!l i'i ruiiiriiiiitiiHiiiiltiiii i! i •iiiii'iiiiP ' iliiiiii hi iiiii!. !;:;!l '^l! 1 illil' 15 1867 /' i/oi His EVlDEiNCES OF CHRISTIANITY. LECTURES BEFORE THE LOWELL INSTITUTE, JANUARY, 1844. REVISED AS A TEXT BOOK. MARK IIOPKINS, D.D. PRESIDENT OF WILLIAMS COLLEGE. BOSTON: T. R. MARVIN & SOX, 42 CONGRESS ST. NEW YORK: SHELDON AND CO il P A N Y. 18G7. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 18G3, by MARK HOPKINS, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. KLF. CTKOTTPED AT THK BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. The following Lectures, published seventeen yeara since, having been extensively used as a text book, are now revised, with the hope of adapting them more fully to that end. In doing this, the arguments have been separated from each other, and captions have been given to the paragi'aphs. Changes have also been made in arrangement, a few things have been omitted, and some additions have been made. Neither these, nor the rea- sons for them, need be specified. The general fonn and substance of the Lectures have been retained, but, as now presented, it is hoped that the arguments will bo both more readily apprehended and more easily remem- bered. The Lectures were originally wi-itten on the invita- tion of John A. Lowell, Esq., to deliver them before the Lowell Institute ; and my sense of his kindness and courtesy were expressed in connection with their former publication. That exi^ression I desire to renew, and to add that the same kindness and courtesy have been still fnrthcr illustrated in connection with the present edition. MARK HOPKINS. Williams College, September, 1863. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. The following Lectures are published as they were de- livered. Perhaps nothing would be gained, on the whole, by recasting them ; but they must be expected to have the defects incident to compositions prepared under the pressure of other duties, and required to be completed within a lim- ited time. When T entered upon the subject, I supposed it had been exhausted ; but on looking at it more nearly, I was led to see that Christianity has such relations to nature and to man, that the evidence resulting from a comparison of it with thetn may be almost said to be exhaustless. To the evidence from this source I have given greater prominence than is common, both because it has been comparatively neglected, and because I judged it better adapted than the historical l)roof to interest a promiscuous audience. It was with refer- ence to both these points, that, in the arrangement and grouping of these Lectures, I have dejiarted from the ordi- nary course ; and if they shall be found in any degree pecul- iarly adapted to the present state of" the public mind, I think il will be from the prominence given to the Internal Evi- dence, while, at the same time, the chief topics of argument are presented within a moderate space. (4) . PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 5 Tlie method of proof of which I have just spoken has one disadvantage which I found embarrassing. If Christianity ia compared witli nature or with man, it must be assumed that it is some specific thing; and hence there will be danger, either of being so general and indefinite as to be without interest, or of getting u}»on controversial ground. Each of these extremes it was my Avish to avoid. That I succeeded in doing this perfectly, I cannot suppose. Probably it would be impossible for any one to do so in the judgment of all. My wish Avas to pi-esent the argument. This I could not do without indicating my sentiments on some of the lead- ing doctrines of Christianity up to a certain point; and if any think that I went too far, I can only say that it was difticult to know Avhere to stop, and that, if I had given the argument precisely as it lay in my own mind, I should have gone much farther. It is from the adaptation of Christianity as providing an atonement, and consequently a divine Re- deemer, to the condition and wants of man, that the chief force of such works as that of Erskine, and "The Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation," is derived ; and I should be unwill- ing to have it supposed that I presented any thing which I regarded as a complete system of the Evidences of Christian- ity, from which that argument was excluded. But if, in some of its aspects, the evidence for Christianity may be said to be exhaustless, it may also be said that several of the leading topics of argument have probably been pre- sented as ably as they ever will be. Tliose topics I thought it my dut^' to present, and in doing so I had no wish to sac- rifice force to originality, and did not hesitate to avail my- self freely of such labors of others as were within my reach. If I had had time to do this more fully, no doubt the Lec- tures would have been improved. 6 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. For much recurrence to original authorities in the histori- cal part, I had not time. The quotations in that part are generally taken from Paley or Ilorne, or from some source equally common. Those quotations, however, are of unques- tioned authority; they are to the point, and perhaps nothing could have more usefully occupied the same space. The importance of the object intended to be accomplished by the founder of the Lowell Institute, in this course of Lec- tures, cannot be over-estimated. Let there be in the minds of the people generally a settled and rational conviction of the truth of Christianity, such as a fair presentation of the evidence could not fail to produce, and there will be the best and the only true foundation laid for a rational piety, and for the practice of every social and civil virtue. That these Lectures were useful, to some extent, when they were deliv- ered, in producing such a conviction, I had the great satisfac- tion of knowing ; and I now commit them to the blessing of God, with the hope, though there are so many and so able treatises on this subject already before the public, that they •will have a degree of usefulness that will justify their publi- cation. WiLUAMS CoLLEGS, April, 1848. CONTENTSo LECTURE I. PAQB Object of the Course. — Responsibility of Men for their Opinions. — Revelation provable. — This shown from a Comparison of Mathematical and Moral Evidence, and fi-om an Analysis of the Argument of Hume 13 LECTURE IL Preliminary Observations. — Revelation probable: First, from the Nature of the Case ; secondly, from Facts. — Probability of Miracles, aside from their Effect in sustaining any particular Revelation. — Connection between the Miracle and the Doc- trine. — The .Christian Religion, or none. .... 39 LECTURE in. Internal and External Evidence. — Vagueness of the Division between them. — Reasons for considering the Internal Evi- dences first. — Argument first : From Analogy 68 LECTURE IV. Argument second: Coincidence of Christianity with Natural Religion. — Argument third : Its Adaptation to the Conscience as a perceiving Power. — Peculiar Difficulties in the Way of establishing and maintaining a perfect Standard. — Argument fourth : If the Morality is perfect, the Religion must be true. 97 LECTURE V. Argument fifth: Christianity adapted to Man. — Division first: Its Quickening and Guiding Power. — Its Adaptation to the Intellect, the Affections, the Imagination, the Conscience, and theWiU 125 CONTENTS. LECTURE VI. PAGE Argument fifth, continued : Division second: Christianity as a Jtestraining Power. — Argument sixth: The Experimental Evidence of Christianity Argument seventh: Its Fitness and Tendency to become universal. — Argument eighth: It has alwavs been in the World 155 LECTURE VIL Argument ninth : Christianity could not have been originated by Man 183 LECTURE VIIL Argument tenth : The Condition, Character, and Claims of Christ. 210 LECTURE IX. The External Evidence. — General Grounds on which this is to be put. — Argument eleventh: Authenticity and Integrity of the "Writings of the New Testament 238 LECTURE X. Argument twelfth : Credibility of the Books of the New Testa- ment 269 LECTURE XL Argument thirteenth : Prophecy. — Nature of this Evidence. — The General Object of Prophecy. — The Fulfillment of Prophecy 299 LECTURE XII. Objections. — Argument fourteenth: The Propagation of Chris- tianity. — Argument fifteenth : Its Effects and Tendencies. — Summary and Conclusion 328 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. LECTURE I. OBJECT OF THE COURSE.- RESPONSIBILITY OF MEN FOR THEIR OPINIONS.- REVELATION PROVABLE.-THIS SHOWN FROM A COMPARISON OF MATHEMATICAL AND MORAL EVIDENCE, AND FROM AN ANALYSIS OF THE ARGUMENT OF HUME. In entering npon this course of lectures, there is one impression against which I wish to guard at the outset. It is, that I come here to defend Christianity, as if its truth were a matter off doubt. Not so. I come, not to dispute, but to exhil)it truth; to do my part in a great work, which must be done for every generation, by showing them, so that they shall see for tliemselvcs, the thor departments. Either, then, there is certainty on other ground than mathematical evidence, or there is no certainty concern- ing any fact or existing thing whatever, and there will be no stopping short of that absolute skepticism which denies the authority of the human faculties, and dou1)ts of every thing, and finally doubts whether it doubts. Grounds of certainty. — If, then, such certainty may be attained, our next inquiry will be, AMiat are * Stewart's Elements, vol. ii. chap. ii. sec, 3. GROUNDS OF CErwTAINTT. 25 the gTounds of it? And of these thej-e are no less than six. First : Conscioicsiwss. — The first gronnd of cci-tainty is consciousness. By this we are informed of what is passing within onr own minds. AVe are certain that we think and feel. Second: Reason. — The second is that which is now commonly called reason in man, or by some the reason, by which he perceives directly, intuitively, necessarily, and l)clicves, Avith a conviction from which he can not free himself, certain fundamental truths, upon which all other truths, and all reasoning, properly so called, or deduction, are conditioned. It is l)y this that we be- lieve in our own existence and personal identity, and in the maxim that every event must have an adequate cause. This belongs equally to all men, and, within its o\n\ province, its authority is perfect. No authority can be higher, no certainty more full and absolute, than that which it gives. No man can l)elieve any thing with a ceiiainty greater than that with which he believes in his own existence ; and, if Ave may suppose such a case, he who should doubt of his OAvn existence, would, in that single doubt, necessarily involve the doubt of every thing else. Third: the Senses. — The third gi'ound of certainty is the evidence of the senses. I do not deny that the senses may deceive us — that they sometimes do; but I affirm that generally the evidence of the senses is the ground of entire certainty to the mass of mankind. To them " seeing is believing," and they can conceive of no greater cei-taint}' than that Avhich results from this evidence. Whatever doubt some may attempt to cast over this subject, it is obvious that no event Avhatever — not the flowing of water toAvard its source — can be a greater violation of the hiAvs of nature, more in opposi- tion to its ordinary sequences, than Avould be a doccp- 26 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTLINITY. tion upon the senses of men Avith respect to certain things and under certain circumstances. It would bo as great a miracle to make three millions, or one mil- lion, of people believe that they went out and gathered manna — that they saw, and felt, and tasted it — when they really did not, as it would if water should flow back toward its source, or should divide and stand up in heaps. Fourth: Memory. — The fourth ground of certainty is the evidence of memory. Without entire confidence in this, no testimony could be taken in a court of jus- tice, no criminal could be convicted. When its testi- mony is jDcrfectly clear and distinct, it leaves no doubt on the mind. Fifth : Testimony. — The fifth ground of certainty is testimoifty. With respect to this, I would say substan- tially the same that I have said of the senses. No doubt, as has been said by Hume, and as every body knows, testimony sometimes deceives us ; but it has not been enough insisted on, that testimony may be given by such men, and so many, and under such cir- cumstances, as to form a ground of certainty as valid as any other can possibly be. I do not now say that the testimony for the Christian religion is of this char- acter ; but I say, if it is not, the difiiculty lies, not in the kind of evidence, as distinguished from mathemati- cal, but in the degree of it in this particular case. Sixth: lleasoning. — The sixth ground of certainty is reasoning. That this is so in mathematics, all will admit. On other subjects, the certainty may be equally full and absolute. AVhen Eobinson Crusoe saAv the track of a man's foot upon the shore of his island, he was as certain there had been a man there as if he had seen him. It was reasoning ; it was inferring, from a fact which he knew by sensation, another fact which he did not thus know ; but how perfectly conclusive ! The GROUNDS OF CERTAINTY. 27 skeptic never lived avIio "svoukl have doubted it. This kind of evidence is cap!il)lc of every degree of prol)a- bility, from the slightest shade of it upward. It often requires that a large number of circumstanees should be taken into the account, and, in many cases, does not amount to positive i)roof. In many others, however, it does ; and the circumstance on which I wish to fix attention is, that it may l)e the gromid of a belief as fixed and certain as any other. These, then, are the grounds of certainty, and each has its peculiar province. Of these, each of the first three — consciousness, reason, and the senses — is en- tirely competent within its own sphere, and, indeed, scarcely admits of collateral support. Not so the last three. The evidence of memory, of testimony, and of reasoning, may mutually assist and confirm each other. It is upon the last two, the evidence of testi- mony and of reasoning, that we rely for the support of what are called the external proofs of Christianity ; and if one of these is capable of producing certainty, much more, if certainty admitted of degrees, would they both when conspiring together. A. habit of doubt — creduJiti/ and sl'ej)ticism eqiiaUi/ wealc. — I have dwelt on this subject because it seems to me that many persons indulge themselves in a sickh'- and effeminate habit of doubt on all subjects without the pale of mathematics and physics, and more es- pecially on the sul)ject of religion. So much has been said, there arc so many opinions and so much doubt respecting different points of the religion itself, that this feeling of doul)t has been transferred to the evidence by which the religion is sustained. I wish, therefore, to have it distinctly felt that the kind of evi- dence by which Christianity is sustained is capable of producing certainty, and I claim that the evidences are such that, when fully and fiirly examined, they will 28 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. produce it. They nmomit to wliut is meant by a moral demonstration. There are many suljjeet.s on Avhich, from Avant of evidence, or l)ccause they are beyond the reach of our faculties, it is wise, and the mark of a strong mind, to doubt ; and there are also subjects on which it is equally the mark of a weak mind to doubt, and of a strong one to give a full assent. The day, I trust, has gone l)y when a habit of doubt and of skepticism is to be regarded as a mark of superior intellect. I*ossibIe coiifllct of reasoning and festhnoni/ — (/le argument of Hume. — But, though testimou}^ and rea- soning may produce the certainty of mathematical demonstration in some circumstances, yet is it not pos- sible that one of these sources of evidence may so come in conflict with the other as to leave the mind in entire suspense ? Is it not possiljle that an amount of testi- mony which, when we look at it by itself, seems per- fectly conclusive, may yet be opposed by an argument which, when taken by itself, seems perfectly conclusive, and thus the mind be left in a state of hopeless per- plexity? This may be conceived; and, putting the testimony for Christianity in the most favoral)le light, it is precisely the condition in which it is claimed, by Hume and his followers, that the mind of a reasonable person must be thrown, by his argument on miracles. Shall I, then, go on to state and answer that argument? I am not unwilling to do so ; because it will, I pre- sume, be expected; and because it is still the custom of those who defend Christianity to do so, just as it was the custom of British ships to lire a gun on passing the port of Copenhagen, long after its power had been prostrated, and its influence had ceased to be felt. According to Hume, "Experience is our only guide in reasoning concerning matters of fact." Our belief of any fact from the report of e^e witnesses is derived hibie's argumext. 29 from no other principle than experience ; that is, our ol)servation of the veracity of human testimon3'. Now, if the fact attested partakes of the marvelous, if it is such as has seldom fallen under our observation, here is a con- test of two opposite experiences, of which the one de- stroys the other as far as its force goes, and the superior can only operate on the mind by the force Avliich remains. "But," says Hume, "in order to increase the proba- bility against the testimony of witnesses, let us suppose that the fact which they athrm, instead of being only marvelous, is really miraculous ; and suppose, also, that the testimony, considered apart and in itself, amounts to an entire proof; in that case there is proof against proof, of which the strongest must prevail, but still with a diminution of its force in proportion to that of its antagonist. A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature ; and as a firm and unalteral)le experience has established these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as any argu- ment from experience can possibly be imagined." Again, Plume says, "It is experience only which gives authority to human testimony ; and it is the same expe- rience which assures us of the laws of nature. When, therefore, these two kinds of experience are contrary, we have nothing to do but to subtract the one from the other, and embrace an opinion either on one side or the other, with that assurance which arises from the re- mainder. But, according to the principle here explained, this subtraction, with regard to all popular religions, amounts to an entire anniliilation ; and therefore wo may establish it as a maxim, that no human testimoin^ can have such force as to prove a miracle, and make it a just foundation for any such system of religion." The claim — no room for it on the ground of Theism. — The claim here is, not that Ave are to be cautious, as doubtless we are, in regard to all evidence for prodigies 3* 30 EVIDEXCES OF CIIEISTIAJS^ITY. {ind miracles, biit that the latter hold such a relation to the irrounds of our l)elief that they can not be proved by human testimony. Let the question, however, be argued, as Hume claims to argue it, on the ground of theism, and let it be fairly stated, and it "would seem impossible that there should be any difficulty respecting it. Do "\ve believe in the existence of a personal God, intelligent and free ? — not a God who is a part of nature, or a mere personification of the powers of nature, but one who is as distinct from nature as the builder of the house is from the house? Do we believe, with our best philosophers, either that the laws of nature are only the stated mode in which God operates ; or that idl nature, with all its laws, is perfectly under his control? Then we can find no difficulty in Ijelieving that such a God may, at any time when the good of his creatures requires it, change the mode of his operation, and sus- pend those laws. Would Hume accept this statement of the cjuestion? If so, the dispute is at aii end ; for this relation of God to nature involves the possibility both of a miracle and of its proof. It is incompatible with this relation, that experience should ever attain that character of absolute and necessar}' uniformitj^ in virtue of which alone its evidence can be set in oppo- sition to that of testimony. If he would not accept this statement, he is an atheist or a pantheist ; and Ave are not yet prepared to argue the question of miracles, for that can not be argued till it is fully conceded that a personal God exists. Two sjiheres and movements — the mind adaj)ted to toth. — The above seems to me a sufficient answer to the argument of Hume. Our minds are constituted with reference to our position under both the natural and the moral government of God. But Hinne does not tidvc the moral govermnent of God into his account at all. This is his STeat mistake. It is like the mistake A DOUBLE MOVEMENT. 31 of tlie astronomer Avho should fiuvfiilly notice tlic recur- ring' movements of the phmets around their primary, but shouUl fail to notice that miglitier movement by Avhich, as wc arc told, the planets and smis are all borne onward toward some unknown point in infinite space. Experience may enable him to determine and to calcu- late the movements of the tirst order ; but if he would know that of the second, he must inquire of Him "who carries it forward. The moral government of God is a movement in a line onward toward some grand coii- sunnnation, in which the principles, indeed, are ever the same, but the developments arc always new, — in which, therefore, no cx[)erience of the past can indicate with certainty what new openings of truth, what new manifestations of goodness, what new phases of the moral hea\ens may appear. To this movement, the circular and uniform one, in which alone experience is possi))le, is entirely subordinate ; and it accords with our natural expectations and grounds of belief that the less important should l)e llexiljlc to the demands of that which is more so. It is on this dou1)le movement, and the subordination of the lower, that the high harmonies of the universe depend. The constitution of our nature is adapted to both movements separately, and as related ; and that nature is true to itself and to its position when men readily accept evidence for miraculous events. To render such events fully credil)le, Ave only ncetl to show that they are demanded by great moral interests. The presumption of uniformity is then balanced by that of interposition, and the full weight of testimony comes in without a counterpoise. It is thus that there is provision for l)oth the scientific and the supernatural clement ; and th-^i system that would exclude eitlier is n:u-row and inadequate. The difficulty with the luost of those who have op- posed Hume has been, tha"; thoy have permitted him, 32 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. wliilc arguing the question ostensibly on the ground of theism, to involve positions that are really atheistic. They have pennitted him to give, surreptitiously, to the mere laws of nature a saeredness and a permanence which put them in the place of God. If we grant to Hume that the laws of nature are absolutely unifoi-ni, we preclude, of course, all proof for a miracle. This is really, though not avowedl}^, the essential premise by which he attemi)ts to show that a miracle can not be proved by testimony ; and whoever grants him this, grants the very point in dispute. The laws of nature, when once it is conceded that they are invaria1)le, are of equal authority ; and it is in vain to attempt to inval- idate the authority of one by bringing against it that of another, l)y whatever amount of induction it may have been estaljlishcd. lleply of Dr. Chalmers. — This does not seem to have been perceived b}^ Dr. Chalmers in his very elab- orate attempt to refute the argument of Hume. He grants that the laws of nature are uniform, and says that there are laws of testimony that are a part of the laws of nature, as uniform as any other, and that there are certain kinds of testimony in regard to which the uniform experience is, that they do not deceive us ; and then he goes on to show, with great power, how the force of testimony may be accumidatcd so as to overbahmce any impr()ljal)ility whatever. I admit fully all that he says on the force of testimony. But let its force Ije ever so great, if it were a fact that no testimony was ever knoAvn to deceive us, yet even then, if we admit the premise of Hume as he would have it understood, we only balance uniform experience against uniform experience, and thus produce the very case of perplexity spoken of by him. Chalmers saw with great clearness the overwhelming force of testimony as proof. lie says, in opposition to Campbell and others, that our TEfTDIOXY AND EXPERIENCE. 33 l)oHcf ill testimony is foiiiuled solely in experience, and th:it there are certain kinds of tcstinion}^ of which ^\■Q luive unitbnn experience that they do not deceive us. But he failed to see that no uniform experience of the truth of testimony could prove a fact that had 1)een already admitted to be contrary to " a finn and mud- teral)le experience." "A firm and unalterable experi- ence " of the truth of testimony, can never prove a fact ■which can be fairly sho^\^l to be contrary to another "lirm and imalterable experience." The argument of Hume is not avowedly against the j)0ssibility of miracles, though, as he must, if he would not beg the question, he constantly insinuates, and implies in his definitions, that they are impossiljle. The avowed argument is against the possibility of the proof of miracles by testimony. Testimony and exjjerience not inconJJlct. — But if wo allow the possibility of a miracle, the authority of testi- mony and of experience can not be fairly set against each other, because one is positive and the other negative. Experience can not prove a negative. It can not tes- tify that a miracle has not taken place. That is the point in question, and to prove it, would require the positive testimony of every human being who has lived from the l)eginning of time. Had Hume been asked why he believed the course of nature to l)e absolutely uniform, he nmst have answered that lie l)clicvcd it on the ground of experience. And IIumi, if asked how he knew what that experience had been, he nmst have replied, by testimony, for tliere is no other possible Av:f\-. And thus it would ap})ear that, Aviiile he seems to oppose the evidence of experience to that of testi- mony, he is only opposing the evidence of testimony' to that of testimony. And what Avould the testimony on the side of Hume amount to in such a case? A\'hy, absolutely nothing, because it is, as has been said, 34 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. negative. Let a tlioiisaiul men swear, in a court of jus- tice, tliat they did not see a murder committed, and it will not diminish in the least the force of the testimony of one man who swears that he did see it, unless the thousand pretend to have l)een on the spot, and to have had opportunity to witness it. In this case, the expe- rience of the thousand men would be properly said to be contrary to that of the one. But in no such sense can experience be said to be contrary to the testimony for miracles. If any number of men, if the Avhole race, — with the exception of those who had an oppor- tunit}^ to see, and who did see, a miracle, — should tes- tify that they did not see it, that would not invalidate, in the least, the testimony of those who did see it. "\Ve should judge of that testimony on its own proper merits. Thus stands the argument, if, with Hume, we place our belief in the uniformity of nature on the ground of experience. But is this really the ground of that belief? I think not. Nor can I agree with Stewart and other metaphysicians, who place " the exi^ectation of the con- tinued uniformity of the laws of nature " among what they call the fundamental laws of ])clief, which we be- lieve in necessarily, and without reference to experience. This is not the place for the full discussion of this point. I merely observe that, so far is this from being to the mind a law of belief, to the exclusion of supernatural agency, that narrations of such agenc}" have been re- ceived in all ages upon tlie slightest evidence ; and that, if this were the law, then no man ought to believe, or could believe, in the resurrection of the dead, or a future judgment, or in the destruction or cliange of the present order of nature in any way whatever. The difficulty lies in an incautious and narrow statement of the true law. The true law of belief is, that the same PARTICULAR F.VLLACIES. 35 causes "will, in the same circumstances, produce the same effects. This is the law ; and when applied to the pernianence or uniformity of the course of nature, it will stand thus : The present course of nature Avill be uniform and pennanent, unless other causes than those now in operation shall intervene to interrupt or destroy it. The proljability of the inteiTcntion of such causes is a point on which every man must decide for himself. To me it seems probable — to you, perhaps, improbable ; but there is nothing in the nature of the case to prevent it from being proved, like any other fact. Having thus put this question upon its true basis, it will be necessary to say very little of the particular fallacies and consequences connected with the argiunent of Hume. I will simply add, that, — Hume's argument is a jji-acf iced absurd if >/. — 1. Ac- cording to Hume, the very fiict that renders a miracle possil)le, must render the proof of it impossible. With- out a settled uniformity, a miracle could not be con- ceived ; with it, according to him, it can not be proved. To suppose that the mind can be placed in such a relation as this to any possible truth, is a practical absurdity. Would contradict the senses. — 2. The argument of Hume proceeds on a principle which would make it unreasonable to believe a miracle on the testimou}- of the senses. There is precisely the same reason for opposing the evidence of experience to that of the senses, as for opposing it to that of testimony. If the argiunent would overthrow a " full proof " from testi- mony, the senses, standing as they do in the same rela- tion to experience, could give nothing more. Begs the question. — 3. Hume bogs the question. The only way in which a miracle can be a violation of 36 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. the course of iiaturo, or contrary to experience, is, that it never happened, and was never observed ; for if it liad happened, and had been observed, then it would constitute a part of universal experience. But to say that a "violation," or, more properly, a suspension of the laws of nature never happened, because those laws are uniform, and to define a miracle as something " that has never been observed in any age or country," is taking for granted the very point in dispute. It is as bald and barefaced a begging of the question as can well be imagined. "But," says Hume, "it is a miracle that a dead man should come to life, because that has never happened in any age or coimtry. There must therefore be a uniform experience against everj^ mi- raculous event ; otherwise the event Avould not merit that appellation." Is this reasoning? He uses " experience" in two senses. — 4. Ilume uses the term exjjenence in two senses. Personal experience is the knowledge we have acquired l)y our own senses. General experience is that knowledge of facts which has l)een acquired ])y the race. If, therefore, Hume says a miracle is contrary to his personal experience, that proves nothing ; but if he says it is opposed to universal experience, that, as has already been said, is begging the question. /Simj)!// ojyposes testimony to testimony. — 5. He opposes the evidence of experience to that of testi- mony, evidently with the intention of opposing to testimony the high authority that l)elongs to personal experience ; whereas, in the sense in which he must use the term " experience," — since, as has been said, we can know what general experience is only hy testimony, — he is only o})posing testimony to testimony. Renounced by Hume. — And, finally, Hume has him- self renounced the principle of his own argument. He ADmSSIONS BY mjME. 37 seems to have had a perception of some of the absurd consequences to Avhich it nnist lead, and thereftn-e adds, " I beg the limitations here may be remarked Mhen I say, that a miracle can never be proved so as to be the foundation of a system of religion. For I own that otherwise there ma}' possibly be miracles, or violations of the nsual course of nature, of such a kind as to admit of proof from human testimony." This single admission destroys at once the whole force of his argu- ment. As an example, he says, "Suppose all authors, in all languages, agree that from the 1st of January, IGOO, there was a total darkness over the whole eai"th for eight days ; suppose that the tradition of this extraor- dinary event is still strong and lively among the people ; that all travelers who return from foreign countries bring us accounts of the same tradition, without the least variation or contradiction ; it is evident that our present philosophers, instead of doubting the fact, ought to receive it as certain." "But," he adds, with reference, however, to another example, "should this miracle be ascribed to any new system of religion, men in all ages have been so imposed upon by ridiculous stories of that kind, that the very circumstance would be full proof of a cheat, and sufficient, with all men of sense, not only to make them reject the fact, l)ut to reject it without further examination." On the consistency and candor of this passage I make no comment. As showing a tendency of our nature, the argument is just the re- verse. Who, after reading this, can fail to feel that Hume was guilty of a heartless, if not a malignant trifling with the best interests of his fellow-men? jSitmmar)/. — Thus, after mentioning the classes of persons whom I shall hope to l)enetit, I have endeavored to show, first, that you, ni}' hearers, are responsil)lo for the manner in which you use your understandings, and for the opinions you form on this great subject. 38 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTIAXITY. And, secondly, that there is nothing in the nature or kind of evidence by which Christianity is sustained, nor in any conflict of the evidence of experience and of testimony, to prevent us from attaining that certainty upon Avhich we may rest as upon the rock, and which shall constitute, if not "the assurance of faith," yet the assui'ance of understanding. LECTURE II. PRELIMINARY OBSERVA.TIONS. — REVELATION PROBABLE: FIRST, PROM THE NATURE OF THE CASE; SECONDLY, FROM FACTS.— PROBABILITY OF MIRACLES, ASIDE FROM THEIR EFFECT IN SUSTAINING ANY PARTICULAR REVELATION. — CONNECTION BETWEEN THE MIRACLE AND THE DOCTRINE. — THE CUKISTIAN RELIGION, OR NONE. The Christian religion admits of certain proof; and to show this was one object of the last lecture. But, in searching for that proof, we may proceed in two dif- ferent methods. We may either try the facts in ques- tion by the laws of evidence, precisel}" as we would any other facts ; or we may judge beforehand of their prob- ability or improbabilit3\ In the first case, Ave should allow nothing for what we might suppose previons prob- ability or improbability, nothing for the nature of the facts as miraculous or common. "We should hold our- selves in the position of an impartial jur}', bound to de- cide solely according to the evidence. This course alone is in accordance with the spirit of the inductive philoso- phy, which decides nothing on the ground of previous h}q-)othesis, but yields itself entirely to the guidance of facts properly authenticated, and refuses no conclusion which the existence of those facts necessarily involves. Let those who arc to judge of Christianity approach it in this spirit, and avc are content. Need of the i^Jiilosophic spirit. — And surely, if this spirit was demanded when the processes of nature only were in question, — and the whole history of human (39) 40 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. conjecture there is but the history of "weakness and foil}', so that science made no progress till facts estab- lished by proper evidence were received without refer- ence to hypothesis, — much more must this same spirit be demanded when the procedure of God in his moral government is concerned. On such a subject, nothing can be more contrary to that wise caution which adlieres to facts, and balances evidence, and keeps the mind open to conviction, than to come to a decision under the influence of a prt\judication of the case on the ground of any antecedent improbability. Spirit of the age — tendency to reaction. — But, unphilosophical as such a course plainly is, it springs directly from the spirit of the age. The human mind, in its constant oscillations between the extremes of credulity and skepticism, is now ranging somewhere on the side of skepticism. There was a time, both before and after the revival of letters, when a belief in fre- quent supernatural agency was common. But when many things, supposed to be owing to supernatural influence, were referred, by the light of science, to nat- ural causes, and a large class of superstitions was thus expelled, then men passed to the other extreme, and it became weak and superstitious to believe even in the possibility of any other causes than those that were nat- nral. It was the jirogress of this feeling toward the utmost limits of skepticism, that was called by many the i^rogress of light in the world ; and it was taken advantage of, and urged on, by skeptics, in every possi- ble way. But a general tendency of the human mind is never altogether deceptive. It is the indication of some great truth. This is so with the tendency of man, admitted even by Hume, to believe in supernatural agency. And when the reaction is over, and men set- tle down in the light of a large experience, it Avill be readily conceded, I doubt not, that, while the gen- GROUND OF PROBABILITY. 41 eral course of luiture is uniform, so as to lay a foun- dation for experience, and give it value, there is also something in the system to meet our tendency to believe in that which is supernatural ; that there are powers, higher than those of nature, connected with the natural and moral administration of the universe, that may interfere for the welfare of man. Facts to rest on evidence. — But, however this may be hereafter, it is not so noAv. The legitimate force of the evidence for Christianity is constantly neutral- ized by assertions, purely h}i)othetical, of the improb- ability of the facts. Now, we admit of no such im- probability. "We hold that no man has a right to con- struct a metaphysical balance in which he shall place an In^Dothesis of his own as a counteq^oise for one particle of valid evidence. To do it, is to go back into the dark ages. It is to apply, in religion, maxims long since discarded in physics. It is, therefore, out of a regard to the exio-eucies of the time, and not because I think it essential to the Christian argument, that I proceed to adduce some considerations to show the antecedent probability of a revelation from God. ProhahiUt)j — liow judged of. — To judge of the probability of any event, avc must know something of its causes, or of the intentions of the agent who may produce it. If we know nothing of these, we have no right to say, of any event, that it is probable or im- probable. If we know all the causes that are at work, or all the intentions of the agents employed, we can foretell with certainty what will take place. It is ob- vious, therefore, that an event which may seem highly probable to one man, or, perhaps, nearly certain, may seem to another altogether improbable. So sensible, however, arc most persons of their ignorance of the causes, and agents, and purposes, that may exist in this complex and wonderful universe, that it requires but a 4 * 42 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. slight amount of evidence to substantiate events of ■which "we should have said, beforehand, that the chances against them were as a million to one. Especially is this the case when the actions of a free agent are con- cerned, and when we are but slightly acquainted with his character and puqioses. But this is precisely the case before us. The question is, whether it was probable, beforehand, that God would give a revelation to man. Of this we can judge only as we are acquainted with the character of God, and the emergency requiring his special interposition. That he could give such a revelation, and confirm it by miracles, every theist must admit ; and the simple ques- tion is, whether, as a free Agent and a moral Governor, (for I acknowledge no man as a theist who does not admit these two characters of God,) he would think it best to give a revelation. Objection. — I know it is said, by some, that this is ground on which we ought not to tread. God, they say, is an infinite Being, and the complexity of his plans, and the range of his operations, must be so great that it would be presumption in creatures like us, creatures of a day, dwelling in this remote corner of the universe, to judge what would, or would not, be probable under his government. Far better might the little child, ycf learning its alphabet, judge of the prob- abilities respecting the purposes and actions of the Government of these United States. JVliot foUo2vs ? — That this is sometimes said sin- cerely I am not disposed to deny ; Ijut there is often connected with it a fallacy which is by no means harm- less. Admit, then, the justice of it all ; and what will follow ? An argument against the probability of a rev- elation? Certainly not. It will simply follow that we can not tell whether a revelation would be 2')rol3al)le or improbable ; and then a candid man will judge of the IXCOXSISTENCY OF OB,JECTORS. 43 evidence for a revelation just as he would of that for any other event. And this is all we desire. Let no antecedent improbability be assumed, and we are Avill- ing to go at once to the evidence and the facts. Objectors do that to which tliey object. — But is this the state of mind of those who speak of man as thus ignorant? Is it their object to produce such a state of mind? I think not, l)ut rather to bring doubt and uncertainty over the Avholc subject. It is assumed that we arc ignorant of the jjurposes of God, and then, from that ignorance, tlie ^?^^prol)ability of a revelation is argued. But it seems to be forgotten that we need previous knowledge, to judge of the iniprol)al>ility, no less than of the probability, of events ; and while these persons shrink back Avith a [)ious horror from the pre- sumption of judging what God might or might not do, they covertly assume a knowledge of his purposes, or at least of what he prol)ably will not do in a given case. We say, that whoever affirms it is improbable that God would give a revelation, assumes, in proportion to his confidence, a knowledge of the previous plans and pur- poses of God ; and then we ask him Avhere he obtained that knoAvledge. God has not told him so, for that would l)e a revelation. He can not know it from expe- rience, for the case stands by itself. A^'e have no ex- perience of Avhat God does Avith his creatures, if such there are, similarly situated in other Avorlds. The uni- form course of nature can be no objection, for the very question at issue is, AA^hether that course shall be sus- pended. It is admitted that God can do it AA'ith perfect ease ; and hoAv can such a man knoAv that the exigencies of his moral goA^ernment may not require it ? Not wholly ignorant. — I am, hoAvever, far from assenting to Avhat is thus said of our ignorance on this subject. If Ave use the term " beftn-ehand " in the strictest and highest sense, perhaps it Avould be pre- 44 EVTDEXCES OF CHE^STIAJS^T^. sumption in iis to judge what God would do. But, in all our arguments respecting Christianity, we take for granted the great truths of natural religion. We have some knowledge of God, and of his providential deal- ings with the race ; and it is not presumption in us to say whether it would be in accordance with that char- acter, so far as known, and analogous with his dealings in other respects, if he should give to man a revelation. This is the true question. Is there any thing in Avhat we know positively of the character of God, in connec- tion with the condition of man, that would render it prol^able or improbable that he would give a revelation ? Prohahllily of a revelation — God a father. — And why should he not ? I know not why it should be con- sidered so strange a thing that God should make a rev- elation to man. If I mistake not, it would have been much stranger if he had not. It may be strange that he should have created the world at all, or i^ut such a being as man upon it ; but if we believe that God made him vdth a rational and a religious nature — a child — capable of communion with him, and of finding in him only the highest source of happiness and means of moral perfection, — then it would be exceedingly strange if God should not reveal himself to him. Shall not a father speak to his own child ? Communiomvith God needed — not a strange thing . — It is demonstrable, on the principles of reason, that, if man had continued in a state of innocence, the high- est progress, and expansion, and felicity of his nature could not have been attained except by communion with God. Man becomes assimilated to that with which he voluntarihj holds communion. And since God is the fountain of all excellence, why should he not connnuni- cate himself to an innocent creature whom he had made with faculties to know, and love, and enjoy him? In the original and highest sense of the word, a state of eevi:latiox not strange. 45 ncaturc is a state of direct intercourse with God. Ac- cordingly, the Bible, instead of regarding it, as infidels, and, I must say, many divines, do, as a strange thing that God should hold communion with men, speaks of it as a matter of course ; and the traditions of all nations have connected with an age of innocence the frequent intercourse of man with the gods. There is nothing, either in the nature of the case or in the instincts of humanity, to give rise to that strangeness with which infidels have invested a revehition from God ; l)ut the reverse. It is strange that man is at all. It is strange that God is. In one sense, every thing is strange, and equally so. But supposing God to be, and to make such a creature as man, it is not strange that he should make a revehition to him. Indeed, to sup- pose God to make man a being capable of religion, requiring it in order to the development of the highest part of his nature, and then not to communicate with him, as a flither, in those revekations which alone could perfect that nature, would be a reproach upon God, and a contradiction. Nor, even in a state of innocence, would the revela- tion of God in his works have been sufficient, since in them he reveals chiefly his natural attributes, and not that holiness and perfection of moral character from which the great obligations, and interests, and duties, and the high delights of his service, are derived. Even now we sometimes find a man groping about this rigid framework of general laws, and exclaiming, " O that I knew where I might find him ! that I might come even to his seat ! " and how much less would man in a state of innocence have been satisfied without direct commu- nion with God ! Tlie highest and most natural concep- tion of the universe is that which makes God the Father of his rationid and spiritual creatures, which constitutes them a family, and which implies communication be- 46 EVTDEXCES OF CI£RISTI.VXITY. tween him and them as personal beings, he making known his "will and character, and they obeying and adoring him. Effects of sin — ground of hope. — If, indeed, an innocent being should sin, we conkl not say beforehand what would be done. We should naturally expect that justice would have its course. But, looking at the race as it is, evidently favored by God to some extent, vis- ited by his rain and sunsliine and by fruitful seasons, we should have as much reason to think, from the nature and position of man, that there Avould be such a thing as true religion on the earth, as that there would be such a thing as true science upon the earth. For that man has a moral and a religious nature is as evident as that he has an intellectual nature. ^\Tierever he is found he makes the distinction between right and wrong, and worships some superior being. If there have been a few who have professed themselves atheists, and we were to give them that credit for entire sincerity which many facts w^oulcl lead us to withhold, this would no more prove that man has not a religious nature, than the fact that a few men have overcome the social in- stinct, and withdrawn from society, proves that he has not a social nature. Religious nature central. — Nor are these principles, which thus lead man to anticipate future retribution, and to recognize superior powers, merely secondary, or subordinate to others. They are peculiarly those by which man is distinguished from the brute. They are those, as shown by all history, in connection with tl*e cultivation and full development of which, all the other powers of man reach their highest perfection ; in con- nection with the perversion and debasement of which, all the other powers are ill regulated and dwarfed. So effective, indeed, has the influence of these principles been felt to be, that all fonner governments have sought RELIGION INERADICABLE. 