached, and
spoke on the text : " Behold, now is the accepted time ; be
hold, now is the day of salvation." He listened, merely
because the preacher was once a sailor. Soon it appeared to
him that the latter saw and knew him, though he was sittino-
where he supposed himself concealed. Every word seemed
to be meant for a description of him. To avoid being seen
and marked, he several times changed his place, carefully
getting behind the others. But wherever he went, the preacher
seemed to follow him, and to describe his course of life, as
if he knew it all. At length the discourse was ended ; and
the poor sailor, assured that he had been the single object of
the speaker's labours, went up and seized his hand, and said :
" Sir, I am the very man. That's just the life I have led. I
am a poor miserable man; but I feel a desire to be good, and
will thank you for some of your advice upon the subject."
The preacher bade him pray. He answered, " I have never
prayed in my life, but that I might be damned, as when I was
swearing ; and I don't know how to pray." He was instruct
ed. It was a day or two after this, while his mind was anx
ious but unenlightened, that Providence led me to him, sitting
on his chest. He said I showed him a verse of the Bible, as
one that would guide him. I asked if he remembered
which it was. "Yes, it was, 'Him that cometh unto me T
will in no wise, cast out.' " Soon after this, his mind was

LECTURE XI. 323
comforted with a hope of salvation through Jesus Christ.
His vices were all abandoned. He became, from that time,
a new creature in all his dispositions and habits ; took special
care to be scrupulously attentive to every duty of his station ;
gained the confidence of his officers ; and, having left the
service, has continued ever since (more than three years)
an exemplary member of society, and of the church of Christ."
He is so entirely renewed, that no one could imagine, from
his appearance or manners, that he had been, for twenty-five
years, a drunken, abandoned sailor. This case I have selected
only because it was at hand. It is by no means a solitary
case. Nor is it any the worse for being taken from among
the poor and ignorant. I know not that beastly vice is more
susceptible of removal, or that habits of drunkenness, de
bauchery, and profaneness, are any more capable of being
changed into those of soberness, purity, and prayer, for being
seated in ignorance and poverty, than when associated with
learning, rank, and opulence.
Now, be it remarked, that the reality of such cases is a
matter of fact, which one may question with about as much
reason as he might deny the best established phenomena in
natural history. Be it remarked, also, that in all such effects,
the individuals concerned have ascribed the total change in
their hearts and lives to the direct influence of the word and
Soirit of God, as set forth in the gospel of Jesus Christ. They
have generally been able to tell the particular truth, or com
bination of scriptural truths, that awakened them from the
death of sin, and led them to embrace the hope of Christ and
the life or righteousness. Be it remarked, also, that among
all the cases of such conversions in all ages, and regions, and
circumstances, and with all varieties of character, there has
been a wonderful identity. The same effects, essentially,
have ensued under the application of the same gospel in the
present century, as in the time of St. Paul ; in modern Europe,
as in ancient Greece and Rome ; in Hindoostan, as in North
America ; among Hottentots, and the islanders of the South

324 LECTURE XI.
sea, and savages of our western borders, as among the polished
inhabitants of New York or London. While all these va
rieties of age, climate, customs, and cultivation, give a natu
ral and pleasing variety to what may be called, in a figure,
the complexion, and costume, in which the conversion
appears ; the great change itself exhibits, under all circum
stances, the same characteristic and inimitable features ;
insomuch that if you draw the likeness of a genuine convert
to Christ in his chief peculiarities, as manifested in this coun
try, and send it to Burmah, or to the Sandwich Islands, or to
Caffre-land, or to Whampoa in China, or to Greenland, it
will be considered a good likeness, in main points, of the
dispositions, affections, tempers, habits, and life, produced by
the converting power of the gospel in any of those widely
differing regions. A genuine convert to Christ, in China, or
in Africa, may come to this country, and find among genu
ine Christians here precisely his own feelings, tastes, sympa
thies, and labours, though he never saw an American or
European before ; and he will be more at home among their
christian feelings, than he can be among the manners and
dispositions of the people among whom he grew up and has
always lived. Thus it is evident that, whatever be the cause
of these universally similar effects, it must be the same cause,
universally ; the same in all ages, and in all parts of the world.
Now whether the gospel of Jesus Christ produced these
great and invariably corresponding effects ; or whether they
proceeded from some other universal cause, of which none of
the subjects were ever conscious, and which was never
known where the gospel was not known, and never operates
but under the name, and by means of, the gospel ; no man
of any philosophical pretensions is at liberty to doubt. He
has precisely the same reason to be assureil that the gospel,
and nothing else on earth, is the cause of these admirable
fruits ; as that any medicine is the cause of a sick man's
recovery to health ; or that any vine, rather than a thorn-treej
produced the grapes obtained from its branches.

LECTURE XI. 325
Then, since these effects unquestionably belong to the gos
pel, how are they to be accounted for? It will not do to put
them aside, under the unceremonious imputation of fanati
cism or enthusiastic excitement. Words are not reasons.
Infidel cant is not philosophical argument. If the gospel be
^untrue ; then, not only must these most excellent fruits be
attributed to a corrupt tree, and these wholesome streams to
a poisoned fountain ; but it must be supposed that such sud
den and entire transformations of human character, from the
lowest debasement of nature, to the highest principles of
virtue and purity, are nothing more than the results of human
agency and natural means. But if this be the case ; if a
system of untruth. in the hand of man has done all this, we
have reason to expect that some other systems of doctrine,
with the same agency, would be productive of equal effects.
How then can it be accounted for, that nothing has ever been
invented or heard of, in all the earth, to which any results of
a like kind could be ascribed ? Other causes have produced
strong excitements, but no transformation of heart and life,
from sin to holiness. Other means have improved the morals
of men, by slow and in small degrees ; but none ever took
hold of a human wreck, and lifted him up out of the mire
and dirt of his profligacy, and carried him at once across the
wide gulf that separated him from pureness, and in a few
days placed him in a new moral region, with a new heart,
and, in all things, a new creature. How can this be ex
plained, if the gospel be a human invention, and its effects of
human production? Why should not infidels be capable
with all their wisdom and eloquence, of getting up a set of
influences to rival these gospel wonders, and deprive Chris
tians of this monopoly of the work of new creation and of
holiness ? How is it that in proportion as any church de
generates from the simplicity and purity of the gospel, it
ceases to witness such changes in the people attendant on its
preaching ? It is nothing to say that many things called con
versions eventuate in no good fruits, and are nothing more
27*

326 LECTURE XI.
than the natural consequences of temporary excitement. This
is freely granted. But you do not condemn a whole orchard,
because some of the trees were not successfully grafted ; nor
all virtuous men, because some, under the profession of virtue,
are mere pretenders. It is sufficient that thousands and
thousands of these effects have been of the most radical and"
permanently beneficial character. Were they of human pro
duction, something of a corresponding kind would have-
appeared from other sources ; by other hands than those of
Christians ; in other countries and ages than those enlightened
by the Bible. Inasmuch as this has never occurred, we are
fully warranted in concluding that it could not; consequently,
that these effects are above the reach of human power. To
whom then shall we go but unto thee, O Lord ! who hast
committed this treasure of the gospel to earthen vessels, to
feeble men, to dispense it ; " that the excellency of the power
may be of God, and not of us." That we cannot compre
hend in what manner the power of God operates in the
hearts of men, to work such wonderful revolutions in their
characters, is novvalid objection to the matter of fact. " The
wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound
thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it
goeth." The phenomena of the winds are incomprehensible,
and yet believed. " So is every one that is born of the Spirit."
Now, I think we may be content to pass from the position
with which we began — that the moral transformations which
the gospel, in all ages, has notoriously wrought, and, by un
questionable proofs, exhibited to the world, in the characters
of those who have become its genuine disciples, cannot be
accounted for, but on the supposition of a divine power accom
panying its operations.
II. We proceed to speak of the fruits of Christianity, as dis
played in the lives of its genuine disciples, in contrast with
those which notoriously characterize the lives of its opposers.
The virtues of true Christians have been the same in all ages
of Christianity. It was " with well doing" that, in the days

LECTURE XI. 327
of St. Paul, they were accustomed to silence their enemies.
Having become free from sin, they became servants of
righteousness, and had their fruit unto holiness. " Such were
some of you," saith St. Paul to Christians of that famous
brothel of all Greece, the city of Corinth ; " Such were some
of you (partakers in all vice); but ye are washed, but ye are
sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus,
and by the spirit of our God." The apostles could appeal to
whole communities, for evidence of their blameless character.
" Ye are witnesses and God also, how holily, and justly, and
unblameably we behaved ourselves among you." Even by
the testimony of the ancient and deadly enemies of the gospel,
the lives of Christians had no parallel among any other
people. The early defenders of the faith publicly challenged
a scrutiny of their virtue. It was their remarkable steadfast
ness in resisting the allurements of vice, and their heroic
patience, under all the tortures employed to break their attach
ment to holiness, that often excited the bitterest hatred of their
enemies. Compare the purity, benevolence, and humility of
the apostles, with those of any philosophers of antiquity, or
any leaders in modern infidelity. Pliny, the Roman governor,
in the first century, having investigated extensively, and even
by torture, the moral character of the Christians, who filled
the province over which he presided, declares, in his cele
brated letter to Trajan, that he could discover nothing more
against them than that " they were accustomed, on a stated
day, to meet before daylight, and to repeat among themselves
a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by an
oath not to commit any wickedness ; but, on the contrary, to
abstain from thefts, robberies, and adulteries ; also not to vio
late their promise, or deny a pledge ; after which it was their
custom to separate, and to meet again at a promiscuous, harm
less meal." Gibbon fully sustains this testimony. By his
description alone, the primitive Christians were lights of une
qualled excellence in the midst of heathen darkness and
depravity What Christians were in primitive ages, they still

328

LECTURE XI.

remain, exactly in proportion as you have reason to believe
their hearts to be engaged in their faith. To say in this coun
try that any one is a true Christian, is at once to give a
certificate that he is worthy of all confidence, and more than
usually virtuous : we could not desire a more complete proof
of public opinion as to the personal fruits of the gospel. The
bare fact that there are hypocritical professors of the christian
character ; that bad men will put themselves to the self denial
of endeavouring to act and seem like Christians, for the pur
pose of gaining confidence in their integrity, is a strong prooi
of the public estimation in which christian virtue is held, and
of the genuine gold of which the character of a real disciple
of Christ is composed. Men never counterfeit a spurious
currency. Copper coin is too cheap to tempt a forgery. We
never hear of the wicked putting on the mask of infidelity.
to secure a character for honesty, soberness, chastity, faithful
ness, and benevolence. If christian virtue were not in high
repute, and much more current in society than any other,
hypocrites would take care to choose a mask that would sit
more pleasantly upon their vicious propensities ; they would
select a cloak that would less confine, and smother their
sinful habits. It is notorious among us that no sooner do we
hear of an individual that he has become a communicant in
the church, than the presumption is that he is not only sober,
honest, and of pure morality ; but that he has adopted princi
ples of a very elevated virtue and purity, and is more than
ordinarily benevolent. Whence this, but from the general
experience of what communicants are? What is it that
makes a breach of truth and honesty, or an act of cruelty, or
a violation of justice, or a departure from chastity or tempe
rance, in a person professing to be a genuine Christian, so
immediately and generally a matter of particular notice and
surprise among all classes ? Is it not because such occur
rences are singular, and little expected ? But they excite no
surprise, and but little attention, when attached to those who

LECTUEE XI. 329
reject Christianity; because among such people they are
neither singular nor unexpected.
Why is it that parents so universally prefer to have genu
ine Christians intrusted with the education of their children?
that when places of trust and temptation are to be filled ; ,
when men have property to invest, or agents to engage, in a
business requiring special inflexibility of uprightness, they
feel it to be at once a heavy weight in the scale of a candi
date, that he is a sincere and devoted Christian?* Who are
the benevolent, disinterested, self-denied labourers in all good
works ? Where do the poor, and hungry, and outcast, apply
for assistance with the most confidence of finding a sympa
thizing heart and a ready hand ? Go around to all the noble
institutions of charity ; to the asylums for orphans, for wid
ows, for the blind, for the deaf and dumb, for juvenile crimi
nals ; to the schools of gratuitous instruction. Take a list
of those who give money, and time, and toil, for their support.
What would become of them, were it not for the Christians
associated in all their concerns? Who are they that tread
the loathsome alleys, and dive into the wretched habitations
* The lecturer was once particularly struck with the evidence of this. He
was connected with the military academy at West Point. Two offices of
great importance to the discipline of the corps of cadets were to be filled from
flts own ranks. The order of the academy had suffered materially for want
of officers in those places who would not swerve from duty out of deference to
the public opinion, the persuasions or threatenings of their fellows. Two ca
dets were selected, who had recently become professors of religion. They
were assailed with all manner of influence to induce them to relax in favour
of certain indulgences to which a portion of the corps had been accustomed
at the hands of their predecessors. I need not say they mildly, but firmly
held to their duty. One day, as they were leading oat the companies to
which they were attached, for evening parade, I said to an officer of the insti
tution who had been chiefly instrumental in their selection: "Why have you
chosen these cadets for such places f One of them, indeed, has a fine soldierly
appearance; but the other is just the contrary, and has nothing of the soldier
about him." " Why (said he), the truth is, we required those who would do
their duty without regard to the wishes and expectations of others or to the
custom that has been prevalent in the corps ; and we knew they would be
firm." I never heard of this confidence being- disappointed.

330 LECTURE XI.
of vice and poverty, in crowded cities, in cold winter, hunting
up the wretched subjects of disease and pollution, for the
purpose of relieving and reclaiming them ? Who put them
selves to the painful work of begging for the poor, and after
bearing all the extreme unpleasantness of such a task, finish
their labour in the careful distribution of their hard earned
alms, asking no recompense but that of doing good ?
From Christians in general, turn your attention to their
leaders. Is it not well known that when a minister of the gos
pel can be commended for nothing more than a moral life and
unblemished honesty, it is considered a positive condemna
tion ? To give him the highest praise that a Deist can pre
tend to, and then to say no more, is to leave his character
under a taint. It is expected that he will be more than
moral, and honest, and friendly. You look that he shall be
holy ; eminently pure ; full of active benevolence, going
about doing good. Prove that he is destitute of these distin
guished virtues, and public opinion will adjudge him unwor
thy of his name and profession. That all ministers are not
exemplary and devotedly holy men, only proves that the
sacred office, like all others, is liable to be intruded on by the
unworthy. Every body knows that such cases, instead of
being favoured by the influence of Christianity, are directly
opposed to it. But subtract from the number of the minis
ters of the gospel, every one on whom the least suspicion of
a want of virtue ever rested ; leave none, but those who at
any moment can obtain, from all that know them, the praise
of being the excellent of the earth ; and what a host will
remain of men whose lives are conspicuous examples of
inflexible integrity and of exalted principles of purity and
holiness ; whose daily strength is laid out in efforts to benefit
their fellow-creatures ; and around whom, at the bare men
tion of a charge implicating their characters, will be collected
the widow, the fatherless, the stranger, with those who have
been lifted up out of ignorance, or reclaimed from profligacy,

LECTURE XI. 331
or delivered from wretchedness, in grateful defence of their
best earthly benefactors.
Now, for the sake of a contrast, let us turn to the lives of
infidels. I do not deny that there are instances of such men,
who have led what passes for a good moral life ; men of fail
dealing in business, and of sober, decent habits ; whom pub
lie opinion, the customs of society, intellectual occupations,
and prosperous circumstances, have preserved from the
slavery of low propensities and criminal deeds. But what is
there in such virtue, beyond a fair outside ? Is it formed
upon any foundation more meritorious than that of reputa
tion, interest, and the expectation of society? Could you
trust its purity in the presence of strong temptation ? What
would become of it, should interest, reputation, and human
customs, withdraw their countenance, and preach a contrary
practice ? But we speak of infidels, as a body. The fact
that a few are singled out and marked as sober, honest, moral
men, only proves that such cases are exceptions to the cha
racter of the heterogeneous body with which they are asso
ciated. It is a general rule, that when you say of a man
" he is an infidel," it is to say that he is not a moral man :
not a benevolent man ; not a person to engage in any self-
denying labours for the purpose of doing good. This is pub
lic opinion, the result of a long experiment of infidelity. Its
foundation may be seen in the whole history of criminal
jurisprudence ; in the records of our courts ; the annals of
our penitentiaries ; the police of large cities ; the inner
chambers of the gambling house and the brothel. Cases of
seduction, adultery, and suicide, are the authorities to which
reference should be made for the fruits of infidelity, as gene
rally exhibited.
A French writer, addressing Voltaire, asks him: "Will
you dare assert that it is in philosophic families we are to
look for models of filial respect, conjugal love, sincerity in
friendship, or fidelity among domestics ? Were you disposed
to do so, would not your own conscience, your own expe-

332 LECTURE Xl.
rience, suppress the falsehood, even before your lips could
utter it?" An anecdote in point is related by Fuller. A
man of literary eminence, but an infidel, was accustomed to
converse with a brother sceptic where they were necessarily
heard by a pious but uneducated countryman. Afterwards,
it came to pass that the educated infidel became an humble
Christian. Feeling, now, a serious concern lest his conversa
tion should have poisoned the mind of the countryman, he
inquired if such was the fact. " By no means," answered
the other ; " it never made the least impression." " No im
pression ! Why you must have known that we had read
and thought on these things much more than you had any
opportunity of doing." " O yes," said the other ; " but I
knew also your manner of living. I knew that to maintain
such a course of conduct you found it necessary to renounce
Christianity."* It is well known how very seldom such a thing has occur
red as the detection, in any penitentiary crime^ of one who
had enjoyed the benefit, for a considerable period, of a Sun
day school education; although, during the last twenty
years, millions, in Great Britain and the United States, have
had that privilege. What if all these had been trained, with
equal diligence, in schools of infidelity ! How differently
would the effects of the system have been marked upon the
records of crime, and upon the peace, purity, and order
of society !
The precise difference between the fruits of Christianity
and of infidelity, as exhibited in the general assemoly of their
respective professors, consists in this : There are those who
profess to be Christians, and yet are wicked men ; but they
are wicked in direct opposition to the influence of Christianity..
as well as to the characters and influence of those with whom
they are connected. There are, also, those who profess to be
infidels, and yet are men of sobriety, and amiableness, and
moral deportment ; but they are such, in direct opposition to
* Gospel its own Witness.