47 their aid, and have endeavored to associate the power of religion with that of the temporal arm. It has been from these principles, rather than from any others, that motives to high resolve, and long endnrance, and vol- untary povert}^ and a martyr's sufferings, have been drawn. Remove from the history of the past all those actions •which have either sprung directly from the religious nature of man, or been modified by it, and you have the history of another world and of another race. Ineradicable. — I know the manifestations of this principle have been exceedingly various, and sometimes as whimsical and debasing as can well be conceived. There is no absurdity which men have not received, no austerity which they have not practiced, no earthly good, and no natural affection, which they have not sacrificed, in the name of religion ; and the very variety and absurdity of religious rites, with the sincerity of men in them all, has been made, and still is, a capital argument of infidels to show that there is nothing in any religion. But it has been Avell replied, that ''the more strange the contradictions, and the more ludicrous the ceremonies, to which the pride of human reason has been reconciled, the stronger is our evidence that reli- gion has a foundation in the nature of man." * Indeed, no fact can be better established, both by philosophy and by history, than that mankind are so constituted that they must have some religion. Man has a religious nature, which is a fundamental and elementary constit- uent of his being. This nature will manifest itself. Let the true religion lie removed, and a fiilse One will come in its place. This is a truth, the clear perception of which by the public mind I deem of great impor- tance ; for if society is to make progress, it must be by cultivating the faculties that belong to human nature, and not by attempting to eradicate them ; and hence all ♦ Stowart. 48 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIxVNITY. indiscriminate attacks upon religion, as such, nnist retard that progress. Its rigid exercise possiUe. — Man, then, has a reli- gions nature ; and what purpose could a wise and good Being have, in sustaining the race, which would not involve the right exercise of this nature, in view of its appropriate objects? And to suppose that God has furnished man with no such object to draw that nature out, is like supposing that he would create the eye with- out liirht or the ear without sound, or that he would place man, as an intellectual being, in a world of such disorder that no arrangement or classification, and con- sequently no science, would be possible. The whole analogy of God's works, and of his dealings with men, shows that, if man has a religious nature, we might exiDCct to find the right exercise of that nature possible, and that there would be such a thing as true religion in the world. OnJi/ through a revelation. — But if a rational being, capal)le of religion, had lost the moral image, and con- sequently the true knowledge of God, and it should be the object of God to restore him, it could be done in no other way than by a direct revelation. This is olwious from two reasons. First, there would be some things which it would be indispensable for such a being to know, and which he could not know except by a direct communication. They are of such a kind that nature can have no voice, no utterance, no icliisjier, respecting them. Such would l)e an answer to the inquiry, whether God would pardon sin at all, and, if so, upon what conditions. And, secondly, it is not possible that a sinful being should be restored to God, to purity, and love, except by some manifestation to him of the purity and love of God such as nature does not give. So far as we can see, there must be brought into operation that great principle of moral assimilation THE TUIXL ISIADE. 49 mentioned 1)y the apostle -when he says, "We all, beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, arc changed into the same image, from glory to glory." If, then, it was proba1)le that God would do any thing to restore a race of transgressors to himself, it was in the same degree probable that he Avonld give a revela- tion dillercnt from any that nature can possibly give. So far as we can see, it would be impossible for him to do it in any other way. jShown by exjjerience. — And what we might thus infer, from the nature of the case-, is amply confirmed by an appeal to facts. An impartial survey of the con- dition of those portions of the earth that have been without the light of revelation, shows conclusively that the reformation of man was hopeless without it. A full and fair experiment has been made. It has ex- tended through thousands of years, and ample time has been given to test every principle, to follow out every tendency to its results, to call forth every inherent energy of man. It has been made in every climate, under every form of govermnent, in all circumstances of bar- barism and refinement, by individuals who, for intel- lectual endoAvments, have been the pride of the race, and by nations who have made the greatest advance- ment in literature, in science, and in the arts. What unassisted man has done, therefore, to disperse the religious darkness, and to remedy the moral maladies of the world, may be regarded as a fair exemplification of what he would do. To show that the race has been, and would continue to be, hopelessly benighted and degraded without a revelation, has l)een the chief object of those who have attempted to show its probability. This they have done with much erudition and research, and this ground is so familiar that I shall not go over it at large, but 5 50 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. content myself Avith a brief statement of some of the more important points. Knowledge of the divine unity lost. — And, first, tlie great doctrine of the divine unity has been practically lost without a revelation. Every where the mass of men have been worshipers of natural ol)jects, or of the poAvers of nature personified, or of idols, or of deified men ; and if a few philosophers have seen the folly of this, and really held to the divine unity, it was rather to ridicule and despise, than to benefit, the multitude. It does not appear, however, that they held to the doc- trine except as a matter of speculation, or that they had any habit of worshiping the one infinite God, or taught that he ought to be worshiped. "What must have been the practical l)lindness and uncertainty, on this cardinal point, of that philosopher, who, among his last requests, could ask a friend not to forget to sacrifice a cock for him to Esculapius? And yet this did Socrates. "What must have been the state of the public mind among the most enlightened people on earth, and in the Augustan aire, who could erect a statue to a woman infiimous for her profligacy, with the following inscription, making her no less a deity than Providence itself? "The Senate of the Areopagus, and the Senate of the Five Hundred, to the goddess Julia Augusta Providence ! " Of the holiness of God. — I remark, secondly, that the heathen nations have been entirely destitute of the knowledge of God, as a holy God, as having a perfect moral character, and as exercising a moral government, the principles of which reach the thoughts of the heai-t. "V^Qiether there were data for the knowledge of this in nature, perhaps we need not decide ; but, without this knowledge of God, it is evident there can be no pure and spiritual religion. Generally, the moral character EELIGIOX AND ^MORALITY. 51 of God has been conceived of by trimsfcmng to liim the moral character, the affections, the passions, and even the hists, of men. Ko religion based on such a conception of the ol)ject of M^orship can benefit man. He nnist become debased under its influence. Separation of religion and morality. — But, thirdly, this ignorance of the moral character of God has led, as it naturally must, to the introduction of forms of worship that can not be acceptable to him, and to that separation of religion from morality which has been so imiversal, and, in most instances, so entire, among heathen nations. What Bishop Heber said of the Hindoos may, with some modifications, be said of all heathen nations : " The good qualities that are among them are in no instance, that I am aware of, connected with, or arising out of, their religion, since it is in no instance to good deeds, or virtuous habits of life, that the future rewards in which they believe are proposed. Accordingly," he says, "I really have never met with a race of men whose standard of morality is so low, — who feel so little apparent shame in being detected in a falsehood, or so little interest in the suflerings of a neighbor not being of their own caste or family, — whose ordinary and fluniliar conversation is so licen- tious, or, in the Avilder and more lawless districts, Avho shed blood with so little repugnance." The tendenc}- to this separation of religion and morals is strong every Avhere, and nothing can be more destructive both of true religion and of morality, or more fatal to every interest of man. Let men think to please God by gifts, by forms, by bodily sulferiiigs, without regard to justice, and benevolence, and purity, and all the foundations of individual happiness and social order must be out of course. And how much more must this be the case, Avhen the character of the object -worshiped is such 52 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTIAXITY. as to excite and to encoiirajxe cvciy form of ini(2uity, and when, as is often the case, unnatural cruelty, and drunkenness, and ol)scenity, instead of l^eing forl)idden, become a part of the religious rites ! " AMien the light that is in men becomes darkness, how great is that darkness ! " This is a point of the greatest moment, since no false religion ever did, or ever can, teach, and adequately sanction, any thing like a perfect system of morality ; and since morality, unsustained by religion, can never furnish an adequate basis of either individual or general progress. Immortalitu . — I remark, fourthly, that Avithout rev- elation, men have had very obscure and dou1)tful no- tions respecting the immortality of the soul, and, so far as this fundamental doctrine has been received, it has been made use of rather to control men in their conduct here, than to fit them for another state. A great part of the philosophers regarded this belief as a vulgar prejudice, and those who received it held it as doubtful. Even Cicero, who had carefully studied the arguments of Socrates, and added others of his oAvn, says, "Which of these is true, God alone knows ; and which is most prol)al)le, a very great question." And very many, too, who held the doctrine, held it in such connection as to destroy its practical influence for good. Some held it in connection with the doctrine of fate or necessity ; some, as Plato, in connection with the doctrine of the transmigration of souls ; and some, like the present Hindoos just noticed, severed all connection Ijctween the moral character here and the state of the soul here- after. As a practical doctrine, therefore, " life and immortality were brought to light by the gospel." This alone has revealed it, Avith such authority and (-(M-tainty , and in such connections, as to give it all its ctHcicncy as a motive of action. Nothinsr can be more beautiful THE TARDOX OF SIN. 53 or philosophical than the manner in Avhich Christianity extends the same moral Lnvs and essential conditions of happiness over the present and the fiitnre life, so that tlie life of heaven is made to be nothing but the brightening and exj^jansion of the life that is commenced here. In this respect, the coming in of Christianity was like the coming in of the NcAvtonian system ; for as that shows, contrary to the doctrine of the ancients, that the same laws apply to things earthly and to thinga heavenly, to the floating particle of dust and to the planet in its orbit, so Christianity introduces nnity and simplicity into the moral system, and shows that the humblest child, that is a moral agent, and the highest archangel, arc subject to the same moral law. In these four points, — the miity of God, his moral character, the kind of worship that would be acceptal)le to him, and the immortality of the soul, — it maybe thouo;ht that the materials of knowledge were within the reach of man. But if this is true for any, it is not for the mass of men. The elements of the highest mathematical truths are within the reach of all, and those, truths maybe said to be discoverable; but we have no reason to think they ever would or could have been discovered by tlie great mass of men. Truths not suggested h^j nature — pardon of sin. — But there is, as already suggested, another class of truths, some of them fundamental and indispensable to be knoA\'n, which are not, and could not be, suggested by nature. Such, particularly, first, is the truth that God can pardon sin on any terms. If there is any one primary doctrine of natural religion, it is, that God is just. This was so strongl}' felt by Socrates that he doubted whether God conld pardon sin. To a sinner, as man is, it was indispensable that this fiict should be Imowu before any rational system of religion could be 5* 54 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIAJSriTY. framed, and, thoiigli some things in nature might lead to the hope that a remedy would be found for moral evil, as for so many others, yet these are too obscure to produce any practical results, and there seems every reason to believe that the general conviction that has prevailed on this suliject has originated in revelation. Conditions unknoion — rej^entance insufficient. — But, secondly, if we were assured that God would j)ardon sin, it would be impossible for ns to know on what conditions. Nothing can be more contrary to the history of all the past, than what is asserted by some modern deists, especially by Lord Herbert, that it is a dictate of natural reason that God will pardon sin on repentance. If it had been asserted that it is a dictate of natural reason that penance, and costly sacrifices, and self-torture, were the conditions of pardon, there would have been much in history to support it. But the deist may be challenged to show any heathen creed in which this was an article, or to bring forward any devotee of any other religion than the Christian, who holds to that doctrine now. Having the light of the Bible, we see distinctly that God can not properly par- don the guilty without repentance as a condition, mean- ing by repentance a thorough reformation, not only of the life, but of the principles of conduct, — of the motives and secret feelings of the heart. But who ever heard of such a repentance as this, as an article in the creed of other religions? And who, I may ask, ever heard of a deist as exercising such a repentance and continuino; a deist ? Instances are adduced, under other systems, of great natural goodness, in which it is sup- posed that no repentance was needed ; but I know of none in which it has been supposed that a really vicious and al)andoned man has repented in the high and only true sense of that term, except in connection with the motives of the gospel. Kepcntance, even as a condition DIVIXE AID UNCERTAIN. 55 of pardon, is peculiar to the gospel system ; and as an historical fact, it is produced only by gospel motives. The truth is, deists have borrowed this partial truth from the Bible, and then used it to show that we do not need the very book from which they borroAved it. The question of the method or possi])ility of pardon, by a perfectly just God, involves the highest prol)lcm of moral government ; and there is no analogy of the oper- ation of human laws, and certainly nothing which we see of the inflexibility and severity with which the nat- m-al laws of God are administered, which conld lead us to believe in the efficacy of repentance alone for the pardon of moral transgressions. Divine assistance uncertain. — And thirdly, if man should endeavor to reclaim himself from the dominion of vice, he can not know whether God Avill regard him with favor, and will assist him, or whether he shall be left to struggle with the current by his own unassisted efforts. Grace, favor, the great doctrine of divine aid to the sinful and the tempted, so sustaining to the weak- ness, and so consoling to the wretchedness, of man, coming directly from God as a personal Being, it was impossible that nature should give any intimation of it. It is God's own hand stretched out to guide and sustain his benighted and feel)le creatures. Origin and end unknoini. — Again, without revela- tion man could know nothing of the origin or end of the present state of things. Nearly all the ancient phi- losophers believed that matter was eternal ; but of its forms, as indicating intelligence, and of the races of animals and of man, they could give no satisfactory account. xVnd it is obvious, that a course of nature established, if it is ever to terminate, can, of itself, give no indication of that termination, either in respect to time or mode. Such knoM'ledge would be highly satisflictory to man, and would alone enable him to 5G EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. direct liis course in accordunce with the purposes of God. The result. — Now, when we consider the passions of men, the collisions of interest, the obtrusiveness of the objects of sense, the pressure of animal wants, the vices of society, and the shortness of life, who can believe, with this obscurity hanging over some points, and this total darkness resting upon others, that one in a million would sit do^\^l calmly to solve these great questions respecting God and his government, and human destiny ? Who can believe that any speculative and problematical solution of one or all of them could introduce a religion that would effectually control the passions, and predominate over the senses, of men? No ; it is exceedingly clear that, if any thing was to be done to enlighten man, it must be by a voice from heaven — a voice that should speak with "authority, and not as the scribes." Moral ignorance and der/radathn. — And if mankind were thus benighted Avithout revelation, it will follow, of course, that they were degraded. Moral darkness, voluntarily incurred, necessarily involves practical wick- edness. Without an authoritative standard of morals, like the law of God, without a general system of moral instruction, Avithf)ut the motives drawn from the moral government of God and a future retribution, with a religion whose doctrines and rites were often at war with the dictates of the moral nature, Ave can not Avon- der at the tendency to deterioration that Avas every AA'hcre manifest, nor at the general prcA-alence of false- hood, and cruelty, and nameless licentiousness. If some public and social virtues were cultivated, it Avas chiefly during certain periods of the rise of states, in the earlier and less corrupt stages of society, and never in connection Avith the worship of a spiritual and holy God, or Avith the cultivation of purity of heart and of PRESSING NEED OF REVELATION. 57 life. Philosophy enabled its votaries rather to see and discourse about difficulties tlian to remove thoni. It did not even reform the lives of the philosophers them- selves, and made no attempts either to instruct or reform the mass of the people. Quintilian says of the philosopliers of his time, " The most notorious vices are screened imder that name ; and they do not labor to maintain the character of philosophers by virtue and study, but conceal the most vicious lives under an aus- tere look and a singularity of dress." And when this could be said of the i)hiU)Sophers, we might l)elicve, of the mass of the people, on less authority than tliat of inspiration, that they were " filled with all mn-ight- cpusness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, mali- ciousness ; full of envy, murder, de])ate, deceit, malig- nity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful." * TJie extremi^. — Here, then, we have a case the most melancholy of which we can conceive, in which the noblest faculties of a creature of God, those through which liis highest perfection and haj^piness slKuild be attained, have Ijccome the means of sinking him into the loAvest forms of innnorality, and of filthy, and cruel, and costly, and hideous superstition. The true God, the only ol)ject corresponding to the religious nature of man, being withdrawn, the faculties of man arc not annihilated ; he can not throw ofl* his nature ; he must have some religion ; and superstition, and enthusiasm, and fanaticism c(mie in, and every form of ini(|uity is perpetrated in the name of God, and the religious nature is used as an engine to crush human liberty and rivet the bonds of oppression. There is nothing that can adequately represent this dreadful mental and moral * Kom. i. 29-31. 58 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTL^^TY. l)cryorsion but those forms of l)oclil3^ disease in Avliicli the processes of life, that ought to build up a beautiful and perfect body, go on only to stimulate the activity of the fatal leprosy, only to minister to deformity, and make it more hideous. Here, then, the question is brought to an issue. In such a state of things, when it is obvious that nothing but a voice from heaven can ])ring deliverance, will that voice be uttered? Surely, if a case can occur in which, from the benevolence of God, we might hope for a special interposition, this is that case. On the question of such an interposition liung the destiny of the race ; and to one who could bring his mind to the high conception of the possibility of mercy in God, it could not appear improbable that that interposition would be vouchsafed^ Itevelation prohcible. — From what has been said, it appears that, if we regard man as in a state of inno- cence, we should naturally expect God would hold communications with him ; that, if we regard him as guilt}^ and having lost the knowledge and moral image of God, such a communication would be absolutely necessary, if man was to be restored. We have, there- fore, the same antecedent probability of a revelation as we have that God would interpose at all in behalf of the guilty, or that there would be any true religion upon eai-th. This probability, moreover, is strength- ened by the general expectation of the race, shoAvn by the readiness with which they have received accounts of supposed revelations, and by the natural tendency of man to crave aid directly from God. If a revelation, then miraden. — But, Avhatever prol)- ability there was that there would be a revelation, the same Avas there that there would be miracles ; because miracles, so far as we can see, are the only means by which it would be possible for God to authenticate a communication to man. It is true, he might make a NECESSITY OF MIRACLES. 59 special revelation to each individual, and certify him that it was a revelation, l)ut that would not be analo- gous to his mode of proceeding in other things ; and if his purpose was to make known his will to certain individuals, to be by them communicated to the rest of the race, it would seem impossible that they should exhibit any other seal of their conmiission than mira- cles. This is the simple, natural, majestic seal which we should expect God would affix to a communication from himself; and when this seal is presented ]jy men whose lives and works correspond with what we might expect from messengers of God, it is felt to be de- cisive. But though miracles are thus just as probable as a revelation, even though avc should not choose to say that revelatioii itself is a miracle, and though the chief object of them is to give authority to a revelation, yet, as the main objections against revelation are made against it as miraculous, I wish to adduce here an addi- tional consideration or two to show the probability that miracles would occur in a system like ours. FirM effect of miracles. — The first consideration will be found in the effect miracles would have in producing a conviction of the being of a personal God. This is of the utmost importance. Let us suppose there had been no miracle, nor any supposition of one, as far back as history goes ; that the uniform course of nature had moved on Avithout any supposed intei-vention of a superior personal Power ; that, in the language of the scoffer, all things had continued as they were from the beginning of the creation ; that no flood had swept the earth, and no law had been given in the midst of thuu- derings and earthquakes, and no messenger from above, w^hose form was "like the Son of God," had walked with good men in the fire, and no of her indications of a righteous administration and of future retribution had 60 EVIDENCES OF CimiSTL\XITY. appeared than arc connected "with those unswerving laws that bring all things alike to all, — and who can estimate the tendency to practical, if not to speculative atheism, of such a state of things? It may even be questioned whether the common argument from con- trivance, for the being of a personal God, when that stands alone, and is connected with such a uniform course of things, Avould Ijc valid. If this rigid order could once be infringed for a good and manifest reason, it would obviously change the whole face of the argu- ment. Could we once see gravitation suspended when the good man is thrown by his persecutors from the top of the rock, — could Ave see a chariot and horses of fire descend and deliver the righteous from the universal law of death, — could Ave see the sun stand still in hea\cn that the Avicked might be overthrown, — then .should Ave be assured of the existence of a personal Power, Avith a distinct Avill, Avliose agents and ministers these laws Avere. Such attestations of his being Ave might expect God Avould give, not merely to confirm a particular revelation, but Avitli reference to this feeling of indefiniteness, of generality, of a Avant of person- ality in the supreme PoAver, Avhich the operation of general laws, necessarily confounding all moral distinc- tions, has a tendency to produce. Second effect. — The second collateral effect of mira- cles Avhich I Avould adduce is, that they sIioav that the laAvs of nature are suljordinate to the higher laws of God's moral kingdom, and are controlled and suspended Avith reference to that. This supposes, of course, that the miracles are neither capricious nor frivolous, but are so Avrought as to shoAv this truth. The man, Avho has not yet seen that the moral goA^ernment of God is that with reference to Avliich the universe is constructed and sustained, is as far from the true sj'stem of God's administration as he Avould. be from the true system of NATURE AND MOK-VL GOVEEN:mEXT. 61 astronomy who should place the earth in the centre. This sentiment is involved in those extraordinary words of Christ, "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail," and might, indeed, be inferred from the nature of the case. What man of honor regards property at all, Avhen his moral character is concerned? What wise man does not sacrifice prop- erty for the true good of rational and intelligent beings ? So, if God has a moral character, and a moral govern- ment, then what we call nature and its hnvs, must hold the same relation to him that property does to the moral character of man. The power and wisdom of God may be seen in nature ; but his justice, and truth, and mercy, in which his highest glory consists, can be seen only in his dealings with his moral creatm^es. If a law of nature Avere destroyed, it could be reestablished ; if a system of suns and planets were annihilated, another might be produced in its room ; if heaven and earth were to pass away, they might be created again ; but if the brightness of the moral character of God should bo tarnished, that character would be lost forever. This distinction between mere nature and moral government is fundamental ; and nothing could have a greater ten- dency to Avake men up to a perception of it than to see God, as he moves on to the accomplishment of his moral purposes, setting aside those laws of nature which Ave had supposed Avere cstaljlished like the ever- lasting hills — than to see the Avhole of visible nature, Avith all its hnvs, standing ready to pay its obeisance to the true enil)assadors of his moral kingdom. How else could God exi^ress to ns the true relations to each other of his natural and moral govermnent ? If, then, miracles Averc necessary to give authority to revelation, to giA^e a practical impression of the exist- ence of a personal God, and to indicate the true posi- tion of his moral government, Avho will say, on the 6 62 EVIDENCES OF CirRISTIAXITY. supposition that lie has a moral government, that they are improbable ? hnjiort of a miracle. — There has, indeed, been a question raised, — and it is one of so much importance that it may be well to notice it here, — how far we are bound to receive any doctrine or command that may be confirmed by a miracle. But this depends on the fur- ther question, whether a miracle can be wrought by any being but God. If God, and God only, can work a miracle, then we are Ijound, both by reason and con- science, to believe every thing short of a known al> surdity, and to do every thing short of essential wick- edness, taught or commanded with that sanction. By essential wickedness, I do not mean any outward act, but positive malignity. To suppose God to command this, would be a contradiction, since he could not do it and be God. When God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, he was to do it though it might seem to con- tradict the dictates of natural affection, and what, with- out the command, would have been the dictates of con- science, and to be in direct opposition to the promises of God himself; and in doing it he honored God, and acted in accordance with the dictates of natural religion, and of the reason that God had given him. Not to be- lieve and obey the direct word of God, would lead at once to absurdity and contradiction. It would involve the charge of falsehood and tyranny against God. But the moment 3^0 u charge God with falsehood, there is an end to all ground of faith in any thing. If I can not believe God, I can not believe the fiiculties that come from God. By charging Ilim who gave me my moral nature with being false, I involve the probability that all the notices and indications of that nature arc fidse, and all its distinctions baseless. Nothing could then save me from universal skepticism. Certainly natural religion, and reason itself, if it would not lose from A MIRACLE BY GOD ONLY. 63 under it the very ground on -wliich it stands, "would lead me to this. AVhen God speaks, it is sufficient. His reason is the infinite reason, his authority is absohitc authority, and nothing more dreadful, or more opposed to our most intimate convictions, could possibly occur than woukl be involved in disbelieving and disobeying him. Nor can I doubt that it is in the power of God so to authenticate his word to the soul of man as thus to set it in opposition to the utterances and promptings of every natural faculty ; nor that it is only, as in the case of Abraham, when such an opposition occurs, that the most implicit confidence in God, and the highest grandeur of faith, can be seen. 31iracles real and pretended. — If, then, we suppose that- God only can perfonii a miracle, its authority will be absolute. But may there not be a suspension or a reversal of the laws of nature caused by other beings than God? May not some malignant agent do that which, if it is not, must appear to us to be a real miracle ? This is a question which I can not answer. It may l)e so. I know not what intermediate powers and agencies there may be between the infinite God and man. I knoAV not but there may l)e created beings of such might that one of them could seize upon the earth, and hurl it from its orl)it, or control its elements ; nor do I know what range God may give to the agency of such, or of any other intermediate beings. I do not myself believe that any being but God can work a real miracle. ]Miraclcs arc his great seal. This may be counterfeited ; l)ut if he should sufier it to be stolen, I see no possible Avay in Avhich he could authen- ticate a communication to his creatures. A real mira- cle is to be distinguished from those feats and appear- ances which may be produced I)}' sleight of hand, and by collusion when once a religion is established ; and also from any effects of merely natural agents, hoAvever 64 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. occ!i:t, under the control of science, l)ut Avorking ac- cording to their own laws. These, especially if science and deception are combined, and in an age of popular ignorance, may go very far ; probably far enough to account for every thing in the Biljle, seemingly miracu- lous, which we should not be willing to attribute to God. They may account for appearances and coinci- dences which, to the ignorant, must have seemed like miracles, and for extraordinary cures of a certain class, while the principle of life remained ; but they can not account for a reversal of a law of nature, as Avhen an ax is made to swim, or the shadow to go back on the dial ; nor for an operation where the powers of nature have nothing to work upon, as when one really dead is raised to life. However, something like that of which I have spoken above is implied in the Bible, and pro- vision is made for the state of mind which it must induce. This speaks of "signs and lying wonders." It was said to the Israelites of old, " If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake luito thee, saying. Let us go after other gods, Avhich thou hast not known, and let us serve them ; thou slialt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams ; for the Lord, your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God Avith all your heart and Avith all your soul." Faith and reason. — I Avould say, then, that an ap- parent miracle, performed by a creature of God, Avould not authorize me to receive Avliat seemed to me to be contradictory to my natural faculties ; and the A'oice of God himself AA^ould lay me under obligation to do this simply because the highest reason demands faith in him as an essential condition of faith in those faculties. It is, indeed, a contradiction to say that a man can believe CimiSTLVN MIRiVCLES. 65 what he knows to be an al)surdity, or can be under ol)- ligation to do what is wrong ; and, in general, I would say that no man is under ol)ligation to believe what it is not more reasonable for him to believe than to dis- believe ; but it may be reasonaljle to believe, on the authority of God, that that is not an absurdity which might otherwise seem to be so, and that the command of God would make certain outward actions right for us, which would otherwise not be so. If God slioidd wish to make a communication to an individual that would seem in opposition to the dictates of his nat- ural faculties, we might expect that he would, as in the case of Abraham, speak himself, and cause it to be known that the voice was certainly his ; but when a creature of God appears as his messenger, then his character and the ol)ject of his mission must correspond with what we have a right to expect of a messenger from God ; and no prodigy, no apparent miracle, ought to be received as a sufficient sanction for that which, without such sanction, would appear to be either absurd or vicious. JVb ^;;'ffc^/c«? difficuUij. — But, however we may decide this question on the supposition of a conflict between the message confirmed by a miracle, and the intellectual, or the moral nature of man, there is no jDractical difliculty on this point when we s^ieak of the Christian miracles. These are all worthy of God. They were ^Tought by men of pure and benevolent lives, and for the avowed purpose of confirming a mes- sage of the highest importance to man, and in entire conformity to his nature. And such miracles, wrought by such men, are, as I have said, the seal which we should naturally expect God would affix to their message. They are an adequate seal, and every fair-miuded man responds to the sentiment uttered by 6* 66 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITT. Nicodemiis, "No man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." TJie Christian religion or none. — I will simply say, in closing this lecture, that whatever probability there is that God has given a revelation at all, there is the same that Christianity is that revelation. We have now come to that point in the history of the world, in which the question among all well-infoi-med men nnist be between the truth of Christianity and no religion. No man, surely, would advocate any form of idolatry or of polytheism, and there remain only the religion of Mohammed, and Deism, to l^e compared with Chris- tianity. But I need not spend time in comparing, or rather contrasting, the religion of Mohammed, unsus- tained by miracles or by prophecies, propagated by the sword, encouraging fatalism, and pride, and intolerance, sanctioning polygamy, offering a sensual heaven, — a religion whose force is already spent, which has no sym- pathy or congruity with the enlarged views and onward movements of these days, and which is fast passing into a hopeless imbecility, — with the pure, and humble, and beneficent religion of Christ, heralded by prophecy, sealed by miracles, and now, after eighteen hundred years, going forth, with all its pristine vigor, to bless the nations. Of Deism it may be doubted whether it should be called a religion. It has never had a priesthood, nor a creed, nor any book professing to contain the truths it teaches, nor a temple, nor, with the exception of a short period during the French revolution, an asseml)ly for worship. K wo mean, then, l)y religion, any such acknowledgment of God as recognizes our social nature, and binds mankind in one brotherhood of equality, while it presents them together before the throne of a common Father, Deism is not a religion. Those Avho profess to teach it have no agreement in their doctrines. CimiSTIAXITY THE ONLY HOPE. 67 and the doctrines themse*Ives are, several of them, bor- rowed from Christianity, and then inculcated as the teachings of reason. No ; there is notliing on the face of the earth that can, for a moment, bear a comparison with Christian- ity as a religion for man. Upon tliis the hope of the race hangs. From the very first, it took its position, as the pillar of fire, to lead the race onward. The patriarchal, and Jewish, and Christian dispensations, all finding their identity in the true import of sacrifices, and in the inculcation of righteousness, have been one religion. The intelligence and power of the race are with those Avho have embraced it; and now, if this, instead of proving indeed a pillar of fii-e from God, should be found but a delusive meteor, then nothino- will be left to the race but to go back to a darkness that may be felt, and to a worse than Egj^iDtian bondage. LECTUEE III. mTERXAL AND EXTERNAL EVIDENCE.— VAGUENESS OF THE DIVISION BETWEEN THEM.— REASONS FOR CONSIDERING THE INTERNAL EVIDENCES FIRST. —ARGUMENT FIRST: FROM i ANALOGY. In my first lecture, I attempted to show that, if God has given a revelation, we may certainly know it ; and in the second, that there is no such antecedent improb- ability against a revelation, as to justify us in requiring proof different from that which we require for other events. There arc laws of evidence according to which w^e judge in other cases, and I only ask that these same laws may be applied here. If these points are established, we are ready to in- quire whether God has in fact given a revelation. On coming into life, w^e find Christianity existing, and claiming to be such a revelation. We wish to sat- isfy ourselves of the validity of that claim. How shall we proceed ? The evidence by which its claims are sus- tained is comnjonly divided into two kinds, the exter- nal and the internal. This division is simple, and of long standing ; but 1iy it heads of evidence are classed together, having so little affinity for each other, and, in regard to some of them, it is so difficult to see on what principle they are classed under one rather than the other, that its utility may be dou1)ted. Thus the evi- dences from testimony, from prophecy, from the mode in which the gospel was propagated, and from its (08) INTERN.VL EVIDEXCE. GO effects, — topics reseinl)liiig each other scarcely at all, — are classed under the head of the external evidences ; ■\vhile the various marks of honesty found in the Xew Testament, the agi'eement of the parts Avith each other, its peculiar doctrines, its pure morality, its representa- tion of the character of Christ, its analogy to nature, its adaptation to the situation and wants of man, — topics still more diverse, — are classed under its internal evi- dences. Chalmers and Wilson. — I notice the vagueness of this arrfingement, because these two classes of evidence have often been opposed to each other, and the superi- ority of one over the other contended for ; and because great and good men, as Chalmers formerly, have in some instances regarded it as presumptuous to study the internal evidences at all, as if it -would be a sitting in judgment beforehand on the kind of revelation God ought to give ; and others, as Wilson, have thought it arrogance to study the internal evidences first, as if the capacity to judge of a revelation after it was given im- plied an amount of knowledge that would preclude the necessity of any revelation at all. Infcnial evidences — (heir stndi/ not ]iresumj)tuous. — But of which of the internal evidences mentioned above can it be said to be presumptuous for man to judge without reference to external testimony ? Certainly not of those natural and incidental evidences of truth spread every where over the pages of the Noav Testament ; nor of the agreement of the several books with each other ; nor of the morality of the gospel ; nor of its tendency to promote human happiness in this life ; and if there be some of the doctrines, of the probability of which we could not judge l)eforehand, that is no reason why Ave should be excluded from an innnediate and free range in every other part of this tield. There is what has bceu called, by Yerplanck, a critical, as Avell as a 70 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. moral internal evidence. Of the first we are competent to judge, and, in determining the question of our com- petency to judge of the second, Ave are not to overlook a distinction made by the same able writer. It is that " between the power of discovering truth, and that of examining and deciding upon it when offered to our judgment." "In matters of human science," he goes on to say, "to how few is the one given, and how com- mon is the other ! Look at that vast mass of mathe- matical invention and d(>monstration which has been carried on by gifted minds, in every age, in continued progress, from the days of the learned priesthood of ancient Egypt to those of the discoveries of La Place and La Grans-e. Who is there of the mathematicians of this generation who could be selected as capable of alone discovering all this prolonged and continuous chain of demonstration ? If left to their own unaided researches, how far would the original and inventive firenius of a Newton or a Pascal have carried them? Yet we know that all this l)()dy of science, this magnifi- cent accumulation of the patient laljors of so many in- tellects, may be examined and rigorously scrutinized in every step, and finally completely mastered and famil- iarized to the understanding, in a few years' study, by a student who, trusting solely to his own mind, could never have advanced beyond the simple elements of geometry. "This reasoning may be applied, cither directly or by fair analogy, to every part of our knoAvledge of the laws of nature and of mind ; and it therefore seems to be neither presumptuous nor unphilosophical, l:)ut, on the contrary, in strict accordance with the soundest reasoning, to maintain that though ' the world by wis- dom knew not God,' yet, so far forth as he reveals him- self to men, and calls upon them to receive and obey that revealed will, he has o-iyen to them faculties, by TO JUDGE OF EEVELATIOX NOT PEESmiPTUOUS . 71 no means compelling, but yet cntibling them to iindei- sttind his revelation ; to perceive its tiiith, excellence, and beuut}'^ ; and to become sensible of their own want of its instruction, as well as to estimate that extrinsic human testimony by which it may be supported or attended." * Certainly, there are many things in which we per- ceive a fitness and an excellence, when they are made known, of which we should never, of ourselves, have formed any conception. Thus the Newtonian system comes before the eye of the mind as a great mountain does before that of the body, and we see at once that it is woi-thy of God. Xo timid disclaimer of our right to judge of the works of God can prevent this effect. Its simplicity, and beauty, and majesty, speak wdth a voice more pleasing, and scarcely less satisfactoiy, than that of mathematical demonstration. I will not say how much of this perceived excellence, or whether any, must belong to a revelation which we are nnder obliga- tion to receive. Certainly, that of the Jcavs had to them far less of this than ours to us. But I will say that it is the natural impulse of the mind to examine any thing claiming to be a revelation by such tests ; and if it is done in a proper spirit, and with those limita- tions which good sense must always put to human inquiries, it is neither presumptuous nor dangerous. It is not judging beforehand of what God ought to do ; it is judging of what it is claimed that he has done ; and the same spirit that would prevent us from doing this would debar ns from any study of final causes in the works of God. If the gospel is to act upon character, it must be received with an intelligent perception of its adaptation to our wants, and of its excellence. The message, not less than the minister of God, might be * Verplanck's Evidences of Eevealcd Keligion. 72 EVIDEXCES OF CimiSTLi^aXY. expected to coiiiinend itself "to every man's coiiseicnce in the sight of God." Standards' and tests in the mind. — I would not chiini for reason a place Avhich does not belong to it. So far as the Christian religion rests on facts, it must rest on historical evidence ; but so far as it is a system of truth and of motives intended to bear on human character and well-l)eing, it must be judged of l)y that reason and conscience which God has given us. There arc in the mind, as God made it, standards and tests which must ultimately be applied to it. Men may be uncandid or irreverent in applying these tests, and so they may be in examining historical proof; an'd I liave no more fear in one case than in the other. In ar2:uin2: for, or asfainst such a system as Christianity, we of course take for granted the being and perfections of God ; we have a previous knowledge of his works, of his providence, of the difference Ijctween right and wrong, and of the lacings for whom the system is intended. Let, now, a candid man find in the system nothing absurd or im- moral, l)ut many things that seem to him strange, and little accordant with what he would have expected, and he will be still in doubt. Ho will make due allowance for the imperfection of his knowledge, and the limita- tion of his faculties, and he will hold his mind open to the full force of historical proof. But let him be shown a system which, though he could not have discovered it, he can see, when discovered, to be worth}' of a God of infinite wisdom and goodness, — let him find it con- gruous with all he knows of him from his works, coin- cident with natural religion, so far as that goes, con- taining a perfect morality, harmonizing with the highest sentiments of man, and adapted to his wants as a weak and guilty being, — and he may find in all this a ground of rational conviction that such a system must have come from God, and so, that those facts which are CH^VNGE IX AREAXGEMEXT. 73 inscpariiMy connected Nvitli it must be true. The histor- ical testimony may then be to him much as the testi- mony of the Avoman of Samaria was to her countrymen after they had seen and heard the Saviour for them- selves. And this is the natural course when any system on any sul)ject is presented to us. AVc inquire what it is, and liow far it agrees with our previous knowledge ; we come up to it, and examine it, and then, if neces- sary, we investigate the history of its origin. This 2)roof logical. — Nor is this proof from internal evidence, as some seem to suppose, merely the result of feeling. If God has given us a religion Avhich wc are to receive in the? exercise of our reason, and Avhich is to act on us through our affections and in harmony with our natural flxculties, I can not conceive that there should not be found in it such congruities and adapta- tions to man, — such a fitness to promote his individual and social well-being, — as to show that it came from Ilim who made man ; and the proof arising from a per- ception of this congruity is as purely intellectual, as strictly argumentative, as that from historical evidence. In such a case, we do not believe the religion to be true because we feel it to lie so, but because we see in it a divine wisdom, and the adaptation of means to an end. Arranr/ement hitherto — reasons for a change. — It has been some feeling of the kind, mentioned above as manifested by Chalmers and "Wilson, that has deter- mined the arrangement of every treatise I know of, published eitlu'r in England or this country, in Avhich the external and internal evidences are considered to- ji'cther. The external are treated of first, are reirarded as settling the question, and then the internal are brought ii; as confirmatory. Certainly, I think the his- torical evidence conclusive, and it is indispensable, be- cause the Christian religion is not a mere set of dogmas, 7 74 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. or of speculative opinions, but has its foundation in facts. It is, indeed, a manifestation of principles, but not by verbal statement and injunction merely ; those principles are imbodied in acts, and it is only as thus imbodied that they have their effective power. That Jesus Chi'ist lived, and was crucilied, and rose from the dead, are facts as necessary to the Christian religion as the fomidation to a building ; and no one but a German neologist could possibly think otherwise. But if the external evidences are thus indispensable and conclu- sive, so also are the internal. What would have been the effect and force of Christ's miracles, without his spotless and transcendent character? If I am to say which would m(jst deeply impress me with the fact that he was from God, the testimony respecting his miracles, or the exhil)ition of such a character, I think I should say the latter ; and I think myself as well qualified to judge in the one case as in the other ; and, as I luiA'e said, I think this is the evidence which now first pre- sents itself. At first, when the religion was every where called in question, when miracles were Avrought to sustain it, before it had had time to show fully its adaptation to the wants of the individual man and of society, itAvas natural to refer first to miracles and to testimony for its divine authority ; but now, when the religion is established, it is quite as natural to pass, Avithout any particular attention to the historical evidence, to the consideration of the religion itself, its suitableness to Avhat Ave know of God, and to our oavii Avants. It is, in fact, in this way that most men who embrace Chris- tianity are led to do it, and I do not think it either ''presumptuous or miphilosophical " to folloAV, in pre- senting the evidence, the course Avhich has been folloAved by most Christians in attaining that ground of faith on Avhich they now rest. CIirjSTIANITY ITSELF TO BE EX.UIIXED. 7o Let US, tlieii, instead of going first through a long line of historical testimony, come directly to the Chris- tian religion itself. Let us examine it, with candor indeed, hut with perfect freedom. Let us compare it with, and test it by, whatever we know of God or his works, or of man. It courts such an examination. It is because it is not thus examined, that it is so little regarded. We know that any system that comes from God must be worthy of him ; that it must be m har- mony with all his other works and with all other truth ; that the ends proposed by it must be good, and that it must be adapted in the best manner to accomplish those ends. We know, I say, that such a system must really he all this ; and, in propoiiiion to our knowledge, •we shall see it to be so. If we can not understand it fully, as indeed, if it be what it claims to be, we ought not to ex[Dect to do, we may yet know in part. AVe live in an age of light. The religion has been long in the world, and has come in contact with God's natural providence, and with human institutions, at man}' points. It was intended to act upon us ; and, if it be really from God, it would l)e strange if wc could not find upon it some impression of his hand. A R G U 31 E N T I . ANALOGY. General statement. — Wc say, then, first, that we find evidence of the divine origin of the Christian rcli- cion in its analoirv to the works and natural irovern- mcnt of God. There is a harmony of adaptation, and also of analogy. The key is adapted to the lock: the fin of the fish is analogous to the wing of the bird. Christianity, as I hope to show, is adapted to man : it is analogous to the other manifestations which God has made of himself. The works of God arc divided into dilfcrent depart- 76 EYIDEXCES OF CHRISTIANITY. mcnts, each of which has its hiws, which arc in some sense independent of the others ; yet there is such a correspondence manifest between them, that we rec- ognize them, at once, as having proceeded from the same hand. Scientitic research impresses upon ns the conviction that God is one, and tliat he is nniform and consistent in all his works ; and leads ns to expect, if he should introduce a new dispensation, that there would be, between it and those which had preceded it, an analog}^ similar to that which had l)een found to exist between the other departments. Now, we affirm that the gospel contains that code of laws which God has given for the regulation of the moral and spiritual department of his creation in this world, and that there is between it and the other works of God the analogy and correspondence which were to have been expected. The Bible coincident with nature. — 1. I observe, that the Bible is coincident with nature, as now known, in its teachings respecting the natural attributes of God. The New Testament seldom d^vells upon the natural attributes of God ; but when it does to any extent, as in the ascription of Paul, "To the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only Avise God," it plainly recognizes and adopts the doctrines of the Old, and they may, therefore, for this purpose, be fairly taken together. Let us go back, then, to those ancient prophets. If Ave exclude the idea of revelation, nothing can l)e more surprising than the ideas of God expressed by them. These ideas, of themselves, are sufficient to give the stamp of divinity to their Avritings. Sur- rounded by polytheists, they proclaimed his unity. Living in a period of great ignorance in regard to phys- ical science, they ascribed to God absolute eternity, and that unchangeableness which is essential to a perfect Being, and they represented all his natural attributes NATUEE ^VND THE BIBLE. 77 as infinite. Accordinirly, it is when tlicse attributes are their theme, that their poetry rises to its unparal- leled sublimity. "AVho," says Isaiah, "hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and Aveighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?" Even now, when science has l)rought her report from the depths of infi- nite space, and told us of the suns and systems that glow and circle there, how can we better express our emotions than to adopt his language, and say, "Lift up your eyes on high, and l)chold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number : He calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth." And when science has turned her glass in another direction, and discovered in the teeming drop wonders scarceh' less than those in the heavens ; when she has analyzed matter ; when she has disentangled the rays of light, and shown the colors of which its white web is woven , when the amazing structure of vegetable and animal bodies is laid open ; what can we say of Ilim who worketh all this, but that he is "wonderful in counsel, and excellent in Avorking " ! " There is no searching of his understanding." And when, again, we can look back over near three thousand years more, in which the earth has rolled on its appointed way, and the mighty energies by which all things are moved have been sus- tained, what can we do but to ask, "Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?" "With them we find no ten- dency, as among the ancient philosophers, to ascribe eternity to matter ; they every where speak of it as cre- ated ; nor, with the pantheists, to identify matter with God ; nor, with the idolater, to be aflccted with its 7* 78 EVIDENCES OF CHPJSTIAXITY. magnitude, or forms, or order, or brightness, or what- ever may strike the senses. But, with them, all matter is perfectly subordinate and paltry Avhen compared with God. They represent him as sustaining it for a time in its present order, and then as folding up these visible heavens as a vesture is folded, and hiying them aside. Nothing could more perfectly exjDress the absolute in- finity of the natural attributes of God, or the entire separation and disparity between him and every thing that is called the universe, or its complete subjection to his will. Now, that men, undistinguished from others around them by learning, in an age of ' prevalent polytheism and idolatry, and of great ignorance of physical science, should adopt such doctrines respecting the natural attri- butes of God, as to require no modification when sci- ence has been revolutionized and expanded as it were into a new universe, does seem to me no slight evidence that they were inspired by that God whose attributes they set forth. Perfection of natural and moral laiv. — 2. I observe, that there is an analogy between the laws of nature, as discovered by induction, and the moral laws contained in the New Testament, not only as implying the same natural attributes in God, but as they are carried out to the same perfection. It is the great and sublime char- acteristic of natural law, especially of the law of grav- itation, that, while it controls so perfectly such vast masses, and at such amazing distances, it yet also con- trols equally the minutest particle that floats in the sun- beam ; and that, however wildly that particle may be driven, — wherever jt may float in the infinity of space, — it never, for one moment, escapes the cogni- zance and supervision of this law. It never can. This implies a minuteness and perfection of natural govern- ment, of which science, as known in the time of Christ, NATUK.VL XSD MOKAL LAW TERFECT. 79 could have given no intimation. But now, how natural docs it seem that tlie same God, who, in the universal control of his natural law, no more neglects the minu- test particle than the largest planet, should also, in his moral hiAV, take cognizance of every idle word, and of the thoughts and intents of the heart ! • Yes ; I find, in the particle of dust, shown by the greatest expounder of God's natural law to be constantly regarded by him, and in the idle word declared 1)y Christ to come under the notice and condemnation of his moral law, — I hnd, in the minuteness and completeness of the government of matter, as revealed by modern science, and even shown to the eye by the microscope, and in that inter- pretation of the moral law Avhich makes it spiritual, causing it to reach every thought and intent of the heart, — a conception of the same absolute perfection of government, both in the natural and moral world ; and I find the same infinite natural attributes implied as the sole conditions on which such a government in cither of these departments can be carried on. This idea of the absolute universality and i^erfection of government in an}' department — the only one, how- ever, worthy of a perfect God — is not an idea, espe- cially in its moral applications, which I should think likely to have originated with man. In the depart- ment of nature we know that he did not originate or suspect it till it was forced on his obseiwation. And how comes it to pass that this absolute perfection of moral government, this notice of the particle of dust there, this judgment of every idle word, of every secret thing, of the minutest moral act of the most inconsid- erable moral being that ever lived, should have been discovered and announced thousands of years before its more ol)vious counterpart in the natural world was even suspected ? And here I can not but notice, though I will not put 80 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. it under a separate head, how coincident all that sci- ence has discovered is with the Scripture doctrine of the universal and particular providential government of God. "We all know how slow men have been to receive this ; and yet it would seem that no theist, with a clear perception of the mode in which natural law operates, could doubt it. Does God control constantly immense masses of matter through natural law ? How ? Why, by causing the law to operate, not upon the mass as a Avhole, but upon every individual particle composing that mass ; that is, he governs the vast through his government of the minute. And if he does this in matter, who will deny the probability of a prov- idential care, proceeding on precisely the same prin- ciples, which numbers the hairs of our heads, and watches the fall of the sparrow ? Shall God care for the less and not for the greater ? " If he so clothe the grass of the field, shall he not much more clothe you, Oyeof little faith?" Kind and limit of knowledge. — 3. I observe, that there is an analogy, both in their kind and in their limit, between the knowledge communicated l)y nature and that hj Christianity. Nature is full and explicit in her communication of necessary practical facts, but is at no pains to explain the reasons and methods of those facts. She gives us the air to breathe, and we are in- vigorated ; but she does not teach us that it is composed of oxygen and nitrogen, and that our vigor comes from the oxygen alone. She gives us the light, and we see ; but how long did the world stand before she whispered to any one that that light was composed of the seven pi-imary colors ? She instructs us in the uses of fire ; but she does not teach us how the process of combus- tion is carried on. Men have boiled water equally well from the beginning; but it was left to this age, and to Faraday, to discover that flame is the product of elec- KNOWLEDGE DIPARTED PEACTICAL. 81 trical agency. She teaches us the facts ; she enables us to go through the practical processes ; and then she leaves us to tincl our -way as "svc best may through the philosophy of those facts. And so it is with the knowledge communicated bv Christianity. There is not a great practical fact which a moral being can ask to know, concerning which it does not speak with perfect distinctness. The fact of a full and a perfect accountability, and of a future retri- bution, — the fact of immortality, of the resurrection of the dead, of a particular providence, of the freedom of man, of his dependence upon God, and of the mercy of God to returning penitents, — each of these is made known with entire fullness and explicitness ; but very little is said respecting the philosophy of these facts, or the mode in which they may be reconciled to each other. The Bildc gives the information that is needed, and there it stops. It communicates practical, and never speculative knowledge as such. Now, when wc consider that Christianity solves, in its own way, all the great questions relating to human destiny, it must be regarded as rcmarkalile, that, in communicating this information, it should thus stop precisely where nature stops. "When wc consider how strong the tendency must have been to unaided human nature to gratify and excite man by pailicular descrip- tions of other worlds and of things unseen, so naturally to be expected from a messenger from those worlds ; when we consider how strong a hold the fonatic and the impostor gain upon the imagination of their follow- ers by such means , and that, without miracles and without evidence, this is, indeed, the chief hold they can have upon them; and when we observe the course taken at this point by all others who have pretended to revelation, wc shall not estimate this argument lightly. 82 EVIDENCES OF CHllISTIAXITY. Christianit)/ and ollter S7/stems. — How different the course of Christ and his apostk's, in this respect, from that of the Avriters of the Shnsters, and of Mohammed! When Clirist and liis apostles speak of a future world of reward and of punishment, it is, indeed, in such terms as to produce a strong moral impression, but it is still with a severe and cautious reserve. Those terms are general. There is no dwelling upon particulars, as if for the purpose of gratifying curiosit}^ or giving a loose rein to the imagination. They speak of "the kingdom of heaven," of " everlasting life," of "a croAvii of glory that fadeth not away," of " life and immortal- ity," of "many mansions," and a "Father's house;" but then they say, " Eye hath not seen, nor car heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." So, on the other hand, they speak of "the fire that never shall be quenched," " where their worm dieth not, and the lire is not quenched ; " of the "everlasting lire, jire- 23arcd for the devil and his angels ; " of " everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power ; " of " the blackness of darkness forever ; " but they descend into no minute descriptions. Not so Mohammed. Speaking of heaven, he says, *' There arc they Avho shall approach near unto God. They shall dwell in gardens of delight. Youths, which shall continue in their l)loom forever, shall go round about to attend them with goblets and beakers, and a cup of flowing wine, — their heads shall not ache by drinking the same, neither shall their reason be dis- turbed ; and Avith fruits of the roots which they shall choose, and the flesh of birds of the kind which they shall desire. And there shall accompany them fair damsels, having large black eyes reseml)ling pearls hidden in their shells, as a reward for that which they MOIIAJDIED-iNISM. 83 have wrought." * " But as for the sincere sciTants of God, they shall have a ceitain provision in paradise, namely, delicious fruits ; and they shall be honored ; they shall be placed in gardens of pleasure, leaning on couches, opposite to one another ; a cup shall be carried round unto them, filled from a limpid fountain, for the delight of those who drink, — it shall not oppress their miderstanding, neither shall they be inebriated there- with. And near them shall lie the virgins of paradise, refraining their looks from beholding any besides their spouses, having large black eyes, and resembling the eggs of an ostrich covered with feathers from the dust." f So, also, speaking of the world of punish- ment, he says, " Those who believe not have garments of fire fitted to them ; boiling water shall be poured on their heads ; their bowels shall be dissolved thereby, and also their skin ; and they shall be Ix^aten with maces of iron. So often as they shall endeavor to get out of hell because of the anguish of their torments, they shall l)e dragged back into the same, and their tormentors shall say, ^ Taste ye the pains of burning.' " { "It shall be said unto them, Go ye into the punishment which ye denied as a falsehood : go ye into the smoke of hell, which shall arise in three volumes, and shall not shade you from the heat, neither shall it be of sen^ico against the flame ; but it shall cast forth sparks as big as towers, resembling yellow camels in color." § AVe can now see that the stem refusal on the pai-t of Christ and his disciples to lift the vail and show us the invisible world was not only analogous to the course of nature, but that it was the only com'se compatible with good sense and sound philosophy. But why have these men, of all those who have made pretensions to inspiration, * Koran, chap. Ivi. Sale's edition. X Koran, diap. xxii. t Koran, chap, xxxvii § Koran, chap, xxvii. '84 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTLVXITY. thus kept upon that diflicult line ^vllic•ll so commends itself to the sober judguieut of the thinking pai-t of mankind? (Jhj-htianitij and nature — relation to the injinite and ony Marions, — And not less striking is the analogy between the limits of that knoAvledge which is ol)tained from nature and that which is obtained from the Bible ; or, to express my thought more exactly, between the mode in which what is made known in both cases, runs out into an infinite imknown. IIoAvever long, and in Avhatever department the student of nature ma}" labor, he finds himself no nearer the completion of his knoAvl- cdge ; and, as he passes on, he is ready to exclaim, Avith Burke, " AVhat subject is there that does not branch out into infinity ! " Even when most successful, he compares himself to a "child picking up pebbles upon the beach, Avhile the great ocean of truth is still before him." The intellectual vision of one man may extend further than that of another ; he may have a Avid(n' horizon ; but to both alike the sky closes down upcni the mountains, and w^hat is known stretches off into the infinity that is unknown. Nature places us in the midst of infinity. She intimates a pr()bal)le con- nection l^etwecn oin- planet and the myriads of wcn'lds which float in space ; she suggests, by analogy, the probability of a moral antl intellectual system corre- sponding in extent to the greatness of the physical universe ; she awakens our curiosity respecting the forms and modes of being of those Avho dwell in the stellar worlds ; but she gives us no means of gratifying our curiosity. The language of nature to man is, 'You are a pupil, upon one form, in the great school of God's discipline. You are permitted to conjecture that there are other and higher forms, but to knoAV nothing of "what is taught there. Y(nu' business is to learn the lessons Avhich are taught here, and be content, though CIIEISTLVNITY ASD NATURE 3IYSTERI0US. 85 you can not l)ut sec that all known truth has relations "with much more that is unknown.' And just so it is "with the Bible. It does not present us "with a defined system of truth, squared by the scicntitic rule and com- pass, which the human mind can master and compre- hend. Its truths take hold on the eternity that is past, and stretch on into that Avhich is to come. Docs nature lead us into deep mysteries ? So does the Bible. Does she leave us there, to wonder and adore? So does the Bible. We claim mysteries as a jDai-t of Christianity. We say that a religion coming from the God of nature could not be without them. We are nothing moved by the sneer of the infidel when he asks, " What kind of a revelation is the revelation of a mystery ? " We say to him that it is the revelation of a fact, all the modes and relations of which are not knowni, or which may seem to conflict with something already known ; and that, in the revelation of portions of an infinite scheme to a finite mind, facts thus related would be naturally expected. Is no revelation of any value but that which is clear, full, and distinct ? What kind of a revelation is that which nature makes of the starry heavens — dim, remote, obscure, suggesting a thousand questions, and answering none ? And yet even this is of infinite value to man. And thus it is that the Bible takes it for granted that there are other orders of intel- ligent beings, angels and archangels, principalities and powers, heavenly hosts innuniera])lc — just such an intellectual and moral system as we might suppose from our present knowledge of the works of God ; but no particulars are given ; it merely shows them as the night shows the stars, and, like nature, it leaves us standing in the midst of infinity, with a thousand questions iman- swered. Now, I can not help thinking, if the Bible had been made by man, that it would cither have been a system perfectly defined, with the cleaiiiess, and at the SQ EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. same time, the .shallowness, of the hiinian intellect; or it would have been wild, and extravagant, and vague ; or it would have pretended to lay open minutely the secrets of distant and future worlds. Teniper of mind required. — 4. I obsei-ve, that there is an analogy or correspondence between the works of God and the Bible, such as we had a right to expect, if both came from him, because a similar temper and attitude of mind is required for the successful study of both. The identity of that spirit, which Christ inculcates as the essential prerequisite to the proper understanding and reception of the great truths which he taught, with the true philosophic spirit, Avas first noticed by Bacon. He says, in very remarkable words, "The kingdom of man, which was founded on the sciences, can not be en- tered otherwise than the kingdom of God , that is, in the condition of a little child." The meaning and the truth of this will be manifest from a moment's attention to the history of science. So long as man attempted to theorize, and to sit in judgment upon God, to determine what he ought to have done, instead of taking the atti- tude of a learner before the book of nature, nothing can exceed the puerilities and absurdities into which he fell. But the moment he laid aside the pride of theory, and took the humble attitude of a learner and observer, an interpreter of nature, science began to advance. INIan talked of rearing the temple of science, as if it were to be constructed by him. But, as far as there is any temple, it has stood, as it now stands, in its impos- ing majesty, since the creation of the works of God ; and all that man can do is to unvail that temple, and show its fair proportions. The true philosopher does not think of rearing any thing of his own. He feels that he is a learner, and a learner only at the feet of nature. He represses entirely the imagination, however beautiful and enticing may be the theories which it XEED OF IimilLITY. 87 would fonn ; rejects all prejudice and preconceived opinion; and follows fearlessly Avherever observation, and experiment, and facts, may lead him. Is it said that there have been great philosophers who have been infidels, and have not had this spirit? I answer, no. There have been second-rate philoso- phers, who have distinguished themselves by following out the discoveries of greater men ; but all the great discoverers, those whose minds have sympathized most intensely with nature, have been distinguished for this spirit.* But that this spirit and temper are required by the gospel in order to a knoAvledge of that, it is hardly necessary to show. There we find the original requi- sition to become as a little child. It requires every imasfination to be brousrht down, and every hio^h thinu; that exalteth itself against the knoAvlcdge of God ; and that every thought should be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. ^Ro progress can be made in religion, or in science, till the pride which exalts itself to judge over God, and to decide what he ought to have done, is repressed, and till the man takes his place as a learner at the feet of Jesus, as the philoso- pher takes his place at the feet of nature. So coinci- dent is the spirit of true religion and of true philosophy ; so perfectly did our Saviour express the true spirit of both eighteen hundred years ago. Wonderful indeed is it that, when the great expounder of method in natural science would express the true spirit of the true method, he should find no fitter words than those used by Christ, before the inductive philosophy was dreamed of, to express the proper method of study in a higher department of the kingdom and government of God. If, then, nature and revelation arc thus similarly related to the human mind, they must l)e analogous to each other. * See WUowcirs r.ridtrowutcr Treatise. 88 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. IJtyJe and refiultn of teaching. — In close connection T/ith this head, I observe that, so far as nature teaches natural religion and moral truth, there is an analogy between both the mode and the results of her teaching and those of Christianity. Nothing can be more evi- dent than that the condition in which God intended man should be placed, in this world, is that of a pro- bation, in which there should be no overwhelming force, or preponderance of motives, on either side ; in which a wrong choice should be possible, and a right one often dilBcult. No other supposition accords with the limited knowledge of man, or with the mixed and balanced motives in the midst of wdiich he must often act. Accordingly, while the moral and religious teachings of nature are real and valid, and he that has ears to hear may hear, they are yet never obtrusive. The voice of those teachings is a still, small voice, easily droAvncd by the roar of passion or by the din of the world, but sweet and poAvcrful in the car of those who are willing to listen. Accordingly, nothing is easier, or more common, than for men " to quench the light of natural virtue by a course of profligacy, and to acquire contempt for all goodness by familiarity with vice." This is the method in which nature teaches moral and religious truth, Ifftiiig up always the same quiet voice, whether men Avill hear or whether they will forl)car ; and these are the results. Christianity keeps to the principle of that method, nor are the results different in kind. Whether we consider the evidence for its divine origin, or the moral truths which it inculcates, we find that, while it has such evidence as to l)e satis- factory to those who will attend to it, yet that it does not force that evidence upon the attention of any. Here the voice is indeed a louder voice, and he that hath ears may hear ; but it docs not compel the atten- tion of men. Accordingly, as Ave find men disregarding TIIEm TEACIIIXGS UNOBTRUSIVE. 89 the teachings of natural conscience, and the general maxims of virtue, so also do Ave iind tliem remaininsT in ignorance, and consequent contempt, of God's reve- lation. I know that this feature of revelation has been made an objection against it. It has been said that, if God liad given a revelation, he would liave accompanied it with evidence tliat must have forced conviction upon every mind — that he would have written it upon the heavens ; but the ol)ject()r does not consider that, in that case, this would have been no longer a place of probation, and the revelation of the gosjiel not at all in keeping with the revelation of nature. Are the great truths of natural religion written upon the heavens? Are the common maxims of temperance, and integrity, and benevolence, forced upon the attention of all? Instead, therefore, of linding, in the unobtrusive nature of the evidence and claims of Christianity, an argument against it, I find, in these very circumstances, an argu- ment that it is from that God who has caused the light of natural religion, and even the light of science, to exist in the world under precisely the same conditions. jI sijstem of means. — 5. I obsei-ve, that Christianity is in harmony with the works of God, because it is a s^'stem of means.* It is asked, by some, if God wishes the holiness of men, why ho does not make them holy at once ; and that he should take a long course of means, to accomplish his Avish, is objected to as deroga- tory both to his poAver and to his Avisdom. But, surely, I need not say that all nature is a system of means — that the end to be accomplished never is accomplished Avithout the means, and that those means often require the lapse of ages before this end is o])tained. No doubt Gocl could create a tree at once in its full perfection ; but, instead of this, he causes it to germinate from a * Butler's Analogy, part 2, chap. 4. 90 EVTDEXCES OF CimiSTIANITr. little seed, and makes his sun sliine npon it, and M-atcrs it with showers, and subjects it to the vicissitudes of the seasons, (during portions of which it seems to make no progress,) till, at length, it towers toward heaven, and defies the storms of ages. So the kingdom of heaven in the soul is like a grain of nnistard-seed, which is indeed the least of all seeds ; hut God causes it to spring up, and shines upon it with the light of his comitcnance, and waters it with the dews of his grace, till it Ijecomes a plant bearing fruit in the garden of God. And yet those who believe that nature is of God, object to the gospel because of the very circum- stances in which it harmonizes with his other works. And here I mention a ground of misapprehension which is common to nature and to Christianity. A system of means implies the gradual development of a plan, and of course the plan must present very diti'ercnt aspects to those who inew it in its different stages. There arc some processes in nature that coidd not have been understood in the first ages of the world. Thus the periods and motions of some of the heavenl}^ bodies Avere so obscure and complicated, that it required the observation and study of near six thousand years to understand and reduce them to system ; and the eye of the philosopher who scanned those bodies l)efore such observations could be made, must have remained unsat- isfied and perplexed. He saw the light of the l)odies, and walked in it; but he could not understand the philosophy and harmony of their motions. So it is with Christianity. While it gives freely the practical light which is necessary to our guidance, men have been very differently situated in regard to their oppor- tunities of judging of its philosophy. Kespectiug this they have judged, and still judge, very differently, and probably none of them, in all points, correctly. They are not yet in the right position. Place a man in the BOTH SYSTEMS EEMEDI.M.. 91 sun, aiul he ^vill 1)0 an astrouonicr at once. His posi- tion Avill enal>lo him to see the motions of the planets just as they arc. And Christianity speaks of just such a point, in rehition to itself and the moral government of God, Avhere every man will hereafter be placed. It speaks of a "day of the restitution of all things." In the mean time, those who refuse to be governed by the practical light of Christianity, because they can not understand certain points of its philosophy, pursue tho same course as those philosophers who lived before the time of Xewton would have done, if they had shut their eyes upon the light of the moon because they could not understand its motions. A remedial sf/stem. — G. I obsei-ve, that Christianity is analogous to the system of nature because it is a remedial system.* AVhen the body is diseased, when a limb is broken, when gangrene commences, nature docs not certainly leave the man to perish. She has provided a remedial system ; and if the proper reme- dies are applied in season, the man may be restored. Now, what this remedial system is in the course of nature, Christianity is in the moral government of God. It comes to us in the same way, not as to the whole, but as to the sick, and offers us assistance upon similar conditicnis. The man who is sick must have sufficient faith in the remedy to give it a fair trial, and so must he who would be benefited by Christianity. The remedial system of nature often requires the suifering of great present pain, that greater future pain may be avoided ; and Christianity requires self-denials and sacrifices which are so difficult, that they arc compared to the cutting off of a riffht hand, and the pluckino; out of a right eye. The remedial system of nature does not free the sick man at once from all the painful conse- quences of his disease. He suli'ers, and, it may be, * Butler, part 2, chap. 3. 92 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITr. lingers long under it, in spite of the best remedies. So he >vho receives Christianity does not escape at once all the painful consequences of sin. He suffers and dies on account of it ; but the remedy is sovereign, and through it he shall finally be delivered from sin alto- gether, and restored to perfect moral soundness. Na- ture makes no distinctions. The pains Avhich she inflicts are as severe, and the remedies which she offers are as bitter, to one as to another. Christianity, also, is entirely impartial. All who receive it must receive it on the same humbling terms, and upon all who Avill not receive it, it denounces the same fearful punishment. Under this head, therefore, we find a very close analogy between the mode of administration in nature and that which is revealed by Christianity. A mediatorial sjstem. — 7. I observe, that Chris- tianity is analogous to the system of nature because it is a mediatorial system. In mentioning this, I do not intend to enter upon any controverted ground, for all admit that, through the sufferings and death of Christ, vohuitarily undergone, we receive at least great tem- poral iKMicfits ; and what I contend for is, that, whether Ave confine his interposition and mediation to this Ioav sense, or suppose it the sole ground of pardon, still the principle, as one of mediation, is not changed, and is in accordance with what constantly passes imder our notice in the natural government of God. " Tlie Avorld," says Butler, "is a constitution, or system, Avhose parts have a mutual reference to each other ; and there is a scheme of things gradually carrying on, called the course of nature, to the carrying on of Avhich God has appointed us in various Avays to contribute. And Avhen, in the daily course of natural providence, it is appointed that innocent people should suffer for the faults of the guilty, this is lia1)le to the A'cry same objection as the instance Ave are now considering. The infinitely greater AX.VLOGY CONCLUDED. 93 iinporfancc of that appointment of Christianit}', whirli is ol)joctccl against, does not hinder, hut it may ho, as it phiinly is, an appointment of the very same kind as that -which the world atiords us daily examples of." "Men, l)y their follies, run themselves into extreme distress and difficulties, which would he absolutely fatal to them were it not for the interposition and assistance of others. God commands, by the law of nature, that we aflbrd them this assistance, in many cases where avc can not do it without very great pains, and labor, and sutiering to ourselves, And we see in what variety of "waj'S one person's sufferings contribute to the relief of another, and how this follows from the constitution and laws of nature which come imder our notice ; and, being familiarized to it, men are not shocked with it. So that the reason of their insisting upon objections of the foregoing kind against the satisfaction of Christ, is, either that they do- not consider God's settled and uni- form appointments as his appointments at all, or else they forget that vicarious punishment is an appointment of every day's experience." As therefore evils, and great evils, and such as we could not of ourselves avoid, arc so often averted from us, in the providence of God, by the interposition of our fellow-creatures, so it is in perfect harmony with that pro-sidence to suppose that greater evils, otherwise imavoidalile, might be averted l)y the interposition of the Son of God. In these, and other particulars which might be men- tioned, we find an analogy between Christian ity and nature, such as to show that they came from the same hand. Here is a test — its general correspondence and harmony witli the works of God and with the natural and providential governmont of God — Avhich no false system can stand. And more especially remarkable is it that Christianity can sustain this test, when avc consider it in contrast with that to which it Avas subjected at its 94 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. first appearance in the world . With the presentation of this contrast I shall close this lecture. The early and later test contrasted. — Cla-istianiti/ and Judaism. — Christianity, at its commencement, recoo-nized the Jewish religion as from God ; and it was a ground of its rejection Ijy the Jews, that it destroyed their law or ritual. Hence it became neces- sary — and this was the main object of the apostle in the Epistle to the Hebrews — to show that it was in perfect harmony with the Jewish religion when rightly understood, and was, indeed, necessary to its comple- tion. Did the Jews insist that Christianit}^ had no priesthood ? The apostle atlirms that it had such a high priest as became us, "who is holy, harmless, undetiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." Did the Jews atfirm that Christianity had no tabernacle ? The apostle asserts that Christ was the minister "of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man ; " that he had " not entered into the holy places made Avitli hands, which arc the ligures of the true, but into heaven itself." Was it ol)jectcd that Christianity had no altar and no sacrilice ? The apostle affirms that " now, once in the end of the world, Christ had appeared to put away sin by the sacrilice of him- self." Thus did the apostle shoAv that the Jewish religion, having dropped its swaddling-clothes of rites and ceremonies, was identical in spirit with Christianity. The same correspondence was cither attempted to ])e shown, or taken for granted, by all the New Testament writers. But when avc rememlier that Christianity is a purely spiritual religion, encumbered by no forms, and that the JcAvish was ajiparcntly the most technical and artificial of all S3'stems ; when we remember that there was not only to be preserved a corrcsi)ondence with the types and ceremonies, but also that there was to be the fulfillment of many prophecies, we may see the impos- THE TESTS SUSTAINED. 05 sibilily that any luinian art »lioiild construct a sj'stem so identical in its principles, and yet so diverse in its manifestations. Nor, indeed, could there have been any motive to induce such an- attempt; for, besides its inherent difHculty, Christianity so far dropped all the peculiarities of the Jews as to forfeit every hope of bcnclit from their strong exclusive feelings, while at the same time it came before other nations subject to all the odium which it could not fail to excite as based on the Jewish religion. AVe accordingly tiud that, in point of fact, it was equally opposed by Jews and Gentiles. But such was the system — exclusive, typi- cal, ceremonial, external, magnificent, addressed to the senses — between which and Christianity, simple, uni- versal, without form or pomp, it Avas necessary to shoAV a correspondence ; and this the apostle Paul, and the Kew Testament writers generally, did show. Christianity and nature — extent and grandeur. — How different the test to which Christianity is now put ! The works of God are acknowledged to ])c from him, and, as now understood, how simple in their laws, how complex in their relations, how infinite in their extent ! And can the same system, Avhich so perfectly corre- sponded with the narrow system of the Jews, correspond equally with the infinite and nnrestricted system and relations of God's works? Is it possible that the reli- gion once embosomed in the ceremonies of an ignorant and barbarous people, which received its expansion and coinpletion in an age of the greatest ignorance in regard to physical science, should yet harmonize, in its disclo- sures respecting God and his government, with those enlarged conceptions of his nature and kingdom which we now possess? Could Newton step from the study of the heavens to the study of the Bible, and feel that he made no descent? It is even so. The God M'hom the Bible discloses, and the moral system wliich it 96 EVIDENCES OF CIIIilSTIAXITY. reveals, lose nothing Avbcn compared with the extent of nature, or with the simplicity and majesty of her laws ; they seem rather Avortliy to be enthroned upon, and to preside over, such an amazing domain. The material universe, if not infinite, is indefinite in extent. Wc see in the misty spot which, in a serene evening, scarce discolors the deep blue of the sky, a distant milky way, like that which encircles om* heavens, and in a small projection of which our sun is situated. We sec such milky ways strown in profusion over the heavens, each containing more suns than we can num- ber, and all these, with their subordinate systems, we see bound together by a law as eflicient as it is simple and unchangeable. " They stand up together . . . not one faileth ! " But long before this system was discovered, there was made known, in the Bil)le, a moral system in entire correspondence Avith it. ^Ve see at the head of it, and presiding in high authority over the whole, one infinite and " only wise God," "the King eternal, im- mortal, invisible." Of the systems above us, angelic and seraphic, we know little; but Ave see one kuv, simple, efficient, and comprehensive as that of gravita^ tion, — the law of love, — extending its sway over the whole of God's dominions, living where he lives, em- In-acing every moral movement in its universal author- ity, aud producing the same harmony, where it is obeyed, as we observe in the movements of nature. We find here none of the puerilities which dwarf every other system. The sanctions of the knv, the moral attri))utes revealed, the destinies involved, the prospects opened up, — all take hold on infinity, and are in perfect keeping Avith the solemn emotions excited by dAvelling upon the illimitable Avorks of God. "Deep calletli unto deep." LECTURE IV. ARGUMENT SECOND: COINCIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY WITH NAT- URAL RELIGION. -ARGUMENT THIRD: ITS ADAPTATION TO THE CONSCIENCE AS A PERCEIVING POWER. — PECULIAR DIF- FICULTIES IN THE -n-AY OF ESTABLISHING AND M.AINTAINING A PERFECT STANDARD. —ARGUMENT FOURTH: IF THE MO- RALITY IS PERFECT, THE RELIGION MUST BE TRUE. If, as was attempted in the last lecture, a distinct analogy can be shown between Christianity and the constitution of nature, it will afford a strong presump- tion that they both came from the same hand. But if such an analogy can not be shown, it will not be con- clusive against Christianity, because there is such a disparity between the material and the spiritual worlds, and the laws by Avhich they must be governed, that a revelation concerning one might be possible, which yet should not seem to be analoi^ous to the other. ARGUMENT 11. COINCIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY WITH NATCRAL RELIGION. Not so, however, with the argument which I next adduce, which is drawn from the coincidence of Chris- tianity with natural religion. Truth is one. If God has made a revelation in one mode, it must .coincide with what he has revealed in another. If, therefore, it can be shoA^^l that Christianity docs not coincide with the well-authenticated teachings of natural religion, it 9 (97) 98 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTLVNITY. will be conclusive against it. Nature is from God. Her teachings arc from him, and I should regard it as settling the question against any thing claiming to be a divine revelation, if it could be shown to contradict those teachings. If, on the other hand, it can be shown that Christianity coincides perfectly with natural reli- gion, and indeed teaches the only perfect system of it ever known, it will furnish a strong argument in its favor, especially when we consider how the religion originated. JSFatural religion defined. — By natural religion, I mean that knowledge of God and of duty which may be acquired by man without a revelation. So far as this phrase is made to imply, as it sometimes is, that revealed religion is not natural, ifis objectionable ; for I conceive that the original and natural state of man was one of direct communication with God, and even now, that revelation is, in the highest sense, natural. It ought to be used simply to contradistinguish the knowledge, which man might gain from nature, from that which revelation alone teaches. Of natural reli- gion the ideas of many are exceedingly indefinite ; but that the definition now given is the true one is obvious, because it is the only one that can give it any fixed and definite meaning. It can not mean what men have actually learned from nature, for this has varied at different times. We shoidd be doing injustice to the teachings of nature if we were to call that knowledge of God and of duty, which has been attained by the most enlightened heathen, the whole of natural religion. We mean, by revealed religion, not the partial and perverted views of any sect, but that system which God has actually revealed in the Bible, and Avliich the dili- gent and candid can discover to be there. And so we mean, by natural religion, not what indolent, and biased, and selfish men have discovered, but that which nature TEACIIIXGS OF NATURAL KELIGION. 