LECTURE XI. 333
the influence of infidelity, as well as to the characters and
influence, of those with whom, as infidels, they are associated.
The former and the latter are alike exceptions to the general
rule. But let us turn from infidels in general, to their teachers
and leaders. A stream is seldom purer than its fountain. A
river rises no higher than its source. We may consider th;
chief priests and scribes, the elders, and rulers, and cham
pions of infidelity, who have constructed its various creeds and
composed its books of scripture — its Humes, and Tindals,
and Bolingbrokes, and Paines, and Voltaires, and Rousseaus
¦ — as affording, in the average of their character, a fair stand
ard for the measurement of the moral stature of infidels in
general. What, then, was the moral worth of those re
nowned leaders in the war against Christianity? Let ue
look at their principles.
Herbert maintained that the indulgence of lust and anger
is no more to be blamed than the thirst of a fever, or the
drowsiness of a lethargy. Thus, every vicious propensity
was licensed. Hobbes, that every man has a right to all
things, and may lawfully get them if he can. Thus, all
theft was licensed. Again, that a subject may lawfully deny
Christ before a magistrate, although he believes Christ in his
heart. Thus, all hypocrisy was licensed. Again, that a
ruler is not bound by any obligation of truth or justice, and
can do no wrong to his subjects. Thus, all tyrannical op
pression and cruelty were licensed. Again, that the civil
law is the sole foundation of good and evil ; of right and
wrong. Thus, moral principle is as various as climate and
country, and vice in one, may be exalted virtue in another.
Hume maintained that self-denial, self-mortification, and
humility, ire not virtuous, but useless and mischievous ; that
pride and self-valuation, ingenuity, eloquence, strength of
body, &c, are virtues ; that suicide is lawful and commenda
ble • that adultery must be practised, if we would obtain all
the advantages of life ; that female infidelity, when known,
28

334

LECTURE XI.

is a small thing; when unknown, nothing. Bolingbroke,
that ambition, the lust of power, avarice, and sensuality, may
be lawfully gratified, if they can be safely gratified ; that
modesty is inspired by mere prejudice, and has its sole founda
tion in vanity ; that man's chief end is to gratify the appe
tites and inclinations of the flesh ; that " adultery is no viola
tion of the law, or religion of nature ; that there is no wrong
in lewdness, except in the highest incest."*
These principles will suffice as specimens of infidel writers
in regard to moral obligation. It is fair to judge men by
their professions. Few rise above their opinions, in practice ;
none, in heart. When one contends that he may innocently
indulge his vicious propensities, we need not doubt that he
does indulge them. These writers either believed what they
professed, or they did not. If the latter, they were gross
hypocrites, endeavouring to spread what they knew was
deadly poison. If the former, then tell me what kind of
practice, what veracity, what honesty, what chastity, or any
other virtue, can be supposed to have dwelt in men who in
grave, philosophical discussions could publish such senti
ments to the world ? Had we no other evidence of the lives
they led, we might conclude with certainty, from these pro
fessed opinions, that, while one, here and there, may not have
carried them out to their full extent, none could have been,
in any sense, good men; while the generality must have
been without any regard to truth ; guilty of gross hypocrisy
and dissimulation ; willing to offer any sacrifice at the shrine
of ambition and human praise ; unbridled in temper and
passion ; seducers, adulterers, and corrupters of their fellow-
creatures. Such is the description which, so far as any
accounts of their private characters have been received, is
fully sustained by facts.
Hume pretended to a great diligence in search of truth
and spent all his powers against the gospel, and yet, says Dr.
Johnson, " confessed that he had never read the New Testa-
* See Dwight on Infidel Philosophy.

LECTURE XI. 335
ment with attention." His friend in scepticism, Adam Smith,
considered him " as approaching as nearly to the idea of a
perfectly wise and virtuous man as perhaps the nature of hu
man frailty will permit." But since, in his estimation, female
infidelity, when unknown, was nothing ; one needs pretty posi
tive evidence to believe that he was specially pure.*
Gibbon's moral character is seen in his History of the
Roman empire ; a work full of hypocrisy, perversion, and
impurity ; the production of a mind as unchaste, as it was
insidious. When he could not find an occasion to insult
Christianity, he made it, by false glosses or dishonest colour
ings. " A rage for indecency pervades the whole work ;
but especially the last volumes. If the history were anony
mous, I should guess that these disgraceful obscenities were
written by some debauchee, who having from age, or accident,
or excess, survived the practice of lust, still indulged himself
in its speculations ; and exposed the impotent imbecility, after
he had lost the vigour, of the passions."! This was no
"arrow shot at a venture."
* That Hume was virtuous, without chastity, is evident from his essays.
They contain passages, by way of wit or illustration, not only gratuitously
introduced, but forced in by a mere amateur taste of the writer, which a chaste
mind would not have thought of, and a man of chaste habits and principles
would have rejected, as both polluting to his pages and disgraceful to his cha
racter. I cannot believe that one who could venture on such sentences before
the public eye, and show such pleasure and evident facility in grovelling inde
cencies of writing, was free from unclean practice where no public eye was
to be encountered. And still, in Adam Smith's opinion, he may have been
" as perfectly virtuous as the nature of human frailty would permit " What
exceptions are included under this last clause, who can say 1 In an infidel's
creed, virtue has no more quarrel with unchasteness, than in the creed of the
Spartans, it had with theft. Among the latter, nothing was required to make
stealing virtuous but concealment. Among the virtuosi of infidelity, what
more is required to establish the innocence of impurity 1
The person who put out an edition of Hume's Essays in this country, dedi
cating it to the president of the United States, and lauding Hume and his
principles to the skies, showed very plainly how he had profited by his
favourite volume, at least by the Essay in defence of Suicide. — He killed
himself by drunkenness !
t Porson.

336

LECTURE XI.

What gross hypocrisy and lying pervade the writings of
Herbert, Hobbes, Shaftesbury, Woolston, Tindal, Collins,
Blount, Chubb, and Bolingbroke ! One while they are
praising Christianity, exalting Jesus, professing to have the
sincerest desire that the gospel may be promoted. At another
time, they are scoffing at its essential doctrines ; charging its
Founder with imposture ; and diligently labouring to destroy
it. ' Hobbes affirms that the scriptures are the voice of God,
and the foundation of all obligation ; and yet that all religion
is ridiculous. Shaftesbury says that it is censurable to
represent the gospel as a fraud ; that he hopes its enemies will
be reconciled to it, and its friends, prize it more highly ; and
yet he represents salvation as ridiculous ; insinuates that the
designs of Christ were those of deep ambition, and his zeal
and spirit savage and persecuting ; that the scriptures were
an artful invention for mercenary purposes. Collins protests
that none are further from being engaged in the cause of
infidelity ; that he writes for the honour of Jesus, and the
defence of Christianity ; to advance the Messiahship and
truth of the holy Jesus, " to whom" he says, " be glory for
ever and ever, amen ;" and yet he casts the most scurrilous
reflections on this holy One, compares the gospels to Gul-
liverian tales, says they are full of absurdities, and must be
rejected, and the authority of Jesus along with them.*
Such are a few examples of the honesty of such men.
What if Christians should thus flatter infidelity, and next
revile it ? When would their opponents cease exposing their
hypocrisy ? The best of infidel writers cannot be trusted on
the score of veracity, when Christianity is in question. The
corruption of the texts of books, the misrepresentation of
facts, the grossest unfairness in citations, are accounted
lawful by their Humes and Gibbons in this controversy
One of their own fraternity may here be allowed to testify
" If," says Rousseau, " our philosophers were able to discover
truth, which of them would interest himself about it?

Dwight on Infidel Philosophy.

LECTURE XI. 337
There is not one among them who would not prefer his
own error to the truth discovered by another. Where is the
philosopher, who, for his own glory, would not willingly
deceive the whole human race?" 1 need not spend time,
after all that has been exhibited, in showing that such leaders
in infidelity have evinced no spirit of benevolence, no
disposition to labour for the benefit of their fellow-creatures ;
but on the contrary, have lived unto themselves, and almost
without exception, cultivated the coldest selfishness.
But to speak more directly of the morals of leading infi
dels. Bolingbroke was a libertine of intemperate habits and
unrestrained lust. Temple was a corrupter of all that came
near him, given up to ease and pleasure. Emerson, an
eminent mathematician, was " rude, vulgar, and frequently
immoral." " Intoxication and profane language were familiar
to him. Towards the close of life, being afflicted with the
stone, he would crawl about the floor on his hands and
knees, sometimes praying, sometimes swearing." The
morals of the Earl of Rochester are well known. Godwin
was a lewd man by his own confession, as well as the
unblushing advocate of lewdness. Shaftesbury and Collins.
while endeavouring to destroy the gospel, partook of the
Lord's Supper, thus professing christian faith for admission
to office ! " Woolston was a gross blasphemer. Blount
solicited his sister in-law to marry him ; and being refused,
shot himself. Tindal was originally a protestant, then turned
papist, then protestant again, merely to suit the times ; and
was at the same time infamous for vice in general, and the
total want of principle. He is said to have died with this
prayer in his mouth : 'If there is a God, I desire that he
may have mercy on me.' Hobbes wrote his Leviathan to
serve the cause of Charles I.; but finding him fail of success.
he turned it to the defence of Cromwell, and made a merit
of this fact to the usurper : as Hobbes himself unblushingly
declared to Lord Clarendon."* Need I describe Voltaire ? —
* Dwight on Infidel Philosophy.
28*

338 LECTURE XI.
prince of scoffers, as Hume was prince of sceptics ; in
childhood, initiated into infidelity ; in boyhood, famous for
daring blasphemy ; in manhood, distinguished for a malig
nant, violent temper, for cold-blooded disruptions of all the
ties and decencies of the family circle, for the ridicule of
whatever was affecting, and the violation of whatever was
confidential ! Ever increasing in duplicity and hypocritical
management, with age and practice ; those whom his wit
attracted and his buffoonery amused, were either disgusted or
polluted by his loathsome vices. Lies and oaths, in their
support, were nothing to his maw. Those whom he openly
called his friends, he took pains secretly to calumniate;
flattering them to their faces, ridiculing and reviling them
behind their backs. Years only added stiffness to the
disgusting features of his impiety, coldness to his dark
malignity, and fury to his impetuous temper. Throughout
life, he was given up " to work all uncleanness with greedi
ness." Such was the witty Voltaire, who, in the midst of
his levity, had feeling and seriousness enough to wish he
had never been born.
What shall we say of J. J. Rousseau ? — a thief, and liar, and
debauched profligate, by his own " Confession." Educated a
protestant, he turned papist for "subsistence;" and afterwards
professed protestantism again at Geneva, that he might enjoy
the rights of citizenship, while all the while he was a foul-
mouthed infidel. He began life as an apprentice. Having
robbed his master and others, he fled and became a footman, in
which capacity, having again acted the thief, he tried to swear
the crime on a maid-servant, who lost her place by his villany.
Stealing he never abandoned, however abandoned himself.
Late in life, he said : " I have been a rogue, and am so still.
for trifles which I had rather take than ask for." Of his
intercourse with vile women ; how he took advantage of the
hospitality of friends to ruin the characters of those who re
ceived him kindly ; how he coldly committed, one by one,
the offsprings of his base connexions to the charity of the

LECTURE XI. 339
public, that he might be spared their trouble and have room
for more ; how utterly devoid was this talented infidel of all
natural affection, as well as all decency ; my lecture is too
modest to relate. To use his own language, guilty without
remorse, he soon became so without measure. Such was the
man whom infidels have delighted to honour. The friends
of Christ have reason to thank him for saying, " I cannot
believe the gospel." " For what communion hath light with
darkness ? And what concord hath Christ with Belial ?" |
Nothing but the circulation attempted, of late, to be given
to the scurrilous writings of Paine, induces me to descend
low enough amidst " the offscouring of all things," to speak
of the life of that miserable man. His first wife is said to
have died by ill usage. His second was rendered so misera
ble by neglect and unkindness, that they separated by mutual
agreement. His third companion, not his wife, was the victim
of his seduction, while he lived upon the hospitality of her
husband. Holding a place in the excise of England, he was
dismissed for irregularity ; restored, and dismissed again for
fraud, without recovery. Unable to get employment where
he was known, he came to this country, commenced politician,
and pretended to some faith in Christianity. Congress gave
him an office, from which, being soon found guilty of a breach
of trust, he was expelled with disgrace.* The French revolu-
* The statement in the text, the author is informed, is not precisely accurate.
Paine was not expelled from his office; but resigned it, to avoid expulsion.
The author is much indebted to the Hon. William Jay, for the following
valuable extract from a document found among the papers of his father, the
Hon. John Jay. The document was written while Mr. Jay was Minister to
Spain, about the year 1780, and was an introduction to an intended history
of his Spanish negotiations. The annexed extract would make a valuable
page in a history of Paine.
" It is proper to observe that Mr. Deane, in consequence of his recall, returned
to America in 1778 ; and that on his arrival, Congress went into an inquiry
into his conduct. Mr. Deane published a paper in the Philadelphia Gazette,
containing strictures on the delays of Congress respecting his affairs, and
heavy accusations against Mr. Arthur Lee, to whose machinations he attri
buted the conduct of Congress towards him. This publication caused a ferment

340

LECTURE XI

tion allured him to France. Habits of intoxication made him
a disagreeable inmate in the house of the American minister,
where out of compassion he had been received as a guest.
During all this time, his life was a compound of ingratitude
and perfidy, of hypocrisy and avarice, of lewdness and
throughout America, and very great heats in Congress. The public papers
teemed with publications for and against Mr. Deane and Mr. Lee. Among
the writers for the latter was a Thomas Paine, an Englishman, who had been
a hackney writer in London, and on his arrival in America, was employed by
Aikin in compiling and correcting papers for his magazine. In this capacity
his attachment to the American cause became suspected. He struck out several
passages in papers composed by Dr. Witherspoon, as being too free. He
afterwards became attached to some leading men who were most zealous for
American Independence. He published a pamphlet on that subject, called
Common Sense, and obtained much credit with the people for it. He was
afterward made Secretaiy to the committee for foreign affairs; and when
General Washington was retreating before the enemy in Jersey, and the
minds of many were filled with apprehensions, he was again so suspected,
as that Congress became uneasy lest the Committee's papers in his custody,
should fall into the enemy's hands, and took their measures accordingly. The
success at Trenton gave things a new aspect, and new courage to Paine.
" On the present occasion, his zeal for his employers carried him too far.
The official papers had brought him acquainted with the state of American
affairs at Versailles ; and in his paper of the 2d January, he very imprudently
inserted the following paragraph : ' If Mr. Deane, or any other gentleman,
will procure an order from Congress to inspect an account in my office, or any
of Mr. Deane's friends in Congress will take the trouble of coming themselves,
I will give him or them my attendance, and show them in a hand writing
which Mr. Deane is well acquainted with, that the supplies he so pompously
plumes himself upon, were piomised, and engaged, and that as u, present,
before he even arrived in France,' &c.
" The Minister of France, Mr. Gerard, being aware of the consequences
which would result from these assertions, and feeling very sensibly how much
the honour of France was wounded by a supposition of her having given
gratuitous aid to America, contrary to her assurances to Britain, did on the
5th January, 1779, present a memorial to Congress referring to this publica
tion, denying the assertions they contained, and representing the propriety of
thsir being disowned by Congress. The day following, the memorial was
considered, and various debates, not proper to be specified here, ensued. Paine
und the printer were ordered to attend at the bar of the House. The former
confessed himself the author, and the latter the publisher, of the paper in
question. Many motions were made, debated and rejected, before the house
adopted the resolutions which finally took place. The subject was interesting
to the public, to the house, and particularly to the friends of the parties in

LECTURE XI. 341
adultery. In June, 1 809, the poor creature died in this country.
The lady in whose house he lived relates that " he was daily
drunk, and, in his few moments of soberness, was always
quarreling with her, and disturbing the peace of the family."
At that time "he was deliberately and disgustingly filthy."
He had an old black woman for his servant, as drunken as her
master. He accused her of stealing his rum ; she retaliated
by accusing him of being an old drunkard. They would lie
on the same floor, sprawling, and swearing, and threatening
to fight, but too intoxicated to engage in battle. He removed,
afterwards, to various families, continuing his habits, and
paying for his board, only when compelled. In his drunken
fits, he was accustomed to talk about the immortality of the
soul* Probably much of his book against the inspiration of
the scriptures was inspired by his cups. Such was the author
of " the Age of Reason ;" such the apostle of mob-infidelity.
Unhappy man ! Neither he, nor Rousseau, nor Voltaire, is
dead, except in the flesh. Their immortal souls are thinking
as actively, at least, as ever. We and they will stand, on the
same great day, before the bar of God. How awful, in refer
ence to such despisers and scoffers, is that description : "Be
hold he cometh with clouds ; and every eye shall see him,
and they also which pierced him."
III. We proceed to speak, in the last place, of the fruits of
Christianity, as displayed in the deaths of its genuine disci
ples, in contrast with those connected with infidelity.
There is no question to which the testimony' of the death
bed is so legitimately applicable, as that between infidelity
and Christianity; not only because the hour of death is
specially to be relied on, as an hour of dispassionate and con-
difference, as well as Mr. Paine's patrons; and, as is always the case on
such occasions, more warmth than prudence took place. The majority, how
ever, were of opinion that Paine had prostituted his office to party purposes,
and therefore ought to be discharged. This did not long remain a secret to
him, and to avoid that disgrace he resigned."
P. Si. Mr. Jay was a member of Congress at the time of the above occurences.
* Cheetham's Life of Paine

342 LECTURE XI.
scientious judgment ; but, particularly, because it is one of
the precious promises of the gospel, that true believers shal.
find the sting of death taken away, and experience rich
consolation and support, when heart and flesh are failing.
Infidelity, also, has published her promises in relation to the
trial of death ; and her disciples are not a little diposed to
boast how confidently and fearlessly they could meet the
king of terrors. Let us consult experience on this head.
Have Christians experienced the fulfilment of the promises on
which they trusted ? Have infidels made good their boasts ?
With regard to christians, it is a most impressive fact that
such a thing has never been known as any one being
sorry, in the hour of death, that he had embraced the gospel
of Christ. We have often seen and heard of persons, who
had spent their days in the careless neglect of religion, most
bitterly lamenting, when they found themselves near to
eternity, that they had not been devoted Christians. It is
invariably the case that genuine Christians, when they look
back on their lives, from the verge of the grave, are sorry that
all their days had not been spent in a much more zealous
consecration to the service of Christ. Professors of religion
are not unfrequently unhappy when they come to die ; not
because they are, or have been Christians, but only because
they see reason to fear that they have not been real Christians.
This unhappiness arises from the consciousness of being too
much like those who reject the gospel ; too little under the
influence of its spirit ; too much under the influence of
a practical unbelief. And they seek consolation, not by
endeavouring to banish the gospel from their minds, but
by pressing to the feet of Jesus, and seeking to have their
hearts filled by his spirit. But among all that ever named
the name of Jesus, from the death of the martyred Stephen,
to the present hour ; the millions upon millions of Christians,
who have died under all manner of tortures, and in all man
ner of circumstances, calculated to try the strength of their
faith ; not a philosopher or peasant : not a noble or a beggar ;

LECTURE XI. 343
not a man, woman, or child ; was ever known to repent that
his preparation to die was that of the faith of Christ.
On the contrary, it has been the invariable effect of the
religion of Christ that those who, in the days of health, were
evidently devoted to its spirit and duties, when death ap
proached, have been enabled to await the event with an hum
ble, submissive, and cheerful mind, keeping a confident eye
" unto Jesus," as the Finisher, as well as Author of their
faith. They have felt it to be their most precious, their un
speakable consolation that they had been persuaded to be
Christians. Nothing did they look back to with such thank
fulness, as that, instead of having lived in indifference or
infidelity, they had lived a life of faith upon the Son of God.
They have felt that however solemn and, to the flesh, painful,
was death, to them it was not gloomy nor appalling, nor any
thing to be lamented ; but only a short valley in the way to
their everlasting- and blissful rest with God on high. The
most timid by nature, have stepped down without fear or
doubt, believing in Jesus, and walking by faith. The affec
tionate parent has found such an accession of strength, in
the act of separation from a beloved and helpless family, as
to be enabled cheerfully to take the last look, and leave his
fatherless children with God. The young man, in the prime
and promise of his years, with every thing that earth could
give to make life desirable, has had the prospect of a better
inheritance presented to his mind with such assurance, that
he had a strong desire " to depart, and be with Christ." The
nearer Christians have come to eternity, and the sharper the
trial of their faith, the nearer have they drawn to Christ ;
the more closely have they embraced his cross ; the more
necessary has seemed his death for their sins ; the more
precious and full of glory the whole plan of redemption.
Such is the medium statement of the testimony furnished by
the death-beds of the disciples of Christ, when disease or
the suddenness of departure has not prevented them from
all testimony whatever.

344 LECTURE Xl
But, in innumerable instances, the facts are much more
positive. It is frequently the case that dying Christians, as
they draw near to eternity, seem to catch the song and share
the bliss of heaven. Their faith not only delivers them
from gloom and fear, but fills them with joy and triumph.
They are not only supported, but exalted ; unspeakably hap
pier in the agonies of death, than ever they were in the
vigour of health. As the body sinks, the spirit rises in
strength of faith and confidence of approaching glory. A
smile of joy plays upon the death struck countenance. The
tenderest affection, and the most benevolent interest for all
around them; earnest prayer that sinners may come to
Jesus, and that his gospel may be embraced in all the world,
occupy their latest moments. They die, thanking God, vjho
giveth them the victory through Jesus Christ.
This is no picture of imagination. It is drawn from facts
which the lecturer has frequently had the privilege of wit
nessing ; facts such as have been often repeated in the obser
vation of all whose duty has led them often to visit and con
verse with the dying, on the subject of religion ; facts of
which the domestic history of the gospel, in all ages, is full,
and of which no effrontery can attempt a denial. Paul, in
the near view of a painful death, exclaimed : " I am now
ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have fought a good fight ; I have finished my course ; I
have kept the faith ; henceforth, there is laid up for me a
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all
them also that love his appearing."* Polycarp, when they
would have nailed him to the stake, said : " Let me remain as
I am ; for he who giveth me strength to sustain the fire, will
enable me also, without your securing me with nails, to remain
unmoved in the fire." Then, being bound for a burnt offering,
he exclaimed : " O Father, I bless thee that thou hast counted
me worthy of this day and this hour to receive my portion
* 2 Tim. iv. 6, 7, 8.

LECTURE XI. 345
in the cup of Christ." Bilney, putting his finger into the
flame of a candle, on the night before he was burned, repeat
ed that promise : " When thou walkest through the fire, it
shall not burn thee ;" and said : " I constantly believe that,
howsoever the stubble of this body shall be wasted by it, yet
my soul shall be purged thereby ; a pain for the time, where
on, notwithstanding, followeth joy unspeakable." Hooper,
going to the stake, being addressed by a papist in the lan
guage of condolence, answered : " Be sorry for thyself, and
lament thine own wickedness ; for I am well, I thank God,
and death, to me, for Christ's sake, is welcome." Bishop
Bedell, apprehending a speedy dissolution, assembled his
family, and, with many other words, declared : " Knowing
that I must shortly put off this my tabernacle, I know also
that I have a building of God, a house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens. Therefore to me, to live is Christ,
and to die is gain, which increases my desire, even now, to
depart and be with Christ, which is far better. I ascend to
my Father and your Father, to my God and your God,
through the all-sufficient merits of Jesus Christ, my Re
deemer, who ever lives to make intercession for me."
Fletcher's continual exclamation, while dying, was, " God
is love! God is love!" He panted for words to express
what he felt in the utterance of that precious truth. Finley,
in the act of departing, used such language as this : " A
Christian's death is the best part of his existence." " Blessed
be God, eternal rest is at hand." " The Lord hath given me
the victory. I exult ; I triumph. Now I know that it is
impossible that faith should not triumph over earth and hell."
" Lord Jesus, into thy hands I commit my spirit ; I do it with
confidence ; I do it with full assurance. I know that thou
wilt keep that which I have committed to thee."* Said the
dying Payson : " While my body is thus tortured, the soul
is perfectly, perfectly happy and peaceful, more than 1 can
* See " Deaths of Hume and Finley Compared," by Dr. Mason ; in the
Tract, No. 190, of the American Tract Society.
29

346 LECTURE XI.
possibly express to you. I lie here and feel these convul
sions extending higher and higher, without the least uneasi
ness ; but my soul is filled with joy unspeakable. I seem to
swim in a flood of glory, which God pours down upon me.
And I know, I know that my happiness is but begun. I can
not doubt that it will last for ever." And what shall I say
more ? For the time would fail to tell of Latimer, and Rid
ley, and Hooker ; of Romaine, and Newton, and Scott ; of
Swartz, and Buchanan, and Martyn ; of Oberlin and Rich
mond ; of Evarts and Cornelius ; leaders in the faith, " of
whom the world was not worthy." But should we go into
the more retired walks of Christian life, and consult the
annals of every village church, and gather out the examples
of holy patience in suffering, and sublime faith, and deep
humility, and joy unspeakable in dying, which the eye of
God has seen among the poor of this world, in every age,
since the death of Christ ! what a cloud of witnesses would
compass us about, uniting their joyful testimony to Jesus as
" the resurrection and the life ;" to the gospel as in all its
promises, faithful and " worthy of all acceptation !"*
* A beautiful exhibition of the effects of the gospel is found in the Narra
tive of the Loss of the Kent East Indiaman, in 1825. The account is given
by Major M'Gregor, who was not rendered the less capable of calmly observ
ing the events he has recorded, or of firmly bearing his part in the dangers of
that awful crisis, in consequence of having his soul kept in peace by the pre
cious hopes of a disciple of Christ.
While the ship was burning below, and the magazine was every moment
expected to blow up, and not a soul, out of more than six hundred, had a
thought but of perishing either by fire or the tempest ; while some were stand
ing in silent resignation, or stupid insensibility, and others were given up to
the most frantic despair; while "some on their knees were earnestly implo
ring with significant gesticulations, and in noisy supplications, the mercy of
Him whose arm, they exclaimed, was at length outstretched to smite them ;"
and others had sullenly seated themselves directly over the .magazine, that by
means of the expected explosion a speedier termination might be put to their
sufferings; "Several of the soldiers' wives and children, who had fled for
temporary shelter into the after cabins, on the upper decks, were engaged in
prayer, and in reading the scriptures with the ladies, some of whom were ena
bled, with wonderful self-possession, to off?r to others those spiritual consola-

LECTURE XI. 347
Now, let us turn to infidelity. What confirmation has
resulted, from the death-beds of infidels, to the truth of their
faith, and its ability to support and comfort the souls of its
dying disciples ? Ah ! the change is like being translated
from the beauty, and fragrance, and joyful promise of spring,
into the coldness, and barrenness, and gloominess, of winter.
Has infidelity ever exhibited a solitary example of that*
high and delightful consolation ; that triumphant, unspeaka
ble joy on the brink of the grave, of which Christianity can
cite innumerable instances ? It seems almost ridiculous to
be at pains enough to answer such a question. Infidelity has
no doctrine, no promise, out of which such a delightful frame
of mind could grow. Infidels feel themselves so infinitely
removed from it, that it seems to them, in the distance, as
something incomprehensible, or visionary, or fanatical. But
are there not examples of such persons dying without fear ?
Unquestionably there are ; but how few of them have any
application to the present argument ! The great majority
of them have been cases in which the lethargy or delirium
occasioned by disease prevented the patient from being sensi
ble of his condition ; or his death succeeded so immediately
after the symptoms of his danger, as to allow no time for the
consideration of his eternal interests ; or his friends took
care that he should be kept in ignorance of the fatal cha
racter of his disorder, until it was too late for any thing but
insensibility and dissolution ; or else the unhappy infidel,
tions, which a firm and intelligent trust in the Redeemer of the world appeared
at this awful hour to impart to their own breasts. The dignified deportment
of two young ladies in particular formed a specimen of natural strength of
mind, finely modified by christian feeling, that failed not to attract the notice
and admiration of every one who had an opportunity of witnessing it. One
young gentleman, having calmly asked my opinion of the state of the ship, I
told him that I thought we should be prepared to sleep that night in eternity ;
and I shall never forget the peculiar fervour with which he replied, as he press
ed my hand in his, ' My heart is filled with the peace of God.' " Comment
would onlv mar such a beautiful testimony to the blessedness of a gosoel
faith. " Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee :
because he trusteth in thee." Is. xxvi. 3.

348 LECTURE XI.
suspicious of his steadfastness when the trial should arrive,
surrounded himself with such companions as would guard
his bedside from the approach of any minister of better con
solations, and keep his mind amused with trifles, and his
pride stimulated with the ambition of holding out to the last.
Undoubtedly there have been cases to which none of these
specifications are applicable ; cases of infidels, who, in quiet
ness, with their intellects in sound and wakeful exercise, and
with a knowledge of their nearness to eternity, have died
without the manifestation of alarm. But this has nothing to
do with our point. We could speak of multitudes who be
lieved Christianity, and had no idea that they were prepared
to meet their God ; but, nevertheless, died without alarm.
The question is, does infidelity sustain and comfort its disci
ples in the hour of death ? It can hardly be necessary to
assert, that whatever calmness any of them may have mani
fested had no manner of connexion with their infidel princi
ples. They might have had the same, as well without
infidelity, as with it. They did not pretend to draw strength
and peace from its barren breasts. What was called, in their
case, resignation, was not the offspring of their principles, as
infidels, but of their doom, as mortals. They had to die,
and there was no use in complaining ; this is about the
amount of all their consolation. Most gladly would they
have entreated to live, could they have supposed that entreaty
would have succeeded. Death has never been regarded by
such men, except as a necessary evil in every respect, only
to be submitted to, because irrevocably appointed. Such is
the very best account we can give of the testimony of the
death-beds of infidels. It is dreary, desolate, cold. It whis
pers something that should go to the heart of a sceptic. Its
dismal negativeness is positive condemnation. Where, in all
this region of emptiness, is the sweet serenity, the cheerful
resignation, the positive pleasure and happiness in prospect
of death, which so generally attend the dying Christian ?
Where is your parallel, in a single infidel, to the joyful web

LECTURE XI. 349
corre which death has received, in a million cases, at the
lips of the followers of Christ, when they have felt themselves
almost home, and, in view of heaven, have longed to depart
and be with Christ ?
No case of a dying unbeliever has been made so much of,
by way of a set-off to the testimony of Christians, as that of
David Hume. The evident object of Adam Smith, the nar
rator, is to put up his friend for a comparison with believers.
Gibbon says : " He died the death of a philosopher." No
thing can be more affected, more evidently contrived for
stage effect ; or, even on infidel principles, more disgraceful
to such a mind as Hume's, than the manner of his death,
according to the account given by his friend. He knew his
end was near. Whether he was to be annihilated, or to be
for ever happy, or for ever miserable, was a question involved
on his own principles, in impenetrable darkness. It was the
tremendous question to be then decided. Reason and decency
demanded that it should be seriously contemplated. How
does he await the approach of eternity ? Said Chesterfield
(an infidel also) : " When one does see death near, let the
best or the worst people say what they please, it is a serious
consideration." Does Hume treat it as a serious considera
tion? He is diverting himself! With what? With pre
paring his Essay in defence of Suicide for a new edition ;
reading books of amusement ; and sometimes with a game
at cards ! He is diverting himself again ! With what next?
With talking silly stuff about Charon and his boat, and
the river Styx ! Such are a philosopher's diversions, where
common sense teaches other people to be, at least, grave and
thoughtful. But why divert himself? Why turn off his
mind from death ? Why the need of his writings, and his
cards, and his books of amusements, and his trifling conversa
tions ? Was he afraid to let his mind settle down quietly and
alone to the contemplation of all that was at stake in the
crisis before him ? Whatever the explanation of his levity,
it was ill-timed, out of taste badly got up ; an affected piece

350 LECTURE XI.
of over -acting, intended for posthumous fame, to say the best
of it. He died " as a fool dieth." Take his own views, as
thus expressed, at the end of his Natural History of Reli
gion : " The comfortable views exhibited by the belief of
futurity are ravishing and delightful. But how quickly
vanish on the appearance of its terrors, which keep a more
firm and durable possession of the human mind? The
whole is a riddle, an enigma, an inexplicable mystery.
Doubt, uncertainty, suspense of judgment, appear the only
result of our most accurate scrutiny concerning this subject."
In his own estimation, then, futurity has its terrors. Doubt,
inexplicable mystery, hung over his future destiny ! Whether
he was not to be a child of hell for ever, his most accurate
scrutiny could only suspend his judgment ! In this tremen
dous suspense, he plays cards, as it were, on his coffin lid !
jests about ridiculous fables, as he steps down to the momen
tous uncertainties, but eternal realities, of the future ! If a
finger had been about to receive its sentence, whether to be
amputated or not, he would at the least have been more
grave. How far such a death-bed scene is honourable to
philosophy or infidelity, or fit to be compared with that of
millions of Christians, I need not say. But this is the fairest
aspect of the matter on the side of infidelity.*
* There is reason to believe that, however unconcerned Hume may have
seemed in the presence of his infidel friends, there were times when, being
diverted neither by companions, nor cards, nor his works, nor books of amuse
ment, but left to himself and the contemplation of eternity, he was any thing
but composed and satisfied.
The following account was published many years ago in Edinburgh, where
he died. It is not known to have been ever contradicted. " About the end of
1776, a few months after the historian's death, a respectable looking woman,
dressed in black, came into the Haddington stage coach, while passing through
Edinburgh. The conversation among the passengers, which had been inter
rupted for a few minutes, was speedily resumed, which the lady soon found to
be regarding the state of mind persons were in at the prospect of death. An
appeal was made, in defence of infidelity, to the death of Hume, as not only
happy and tranquil, but mingled even with gayety and humour. To this the
lady said: 'Sir, this is all you know about it; I could tell you another tale.'
' Madam,' replied the gentleman, ' I presume I have as good information us

LHWURli -SI. 351
We said, the case could not be mentioned of any one
having regretted, on his death-bed, that he had lived a
you can have on this subject, and I believe that what I have asserted regard
ing Mr. Hume has never been called in question.' The lady continued : ' Sir,
I was Mr. Hume's housekeeper for many years, and was with him in his
last moments ; and the mourning I now wear was » present from his rela
tives for my attention to him on his death-bed ; and happy would I have been
if I could have borne ray testimony to the mistaken opinion that has gone
abroad of his peaceful and composed end. I have, sir, never, till this hour,
opened my mouth on this subject; but I think it a pity the world snould be
kept in the dark on so interesting' » topic. It is true, sir, that when Mr.
Hume's friends were with him he was cheerful, and seemed quite uncon
cerned about his approaching fate ; nay, frequently spoke of it to them in a
jocular and playful way ; but when he was alone, the scene was very differ
ent; he was any thing but composed; his mental agitation was so great at
times as to occasion his whole bed to shake. He would not allow the candles
to be put out during the night, nor would he be left alone for a minute. I had
always to ring the bell for one of the servants to be in the room, before he
would allow me to leave it. He struggled hard to appear composed, even
before me. But to one who attended his bedside for so many days and nights,
and witnessed his disturbed sleeps and still more disturbed wakings ; who
frequently heard his involuntary breathings of remorse and frightful startings;
it was no difficult matter to determine that all was not right within. This con
tinued and increased until he became insensible. I hope in God I shall never
witness a similar scene.' " — Christian Observer, vol. xxxi. p. 665.
There is internal evidence of truth attached to the above. Hume had no
opinions with regard to God, or the future, except that all was doubtful.
Whether there was a God, a future state, a hell, or annihilation, he did not
profess to know. The future had its terrors, he acknowledged. To him they
were terrors of darkness and uncertainty. He spoke of " the calm, though
obscure regions of philosophy." He called the whole question as to mau's
future destiny, " a riddle, an enigma, an inexplicable mystery" All he could
arrive at was, " doubt, uncertainty, suspense of judgment." In this state of
mind, nothing could have been more forced or unnatural than the levity de
scribed by Smith. That was his stage-dress. If a man lay a hundred pounds
upon a game, he is anxious till the uncertainty as to its fate be removed.
But Hume knew that his all, for ever, was at stake; and that he was uncon
cerned unanxious, when not diverted, is incredible. On the other hand, the
account presented above is exactly what nature and reason would expect from
the state of mind in which the philosopher described himself, as tc all that
awaited him. Not to be penetrated with anxiety of the most painful kind.
when « few hours were to decide whether he was to "be annihilated, or to be
carried to the judgment seat of God, and find all that he had ridiculed in the
gospel true, and be condemned to eternal misery- a destiny which, on his

352 LECTURE XI.
Christian. We now say, that, cases innumerable have
occurred of persons bitterly lamenting, when dying, that they
had lived in infidelity. Every where, such instances have
occurred. They are too notorious to need citation. The
boldest unbelievers have furnished the most numerous
examples. They have felt every foundation removed, when
heart and flesh began to fail. What they had boasted in
life, they found a miserable comforter in death. The earl of
Rochester, a scholar and a blasphemer, as deep in vice as in
infidelity, when he approached the end of life, became a
thorough penitent ; and, to one of his former companions,
said from his death-bed : " O, remember that you contemn
God no longer ! He is an avenging God, and will visit you
for your sins ; and will, I hope, in mercy, touch your
conscience, sooner or later, as he has done mine. You and
I have been friends and sinners together, a great while.
We have been all mistaken in our conceits and opinions ; our
persuasions have been false and groundless ; therefore I pray
God grant you repentance." To those who had been drawn
into sin, by his example and encouragement, he said : " I
warn them no more to make a mock of sin, or contemn the
pure and excellent religion of my ever blessed Redeemer,
through whose merits alone, I, one of the greatest of sinners,
do yet hope for mercy and forgiveness."
Hobbes could never bear to talk of death. His mind was
haunted with tormenting reflections. If his candle went
out in the night, while he was in bed, he was in misery.
As he descended to the grave, he said " he was about to take
a leap in the dark."
Struensee, prime minister of Denmark, and Brandt, the
companion of his disgrace and imprisonment, had both been
poisoned by the writings and society of Voltaire ; and both,
in prospect of death, renounced infidelity with detestation,
and embraced the.gospel as all their hope.
own principles, was as likely as any thing else— could only be accounted for
on the supposition that disease or friends diverted his attention from the
decision approaching1.