99 actiuill}^ teaches, and wliieli a diligent and candid man conld discover in the best exercise of his powers. TeadiuKjH — Jiow made known. — If this, then, be natural religion, how are its teachings made known? Its mode of teaching concerning God, and concerning duty, is not the same. Its teachings concerning God and his attributes are made known chiefly by reasoning from effects to their cause. In addition to this, it is supposed by some that all men have certain intuitive and necessary convictions concerning the beino; of a God. But, however this may be, I think that the being of a God, and the perfection of most of his natural attri- butes, might be inferred from nature as now knoAvu. That nature and Christianity agree in their teachings concerning these attributes, I have already shown ; concerning the moral attributes of God, it is more diffi- cult to say Avhat nature does teach. Certain it is that man has never so learned them, from her light alone, as to la}^ the foundation for any rational system of r(>li- gious morality ; or so as to free the best minds from great and distressing uncei-tainty. Her mode of teaching duty is by the tendencies and results of different actions, and courses of action. We can not doubt — at least natural religion does not per- mit itself to dou])t — that the object of God, in the constitution of things, and in the relations established by him, is the good of man. If, therefore, avc see .'uiy course of conduct tending to, and resulting in, the good of man, individually and socially, we infer that it is according to the will of God. If we see a course of conduct tending to, and resulting in, the unhappiness of the individual and of society, Ave infer that it is contrarA' to his Avill. It is in this Avay, solely, by the tendencies and results of actions, that natural religion teaches us our duty. JSFot adaj^ted to the common mind. — Dut it must be 100 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTIAOTTY. conceded that this mode of teaching, by rehitions, and tendencies, and results, is not well adapted to the com- mon mind. Even to compi-ehcnd these relations and tendencies fully, much more to trace them out origin- ally, requires a philosophic mind of the highest order. In some cases, indeed, the tendency of actions, or courses of action, is obvious, and the will of God, •when we believe in his being and perfections, is thus as clearly indicated as it would be by a voice from heaven; but in others, nothing can be more complex or difficult of determination even after an experience somewhat extended. After all their experience, men are still divided on the tendencies and results of a protective tariff, which we should think it would l)e perfectly easy to test to the satisfaction of all ; but so varied are the interests involved, and so complex arc the causes at work, that men seem now no nearer "an agreement respecting them than ever. And if this is so on a subject to which attention is stimulated by immediate interest, and which appeals to interest alone, how much more must it be so with those courses of action in which moral tendencies and results, so obscure and tardy, are to be considered, and in which the strong natural feelings of the heart are at work to l)ias the judgment? Accordingly, though the teachings of nature have been open to all, and have influenced all to some extent, yet it has been only among the enlight- ened few, and at favored periods, that a system of natural religion could be said to exist at all, or that its teachings have exerted any considerable influence. Nor, Avhen we consider how complex are the tendencies of actions, and how remote are often their completed results, — how plausible are some courses of action, Avhich yet experience shows to be injurious, — when we consider the eaggrness of passion, the blinding power of selfishness, how opposed some of the virtues NATURAL EELIGION INSUFFICIEXT. 101 are to the strongest feelings of men, OJiciis, and yet the religion with Avhich it is associated may be entirely false. The precepts may have no connection with the facts, or doctrines, or rites of the religion. This has been the case Avith all false religions. There has been no ten- dency in the doctrines or ficts of the religion to form men to the precepts of moral virtue. The morality has often been better than the relijzion, and might be easily TRUE MOR.VLITY FROM GOD. 119 separated from it. And if this has been so with other religions, why may it not be so "svith Christianity? Concession of infidels. — Tliis question I am bound to notice, because intidels have not been backward in conceding to tlie morality of Christianity all that we ask. They speak in terms of high eulogy of the Ser- mon on the jNIount ; they eagerly claim whatever they can of its iDeculiar doctrines as the teachings of nature, and seem to perceive no difficulty even in admittino^ that the morality is perfect, and yet rejecting the reli- gion. But that the two arc inseparable, and must be re- ceived or rejected as one Avhole, appears, — True moralit]/ must he from God. — First, because we can not otherwise account for the morality. It seems to me, as I have already attempted to show, that man could not have originated such a system of morals. AVhen I stand between two cliifs rent asunder by a con- vulsion of nature, I do not need to be told that that passage Avas not opened by a human arm. ^Mien I see the bow spanning the heavens, I do not need to be told that no human hand has bended it. So, when I com- pare such a system with the intellectual and moral power, not merely of unlettered fishermen, but of man, and especially with all the attempts he has actually made, I feel that there is an utter disparity between them. I feel that the morality must have come in con- nection with the religion of which it forms a part. An attempt to deceive incredible. — But, secondly, it is incredil)le and contradictory, contrary to all the known laws of mind, to suppose that men whose moral discrimination and susceptibilities were so acute — who could originate a system so pure, so elevated, so utterly opposed to all falsehood — should, without reason or motive that we can see, deliberately attempt to deceive mankind concerning their highest interests. If they 120 EVIDENCES OF CIIEISTIAXITY. had a S3'stcin of morality to communicate, why did thoy not, like honest men, connniniicatc it as an al)stract system, unencum1)ered with doctrines which were, and which they must have foreseen would be, to the Jews a stuml)ling-block and to the Greeks foolishness? Why did they connect with it a narrative of facts which, if false, might have been easily disproved? How much more safe and dignified to have delivered the system in its abstract form, after the manner of the philosophers ! The combination of folly and wickedness, which such a course would involve, with those high qualities, both of the intellect and of the heart, in which alone such a system could have originated, seems to me im- possible. The morality grows out of the fads and doctrines. — Once more, thirdly, the peculiar morality of Christian- ity can not be separated from it, because it so groAvs out of its facts and doctrines, and so derives its power from them. It does not lie in the religion, as the gem does in the rock, l)ut is an organized part of one vital whole. It is as the hands and the feet to the heart and the brain. And surely nothing but a divine wisdom could cause all the great doctrines and facts of such a religion to bear, cither in the way of instruction or motive, upon the formation of a right moral character. How difficult — I may say ho'v impossible — that a waiter of fiction should introduce an extraordinary per- son, like Christ, possessed of high supernatural powers, and yet not attribute to him one wild or fancifid adven- ture, such as we find in every account of heathen gods ; not one capricious, or selfish, or unworthy exertion of his miraculous powers ; but that he should make all the cxei-tions of those powers, and all the events of his life, such that they bear powerfully as motives on the practice of a then unheard-of and perfect morality ! JSfew motives. — As I have already said, there are NEAV RELATIONS FRO:*I CIIRISTIAXITT. 121 many new duties growing out of the new reliitions in which Ave arc placed by the facts of Cliristianity ; but not to these only, to every duty, those facts furnish new and powerful motives, without which the system, as a practical whole, has no power. Certainly, it is from the character of God as revealed by Christianity, and from the new relations assumed by him toward us, that the most effective motives are drawn for the perfonn- ance of many of our duties toward our fellow-men. The paternal relation of God to man, as a practical doctrine, is made known only by Christianity. It is true — what was said by Madame De Stael — that, if Christ had simply taught men to say, "Our Father," he would have been the greatest benefactor of the race. If the heathen had some notion of the beneficence of the supreme power, from the operation of general laws, yet there was a difference heaven-wide between that and all that is involved in the doctrine of a particular l^rovidence and of paternal regard and supervision. Yet how eflectively does Christ himself nse this doc- trine, and those high moral qualities revealed in con- nection with it, to enforce practical duty ! Does he command ns to love our enemies, and bless them that curse lis ? It is that we may be the children of onr Father which is in heaven, who "maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good." Does he teach us the duty of forgiveness? It is because God forgives us. If the master forgives the debt of ten thousand talents, the servant should for<>:ivc his fellow-servant the debt of a hundred pence. Does he teach that the pure in heart arc blessed? It is because "they shall see God." Does he teach the duty of letting our light shine? It is that we may glorify our Father which is in heaven. "Would an apostle teach men the duty of mutual love? "Herein," sa^'s he, "is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propi- 11 122 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. tiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." And in the same way are the character and acts of Christ referred to. AVould Peter teach us to bear injuries patieutly? He tells us of Ilim "who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suifered, he threatened not ; but committed himself to Him that judgeth righteously." Would Paul teach us lowliness of mind, and to esteem others better than ourselves, what is his argument? He sa^'s, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus ; who, being in the form of God, thought it not rc^b- bery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant." Indeed, the more we examine this point, the more we shall be surprised to sec how almost exclusively the motives to Christian morality are drawn from the Chris- tian religion, and how its doctrines, and facts, and "motives, and precepts, all coalesce and become indisso- lubly united in one harmonious and perfect whole. The momlifi/ 2^^'oi'es ihe religion. — The morality and the rcliirion being thus blended as one whole, the inquiry arises, whether it is possible that such a moral- ity should either originate in, or be thus incorporated ■ with, a false religion. A common faculty for hoth. — There are those, I know, who say that the foundations of morality in man are different from those of religion ; and I am not dis- posed to deny that certain faculties are called into high activity in religion, which arc excited slightly, if at all, in the duties of morality. Still, so far as duty is con- cerned, which is the Avhole of morality, and which is the central and indispensable part of any true religion, they both appeal to the same conscience, and to that alone. Depending thus upon a common faculty, a true religion and a true morality must have an essential unity. FALSE EELIGIOXS AND MORALITY. 123 ■A perfect religion invoices a perfect morality. — Th;it a perfect religion must comprise a perfect morality, is certain, because a perfect religion must include every religious duty ; and we arc under obligation to perform our duty to our fellow-creatures, not simply from our relations to them, but because the performance of that duty is the Avill of God. Hence every moral duty is, and nnist be, also 1)inding as a religious duty ; and hence no man can be truly religious further than he is moral. Perfect morality impossible from a false religion. — But a true religion, carried out, would thus certainly bear as its fruit a perfect morality. Is it possible that a false religion should bear the same fruit? Then truth would be no better than error ; the true God no better than an idol. Then a cori-upt tree might bring forth good fruit ; " a clean thing might come out of an un- clean." The question is not simply to what extent a true morality and a false religion may coexist, but whether such a morality can 1)e the necessary outgroAvth and fruit of such a religion. That it can be, is opposed to our primary and intuitive convictions. It is not conceivable that a perfect system of moral duty should coalesce and harmonize with the religious duty taught by a system of falsehood, such as the Christian system must be, if it did not come from God. But in the Christian system, the moral and religious duties do thus coalesce, and form a part of one inde- pendent whole. The religious morality of the Bible, if I may call it so, — that which relates to God, — is quite as extraordinary as that which relates to man ; it is quite as far elevated above that of any other s}stem ; and these, Avhen united and interwoven as they are in the Bible, form one whole, perfect and complete. Be- sides, a perfect system of morality could not be laid down, even in an abstract, or tabular form, in counec- 124 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. tion with a false religion ; because many of our duties to our fellow-men, as well as the motives by wliicli they are enforced, arise out of our relations to them as the children of a common parent, and a knowledge of these relations can come only from a true religion. Conclusion. — Our conclusion then is, that if the morality is what we claim it to be, the religion must be true ; and infidels must either — as they can not — deny that the morality is perfect, or accept the religion. Christianity is no heterogeneous mass, promiscuously thrown together. It is one, an organic Avhole, and must be accepted or rejected as such. From the nature of the case, therefore, we might expect — what all experience shows has happened — that any attempt to separate this morality from this religion, and 3'et give it power, would be like the attempt to sej^arate the branch from the parent stock, and yet cause it to live. We might expect, if we were ever to sec a perfect morality coming up from the wilderness of this world, that she would come, not walking alone, but, "leaning upon her Beloved." LECTURE V. ARGUMENT FIFTH: CHRISTIANITY ADAPTED TO MAN. —DIVISION FIRST, ITS QUICKENING AND GUIDING POWER.— ITS ADAP- TATION TO THE INTELLECT, THE AFFECTIONS, THE IMAGI- NATION, THE CONSCIENCE, AND THE WILL. Christianity is nniilogoiis to iiatiirc ; it coincides with iiatiinil religion : it meets the demands of the conscience as a discriminating power ; and, as embo- soming a perfect morality, it must be from God. "We next inquire after its adaptation to man. "NMiat are its capacities to quicken and guide those leading faculties in the right action of which his perfection and liai)pincss must consist. Those faculties are the Intel- lect, the Aflections, the Imagination, the Conscience, and the Will. Christianit >/ and the intellect. — Information and reflection. — r>y the adaptation of Christianity to the intellect, I mean its tendency to give it clearness and strength. I mean by it just what is meant when it is said that nature is adapted to the intellect. The intel- lect is enlarged and strengthened l)y the exercise of its powers on suitable sul)jects. This exercise can be induced in only two ways — by furnishing it Avith information, or by leading it to stud// and reflection; and whichever of these we regard, we need not fear to compare Christianity Avith nature as adapted to enlarge and strengthen the intellectual powers. 11 * (125) 126 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. Information. — And, first, of information. If we consider the Christian revelation, as we fairly may in this connection, as it recognizes, inchides, and presup- poses the Old Testament, there is no book that can compare with it for the variety and impoi-tance of the information it gives ; nor can it be exceeded by nature itself. From this, and from this alone, do Ave know any thing of the origin of the world and of the human race ; of the introduction of natural and moral evil ; of the history of men before the deluge ; of the deluge itself, as connected with the race of man ; of the early settlement and dispersions of the race ; of the history of the JcAvs ; and of the history of the early rise and progress of Christianity. Without the Bible, an im- penetrable curtain Avould be dropped between us and the whcjle history of the race further back than the Greeks, or certainly the Egyptians ; and who docs not feel that the letting down of such a curtain would act upon the mind, not simply by the amount of informa- tion it would withdraw, but with the etlect of a chill and a paralysis, fr/)m the necessity of that information to give completeness to knowledge as an organized Avhole ? It would be like taking the hook out of the beam on which the whole chain hangs. And, again, what information gained from nature can be more interesting than that which the Bible gives concerning God as a Father, concerning his universal providence, our accountability, a resurrection from the dead, the second coming of Christ, and an eternal life? "Who would substitute the mists of conjecture for this mighty background, piled up by revelation along the horizon of the future? PhiIoso2)Mc sjyirit required. — But — to say nothing of information, as it is not from that that the mind gains its chief efficiency — I infer that Christianity is adapted CHRISTIANITY AND TRUTH. 127 to the intellect, 1. From the fact of the iclentlty of its spirit with that of true philosophy. Of this 1 have already spoken. Indlvi'dhj favorable. — 2. Christianity is indirectly favorable to the intellect by bringing men out from under the dominion of sensuality, and of those low vices by which it is checked and dwarfed in its growth. The temperance and sobriety of life which it enjoins are essential, as conditions, to the full expansion and power of the intellect. Il8 estimate of truth. — 3. That Christianity is fiivor- able to the intellect, is obvious from the place Avhich it assigns to truth. Truth, in this system, lies at the foundation of every thing. It is contradistinguished from every other system, pretending to come from God, by this. Christ said that he came into the world to bear Avitness of the truth. He prayed that God would sanctify men, but it was through the truth. It seems to have been the ol)jcct of Christ to place his disciples in a position in which 'they could intelligently, as well as alfectionately, yield themselves to him, and to tlu^ government of God. How rcmarkal:)le are his words ! "Henceforth," says he, "I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth ; l)ut I have called you friends ; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." Christ is spoken of as a light to lighten the Gentiles. The object of Paul was to turn men from darkness to light, as well as from the power of Satan unto God. lie spoke the words of truth as Avell as of soberness. If he was strongly moved by the conduct of a church, it was because it did not obey the truth. Does the beloved disciple exhort the elect lady not to receive some into her house? It is those who do not teach the truth. Light in the understanding is scarcely less au object, 128 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. with Christianity, than pnrity in the afFections. Its whole scope and tendency is to magnify the importance of truth. The enemies of Christianity can not point out any thing, either in its letter or spirit, which would restrict knowledge or cramp the intellect. We are, indeed, required to have faith ; but we are also required to "add to faith knowledge." We are to adopt no conviction on the ground of any blind impulse ; we are always to be able to give a reason of the hope that is in us. We glory in Christianity, as a religion of light not less than a religion of love. Freedom of opinion required. — 4. Christianity is favora]}le to the intellect, because, wherever it exists in its purity, there must be freedom of opinion, and this is one great condition of vigorous intellect. Eecog- nizing truth as the great instrument of moral poAver and of moral changes in the soul, making no account of any forms, or external conduct not springing from conviction, Christianity claims truth as the right of the human soul. What was the fundamental principle of the Reformation, but the right of the people to the truth, and the whole truth — access for themsQlves to its foun- tain-head in the Bil)le? And whence did that principle spring, but from the Bible itself, from that Bible found and read by Luther? It is to the very book he abuses that the infidel owes that freedom by Avhich he is per- mitted to abuse it ; for where, except where the Bible has influence, do you find opinion free? The fact is, that Christianity gives to God and truth a supremacy in the mind which unfits man for becomiug either the dupe or the tool of designing men ; and hence, chiefly, their attempts to corrupt it, and to take it from the people. Adaj^ted as nature is. — 5. But I have intimated that Christianity is adapted to the intellect in the same way that natm-e is. I wish to show this. How is it, NATURE AXD CIIEISTIAXITY MODE OF TEACHING. 129 then, that nature improves the mhicl? Evidently only as it contains thought. Mind can not commune with chaotic matter, but only with mind ; and therefore the study of nature can improve the intellect only as we gain from it the thought of its Author. It would seem to be plain that nothing, whether a book, or a machine, or a work of art, or of nature, can be a profitable ol^ject of study, except for the thought it contains ; and that Avhen the whole of that thought is grasped l)y the mind, there can be no longer any improvement in the study of that object. And nature seems to be so constructed, in almost all her departments, (perhaps for the very purpose of training the intellect,) as to render it diifi- cult to discover the controllin<)f- thouiiht accordiuG: to which they were constructed. On the surface, all seems confused and irregular; but as Ave penetrate deeper, perhaps by long processes of ol)servation and induc- tion, we find a principle of order and harmony running through all. "NMiat more confused, apparently, than the motions and appearances of the heavenly bodies? See, now, the ancient astronomer stud}^ing these ap- pearances. How does he grope in the dark ! IIow fanciful and inadequate are his h}i:)othescs ! Plainly, he is but groping after the true idea or thought of the system, as it lay in the mind of God. Give him this carried out into its details, and he has the science of astrononi}^ completed. It has nothing more to sav to him. So the heavens are constructed ; so they move. Not less confused to the eye of man, for ages, was the vcgetal)le creation; but at length, running like a line of light through all its species and genera, the true prlnci[)le of classification Avas found. So it was in chemistry ; so in geology, if, indeed, the true thought there be yet found. It Avould appear, then, that nature is adapted to the intellect of man onlv, first, as it contains the thouijht 130 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTLy»fITY. of God; and, secondly, as it is so constructed as to stimulate and task the powers of the intellect in the attainment of that thought. Now, I have no right to assume, here, that the Bihle contains the true thought of God ; but I do say that its thoughts are not less «-rand and exciting than those of nature, and that there is between its construction and that of nature a singular analogy, as adapted to the intellect. There is the same apparent want of order and adjustment, and the same deep harmony, running through the whole. An indi- vidual truth, revealed in one age for a particular pur- pose, and, by itself, adapted to the use of man, lies imbedded here, and another there. By comparison, it is seen that they may come together, as bone to its fellow-bone, till, at length, the mammoth framework of a complete organization stands before us. Does the Bible contain a system of theology? Yes, a complete system; but it contains it as the heavens contain the system of astronomy. Its truths lie there in no logical order. They appear at first like a map of the apparent motions of the planets, whose paths seem to cross each other in all directions; but you have only to find the true centre, and the orbs of truth take their places, and circle around it like the stars of heaven. And I venture to say that the efforts of thought, the struggles of intellect, that have been called forth for the adjust- ment of this system, have done more for the human mind than its efforts in any other science. Its questions have stirred, not the minds of philosophers alone, but every meditative human soul. Does the Bible contain a system of ethics? Yes ; but it is as the earth contains a system of geology ; and long might the eye of the listless or unscientific reader rest upon its pages with- out discovering that the system was there, — just as men trod the earth for near six thousand years withov.t discovering that its surface was a regular structure, with TWO CLASSES OF QUESTIONS. 131 its strata arranged in an assignable order. And after Ave have reason to suppose there is a system, whether in nature or the l>il)le, we often tind faets that seem to contradiet eaeh other, that ean be reconciled only by the most patient attention ; pevhaps, in the present state of our knowledge, can not be reconciled at all. How strong, then, is the argument, drawn from this structure of the Bible, that it did not originate in the mind of man ! The mind loves unity ; it seeks to sys- tematize every thing. It is in finished systems that great minds produce their works, never leaving truths, seemingly ineoinpatible, lying side by side, and requir- ing or expecting us to adopt them both. But so does tlic Bible, and so does nature. Our conclusion, there- fore, is that, if nature is adapted to the mind of man, so, and on the same principle, is the Bible. A Idrjher hind of knoidedge given. — 6. Once more, Christianity is adapted to the intellect because it puts it in possession of a higher kind of knowledge than nature can give. It solves questions of a different order, and those, too, Avliich man, as an intellectual being, most needs to have solved. There are plainly two classes of questions which we may ask concerning the works of God; and concerning one of these, phi- losophy is profoundly silent. One class respects the relation of the different parts of a constituted Avhole to each other and to that whole. The other respects the ultimate design of the Avhole itself. In the pres- ent state of science, questions of the first class can generally be answered with a good degree of satisfiic- tion. ]Man existing, the philosopher can tell the number of l)ones, and muscles, and blood-vessels, and nerves, in his body, and the uses of all these. lie may, per- haps, tell hoAV the stomach digests, and the heart beats, and the glands secrete ; but of the great purpose for which man himself was made, he can know nothing. 132 EYIDEXCES OF CIIRISTLiNITY. But this knoAvlcdgc Christianity gives. It attributes to God a purpose worthy of him ; one that satisfies the intellect and the heart ; and the knowledge of this must modify our views of all history, and of the whole drama of human life. It gives ns a new stand-point , from which we see every thing in different relations and proportions. We had seen the river, before, on which we Avere sailing ; noAv we see the ocean. Entirely dif- ferent must be the relation of man to God, both as an intellectual and a practical being, when he knows his plans and can intelligently cooperate with him. He now comes, in the language of our Saviour, into the relation of a friend. Surely no one can think lightly of the influence of this on the intellect ! Testimony of facts. — From the arguments now stated, we infer that Christianity is adapted to the intellect ; and these arguments are confirmed by fact. No book, not nature itself, has ever waked np intel- lectual activity like the Bible. On the battle-field of truth, it has ever been around this that the conflict has rao-ed. What book besides ever caused the writing of so many other books? Take from the libraries of Christendom all thqse which have sprung, I will not say indirectly, but directly from it, — those written to oppose, or defend, or elucidate it, — and hoAV would they be diminished ! The very multitude of infidel books is a witness to the power with which the Bible stimulates the intellect. Why do we not see the same amount of active intellect coming np, and dashing and roariug around the Koran? And the result of this activity is such as we might anticipate. The general intellectual, as well as moral superiority of Christian nations, and that, too, in proportion as they have had a pure Christianity, stands out in too broad a sunlight to be questioned or obscured. Wherever the word of God has really entered, it has given light — light to CHRISTIANITY AXD THE PHYSiaVL SCIENCES. 133 individuals, light to communities. It has favored liter- ature ; and by means of it alone has society been brought up to that point at which it has been able to construct the apparatus of physical science, and to carry its investigations to the point which they have now reached. The instruments of a well-furnished astro- nomical observatory presuppose accumulations of wealth, and the existence of a class of arts, and of men, that could 1)0 the product only of Christian civilization. Accordingly, we find, whatever may be said of litera- ture, that physical science, except in Christian countries, has, after a time, either become stationary, or begun to recede ; and there is no reason for supposing that the path of indefinite progress which now lies before it, could have been opened except in connection with Christianity. Individual men who reject Christianity, aud yet live within the general sphere of its influence, may distinguish themselves in science ; they have done so ; but it has been on grounds and conditions furnished by that very religion which they have rejected. Chris- tianity furnishes no new faculties, no direct power to the intellect, but a general condition of society favorable to its cultivation ; and it is not to be wondered at, if, in such a state of things, men who seek intellectual distinction solely, rejecting the moral restraints of Christianity, should distinguish themselves by intel- lectual eftbrt. Ohjectlon. — But if there is this adaptation of Chris- tianity to the intellect, ought not those who are truly Christians to distini»:uisli themselves above others in literature and science? This does not follow. Up to a certain point, Christianity in the heart will certainly give clearness and strength to the intellect ; and cases arc not wanting in Avhich the intellectual powers have been surprisingly roused through the action of the moral nature, and of the affections, a^vakeued by the 12 134 E^TEDEXCES OP CHRISTLiNITT. reliiiioii of Christ. But ^vhcn wc consider that the change produced by Christianity is a moral change; that the objects it presents are moral objects ; that it presents this world as needing not so much to Ijc enlightened in the more abstract sciences, or to be dcliiihted with the refinements of literature, as to be rescued from moral pollution, and to be won back to God ; — perhaps we ought not to be surprised if it has caused many to be absorbed in labors of an entirely diflerent kind, who would otherwise have trodden the highest walks of science. Distinguished jyletij not unfavorable to intellectual cul- tivation. — And here, precisely at this point, I think we may see how an impression has been originated in the minds of some that distinguished piety is even mifavorable to the highest cultivation of the sciences and arts and to refinement of taste. If this were so, — as it is not, — it would prove nothing against Chris- tianity ; nor would it invalidate at all the position I have taken, that it is favora1)le to the intellect. There are things more important than science, or literature, or taste. Nor is it in these that the true and the highest dignity of man consists. Perhaps Paul, if he had not been a Christian, might have shone as a philosopher. He did not become less a philosopher by being a Chris- tian ; but the energies of his mind were given neither to philosophy nor to .literature, but to something far higher. In a noble forgetfulness of self, he strove to turn men " from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." And so, now, many of the finest spirits of our race are diverted from science by the practical calls and self-denying duties arising from the spiritual wants of the world. But docs this dwarf the intellect? Far from it. It leads it to grapple practi- cally with questions higher than those of science, though it may be not so as to gain the admiration of men ; THE BIBLE AND POrULAR LITERATURE. 135 and hence avc often find in a Immble Christian a breadth of mind Avhich "vve should look for in vain in many professed votaries of literature. Can that dwarf the intellect which shows it realities more grand than those of science ; which, with a full comprehension of the nature, and processes, and ends of science and of litera- ture, yet gives them their rightful, though subordinate place? Never; even though it should sometimes lead to the general feeling expressed by one "who said that he would attend to his more immediate duties here, and study the science of astronomy on his way np to heaven. No ; men may do what they please in dissem- inating school libraries, and scattering abroad cheap pul)lications ; but, for energy and balance, I would rather have the intellect formed by the Bible alone, — ^y S^'^W^'^^'^S "^^'ith its mighty questions, by communing with its high mysteries, by tracing its narratives, b}^ listening to its matchless eloquence and poetry, — than to have that fomied l)y all the light and popular litera- ture, and by all the scientific tracts, in existence ; and if these efforts should practically exclude the Bil)le, and prevent a general and familiar acquaintance with it on the part of the young, instead of being a blessing, they would bring only disaster. The Bible adajited to all. — Before leaving this sub- ject, perhaps I ought to advert to the manner in which the teachings of the Bil)le are given, as a book adapted to the instruction of all classes, and of all ages. This, though a minor point, is one of great interest. In this respect, again, the Bil)le is like nature, and is indeed a most wonderful book. What a problem it Avould 1)e to prepare a book now, which should be equally adapted to the young and to the old, to the learned and to the unlearned ! Man could not do it. But such a book is the Bible. It has a simplicity, a majesty, a beauty, a variety, which fit it for all ; and, as the eye of the child 136 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITT. can sec something in nature to please and- instruct it, while the philosopher can see more, and yet not all, — so docs the youngest and most ignorant person, who can read its pages, find, in the Bible, narratives, para- bles, brief sayings, just suited to his comprehension ; while the profoundest theologian, or the greatest phi- losopher, can never feel that he has sounded all its depths. And here we may perhaps see one great reason wliy the revelation of God was written by so many different persons, at different times, and with such different habits of thought and of feeling. It was because it was intended to l^e a book for the instruction of the race, and this it could not be if it were Avritten in any one style, or Avere stamped with the peculiarities of any one human mind. In order to this, it must embrace narratives, poetry, proverbs, parables, letters, profound reasoning, — which, while they all harmonized in doctrine and in spirit, should yet be as diversified as the hills and valleys of the green earth ; should yet refract the pure light of inspiration in colors to catch and fix every eye. Wonderful book ! If some of its parts seem to us less interesting, let us rememl)er that nature too has many departments, and that it was made for all ; and the more we study it in this point of view, the more ready shall we be to join with the apostle in saying, that " all scripture is given by inspiration of God." We say, then, that Christianity is adapted to the intellect, because its spirit coincides with that of true phiU)sophy ; because it removes the incubus of sensu- ality and low vice ; l)ecause of the place it gives to truth ; because it demands free inquiry ; because its mighty truths and systems are brought Ijcforo the mind in the same way as the truths and systems of nature ; because it solves higher problems than nature can ; and because it is so communicated as to be adapted to every mind. THE AFFECTIONS. 137 Chrifitiamtij adapted to the ajfections. — But, if Christianity is adapted to the intellect, as a religion of light, it is not less adapted to the affections, as a religion of love. The affections are that part of our being from which we are most susceptible of enjoyment and of suffering. They are the source of all disinter- ested action, of all cheerful and happy obedience. They are, to the other faculties of man, what the light is to the body of the sun, what its leaves and blossoms are to the tree ; and the system in which they are not regarded, and put in their proper place, can not be from God. Affections — Jiow elicited, — The affections, as we all know, are not under the immediate control of the will ; that is, we can not love any object we choose, simply by willing to love it. We may act toward an uuAvorthy being — a tyrant, for example — as if we loved him; but, unless we see in him qualities really excellent and lovely, it is impossildc Ave should love him. The natural affections, so far as they are instinctive, have their own Lnvs. Laying them, then, aside, the first condition on which it is possilde for us to love a moral being, as such, is a perception of some excellence in liis character. If we are rightly constituted, we shall love him on the perception of such excellence, whether lie has any particular relation to us or not. But the whole strength of our affections can be elicited only when goodness is manifested toward us individually. That which should call forth our strongest affections would evidently be a being of perfect moral excellence, putting forth effort and sacrifice on our l)ehalf. To bo adapted to the affections, then, any system must lirst recognize and encourage them ; and, secondly, it must present suitable objects to call them forth. Support ill trials. — I observe, then, first, that Chris- tianity is adapted to the affections, because it encourages . 12* 138 EVIDEXCES OF CHRISTIANITY. and supports them in the relations and trials of the present life. And here, perhaps, I ought to mention that the domestic constitution, which Christianity, and tliat alone, enjoins and maintains in its purity, is funda- mental to a pure and healtliful state of the natural and social affections. It is impossible there should be, under any otlier system or conditions, tlie same conjugal, and parental, and filial affection as there will be when the domestic constitution, as enjoined by Christianity, is strictly regarded. Here we see the far-reaching wisdom of Christ in casting up an inclosure, the mate- rials of which we now see were provided in the nature of things, which should be to the affections as a walled garden, where their tendrils and blossoms might put forth secure from any intruder. Accordingly, who can estimate the l)lessings of peace, and purity, and hallowed affection, which have been enjo^'cd through this consti- tution, and which are now enjoyed around ten thousand firesides in every Christian land? But, besides this, Christianity encourages directly the natural afiections of kindred and of friendship ; it never condemns grief as a Aveakncss ; and it affords the most eficctual conso- lation when these relations are sundered by death. In this respect, it is contrasted not only with the selfish Epicureanism and sensual indulgences by which the heathen became " without natural affection," but esi)e- cially with the proud spirit of Stoicism — a spirit far from having become extinct with the sect. Stoicism would fain elevate human nature, but it really dismem- bers it. It was an attempt to destroy that which they knew not how to regulate. To do this, they were obliged to deny their own nature, and to affect insensi- bility, when it was impossible that man should not feel. It was, indeed, a hard task which this system imposed, — to feel the cold hand of death grasping those Avarm affections which are so deeply rooted in the heart, and CimiSTIANITY NOT STOiaVL. 13^ withering thciii up, and tearing them away, and yet shed no tear. They were driven to this becanse they could find no consohition in death. They knew not the rod, or Ilim who appointed it ; but assumed an attitude of sullen defiance, and steeled themselves as well as they were al)le against the l)olts of what they deemed a stern necessity. This system, indeed, was not favorable to the growth of the natural aflections at all ; and many Avho adhered to it refused to suffer them to expand, or to enter into any intimate alliances. But Christianity neither destroys those affections in which Ave find the beauty and the fragrance of existence, nor docs it nourish those which nuist bleed, without furnish- ing a balm to heal the wound. It is indulgent to our weakness, and never sneers at the natural expression of sorrow. "Jesus Avept." Surely, if we except our own death-bed, there is no place where we so much need support as at the death-bed of a friend, a wife, a child ; and the religion or the system, the Stoicism or the Skepticism, which fails us there, is good for nothing. How desolate often the condition of those "UTio "to the grave have followed those they love, And on th' inexorable threshold stand ; "With cherished names its speechless calm reprove, And stretch into th' abyss their ungrasped hand " ! But just here it is that Christianity comes in with its strong supports. This it does, 1. By the sjTnpathy which it provides ; for it not only supposes those who are attticted to Aveep, but it commands others to Avcep Avith them. 2. By teaching us that our afHictions are brought upon us, not by a blind fate, but l)y a Avise and kind Parent. 3. By the blessed hopes Avhich it enables us to cherish. We sorroAv not as those Avho have no hope; "for, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also Avhich sleep in Jesus Avill God 140 EVIDEXCES OF CHRISTIANITY. bring with Iiini." 4. And hy oncoiiraging- and ciuibling us to fix our titFcctions upon a higher and better object. So long as we have something to love, tlie lieart is not desolate. Christianity furnishes us with an object that can not fail us. It suffers the affections to shoot out their tendrils here upon the earth as vigorouslj^ as they may ; but it trains them up, and trains them up, till it fixes them around the base of the eternal throne. Then, if these lower tendrils are severed, they do not fall to the dust to be trampled on, and wither, and decay, till our hearts die within us ; they fix themselves the more firmly to their all-sufiicicnt and never-failing support. It is easy to sec that all these circumstances must make the valley of affliction far less dark than it once was. To the true Christian there is light all the way through it, there is light at the cud of it. Thus Christianity aims at no heights of Stoicism. It neither uproots nor dwarfs the affections, on the one hand, nor does it, on the other, leave them to the wild and aimless paroxysms of a hopeless borrow ; but it encourages their growth, and, in affliction, gives them the suppoi-t which they need. Presents an adequate object. — And this leads me to observe, secondly, that Christianity is adapted to the affections because it presents them with an object, upon which they can rest, that is infinite, perfect, and un- changeable. Here we find the transcendent excellence of this religion, in that it presents God as the object of our affections ; and I know of nothing in it more amaz- ing than the union that it presents, in God, of those infinite natural attributes W'hich raise in the mind the highest possible emotions of awe and sublimity, — and of those holy moral attributes which cause the angels to vail their faces, — with the pity, and condescension, and love, which Christianity represents him as mani- festing toward the guilty creatures of a day. Here GOD .\N OBJECT OF LOVE. 141 was !i difficult [)()Iiit. Beforehand, I should have thought it impossible that the infinite and holy God should so reveal himself, to a creature so insignificant and guilty as man, as to lead him to have confidence in him, and to look up and say, " My Father ! " Yet so does Chris- tianity reveal God. It is a revelation adapted, not to angels, but to just such a being as man, guilty, and having the distrust that guilt naturally engenders, yet seeking assiu'ance that a God so holy, and so dreadful, and so infinitely exalted above hun, could yet love him and be the object of his love. CYu-tainly it abates nothing of the infinite majesty or purity of God. It enthrones him with the full invc{>tmcnt of every high and holy attribute, and yet nothing can exceed the expressions of tenderness and compassion with which he seeks to Avin the confidence of his creatures. lie is represented as having an unspeakaljle afiection for 'the race of man ; as watching over all in his universtil providence ; as the Father of the fatherless, and the widow's God and Judge ; as strengthening men upon the bed of languishing, and making all their bed in their sickness ; as hearing the groanings of the prisoner and the cry of the poor and needy, when they seek water and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst ; as the God that hears the faintest whisper of true prayer ; as the God upon whom avc may cast all our cares, because he careth for ns ; the God who com- fortcth those that are cast down ; A\ho shall wipe away all tears from all faces ; who is more ready to give to man the Holy Spirit (the greatest of all gifts) than earthly parents are to give good gifts to their children ; who so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. If such expressions, and such a pledge, do not satisfy men of the love of God, and lead them to him, nothing can. AVell might the apostle say, 142 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITT. "He that spared not his own Son, hut delivered him up for us all, how shall he not Avith him also freely ^rivc us all things ! " "Well might he invite men to " come l^oldly unto liie throne of grace," that they may "ohtain mercy and find grace to help in lime of need." Nothing can be more tender or Avinning, more calculated to secure the confidence of men, more unspeakably' touching and afl;ccting, than the mode in which God is revealed to us in the gospel of his Son. Ilolijic^s and Jiapjjiness provided for. — But, in thus ofiering himself as the object of aifection to man, we can not fail to sec that God has made provision, in the very nature of things, l:)oth for his holiness and his happiness. It is impossible that we should truly love Him, without being conformed and assimilated to his character. The moment the first throb of aftection is felt, that process must Ijcgin, spoken of by the apostle, where he says, " "We all, l)eholding as in a glass the ' glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." And when this process is once commenced, through the operation of the great principle that Ave become morally conformed to that Avhicli Ave contemplate Avith delight, it Avill go on to its consummaiion. Nor, if aa'c can contemplate them separately, is proAnsion less made in this Avay for hapi)iness than for holiness — since the happiness derived from the affections must arise from their exercise, and since the highest conceivable happi- ness Avould arise from the perfect love of such a being as God. It is in this Avay only that God can become the poi-tion of the soul ; and thus he may become its infinite and only adequate portion. Let the affections rest upon a perfect being, and happiness, so far as it can be derived from them, Avill be complete ; but when tluMr ()l)jeet is not only perfect, but inlinitc and unchangeable, then is there provision both for perfect LOVE PECULIAR TO CIIRISTIAXIXr. 