LECTURE XI. 353
Shall I lead you to the horrible spectacle of Voltaire, in
the arms of death, and expecting in a few moments to stand
at the bar of God. . He has just returned from a feast of
applause in the theatre, to be laid on a bed of death, in the
agonies of an upbraiding conscience. The physician enters.
"Doctor," said the apostle of infidelity, with the utmost
consternation, " I am abandoned by God and man. I will
give you half of what I am worth, if you will give me six
months' life." The physician told him he could not live six
weeks. " Then," said he, " I shall go to hell." His com
panions in guilt, D'Alembert, Diderot, and Marmontel, hasten
to keep up his courage, but meet nothing but reproach and
horror. In spite of the guard of infidels about him, he
sends for the Abbe Gautier to come as soon as possible. In
his presence, and that of other witnesses, he signs a recanta
tion of infidelity, and professes to die in the church. It is
sent to the rector of St. Sulpice and the archbishop of Paris
for approval. The Abbe Gautier returns with it, but cannot
enter. Every avenue to the dying infidel is defended by
those who had shared in his conspiracy against Christianity,
They want to hide his terrors and their own shame. Now
it is, that D'Alembert, Diderot, and about twenty others, of
like character, who beset his apartment, never approach
him but to hear their condemnation. " Retire !" he often
exclaims, with execrations, "it is you that have brought me.
to my present state ! Begone ! I could have done without
you all ; but you could not exist without me ! And what a
wretched glory have you produced me?" Then his con
spiracy comes before him, and, alternately supplicating and
blaspheming, he complains that he is abandoned by God and
man, and often cries out : " Oh Christ ! Oh Jesus Christ !" He
is looking on Him whom he pierced! He is drinking the
cup of trembling ! the foretaste of the second death ! The
Mareschal de Richelieu flies from the scene, declaring it "too
terrible to be, sustained." The physicians, thunderstruck, re
tire- declaring1 "the death of the impious man to be terrible
45

354 LECTURE XI.
indeed." One of them pronounces that " the furies of Orestes
could give but a faint idea of those of Voltaire."*
We shall close these awful scenes, with a few glances at
the dying Paine. Once it was his boast that, during a
dangerous illness, he thought with new satisfaction of having
written the Age of Reason, and found, by experiment, that
his principles were sufficient to sustain him in expectation of
death. It was an empty boast ! Let us see him when
really dying. He would not be left alone night or day. If
he could not see that some one was with him, he would
scream till a person appeared. A female attendant more
than once found him in the attitude of prayer. Having
asked her what she thought of his Age of Reason, and
being answered that, from a conviction of its evil tendency,
she had burnt it ; he wished all its readers had been as wise,
and added : " If ever the devil had an agent on earth, I
have been one." An infidel visiter said to him : " You have
lived like a man ; I hope you will die like one." He turned
to others in the room, and said : " You see what miserable
comforters I have." The woman whom he had enticed from
her husband lamented to a neighbour her sad condition.
" For this man," she said, " I have given up my family and
friends, my property and my religion ; judge then of my
distress, when he tells me that the principles he has taught
me will not bear me out." Well might she be distressed,
when she heard his exclamations. "He would call out,
during his paroxysms of distress, without intermission, ' O
Lord help me, God help me, Jesus Christ help me, 0 Lord
* " The nurse who attended him, being many years afterwards requested
to wait on a sick protestant gentleman, refused, till she was assured he was
not a philosopher; declaring, if he were, she would on no account incur the
danger of witnessing such a scene as she had been compelled to do at the
death of M. Voltaire. I received this account (adds the Right Rev. Daniel
Wilson) from the son of the gentleman, to whose dying bed the woman was
invited, by a letter now in my possession."
The above account is abridged from the " History of Jacobinism," by the
Abbe Baruel, and has been denied by no one of the many witnesses to the
death of Voltaire.

LECTURE XI. 355
help me,' &c, repeating the same expressions without any,
the least, variation, in a tone of voice that would alarm the
house."* And now what need be said in conclusion ? You have
seen the fruit of the trees. One produces corruption ; the
other holiness of life. One roots up ; the other nourishes
and cherishes whatever is good around it. The spread of
infidelity is that of vice, and disorder, and all confusion. The
spread of Christianity is that of purity, peace, and all the
virtues of the social state. The more thoroughly an indi
vidual embraces infidelity, the more entirely does he become
the slave of sin. The more perfectly he embraces the gospel,
the more perfectly, does he become the example of whatever
is lovely and of good report. No infidel ever rose higher
than the chill composure of a Stoic's firmness, in the trial of
death. Multitudes and the chief of infidels have, in that
honest hour, abandoned their sentiments with horror. On
the other hand, no Christian ever regretted, when dying,
that he had believed the gospel ; all have only wished they
had followed it more diligently ; and, in cases innumerable,
disciples of Christ have risen to the most triumphant emo
tions of joy and praise, and the most exulting assurance of
eternal life and glory, in the very act of departing for eternity.
Is a tree known by its fruits ? Then which of these is the
tree of life ? Which looks like truth ? Which is to be cut
down, and cast into the everlasting burning ?
The whole argument, of this and the preceding lecture,
may be well concluded with an applicable and true saying of
Hume. Being asked by a friend, to whom he used to refer
his essays, previously to publication, whether he thought
that, if his opinions were universally to take place, mankind
would not be rendered more unhappy than they were ; and
whether he did not suppose that the curb of religion was
necessary to human nature ; " The objections," answered he,
" are not without weight, but error never can produce
? Cheetham's Life of Paine.

356 LECTURE XI.
good." Such is precisely the text of this and the preceding
lecture. " Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ?"
" The tree is known by its fruits," said the Saviour. " Error
never can produce good," said the man who denied him. By
this, let the comparative merits of Christianity and infidelity
stand or fall.
How imperative, then, is the exhortation to all professors
of the religion of Jesus : " Let your light shine before men !"
" Be careful to maintain good works !" " Let your conversa
tion be as it becometh the gospel of Christ !" To you, is
committed the honour; on you, depends the character of
Christianity among the unbelieving and disobedient. Its most
legible and universally imposing evidences are found in the
living epistles of those who, under the influence of its saving
truth, are seen devotedly "following after righteousness, godli
ness, faith, love, patience, meekness ;" " using the world, as
not abusing it ;" looking for death, as not fearing it ; cheerful
in all duty, while they remain on earth ; happy when the
time comes for them to depart out of it unto the Father ? Ah !
if all that are numbered among Christians were thus radiant
in the beauty of holiness, how soon would the whole earth
be filled with the praise of the Lord ! Then, indeed, would
the church put on strength. Then would the gentiles come
to her light, and kings to the brightness of her rising ; all
they that despise her should bow themselves down at the
soles of her feet ; and they should call her, " The city of the
Lord ; the Zion of the Holy One of Israel."*

» Isaiah, Ix.

LECTURE XII. 357

LECTURE XTL
SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT, AND APPLICATION TO
OBJECTIONS.
In the course of the preceding lectures, I have been ena
bled, by a kind Providence, blessing me with a more ade
quate measure of health than I anticipated, to spread before
you a comprehensive view of the external evidences of
Christianity. Although one whole division of our forces,
and one of no secondary consequence, has not been brought
into the field ; and of that which has been employed, several
important subdivisions have been held in the back ground
for want of room to display them ; enough, I trust, has been
done to give you an impressive idea of what the strength of
the cause must be, when all the immense variety of auxilia
ries composing its host are arranged together under command
of a mind capable of using them to the best advantage. It
would stand like the massive squares of British infantry at
Waterloo, to which the boasting enemy rode up again and
again, in the full confidence of sweeping them before the
impetuosity of their charge. But " their onset and reception
was that of a furious ocean pouring itself against a chain of
insulated rocks."*
Before relinquishing our course, it is important to take a
brief retrospect of the ground we have been over ; that we
may gather into united and co-operating force the several
lines of argument which as yet have been employed only in
their separate efficiency.
After having divided the whole field of evidence into the
two general departments of external and internal, and sepa
rated the former, as that to which our course would be con-
? Scott's Napoleon.
30

358 LECTURE XII.
fined, we proceeded to lay the foundation of all our subse
quent reasonings by making good the authenticity of
THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, and the CREDIBILITY
of the history contained therein. In reference to the
question of authenticity, we instituted an inquiry whether
there is sufficient evidence that the several scriptures com
posing the New Testament were written by the men whose
names they bear, the original apostles and disciples of Christ''
For an answer to this, we pursued precisely the same method
as in determining the authenticity of any other writings. The
evidence required in such investigations was shown to be so
unaffected by time, that whether a book be ascribed to the
christian era or to five centuries earlier or later, a similar
description of proof would possess a similar conclusiveness.
That for the authenticity of the books of the New Testament
was presented under the following heads : They are quoted
or alluded to by a series of writers extending, in unbroken
succession, from the present to the apostolic age. In the
earliest writers of this series, as well as the later, they are
treated with peculiar respect, as possessing an authority be
longing to no other books, and as conclusive in all questions
of religion ; they were collected at a very early period into a
distinct volume ; were publicly read and expounded in the
assemblies of the primitive Christians ; commentaries were
written upon them ; harmonies were formed out of them ;
different copies were carefully compared, and versions were
made into different languages, in the first centuries of Chris
tianity. Hence it appeared that the agreement of the ancient
church, as to what were the authentic books of the New
Testament, was complete, and was' no more imperfect among
the various sects of heretics, than among the orthodox fathers.
None of these several heads of evidence attach to any of those
spurious writings commonly called Apocryphal Scriptures ;
while the marks of the spuriousness of these can be asserted
with regard to none of those which are esteemed as authentic.
Tn confirmation of the mass of testimony, adduced in support

LECTURE XII. 359
of these propositions, we exhibited a most important collection
of proofs from the writings of the early adversaries of Chris
tianity. The style and language of the New Testament
were spoken of, as in perfect agreement with the local and
other circumstances of its reputed writers ; as in perfec t
haimony with their known character, and with the age and __
country in which they lived ; and such as could not have
been produced in any age subsequent to theirs. In conclu -
sion of the whole argument, we endeavoured to show that
Kuch was the necessity of detection, in case of a forgery,
during the primitive centuries, that had the books in questioi i
been deficeient in the evidence of apostolic origin, nothing
less than a miracle in their aid could account for their early
und universal currency. The whole train of evidence con -
eluded with this result : that to suppose the New Testamen t
unauthentic or even questionable in this particular, is to
resign the authenticity of every other book of the least
antiquity ; yea, and the sufficiency of human testimony, in
its most conclusive form, to establish the authenticity of any
such work. Having come to this, it seemed no presumption
lo proceed in our subsequent lectures, as if the question of
authenticity were answered in the affirmative with entire
satisfaction. But in connexion with the apostolic origin, it was impor
tant to look into the integrity of the New Testament scrip
tures ; for the purpose of ascertaining to what extent they
have been preserved without mutilation or corruption. That
they have undergone no material alteration since they were
first published, was inferred from the perfect impossibility
of such a change ; from obvious agreement among the exist
ing manuscripts of the New Testament; and from the har
mony of our present text with the numerous quotations in the
works of early christian writers, as well as with those ancient
translations which are still extant.
But in laying the foundation of our subsequent argument,
another question remained : Is the history, contained in these

360 lecture xii.
authentic writings, credible ? In answer to this, we assumed
that the credibility of the gospel history is to be ascertained
precisely like that of any other history. It appeared that, in
questions of this kind, the two great points to be proved are,
a competency of knowledge, and trustworthy honesty, on the
part of the historian : did he know enough to write a true
account, and was he too honest to write any other account
than such as he believed to be true ? These points established,
the credibility of the history is settled. The first was easily
determined by the consideration that the amount of know
ledge required for the writing of the gospel history was by no
means great ; that the narrative is extremely simple and un
ambitious ; and that those who penned it were personal com
panions of Christ, and eye-witnesses of almost all they related.
In reference to the second point to be made out, we took the
position that there is abundant evidence that the writers of
the gospel history were too honest lo relate any thing but
what they believed to be truth. Taking the history as written
by St. John for a specimen, we discovered a strong internal
evidence of the honesty of the writer in the fact that it is in
a high degree circumstantial; and another, in the incidental
characteristic of the writer, that he takes no pains to convince
us of his honesty, and makes no parade about it, as if it were
possible to be suspected ; and another, in the circumstance,
that while he could not have been ignorant that he was relat
ing many extraordinary and wonderful events, he betrays no
appearance of wonder in himself, nor any expectation of
wonder from his readers, thus evincing that he was conscious
of narrating events of universal notoriety. In addition to
thase striking imprints of honesty ; we perceived another, in
the minute accuracy which distinguishes all the allusions of
this narrative to the manners, customs, opinions, political
events, and circumstances of the times.
Having thus exhibited satisfactory evidence of the honesty
of one of the writers of the gospel narrative ; we produced
seven other writers, each entirely independent of the rest, and

lecture xii. 361
possessing all the internal marks of honesty discovered in St.
John ; all concurring in their statements so entirely that no
contradiction can be detected; and yet with so much inci
dental variety, that the suspicion of a concerted scheme for
mutual support is as unreasonable as if they had lived in
different centuries. The fact that they were heartily interested
in the gospel ; that they so firmly believed' what they wrote,
as to have lived in zealous devotion to Christ, even to the
sacrifice of life, was shown to be the strongest confirmation,
instead of the least abridgement, of their united testimony.
In their co-operating evidence, we have a proof of the honesty
of each writer, and of the credibility of the whole body of
facts contained in their pages, such as no history of any
individual of the world can equal. Four histories, written
by persons contemporaneous with the subject, are only found
in the case before us. When it is considered that the au
thors were not only contemporaries but companions of the
personage whose history is given ; their mutual support and
internal evidences of honesty afford a body of proof which,
were their narratives untrue, would be morally impossible.
Here, we might have left the question of credibility. But
we proceeded to show, that to suppose these writers to have
published what they did not believe, is to suppose that
Lhey acted not only without any conceivable motive, but in
direct opposition to all the motives by which the minds of
men are ever influenced. And finally, it was made to appear
that the gospel history has in its support, not only all the tes
timony that could fairly have been expected from its enemies
all of them yielding at least the evidence of silence, when
had they been able, they would assuredly have published a
denial ; but much stronger testimony than could fairly have
been expected from enemies, since several of their most hos
tile writers positively acknowledge all the facts that are
necessary to establish the divine authority of Jesus. But this
was not our highest reach of testimony. We found a great
cloud of witnesses to the truth of this history in the multi-
30*

;;62

lecture xii.

tudes converted to the gospel under the preaching of the
epostles : witnesses who have this peculiar excellence, that,
from having once been enemies, they became devoted friends,
by the mere force of their conviction of the facts in question.
The whole argument for credibility was finished by showing,
fiom the very nature and circumstances of the history, that
bad it not been true, its currency for a single year would have
been quite as miraculous, and more unaccountable, than any
thing related therein.
Having thus cleared our way. to the New Testament, by
ascertaining the authenticity of its books, and the credibility
of its history; we were prepared to open the volume, and
investigate its contents. It professes to contain a revelation
from God, communicated to mankind by the Lord Jesus and
his apostles, as invested with a divine commission for this
very purpose. We asked for their credentials. They refer
red us to their miraculous works. The appeal was confess
edly fair. Miracles perfectly proved, are perfect' evidence
of divine attestation. But, before proceeding to a direct in
vestigation of the testimony in favour of the miracles of the
gospel, we found it necessary, on account of the desperate
efforts which enemies of Christianity have made to escape
this argument, to illustrate the following preliminary truths :
that there is nothing unreasonable or improbable in the idea
of a miracle in proof of divine revelation ; that the miracles
wrought for this purpose, in the first century, can be rendered
c/edible to us of the nineteenth, by no other evidence than
that of testimony ; that such evidence is perfectly sufficient
to prove a miracle ; that the testimony to the gospel miracles
has suffered no diminution of force by increase of age; and
that we, who are restricted to such means of conviction, are
sUuated in regard to our state of probation and moral disci-
rime, more consistently than if we had been present when
t're miracles were wrought, and could have proved their
reality by the test of our senses.
From these important propositions, we proceeded to tho

LECTURE XII. 363
testimony in regard to the miracles of the gospel.
Here we might have stood upon the equitable assumption
that, in having established the truth of the narratives, we
had proved also the reality of the miracles, of the New Tes
tament ; inasmuch as miraculous events are so essentially
interwoven with many of them, that to question the latter,
is necessarily an impeachment of the former. But as our
object was not merely proof, but variety and fulness of proof,
we proceeded to the fact that, the religion of the Bible having
been established by direct appeal to miracle, in evidence of '
the divine authority of its teachers, stands alone in this res
pect among the various religions of mankind ; after which,
we laid out the materials of our argument under the follow
ing propositions. Supposing the wonderful works ascribed
to our Lord to have really occurred, they cannot be ascribed
to second causes, but must have been genuine miracles.
They were of such a nature as admitted of their being
brought at once to the test of the senses. They were per
formed, for the most part, in the most public manner. They
were exceedingly numerous, and of great variety. The
success, in every case, was instantaneous and complete.
There is no evidence of such a thing, as an attempt on the
part of Christ or his apostles to perform a miracle in which
they were accused of a failure. For seventy years, the
miraculous gifts in question continued to be exercised, and
to be submitted to the inspection of mankind. During all
this time, it is a matter of certainty that they underwent the
most rigid examination from those who had every opportu
nity and every disposition to detect imposition. Every
advantage was afforded the adversary by their being pub
lished and appealed to immediately after, and in the very
places where, they occurred. The persons who performed
them were of all others the least qualified, and the least likely
either to attempt a series of counterfeit miracles, or to suc
ceed in passing them upon the Jewish and heathen world.
Notwithstanding all that was done to break the constancy

364 lecture xii.
and extort the confessions of those early Christians who
were eye-witnesses of the deeds of Jesus and his apostles ;
none were ever known to acknowledge they had been
deceived, or had found any thing but truth in the miracles
by which they were led to embrace the gospel. The benevo
lent character and holy effects of the miracles; the humble,
self-denying, unambitious spirit of those who performed
them, are irreconcilable with the supposition of any thing
selfish or deceitful. That they were genuine, and to the
people of that century undeniable, we have the plainest and
strongest confession from the primitive adversaries of Christ
and his cause. But confessions stronger, unspeakably, are
found in the history of great multitudes in Judea, and every
country of heathenism, who beheld in the miracles such
incontrovertible certainty as induced them to lay aside the
bitterest enmity to the gospel, and make the most painful
sacrifices of which human nature is capable, for the sake of
embracing the service of Jesus. If with all this evidence,
there is not reason to rely implicitly upon the reality of the
gospel miracles, we are driven to believe in the most unac
countable violations of the laws of nature, of truth, and of
common sense, as necessary to account for the singular events
connected with their performance, and for their universal
acknowledgment in the era of their first publication. Hence
it was concluded that the credentials of Jesus and his apos
tles were given from heaven; and, consequently, that the
New Testament, as an authentic record of what they deli
vered, is the book of the revelation of God.
Here, with perfect safety, might the cause have been con
sidered as determined. But, unwilling to content ourselves
with once establishing the divine authority of the gospel, the
argument was commenced anew, substituting prophecy for
miracle, as the source of evidence. Considerations were
stated which render the argument from prophecy specially
valuable : such as the continual increase of its strength, and
the important characteristic of many predictions, that their

lecture xii. 365
fulfilment, being a matter of present existence, is evidence
before our eyes — addressed to our senses. Before proceeding
to the proof of fulfilment, the fact that all other religions
have shrunk from attempting such dangerous ground as the
publication of prophecy, and yet that, however certain of
exposure in case of imposition, it is every where appealed to
and rested upon, in the Bible, was treated as a strong
presumptive argument that in the Bible is found what no
false religion can possess — something to warrant it in ven
turing where divine omniscience alone is able' to tread —
inspiration of God. We then glanced at the immense
extent, and vast embrace, and wonderful minuteness, which
characterize the scheme of scripture prophecy ; the many
ages included ; the variety of agents employed; the numerous
particulars predicted ; and the harmony of all the details.
The undeniable fact was asserted, that between the least
prediction of the Bible, and any event of history, there is not
the smallest evidence of contradiction. We then demanded
whether it were credible that imposture would ever have
dared to commit its cause to a venture which could terminate
successfully only by such a hopeless series of miraculous
coincidences. With all this presumptive evidence on our side, we tooij
up a brief selection of important prophecies, and showed
their minute and wonderful fulfilment, from sources of
testimony to which there could be no exception. Your
attention was specially directed to a great variety of predic
tions, by different writers, and in all ages of bible history, all
centering in Jesus, and determining the time and circum
stances of his advent ; the character of his life ; the particulars
of his sufferings and death ; foretelling his resurrection, and
the increase of his kingdom. After having thus showed the
fulfilment of prophecies, of which Jesus was the subject ;
we proceeded to others, of which Jesus was the author.
In the destruction of Jerusalem, and its subsequent history.
we had, prepared to our hands by the writings of unbelievers,

<J66 LECTURE XII.
a most impressive accomplishment of a series of predictions
on the part of our Lord, in which the utmost plainness of
meaning is united with singular minuteness of detail. The
agreement between the predictions and the events admitted
of no denial. The supposition of chance was the only
explanation to which unbelief could flee. But it was stated,
on the authority of strict arithmetical calculation, that,
according to the principles employed in the computation of
what are called chances, the probability against the occurrence,
nt the predicted time, of all the particulars embraced in the
prophecies of which we had spoken, exceeded the power of
numbers to express ; even without the consideration of the
providence of One who hateth iniquity, and especially when
i t is practised under pretence of his authority. The conclusion
was inevitable : that the Bible, in thus containing so many
genuine prophecies, scattered through its several books,
contains revelation from God, and exhibits satisfactory evi
dences of divine authority ; and that Jesus Christ, being in
his character and office, as the Saviour of sinners, the great
theme of this system of prophecy, and being himself endued
with the spirit of prophecy, was, and is to come, no other
t han what he claimed to be considered, the Son of God, the
redeemer of men, King of kings, and Lord of lords.
Here again, we might have rested our cause. But unwil-
ling to withhold the interesting evidence remaining; we
commenced the main question anew, and set out to prove the
divine original, from the history of the propagation o*
Christianity. The difficulties in the way of its extensive
progress were manifest from considering that the enterprise
of propagating a new religion, to the exclusion of every
other, was perfectly novel, and universally offensive ; that
the whole character of the gospel, as a system of doctrine
and a rule of life, erected a barrier against its progress
which, to human force, would have proved insurmountable ;
that it necessarily arrayed against itself all the influence of
every priesthood ; all the powers of every government ; all

lecture xii. 367
the prejudices, habits, and passions of every people ; and all
the pride, wit, and influence of every school of philosophy
.n the world. Add to this, that the character of the age was
peculiarly adapted to increase the difficulties above mentioned,
ind to put the truth of such a religion as that of the gospel
-to the very closest and strongest trial. The agents intrusted
with the propagation of Christianity were of all others most
unfitted for their work, on the supposition that it was one of
imposture. They set up their banner when every thing visible
on their side only tended to inspire them with despair, and
every thing on the side of their enemies was considered as
triumphant. The mode they adopted was directly calculated,
on human principles, to increase and multiply all their
difficulties. They were encountered every where by the
fiercest persecution that the malignant ingenuity of enemies
could invent, and the principalities and powers of the earth
could execute. In spite of all these enormous combinations
of resistance, such was the rapid and mighty progress of
the gospel, that, in thirty years, the Roman empire was every
where pervaded with its influence, and even haughty
Rome could yield a great multitude, as her first fruits, for
the fires of persecution. The conversions, which ensued in
such numbers, were not changes merely of opinion, but of
heart and life ; they involved individuals of all classes of
mind, of learning, of rank, and of opulence. Nothing in
any degree corresponding to this work had ever been known
before, or has ever been witnessed since ; even though
efforts have frequently been made, in circumstances and
with means, on the supposition that the apostles were not
specially favoured of God, much more advantageous than
theirs. All these particulars combined, demonstrate that in
the labours of the apostles, none but " God gave the increase,"
because none but God could give such increase. They
present a miracle as unquestionable, as if, at the bidding of
man,, a rock should become a fountain of water.
Thus, a third time, did we finish our proof. Here, again,

368 lecture xii.
might the argument have been safely terminated. But the
fruits of Christianity presented a source of additional
evidence, too important to be omitted. We began, in this
department, with the effects of Christianity on
society in general. We surveyed the moral condition-
of mankind when the gospel era commenced. The most
polished, literary, and admired nations of the ancient world
were selected as, at least, favourable specimens of all others.
Their personal, domestic, and social virtues were placed in
comparison with those of civilized nations of the present age,
and especially with those which christian influence has most
thoroughly pervaded. The contrast was exceedingly im
pressive. The moral improvements effected in society have
been immense and inestimable. We found nothing in the
philosophy, or the religion, or the fluctuations, or any other
ingredient of the heathen or infidel world, to effect such a
change. No heathen nation, left to itself, has ever reformed.
The history of the world demonstrates that the whole work
must be charged to Christianity. The history of christian
effort, among heathen nations of the present age, demonstrates
that she was capable, and ever will be capable, of accomplish
ing such blessed results.
From the fruits of Christianity on society in general, we
turn to those exhibited in the character and happiness of her
genuine disciples. Undeniable and innumerable transforma
tions, in moral character and habits, were pointed out,
which are utterly incapable of explanation, but on the
supposition of a divine power accompanying the gospel.
A comparison was drawn between the lives of genuine disci
ples of Christ, and those for which unbelievers are notori
ous. Another was instituted between the death-bed scenes
and testimonies of real Christians, and such as have been
witnessed in connexion with infidelity. It appeared that.
with a few exceptions, individuals are the slaves of sin, in
proportion as they become devoted to infidelity ; while it was
equally evident that, without any exception, they become

lecture xii. 369
servants of righteousness, in proportion as their hearts are
surrendered to the influence of the gospel. It appeared that
while, on the one hand, no unbeliever ever advanced beyond
the negative and comfortless composure of a Stoic, under the
trial of death, and multitudes, and the very chief of tneir
profession, hate, in that hour, abandoned their sentiments
with horror ; it was never heard, on the other hand, that a
Christian regretted, in his death, having believed and obeyed
the gospel ; while innumerable disciples of that blessed faith,
in the very act of dissolution, have risen to the most triumph
ant assurance of eternal life and glory. Such are the legiti
mate fruits of the gospel of Christ.
On the wise principle, therefore, that " a corrupt tree cannot
bring forth good fruit," we must pronounce Christianity good ;
and since no religion can be good without being true, or as
Hume expressed it : " error never can produce good," we must
conclude that her assertion of divine authority is worthy of all
acceptation. Thus terminated the argument of the last lecture.
And now, while the retrospect, we have been takingj is
fresh in your memories, consider :
1 st. The plainness and simplicity which characterize the
evidences of Christianity. To understand the meaning, and
appreciate the force, of any or all of them, so far as is necessary
to a clear, intelligent, and impressive conviction of the divine
inspiration of the scriptures, and the divine nature and mis
sion of the Lord Jesus Christ, is a work to which the mind
of any thoughtful individual of ordinary information is compe
tent. Willingness to read, readiness to learn, humility to
submit to' conviction, and an ordinary knowledge of the
meaning of words, are the only requisites for a satisfactory
investigation of the whole argument. How different, in this
respect, is the system of Christ, from all the speculating and
metaphysical systems of infidel philosophy ! What woulu
plain common sense people do, did their understanding of the
grounds of faith and duty depend upon such dark questions,
as the sufficiency of the light of nature, the origin of evil, the
31

370

lecture xii.

metaphysical relations of cause and effect, the foundation of
virtue, the elements of accountability, the freedom of the will,
&c. ; questions which must be settled in our own minds, and
by our own reason, before we can consistently embrace any
other religion than that of revelation ; but about which all
the philosophy on earth, if it reject the scriptures, may specu
late to the end of time, without arriving at sufficient certainty
to satisfy a single conscience. The gospel requires no abstract
theories to explain its way of salvatipn, its principles of
obligation, or its rule of duty. It simply presents the evi
dence that Jesus Christ, the Son and the Sent of God, came
into the world to teach and to save sinners ; and then, to
every sinner, publishes this plain direction : What Jesus in
his word has taught, believe; what he has there commanded,
follow; and, through his righteousness, thou shalt be saved.
2d. Consider the great variety and accumulation of the
evidences of Christianity. In the lectures to which you have
listened, were presented no- less than four independent and
complete methods of proof, each of which is amply sufficient
to bear the whole weight of the gospel. The argument from
miracles is conclusive without the argument from prophecy.
The latter is in no wise dependent upon the former, or any
that succeeded it. The argument from the propagation is
complete in itself, as well as that from the fruits of Christian
ity. But under each of these general heads, what a bound
less variety of auxiliary evidences might have been adduced !
Every single miracle ; every fulfilled prophecy ; a thousand
separate facts in the spread of the gospel, and innumerable
examples of its holy fruits in the hearts and lives of believers,
would have furnished us with so many effulgent centres,
from all of which rays of brilliant evidence are continually
meeting and harmonizing in a shining testimony to Jesus, as
the resurrection and the life.
But remember that one whole division, out of the two
which embrace the field of evidence, has been left untouched.
We have found an astonishing variety and accumulation of

lecture xii. 371
proof; and yet the whole department of internal evi
dence, that which arises from the search of the New Testa
ment itself — its spirit, manner, dress, and beauty — the sim
plicity of its character ; the benevolence of its temper ; its
power over the conscience ; the suitableness of its contents
to the wants of man ; the excellence of its doctrines ; the
purity and elevation of its morals ; the character and con
duct of Jesus, and the happy tendency of all his instructions :
— this immense field of diversified evidence, secondary to
none in its influence upon the mind, and superior to all in
its direct appeal to the heart, we have not so much as en
tered. Could we but see all the separate streams united in
one ; could we measure at once the force of that majestic
tide which collects its innumerable tributaries from all ages,
and all nations, and all hearts ; could we appreciate its
strength by an accurate estimate of all the obstructions with
which earth and hell, " the prince of the power of the air,"
and " the rulers of the darkness of this world," have endea
voured to resist its course — the mountains of difficulty which,
in every century, it has rent asunder, or rolled away to clear
its course ; we should wonder, indeed, at what Divine Good
ness has done to make us believers, and at what human
obduracy has been able to withstand for the purpose of con
tinuing in unbelief.
But this astonishing flood of evidence is perpetually in
creasing. Every additional benefit which Christianity bestows
upon any portion of mankind ; every additional conversion
of a sinner to God ; every holy life that is added to ihe
shining ranks of the followers of Christ ; every new triumph
of christian faith over the trials of life and the terrors of
death ; every increase in the fulfilment of prophecy ; every
advance in the conquest of the gospel over the darkness of
paa"anism ; every new year of victory over all the resistance
of "pretended friends and unfaithful professors, of internal
divisions, and infidel enmity, is a new stream to swell the
many waters, which one day, like the deluge of old, will

372 lecture xii.
drown unbelief in its last refuge, and make all nations and
kindreds know how precious, as an ark of safety, is He who
"came into the world to save sinners."
But who can ask for additional evidence? Did not the
question affect the darling idols of the heart ; were it one of
property, or of science, or of human life ; were it some new
medicine, to heal the maladies of the body, that laid before
us this immense mass of credentials from all generations ; or
were it a scheme for the acquisition of earthly gain that came
to us accompanied with such voluminous evidence of its
unfailing truth and wisdom ; no man of common sense could
hesitate a moment to give it his unqualified belief. All men
are continually committing their dearest interests to evidence
unspeakably inferior. We intrust our lives to the care of
physicians, of whose skill, and wisdom, and carefulness, and
honesty, we have no assurance comparable to our proof of
Jesus, as the only Physician to save our souls, and as that
all-sufficient One, in whose hands none can perish. We
believe, without a question, in all the great events of history ;
and yet their evidence is so inconsiderable in comparison
with the proof of the gospel, that if you take away, as unes-
tablished, the great pillars of the argument of Christianity,
you pronounce the whole foundation of historical know
ledge, unestablished ; yea, you rob mankind of the whole
fruit of human testimony, and write terra incognita over
almost the whole map of the generations and things of the
universe. III. How impressive to the mind of every human being,
should the evidence of Christianity appear. If he take up
any system of faith which men have ever attempted to sub
stitute for the gospel, and compare its evidences, how imme
diately is it confounded by the, contrast. If he attempt lo set
aside any one of the great proofs on which the noble fabric
of Christianity is supported, how immediately are his efforts
defeated, and his weapons broken 1 He may invent difficul
ties, but the arguments of the gospel he cannot answer.

lecture xii. 373
What, then, is the condition of the inquirer? The religion
of Christ, thus solemnly and impressively attested, declares
him a sinner before a just and holy God ; condemned, under
sentence of the divine law, to eternal retribution and wo. It
tells him, that except he repent, he must perish ; except he
believe in and follow Jesus, as his Master and only Hope, he
cannot be delivered from condemnation. It declares, on the
other hand, that if he repent and believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, he shall be saved ; the sting of death will be taken
away ; an inheritance will be given him " that is incorrupti
ble, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away." All this comes
to him under the sanction of evidences innumerable ; for
none of which is he provided with an answer. History
informs him that the best and wisest men of all ages have
considered those evidences incontrovertible. Immense mul
titudes assure him, that in embracing the gospel they have
experienced the truth of its promises, and realized the holy
and happy influence of its doctrines. The probability, to
say the very least, must seem immense, even to a sceptic, that
should he reject Christianity, he would reject the truth of
God, and incur eternal ruin. While, on the other hand, the
certainty is evident, that should he embrace it, not only would
he suffer no loss in case it should prove untrue, but he would
gain many precious consolations in this life, of which infi
delity is entirely barren. In these circumstances, how serious
is the crisis, when he is making the choice whether to be an
infidel or a christian ! Does he decide for infidelity ? He
can gain nothing ; he certainly loses much ; and if the gos
pel be true, he loses all for ever. Does he decide for Chris
tianity ? He can lose nothing ; he certainly gains a great
deal ; and if infidelity prove to be true, he has nothing to
regret but that truth and happiness should be so directly
at war.
Then what a step does he take, who, notwithstanding all
the evidences of the religion of Jesus, determines upon its
denial ? What solemnity and carefulness of investigation ;

374

LECTURE xii.