143 happiness, and for its perpetuity and augmentation forever. God must he jyvespnted as an object of love. — Hero, then, ^vc tind a mark Avliieh must belong to a religion from God. From our i)resent knowledge of the facul- ties of man, and of their relations to each other, and of the conditions on which alone they can be improved and perfected, we sec that a religion which is to elevate man, and make hnn either holy or happy, must present God as the object of love, and provide for the assimi- lation of the character of man to his character. JSfo other religion does this. — But what of this love do we find provided for, or possible, out of Christianity? Absolutely nothing. The love of God never entered as an element into any heathen religion ; nor, with their conceptions of God, was it possible it should. The affections, as already stated, are drawn forth by moral excellence, especially when manifested- in our behalf. Was it possible, then, on either of these grounds, that the Jupiter, or Pluto, or Bacchus, of old, should be loved? Were their moral characters even reputable? Did they ever make disinterested sacrifices for the good of men ? Is it possible that the present Hindoos should love, on cither of these grounds, any being or thin^' that is presented for their Avorship ? According to the very constitution of our minds, it is impossible. The objects of Avorship are neither in themsch-es, nor in their relations to man, adapted to draAv out the affec- tions. Again, is it p()ssi])le that the affections should be strongly moved l)y the God of the deist, Avho mani- fests himself only through general laAvs that bring all things alike to all, Avho never speaks to his creatures, or makes himself IcnoAvn as the hearer of prayer? I think not. Who ever heard of a devout deist ? VTho ever heard of one AA^ho Avas Avilling to spend his life in missionary labor for the good of others ? It is not 144 EVIDENCES OF CIIPJSTL^^TY. according to the constitution of the mind that such a system should awaken the affections. And what is true of these systems is true of every false system. All such systems leave the heart cold, and, accord- ingly, exert very little genuine transforming power over the life. Love made the governing ^^r/^c?/)??. — And this, again, leads me to observe, thirdly, that Christianity is adapted to the affections, from the place it assigns to love as the governing principle of action. INIoral order requires obedience to God. But what is that ol)cdience which can honor God and make him who renders it happy? Plainl^^ it is not a selfish, external obedience, which would be wicked ; not an obedience from fear, — for all " fear hath torment ; " but it can be o\\\y an intelligent and an affectionate obedience. Such an obe- dience would honor God, and make him Avho rendered it happy. There is in it no clement of degradation or slavish subjection. On the contrary, as the whole intellect, and conscience, and heart, conspire together in such an act, performed with reference to the Avill of such a Being, it must elevate the mind. It is the only possible manner in which we can conceive a rational creature to act so as to honor God, and make himself happy ; and, therefore, that system of religion which is so constructed, with reference to the human mind, as to produce intelligent and affectionate obedience in the highest degree, must be the true religion ; and no other is possible. Now, we certainly can see that no heathen system can produce such ol)ediencc, and that the Chris- tian system is adapted to produce it in the highest possible degree. Its representation of a future state. — But I obsei've, once more, that Christianity is adapted to the affections from its representations of a future state. It does not, like Ilindooism, or Pantheism, represent man as THE niAGIXATIOX. 145 absorbed into the Deity, nor, like ]Mohammeclanisin, as engrossed in sensuality ; but it represents heaven as a social state of pure and holy affection. It does not, indeed, tell us that ^ve shall recognize there our earthly kindred, though it leaves lis no ground to doubt this ; but it tells us of a Father's house, and of the one family of the good who shall be gathered there, and to whom "we shall be united in nearer bonds than those of earth. "What possilile rei)rescntation could be better adapted to a being endowed with affections ? — the one infinite Father and Redeemer of his creatures, and the united family of all the good ! The imagination. — "We next proceed to the imagi- nation. And I observe that Christianity is no less adapted to this than to the conscience, the intellect, or the affections. The imagination is a source of enjoy- ment, a spring of activity, and an elHcient agent in molding the character; and any sj-stem may be said to be adapted to it which is calculated to give it the highest and purest enjo^-mcnt, and so to direct the activity which it excites as to mold the character into the finest form. As a source of enjoyment. — Looking at the imagi- nation simply as a source of enjoyment, that system Tvill be best adapted to it Avhich contains the most elements of beauty and sublimity, and which leaves for their combination the widest range. And in this respect, certainly nothing can exceed Christianity. There are no conceivable scenes of grandeur equal to those connected with the general judgment and the final con- flagration of thisM-orld; no scenes of beauty like those connected with the new Jerusalem — Avith the abodes and the emploj-ments of those who shall be sons and heirs of God, and to whom the whole creation will bo given, so far as it may be subservient to their enjo}-- 13 14G EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. ment. And if the present scene is filled up ^vitli so much of beauty and sublimity, what imagination can conceive of the splendors of that world whose external decorations shall correspond with its spiritual glory? Let no one say, then, that Christianity would repress the imagination ; or that God did not intend that imagination, and poetry, and the exertion of every faculty which brings with it what is beautiful and pleas- ing, should be connected with it. He did intend it ; he has made provision for it, and that not in this life only. There will be poetry in heaven ; its numbers will measure the anthems that swell there. There will be imagination there. This is no impertinent foculty, given, as some seem to suppose, only to be chided and repressed. No ; its wing, however strong, will alwa^'s find room enough in the illimitable universe and the unfathomed. perfections of God. As prom^Mng to activity. — But it is chiefly of the imagination as prompting to activity that I would speak. "The faculty of imagination," says Stewart, " is the great spring of human activity, and the prin- cipal source of human improvement. As it delights in iiresenting to the mind scenes and characters more perfect than those which we are acquainted with, it prevents us from ever being completely satisfied with our present condition or with our past attainments, and engages us continually in the pursuit of some untried enjoyment, or of some ideal excellence." Again ho says, "Tired and disgusted with this world of imper- fection, we delight to escape to another of the poet's creation, where the charms of nature wear an eternal bloom, and where sources of enjoyment are opened to us suited to the vast capacities of the human mind. On this natural love of poetical fiction Lord Bacon has founded a very ingenious argument for the soul's immortality ; and, indeed, one of the most impoi-tant niAGINATIOX AND RE.VLITY. 147 purposes to which it is siihscrvient is to elevate tlie mind above the pursuits of our present condition, and to direct the views to higher ol)jects." * "With this representation of the office and importance of this faculty I agree in the main ; ])ut, instead of a world of the poet's creation for it to range in, I would have one of God's creation. Certainly we can, by means of this faculty, form to ourselves models of individual excellence, and of what we may conceive to be a perfect state of things, which shall essentially guide our activity and affect our character and influence. But here, no less than in the intellect, does all experi- ence show that we need to find the thought of God as a model and guide to this formative power. Left to itself, how many false standards of character has it set up ! How many Utopian schemes has it originated ! How little has it ever conceived of individual excel- lence, or of an ultimate and perfect state of things, w^orthy of God or having a tendency to exalt man ! Witness the heathen gods and representations of heaven ; the classic fal)les ; the speculations of Plato, even, respecting a future state ; the Hindoo mythology, and transmigration ; and the IMohammedan paradise. These are to that future, and to that heaven which God has revealed, what the conjectures and systems of ancient astronomers Avcre to the true sj'stem of the physical heavens. Xot more do the heavens of true science exceed those imagined l)y man, — not more does the actual Milky Way, composed of a stratum of suns lying rank above rank, exceed that conception of it from which its name is derived, — than the glory of the millennial day, and the purity and grandeur of the Christian heaven, exceed any future ever imagined by man, and adopted as the basis of a religion invented by him. In both cases, in the moral no less than in the * Elemcuts, vol. i. chap. 7. 148 EVIDEXCES OF CHRISTIANITY. physical heavens, we need to have given ns the outline as sketched by God, and then it is the noblest work of the iniagi nation to fill it up. Ideal excellence. — Christianity alone furnishes the model of a perfect manhood, and the true elements of social perfection ; it alone furnishes to the imagination a representation of a perfect state on earth ; and it unfolds the gates of a heaven, at whose entrance it can only stand and exclaim, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him ! " It is therefore perfectly adapted to the imagi- nation, so far as that is a faculty which leads to activity b}' setting before us ideal excellence which we may attempt to realize in actual life. How attained. — Before leaving this point, I may just say that Christianity does not, like systems of philosophy, present us with an ideal excellence without showing us how to attain it. The obedience of its precepts would realize the excellence it portrays ; and it is a remarkable fact that thus, and thus only, can there be brought out, into the bold relief of actual life, the visions of those ancient prophets whose imagina- tions were fired by these scenes of grandeur and of beauty. TJie conscience. — The excellence above spoken of could be realized only by obedience, under the guid- ance of an enlightened conscience. Is, then, Chris- tianity adapted to quicken and exalt the action of the conscience ? Force of the argument. — This is a point of the first importance ; for if it can be shown that the moral powers are quickened and perfected in proportion as the mind comes under the action of any system, that system must l)c from God. That a false system should tend to perfect the conscience in its discriminating, and THE CONSCIENCE. 119 impulsive, and rewfirclinfr, and punishing power, would be not only impossible, l)iit suicidal. It Avould purge the eye to a quicker perception of its own deformities, and nerve the arm for its own overthrow. Other sys- tems act upon men through prescription, through awe and reverence, through hope and fear, and not by com- mending themselves, as righteous, to every man's con- science, in the sight of God. Provides a perfect standanl. — But Christianity pro- vides for quickening the conscience, first, l)y the perfect standard which it sets up. This is found in the char- acter and law of God. In training the conscience, nothinjx can countervail the absence of a ri2:ht standard. In every community, the tendency is to try actions by the public sentiment, the usages and customs of that community. These will vary according to the supposed interests of each ; and in the use of such tests, con- science must remain in abej^ance, and become dwarfed. It can be trained and perfected oidy by a full activity, in the light of a perfect law ; and this is furnished by Christianity. Doctrine of resjjonsibiliff/. — Secondly, Christianity is adapted to the conscience by its doctrine of respon- sibility. Than this, nothing can be more entire. As was said in the second lecture, the moral law, which Christianity imbosoms, is as universal and pervading as that of gravitation. Under it there can be no con- cealment, or evasion ; for it reveals a future judgment, and an omniscient and ri2:hteous Judsre. This must tend to a careful scrutiny of all moral acts, and so to the full activity and perfection of the conscience. Sanctions and pardon. — Thirdly, Christianity is adapted to the conscience, on the one hand by the force of its sanctions, and on the other by its provision for" pardon. These are brought together as equally manifesting that which is the central element of Chris- 11 * 150 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. tianity, and the source of its power over the moral nature. This is its intense regard for the moral quality of action. This being the centre and life of the sys- tem, it can not fail to give life. Onlij needs to he cq^plied. — It is thus that Chris- tianity does all that we can conceive any system should do, to quiclvcn and to perfect tlie powers of moral per- ception and qf action. The adjustments of the system are made ; they are perfect ; it only needs to be ap- plied. Accordingly, we find that an efficient and an enlightened conscience exists just in proportion to the prevalence of pure Christianity ; and we must see that its full influence would banish moral evil as the sun disperses the darkness. It is by the light and strength drawn from Christianity itself that we are able to apply many of those tests which we now apply in judging of it ; and the more fully we are under its influence, the more competent shall we be to apply such tests, and the more convincing will be the evidence derived from their application. The will. — Two modes of adaptation. — It now only remains to speak of Christianity as adapted to the will. A system may be adapted to the will of man by flatter- ing his pride, by taking advantage of his weaknesses, by indulging his corruptions ; and in this sense false systems have been adapted to it with great skill. But, properly speaking, a system is adapted to the will of a rational and moral being when it is so constructed that it nnist necessarily control the will in proportion as reason and conscience prevail. This is a point of high importance, because, the will being that in man which is personal and executive, nothing is cflfected till this is reached; and the system which can not legitimately control this may have every other adaptation, and yet be good for nothing. THE WILL. 151 Provides for ^^ffrcZou and aid. — I observe, then, first, that Christianity is adapted to the will because it provides for the pardon of sin, and for divine aid in the great struggle in which it calls upon us to engage. I remarked, when speaking of the intellect, that Chris- tianity was adapted to it because it relieved it from the incubus of vice. It is much in the same way that it acts here in reference to the will. The w^ill of man never acts when the attainment of his object is abso- lutely hopeless ; and a sense of pardoned sin, and a hope of divine aid, if not immediate motives, yet come in as conditions on which alone the will can be brought np to the great struggle of the Christian warfare. With- out these, a mind truly enlightened would rest under a discom-agemcnt that would forever paralyze effort. Adapted to the affedioiifi. — I observe, secondly, that Christianity is adapted to the will because it is adapted to the affections. I do not, as some have done, regard the Avill and the aflections as the same. They are, how- ever, intimately connected ; and the affections being, as I have said, the only source of disinterested action and of happy moral obedience, it is evident that, just in proportion as any s^'stem takes a strong hold of them, it must be adapted to move the will. It is not enough to know our duty, and to wish to do it simply as duty. We need to have it associated with the im- pulses of the aflections, with that love of God, and of man, implanted in the heart, which are the first and the second great moral precepts of Christianity, and which, where they reign, must induce a happy obedience. Because of its sanctions. — I observe, thirdly, that Christianity is adapted to the will from the grandeur of fliose interests which it presents, and from its amazing sanctions. Here it is unrivaled. Here every thing takes hold on infinity and eternity. Here the greatness of man as a spiritual and an immortal being 152 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. assumes its proper place, and throws into the shade all the motives and the interests of time. Its language is, " What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the Avhole world,. and lose his own soul ; or Avhat shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" It makes the will of God our rule ; it places us under his omniscient eye ; it points us forward to the tribunal of an onmipotent Judge, to a sentence of unmixed justice, and a reward of match- less grace. Nothing can ])e more alluring, on the one hand, or more terrific, on the other, than its descrip- tions of the consequences of lunnan conduct. It speaks of "eternal life;" of being the "sons and heirs of God ; " of a " crown of life ; " of " an inheritance incor- ruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away." It speaks, also, of " the blackness of darkness forever ; " of "the Avorm that dicth not, and the fire that is not quenched." Laying aside, then, the affections, and look- ing solely at the direct motives of duty and of interest which it presents, surely no other system can be so adapt- ed to move the Avill as this, when it is really believed. Teachings not abstract. — I observe, finally, that Christianity is adapted to the will, and to the whole emotive nature of man, because its teachings respect- ing the character of God and human duty are not by general and abstract propositions, but by facts, and by manifestations in action. At this point Christianity is strongly contrasted with natural religion, and with every thing that tends towards pantheism. "It is indeed," says Erskine, "a striking, and yet an und()ul)t- ed fact, that we are comparatively little affected with abstract truths in morality." "A single definite and intelligible action gives a vividness and a power to the idea of that moral character which it exhibits, beyond what could be conveyed by a multitude of abstract descriptions. Thus the abstract ideas of patriotism and integrity make but an uninteresting appearance TIIE WILL .VXD ABSTILiVCT PRINCIPLES. 153 ■\vhcn contnisted M'ilh the high spectacle of heroic ■worth -which was exhibited in the conduct of Reguhis, -when, in the senate of his country, he raised his soli- tary voice against those huni])Hng propositions of Carthage, which, if acquiesced in, Avould have restored him to liberty, and which for that single reason had almost gained an acquiescence ; and then, nnsul)dued alike l)y the frantic entreaties of his family, the weep- ing solicitations of the admiring citizens, and the appalling terrors of his threatened fate, he returned to Africa, rather than violate his duty to Rome and the sacredness of truth." " In the same way, the abstract views of the divine character, draAvn from the observa- tion of nature, are, in general, rather visions of the intellect than efficient moral principles in the heart and conduct; and, however true they may l)e, are nninter- e&ting and unexciting when compared with the vivid exhibition of them in a history of definite and intelli- gible action. To assist our weakness, therefore, and to accommodate his instructions to the principles of our nature, God has been pleased to present ns a most interesting series of actions, in which his moral char- acter, as far as we are concerned, is fully and perspic- uously embodied." So great is this difference, as ideas arc presented in different modes, that an idea or a principle may be apparently received, and approved, in its abstract form, which shall not be recognized as the same when it takes the form of action. "A corrupt politician, for instance, can speculate on and applaud the abstract idea of integrity ; but Avhcn this abstract idea takes the form of a man and a course of action, it ceases to be that hannless and welcome visitor it used to be, and draAvs on itself the decided enmity of its former appar- ent friend." "In the same way, many men Avill admit the abstract idea of a God of infinite holiness and good- 154 EVIDENCES OF CIIIIISTIANITY. iicss, and uill even take delight in exercising their reason or their taste in speculating on the sul)ject of his being and attril)utes ; yet these same persons will shrink with dislike and alarm from the living energy Avhich this abstract idea assumes in tlie Bible." * Tlio great object of Erskine is to show, lirst, that there is this difference l)etwecn ideas thus presented ; and, secondly, that God has made in action such mani- festations of himself as must, if they are believed, bring the character into conformity with his. "Whatever we may think of the second proposition, there can bo 110 d()ul)t of the principle involved in the tirst ; nor of the fact that the emotive nature of man is addressed, in accordance with it, both in the Old Testament and in the New. All that series of mighty acts Avhich God performed in ])ehalf of the Israelites — the deliverance from Egypt, the giving of the law, the passage through the wilderness and through Jordan — could not l)ut affi'ct their hearts and wills inlinitely more than they could have been l)y an}- description of God, or by any mere precepts. Probal)ly it Avas better adapted than any thing else could have been to give that people cor- rect ideas of God, and to lead them to a full and joyful obedience of his commandments. And so the great fact of the Xew Testament, that " (Jod so loved the world, that he gave his only-bcgotton Son," and the example of our Saviour, " who loved us and gave himself for us," have ever l)een among its most powerl'ul and constraining motives. They have, in fact, been those without which no others M'ould have been of any avail. Whether, then, we consider its offers of pardon and of aid ; its connection Avith the affections; the power of its direct motives ; or its mode of appeal by facts and manifestations in action, — avc see that Christianity is perfectly adapted to the Avill of man. * Internal Evidence. LECTURE yi. ARGUMENT FIFTH, CONTINUED. DIVISION SECOND : CITIIISTIAN- ITY AS A KESTUAINING POWEK. - AUGUMENT SIXTH: TUB EXPEKnU<:NTAL EVIDENCE OF CUUISTIANITY.- AUGUMENT SEVENTH: ITS FITNESS AND TENDENCY TO BECOME UNIVER- SAL.— ARGUMENT EIGHTH: IT HAS ALWAYS liEEN IN THE WOULD. Man is a complex being. He has been called the microcosm, or little Avorlcl, because, while he has a distinctive nature of his own, he is a partaker and rep- resentative of every thini^ in the inferior creation. In him arc united the material and the spiritual, the ani- mal and the rational. lie has instincts, propensities, desires, passions, by which he is allied to the animals ; he has also reason, conscience, free-will, l)y which he is allied to hiirher intelli":ences and to God. Hence the ends he is capable of choosing, and the principles by which he may be actuated, are very various. Body and soul, reason and passion, conscience and desire, often seem to be, and are, opposing forces, and man is left •' In doubt to act or rest, In doubt to deem himself a god or beast, In doubt his soul or body to prefer." " The intestine war of reason against the passions," says Pascal, "has given rise, among those who wish for peace, to the formation of two dilfcrent sects. Tho (165) S 156 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. one wished to rciioimco llic passions, and be as gods; the other to renounce reason, and become beasts." Excitement, guidance, restraint — difficultij of. — "With this wide range of fjiculties, and consequent variety of impulses and motives, in the individual, and especially when we consider the variety of his social relations, we may well say that, if any prol)lem was beyond human skill, it was the choice of ends, and the arrange- ment of means and motives, — the contrivance of a system of excitement, and guidance, and restraint, — which should harmonize these jarring elements, and cause every wheel in the vast machinery of human society to move freely and without interference. Ac- cordingly, whether we look at the faculties excited, or at the ends to which they have been directed, or at the restraints imposed, we find in all human systems a great want of adaptation to the nature of man. Excitement, guidance, retttraint, — these are what man needs; and a system which should so combine them as to lead him, in its legitimate influence, to his true perfection and end, would be adapted to his whole nature. I have already spoken of the power of Christianity to excite and to guide some of the principal faculties. I noAV proceed to make some observations upon it as a re- straining power. jS^o natural princi2)Ie to he eradicated. — There is no natural principle of action Avhich requires to be eradi- cated, but there are many which require to be directed, subordinated, and restrained. There are principles of our nature, which conduce only to our well-being ^vhcn acting within prescribed limits, which become the source of vice and wretchedness when those limits are over- stepped. But to put the check upon each particular wheel, precisely at the point at which its motion would become too rapid for the movement of the whole, re- quires a skill beyond that of man. LOUTS OF KESTRAINT. 157 The cqjpeliles — /oo much or too Utile restraint. — To fix, for example, the limits within which, for the best interests of the individual antl of society, the appetites should l)e restrained, requires a knowledge of the human frame, and of the relations of society, which no philos- opher, nnenlightencd by the Bible, has ever shown. I need not say how essential it is to the well-ljcing of any community that these limits shoidd be rightly fixed. If there is too much restraint, society l)ccomes secretly, and often hopelessly, corrupt ; to other sins the guilt of hypocrisy is added, and sanctimonious licentious- ness — the most odious of all its forms — becomes common-. If there is too little restraint, vice walks abroad ^vitli an unblushing front, and glories in its shame. The state of the ancient heathen world is described by the apostle in the first of Romans. The accuracy of that description is remarkably confirmed by testimony from heathen writers, and, according to the testimony of all impartial travelers, that chapter is true, to the letter, of the heathen of the present day. The tendency of human nature to sensualit}', in some form, is so strong that no false religion has ever dared to lay its hand upon it, in all its forms. Mohammed, it is well known, did not interfere essentially with the customs of his country in this respect ; and, in fact, all his rewards and motives to religious activity were based on an appeal to the sensitive, and not to the rational and spiritual part of man. In instances not a few, the grossest sensuality has been made a part of religion ; and, in almost all cases, the voluptuary has been suffered to remain undisturbed, or has been led to connnute, by offerings, for indulgence in vice. Ascetic temlencij. — Those, on the otlior hand, who have recognized the higher nature of man, and have felt that there was something noble in the subjugation of the animal part of the frame, have been excessive. 158 EVIDEXCES OF CIIKISTLVXITY. Instead of regulating the appetites, they have attempted to exterminate them; and the mass of their follow- ers Ivivc been ambitions, corrnpt, and hypocritical. " Nothing," says Isaac Taylor, " has been more constant in the history of the hnman mind, wherever the religious emotions have gained a supremacy over the sensual and sordid passions, than the breaking out of the ascetic temper, in some of its forms ; and most often in that which disguises virtue, now as a spectre, now as a maniac, now as a mendicant, noAV as a slave, but never as the bridit dauditer of heaven." * Sensuality and self-torture. — But not only have men framed systems of religion which allowed of sensual- ity, — not only have they attempted to subdue the animal nature altogether, — they have also ingrafted sensuality upon self-torture. There is in man a sense of guilt ; and, connected with this, the idea has been almost universal that suffering, or personal sacrifice, had, in some way, an efficacy to make atonement for it. Hence the costly offerings of heathen nations to their gods ; hence their bloody rites, the offering up of human victims, and even of their own children. But ■when once the principle was established that personal suficring could do away sin, then a door was opened for license to sin ; and hence the monstrous, and ap- parently inconsistent spectacle, so often witnessed, of sensuality walking hand in hand with self-torture. The Christian method. — In opposition to these cor- ruptions and distortions, how simple, how clearly in accordance with the original institutions and the evident intentions of God, are the principles of Christianity ! Christ assumed no sanctity in indifferent things, such as that by which the Pharisees sought to distinguish themselves. He swept away, without hesitation or compromise, the rabbinical superstitions and slavish • Lectures on Spiritual Christianity. THE CIIRISTIAX METHOD. 159 exactions Avliicli liml l)ocn ingrafted on the Jewish hnv. lie came "eating and drinking." He declared that that Avhich ontcrcth into a man doth not defile him. He sanctioned marriage, and gave it an honor and a sacred- ness little knoAvn ]>efore, by declaring it an institution of divine origin, which was appointed in the beginning. ''The superiority of the soul to the body was the very puiport of his doctrine ; and yet he did not waste the body by any austerities ! The duty of self-denial he perpetually enforced ; and yet he practiced no factitious mortifications ! This teacher, not of abstinence, but of virtue, — this reprover, not of enjoyment, but of vice, — himself went in and out, among the social amenities of ordinary life, Avitli so nnsolicitous a freedom as to give color to the malice of h3'pocrisy in pointing the finger at him, saying, 'Behold a gluttonous man and a wine-bil)l)cr ; a friend of pul)licans and sinners!'"* But, while he did this, he did not yield at all to the prejudices and vices of the age, but forbade all innpu- rity, even in thought. The teaching and com*se of the apostles Avas marked by the same wisdom. Paul asserts, in relation to meats, that ever}' creature of God is good, and to be received with thanksgiving ; and says of mar- riage, that it is honoralde in all ; while, at the same time, he ranks drunkenness, and gluttony, and impurity, among those sins which will fxclude a man from the kingdom of heaven. He was a preacher of temperance, as well as of righteousness and of a judgment to come, and insisted upon that temperance in all things. MdlevoJoif and seljish jxissions. — Xor are the prohi- bitions and restraints of Christianity laid Avith less discrimination upon the malevolent and selfish passions, — as anger, malice, envy, revenge, of the first; and vanity, pride, and ambition, of the second. These, with the exception of anger, it absolutely prohibits; * Lectures on Spiritual Cliristiauity. 160 EVIDEXCES OF CHRISTIANITY. and it i)roliibits that, so far as it is malevolent. It distinguishes between the holy indignation which must 1)C excited by wickedness, and any mere personal feel- ing, or desire to inflict })ain for its own sake ; and hence it speaks of Christ as looking on men " with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts," and it commands us to " be angry and sin not." To heproJdbited. — Of the propriety of an absolute prohi])ition of the malevolent feelings, probably few at this day will donljt. They are dissocial, and are destructive alike of the happiness of him Avho indulges them and of those against whom they are indulged. It is impossible that a man, in whose breiist they bear sway, should be happy; and, so far as their influence extends to others, they produce nnhappiness of course. We can not conceive of them as entering heaven, which wonld no longer be heaven if they were there, nor of their having a place in a perfect society on earth. Kor, if we analyze them fairly, can there be more room to donbt the propriety of prohibiting what I have called the selfish passions — as vanity, pride, and aml)i- tion. Vanity, notwithstanding the commendation of it by Hume as a virtue, will be condemned by all as weak, if not wicked ; and if we regard pride and ambition as the love of superiority for its own sake, and of ruling over others, we nnist see that thoy are both selfish and mischievous. By confounding pride with true dignity, and ambition with the love of excel- lence, some have been led to suppose that these were necessary elements in an efficient and elevated character. But Christianity fully recognizes the distinction between these qualities ; and while it asserts, far beyond any other system, the true dignity of man, — Avhile it sets before; him the pursuit of an excellence, and the objects of an anil)ition, which must call forth every energy, though their attainment implies no inferiority on the DESIRE OF rROPERTY. IGl part of others, — it prohibits, and, by its doctrines and very structure, eradicates every selfish element of what are usually called pride and ambition. It is, indeed, a great distinction and glory of Christianity, that its objects of pursuit and its sources of enjoyment are like the sunlight and the air, which are free to all ; and that the highest attainments of one have no tendency to diminish the happiness of others. The desire of jirojierti/. — I mention another strong principle of action — the desire of property, which Christianity regulates wisely. Eecognizing the inade- quacy of property to meet the wants of a spiritual being, it prohibits covetousness as idolatiy, and exhorts the rich not to trust in imcertain riches, but in the living God. At the same time it forbids indolence, requiring industry and frugality ; and when, by means of these, or by any other means, property is acquired, it commands us to do good, to be "ready to distribute, willing to conununicatc." He that stole is to steal no more, l)ut is to la1>or, Avorking with his hands, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Thus would Christianity transform every lazy, thievish pest of soci- ety into an industrious, useful, and liberal man. It is also worthy of remark how careful Christianity is to guard its ministers against the love of money, and how entirely free it is, as we find it in the New Testament, from holding out any inducement to the people to build up rich and pompous religious establishments. Its ministers are to take the oversight of the flock, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. In instructing both Timothy and Titus whom to ordain, Paul mentions the love of "filthy lucre" as a disqualification. And while such a motive on the part of the minister is prohibited, and would be contrary to the entire spirit of Chris- tianity, it never speaks of the giving of money to him fxsj)eculiarJ>/ meritorious. It provides for his support, 14* 162 E^aDENCES OF CHRISTIAJS^TY. and makes provision for that, simply, a common duty. Its exhortations would all lead men to works of general beneficence, — to give to him that needeth, whoever he may be, — and would thus cause money to become a means of spiritual culture to him who has it, as well as of blcssino; to him to whom it is 2:iven. Three remarl's. — ProJi i'biiions on the source of ads. — I need not speak further of the particular things which Ciiristianity proliil)its and regulates. Ilespccting them all, three remarks, of much importance, are to be made. The first is, that these prohibitions are laid, not upon the outward act, but, in all cases, upon the spirit or temper from which outward acts spring. Nothing can be more evident than that Christianity legislates for man as a spiritual being, and the subject of a kingdom in which every secret thought is known, and every malicious, and covetous, and impm-c desire is a crime. This has often Ijccu mentioned as a proof of the wis- dom and superiority of the Christian s^'stem of morals, because tlic only possible Avay of regulating the external act is to regulate the spirit. But, however wise and necessary this might be in a system of morals, it was not adopted l)y Christianity as a system of morals, but because it recognizes man as a member of a spiritual kingdom, in which volition itself is action, and char- acter itself, and not its outward manifestation, is the object of legislation. It is far enough from striking at the principle of wickedness because this is necessary to restrain the outward act; but because it deals with realities, and not with appearances, and is at war with wickedness itself, which has no existence in act as distinguished from its principle. A religion of principles. — The second remark, inti- mately connected with the first, is, that Christianity, considered as prohibitory, is not a religion of mere precepts, but of principles. " The N'^w Testament," KO MEKE PROIIIBITIOX. 1G3 says Taylor, " contains vital principles ; not alwa3's defined ; but which, as they arc evolved one after another, and are successively brought to bear upon the opinions and manners of Christianized nations, do actually remove from them those flaa'rant evils which had accumulated in the course of time, and which, so loni>- as they are prevalent, aljate very much the reli- gious sensibilities even of those who are the most conscientious." He sa^'s, further, "that the Ncav Tes- tament, considered as embodjing a system of morals for the world, — a system which is slowly to develop itself, until the human family has been led by it into the path of peace and purity, — effects this great pur- pose, not by prohibiting, in so many words, the evils it is at longth to abolish, but by putting in movement luiobtriisive influences, which nothing, in the end, shall be able to withstand." * It is thus that Christianity has wrought the revolution in favor of woman ; that it al)ol- ishcd the ancient games and gladiatorial contests ; that it has mitigated the horrors of war ; that it has, over a large portion of the earth, abolished slavery, and thiit it is now hastening to bring it to a full end. This pecidiarity of Christianity gives it a power of expansion, and of adaptation to all circumstances, which tits it for man as man. Prohibits only as it excites and guides. — The third remark is, that Christianity is a system of prohibition and restraint only as it is a system of excitement and guidance. Plainly', there are two kinds of self-denial : the one from fear — formal, slavisli, barren; the other from love — blessing the spirit, and strengthening it in virtue. So far as Christianity requires self-denial, it is imiforml}^ and only of this latter kind. It does not call men off from the world, that they may sit sullenly by and envy others the pleasures which they can not share. * Lectures on Spiritual Christianity. 164 EVIDENCES OF CimiSTI-\NITY. If it calls them at all, it calls them to something higher, purer, iiol)ler, happier. Its self-denial is that of a son who is laboring for the support and comfort of a mother ; of a mother who denies herself that she may educate a son ; of a soldier who is marching on to do battle for liberty ; of a racer who is speeding to the goal. It is tiie self-denial of the great Howard, traversing Europe, and diving into dungeons to " take the gauge of human misery," with his heai-t too much interested in this service to spend much time even to look at the mas- terpieces of art. And who will say that he did not find a satisfaction higher, and more consonant to his nature, than any work of art could have given? Chris- tianity excludes man from no enjoyment that is com- patible with his highest good. It can not, indeed, reconcile incompatibilities. It can not make a man a soklicr on duty, and let. him be at the same time enjoying himself by his fireside ; it can not make him a racer, and at the same time permit him to sit down at his ease by the side of the course. It does call men to be soldiers, but it is in the army of the Captain of their salvation ; it does make them racers, but it sets before them an inmiortal crown. Utterly do they misapprehend the religion of Christ who regard it as gloomy and austere — as a system of formal prohil)i- tions and restraints. No ; its self-denial is from love. It is a system of prohibition and restraint only as it is a system of excitement and guidance. Let Christians be fully inspired with the great positive ideas and motives of their religion, and it is impossible there should be in their deportment any thing austere, or sanctimonious, or gloomy, more than there was in the deportment of Christ and of his apostles. It is only under the influence of self-denial from love that the highest character can be formed. Balance of motives. — Nor, in spealdng of Christianity ClirJSTI.VX MANHOOD. 165 as a system of excitement and restraint, ought avc to omit its wonderful balance of motives, and the manner in which every weak point is guarded. Of particuhir instances of tliis I have spoken incidentally; Init the system is full of them. Thus, in the case recently mentioned, while a seltitjh pride is guarded against and destroyed, the true dignity of man is secured ; whilcw the ambition of superiority and comparison is repressed, the ambition of excellence is cherished ; Avhile the deepest reverence toAvard God is tlemanded, it is made compatible with an affectionate and filial confidence ; while humility, that virtue so peculiarly Christian, is promoted, there is no approach toward meanness or servility. It is "sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;" it requires active beneficence, yet represses all self-gratu- hition ; it insists strongly on the duties of piety and of devotcdness to God, but it excludes mysticism and monachism, by insisting equally upon our duties to man ; it inculcates universal benevolence, but weakens no tie of f miily or of countr\\ Christian manhood and Christian societij. — If, then, there is this adaptation of Christianity to man ; if it is adapted to his conscience, his intellect, his affections, his imagination, his will, — exciting and guiding them aright; if it represses only evil, and that at its source; if its motives are wonderfully l)alanced, so that the character produced by them would be one of great love- hncss and syinnielrv, — then it will follow that it nuist carry the individual to the highest state of perfection, not simpl}' as a Ciiristian, but as a man. There are, indeed, manly traits which are not distinctively Chris- tian ; but no man can become a Christian Avithout becoming a better man, or can improve as a Christian without improving in manhood, and the ideal of true manhood will find its completion only in the perfection of the Christian character. And what is thus true of 166 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. the individual must, for that very reason, l)c true of the community. If wc may suppose Christianity to have done its work upon all the individuals of a com- munity, they would be like the stones and the beams prepared by the workmen of Solomon in the mountains, and would ))e ready to go up into the mairniiicent temple of a perfect society, without the sound of the ax or the hammer. And, moreover, the same process which would jK'rfcct iudividuals as such, and at the same time lit them to coalesce in an harmonious society here, would, of course, fit them for that perfect state of society which is represented as existing in heaven. In this respect, Christianity commends itself to our reason. It th)cs not, like other religions, care for rites, and forms, and ceremonies, except as they bear upon char- acter. It lays down no arbitrary rules, to the ol^serv- ance of which it offers a reward in the form or on the principle of wages, but it goes to form a definite character ; and we can see that the character it forms is precisely such as must be a preparation for the heaven which it promises. It speaks of a holy heaven, and its great object is to make men holy here that the}- may be fit to enter there. This. is its great object; but, in doing this, it would bring the individual man, consid- ered as an inhabitant of the earth, to the highest perfection, and would adjust, in the best possible manner, the relations of society. Would accompllf^Ji all that can he accomjjlislted. — This is a point upon which I insist that we are competent to judge. It is a vital point to all who would do any tiling to advance society ]>eyond its present state. AVc know something of man ; and we certainly can tell what would be the efiects upon the individual, and upon society, if the law laid down in the Bible — the great law of love — Avere universally^ obeyed, and if the principles there insisted on were universally regarded. EXPERIMENT^IL EVIDENCE. 1G7 "We know "whiit the representation of heaven is, as made in the l>il)le, and wc certainly can tell whether the following of Christ would bo a natural and necessaiy preparation for such a state. My object has been to compare Christianity with the nature of man ; to observe their adjustments to each other, and to sec what that nature would become, if yielded wholly to its influence. And if, imperfectly as this has been done, I yet find that the powers of the individual man come forth, in their true strength and proportion, only imdcr its influ- ence ; if I find that there can be no perfect state of society except in accordance with its laws ; if I see that it M'oidd lit man for a heaven of purity and love, involv- ing the highest activity and fullest expansion of every power, — then I am prepared to say that, if this religion be not from God, it must yet be true ; and that, if God should reveal a religion, it could neither propose nor accomplish any thing higher or better. ARGUMENT VI. THE EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIAXITY. I have now brought to a conclusion the argument from a comparison of Christianity M'ith the constitution of man. There is another, usually termed the experi- mental evidence of Christianity, which is intimately connected with this ; for, if this religion is indeed adapted to act thus fully and poAverfully upon the mind, it can not but be that ho who 3'ields himself to its influence, will find, growing out of that very influence, a deeply-wrought conviction of its Avisdom, and of its adaptation to his nature and wants. Of the validity of this argument there have been various opinions. Sonic have objected to it altogether, as fanatical ; while others have supposed that it might be A'alid for the Christian himself, but neither ought to be, nor could be, any ground of conviction for another. What, then, is tho 1G8 EVIDENCES OF CHKISTLVNITY. nature of this arijiiment? What ought to be its force, first, upon the minds of Christians, and, secondly, iq)on tlic minds of otliers? An answer to these inquiries would exhaust the subject. Nature of the argument. — What, then, is the nature of this argument, and the consequent force which it ought to have upon the mind of the Christian himself? The Christian contends that he has a knowledge of Christianity, and a conviction of its truth, which he did not acquire by reasoning, and which, therefore, reason- ing can not, and ought not, to shake. Can he have such a knowledge and conviction in a rational way? By confounding reasoning with reason, many have been led to suppose that we could have no rational conviction of any thing which we could not })rove 1)y reasoning. Than this no mistake could be greater; for a very large part of our knowledge is neither acquired by reasoning nor dependent on it. This is so with all the intuitions of reason, and with all the knowledge acquired by sensation and by experience. The very condition of knowledge at all is a direct power of perception ; and where this docs not exist, there can bo no reasoning. Thus, no one can know what it is to live, but by living ; what it is to see, l)ut l)y seeing; what it is to feel, but by feeling ; nor, in general, can any one know Avhat it is to he any thing, but by becoming that thing. Direct knowlcd2:e, thus ijained, is the condition of all reason- ing, and it is not -within the proper province of reasoning to call it in question. The knowledge is not gained by reasoning, but it is in the highest degree rational to admit it and act upon it. The question is, whether there is a knowledge of Christianity which is obtained in this way ; whether, in order to be a Christian, a man is sinq)ly to believe something, or whether he is to become something. JEssential to the system. — And here I observe that, EXPERIEXCE THE TEST OF REMEDIES. 