what candour and impartiality of judgment; what jealousy
over one's own inclinations and prejudices ; what long and
patient consideration ; what earnest prayer for divine guid
ance and help, should precede such a decision ! One would
suppose that at least the maturest knowledge, and the coolest
temperament, and the most sober hours, would be waited for,
before coming to a point on which such tremendous conse
quences are suspended. What, then, is our amazement to see
the stupid, ignorance, or the senseless levity, or the lazy
thoughtlessness, or the intemperate enmity, with which this
momentous decision is almost always made ! How many
become infidels, not only without candid investigation, but
without any serious thinking; without so much as an inquiry;
without even a decent sobriety of mind ! To such persons,
I know not a more alarming occupation than that of read
ing a well ordered exhibition of the evidences of Chris
tianity. Have the evidences of the christian religion been ever
answered? Infidels have attacked Christianity. But any
thing may be attacked. They have slandered her doctrines ;
ridiculed her word ; reviled her precepts ; hated her holiness,
and influenced many to go and do likewise : but neither
hatred, nor reviling, nor ridicule, nor slander, is the test of
truth. Have infidels ever resorted to the one only fair and
honest mode of meeting, face to face, the whole array of
testimony which Christianity advances, and endeavouring
cooly to prove, as a matter of historical evidence, that the
authenticity of the New Testament, and the credibility of
its history, are not sustained; that the miracles of Jesus
have not been supported with adequate testimony ; that the
prophecies of the scriptures have met their attestation in no
accurate histories ; that Christianity was propagated by
human force alone, and its fruits are those of a corrupt and
deceitful tree ? 1 answer, no. There is no such effort in the
books of infidehty. I read of speculations, opposed to our
facts , insinuations, in answer to our testimonies ; sneers, in

lecture xii. 375
replytoour solemn reasonings; assertions, where we demanded
arguments; levityand presumption, wherean advocate of truth
would have been serious and humble. But I know of no such
thing, as a book of infidelity in any sense corresponding in the
nature, or grounds, or spiritofitsreasoning,with such arguments
for Christianity as those of Paley, or Lardner, or Gregory, or
Wilson, and a thousand others, to which no man ever dared
to attempt an answer. Infidelity, like an insect on the pillar
of some stupendous temple, that can see no further than the
microscopic irregularities of the polished marble beneath its
feet, may busy itself in hunting for little specks in the surface
of the noble fabric of Christianity ; but has no such eye, and
takes no such elevated stand, as would enable it to survey
the whole plan, and judge of its pretensions by the mutual
adaptation of its parts, the harmony and grandeur of its
proportions. IV. But there is a most important feature in all the
evidence we have been considering, to which I now direct
your special attention. It is strictly philosophical. By
this I mean that the process by which we have arrived at
the truth of Christianity is precisely similar to that by which
the astronomer arrives at the most certain truths of the
celestial bodies ; or the chymist determines the most funda
mental doctrines of his important science. The grand
characteristic of the philosophy that Bacon illustrated, and
Newton so nobly applied, and to which all science is so
deeply indebted, is that it discards speculation ; places no
dependence upon theory ; demands fact for every thing,
and in every thing submits implicitly to the decision of fact,
no matter how incomprehensible, or how opposed by all the
speculations of the world. This is called inductive philosoph y
in distinction from that of theory and conjecture. It collet ts
its facts either by personal experiments and observation ; er
by the testimony of those whose experiments and observa
tions, and whose fidelity in recording them, are worthy of
reliance From these it makes its careful inductions, and

376 LECTURE XII.
determines the laws of science, with a degree of plain,
unpresuming authority, to which every enlightened mind
feels it ought to bow. The great principle of all Newton's
Principia, and that on which he set the ladder that raised
him to the stars, was this simple axiom : " Whatever is
collected from this induction ought to be received, notwith
standing any conjectural hypothesis to the contrary, till such
time as it shall be contradicted or limited by further observa
tions." But why is not this seif-evident truth as fundamental
in religion, as in astronomy? If Reid and Stewart have
been permitted, with universal consent and approbation, to
apply the simple principles of induction to the philosophy
of the mind ; on what possible ground can they be excluded
from the philosophy of the soul — the religion of the heart ?
We beg as a favour, what is also demanded by right, that
Christianity may be tried by the strictest application of these
principles. You are called upon for no greater effort of
credulity ; no more implicit reliance on testimony, in order
to receive the whole system of Christianity, as a divine
revelation, than you are obliged daily to exercise in believ
ing those innumerable facts in natural science, which you
have not the opportunity of testing by your own experiments.
hi regard to these, you simply ask, what is the statement?
Is it accurate? Is it honest? However it may contradict
your previous ideas, or seem at variance with previous
phenomena, or even with well established laws, you only
investigate the testimony with the more carefulness. This
confirmed, you receive the facts ; and, instead of squaring
them by any of your old theories or speculations, you proceed
to measure the latter by their line, with as much submission
as if every mystery involved in them, were perfectly explained.
Only behave thus reasonably in the investigation of the
great question we have been considering. Apply to it the
measuring rod of sound philosophy. Let every speculation
as to its truth be blotted out. Let all conjectural hypotheses,
for and against it, be set aside. Let the infidel and the

LECTURE XII. 377
Christian sit together in the chairs of Bacon and of Newton ;
and with that stern rejection of mere theory, and lowly defer
ence to fact, which so eminently distinguished those venerable
patriarchs of modern science, let the New Testament be
brought to the bar. It professes to be the authentic and
credible record of the life and doctrine of Christ. In it,
Christ professes to have been sent of God. Let the question
be put. Not, however, is this religion consistent with our
notions of what man wanted, and God might have been
expected to reveal ? Not, does it contain any thing strange,
or mysterious, or apparently contradictory to what we have
been accustomed to believe? But, let it be a plain question
of inductive philosophy. Is it supported by a competent
number of well certified facts ? Is there so mu';u credible
testimony that we are warranted in determining that the
New Testament is authentic ; that its history is true ; that
Jesus did work miracles ; that his prophecies have been
fulfilled ? that no human power, unaided by that of God, can
account for the propagation of his gospel ; that no corrupt
imposture could ever produce the fruit with which its in
fluence has blessed mankind? If there be, then all true
philosophy says : " Christianity ought to be believed, not
withstanding any conjectural -hypothesis to the contrary."
Only confine yourselves to this mode of investigation, and
submit yourselves to this simple law of evidence, and, like
Newton, you may mount a ladder set on a rock, and reaching
to the right hand of the throne of God. Proceed on any
other principle, and, like the heavenly vortexes and the
immense currents of ethereal matter in the philosophy of
Des Cartes, it can only lead you into inextricable confusion.
But, if you adopt the true principles ; what becomes of the
writings of infidels ? Buried amidst the rubbish of vain
speculations, and ingenious absurdities, and scholastic trifling
of the dark ages, when to get wealth by the hypothesis of a
philosopher's stone, instead of the homely, experimental
realities of diligence and common sense, was the great effort

378 LECTURE XII.
of scientific ambition ! Lifidelity is all speculation. Reduce
it to a residuum of inductive reasoning, and you bring it to
nothingness. Strip it of its several envelopes of ingenious
hypothesis, and bold assertion, and scoffing declamation, and
you. find nothing left but a man of straw — an ugly shape to
keep the hungry from the bread of life, which you need only
approach to discover that it is made of rags, and stuffed with
rottenness. The argument for the divine authority of the gospel is all
composed of statements of undeniable facts, and of direct
inferences legitimately drawn from them. I defy the ingenuity
of the keenest critic to take up the course of reasoning to which
you have listened, and point out a single theory, or specula
tion — any thing, depended on for proof, but plain statements
of facts, established as perfectly, and bearing as directly upon
the point in question, as any of the observations of Newton's
telescope, or of Davy's crucible. Not a word have we said
as to what might be supposed or conjectured ; what is likely
or unlikely; what might have been expected or the contrary;
but have simply inquired, what is historically true. Let our
opponents do likewise. Whether any thing in Christianity
appears to them probable or improbable ; consistent or in
consistent ; agreeable to what they should have expected, or
the contrary ; wise and good, or ridiculous and useless ; is
perfectly irrelevant. We can by no means consent to make
their judgments the standard in such matters. Infidels are
thought to entertain very absurd and inconsistent ideas of
absurdity and inconsistency, and of what should be esteemed
as both good and wise. We ask them to descend from their
flights of fancy and speculation, and condescend, in matters
of religion, to do what, in those of science, public opinion
would force them to, or laugh them out of countenance ; to
sit down to the plain investigation, on principles of common
evidence, of the facts which support Christianity, determined
to believe what may be collected therefrom, notwithstanding
any of their conjectural hypotheses to the contrary. Such

LECTURE XII.

379

was once the honest demand of astronomy and chemistry
upon all the tribes of theorists and conjee turalists, in those
departments of science. It is but a short time since our
present fundamental doctrines,on those subjects,were opposed
by philosophers whose speculations they rooted up, precisely
as the great doctrines of the gospel are still opposed by infidels
whose lives they condemn. By and by, it became irresistibly
evident that there is no way to science but by the slow and
humble path of experiment, obtained either by personal
observation, or by the credible testimony of others. As soon
as men of scientific minds shall learn to be consistent with
their own principles, and to reason philosophically, as well
when a law of religion, as a law of nature is concerned, then
the contradiction will no longer appear.of a philosopher loving
to investigate the works of God, but rejecting His word.*
In truth, the evidence of Christianity rests upon a basis
which cannot be condemned, without the downfall of many
of the most important works of science. The main facts and
reasonings of chemistry are considered undeniable, because
experimental. But who feels it necessary to make all the
experiments, or to see them made, before he will believe ?
Many of the most important, he receives, and must receive;
upon the testimony of others. Thus it is also in astronomical
calculations, Seldom are the facts obtained from our own
observations. Many of them, we believe, because they are
reported by credible witnesses. We come to a certain result,
by means of a number taken from a table of calculations
made to our hands, with as much assurance, and base our
reasonings upon it as confidently, as if we had obtained all
the elements by our own labour ; and yet the very corner
stone of our computation is a mere matter of testimony. On
such reliance are eclipses predicted, and nautical observations
founded ; and yet a man of science who should evince any
scepticism with regard to events thus ascertained, would
* On the application of the inductive philosophy to the evidences or chris
tianity, see chapters viii. and ix. of Chaimer'e Evidences.

380

LECTURE XII.

tender himself no less an object of ridicule than if he should
cavil about the sun's rising to-morrow. What is a page of
logarithms, but a page of assertions, the whole value of which
is the faith of testimony ; and yet upon such data the most
momentous calculations in the exact sciences are based with
out a question.
Pure mathematics are considered as involving complete
demonstrations. Mathematical reasoning is regarded as the
very perfection of certainty. And yet, in many of its most
important operations, elements, on which the whole chain
depends, are assumed on a basis not a particle more sure, to
say the least, than that on which our belief of the christian
miracles is founded. " Who would scruple, in a geometrical
investigation, to adopt as a link in the chain a theorem of
Apollonius or of Archimedes, although he might not have
leisure at the moment to satisfy himself, by an actual examina
tion of their demonstrations, that they had been guilty of no
paralogism, either of accident or design, in the course of their
reasonings ?"* And yet a result, however important, arising
from such an investigation, none would suspect. A philoso
pher would rest his life upon its certainty. But have we
assurance of the accuracy and honesty of such men, to whose
testimony we thus implicitly yield, whether they be mathema
ticians, or chymists, or astronomers, comparable in any degree
to our assurance of the competent knowledge and immovea
ble honesty of those original witnesses of the works of Jesus
who have borne such devoted testimony to his miracles ? Did
Apollonius, or Archimedes, or any philosophers of later times,
seal their honesty with their blood ? Did they suffer the loss
of all things in maintenance of their doctrines ? Were they
willing to be accounted as fools for the sake of their testimony?
Did Galileo brave the torture of the inquisition sooner than
deny his astronomical discoveries ? We do not require such
extreme evidence of integrity even in the greatest questions
of scientific testimony. It were folly to expect it. We are
* Stewart's Philosophy, ii. 178.

LECTURE XII. 381
satisfied with a far inferior degree of assurance. And yet
such, in ten thousands of instances, is the evidence by which
we know the honesty of those from whom comes our testi
mony to the great facts of the gospel history. They did
suffer the loss of all things ; they did endure to be treated as
the offscouring of all things ; they did give themselves to the
i ack, and flame, and wild beasts, for the testimony of Jesus.
I mentioned, ir. the announcement of this lecture, that
besides a summary of the whole previous course, it would
contain an application of the argument to the principal
objections brought forward by infidels. This, in substance,
has been exhibited. We know of no objection of any im
portance which is not put to silence and buried, by an appeal
from what men think to what men have done ; from specu
lation to testimony ; from the ideas of objectors to the facts
of witnesses. The simple application of the great principle
of inductive philosophy, that whatever is collected by observa
tion ought to be received, any hypothesis to the contrary
notwithstanding, is the smooth white stone in the sling of
David, which no champion of the Philistines, however
gigantic in intellect, or learning, or in the boast of either, can
stand. I am now speaking of the chief objections. I have
nothing to do with the ignorant ribaldry of such an antago
nist as Paine. To this man, the purity of the gospel was its
chief deformity ; and its stern contradiction of his disgusting
vices, its most irreconcilable inconsistency. He studied the
Bible to defame it, and scraped the common sewers of infi
delity for its very lowest and filthiest objections ; and then,
without-honesty even to advert to the thousand answers each
had received in its day, served them up with his own dress
ing of strong assertion and acrid ridicule, and advertised-*
them to the world as his own, and as unanswerable. Such
matters we must leave to the writings of those who have had
stomach to handle them. In the answer of Bishop Wat
son, you may see how entirely boasting is their strength.
They need but the light, to make all their show of argument
32

382 LECTURE XII.
fade away. Their best answer is found in the profligate life
and despairing death of the poor, miserable man himself.
The mysteriousness of certain things in Christianity is
urged as a strong reason for the rejection of its divine author
ity. Many will not believe the doctrine of the Trinity ; thi
divinity of Christ ; his incarnation ; his atoning sacrifice ;
his resurrection from the dead ; his intercession in heaven ;
the influences of the Holy Spirit upon the hearts of men, and
our new creation unto holiness by his converting power, not
to speak of many other of the deep things of God, because
they are mysteries. Mysteries they are unquestionably, and
were intended to be so regarded. So far as we have need to
understand them, they are as intelligible as the plain truth
that man is the union of body and spirit. So far as we
are not concerned to understand them, they are as mysterious,
but not more so, than the nature of the union between body
and spirit in man. Religion must have mysteries. " Reli
gion without its mysteries is a temple without its God."
Whither shall we flee to get beyond the region of things
incomprehensible? They beset us behind and before. If
from revealed religion, we go to natural, they are there !
The most essential doctrine of all religion, the existence of
God, is mystery to the uttermost. What explanation can be
given of his self-existence ? His presence in all parts of the
universe at once ? How he inhabits eternity, having no rela
tion to time — and immensity, having no relation to space ?
If from natural religion, we go to atheism, they are there
also ! He who denies the existence of God, plunges at once
into the most confounding of all mysteries. What in scrip
ture is more incomprehensible than that this world had no
Maker ? that all its examples of wise and deep design had
no Designer ? Will you go from thence, to the experimental
certainties of natural philosophy ? Mysteries are there also !
Explain the attraction of gravitation, the nature of electri
city, the elastic power of steam, the secrets of evaporation.
What is vegetable, or animal, or spiritual life? In mechan-

LECTURE XII. 383
ios, we arrive at the utmost certainty respecting the relations
of force, matter, time, motion, space ; while, with the things
themselves, we have not the least acquaintance. They are
mysteries, as unsearchable to us, as the deepest things of re
vealed religion. How force is communicated from one body
to another, is no more intelligible than how the influences
of the Holy Spirit are communicated to man. Matter, in
its changes, is as incomprehensible as grace in its operations.
" There are questions, doubts, perplexities, disputes, diversi
ties of opinions, about the one as well as about the other.
Ought we not, therefore, by a parity of reasoning, to con
clude that there may be several true and highly useful pro
positions about the latter as well as about the former ? Nay,
I will venture to go farther, and affirm (says a devoted teacher
of science) that the preponderance of the argument is in
favour of the propositions of the theologian. For while
force, time, motion, <fcc, are avowedly constituent parts of a
demonstrable science, and ought, therefore, to be presented in
a full blaze of light, the obscure parts proposed in the scrip
tures for our assent are avowedly mysterious. They are not
exhibited to be perfectly understood, but to be believed.
They cannot be understood without ceasing to be what they
are. Obscurities, however, are felt as incumbrances to any
system of philosophy ; while mysteries are ornaments of the
christian system, and tests of the humility and faith of its vo
taries. So that if the rejectors of incomprehensibilities acted
consistently with their own principles, they would rather
throw aside all philosophical theories in which obscurities
are found and exist as defects, than the system of revealed
religion, in which they enter as essential parts of that 'mys
',ery of godliness' in which the apostles gloried."*
If from natural philosophy, we ascend to the highef
branches of pure mathematics, the regions of unmixed light
and certainty, where naught is tolerated but strict demonstra-
* Gregory's Letters.

384 LECTURE XII.
tion, even there will mystery find us, and its right hand
will hold us.
Explain the demonstrated fact that "there are curves
which approach continually to some fixed right line, with
out the possibility of ever meeting it ;" that " a space infinite
in one sense, may, by its rotation, generate a solid of finite
capacity ;" that " a variable space shall be continually aug
menting, and yet never become equal to a certain finite
quantity." These are depths which the mathematician can solve no
better than Christians can explain the great mysteries of
redemption. But they do not hinder him. He can use, as
the elements of his calculation, doctrines thus incompre
hensible, without feeling any diminution in the certainty of
the result. Why may not a Christian, with equal reason,
include among the articles of his belief doctrines no more
incomprehensible, without embarrassing his assurance of the
duties and consolations which result from them ?
If mysteries be valid objections to that which speaks of
God and his relations to man, why are they not at least as
formidable in all those branches of human knowledge in
which created and finite subjects alone are involved ? But
they are not treated as objections by the mathematician or
the philosopher. The former asks no question, but simply,
what is demonstrated ? The latter, what is proved, either
by experiment or by testimony ? If phenomena be well
attested, he does not wait to understand their cause, or mode,
or effects ; he does not suspend belief till he has harmonized
their peculiarities with a favourite hypothesis, or with pre
vious observations. He sets them down among the truths
of science, and believes ; taking for granted, that though he
may not understand them, there is One that does ; and though
he should never discover the theory by which such events
are shown to be in agreement with all others, there is still a
harmony which pervades " all things in heaven and earth,
>md under the earth."

LECTURE XII. 385
Such is the application of inductive philosophy to the
mysteries of nature. Let the mysteries of revelation be
treated with equal justice ; and instead of employing them
as objections to its truth, you will acknowledge them as
essential to its nature, and portions of its glory.*
But there are many who object to Christianity, not only
because they cannot understand the nature, but because
they cannot see the reason, of certain things contained in,
or connected with it. For example : It is well known that
God is gracious and merciful, and desireth not the death of
a sinner, and that He has all power to save whom He will ;
and yet it is revealed that without the sacrifice of Christ, and
without conversion and faith, the sinner cannot be saved.
Why, it is asked, this circuitous method, this expense of
suffering, when a word from the Almighty would save the
world ? An intelligent Christian could give many answers
to this question ; but what if he had none ? Would the
way of salvation, as revealed in the gospel, be in any degree
less credible ? Shall we refuse to believe the ways of God,
till he has laid all his reasons before us ? Why not as well
deny His works on the same indefensible ground ? Why
believe that a sick man cannot recover without a tedious
course of medicine ? God can raise him with a word !
Why cultivate the ground, and seek the mediatorial office of
the sun for the raising and ripening of your grain ? God
can load your fields with harvests without such a circuitous
process ! Why His power is not exerted immediately for
these purposes, you can no more explain than why a sinner
cannot be saved but by faith in the sacrifice of Christ. Your
belief in the importance of intermediate steps depends as
little upon the reasons of the divine appointments, in one
case as in the other.
Again : you read that the gospel is of inestimable import
ance to the happiness of man ; a wonderful exhibition of
* See an admirable article on Mysteries in Religion, in Gregory's Let
ters, vol. i.
32*

386 LECTURE XII.
divine grace to sinners ; and yet there are hundreds of mil
lions who have never heard of it, and it is asked, why, since
God is infinitely good and merciful, as well as mighty, such
an immeasurable blessing has not been communicated to all
mankind? This question is often put as a strong objection
to the divine origin of the gospel. Were it taught in the
scriptures that those who had never had the gospel will be
judged by its law, the objection would have force. But there
is no such doctrine. The objection is reasonable only so far
as there is reason in a creature's requiring the Creator to
explain His ways, and admit him to His councils, before he
will believe them. Does a philosopher stand on such grounds ?
Does he doubt the immense difference between the gifts and
blessings, the privileges and improvements, of a native of
England, and those of a savage of Kamtchatka, because he
knows not for what reason it was so ordained? Does he deny
that the former are inestimable, because not universal ? Will
one refuse to believe that he has a mine of gold in his field,
or that the gold is worth his seeking, because all men are not
equally favoured ? Shall a husbandman despise the genial
rain upon his grass, because his neighbour's fleece is dry ?
If God has not seen fit to reveal the reasons for which He
has distributed the gifts of nature, of providence, or of grace
with an unequal hand, I find nothing to complain of. I can
still believe that those gifts are from above, and are excellent,
and distributed under the guidance of infinite wisdom.
That there are no difficulties connected with the scriptures,
and with the doctrines of revealed religion, it would be saying
too much for the intelligence, education, and study of the
general reader, to assert. Until all shall be candid, studious,
patient, and humble, some will find many difficulties in Chris
tianity. If a child, instead of beginning arithmetic in the.
elements, should dive at once into the midst of a calculation
of algebraic roots and powers, he would scarcely escape being
stifled with difficulties. Thus, however, do most objectors
to Christianity endeavour to appreciate its doctrines. Instead

LECTURE XII. 3S~
of learning first the first principles, they plunge without
ceremony amidst the deepest mysteries of the gospel. Is it
wonderful that they come out, exclaiming: "Who is sufficient
for these things?" It is well said: "Objections against a
thing fairly proved are of no weight. The proof rests upon
our knowledge, and the ojections upon our ignorance. It is
true that moral demonstrations and religious doctrines may
be attacked in a very ingenious and plausible manner, be
cause they involve questions on which our ignorance is
greater than our knowledge; but still our knowledge is
knowledge ; or in other words, certainty is certainty. In
mathematical reasoning, our knowledge is greater than our
ignorance. When you have proved that the three angles of
every triangle are equal to two right angles, there is an end
of doubt; because there are no materials for ignorance to
work up into phantasms, but your knowledge is really no
more certain than your knowledge on any other subject."
If it be a valid objection to religion that, to some minds, it
presents difficulties which cannot be solved, then there is no
department of human knowledge that may not be legitimately
condemned. What is more certain than the existence of a
material universe ? or of the necessary connexion of cause
and effect ? But even in these, wise heads have succeeded
in discovering difficulties which it would puzzle much more
sensible people to remove by a process of reasoning. That
matter is infinitely divisible, is assumed in science as funda
mentally certain. That the doctrine, however, involves very
great difficulties, is palpable to all common sense, inasmuch
as, to suppose a foot measure divided into an infinite number
of parts, requiring an infinite number of portions of time to
pass over them, and yet to be passed over in a moment, is to
make a moment infinite, in other words, eternal ; for although
it should be said that the portions of time would be infinitely
small, still they would be portions of time, and an infinite
number of any portions of time must make an infinite dura
tion. Who will pretend that in this, there is no room foi

388 LECTURE XII.
perplexity and doubt ? In the mean time, the operations of
science, in which the infinite divisibility of matter is assumed,
proceed with as much confidence as if there were no difficulty
connected with it.*
Much is said of the certainty of mathematical demonstra
tions ; but if difficulties that cannot be solved are sufficient
objections, even here also must sentence of condemnation
be pronounced. It might be shown how trifling are even the
definitions of geometry, the most exact of all the mathema
tical sciences. Its definitions might be alleged, upon no
inconsiderable grounds, to be nonsensical and ridiculous ; its
demands or postulates, plainly impracticable ; its axioms or
self-evident propositions, controvertible, and controverted
indeed even by themselves. But why are not these things
objected to the truth of mathematics ? What is there in the
religion of Jesus more encumbered with difficulties ?
Were the dispositions of the human heart and the idols
of a sinner's devotion as much opposed by the demonstrations
of mathematics, as by the doctrines of Christianity, it would
be just as difficult to convince men of the truth of the former,
as of the latter. The folly of speaking of a something that
has length without breadth ; of a point that has no parts ;
of lines for ever approaching and never meeting, &c. ; the
futility of basing a certain demonstration upon elements so
unintelligible and impossible, would be trumpeted to the ends
of the world. The wicked would no more believe a pro
position of geometry, than they will now, a doctrine of
redemption. The scoffer would find as much to ridicule in
Newton's Principia as in Paul's Epistles.1
* " The divisibility, in infinitum, of any finite extension, involves us,
whether we grant or deny it, in consequences, impossible to be explicated, or
made in our apprehensions consistent; consequences that carry greater diffi
culty, and more apparent absurdity, than any thing that can follow from the
notion of an immaterial substance." — Locke on Human Understanding.
t See an interesting piece of reasoning, apropos to the above, in one of the
tracts of the American Tract Society, entitled '' Conversation with a Young
Traveller," No. 203.

LECTURE XII. 3yfJ
But we do injustice to the good cause in which we are
engaged by standing exclusively on the defensi re. Infidelity
has too long been indulged with the privilege of attack. It
is the stratagem of weakness, to put on a bold front and
make a desperate assault. Any arm can strike, but not
every breast can repel a blow. It is high time infidelity
were accused and brought to the bar. What proof of a
single feature of doctrine or of moral principle can it
produce, after having rejected such evidence as that of
Christianity? What satisfactory argument for the obligation
of any thing connected with natural religion ; what reason
for believing in a future state; what proof even of the
existence of God, can be offered as worthy of reliance,
without a shameful inconsistency, by men who, in the
immense power of evidence sustaining the divine authority
of the gospel, can find nothing to convince them ?
We have shown that the argument for Christianity is
strictly philosophical, because entirely experimental. It
might easily be shown that every system of infidelity, so far
as it pretends to any religious doctrine or precept, is wholly
destitute of all claim to such a character. What a catalogue
of theoretical assertions, and unsustained conjectures, and
positive contradictions, and gross absurdities, and inexplicable
difficulties, might be drawn up against the most rational of
the infidel systems ! The Deist professes to believe that the
light of nature is sufficient for human guidance in all matters
of moral obligation ; and yet he believes that notwithstanding
such all-sufficiency, some among those who have attempted
to follow it have contended for the immortality of the soul,
and others have denied it ; some have maintained that God
created all things, others that matter is as much from eternity
as Himself: some, that He governs and will judge the world,
others that He does not concern himself about it ; some, that
God should be worshipped, others that all worship is veak
superstition ; some, that virtue is virtuous, and vice vidous,
others, that there is no distinction in principle between them ;

390 LECTURE XII.
that sin is but a matter of custom and opinion, and that the
indulgence of the lowest passions is no more to be blamed
than the thirst of a fever or the drowsiness of a lethargy.
Some infidels deny that Jesus ever lived, and yet they
believe that the whole nation of the Jews, bitter enemies of
Christianity as they have always been, acknowledge that
they put him to death on the cross. Some confess that there
was such a person, but accuse him of a most barefaced
system of fraud and imposture ; and yet they cannot but
concede that his character was eminently pure and excellent.
Others, to escape such a contradiction, maintain that he was
a pure, but weak and visionary enthusiast; and yet they
acknowledged that he composed and inculcated a system of
morals very far superior to that of the wisest of the ancient
philosophers. Infidels profess to believe that the apostles of
Christ were instigated by mercenary considerations, and yet
that they willingly suffered the loss of all things ; by ambi
tious considerations, and yet they submitted cheerfully to all
ignominy and shame ! According to infidels, they were
devoted to a selfish scheme of personal benefit, and yet were
always going about doing good, without the least regard to
their own convenience or pleasure. They were gross
deceivers, it is said, and yet they endured all sufferings, and
sacrificed their lives, in confirmation of their sincerity. They
were weak fanatics, and yet the strongest and most learned
minds could not resist the power and wisdom with which
they spake. Infidels deny that Jesus ever wrought miracles.
but cannot deny that his bitterest enemies, who had infinitely
better opportunities of judging than they can boast, confessed.
the contrary. Infidels pretend that the prophecies of the
Bible were nothing more than guesses, and that all corres
pondence between them and subsequent history was a mere
matter of chance ; and yet they cannot find, among all the
guesses in the Bible, a single failure ; while they cannot deny
that many of its guesses have succeeded, in the minutest
particulars, in spite of a proportion of chances against them

LECTURE XII. 391
too great for numbers to express. Infidels contend that the
gospel is against all reason and common sense, as well as
truth ; they laugh at the efforts of modern apostles to convert
the nations of heathenism to the faith of Christ, as visionary
and fruitless. Nothing seems to them more impossible than
"that such an enterprize should succeed. And yet, according
to their wisdom, when only twelve missionaries, with none
of the education, or experience, or human support and
countenance ; with none of the facilities for multiplying
books, and disseminating knowledge, which modern labourers
possess ; when twelve despised, persecuted Jews, undertook
a similar work, not among ignorant barbarians, but polished
Greeks ; and when, in less than forty years, their cause
was coextensive with the known world ; then what is so
impossible now was nothing wonderful or unaccountable ; it
was a mere matter of human contrivance and enthusiastic
perseverance ; the work of men alone, and of weak, super
stitious, credulous, simple, and deceitful men, though the
only work of the kind since the creatiori of the world !
It were easy to proceed much further with this array of
the contradiction and difficulties into which men are neces
sarily brought by rejecting the evidences of Christianity .
But we have said enough to show, that if infidels were put
upon the defensive a little more frequently, they would have
much less time to be creeping, with poisoned arrows, around
the outworks of Christianity. Let them point out, in the
belief of the gospel, any thing like the contradicticns and
absurdities involved in a profession of infidelity, and it shall
be renounced as unworthy the countenance of a ratiouil
being.

392 LECTURE XIII.

LECTURE XIII.
INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES, AND CONCLUDING
OBSERVATIONS.
The external evidences of Christianity, as a system of
faith, divinely revealed, we consider to have been closed with
the lecture next preceding the last. On that subject, we
shall offer no additional argument. But there remains one
very important matter of inquiry.
Christianity and the scriptures are essentially associated.
Without the latter, we should not have received the former.
But however inseparable in the use of their benefits, they
are quite distinct in the proof of their infallible origin. It is
one thing to show that the doctrines taught in the scriptures
are divine ; and another, that the books containing those doc
trines are divine. The former, we think, has been fully
established. The latter has not yet been attempted. We
have proved that the books of scripture are authentic and
credible ; the works of the authors whose names they bear ;
and correct narratives of such matters of fact as they profess
to relate. But were we to stop here, we should leave the
Bible on a level, in point of authority, with many other books
of the christian religion which contain the truth, and, so far
as we can judge, contain nothing else ; and yet have no pre
tension to any other than a human origin. In this case, we
should have no ultimate and sure appeal for either doctrine or
duty ; a door would be open for all manner of interference,
on the part of " man's wisdom," for the perversion and cor
ruption of the truth ; the most essential features of the gos
pel, on the easy plea that the apostles, being men, may
sometimes have misunderstood their Master, would be acces
sible to the most ruinous suspicions of overstatement or
misconception.

lecture xiii. 393
We have need, not only of a divine system of religion,
but of a divine teacher of that system. The latter was pos
sessed by the apostles in the person of Christ, while he con
tinued with them ; and subsequently in the special presence
and guidance of the Holy Ghost, whom the Saviour promised
as a Comforter, to lead them into all truth. In place of the
privileges thus possessed, what remains to which may con
fidently be referred every question of religious doctrine and
duty, and by which our minds may be safely led to the whole
truth as it is in Jesus ? Are the scriptures infallible ? In
other words, are they divine 7 Have they been "given by
inspiration of God 7" This brings us at once to the main
point of the present lecture — the inspiration of the
scriptures — a subject which, however eminently important,
has had so much done, preparatory to its consideration, in
our previous lectures, that it need not occupy at present a
large portion of your time.
The distinct proposition to which your attention is called, I
would express partly in the language of St. Peter : The
scriptures came not by the will of man : but holy men of God
wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost; or in the
words of St. Paul: " All scripture is given by inspiration of
God." By inspiration is understood : " Such a communication by
the Holy Spirit to the minds of the sacred writers, of those
thino-s which could not have been otherwise known, and such
an effectual superintendency, as to those particulars, concern-
mo- which they might otherwise obtain information, as
sufficed absolutely to preserve them from every degree of
error in all things which could in the least affect any of the
doctrines or precepts contained in their writings, or mislead
any person who considered them as a divine and infallible
standard of truth and duty."
This definition is perfectly consistent with what a critic
would regard as a fault of style in a book of scripture ; or a
philosopher, as scientifically inaccurate ; or a rhetorician, as
33

394

LECTURE xiii.

a departure from the rules of rhetorical writing. It is entirely
compatible with the evident fact of the several authors having
written in such various idioms and styles as their respective
talents, habits, associations, or circumstances rendered most
easy and natural : while, at the same time, it places all the
sacred writers, however various their modes and minds, on
the same footing of divine authority ; and gives to all portions
of the Bible an equal claim to be received as the oracles of
God. Thus, over the just interpretation of each single verse,
is written, infallibility.
In examining into the degree of authority to be attached
to the scriptures, we are favoured with a very direct appeal.
We may go to the scriptures themselves. Having already
established their credibility ; we have a full warrant to de
pend on them for a true statement of the words of the Saviour
and his apostles. Having established also the fundamental
doctrine that the Saviour and his apostles were divinely sent
and attested, we have a right to rely implicitly on their
words, as truth divinely sealed and certified. Our way,
therefore, is plain. We must search the scriptures for any
words of the Lord Jesus and of his apostles concerning the
subject before us. We have but one question to answer :
Does the New Testament bear witness that the several books
composing the Bible were treated or represented by the
Saviour or his apostles as divinely inspired 7 This deter
mined in the affirmative, the inspiration of the scriptures is
decided, until the whole argument of the preceding lectures
shall be proved inconclusive.
I. Let us divide the question, and begin our inquiry with
the Old Testament scriptures.
1st. It is undeniable that the Saviour and his apostles re
garded the Old Testament with at least as much reverence,
as did the Jews in their day. They reproved the latter for
many errors of doctrine and of practice ; for mutilating the
scriptures by false interpretations ; and for making them of
none effect through their traditions ; but nowhere do we read

LECTURE XIII. 395
the least insinuation of their having censured the Jews for
paying too much respect to the scriptures, or for allowing
them too much authority. On the contrary, they evidently
joined in, most earnestly, with the Jewish mind on this sub
ject ; and, instead of attempting to unsettle, aimed directly at
increasing its habit of implicit submission to the Old Testa
ment writings. But had the Jews been erroneous in that
high degree of reverence with which they regarded those
sacred books ; such countenance and example on the part of
our Lord and his ambassadors could not have been showed,
consistently with th^ perfect truth and openness which marked
all their dealings.
Now, be it observed, that the Jews, in the time of Christ,
considered the writings of the Old Testament as divinely
inspired ; not merely in respect to their doctrines, but their
whole matter and substance. Josephus says, that in his time
they were universally believed to have been written by men
" as they learned them of God himself by inspiration," and
were justly believed to be " divine." He draws a wide distinc
tion between the histories of the Jewish people which were
written since the time of Artaxerxes, and those contained in the
Bible, and gives, as a reason why the former had not been
received as having so much authority as the latter, that since
Artaxerxes there had not been a succession of inspired men.
•' How firmly we have given credit," he says, " to these books of
Dur own nation, is evident from what wedo ; forduringso many
ages as have already passed, no one hath been so bold as either
10 add any thing to them, to take any thing from them, or to
make any change in them; but it is become natural to all Jews,
immediately and from their very birth, to esteem those books to
contain divine doctrines, and to persist in them, and if occa
sion be, willingly to die for them."* Hence we see that
Jesus and his apostles, in coinciding with, and in employing
and promoting the current sentiment of the Jewish people in
their days, must be considered as having, really and in the
* Cont. Apion, b. i. §§ 7, 8.

3% LECTURE XIII.
broadest sense, espoused and confirmed the doctrine of the
divine inspiration of the Old Testament scriptures.
2d. But, unanswerable as is the above attestation, we have
a direct assertion on the part of St. Paul of still greater im
portance. Having reminded Timothy, that from a child he
had known " the holy scriptures," which were able to make
him wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, he
makes this positive and conclusive declaration : " All scrip
ture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteous
ness : that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly fur
nished unto all good works."*
Here, then, is the plain testimony of one, whose know
ledge and veracity. we have ascertained, that whatever in his
time was included under the name of " scripture," or " holy
scriptures," was of divine inspiration. We have only to ask,
therefore, to what books Paul applied that name. It was a
name of common use in his day. Josephus and Philo fre
quently speak of " the divine scriptures," and " the holy
scriptures." It is manifest, therefore, that Paul meant to be
understood as asserting the divine inspiration of that collec
tion of sacred books to which the Jews notoriously applied
such names ; in other words, the books of the Old Testa
ment. He regarded them all as scripture. He declared them
all inspired.
Now, that under the same title we have the same collec
tion of writings is certain ; not only from the important fact
that on this head there is a perfect agreement between our
bibles and those of the whole Jewish nation at the present
day ; but also from the testimony of Josephus, who, although
he has not mentioned the names of the several books consi
dered as scripture in his time, has given us their number, and
so described them that their identity with ours cannot be
mistaken. He takes care to speak of them " as of divine
authority ."t In addition to this, we have the testimony of
» 2 Tim. iii. 15, 16, 17. t Cont. Apion, b. i. § 8.