169 if Christianity be true, there must be such a knowledge. It claims to be, not ii mere system of rites and forms, nor a system of philosophical belief, but a life; and, if so, that life can be known only by living it ; if so, there must be gained, by living it, immediate percep- tions and experimental knowledge, such as we gain by living our natural life. Without these it would be merely a form, or a creed in the understanding, or an external rule — something dead and formal ; and not as "a well of water springing up into everlasting life." Without these, it is impossible that the Avords of Christ should be "spirit and life." Moral and 2)Jiijsical maladies. — The analog}' is often drawn in this respect, and, so far as I can see, properly, between Christianity, as a remedy for the moral mala- dies of man, and remedies for bodily disease. It is jDlain that he who takes a remedy for bodily disease may have an evidence and conviction of its efficacy entirely independent of any testimony or reasoning, and more convincing than cither or both of these could give. He may try the remedy in such a variety of forms, may so watch the spuptoms as he takes or omits it, that he can have no more doubt of its effect than ho has of the rising and setting of the sun. Here is some- thing which comes within the province of consciousness and of direct knowledge, and it is in vain that you attempt to destroy a conviction thus produced. You may tell him that he is not sick, and never was ; that the dose was minute, or the medicine inert, and therefore could not have done him any good ; but he may have had experience of such a kind that it would be practically irrational, and the height of folly, for him to lay aside his medicine on the ground of any reasoning, or previous estimate of probabilities. And so, when the mind is awakened to the realities of its [sijiritual condition, if, as the conscience is quickened 15 170 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTLVNITY. and the moral eye is purged, it is perceived that there is a Avonderful con-espondence between the discoveries Avhich a man makes concerning himself and the delinea- tions of the heart which he iinds in the Bible ; if this. correspondence is the same in kind with that which he finds in the writings of those who have best described human character, but is more perfect ; if it is such tliat an uncultivated man, to whom tlie Bible becomes a new book, may well say, as one recently did say, " I see now that a man's history may be written before he was born ; " if he finds in himself wants, hungerings and thirstings of spirit, for which Christianity, and nothing else, makes provision, and feels that that provision is precisely adapted to his wants ; if he finds himself engaged in a conflict for which Christianity furnishes the only appropriate armor ; if he obtains answers to prayer, and finds grace to help in time of need, so that his evil tendencies are overcome and his .virtues arc strengthened, — then it would be no more rational for him to doubt the truth of the Christian religion than to doubt the testimony of his senses. Of such corre- spondences between his heart and the Bible, of such wants and their supplies, of such helps and of such conquests, wo might naturally suppose the Christian would have an experimental knowledge, if Christianity be true ; and I venture to say that no religion could do for man what Christianity proposes to do Avithout furnishing to those under its influence this kind of evidence. CJiristianily promises it. — And not only might ^XQ rationally expect such a ground of conviction, but Christianity itself, understanding its own nature and the grounds on which it would l)e believed in, promises to give it to all who will put themselves in a position to avail themselves of it. "' If any man," says Christ, •'will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine." Tins EVIDENCE OPEN TO ALL. 171 "lie," says John, '' that bclicveth on the Son of God, hath the Avitness in himself." "The Spirit itself," says Paul, "bearcth Avitness with our spirit that Ave arc the children of God." This evidence Christianity regards as indispensable. It counts itself to have done nothing till this is given. Till then, it is like the physician who stands by the bedside and exhibits the evidences of his skill, but accomplishes nothing, if the patient so dislikes the remedy that he prefers to suffer the pain, and risk the consequences of the disease, rather than to take that remedy. Here, indeed, is the great point of difficulty. It is not so much that men are not spec- idatively convinced of the truth of Christianity, as that they defer applying it to themselves, and thus fail of the highest of all possible grounds of conviction — that of experience. Possessed hy all Christians. — And as this evidence might be anticipated from the nature of the case, and is promised in the Scriptures, so Ave find it possessed by all true Christians, though in a degree by no means proportioned to their learning or talents, but to the sincerity of their faith and the fullness of their obe- dience. Hence, unlike those species of cA^dence Avhich require learning, it is open to all, and forms, for Chris- tians of every age and of every variety of attainment, a ground of conviction, Avhich they do not perhaps state as an argument, ])ut Avhich is rational, and satisfactory to all. To the philosopher it is satisfactory, l)ecause he can trace it up to its principles, and can feel that, in resting on it, he is resting on precisely the same kind of evidence Avhich conniiands assent in all other cases of consciousness ; and it is not less satisfactory to the unlettered man through that healthy assent, unaccom- panied by any reflex act of the mind, by Avhich Ave gain all our primary knoAvledge. "^Merely literary men," says Wilson, taking the thought from Verplanck, " ard 172 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTL^^ITY. slo^v to admit that vulgar niintls can have any rational perception of truths involving great and high contem- plation. They overlook the distinction between the nice analysis of principles, the accurate statement of definitions, logical inferences, and the solution of diffi- culties, and the structure of our own thoiujlds and the play of the affections. They discern not between the theory of metaph}-sical science and the first truths and rational instincts which are implanted in the breasts of all, and which prepare them to see the glory of the gospel, to feel its influence, and to argue from both for the divinity of Christianity. The one is an elevating employment of the intellect ; the other, the germs and seeds of all intellectual and moral knowledge, which lie dormant till they are called forth by occasions, and then burst forth into life and power."* Ground of martyrdom. — And this evidence, being thus imiversal, shows us the true reason of that hold which Christianity has upon the minds of men, and of the place which it holds in the earth as a leavening and extendin"" power. It is thrcnigh this that the Aveak are made strong and the timid l)rave ; that persons of every description have become martyrs, equally in the first freshness and power of the religion, aud near the seat of its origin, and, in these last days, in the remote island, and among the scmi-l)arbarous people, of Mada- gascar. I know it is said that all relii^ions can claim their martyrs, and that for a man to die for his religion only shows that he is sincere, and not at all the truth of the religion. But it seems to me that the Christian religion is peculiar in this respect, on the ground we arc now considering, and that its martyrdoms do show something more. As between Christian sects, martyr- dom can, indeed, show nothing concerning the truth of pai-ticular tenets ; and it may be doubted whether other * AVilsou'8 Kvidences. CHRISTI^VNITY .VJS'D MARTYRDOM. 173 religions have had their martyrs, in the strict sense of that Avord. In contirniation of what other religion can it be shown that any consideralde number of persons have laid down their lives solely from their belief in the religion, unconnected with amljition, or the revolution of parties? I know of none. "What other religion could go to the Island of Madagascar, and, not only without any temptation of honor or gain, but in oppo- sition to every motive of this kind, and to the entreaties of friends, could induce persons to change their religion, and then lead them, solely for tlic sake of the new religion, to Avander al)out destitute, afllicted, tormented, and iinally to lay down their lives? And here we see only the operation of the same principle that led per- sons of all descriptions, mider the Koman emperors, to submit to the loss of all, and to martyrdom. Such martyrs, — the most enlightened philosophers and schol- ars, multitudes of the common people, women, and even children, evidently upheld by the same convictions, — I contend, are peculiar to the Christian religion. The history of the w^orld can show nothing like them ; and Avhocver will consider them candidly, must confess that they show, not merely the sincerity of those who suf- fered, but the adaptation of the religion to take a deep hold of the human miud, and its power to produce conviction, in the manner of Avhich I am now speaking. In this power we rejoice. "\Ve point it out to the infidel. AVe say to him that, as long as this power remains, his Avarfare against Christianity must be in vain. "We tell him that he may argue, may ridicule, may scoff; May think, with the mild Pliny, that " such inveterate obstinacy ought to be punished ; " and he may persecute and kill ; — but that he can never cause the true Chris- tian to yield his faith, or prevent the working of those secret but mighty affinities by which he becomes more attached to it than to kindred, or wealth, or life. 174 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTL\JSriTY. Satisfactory to Christians. — If, then, this evidence is of a nature so unexceptionable ; if it is promised in the Scriptures ; if we find such evidence of it in the lives of Christians, — we may well conclude that it must be, to them, a rational and satisfactory ground of conviction that the religion is true. Should he to others. — But the unbeliever may say, This may be all very well for the Christian himself, but it can be no evidence to me. Let us see, then, whether it would be no evidence to a candid man ; whether an attempt is not made in this, as in so many other cases, to judge of religion in a way and by a standard differ- ent from those adopted in other tilings. To me it seems that the simple question is, whether this kind of evidence is good for the Christian himself; for if it is, then the candid inquirer is as much bound to take his testimony as he is to take that of a man who has been sick, respecting a remedy that has cured him. If a largo number of persons, whose testimony would be received on any other subject, should say that they had been cured of a fever l)y a particular remedy, there is no man who would say that their testimony was of no account in making up his mind respecting that remedy, though he had not himself had the experience upon which the testimony was founded. If it is said that the evidence to the Christian himself is not well founded, and is fanatical, very well. Let that point be fairly settled. But if it be a good argument for him, then we ask that his testimony should be received on this subject as it would be on any other. The testimony is that of many witnesses ; and I am persuaded that a fair exami- nation of facts, and a careful induction, after the manner of Bacon, would settle forever the validity of this argu- ment, and the proper force of this testimony. Every circumstance conspires to gi\'e it force. It is only from its truth that we can account for its surprising uniformity. IDENTITY OF CIIEISTIAN EXPERIENCE. 175 I may say identity, in every age, in every country, and ■when given by persons of every variety of talent and of mental eulture. Compare the statements given, respeet- ing the power of the gospel, by Jcmathan Edwards, by a converted Grecnlander, a Sandwich Islander, and a Hottentot, and you will find in them all a substantial identity. They have all repented, and believed, and loved, and obeyed, and rejoiced ; they all speak of similar conflicts, and of similar supports. And their statements respecting these things have the more force, because they are not given as testimony, but seem rather like notes, varying, indeed, in fullness and power, "which may yet be recognized as coming from a similar instrument touched by a single hand. If I might allude here to the comparison, by Christ, of the Spirit to the wind, I should say that in every climate, and under all circumstances, that divine Agent calls forth the same sweet notes whenever he touches the ^-Eolian harp of a soul renewed. And this uniform testimony does not come as a naked expression of mere feeling; it is accompanied Avith a change of life, and with fruits meet for repentance, showing a permanent change of princi- ple. This testimony, too, is given mider circumstances best fitted to secure truth — given in affliction, in pov- erty, on the bed of death. How many, hoAV very many, have testified in their final hour to the sustaining power of the gospel ! And was there ever one, did any body ever hear of one, who repented, at that hour, of having been a Christian? Wh}' not, then, receive this testi- mony? AVill you make your own experience the standard of what you "will believe? Then we invite you to become a Christian, and gain this experience. AVill you be like the man who did not believe in the existence of Jupiter's moons, and yet refused to look through the telescope of Galileo for fear he should sec them ? Put the eye of faith to the gospel, and if you 176 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTLVNITY. do not see new moral heavens, I have nothing more to say. AVill you refuse to l)elieve that there is an echo at a particuhir spot, to believe that the lowest sound can be conveyed around the circuit of a whispering gallery, and yet refuse to put your ear at the proper point to test these facts? Put your ear to the gospel, and if you do not hear voices gathered from three •worlds, I have nothing more to say. Will you refuse to believe that the colors of the rainbow are to be seen in a drop of water, and yd not put your eye at the angle at which alone they can be seen? Or, if you think there is nothing analogous to this in moral mat- ters, — as there undoubtedly is, — will you hear men speaking of the high enjoyment they derive from view- ing works of art, and think them deluded and fanatical till your taste is so cultivated that you may have the same enjoyment? Surely, nothing can be more unrea^ sonable than for men to make their oAvn experience, in such cases, a standard of belief, and yet refuse the only conditions on which experience can be had. Conclusion. — I have thus endeavored to show, first, that there is in Christianity a self-evidencing power, and that the experimental knowledge of a Christian is to him a valid ground of belief; and, secondly, that a fair-minded man will receive his testimony respecting that knowledge as he would respecting the colors in a drop, or the echo at a particular point, or the pleasures of taste, or any other experience which he had not himself been in a position to gain. ARGUMENT VII. riTXESS AXD TENDENCY OF CHRISTIANITY TO BECOME UNITERSAL. There is one argimient more, intimately connected with the adaptation of Christianity to the constitu- tion of man, to which I now proceed. A fitness and OBJECT OF CImISTIA^^TT. 177 tendency to become universal must be cliscemiblc in a religion coming from God, and claiming to be given for the race ; and if there is the adaptation for Mhich I have contended, then Christianity must have this fitness and tendency. What it is not — its object as related to human insti- tutions. — The fitness, however, of Christianity to become universal, arises as much from Avhat it is not as from what it is, and can be fully appreciated only by looking at the relation of its ol)ject to all human institutions. That object is a moral object, with no taint of any thing earthly al)()ut it ; and, in pursuing it, Christianity keeps itself entirely aloof from all polit- ical and local questions. It regards man solely as a moral and spiritual being, under the government of God ; and its object, distinctly announced from the first, is to save men from the consequences of trans- gression under that government. " His name shall be called Jesus," said the angel, '^for he shall save his Y)Oo\)\q: from their sins;" — not from the Roman yoke — ■ not primarily from any earthly evil — but from their sins. Upon this one object Christianity steadily keeps its eye. The Son of man came "to seek and to save that Avhich Avas lost." It is sinq^ly a system of salvation from sin, and its consequences mulcr the government of God ; and Avhatcver may be his age, or language, or countr}', or the form of government under which he lives, it is equally adapted to every child of Adam who is led to ask the question, "What must I do to be saved?" It comes Avith pardon and hope to every one who feels the guilt of sin, or who is subject to bondage through fear of death. There are certain great moral interests which are common to the race, — certain chords in the human heart Avliich vil)rate whenever they are struck ; and it is remarkal)le that Christianity concerns itself only with those interests, and strikes 178 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTLLNITY. only those chords. It lias to do with individuals as guilty under the government of God, without respect to their earthly relations ; and hence it has the poAvxr to enter in as a new element, and to pervade and en- lighten every form of society, as the sunlight enters into and pervades the body of the atmosphere. Hence, in its original diffusion, regarding man simply as man, it swept as freely as the breeze of heaven past all terri- torial and national limits. All other religions are adapted to particular climates ; are upheld, like that of the Jews, by association with particular places ; but, since Christ has entered into the true tabernacle above, incense and a pure offering may go up from every place. All other religions are connected with the government, and we have no evidence that without such connection they could be sustained. But " Christianity, as a spir- itual system, is always superior to every visible insti- tution." Some systems and institutions may oppose greater obstacles to its progress than others ; but none can become Christianity, nor can they do any thing for it except to give it free scope to do its own work upon individual character. It is not monarclw, it is not democracy, it is not Episcopacy, it is ncjt Congregation- alism ; it is something which may pervade and bless society where any of these exist, and which may be withdrawn and leave either of these standing as an organization through Avhich human passion and corrup- tion shall work out their own unmixed and unmitigated effects.. Hence, too, Christianity attacks no visil)le institutions as such. It goes to the slave, and tells him he is the Lord's freedman ; it goes to the master, and tells lym he is Christ's servant. It tells both master and slave that they are brethren. It goes to the king, and tells him he is the subject of a higher power; it goes to the subject, and tells him he may become a king and priest to God. It rait^^cs all men to the level MODE OF WORKING. 179 of a common immortality ; it depresses them all to the level of a common sinfulness and exposure ; it subjects all to a common accountability ; it offers to all a com- mon sah'ation ; it proposes to all a law of perfect eipiity and a principle of universal love ; and then it leaves these principles and motives to work their own effect — assured that, in proportion as they act, they must change the nature, if not the name, of all visible insti- tutions opposed to its spirit. It is capable of taking human organizations, as culture took the peach when it was dwarfed and its fruit was poisonous, and of caus- ing other juices and vital fluids to circulate through the pores of those same organizations, and far other fruit to hang upon their branches. It understands perfectly that no change of fomi is of any pemianent value with- out a change of spirit ; and seeks (and oh that men would learn this lesson !) a change of form only through a change of spirit. Hence it works like leaven, that passes on from particle to particle, and finds no limit till the whole lump is leavened. Hence, too, I may remark here, Christianity is the most formidable of all foes to tyrants and to every fonii of oppression. No walls, or fortifications, or armed legions, can keep it out, and no weapon can smite it. Working silently upon the consciences of men, it is impossible to say where it is, or to what extent, and the opposer knows not where to strike. The very executioner chosen by persecution offers himself to die with the mart}-r ; and when it is supposed that the two witnesses are dead, and there is great rejoicing, they suddenly rise and stand upon their feet. Positive adctptations. — But the fitness of Christianity to become universal does not result from any proper- ties merely negative, nor from the possibility of its becoming so ; but from all those adaptations l)y which it appears that it contains the moral laws of God, and 180 EVIDENCES OF CHPJSTIAXITr. lays clown the only conditions of individual and social ■\vcll-l)cin<]:. Of some of these adaptations I have spoken ; and, for my present purpose, it can not be necessary that I should speak further, because, what- ever men may think of the divine origin of Christianity, — however far they may be from yielding practically to its claims, — they almost universally concede that its tendency is good, and that society is improved just so far as it prevails. This is conceded by philosophers, and politicians, and men of the world ; and, with the exception of a few of the lowest and most bigoted of them, l)y infidels themselves. They can not deny its tendency to promote industry, and honesty, and tem- perance, and peace, and good order. And, if this is so, then Christianity has a positive fitness to become iniiversal in the same way that any truth or practical knowledge has ; and, if there is ever to be any thing like universal order, it must take its place as a part of it. Jf fitness, then tendency. — But, if there is this fit- ness in Christianity to l)ecome universal, then it must have a tendeneij to become so, or else there is neither a tendency to progress, nor a law of progress, for man. The whole of our hope here rests on the belief that there is inwrought into the constitution of things a tendency by wliich those things that have a fitness to promote happiness shall gradually remove obstacles, and become universal. That the Saviour intended his religion should become universal is plain, because he left it in charge to his disciples to preach it to every creature. That a real apprehension of its truths, and of their value to the race, would lead a benevolent mind to wish to communicate them, is equally jilain ; and hence we say that, from the command of Christ, and from the very nature of Christian truth and of Christian motives, Christians themselves can never rest TENDENCY TO TEE VAIL. 181 till they have carried this gospel over the earth. But we say, further than tliis, that Christianity has the same tendency to prevail that reason has to prevail over brute force, or that virtue has to prevail over vice, or truth over error, — the same tendency that correct doc- trines respecting peace, or justice, or political economy, have to prevail over those that are false. Man is capable of scientific insight, and he seeks to be happy. There are certain moral laAvs of God, as fixed and unchangeable as any physical laws, in accordance with which alone he can be so. Those laws, we say, arc a part of Christianity, and that all true progress in society must be a progress toward the realization and estab- lishment of those laws. We say that every step in the progress of moral and political science shows that, when these shall be complete, they will be seen to be only the scientific expression of the precepts and laAvs of Chris- tianity. Hence there is the same tendency to univer- sality in Christianity, — not as a mode of salvation, but hi its earthly aspects, — that there is to any advancement and progress in morals, or in politics, or in political economy. The true laws of these, and of human hap- piness as depending on them, will be found to be iden- tical with the spirit of Christianity, and they can never be practically applied except as that spirit prevails. Conclusion. — Thus we see a preparation made, in the adaptation of Christianity to the nature and wants of man as man ; in the command of Christ ; in the na- ture of Christian love and of Christian motives ; and in the identity of Christianity, in some of its aspects, with moral and political science, for that final and universal triumph predicted by the prophets and waited for by the church; and through these, in connection Avitli that divine aid which is promised and has never been with- held, we think it rational to expect, not only that it will be perpetuated till the end of time, but that "the 16 182 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTIANITr. mountain of the Lord's house will be established in the top of the mountains, and that all nations will flow mito it." ARGUMENT VIII. CHRISTIANITY HAS ALWAYS BEEN IN THE -WORLD. Having thus spoken of the continuance of Christian- ity till the end of time, I will close this lecture by observing that, in substance, if not in form, it has con- tinued from the beginning. That it should have been always in the world, is mentioned by Pascal as the mark of a religion from God. It is a mark which wc might expect would belong to the true religion, and this mark Christianity, and that alone, has. The pa- triarchal, the Jewish, and the Christian dispensations, are evidently but the unfolding of one general plan. In the first we see the folded bud ; in the second, the ex|Danded leaf; in the third, the blossom and the fruit. And now, how sublhne the idea of a religion thus com- mencing in the earliest dawn of time ; holding on its way through all the revolutions of kingdoms and the vicissitudes of the race ; receiving new forms, but always identical in spirit ; and, finally, expanding and embra- cing in one great brotherhood the whole family of man I Who can doubt that such a religion was from God ? LECTURE VII. ARGUMENT NINTH: CHRISTIANITY COULD NOT HAVE BEEN ORI- GINATED BY MAN. If wc could possibly be called on to argue the ques- tion Avhether the ocean was made by God, or whether it was an artificial suit lalvc, made by man, we should show, on the one hand, that it was worthy of God, and that it corresponded with his other works ; and, on the other, that it was impossible it should have been made by man. Every fact respecting its vastness and depth would show that it was Avorthy of God, and every rela- tion that could be pointed out between that and the other works of God would lie an argument to show that they Avere fashioned l)y the same hand. Probably no one could see the sun evaporatiug its waters, the atmosphere bearing them up in clouds, the clouds pour- ing them down upon the waiting tribes of vegetation, the springs Avelling them up for the service of animals and of man, without being convinced that He who made the sun, and the air, and the grass, and the animals, and man, made also the ocean. Such relations of mutual dependence could exist only in the diiiercnt departments of the works of one Being. Method of the argument. — Hitherto, I have endeav- ored to show that Christianity Avas worthy of God, and that it so corresponds with his other Avorks, that He 184 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. who made nature, and the mind, must have been the author of Christianity. I now proceed to show that it could not have Ijccn produced by man. It may, per- haps, amount to the same thing, whether I attempt to show that Christianity must have come from God, or could not have come from man ; but as the terms of comparison are different, it will lead to a presenta- tion of the subject in an entirely different point of view. Reason for continuing it. — I continue to pursue this method of proof, bringing Christianity, in different relations, alongside of the human mind, because it is perfectly within the reach of every person of good sense, whether learned or unlearned. We know the capacities of the human mind, and Ave are capable of forming, within certain limits, a judgment, respecting what it can or can not do, upon which we may rely. The powers of the mind are limited no less than those of the body; and as we can judge what man can do, in given circumstances, by his physical strength, and, in some cases, be sure we are right, so we can judge what he can do intellectually and morally, in given circum- stances, and, in some cases, be sure we are right. The question, then, is, whether it is possible that the human mind should have originated the Christian system, under the circumstances in Avliich it was placed. Had imassisted man the capacity to originate such a system? Was there any motive to lead him to labor for its estab- lishment? Upon this point I have already incidentally touched, but it requires further attention. Christianity to he accounted for. — And here I observe, that the question concerning the origin of Christianity can not l.)e disposed of by a general refer- ence to the facility with which mankind are deluded, and the frequency of impostures in the world. This may CITRISTLysriTY AND THE GULF-STREAM. 185 do when speaking of the origui of local and temporaiy movements, but not Avlion we approach the deepest and mightiest movement that has appeared on the earth. It is admitted that delusions are not uncommon ; that fanaticism, and enthusiasm, and interest, and fraud, and, possil)ly, all these coml)ined, may go a great way ; but is it possible that any thing thus originated should overturn systems the most deeply seated, and receive the homage of the highest intellect and of the most extensive learning the world has ever seen, and gain vigor by opposition, and survive, for eighteen hundred years, every change in the forms of society, and, at the end of that time, stand at the head of those influences which are leading mankind on to a higher destiny? For such a religion, or delusion, or movement, to arise, is not an e very-day occurrence. It is altogether unpre- cedented in the history of the race ; and to put aside the question of its origin by telling us that mankind are easil}^ deceived, is much the same as it would be to put aside the question about the origin of the Gulf Stream by telling ns that water is an element very easily moved in different directions. Certainly, water is a fluctuating and unstable element ; but to say this, is not to account for a broad current in mid ocean that has been uniform since time began ; nor is it any account of a uniform cmTcnt of thought and feeling, setting in one direction for eighteen hundred years, to say that the human mind is fluctuating and unstable ; that man has been often deceived ; and that there have been 2:reat extravasfances in belief. The origin of such a movement is to be investigated, and not to be shrouded in mist. The New Testament gives a full and satisfactory account of it ; and it behooves those Avho do not receive that account, to substitute some other that shall, at least, be plausi- ble. This they have failed to do. Five causes of Gibbon. — Perhaps no one was more 16* 186 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTIAJSriTY. competent to do this, or has been more successful, than Gibbon ; and yet the five causes which he assigns for the spread of Christianity — namely, "the zeal of Christians," "their doctrine of a future life," "the mi- raculous powers ascribed to the primitive church," "their pure and austere morals," and "their union" — are obviously effects of that very religion of which they are assigned as the cause. Must he from God. — To me, when I look at this religion, taking its point of departure from the earliest l^eriod in the history of the race ; when I see it anal- ogous to nature ; when I see it comprising all that natural religion teaches, and introducing a new system in entire harmony with it, but which could not have been deduced from it ; when I see it commending itself to the conscience of man, containing a perfect code of morals, meeting all his moral wants, and imbosoming the only true principles of economical and political science ; when I see in it the best possible system of excitement and restraint for all the faculties ; when I see how simple it is in its principle, and yet in how many thousand ways it mingles in with human afiiiirs, and modifies them for good, so that it is adapted to become universal ; when I see it giving an account of the ter- mination of all things, worthy of God and consistent with reason ; — to me, when I look at all these things, it no more seems possible that the system of Christian- ity should have been originated or sustained by man, than it does that the ocean should have been made by him. These considerations, however, have been ad- duced to elucid;ite that phase of the argument by which it was intended to show that the religion must have come from God; and I shall not further apply them here except as — Cardinal points taken for cf ranted. — I observe, that the more we examine the state of opinions among the END rPvOPOSED BY CHRISTIANITY. 187 Jews, or among the surrounding nations, at tlic time Cliristiauity arose, the greater will be our surprise that it should be what it is, respecting almost all those car- dinal points which it does not so nuich reveal as take for granted. Such are the unity and spirituality of God, his holy character, the spirituality of his worship, his paternal relation to us, the doctrine of a resurrec- tion and of human accountability. The most of these doctrines arc not so much systematically taught, as implied, in Christianity ; and they are not only consist- ent with reason, but are essential as conditions to the end which Christianity proposes to itself. End impossible to an enthusiast. — And this leads me to ol)serve, that the end proposed by Christianity, distinctly announced from the first, and perseveringly adhered to, Avas one Avhich could not have l)een adopted either by an enthusiast or an impostor. In the very first annunciation of the gospel, it was said by the angel, *' Thou shalt call his name Jesus ; for he shall save his people from their sins." Christ himself said that he came "to seek and to save that Avhich Avas lost" — "that the world through him might be saved." Peter calls upon men to " repent, and be l)aptized in the name of Jesus Christ f(n- the remission of sins ;" and, again, to "repent and be converted, that their sins may be blotted out." Nothing can be plainer than that the great end of Christianity is to deliver men from the poAver and the consequences of sin under the goA'^ernment of God. AVith the light Avhich Ave now have, Ave can see that the object of a religion from God must be to correct the state of the heart ; but this object could never haA^c been adopted by enthusiasm. It is not of a character to aAvaken enthusiasm, for it implies a recog- nition of guilt, and, moreover, it invoh'^es a clear per- cei)tion of the deepest and most fundamental truth on Avhich the reformation of the Avorld depends. Before 188 EVIDEXCES OF CHRISTIANITY. the miseries of the worhl ean be removed, their cause must l)c known ; and this shows an insight into the cause of human wretchedness such as we find nowlierc else. jNIen are unhappy, perhaps wretclied, and they impute it to fate, to others, to the want of wealth or of external advantages, or to the constitution of society ; but Christianity takes it for granted that sin, moral guilt, is the true cause, the cause of all the other causes, of the unhappiness of man; and that, in saving him from this, it saves him from every thing that a rational being has to fear. And is not this so ? Does not man bring upon himself, by his sins, the greater part of the evils which he suffers ? Remove war, and the fear of it ; remove dishonesty of every kind ; re- move indolence, and intemperance, and licentiousness, find envy, and detraction, and revenge, and pride, and a selfish ambition, — and let the virtues opposite to these reign ; remove, also, those apprehensions and terrors of conscience, and that fear of death, which come in consequence of sin, — and this world would become comparatively a paradise. Christianity, then, strikes at the true cause of all the miseries of man. Instead of endeavoring to check or control particular streams of evil, it goes at once to the fountain Avhcnce all those streams flow, and would seal that up forever. To my mind, nothing can be clearer than that moral evil is the true cause of the miseries of the world ; but can this deep, and sober, and philosophical view of the cause of human misery, and an attempt to remove it, be the product of enthusiasm? Of all feelings, a con- sciousness of guilt is that which most represses enthu- siasm. An enthusiast, therefore, could not come to those only who woidd acknowledge themselves guilty, and call them to the miwelcome duty of repentance, and of renouncing cherished indulgences and habits. lie could not say, " They that are whole need not a END DIPOSSIBLE TO AS OIPOSTOR. 189 physician, hut they that are sick ; " "I am not come to call the righteous, ])ut sinners, to repentance." Or an imposioi'. — But if such an ohject could not have been selected by an enthusiast, much less could it have been by an impostor. An impostor must have a personal and selfish motive ; but suppose this object gained, of what advantage would it be to him? Is it not a contradiction to suppose an impostor to call upon men to repent of all sin, when, in the very act of thus calling upon them, he is guilty of one of the blackest sins of Avhich man is capable? And, further, an impos- tor estimates the chances of success. But let any man look at the state of things when Christ appeared, and see what chance there could have been, in the eye of an impostor, that such an object should succeed. The great doctrines Avhich lie at the foundation of repent- ance were but very imperfectly known. Superstition and formality had almost entirely excluded the spirit of any true religion, whether natural or revealed. Sin, as such, was not disliked or deplored ; and if in any case it should be, the Jews had a mode for its removal, as they supposed, divinel}' constituted, and with which they were satisfied ; while the Gentiles were attached to their own religions, and hated and despised the Jews. Xow, in such a state of things, for an imjiof^fo)' — a young man without learning, or Avealth, or influential friends ; a Jew, who would naturally have shared in the prejudices and national feelings of his countrymen — to arise and call upon men to repent of sin in gen- eral, and believe in him ; at the same time proposing no definite scheme, either political or ecclesiastical; directing the energies of his followers to nothing that could gratity their ambition, or love of gain or pleas- lu-c, on earth ; and proposing rcAvards, hereafter, that can be enjoyed only as men are morally good, — and yet to make such an impression upon the world as to 190 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. overturn systems that had stood forages, — does seem to me far more improl)able than any miracle recorded in the Bible. The disparity between the means em- ployed and the cfFect to be produced would not be greater, if a single, unaided man should attempt to imscat Mount Atlas, and lift it from its l)cd. In mak- ing it its ol)jcct to remove guilt, and to rectify tlie state of the heart before God, Christianity stands alone ; and we can now see that this is the only ultimate object "which a religion from God could propose. Ty my mind, therefore, the simple choice of this object, requiring such breadth and accuracy of view, so im- possible to have been chosen by enthusiasm or impos- ture, taken in connection with the movement produced by Christianity, is a sufficient proof that it originated with God, and was accompanied by a divine poAver. -ZVb adcqjtation to prejudices. — But perhaps the suc- cess in carrying forward this object may be accounted for by a skillful adaptation of some features of the system to the prejudices, or wants, or habits of thought, of the age. Did Christ, then, adapt his system to the prejudices and expectations of the Jews? So far from this, nothing could have been more strongly opposed to all the habits of thought and long-cherished associ- ations both of JcAvs and of Gentiles. This point has been most ably presented by Bishop Sumner, of whose labors I shall avail myself in the particulars I shall adduce respecting it. Appecded to no .sect. — The Jews were divided into three great sects — the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and Essenes. The sentiments and modes of thought of the first two are sulKciently known. The Essenes were a comparatively small sect, professing a connnunitj^ of goods and the most austere celibac3\ Among these sects were found the 2:reat and influential men of the CimiSTIANITY AND TKE JE^VISII 8YSTE3I. 191 nation ; but neither of these did Christ endeavor in the least to propitiate ; he attacked them all equally. "With the general tone of thought, and laxity of morals, of the Saddueees, his whole system was in direct con- flict ; and we all know how terrible were his denuncia- tions of the Pharisees and scribes, as h^iDocrites and formalists, and as having put false glosses upon the hiw of God. The spirit of sect is among the most bitter and formidable that can be aroused ; but, instead of taking advantage of this, or of commending himself to any party, Christ armed every influence that could be drawn from such sources against himself. 0])poi>ed tJie whole JewhJi system. — But, though the Jews were divided into sects, there were many points which they held in common as Jews, and which were to them the ground of a strong and exclusive national feeling. If Ave can suppose it possible that Christ him- self should have risen superior to all the prejudices and associations of his nation, yet, if we look at him either as an enthusiast or an impostor, we can not suppose he would have gone counter to every feeling that was strongly and distinctively Jewish ; much less can we suppose he would have attempted to bring to an end a system which he himself, in connnon with all his coim- tr;yTnen, acknowledged to be from God, and to the rites of which he conformed. Yet so did Christ. Jewish notions of the Messiah. — Hence I obseiTe, that, while Christ claimed to be the INIcssiah expected by the Jews, his whole appearance, and character, and object, were totally opposed to all their interpretations of prophecy, and wishes, and long-cherished anticipa- tions. In the language of Sumner, " They looked for a conqueror, a temporal king, and had been accustomed to interpret in this sense all the prophecies W'hich fore- told his coming. The Jews were at the time suffering under a foreign yoke, which they bore with great imea- 192 EVIDEXCES OF CIIRISTLiNITY. sincss and impatience. And whether we suppose Jesus to have been an impostor or enthusiast, this is the character which he would naturally assmne. If he were an enthusiast, his mind w^ould have been filled with the popular belief, and his imagination fired with the national ideas of victory and glory. If he were an impostor, the general expectation would coincide with the only motive to Avhich his conduct can be attributed — ambition and the desire of personal aggrandizement. IIow, then, can Ave explain his rejecting, from the first, and throughout his whole career, all the advantage which he might have derived from the previous expec- tati(Mi of the people, and even his turning it against himself and his cause? Why should he, as a Jew, have interpreted the prophetic Scriptures difierently from all other Jews? Why should he, as an impostor, have deprived himself of all personal benefit from his design ? " * Set aside the cereynonial laio. — A', neither an enthusiast nor an impostor could have done. 17 194 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTI-VXITr. Essential to a universal religion. — But, while the origin of Christianity is so anomalous and inexplicable on the supposition that the agents were actuated by merely human motives, every thing becomes perfectly consistent and reasonable the moment we suppose they wx're the agents of God to introduce a new and universal religion. If such a religion was to be introduced, the whole Jewish economy must of necessity have been removed. But was a Jewish peasant, unlettered and untraveled, going up witli his countrymen every year to Jerusalem, the person to sec this ? AVas he to have the inconceivable arrogance to assume to himself the authority to remove that dispensation, at the same time that he admitted it to be from God ? If an impostor, Christ not tlte author of Christianiti/. — I proceed to another point : Extraordinary as was the character of Christ, and unaccountable as was his conduct while he was alive, yet, if we suppose him to have been cither an enthusiast or an impostor, there must have been some one among his disciples, after his death, whose character and conduct were still more extraordinary and unaccountable ; for it is to be remem- bered that, on this supposition, Christ can not, with any propriety, be said to be the originator of the system which bears his name. This is a point not sufficiently noticed, if indeed it has been noticed at all. It will not be denied that the resurrection of Christ lies at the foundation of the system. It did so in the mind of Paul when he Avrotc to the Corinthians that, if Christ were not raised, their faith was vain; and it has been regarded as fundamental by Christians ever since. Did Christ, then, or did he not, know the place which his death, and the story of his resurrection, were to have in the Christian system? If we suppose him to have been any thing except what he claimed to be, AUTHOR OF CHRISTIANITY — ■V\^IO? 195 he could not have known this. '>Vithout the gift of prophecy, he could not have kno-\vn that the lloman governor would sentence him to death. Besides, it is absurd to suppose that any enthusiast or impostor could frame a scheme of which his own death on the cross, and a story of his resurrection, to be started and sub- stantiated by others, should form a necessary part. His death must, then, on the supposition on which we are arguing, have been unexpected, both to himself and to his followers. Ilis schemes, whatever they Avcre, must have perished with him ; for of the Christian system as contained in the New Testament, involving his own death and resurrection, he could by no possi- bility have had any conception. This system did not become possible till after his death. Previous to tliat, tlie very foundation of it had no existence, nor could it even have had if his death had not been public ; for, otherwise, his death w^ould not have been eel-tain, and the story of the resurrection would have excited no attention. "Who, then, was that man, the true author of Chris- tianity, of quick and original thought, who, in tliat moment when the Jews supposed the}' had triumphed, when the plans of Christ himself, whatever they were, had failed, saw, from the very fact of the crucifixion, that a story of a resurrection might be framed, and be so connected with the former life and instructions of Christ, and Avith the Jewish Scriptures, as to form the basis of a new religion? Who was this mastcr- spint, — for the unity of the system shows that it nmst have been the product of one mind, — who was so prompt in combining the fearful fact of his master's execution, and the strange story of the resurrection, with his former life and teachings, so as to make one connected whole ? Who rallied the dispersed and dis- heartened disciples, opened to them his plan of deception, 196 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. assigned to each his part, and indnccd them to stand firm l)y the cause even unto death? Certainly, if Christ was not what he chiinicd to be, there was some one con- cerned, in the origin of the Christian system, who was a greater and more extraordinary person than he, and the true author of that system is unknown. Scheme imposiiihJe. — But here let me ask, supposing such a scheme to have been originated, whether any person of common sense could possibly have hoped for its success ; whether any but madmen could have been persuaded to engage in it. For what was the scheme? It was nothing less than to persuade all mankind to receive one as a Saviour, and to believe in him as the final Judge of the world, who, they themselves acknowl- edged, had been put to death by crucifixion between two thieves. And, in order to realize fully what this nndertaking was, we must further, first, remember how alien from all the habits of thought among the Gentiles and among most of the Jews, how utterly improbal)lo, the story of a resurrection must have been ; and, sec- ondly, we must divest ourselves of all the associations which we have gathered around the cross, and, going back to that period, must furnish our minds with those which were then prevalent. We must remember that the cross was not only an instrument of public execu- tion peculiarly dreadful, but also peculiarly ignominious ; that it was unlawful to put a Eoman citizen to death iu this way ; and that it was a punishment reserved only to slaves, and persons of the lowest description. And, now, with these facts before us, 1 ask whether the idea of the resurrection of a person thus put to death, and of his exaltation to be the Saviour of men and the Judge of the whole earth, occurring to a per- son without any manifestation of miraculous power, is in accordance with the laws of human thought; whether an attempt to make mankind believe such a CREDULITY OF INFIDELS. 197 story, and to cause them — the very Jews who had just crucified him, the Gentiles who held all Jews in contempt, and would more especially despise and abhor a crucified Jew — whether the attempt to cause them to forsake their own religions, and to acknowledge such a Saviour and Judge, is compatible with what we know of the laws of human action. Can we con- ceive of any enthusiast so utterly wild, of any impostor so utterly foolish, as to suppose he could make such a story and such a proposition the basis of a religion which should overthrow all others, and become uni- versal? Can we conceive, not only that such an attempt should be made, but that it should succeed? The man who can believe this, can believe any thing. What an astonishing contrast between such a point of departure of the Christian religion, and that moment when a Roman emperor turned his expiring eyes to heaven, and said, "O Galilean, thou hast conquered!" And here, again, what is so entirely unaccountal)lc if we exclude divine agency, is perfectly accounted for the moment we allow that these men were what they claimed to be, and were ejidoAved with power from on high. Conduct of the disciplea. — I might pursue this train of thought at great length, applying it to the conduct of the disciples individually and as a body, and partic- ularl}' to the converfsion and sul)sequent course of the apostle Paul. I think it can be shown, on the supposi- tion of imposture or enthusiasm, — and no other is possible without admitting the truth of the religion, — that the conduct of these men was as contrary to known and established laws of human action as any miracle can be to the laws of nature. JeioisJi and Christian system — luould not have been connected. — But I proceed to observe that no enthu- siast or impostor either would or could have effected 17* 198 E^^DEXCES OF CrnilSTIANITT. that peculiar connection, doctrinal, typical, and prophet- ical, which exists between the Jewish and the Christian reliji'ion. This no man vould have done. For while, as I have just sho^vai, they rejected so much, and such parts, of the system as would excite to the utmost the hostility of the Jews, they yet declared it to be identical in spirit with the Jewish religion, and thus presented themselves at a great disadvantage before the Gentiles. Accordingly, we find the Roman magistrates speaking in the most contemptuous manner of the whole thing, as being a question of Jewish superstition. Thus Festus, giving an account of Paul's case to Agrippa, said, "Against Avhom, when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as I sup- posed, but had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, w^iom Paul affirmed to be alive." So, also, when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, and the Jews brought Paul before him, and he was about to defend himself, Gallio said unto the Jews, "If it were a matter of ivi'ong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with yon ; but if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it ; for I will be no judge of such matters. And he dravo them from the judgment seat. Then all the Greeks took Sosthcnes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things." This feeling was perfectly natural, and the author or authors of Christianity must have known it would be excited if such a connection was retained between the new religion and that of the Jews. The course pursued, therefore, was apparently the most impolitic that could have been adopted, whether the feelings of the Jews or of the Gentiles were regarded. Could not have he^n. — But this is not the point of DIPOSSIBILITY OF niPOSTURE. 199 tliG greatest difficulty. Xo impostor, or enthusiast, could have adopted such a course, if he would. For, first, no luunau Avisdoin could have taken the Jewish system, complicated as it was, and have drawn the line with a judgment so unerring between those things which ought to l)e rejected and those which might be retained ; between those things which would, and those which would not, harmonize with the new system. And, secondly, that a system depending so much upon facts over Avhicli the authors of it had no control, such as the place of Christ's birth, and the time and manner of his death — a system that had never before been thought of, or provided for — a system springing up at a particular juncture from enthusiasm or imposture, — should have so many correspondences with a system originated thousands of years before, that the attempt should be universally made to convert the Jews by reasoning out of their own Scriptures, showing that "so it was written," — and that such a book as the Epistle to the Ilelirews could be written, — is, to my mind, inconceivable. Nor is it less inconceivable — what I have spoken of in a former lecture — that man should invent a system which would permit its advocates to pass from the Jewish synagogue, where their whole arirunient had been based on the Old Testament Scrip- turcs, into a company of Athenian philosophers, and, with the same confidence, and freedom, and power, argue with them from the book of nature, and the moral constitution and wants of man. Nothing can bo more striking than the contrast between Paul's speech on Mars Hill and that recorded in the thirteenth of Acts, in a Jewish •'synagogue at Antioch, or even that before Agrippa, in which he made the appeal, "King Agrlppa, believest thou the prophets ? " On the whole, then, laying aside those analogies and adaptations by which it is shown that Christianity 200 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTL\NITT. must have come from God, and taking only the par- ticulars adduced in this lecture, have we not reason to conclude that it could not have been originated by man? The hoolcs. — I have thus far spoken chiefly of the system of Christianity. I shall devote the remainder of this lecture to the consideration of some points of evidence drawn from the books in which its records and doctrines are contained — confining myself, however, to such as must be judged of in the same Avay as those which we have been considering. These books open to us a field of such evidence as every man of good sense and candor can judge of, scarcely less extensive and rich than the system itself; but to this my time will permit me but l)ricfly to refer. I ol)serve, then, in accordance with the general scope of this lecture, that no impostor, or enthusiast, either would, or could, have written the books of the New Testament. JSFo motive for a forgery. — And, first, no such person would have written them ; for they are of such a char- acter that it is impossible to assign a motive for a forgery. The motive could not have been gain. For what is the relation of these books to Christianity? Plainly, they presuppose its existence. To suppose that the books themselves, coming out as a mere bald, naked fiction, could have been received by both Jews and Gentiles, and have worked a revolution in society, and that, too, in an age Avhcn printing was unknown, and the number and influence of books were compar- atively small, is absurd. Christianity must, then, have sprung up, and spread more or less extensively, and then the l)ooks must have been written to give an account of its origin and progress. If, then, gain had been the object, it was necessary to write an account MOTIVE NOT F.UIE OK TOWER. 201 tliut could not be discredited. No forgery could have escaped both neglect and contempt. jS^ot fume. — Xor could the motive have been fame. Ko one, from reading the Gospel of Matthew, would suspect who the author Avas. He speaks of himself very little, and mentions that he belonged to a class who were despised and hated by the Jews. Would any man, could any man, compose the Sermon on the Mount — a production, for its beauty, and majestic simplicity, and morality, unequalcd since the world stood — for fame, and then ascribe it to a fictitious person, or one whom he knew to be an impostor? JSfor power. — Nor could his motive have been power or influence. No book was ever more unskillfuUy con- structed for such a purpose. It had no connection with politics or parties, nor does it contain any thing to give distinction or influence to its author. "What, then, could have induced a man capable of surpassing, as a moralist and as a deep thinker, all the philosophers of antiquity, to conceal himself entirely behind an impos- tor? How could he have induced the Avorld to mistake that impostor for himself? TJie Fpistlcs. — And what is thus true of the Gos- pels, and of the Acts, is equally true of the Epistles. Indeed, there arc some circumstances which would seem to render a forgery of these peculiarly iinprobal)le. If I were to select the last form in whirh a forgery would be likely to come before the world, it would be this. These are extraordinary productions, and it is incon- ceivable that any man should introduce them into the world by the fiction of addressing them to a church, and should connect such admirable sentiments with the detiiils of their peculiar ditlicultics, and with salutations addressed to many persons by name. Let an\- man read the last chapter of the Epistle to the Komans, (which is almost entirely made up of greetings and saluta- 202 EVIDEXCES OF CHRISTIANITY. tions,) and ask himself if it is possible that any man, Avriting a letter for the purpose of deception, could have ■written it. 01)serve his particularity. Xot ouly docs Paul himself salute many persons, l)ut Timotheus, his work-fellow, is joined with him, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, his kinsman, and Tcrtius, who wrote the Epistle, and Gains, his host, and Erastus, the chamber- lain of the city, and Quartus, a brother. If, however, it should be said that there were for- geries afterward, I reply, that all great originnls, all genuine ai-ticles of great value, present temptations to imitation and forgery, but there is no such temptation to for^e the oriirinal work. No instance of such a forgery can be adduced. Could not have been forged. — The strong point here, however, is, that no enthusiast or impostor could have for<^ed these books. This is manifest from the marks of honesty which they bear upon their face. It is with books as with men. Without stating to ourselves the ground of it, we all ftn-m a judgment of the character of men from their appearance. There is in some men an appearance of openness, and candor, and fiirness, in all they do and say, which can hardly bo mistaken. There is often something in the appearance and modes of statement of a. witness on the stand, there are cer- tain undefinal)lc ])ut very appreciable marks of honesty or of dishonesty, which will and ought to go very far, with one who has been accustomed to observe men under such circumstances, in fixing the character of liis testimony. Now, this is remarkably the case with the writino^s of the New Testament. We can not read a chapter without feeling that we are dealing with real- ities. The writers show no consciousness of any possi- bility that their statements should be doubted. They have the air of persons who state things perfectly well known. They express no wonder ; they do not seem NARRATIVES MINUTE. 203 to expect that their statements, exti-aorclinary as they are, will cxeite any ; they enter into no explanations, attempt to remove or evade no difficulties ; they speak freely of their own faults and weaknesses; they flatter no one ; they express no malice toward imy. There is no ambition of fine writing, no special pleading, no attempt to conceal circumstances apparently unfavorable — as the agony of Christ in the garden, so liable to be imputed to weakness ; the fact that he Avas forsaken of God on the cross, that Peter denied him, and that the disciples forsook him and fled. Their narratives are minute, circumstantial, graphic, giving the names of persons and the time and the place of events. At every step they lay themselves open to detection if their ac- counts are, I will not say fabrications, but false in any respect. Do they give us the Sermon on the Mount? They tell us that multitudes heard it. Do they give an account of the resurrection of Lazarus? They give the place and the family, and state its eflcets upon different classes of persons. Do they speak of the Roman gov- ernor, or of the high priest? Tliey mention his name. There is the Sea of Galilee, and Capernaum, and Jeru- salem, and the temple Avith its goodly stones. There are the Jewish feasts, and their sects, and tmditions. Every thing is thoroughly Jewish, and still there is the publican and the Roman soldier. All these seem to stand before us Avith the distinctness of life — not by the force of rhetorical painting, but by the simple nar- ration of truth. JVumber of the books — discrepancies. — The chief difficulty, however, in fabricating these books, AA'ould not have been in giving them singly an air of truth, however striking and life-like, but in constructing so many of them Avith such numerous and incidental marks of correspondence as to negatiA'c entirel}' the supposi- tion of imposture. iVud here it ought to be observed, 204 EVIEEXCES OF CHRISTIANITY. that the number of books is itself a strong reason for supposing that there Avas no imposture. An imposture Avould naturally have appeared in one well-considered and Avcll-guarded account. So have all impostures of the kind appeared. The Koran was wholly written by one man. So was the Mormon Bible. But here we have tAventy-seven books, or letters, written by eight different men, each implying the truth of most of the others, and, as they stand, giving an opportunity for comparison, and for wdiat the lawyers would call cross- questioning, which must have proved fatal to any fabri- cation, and to which imposture was never known to subject itself. We have four independent histories of Christ. Between these there are a few apparent dis- crepancies respecting minor points, such as will always occur when independent witnesses state their own impressions respecting a series of events. These lie for the most part on the surface, are such as might have been easily avoided, and such as imposture ccilainly would have avoided. They show that the witnesses were independent, that there was no collusion between them ; while the points of agreement are so many, and of such a character, as can be accounted for only on the supposition of truth. Conscious securit)/ of truth. — Of the advantages thus furnished, the opposcrs of Christianity have eagerly availed themselves ; but they are careful not to state, if, indeed, they reflect, that the ver}' fact that these advantages are thus gratuitously furnished shows the conscious security of truth, and affords the strongest jiossible presumption that nothing can be made of them. The discrepancies are few in number, and may be rec- onciled ; Avhile the coincidences, evidently undesigned, between the fom* Gospels, and between the Gospels and the Acts, are so numerous as to have been collected, by Mr. Blunt, into a volume. UNDESIGNED COINCIDENCES. 205 The Acts, and the Epistles of Paul. — But, as if to furnish the best possible opportunity for this species of proof, Avc have the history of the apostle Paul stated fully and circumstantially in the Acts ; and then we have thirteen letters of the same apostle, purporting to have been written during the period covered by the history. If, therefore, the history and the letters are both genuine, we should expect to find the same gen- eral character ascribed to the apostle in the history that is indicated by his letters ; we should expect to find hi tlie letters numerous minute and undesigned references, such as could not be counterfeited, to the facts stated in the history. And all this we do find. The character of Paul was strongly marked, and no one can doubt whether the Epistles ascribed to him Avere written by such a man as he is described in the history to have been. How different are the characters of Paul, of Peter, and of John ! and yet how perfectly do the writings ascribed to each correspond with his character ! If the history had given us an account of a person like John, and then these letters had been ascribed to him, how differently would our evidence have stood ! Iloroi Paidinai. — But the argument from the coin- cidences between the difierent Epistles, and between tlic Epistles and the Acts, has been presented in a full and masterly manner by Palcy, in his Iloraj Paulinre, a book to which, so far as I know, infidels have judged it Avise not to attempt an answer. In this argument, Paley docs not notice those coincidences Avhich are direct and striking, antl which might have been fabri- cated ; but those which are evidently undesigned, Avhich are remote and circuitous, and so woven into the web that the supposition of art or imposture is impossible. This argument is best illustrated by examples. Thus we find, in the Eirst Epistle to the Corinthians, the fol- lowing passage : " Even unto this present hoiu* we both 18 206 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITT. hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-phice ; and hibor, work- ing with our own hands." AVe are expressly told, in the history, that at Corinth St. Paul labored with his own hands: "He found Aquila and Priscilla ; and, because he Was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought ; for by their occupation they were tent- makers." But, in the text before us, he is made to say that he labored " even unto this present hour," that is, to the time of writing the Epistle, at Ephesus. Now, in the narration of St. Paul's transactions at Ephesus, delivered in the nineteenth chapter of the Acts, nothing is said of his working with his own hands ; but in the twentieth chapter we read that, upon his return from Greece, he sent for the elders of the church at Ephesus to meet him at Miletus ; and in the discourse which he there addressed to them we find the following : "I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel ; yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me." That manual labor, therefore, which he had exercised at Corinth, he continued at Ephesus; and not only so, but continued it during that particular residence at Ephesus, near the conclusion of which this Epistle was written ; so that he might, with the strictest truth, say, at the time of writing the Epistle, "even unto this present hour, Ave labor, working with oiu- own hands." "The correspondency is sufficient, then, as to the unde- signedness of it. It is manifest to my judgment that, if the history in this article had been taken from the Epistle, this circumstance, if it appeared at all, would have appeared in its place — that is, in the direct ac- count of St. Paul's transactions at Ephesus. Nor is it likely, on the other hand, that a circumstance which is not extant in the history of St. Paul at Ephesus should have been made the subject of a factitious UNDESIGNED COINCIDENCES. 207 allusion in an Epistle puqoorting to be written by him from that place ; not to mention that the allusion itself, especially as to time, is too oblique and general to answer any purpose of forgery whatever. Again we find, in the Second Epistle to the Thessa- lonians, iii. 8, "Neither did we eat any man's bread for naught ; but wrought with labor, night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you ; not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample mito you to follow us." Here, again, his conduct — and, what is much more precise, the end which he had in view by it — is the very same which the history attributes to him in this discourse to the elders of the church at Ephesus ; for, after saying, " Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me," he adds, "I have showed you all things, how that, so labor- ing, ye ought to siipport tJie iceak." " The sentiment in the Epistle and in the speech is, in both parts of it, so much alike, and yet the words which convey it show so little of imitation, or even of resemblance, that the agreement can not avcU be explained without supposing the speech and the letter to have really proceeded from the same j^erson." Do Ave find Paul saying abruptly, and without ex- planation, to Timothy, "Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old"? AVe also find, from the Acts, that provision was made, from the first, for the indigent widows who l)clonged to the Christian church. Does he say to Timothy that from a child he had known the Holy Scriptures ? The Acts tells us that his mother was a Jewess. Do we hear him exhorting the Corinthians not to despise Timothy ? ^Ve hear him saying to Timothy himself, "Let no man despise thy youth ; " and again, " Flee also youthful lusts." Docs Paul, in the Epistle to Timothy, refer i08 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. particularly to the afflictions which came unto him at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra? We find from the history, in the most indirect way imaginable, that Tim- othy must have lived in one of those cities, and have heen converted at the time of those persecutions. Does Paid, in the Epistle to the Romans, ask their prayers that he might be delivered from them that did not believe, in Judea? We hear him saying, in the Acts, with reference to the same journey, "And now, behold, I go l)ound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the thino-s that shall befall me there ; save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me." Do we hear him, in the Epistle to the Romans, commending to them Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchrea? We find, from the history, that Paul had been at Cenchrea, only from the following passage : " Having shorn his head in Cen- chrea, for he had a vow." Of such coincidences Paley has pointed out, perhaps, a hundred, and he has hy no means exhausted the subject.* And not only do we find Epistles directed to churches, — the last species of composition that an original im- postor, whether Ave suppose that the church did or did not exist at the time, coukl liave thought of fa])ricating, — but we have, in more than one instance, two letters addressed to the same church, the last having all that reference to the first that we should expect. We find it also directed that the letter to one church should be read in another; we find it implied that one of the churches had written to the apostle, and his letter is partly in reply to theirs ; we find such points discussed as would naturally have arisen in societies constituted as Christian churches must then have been ; and, finally, we find a strength of personal feeling, a depth of tenderness and interest, a i)romptness in bestowing * Hora; Pauliiix, piisslm. SUMMAHY. 209 deserved censure, a tone of authority, and a fullness of commendation, Avliich could have sprung only from the transactions of actual life. Am I not, then, even from this view of their internal evidence, so briefly and imperfectly presented, justified in tlie assertion that no impostor cither would, or could, have fabricated these books? Conclusion. — And now, whether we look at tha relations which Christianity must have sustained either to the Jews or to the Gentiles ; at the course pursued either by Christ himself or by the apostles ; at the con- nection between the Cliristian and the Jewish system ; or at the impossibility of fabricating the books of the New Testament, — I think we may reasonably con- clude that this religion, and these books, did not originate with man. 18* LECTURE VIII. ARGUMENT TENTH: THE CONDITION, CHARACTER, AND CLAIMS OF CHRIST. Thus far, we have attended to the system of Chris- tianity, to its marvelous adaptations, and to the impossibility that it should have come from man. We now turn from the system to its Author. AYho was the author of this system? What were his condition, his claims, and his character? We have already seen that the object lie proposed, and the system he taught, are worthy of God, and correspond perfectly Avith the nature of man. But, were his condition in life, the claims he preferred, and the character he sustained, such as we can now sec ouo:ht to have belonged to one who claimed the spiritual headship of the race ? Is it possible that he should have been an impostor ? Do wo not find, meeting in him alone, so many things that are extraordinary, as to forl)id that supposition? These questions it will be the object of the present lecture to answer. Basis of the argument. — Aud if there is any sul)ject to which we can apply, not only the tests of logic, but the decisions of intuitive reason, and of all the higher instiucts of our conmion humanity, it is the condition in life, and teachings, and proposed object, and char- acter, of one who presents himself with the claims put forth by Jesus Christ. We have an intuitive insight (-10) CHRIST CLAIMS AFFECTION. 211 into cliniMctcr. Wc li:ivc, in the history of the -vvorhl, large experience of it in all its coml)inations. We are all capable, when our moral nature is quickened, of jntlzing- whether the character of one who claims the homage l)()th of the understanding and of the heart is in accordance with such a claim. "I know men," said Napoleon l>()na})arte, " and I toll you that Jesus Christ was not a man." AVe also know men, and, presented as Christ is to us by the evangelists, not by description or eulogy, but standing before us in his actions and discourses, so that he seems to live and to speak, we feel that we can judge whether he bore the true insignia of his office or the marks of an impostor. If his claim had been to any thing else, it would be different. A claim to property, or to external homage, or to belief in a particular case, may be substantiated by external testimony; but when any being claims that I should believe a thing because he says it, — when he claims an affection from me greater than that which I owe to father, or mother, or brothers, or sisters, or wife, or children, — I not only do not, but I can not, and I ought not to, yield this coniidence and affection on the ground of any external testimony. There must be presented an ol)ject of moral affection which shall commend itself as worthy, to my immediate perception, before I can do this. AVe can not yield our affections except to perceived excellence ; and, since no man becomes a Christian who does not make Christ himself an object of affection, it is plain that his character, as well as his teaching, is a point of primary importance. Christianity unique. — CJiaracter of Christ central. — And here, again, as in every thing else, Christianity stands by itself. If other systems are, to some extent, vulnerable through the character of their authors, no other presents its very heart to be thus pierced. In an abstract, system of i)hilosophy, we do not inquire 212 EVIDEXCES OF CrmiSTIANITT. •what the character of its aiitlior -svas. The truth of the system of Plato, or of Adam Smith, or of Jeremy Beiitham, does not depend on the question whether they \vere good or bad men ; but if it could be shown that Christ was a bad man, — nay, if we were simply to withdraAV his character and acts, — the whole system would collapse at once. His character stands as the central orb of the system, and Avithout it there would be no effectual light and no heat. This arises from two causes. The first is the very striking peculiarity, — which, in considering the evidences, has not been enough noticed, — that the Author of Christianity claims, not merely belief, but affection. What would have been thought of Socrates, or Plato, if they had not merely taught mankind, but if they and their disciples had set up a claim that they should be loved by the whole human race with an affection exceeding that of kin- dred? This affection Christ claimed, and his disciples claimed it for him. Paul says, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, mara- natha," making the mere absence of the love a crime. But if he is to be thus loved by all men, he must first place himself in the relation to them of a personal benefactor, and then, by the very laws of affection, he must present a character which ought to call forth their love. The second cause why the character of Christ is so essential is, that in the moral and spiritual world power is manifested, and movement is effected, only by action. A moral system must, indeed, like any thing else, be the object of tlje intellect ; but no abstract system of moral truth, no precepts merely enunciated, but not embodied and manifested in actual life, could ever have been the means of moral life to the world. Men need, not only truth, but life — the truth and life embodied. They need a leader, some one to go before them as the Captain of their salvation, whose voice they LOWI.Y CONDITION OF CimiST. 213 • can hoar saying, "Follow me." "\Miile, therefore, in all other S}'stems, the character of the founder is of little importance, it is vital here. But no one can fail to see the iniinite difficulty and hazard of introducing such an clement as this into any system of imposture. It opens a point of attack against vdiicli no such system could ever rear an cticctual barrier. Condition in life. — Let us, then, first, as was pro- posed, look at the condition in life * of the Author of Christianity, and at the suitableness of that condition to one who was to be the teacher and spiritual deliverer of man. xVnd here I need hardly say that our Saviour was in humble circumstances, and was entirely without property. This fact we find indicated by himself in the simplest and most affecting manner. He did not speak of it in the language of repining and complaint, nor yet of stoical indifference and contempt of wealth, but in the language of kindness, and to prevent disappoint- ment in one who proposed to follow him, without understanding the true nature of his kingdom. He had liccomc celebrated, both as having the power to work miracles and as a great teacher. ]Multitudcs fol- lowed him ; and a certain man, no doubt with some hope of worldly gain, said unto him, "Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said mito him. Foxes have holes, and lurds of the air have nests ; but the Son of man hath not v/here to lay his head." The beasts of the field and the fowls of heaven had places of rest and shelter : but the greatest benefactor of men, when he came to dwell among them, had noth- ing that he could call his own. lie had no legal title to any thing, no control over any thing which men call * Tlie nrffument from this topic i* so similar to what is sai.J rospcctin;j it by the author of the " Thilosophy oftlio Vhv.\ of Salvatio-i." tli-f I thinic it ju-opor to say, that it M-as copiwl almost litenilly from au unpublished discourse, delivered before tlie publication of that work. 214 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. property. And not only was he poor after he com- menced his ministry, l)nt from his early days. His parents had no such wealth and consideration as would procure them a place in an inn in Bethlehem when there was a crowd, and accordingly he was cradled in a manger. He was early driven into a strange country ; and when he returned, his parents, through fear, turned aside and dwelt in a place where there Avas neither wealth nor refinement, and which had connected with it no elevating associations. He was called a Xazarene by way of reproach, and it was asked, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" So poor Avere Joseph and Mary, that they do not seem to have been able to give their children any particular advantages of educa- tion ; f(n- it is said that, when Christ taught, the Jews marveled, saying, "How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?" He chose for his companions poor and unlettered men ; and as he went from place to place, he was supported — shall I say by charity? Yes ; but there are two kinds of charity. He was not supported by that kind of charity which is drawn forth in view of distress, and accompanied with pity; but, wherever he went, there were those who received him in the spirit of his mission, to whom his words were gracious words, and who esteemed it an honor and a privilege to minister to him of their substance. Sup- port flowing from such a source, which Avas but a simple reflection of the spirit which he himself manifested, he was willing to receive, and did receive, and never seems to have had any other. JFitncM of — to exclude vronr/ motivei^. — Sut-h was the condition in life of the Author of Christianity, and it Avas fit and important that it should be so ; first, to show that his kingdom Avas not of this Avorld, and to prevent any from attaching themselves to it from worldly moti^^c: '^here is a kingdom of matter, gov- FiTNSss OF Christ's condition. 215 emed by gravitation and the laws of affinity ; there is a kingdom of sense and of sensitive good, governed by desire and by fear ; and there is a moral and spiritual kingdom. In this kingdom the government is by rational motives, by a perception of right and of wrong, and by moral love. The motives by which a man is led to become a subject of this kingdom can have noth- ing to do with any thing material. The moment any consideration of wealth or of power comes in, to induce any one to enter into its visible inclosure, its very nature becomes changed. It was of infinite importance . that this point should be guarded ; and in no way could this have been done so eilcctually as by the humljle condition, the entire separation, on the part of the Author of Christianity, from all connection with wealth or with power. Perhaps such a separation was even required by consistency, in one who said that his king- dom was not of this world. For personal dignity. — Secondly, such a condition was necessary to the personal dignity of Christ as the head of a spiritual kingdom, and to the highest evidence of the reality of such a kingdom. If Christ was what he claimed to be, he could not receive title-deeds from men. He came out from God on a great mission, as tlie embassador of an infinite and an eternal kingdom ; and it would not only have interfered with that mission in its spirit, but would have debased and degraded it beyond expression, if he had shown any regard for wealth, or had had any thing to do with the petty strifes of men for temporary power. ^Moreover, it could not otherwise have appeared that his true kingdom could stand by itself, and that it needed none of those attrac- tions and supports at which alone men are accustomed to look. If Christ had possessed either Avealtli or power, I should feel that I was conducting this argu- ment at an immense disadvantage. 216 ETIDENCES OF CHEISTLys^TY. To give ivealth and power their place. — Thirdly, such a condition was ueccssaiy, not only that he might «how his own estimate of wealth and power, but that he might lead his followers to a right view, and a right spirit, concerning them, and concerning the distinctions which they bring. They are external to the spirit. They have nothing to do with that state of it in Avhich character consists, and on which itL3 true dignity and happiness must depend. Christ came to prepare men for a kingdom where neither property nor wealth exists as an clement of enjoyment, but where all things will be as the air and the sunlight ; and where, if intellectual and moral beings differ, it will be only as one star diliers from another star in glory. It is impossible, therefore, that any one who truly sympathizes with the spirit of Christ should have that selfish and idolatrous attachment to them which has been the cause of so much disorder and unhappiness among men. To show Ihe dignity of man. — And, once more : this condition of Christ was requisite to show the true worth and dignity of man as man. In a world where respect for man as an inmiortal being, in the image of God, had so far given place to respect for wealth and rank, it was of the first importance that a spiritual teacher should himself stand in the simple grandeur of a true and perfect manhood. By doing this, Christ furnished to the poor in all ages, many of whom were to be his disciples, a model, and a ground of selt-respect ; and he made it impossiljle that there should not be, wherever the spirit of his religion prevails, a true respect for every human being. AMlh that estimate of man, or, if you please, of men, which ministers to the pride of talent, or of wealth, or of power, he had no sympathy. He looked at man as a spirit, at all men as standing upon the same level of immortality ; and his teachings, his labors, and his suiierings, were equally for all. CLAIMS OF ciimsT. 217 "VVho can sec the humble Avulks of life thus trodden, and not feel that the race is one brotherhood, and not be ready to give the hand of fellowship, of S3^mpathy, and of aid, to every one "whom Christ thus represented, and for whom he thus cared ? Strange, then, and oftcnsive as it was at the first, as it ahva^'s has been to many, it must yet be admitted that, if Christ was to be a spiritual deliverer, to eradi- cate pride and seltishness, and to unite all men in one brotherhood, it was essential that he should appear in the very circumstances and condition of life in which he did appear. Claims of Christ. — We next inquire Avhat were the claims of this man, — so humble in his condition; so lowly ; so destitute of learniug, of wealth, of influen- tial friends ; Avhose public ministry but little exceeded three years, and was terminated by crucifixion. In general, he claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God, and the Saviour of men. As I wish to avoid here all disputed points, I shall not move the great question whether he claimed to be a trul}" divine person, or to be " the Lanil) of God, that taketh away the sins of the world," in the sense of making an atonement, but shall observe, — 1. That he claimed to be a perfect teacher; 2. To set a perfect example ; to be the model man of the race ; 3. To be a perfectly sinless being; 4. That all men should love and obey him ; 5. To Avork miracles as no other man ever did ; G. That in him the prophecies of the Old Testament were fulfilled ; 7. That he would himself rise from the dead ; 8. To be the final judge of the world. Such were his claims — claims till then miprece- 19 218 EVIDENCES OF CIIKISTLiXITY. dented, unheard of, nndrcumed of, by the wildest and most extravagant imagination. Character of Christ. — Let ns next see, so far as we have the means of determining, how lie sustained these daims. In doing this, we shall, of necessity, as was proposed, consider his character. Nothing local or temporary. — And here, before say- ing any thing under the particular heads specified, I shall enrich this lecture with three general remarks from one whose eloquent voice will long echo in the public halls of this city. "AVe are immediately struck," says Dr. Channing, in his Dudleian lecture, "with this pecu- liarity in the Author of Christianity, — that whilst all other men are formed in a measure by the spirit of the age, we can discover in Jesus no impression of the period in which he lived. AYe knoAV, with considerable accnracy, the state of society, the modes of thinking, the hopes and expectations of the country in which Jesus was born and grew up ; and he is as free from them as if he had lived in another world, or with every sense shut on the objects around him. His character has in it nothing local or temporary. It can l3e explained by nothing around him. His history shows him to us a solitary being, living for purposes which none but him- self comprehended, and enjoying not so much as the sympathy of a single mind. His apostles, his chosen companions, brought to him the spirit of the age ; and nothinir shows its stren2:th more strikina'ly than the slowness with which it yielded, in these honest men, to the instructions of Jesus." Vastness of views. — Again : " One striking peculiar- ity in Jesus is the extent and vastness of his views. "Whilst all around him looked for a Messiah to liberate God's ancient people, — whilst, to every other Jew, Judea was the exclusive object of pride and hope, — CHRIST AS A TEACHER. 219 Jesus came, declaring himself to 1)C the deliverer and light of the -world ; and in his whole teaching and life you see a consciousness, ■which never forsakes him, of a relation to the whole human race. This idea of bless- ing mankind, of spreading a universal religion, was the most magnilicent which had ever entered man's mind. All previous religions had been given to particular nations. No conqueror, legislator, philosopher, in the extravagance of ambition, had ever dreamed of subject- ins: all nations to a connnon faith." Confidence. — Once more : he says, "I can not but add another striking circumstance in Jesus ; and that is, the calm confidence with which he always looked for- ward to the accomplishment of his design. He fully knew the strength of the passions and powers which were arrayed against him, and was perfectly aware that his life was to be shortened hy violence ; yet not a word escapes him implying a doul)t of the ultimate triumphs of his religion. * * * This entire and patient relin- quishment of immediate success, this ever-present per- suasion that he was to perish before his religion would advance, and this calm, unshaken anticipation of distant and unbounded triumphs, are remarkable traits, throwing a tender and solemn grandeur over our Lord, and A\holly inexplicalJe by human principles, or by the circum- stances in Avhich he was placed ! " Christ a perfect teacher. — The matter of his teaching. — I noAv proceed to observe, 1. That, under that gen- eral claim to which these remarks apply, Christ claimed to be a perfect teacher — to be not only a light, but the light of the world. And who can point out any defect in his teaching, cither in respect to matter or to manner? As a teacher of religion, he set before us, in the matter of his teaching, the paternal and the holy character of God, and taught us to love him, and to worship him in 220 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. spirit and in truth. It is evidently impossible that we should have a higher conception of God in any of his attri1)utcs, or of his worship, than he communicated. A\ the same character, he taught ns the great doctrines of a perfect human accountability, of the immortality of the soul, of the resurrection of the dead, and of the final reward of the righteous and punishment of the wicked. As a teacher of morality, he introduced a system, the great characteristics of which are, (1.) That it establishes a perfect standard. (2.) That it takes cognizance of the heart. (3.) That it forbids all the malevolent and dissocial passions. (4.) That it for- bids all merely selfish passions, as vanity and pride. (5.) That it forbids all impure passions. (6.) That it includes all its positive duties under the two great requisitions of love to God and love to man, which all moralists now agree is the sum of human duty. If we look at man as a practical being, Avhat point is there on which Christ did not shed light enough to lead him, if he will but follow his instructions, to his true happi- ness, whether in this world or the world to come? The manner. — Nor was the manner of his teaching less extraordinary. He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes, or as the philosophers who ran into sul)tile distinctions, and deduced every thing from the nature of things. In opposition to all the learning, and authority, and prejudices of his age and nation, he simply said, "Verily / say unto you." He spoke with the cahnness, and dignity, and decision, of one who bore credentials that challenged entire def- erence. But, if his manner was authoritative, it was also gentle and condescending; if it was dignilied, it was also kind ; if it Avas calm, it was also earnest. While his instructions Avere the most elevated that were ever uttered, they were uttered with such plainness, were so clothed in paraljlcs, and illustrated l)y common THE MODEL MAN. 221 objects, that they were also the most intelligible. Nothing can exceed, nothing ever equaled, in depth and weight, some of his discourses and paral)les ; and yet they are simple and beautiful, "arc adapted to the ha])its of thinking of the poor, are opened and cxi)anded to their capacities, separated from points of difiicult}' and abstraction, and presented .only in the aspect Mhic'li regarded their duty and hopes." * The most exalted intellect can not exhaust his instructions, and yet they arc adapted to the feeblest. "Never man spake like this man." Xo teacher ever so combined authority and condescension, dignity and gentleness, zeal and discretion, sublimity and plainness, weight of matter and a facility of comprehension by all. Christ a perfect examj)Ie and model. — 2. But if the claim to be a perfect teacher was so high, far higher was that to set a perfect example, and to stand before the world as the model man. The need of this. — In every practical science, a per- fect system of instruction must include both precept and example. If God was to institute a perfect system for the instruction and elevation of man, both as a spec- ulative and a practical being, it was necessary that he should not only give him perfect precepts, but that he should cause a perfect example to be set l)efore him. The constitution of man requires this. He is, and must be, more affected l)y example than by precept. Even in the exact sciences, %vhen a rule is given, though it really covers every possi])le case, it is yet necessary to give exami)les to sliow practically its application. ISUwli more nuist this be needed in the ever-varying adjustnionts of moral relations. A great example will speak, though silently, yet powerfully, to the S}^!^):^ thetic feelings, and will aid the imagination in sfivins: direction and definiteness to its ideas of perfection. * Wilson. 19* 222 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTtA]!aTT. Ifs adaptation to man. — And here we find one great adaptation of the Christian system to the moral con- dition and wants of man, whi(-h is not even attempted in any other. It is one on which I did not dwell when on the subject of adaptations, because I intended to speak of it here. The Author of Christianity, in claim- ing to give .such an example, at least showed his knowl- edge of what a perfect system required ; and if he has done it, he has not only done what unassisted man could not do, but what I am inclined to think he could not even conceive of. It was not in the power of man to form a conception of the character of Christ before he appeared. It is one thing to recognize a perfect character as such, when it is presented, and quite another so to combine the (pialitics as to form such a character, and to manifest it in action. It is at this point that we find all the difference between the com- mon power of judgiug of the productions of genius in the fine arts, and of producing models of excellence in those arts ; and I do not hesitate to say that, as a work of art, a product of geuius, simply, the exhibition in life of a perfect model of human nature would be the hio-host conceivable attainment. That man has genius who can embody the perfection of material forms in his imagination, and cause those forms to live before us in the marble, on the canvas, or on the printed page; and he has higher genius' still who can arrange the elements of character into new yet natural combinations, and cause his personages, as organized and consistent wholes, to speak and act before us. In all these cases, Avhen Michael Angelo produces a statue, or Allston a painting, or IVIilton a landscape, or Shak- epeare a character, we can judge of it, though we could not have made that combination. It is, indeed, the great prerogative of genius to produce thoughts, and forms, and characters, and I will add here actions, of GENIUS AXD ACTION. 