LECTURE XIII. 397
the New Testament as to the canon of the Old. For besides
the books of Moses, which the former expressly mentions as
of divine authority, it also specifies almost all the other books
of our Old Testament as belonging, in the time of Christ, to
the sacred canon of the Jews. Some are omitted, only
because the mentioning of any is incidental. Nothing but
a formal enumeration can be expected to be complete. That
none are excepted against, is proof that all were received by
the Lord and his apostles.
Hence, we are fully warranted to believe that " all scrip
ture," in the mouth of St. Paul, meant all the books of the
Old Testament which Jews and Christians at present unite
in receiving as divine oracles ; consequently, we have apos
tolic authority in proof that they were all " given by inspira
tion of God."
Much additional evidence to the same point might be
added ; but with any who acknowledge the argument of the
previous lectures, and thence believe that whatever St. Paul
asserted, as a doctrine of Christianity, is true, the above sim
ple reasoning will be amply sufficient for the divine inspira
tion of the Old Testament.
II. Let us proceed to the second division of our subject,
and carry our inquiry to the books of the New Testament.
1st. The inspiration of the New Testament may be natu
rally and reasonably inferred from that of the Old. In this,
we argue by analogy. No reason can be given why those
holy men of old, who composed the books of the other Tes
tament, should have written, not " by the will of man," but
" as they were moved by the Holy Ghost," that does not apply
with much greater force to the writers of the later volume.
The economy of the Old Testament was to cease at the
advent of Christ ; that of the New will endure to the end of
th 'J world. The former was intended only for a single nation,
and adapted but to a country of narrow boundaries. The
latter was framed to include all nations, and is intended of
God to be coextensive with the globe. The law had only

398 LECTURE XIII.
" a shadow of good things to come ;" the gospel has '' the
very image of the things ;" the first was a system of types,
" which stood only in meats, and drinks, and divers washings,
and carnal ordinances imposed, until the time of reforma
tion ;" the second (the time of reformation being come) is a
system of direct revelation ; the veil has been rent in twain,
so that it may be said, in comparison with the previous dis
pensation, thai we " no longer see through a glass, darkly, but
face to face." One grand distinction of the economy of the
gospel is, that it is the dispensation of the Spirit. That pecu
liar feature in which its covenant is " a better covenant, estab
lished upon better promises" — " a new covenant" — is found
in this, that it is a spiritual covenant ; its promises, its privi
leges, its duties, its parties, are all spiritual. Its character, in
this respect, is seen in that stipulation of its Divine Author :
" I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their
hearts." So much, therefore, does this " ministration of righ
teousness exceed in glory" all that preceded it, that although
there had never risen, under the Old Testament system, a
greater than John the Baptist ; yet " he that is least in the
kingdom of God (i. e. under the New Testament system,) is
greater than he."
Now, is it supposable that, under a dispensation so limited
in extent and duration as that of the law ; so carnal in its
ordinances ; so obscure in its revelations ; serving only " unto
the example and shadow of heavenly things ;" the sacred
books should have been given by inspiration of God ; and
yet, that under the far better covenant of the gospel, designed
for all mankind, and to stand while the world endures ; a
dispensation so eminently distinguished for the outpouring
of the Spirit ; for the spiritual gifts of its earliest ministers,
and the spiritual duties and blessings of all its members : we
should be left to a standard of truth and duty, dictated only by
the wisdom, composed only under the superintending care, of
fallible men? Surely the inspiration of the New Testament
is naturally and reasonably inferred from that of the Old.

LECTURE XIII. 399
2d. The same conclusion necessarily arises from the
evident inspiration of the apostles in their preaching and
other official actions.
It was expressly promised by the Lord, that when they
should stand before enemies, in defence of the gospel, they
should speak by inspiration of God. In such circumstances,
their direction was: "Take no thought how or what ye
shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of
your Father which speaketh in you." " The Holy Ghost
shall teach you in that same hour, what ye ought to say."
"I will give you a mouth and wisdom^ which all your
adversaries shall not be able to gainsay, nor resist."* We
have no reason to suppose that these promises of inspiration
were confined to the special circumstances referred to in the
passages above quoted. The apostles were to be placed in
many others for which they would be quite as needful.
Certain circumstances were particularly spoken of by the
Lord ; because in them the faith of his apostles would be
particularly tried.
But inspiration was promised by the Saviour, in terms of
the most comprehensive kind. A little before his crucifixion,
when the hearts of his disciples (Judas having left them)
were greatly troubled at the assurance that he was soon to
be taken from them ; he promised to send them a Comforter
— the Holy Spirit — who should abide with them for ever.
This blessed Person, he called repeatedly "the Spirit of
truth." He was distinctly promised to the apostles, as a
substitute, in all respects, for the presence, the guidance, the
instructions of their Lord himself. The great consolation
of such a substitute consisted in his being to the apostles,
invisibly, just what Jesus had been to them, visibly ; so that
they might consider themselves to be divinely directed and
instructed under his influence, in a manner quite as direct
and infallible, as if they had still the Master's voice to hear,
and his footsteps to follow. They were assured that " the
» Mat. x. 19,20. Luke xii. 12; and xxi. 15.

4J0 LECTURE XIII.
Spirit of truth" would teach them whatever knowledge their
duties might require. "He shall teach you all things."
" lie will lead you into all truth." Had they forgotten any
portion of their Lord's instructions ? " The Spirit of truth,"
said he, "shall bring all things to your remembrance what
soever I have said unto you." "He shall lake of mine, and
shall show it unto you." Even the knowledge of the future
was promised to the apostles, by the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost. "He will shoio you things lo come" They were
directed to tarry in Jerusalem after his death, until they
should receive ", power from on high." Now all these
promises are positive proofs that the apostles were inspired
in- their ministry, as soon as their fulfilment took place.
Thus, when the day of Pentecost was fully come, and the
Spirit descended upon them, " they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost," and " began to speak as the Spirit gave them
utterance." By this inspiration, they were enabled to preach,
in all languages, the wonderful works of God. The sermon
of Peter, on that day, was spoken under this influence. By
the same help, he discerned the spirit of Ananias and
Sapphira. Their lie was unto the Holy Ghost, in as much
as, it was unto one whom the Holy Ghost inspired. Directed
by the same Spirit, Peter journeyed from Joppa to the house
of Cornelius,- and first opened the door of faith to the Gen
tiles. Paul, by inspiration, went forth on his mission from
Antioch to the lesser Asia ; being " full of the Holy Ghost,"
he searched the conscience of Elymas, the sorcerer, and
punished his wickedness with blindness. When the apostles,
and elders, and brethren were assembled in council about the
question sent up from Antioch for their decision ; they
consulted and determined as they were guided by inspiration
of God. " It secmeth good to the Holy Ghost," was the
solemn sanction annexed to their sentence. They claimed
to be always received, as inspired. Their speech and their
preaching, they asserted, were " in demonstration of the
Spirit ;" " not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth,

LECTURE XIII. 401
but which the Holy Ghost teacheth ." It is expressly declared
by St. Peter, that his brethren and himself " preached the
gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." All
these statements, and many others which might be adduced,
abundantly confirm the position, that the apostles, in their
preaching and other official actions, were in the highest sense
inspired. Hence it would seem to be very naturally and reasonably
inferred, that when they wrote for the permanent guidance
of the churches, they were inspired also. Can it be supposed
that St. Paul, in preaching to the Ephesians or Corinthians,
spake as he was moved by the Holy Ghost ; and yet was
entirely bereft of that divine aid, when he sat down to the
much more important work of composing epistles to those
churches? When it is considered how entirely all the oral
communications of the apostles ceased to be remembered, in
a short time after they were uttered, except as they were
recorded in the scriptures ; and how their written communi
cations to the churches have remained unmutilated, these
eighteen hundred years ; and are now circulated in upwards
of one hundred and seventy languages ; and will continue
to be the guide and treasure of the church to the end of the
world ; can it be believed that in these the apostles were left
to their own fallible wisdom, though guided in the others by
the inspiration of God? Such an opinion would be absurd
in the extreme.
It seems to be a necessary conclusion, from the above
premises, that the authors of the New Testament were
divinely inspired, as well when writing for all people and
all ages, as when speaking to the congregation of a single
synagogue. 3d. If the apostles did not intend to impress the church
with a belief that they wrote by divine inspiration, they
adopted the very means that were most likely to lead its
members into a most important heresy. St. Paul, in an
epistle to Timothy, which he knew would be universally oir-

402

LECTURE XIII.

culated, pujlished the broad assertion: " All scripture is
given by inspiration of God." Now it is worthy of note,
that the epistle, containing this declaration, is generally sup
posed to have been written after all the other works of St.
Paul, and but a short time before his martyrdom at Rome.
At any rate, it was one of his latest works. The Gospel of
St. Matthew had been written and circulated at least twenty
years. Those by St. Mark and St. Luke were already in
the possession of the churches. The same is true of the
Acts of the Apostles. We know of no part of the whole
New Testament that was written subsequently to the uttering
of the above declaration, except the gospel, epistles, and
Revelation by St. John.
In connexion with this, be it observed, that when the
primitive christians received an epistle or gospel from one of
the apostles or evangelists, they regarded it as a portion of
holy scripture. By this familiar name, it was universally
known, and with this high honour, it was always treated.
Precisely as the writers of the New Testament speak of the
books of the Old Testament, calling them the scriptures, do
the christian writers, who were contemporaneous with the
apostles, continually quote their books. This cannot be
questioned. Then, consider the circumstances of the church
es. They have in possession, and in daily use, a number of
writings which have been sent them by the apostles and
evangelists, the greater part of them by St. Paul himself. It
is well known to the latter, that those writings are universally
revered and read as holy scriptures. In these circumstances,
he declares that " all scripture is given by inspiration of God."
How are they to understand him? Shall they say: He
speaks in that passage only of the Jewish scriptures ? His
primary reference was unquestionably to them. But in what
tense can his assertion be true of all scripture, if so large a
part as that comprising the New Testament, and which was
universally denominated scripture, came only " by the will

LECTURE XIII. 403
of man ?" But this is not all that the apostles did to promote
the belief of the inspiration of their writings.
The christian churches were accustomed to appeal to the
Old Testament as an inspired volume. A large number of
their members had been educated in the Jewish faith, and by
habit, as well as reflection, always associated the idea of
divine inspiration with that of a book of scripture. Conse
quently,- when the writings of the New Testament were
received ; when they came to occupy, in regard to the chris
tian church, a corresponding place to that of the Old Testa
ment books in regard to the Jewish church ; when they were
honoured by universal consent, with the same title of " holy
scriptures" as was applied to the sacred books of the former
dispensation ; it was extremely natural that the churches
should treat them precisely as they treated the older books,
and believe them also to have been written by inspiration of
God. That they did thus regard them is indisputable.
Clement, bishop of Rome, a contemporary of the apostles,
says : " Look into the holy scriptures, which are the true
words of the holy Ghost. Take the epistle of the blessed
Paul, the apostle, into your hands ; verily he did by the
Spirit admonish you." The primitive christians rejected
from the canon of scripture certain books, because, though
true and edifying, they were not inspired by the Holy Ghost.
They habitually spoke of the New Testament as " The
Word of God," " The Voice of God," " The Oracles of the
Holy Ghost."
Now, in such circumstances, how would the apostles, as
men of common honesty and candour, have acted in case
they did not consider their writings to be inspired ? Know
ing the natural tendency and the actual state of public opin
ion among the churches, could they have been even silent
on this subject ? Must they not have warned their discipies
against a disposition so dangerous, and a heresy so conspicu
ous ? Would not the most ordinary measure of humility
and faithfulness ha^e impelled them to draw the line of dis-

404 LECTURE XIII.
tinction, too plainly to be mistaken, between what they had
written by their own wisdom, and what holy men of old had
written " as they were moved by the Holy Ghost ?" What
course do they pursue ? Not only do they allow the natural
disposition oi those accustomed to attach inspiration to the
scripture to have its way ; not only do they say nothing hav
ing the least tendency to correct the universal impression of
the churches on so vital a point ; but they adopt the very
course which was calculated directly to confirm all their
prepossessions. They introduce their writings in a manner
of authority precisely similar to that of the inspired men of
older times. Witness the beginning of the Epistle to the
Galatians : " Paul an apostle (not of men, neither by man,
but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him
from the dead) unto the churches of Galatia," &c. Peter,
speaking of the epistles of Paul, as familiarly known among
christians, expressly numbers them among " the scriptures"
and puts them upon a level with " the other scriptures,"*
which Jews and Christians alike considered to have been
written by inspiration. Paul speaks of the writings of the
v- apostles and prophets" as constituting together that good
foundation on which christians were built, " Jesus Christ
himself being the chief corner stone."t And after Peter has
particularly included the epistles of St. Paul among the
scriptures, the latter publishes his declaration that " all scrip
ture is given by inspiration of God."
If those holy men did not intend to promote the belief of
the inspiration of their writings; if they were desirous of
teaching the churches to make a wide distinction between
their works, as merely human and fallible, and those of
Moses and the prophets, as divine and infallible ; how singu
larly did they mistake the way! how exactly did they
inculcate what they wished to contradict, and build up what
they were bound to destroy !
In what manner the primitive churches understood their
* 2 Peter, iii. 16. t Ephesians, ii. 20.

LECTURE XIII. 405
instructions, is manifest; and on the supposition that the
apostles taught that their writings were not inspired, it forms
a singular proof of the great obscurity with which they must
have expressed themselves. Justin Martyr, a contemporary
with St. John, says that " the gospels were written by men
full of the Holy Ghost." Irenaeus, a few years later, declares
that " the scriptures were dictated by the Spirit of God, and
that, therefore, it is wickedness to contradict them, and sacri
lege to alter them." "The gospel," he says, "was first
preached, and afterwards, by the will of God, committed to
writing, that it might be, for time to come, the foundation
and pillar of our faith."
Enough, it is believed, has now been exhibited to satisfy
any reasonable mind that it was the intention of the writers
of the Nwv Testament, and of their blessed Master, that
the church should regard their works as having been
dictated and rendered infallible by divine inspiration. To
those who acknowledge that Christ and his apostles were
commissioned and taught of God, this is perfect evidence of
the great doctrine at which we have been arriving. For those
who, after all that has been said in our preceding lectures,
shall still refuse to acknowledge the Lord Jesus and his
apostles as divinely commissioned and endowed, we have no
more argument. Much additional reasoning might be offered ;
but such is the conclusiveness of what has been adduced, that
it may be said without presumption, if they believe not.upon
such evidence, " neither would they believe though one rose
from the dead."*
We may now conclude a course of lectures, which has
already extended far beyond the anticipations of the author.
Havino- arrived at the divine authority of Christianity, and
the divine inspiration of the scriptures, we have not only a
religion revealed from God, but an infallible expression of
* For a much more extended and able view of the inspiration of the New
Testament, see Dick on the Inspiration of the Scriptures, and Lectures on
the same by Leonard Woods, D. D., Andover.
51

406 LECTURE XIII.
its doctrines and duties. We have the guide, as well as
(he way, to everlasting life— both equally certain, equally
divine. Let us be thankful for such unspeakable gifts. Next to the
mercy of a Saviour — able and ready " to save to the utter
most all that come unto God by Him" — is the book of the
inspiration of God, which, as a lamp to our feet, and a light
to our path, conducts to such a Friend, and teaches us, with
out mistake, all that we must do to be saved.
Let us consider our obligation to study this blessed book,
with most serious attention and care. What can be more
ungrateful, more disobedient, more sinful, in the sight of God,
than the total neglect, or the careless reading of a volume
which His own Spirit indited for our express guidance and
consolation ? " Search the scriptures !" is the injunction, as
well of our reason, as of the Lord Jesus. " Let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom," is a command as de
lightful in its obedience, as it is authoritative in its declaration.
Let us yield implicit submission to the decisions of the
scriptures. In them we read the oracles of God — the mind
of the Spirit — infallible wisdom. As inspired pages, their
authority is absolute. It is plain duty, therefore, to bring
every question of truth or practice to their judgment ; and to
bow, without a question, or a murmur, or the least reserve
of mind or heart, to whatever they require. To proceed on
any other principle ; to bring any thoughts of ours into the
least competition with the decision of the scriptures ; to sub
mit to one portion of the Bible, more than to another ; to
withhold assent to any of its doctrines, till we can fully per
ceive their necessity, or reasonableness, or their consistency
with certain notions of human wisdom, is a practical denial
of the divine authority of the whole volume, and deserves no
other name than that of unbelief.
Let us search the scriptures daily; for they were made to
be, daily " profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction and in

LECTURE XIII. 407
struction in righteousness." It is only when taken as an
intimate companion and friend, that the Bible throws off its
reserve, and appears in all its excellence. Then it speaks to
the heart, and begins to develope treasures of consolation as
numerous as the wants of sinners, as endless as the grace of
their Saviour. We can well perceive the hand .of God
in the general construction of Christianity, while standing
without, and looking only upon its walls and bulwarks ; but,
like the temple of Jerusalem, we must enter within the holy
place to " behold the fair beauty of the sanctuary ;" the fine
gold of its workmanship ; and the glory of Him " who
dwelleth between the cherubim." " The secret of the Lord
is with them that fear him; and he will show them his
covenant." Let us search the scriptures with prayer; " praying always
with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit," that we may
be " filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and
spiritual understanding." The key of the ark, in which are
laid up the tables of testimony, is prayer. By this alone can
we get into "the secret place of the Most High," and be
taught of God. He who, without prayer, should seek to
enter within the veil, and obtain a view of the divine glory
as it shines within the scriptures, would act no less pre
sumptuously, than Aaron, the high priest, had he attempted,
without his brazen censer and his incense, to pass the veil of
the holy of holies, and stand before the mercy-seat. " My
son," saith the scripture, "if thou criest after knowledge, and
liftest up thy voice for understanding ; if thou seekest her as
silver, and searchest for her as hid treasures ; then shalt thou
understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of
God." We began these lectures with prayer to God for his Holy
Spirit to guide our way and help our infirmities, that all of us
might see and embrace the truth. We recommended prayer
as one of the chief means to be used by all who would study
the evidences of Christianity in a right spirit. We are now

408 lecture xm.
just at the last words of a course, which, we trust, God has
not permitted to be heard by you without precious benefit, as
well in increasing your impression of the solemn claims of the
gospel upon your hearts and lives, as in strengthening your
conviction of its truth as a revelation from God for the salva
tion of men. Take, we beseech you, the Holy Scriptures,
wherein God speaks, by his Spirit, to every generation, as
your unfailing guide, your most dear treasure, the appointed
means by which, as the inspired vehicle of God's truth, it is
His revealed purpose to carry on, through the inworking of the
Holy Ghost, the sanctification of them that believe in the name
of His only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ !

" Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy scrip
tures to be written for our learning, grant that we
may, in such wise, hear them, read, mark, learn, and
inwardly digest them, that by patience, and comfort
of thy Holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold
fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou
hast given us in our Saviour, Jesus Christ." Amen

THE END.

3 9002 08844 2919