223 which other men recognize the excellence, hut which they could not have protliicetl. Yes, I add actions ; for if the conception and delineation of an orii^inal course of action require genius, it must be equally required, and in combination, too, with high practical qualities, to realize that same conception in the bolder relief of actual life. The power to act thus does not always, perhaps not generally, involve the pov/cr of delineation, but it does involve the vciy highest form of genius, and something more ; and it is only because there is genius, that expresses itself in great action, that that of delin- eation has either dignity or worth. J(s difficultij. — Now, as the highest effort of genius in statuary would be to produce a perfect himian form, one of which it might be said that, though no form in nature ever equaled it, yet that every form was perfect in proportion as it approximated toward it, so it would be the highest conceivable effort of genius, involving its most complex elements, to present, as an organized and consistent whole, and to cause to speak and act before us in all the diversified relations of life, a perfect human being, — one of whom it might be said that, though no other ever manifested the same excellence, yet that all others were excellent in proportion as they approximated toward him. Philosopher, man of genius and of taste, here is a task for you. We challenge j^ou to it. AVould you, could you, not merely describe in general terms, l)ut present in detail, the words and actions even of a consistent and perfect l)iety? Xo. You would not, and you could not. Attempts had often been made to portray a model character, but it does not appear that it was within the power of human genius ; and when the majestic, the sim[)le, the beauti- ful, the perfect character of Christ appeared, it was seen how poor those attempts had been. Certainly, applying the most philosophical tests, if the evangelists 224 EVIDEXCES OF CimiSTIANITY. did invent tliis character, tliey manifested higher genius than any other men that ever lived. But if the bare representation of .sucli a character would ))e so difficult, who could have tliought of really l)eing such a person, of expressing it in life and action? OfpJiilosojjhical interest. — Now, the question Avheth- er the true model of humanity has been really thus presented, is one, to my mind, not only of religious, but of the deepest philosophical interest. If mankind are ever to advance intelligently in excellence, they must have the true model before them. There can be no true progress, either of individuals or of society, without this. The greatest amount of human activity, hitherto, has had no tendency to advance the cause of humanity, and it never can have till men adopt a right model, and seek to conform themselves to that. To conform ourselves to such a model we do aspire in our better moments. Is there one here who has not felt the stirrings within him of something that would lead him to take hold on this? Wherever there is any thing truly elevated in human nature, it is this that it seeks for; it is this that, in its l)lindness and moral ruin, it still gropes after; it is this respecting which many, very many, when they have beheld the character of Christ, have exclaimed, with a deeper joy than that of the philosopher, "Eureka, Eureka!" — I have found it, I have found it ! Part of the system. — Yes, we do claim that this model was presented, as a part of the system of Chris- tianity, in the character of Christ ; this deep want of human nature we say that he has supplied. The more we look at the character of Christ, the more we shall be satisfied that there is there presented what we seek — the more ready shall Ave be to exclaim, "Who is this that cometh up . . . traveling in the greatness of his strength ? " It is obviously not every part of his life PIETY OF CHRIST. 225 that was intendccl to ])c an example to man, but only that in which he stood in the relations common to men, in which he moved and walked as one of them. And he did move and mingle freely with men of all classes and of all conditions. He was placed not only in such a condition in life, but in so many situations — he came into collision with human passion and interest in so many ways — as most fully to test his character, and make him an example to all. At this example we will bricHy look. His piety. — I observe, then, first, that his piety was most exemplary.* On all occasions he acknowledged God, and always did those things that pleased him. He conformed to the ceremonial law. He expounded the Scriptures, and honored them as the word of God. He attended public worship on the Sabbath. There are indications that he was in constant hal)its of devotion, and on all solemn occasions he prayed. "It is recorded of him on no less than six occasions, that he gave thanks to God on partaking and distril)uthig food." When he was baptized, he prayed. Before he chose his twelve disciples, he went out iuto a mountain to pray. When he had Avrought a great number of cures publicly for the first time, he "rose up a great while before it was day, and Avent into a desert place, and jDrayed." ' When many came together to hear him, and to be cured of their infirmities, he retired into desert places, and prayed. When he had fed five thousand with five loaves and two fishes, he dismissed the multi- tudes, and went up into a mountain apart, to pray. On one occasion, he continued all night in prayer. He prayed for Peter. He prayed, if it may be called jn-aycr, at the grave of Lazarus. He prayed at the close of the institution of the Lord's supper. He * On this whole subject, see Archbishop Ncwcomo's " Observations on our Lord." 226 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTIAXITY. prayed in his agony. He prayed on the cross. Ho taught his disciples to pray, and gave them that form of Avhich Paley says that, " For a succession of solenni thoughts, for fixing the attention upon a few great points, for suitableness to every condition, for suffi- ciency, for conciseness without obscurity, for the Aveight and real importance, of its petitions, it is Avithout a rival." In all things he had reference to the Avill of God, so that he could say that it was his meat to do his will. The doing of God's will perfectly Avas evidently the jrreat element in Avliich he lived. And this piety was a rational piety, Avithout any tinge of mysticism, or ghxmi, or fanaticism, or extravagance. For, — Jlis benevolence. — KSecondly, it Avas ecpialed only by his benevolence. Of liiis it can not be necessary that I shoidd adduce particular instances. His Avhole history, in this respect, is comprised in five Avords — "He Avent about doing good." All his acts were entirely iinseltish. He never refused to relieve the distress of any, but never used his miraculous poAvers for his oaa'-ii benefit, or to gain applause. His l)enevolence AA^as uni- versal, embracing, in direct opposition to the spirit of his age and nation, not only the Jcays, but the Samar- itans and the Gentiles. His l)enevolence rose superior to injuries. He neither reviled, nor complained, nor ceased from his lal)ors and suilerings for the good of men, Avhen he Avas the most cruelly treated. Compasfiion — combination of oppoxite quoJif/'es. — And not only Avas he benevolent, but compassionate. He had compassion on the multitude Avhen th(\A' Avero hungry and faint. He Avept oA'cr Jerusalem. He was full of sympathy. When he saAv jMaryAveeping, and the JcAvs also Aveeping Avho came Avith her, "Jesus wept." He Avas full of gentleness and condescension, taking up little children in his anus and l)lessing them; and yet he Avas fearless and terrible in his reproofs of BALiV^XE OF CIIIilST's CHARACTER. 227 iniquity in high places. He " came eating and drink- ing," and was tree from all austerity ; and yet he was " pure in spirit." lie had great meekness and lowliness, in union with an evident consciousness of the highest dignity, lie washed his disciples' feet, at the same time that he told them that he was their Lord and Mas- ter. He was not elated by popularity, nor depressed when his followers deserted him. He had a zeal which led his friends to say he was beside himself; and yet his prudence, as shown by his answers to those who would entrap him, was equal to his zeal. Nor was his zeal indiscriminate ; for, while he insisted on the silent w^orship which is in spirit and in truth, he yet gave their proper place to external observances, even to tho tithing of mint, and he rebuked zeal in his csvii cause, when it did not proceed from a pure motive. He was keenly sensible to suffering, and yet he bore it without murmuring. He Avas subject to his parents in early life, and remembered his mother on the cross. There is no virtue Avhich he did not exemplify, and man can be placed in no situation in which his example will not be applicable. J^ositions to try p let 1/ and benevolence. — But, to sum up what has been said of the example of Christ, it has often seemed to me remarkable that he should have been brought into such positions as to try, in the high- est possil)le manner, botii his piety and his benevo- lence, and to lead him to give of each of these the highest possible example. No doubt tliis was so or- dered of God. The two great principles of conduct, which men need to have constantly set before them, are love and sulnnission to God, and benevolence to men. And did not he manifest a perfect love and submission to God, who could say, in the prospect of his dreadful sufferings, and in the hour of his agony, " Not my will, but thine, be done " ? Did not he love others as himself, 228 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. and exemplify his own most difficult precept of forgiv- ing injuries, Avho prayed for his murderers on the cross? "Behold the man I " ui perfect example, and sometliing more. — And hero I would observe, that I do not regard the setting of a perfect example, in every thing that may strictly be called a duty, as comprising every thing that should belong to a perfect humanity. A perfect humanity impHes a sensil)iljty, a refinement, a grace, a beauty of character, which can not be said to be required 1)y duty. And all these the Saviour had in the highest degree. There was no i)urc and exquisite emotion of human nature to which he was not keenly alive ; and it is the union, in him, of every thing that is tender and gentle with those higher and sterner qualities, which renders him a fit example, not for man only, but for woman. How just and perfect must have been his perception of the beauties of nature, who could say of the lilies of tlie field, that Solomon, in all his glory, Avas not arrayed like one of these ! In all the attitudes in Avhich Christ was placed, in all the words that he uttered, there is nothing unseemly, or offensive to a just taste. His susceptibilities to both joy and suffering were intense. He rejoiced in spirit, and his joy instantly burst forth in devout thanksgiving. He was prone to compassion, and repeatedly melted into tears. The innocence of children engaged his aflection. His heart was open to impressions of friendship. "Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus." He had a beloved disciple. "When he saw an aniial)lc young man, he loved him. He was grieved at unbelief, and had a generous indig- nation against vice. An example, and yet the Messiah. — In all these respects — in his piety, in his benevolence and other virtues, in the refinement and delicacy of his character — he is a suitable example for us. But, as diflicult as BALANCE OF CHAEACTER. 229 it must have l)ocn to present in action tliis combination of human excellences, it must have been much more so to coml)inc with them those qualities, and that deport- mcut^ which were appropriate to him as the Messiah and Saviour of the world. Is it possible that lie who claimed to be greater than Solomon, to command legions of angels, to raise the dead, — who spoke of himself as the Sou of God, and as the final Judge of the world, — should so move, and speak, and act, as to sustain a character compatible with these high pretensions, and yet have the condescension, and gentleness, and meekness, of Christ ? And yet such is the character presented by the evangelists. There is no break, no incongruity. Like his own seandess garment, the character is one. He seems to combine, with perfect ease, these elements, apparently so incompatible. This, I confess, excites my astonishment. The presentation of a perfect man- hood in a lowly station had been beyond the power of human genius ; but when this is comljiued with the proprieties and requisitions of a public character, and an office so exalted as that of the INIessiah and the Judge of the world, then I have an intuitive conviction that I stand in the presence of no human invention ; then this character presents itself to me with the gran- deur and Avonder that belong to the great mountains and the starry heavens. lioussemi. — Is there an infidel wdio hears me, and who sa^'s that these impressions are made on a mind predisposed to receive them, and that they are not those which would legitimately be made? — let him hear what one of his own prophets has said. " I con- fess," says Rousseau,* "that the majesty of the Scrip- tures astonishes me ; that the- sanctity of the gospel speaks to my heart. View the books of the philoso- phers, — with all their pomp, what a littleness have * Emilc, as translated by Newcome. 20 230 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. they when compared willi this ! Is it possible that a Look at once so sublinu' and shnplc should be the work of men ? Is it possible that lie whose history it records should 1)0 himself a mere man? Is this the stylc^of an enthusiast, or of an ambitious sectary? What sweet- ness, what purity, in his manners ! what affecting o-raco in his instructions ! what elevation in his maxims I what profound wisdom in his discourses ! what presence of mind, what delicacy, and what justness, in his re- plies ! what empire over his passions ! Where is the man, where is the philosopher, who knows how to act, to suffer, and to die, without weakness and without ostentation?* . . . Where could Jesus have taken, among his countrymen, that elevated and pure morality of which he alone furnished both the precept and the example ? The most lofty wisdom was heard from the bosom of the most furious fanaticism ; and the sim- plicity of the most heroic virtues honored the vilest of all people. The death of Socrates, serenely philoso- phizing with his friends, is the most gentle that ono can desire ; that of Jesus, expiring in torments, injured, derided, reviled by a whole people, is the most horrible that one can fear. When Socrates takes the poisoned cup, he blesses him who presents it, and who at the same time weeps ; Jesus, in the midst of a horrid pun- ishment, prays for his enraged executioners. Yes ; if the life and death of Socrates are those of a philoso- pher, the life and death of Jesus Christ are those of a God." Aiierfect example and sinlessness. — 3. According to the idea of many, the claim to set a perfect example involves the claim to be perfectly sinless. But, in some respects, the claim to be sinless involves more * Part of this passa|,'e is lioro omittod. I wish to add tho following: : "What prejudices, what blindness, must they have, who dare to diaw a comparison between the son of Sophroniscus and the sou of Mary! What distance is therO between the one and the other ! " SmLESSNESS OF CHRIST. 231 than the cLiim to exhibit a perfect model of humanity, since this exhibition respects an outward manifestation ; and who can say that it may not he compatible with some wrong feeling or affection? And, in some respects, again, the claim to be a model man is more extensive than that to be perfectly sinless. A Inmian being might be sinless, and l)e destitute of many of the per- fections of the character of Christ. And then, airain, these chums look in such different directions, and re- spect such entirely different ol)jects, that there is a propriety in considering them apart. The claim to present a perfect manhood has respect to the wants of man ; the claim to be sinless has respect to the rela- tions of the individual to God, and to his fitness to l)e a Redeemer from sin. It must, I think, be conceded, that he who would deliver others from the power of sin must himself be free from its power — be entirely above and aloof from it. While, therefore, we can conceive of an exJiibition of our nature that would appear to us faultless, while we might not l)e certain that it was sinless, yet we can not conceive of one, coming as a redeemer and deliverer from sin, who had himself ever swerved from moral rectitude even in thought or feeling. But since the great purpose for which Christ came was to " save his people from their sins," it became necessary that he should himself be, and claim to be, entirely free from sin. Christ claimed to be sinless. — That Christ made this claim, and that his disciples made it for him, there can be no doubt. They made it impliedly, and they made it expressly. Christ said, " Which of you convinceth mo of sin?" — that he did always those things that pleased the Father — that he was one with the Father. Peter says, expressly, that he "did no sin," that ho was "the holy one and the just ; " and Paul says that he was "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." 232 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTIAXITT. Bearings of tills claim. — But Avliut ;i claim is this! — a claim never made by any other human being. Such a claim, the most extraordinary, and the most difficult to l)c sustained, of any that was ever set up, while it is imi)licd in the idea of a redeemer from sin, must have been fatal to any impostor. Is this claim admitted, or is it denied? If it is admitted, the claims of Christianity are admitted with it. If it is denied, the claims of Christianity, as a relii^-ion, arc denied ; for, as a mode of deliverance from sin, and of salva- tion, its whole value turns upon this. Men may have what knowledge they please of external evidences, and of mere facts, but this can never work a spiritual ren- ovation. They must come to Christ, and believe in him as a sinless Redeemer, or there can no virtue go out of him for their spiritual healing. Proof. — The proof that Christ was a sinless being will be founded, first, on the same facts that prove his perfect example. Here, too, we may properly receive his own testimony, since he could not have been de- ceived on this point. His perfect sinlessness is also to be inferred from the effects produced by his life upon his disciples ; from its eflects upon the world ; and from the fact that, as the mind of any individual becomes more pure and elevated, he perceives a greater and greater purity and elevation in the character of Christ, so that, to whatever height he. may attain, he still perceives the majestic form of the Redeemer moving before him. I leave the point by remarking, that if any wish to see it fully illustrated, I would refer them to an excellent essay u[)()n it by Dr. Ullman in the "German Selections," translated by Edwards and Park. Claims of Christ to olmllence. — 4. Christ also claimed that all men should love and obey him. This — the assertion of a right to a paramount and spiritual MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 233 dominion, not over one race or one age only, but over all mankind, and through all coming ages — was, as I have already said, entirely peculiar. It must imply a claim to stand in the relation of a personal benefactor to every one, and to possess such a character as ought to call forth afiection. After the other claims of Christ, ■\ve need not be surprised at this. But what a glorious kingdom of affection and love does it open before us ! Here is the foundation of that kingdom of love of which Napoleon spoke when he compared the kingdom of Christ with his own, "Alexander, C?esar,' Charle- magne, and myself," said he, "founded empires; but upon what foundations did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ alone founded his empire upon love, and, at this hour, millions of men would die for him. ... I die before my time, and my body will be given back to the earth to become the food of worms. Such is the fate of him who has been called the great Napoleon. What an al)yss between my deep misery and the eternal kingdom of Christ, which is proclaimed, loved, and adored, and which is extend- ing over the whole earth ! " To icork minides. — 5. Christ claimed to work mir- acles. I mention this, not because he alone has made this claim or has wrought miracles, but because, all the circumstances considered, he stands entirely by himself in this respect. I have already spoken of the character of his miracles, as sufficient of itself to confirm his divine mission. They were none of them wrought for his personal advantage, or for display, or capriciously, or to gratify curiosity. They were all benevolent and worthy of God. He was peculiar, too, in the number of his miracles. It is probable, from the accounts given, that, on a single occasion, he wrought more miracles than had been wrought by all the prophets from the beginning. He was also peculiar in his manner 20* 234 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTLVXITY. of working miracles. He performed them with entiro simpHfity and facility, and generally, so far as appears, by his own anth(u-ity. "lie commanded the nnclean spirits, and they came out." He said to the sea, "Peace, be still." AVIien he raised the dead, he simply said, "Young man, I say nnto thee. Arise." The apostles did their miracles in the name of Christ, and the manner of the prophets was entirely different, giv- mg no such impressions of poAver and majesty. That tlie j)ro}-)hedeH were fidjilled in Jiim. — G. Christ also claimed that in him the prophecies of the Old Tes- tament were fulfilled. I mention this among the claims Ashich he must be acknowledged to have made, but shall not dwell upon it here, because I intend t(^ speak of it more fully at another time. The claim, however, is not a slight one, to stand as the subject of prophecy and the antitype of all the types in the old dispensation from the beginning, — the claim that he was a person of such importance as to have l)ccn spoken of from the first by holy men, and to appeal to the Scriptures as testifying of him. That he u-oithl rise from the dead. — 7. Christ claimed that he would rise from the dead. What could have induced him to make so strange a claim as this? And yet, to substantiate this claim, thus put forth, we have an accumulation of evidence such as v>e have for scarcely any other ancient foct. And be the Judge of the world. — 8. Of the claim of Christ to be the final Judge of the world I shall say nothing, because, from the nature of the case, I have no means of verifying it. The fact that he made this claim, hoAvever, is all that is needed for the purpose of my present argument ; and I will only observe, that it is not more extraordinary than his other claims, and is in perfect keei)ing with them. If we admit his other claims, we shall of coui'se achnit this. CHEIST NOT DECEIVED. 235 Was he deceived? — Such were the condition, the claims, and the character, of Jesus Christ. And now, is it possible that he was either deceived or a deceiver ? Was he sincere in making these claims? If he was, and thoy are not well founded, then I ask. Could a young man, poor, unlearned, brought up in an obscure village, accustomed to a humble employment, make such claims, and not be utterly insane ? Can we con- ceive of a wilder hallucination? Is there one of all the vagaries entertained by the tenants of our lunatic asy- lums that is more extravagant than these? No mere self-exaltation or enthusiasm, nothing short of insanity, can account for such claims. I mention this the rather, because I remember to have been struck by it in read- ing the New Testament in my early days. When I heard this man, apparently so lowly, saying that he was the light of the world, — "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink," — that he was one with God, that all things were delivered to him by his Fatlier, that he that had seen him had seen the Father, that whatsoever the disciples should ask in his name he would do it, that he would rise from the dead, and come in the clouds of heaven, attended by myriads of angels, to judge the world, — I felt that I had evidence, either that those claims were well founded, or of a hopeless insanity. No wonder those who did not be- lieve said of him, "He hath a devil, and is mad : why hear 3^ him?" But then, as now, there was the unan- swerable reply, " These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?" When we look at his discourses, at their calmness, at their deep insight and profound wisdom ; when we see that the discoveries of all ages have only shed luster upon their wisdom, and that the wisest and best portion of the race now sit at his feet as their instructor ; when we see the more than propriety, the self-possession, the 236 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. dignity of his deportment under the most trying cir- cumstances, — we feel that not a voice from heaven coukl make it more certain that liis was not a crazed, or a weak, or an unbalanced intellect. This fact is borne witness to by the light of its own evidence ; it shines by its own brightness. Was he a deceiver? — Diility would be infinitely small. Had any one of these characteristics belonged to any other iudividual, it would have placed him among the most distinguished personages of history ; but when we sec them all clustering upon the lowly Jesus, the Crucified One, we must say, with one of old, " We have found the Messias." LECTURE IX. THE EXTERNAL EVIDENCE. — GENERAL GROUNDS ON WniCH THIS IS TO BE PUT. — ARGUMENT ELEVENTH : AUTHENTICI- TY AND INTEGRITY OF THE WRITINGS OF THE NEW TESTA- MENT. When we came into life, we found Christianity ex- isting. It was our J)usiness, as independent tliinkers, to examine it in its relations to the human constitution and to human well-being. This we have done in the preceding lectures ; and if the system be such as it has been represented to be, then Ave may well feel a deep interest in every thing relating to its origin and history — in what have been, called its external evidences. To those evidences, then, we now turn. Object of inquiry , facts. — In this department of the evidences, the object of our inquiry is, not adaptations, or doctrines, or opinions, or inferences, but simply his- torical facts. To he judged ofhy their own evidence, — "Was there such a person as Jesus Christ? "Was he crucified? Did be rise from the dead ? These are questions which we are to settle precisely as Ave Avould settle the questions whether there A\'as such a man as Augustus C;esar, and Avhether he became the sole ruler of the lioman empire. These are no abstract questions, and avc are not to let any of the uncertainty Avhich must often belong to the discussion of such questions connect itself Avith these. (238) HISTORICAL EVIDENCE ESSENTLiL. 239 There is a science of evidence ; there are laws of evi- dence ; and all we ask is, tluit those laws may be applied to the fiicts of Christianity precisely as they are to any other facts. We insist upon it that the evidence ought to be judged of by itself, simply as evidence ; that no man has a right first to examine the facts, and make up an antecedent judgment that they are improbable, and then transfer this feeling of improbability over to the evidence. We hold to the principle of Butler, that, to a being like man, objections against Christianity, as distinguished from objections against its evidence, unless, indeed, it can be shown to contain something either immoral or absurd, really amount to nothing. Facts essential. — It is, indeed, a striking peculiarity of the Christian religion, that the truth of its doctrines, and the power of its motives, are inseparably connected with the reality of certain facts which might originally be judged of by the senses, and which are now to be determined by the same historical evidence as we em- ploy in judging of any other facts. As fully as I have entered upon the internal evidence, as satisfactory^ as I regard the proof it furnishes, as heartily as I should deprecate a merely historical religion, necessarily desti- tute of any life-giving power, I would yet say, distinctly, that I believe in no religion that is not supported by historical proof. Unless Jesus Christ lived, and ^Tought miracles, and was crucified, and rose from the dead, Christianity is an imposture — beautiful, indeed, and utterly unaccountable, but still an imposture. Christianitjj jpeculiar in this. — Perhaps it is not enough considered how much Christianity is contradis- tinguished, in this respect, not only from other systems of religion, but from all systems and questions of phi- losophy, Christ said, "Though ye believe not me, believe the works." So said not INIohammed. The facts on which his system, as a religion^ rests, depend 240 EVIDENCES OF CHKISTIANITY. solely on the testimony of one man. So says not any system of philosophy. It is a totally dili'ercnt thing for the philosopher to present certain doctrines for (uir reception on the ground of his reasoning, and for the witness to testify, " That which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, — declare we unto you." Christianity is, indeed, a spiritual religion ; but it is a spirituality manifesting itself through fiicts, clothed in substantial forms. It says to the unbeliev- ing, " lieach hither thy finger, and behold my hands ; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side." In saying this, it offers itself to be tried by a new test — such a one as no other religion can stand. But the Christian religion shrinks from no test. We wish it to be fully tried. We know that, like the jiure gold, the more it is tried, the more clearly it will be seen to be genuine. That a religion intended ftn- the race would need the kind of evidence of Avhich I am now to speak, is plain ; but the difficulty is immeasurably increased when it is attempted to sustain an imposture by evidence of this kind, freely thrown open to all. Ground of belief in similar fads. — As, then, our object is to ascertain the reality of certain alleged facts, it may be well to look at the grounds on which we believe other and similar facts. It has generally been said, that the sole ground on which we believe facts that we have not ourselves witnessed, is that of testi- mony. In some eases this is so, but in many others I should think it an inadequate account of the grounds of our belief. ~\Mien a man finds an ancient mound at the west, and in it human bones and the implements of civilization, is it on the ground of testimony that he believes that this continent was once inhabited by a race now extinct? Or, again, if I were required to prove that such a man as General AYashington ever DIFFERENT CLASSES OF FACTS. 241 existed, and performed tlie acts generally ascribed to him, should I rest on the ground of testimony alone? Perhaps the evidence of testimony is involved in the fact that his birthday is celebrated ; but that fact is something more than mere testimony. So, when I go to the house -where it is said he lived, and the tomb where it is said he is buried, when I see the sword pre- sented to Congress which it is said he wore, I find, in the existence of the house, the tomb, the sword, an evidence distinct from that of naked testimony. So, again, when I look at the independence of this country, and at its republican institutions, and find them ascril)ed by universal testimony to what Washington did, and when I find existing no other account of the manner in which our independence was achieved, and our institu- tions established, then I find, in the fact of the inde- pendence of this country and the existence of its free institutions, an evidence distinct from that of mere testimony. Every lawyer knows the difierence between naked testimony and testimony thus corroborated by circumstantial evidence. Fads differentlij substantiated. — Here, then, we find thcr ground of a wide distinction between the diiicrent classes of facts for which we have evidence. They may be divided into those which rest on the evidence of testimony alone, and those which we receive, not merely on the direct evidence of testimony, but which produced permanent efl'ccts in the world that are now manifest, and which can be reasonably traced to no other causes than those assigned by the testimony. And of this latter kind, especially, some are so substantiated, that no miracle could be more strange, or more difiicult to be believed, or more a violation of the uniform course of our experience, than that such evidence should de- ceive us. The existence and history'' of Washington, for example, are so uuich involved in the present state 21 242 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTIANITT. of things, the evidence for them comes from so many sources, it touches so many points, that to deny them would be a practical absurdity. ^Ye shoidd think it no breach of charity to say to him who questioned such evidence, that he was insincere. Those of Christianitij in the strongest ivay. — Xoav, it is on this general ground that the evidence for Chris- tianity rests ; and we say that no man can pluck away the pillars on which it rests, without bringing down the whole fabric of historical evidence in ruins over his head. We say that this evidence can not be invalidated without introducing universal and absolute historical skepticism. Christianity, with all its institutions, exists. Christen- dom exists, and it is important to our argument that the o-reatness of this fact should not be overlooked. It is the great fact in the history of the world. Here is a religion, received by a large portion of the human race ; by that portion, too, which takes the lead in civ- ilization and the arts. It confessedly supplanted other religions ; it produced a revolution in the opinions and habits of men, unparalleled in the history of the world. It has not merely accomplished religious and moral revolutions, Init, incidentally, social and civil changes, so as completely to transform the face of society. It came to its ascendency through great opposition and persecu- tions, such as no other religion ever did or could Avith- stand ; and now it does not live by flattering the natural passions of men, or by letting them alone and requiring of them no sacrifices. It has not, like other religions, depended for its existence and power upon its con- nection with the state ; for, though it has often been connected with the state, and, in some particular form, upheld l)y it, yet it flourishes best when left to find its own way, and to control the hearts of men by its own proper force. The religion to he accounted for. — Now, the existence TRADITIONS. 243 of such a religion as this, in the world, requires to he accounted for. It Avould l)e ahsurd to suppose that, m a period of high intellectual cultivation, it should spring up and subvert other religions, without being challenged by mankind, and having its credentials de- manded, and its history known. But if the facts on which the reliucion was based were once known, it would seem in the last degree improbable that the knowledge of them' should perish, and the religion remain; or, what would be still more strange, not only that all knowledge, oral or written, of these facts should have perished, but that a false and most minute account should have been substituted for the true one, and re- ceived from the first. Tradition. — Moreover, it is chiefly with facts that exert an important influence on the destiny of mankind, that tradition connects itself; and this, in connection with institutions which enter into the fabric of society, or with monuments or observances handed down by an unbroken succession of persons, who have felt a deep interest in the facts in question, can not fail to preserve the great outlines of events as long as such observances and monuments remain. If all written records were blotted out from this time, and yet the independence of this nation were to be preserved, and the fourth of July were to continue to be annually celebrated, who can suppose that, in any length of years, all trace of the true origin of the day should be lost, and another, entirely false, substituted for it? So, when avc find a Christian church, thnt has existed as a separate inde- pendent body from the origin of the religion, celebrating an ordinance once a week, or once a month, or once in two months, in connnemoration of the death of Christ, if we had no other evidence for it than that of tradition, the presumption would be very strong that, at least, such a man as Christ lived and died, and Avas supposed 244 EVIDEXCES OF CHRISTIANITY. to have conferred some distinguished benefit. And in this case the evidence is peculiarly strong, because the ordinance has been so frequently repeated and so widely extended. No delusion, from national pride or local feeling, can be suspected, because we find the same tradition, and the same ordinance, in the most distant and remote countries. ^Millions of Christians now regard this rite as the most sacred one liclonging to a religion for which they are ready to lay down their lives ; they received it from those who were equally attached to it ; and so it must have been up to the point — a point perfectly well defined in history — from which the tradition, and the written history, and the ordinance, started together. If true, all natural and J97«m. — The reverse. — Here, then, we find Christendom, and the Christian church — a body of men as distinctly organized and as intimately associated as those of any state — having its institutions, its traditions, and its records, all perfectly harmonizins: with each other. These records bear on the face of them the marks of veracity ; there is noth- ing known that is contradictory to them ; they contain a f lir and plausible account of the origin of the church. Admit the account, and every difficulty is removed. Refuse to admit it, and you destroy the very founda- tions of historical proof in any fact whatever. So much, indeed, arc; the general facts of Christianity im- plied in the present state of the world, and so much has it of that conviction which springs from miiversal notoriety, and which we can neither doubt, nor trace to any particular source, that I do not hesitate to saj'-, that the objections lorought by Ar('hl)ishop Whately against the existence and general history of Xapo- leon Bonaparte are quite as plausible as any that can be brought against the existence and general history of Christ. TESTIMONY. 245 We receive other fads. — And more especially ought we to receive facts thus substantiated, when -vve remem- ber how fully we believe those which are established by testimony alone. This, as was said in a former lecture, may be the ground of a certainty as full and perfect as any of which we can conceive. Can I doubt that there is such a city as Rome, or such a person as Queen Vic- toria ? or that there has been such a person as Napoleon Bonaparte, or George the Fourth? And yet I know these fjicts solely by testimony. Who doubts, or can douljt, that Augustus Cicsar was emperor of Rome ? AVho would fear to stake his life on the fact that such a man as Alexander the Great existed? And yet no trace of that fact remains in the present organizations or customs of society, and the written and traditiq^iary evidence for it is as nothing compared with that of Christianity. All testimony does not deceive. — It is not, then, true of every kind of testimony that it sometimes deceives us. There may be testimony of such a nature as never was, and never can be, false ; and it was a poor fallacy of Hume to attempt to transfer over to all testimony that uncertainty which belongs to it only in some cases. We affirm that the testimony for Christianity, taken by itself, is such as could not possibly ])e deceptive, as was never known to be so since the world began ; and we challenge infidels to point out an instance of such deception. When they do this, they may talk of the uncertainty of testimony. A"or lose wciyJd hy age. — I ma}' properly refer here, also, to another common fallacy respecting testimony, which is based on the same principle of transferring to the whole what belongs only to a part, and which has had some influence. It is, that testimony loses its weight by age ; that every century steals something from its probability. As if testimony that was once 21* 246 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. true, Avoiild not always be true ; and tlic question whether it shall appear more or less true to the minds of men, after longer or shorter periods have elapsed, is one that must ))c determined ])y circumstances. Noth- ing can be more untrue than the general assertion, as made universally ; and, as applied to the evidences of Christianity, I deny it altogether. Age itself, as such, has no tendency to impair the force of testimony ; and it often happens that, by the discovery of coins, .or ruins, or hieroglyphics, or inscriptions, or manuscripts, testimony which had been doubted for ages is fully con- lirmed. It is, indeed, a fact, that, from fuller research, and from such discoveries, the historical testimony for Christianity, instead of l)cing diminished within the last#hundred years, has ])een greatly increased and strengthened. JSfo facts of history so wdl sustained. — But, valid as is tlie evidence of testimony, Ave do not feel that Ave rest upon that alone, but that the facts of Christianity are sustained by every species of evidence by Avhich it is possible that any past event should be substantiated. The great facts in history are very fcAV — I think of none — AA'hich are implied in the present state of the civilized Avorld as are those of the Christian religion. It is as if the taking of Constantinople by the Turks Avere to be conlirnuxl by a reference to its present state. Let us suppose, to illustrate this point more fully, that a book purporting to be a history of the Turks, and giving an account of their taking the city of Constan- tinople and making it their capital, Avere put into the hands of a man who had never heard of that people. If it bore upon its face evidence of its being a true history, he might receive it, and this Avould be naked testimony. But, if he should afterward travel, and find this same people making a city of that name their cap- ital, and find still dAvelling among them the remains of AUTHENTICITY AKD INTEGRITY. 247 a, subjugated people, and should find, both among Turks and others, one nnvar}ing tradition of the s;une events, and should tind, moreover, other and independent histo- ries agreeing in all respeets with tlu^ history he had first seen, and the original letters of the commanders of the army in those days, he Avould feel that all room for doul)t Avas removed. But all this evidence, and more, Avonld he have who should have the Gospel of Matthew and the Acts of the Apostles put into his hands, and should then be made aoipiaintcd for the first time Avitli the present state of the world, and with the other books of the New Testament. A li G U :M E N T XI. ArTHENTICITY AND INTEGUITY OF THE CHRISTIAN FATHERS. "With this general statement of the nature of the evidence, I proceed to consider more particularly, in reference to the books of the New Testament, the two great questions of their authenticity and their credibil- ity. The question of credibility is, of course, the great question; but, in the present case, that of authenticity is so intimately connected with this, that it can not be omitted. Authenticit)/ . — Let us inquire, then, Avhat evidence we have that the books of the Xew Testament were written by the persons whose names thc}^ bear, and at the time they purport to have been written. The great storehouse of learning on this subject is Lardner ; and to him all subsequent writers refer, doing little more than to quote and abridge him. For ordinary purposes, however, such Avorks as those of Ilornc and Paley arc sufficiently full.* Bool-s and authors. — AVc have the Xew^ Testament, consisting of twenty-seven separate books, written by eight different authors. Some of these books are formal * It is chiefly on tlicir autliority tliiit the quotations on the subsequent pages arc made. 248 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTI^VNITY. histories — one is a porsoiial naiTutivc — but the most of thcuii are haters addressed to associated bodies of Christians. Tliat they were Avrittcu by tlie persons to whom they are ascribed, and at the time ckiimed, we believe, — Quoted and referred to from the first. — First, because tliey are quoted and referred to by a series of writers in close and uninterrupted succession, from tliat time till the present. Peter and Paul. — 1. "We find one apostle referring to the writing's of another. Peter refers to the writino-s of Paul, characterizing them, just as many do now, as containing some things hard to be understood ; but, what is remarkable, recognizing them as of the same authority with the other Scriptures. The force of this incidental reference to the writings of Paul, 1>y Peter, is less felt from the fact that both writings arc l)ound up in the same volume ; but it is really as great as if the Epistle of Peter were now discovered for the first time. The Epistle of James, as no student of it can doubt, refers to tlic perversion, by some, of Paul's doctrine on the sulyect of faith and Avorks, as contained in the Epistle to the Romans. The supplementary character of John's Gospel implies the previous compo- sition and circulation of some, at least, of the other Gospels. Jude evidently refers to and quotes the Sec- ond Epistle of Peter. Apostolical Fathers. — 2. "We have ^vTitings bearing the names of persons, AA'ho, because they Avcre contem- porary with some of the apostles, arc called "apostol- ical" fathers. Respecting the genuineness of some of these writings, as those ascribed to Barnabas and Pler- mas, there has been much controversy. I shall refer only to those universally admitted, and of which there can be no reasonable doubt. We have no need of inferior kinds of evidence. CLEMENT. 249 Clement. — The Epistlo ascribed to Clement is an epistle from "the church of God sojourning at Rome, to the Clunvh of God sojourning at Corinth." It doc's not contain his name, hut is spoken of h\ the ancients as ackuowlodgcd l)y all to ho his. Irena3us says it was Avritten by Clement, " who had seen the blessed apostles, and conversed with them, who had the i)reaching of the apostles still sounding in his ears, and their traditions before his eyes." And Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, about the year 170, — that is, eighty or ninety years after the Epistle was written, — bears witness that it had been read in that church from ancient times. In it there are qnotationg from, or evident allusions to, eight of the books of the New Testament. He expressly names only Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians, but of the origin of the passages there can be no doubt. Thus, "Especially," says Clement, "remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, which he spoke, teaching gentleness and long-suiFering ; for thus he said : ' Be ye merciful, that ye may ()l)tain mercy; forgive, that it may be forgiven unto you ; as yon do, so shall it be done unto you; as ye judge, so shall ye be judged; as ye show kindness, so shall kindness be sliown unto you ; Avith what measure ye mete, with the s;une it shtiU be measured to you.' By this connnand, and by these rules, let us establish ourselves, that we may always walk ol)edientIy to his holy words." Can any one doubt where Clement found these words, or the following? "Remembrr the words of tlie Lord Jesus; for he said, 'AVoe to that man by whom oU'enses come : it Avere better for him that a millstone should be tied alKuit his neck, and that he should be drowned in the sea, than that he should otiend one of these little ones.'"* That such passages are not referred to the evangelists by name, — for all the apostolical fathers * Epistle of Clement, in " Apostolical rathers." 250 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. quote in this way, — is so far from making, as has been objected, against our argument, that it is one of its strong confirmations. It is just thus, and only thus, that Ave now always quote and refer to Avorks that are the most perfectly familiar, both to ourselves and to our readers or hearers. It implies for the New Testament Scriptures, and as nothing else could, precisely the place that Ave claim for them. As this Epistle of Clement Avas AA^'itten in the name of the church at Rome, and addressed to the church at Corinth, it must be regarded as expressing the judg- ment of those churches. Ignatius. — Ignatius, bishop at Antioch, suffered martyrdom about the year 107. The authority of his name led to its use for scA'cral interpolated or spurious A\Titings. In the fcAV short Epistles generally acknoA\d- edo"ed as genuine, there are quotations from tAVO of the Gospels and four of the Epistles. He expressly names that to the Ephcsians. Pohjcavp. — Poh'carp, a companion of Ignatius, was a bishop at Smyrna. IrenjBus, Avho in his youth had seen him, says, "I can tell the place in Avhicli the blessed Polycarp sat and taught, and his going out and coming in, and the manner of his life, and the form of his person, and the discourses he made to the people, and hoAV he related his conA'ersation Avith John and others Avho had seen the Lord, both concerning his miracles and his doctrine, as he had recciA^ed them from the eye-Avitnesses of the Word of life ; all Avhicli Pol.y- carp related agreeahJi/ to the S'cnpfures." Of Polycarp we have one Epistle, concerning Avhich there is no reasonable doubt. In this, though short, there are clear allusions to fourteen of the books of the Xcav Testament. He expressly names the Epistle to tha Philippians. Faunas. — Papias AA'as a companion of Polycarp. Of THE FIRST CENTURY HISTORICALLY BRIEF. 251 his ^yo li:ivc nothing remaining; but Eusebius quotes from a Avt)rk of his, in Avhich he ascribes their respective Gospels to Matthew and ^lark. AVe have thus, from persons contemporary ivith some of the apostles, numerous quotations or plain allusions to most of the books of the New Testament ; and they uniformly treat them with the reverence belonging to inspired books. And htn-c I will make a remark that needs to ho borne in mind in all our use of dates, in speaking of the early history of Christianity. It is, that the centuiy commences with the birth of Christ, whereas the his- tory of the religion does not conmience till thirty-three years afterward, — so that the end of the tirst century Avas only sixty-seven years from the first attempt by the apostles to establish the new religion. And when it is remembered that the first three Gospels were pub- lished, proljaljly as soon as the year 60, or certainly be- fore the destruction of Jerusalem, and that John lived till nearly the close of this century, it will be seen that the means of verifying every thing were very abundant. Justin Mar(i/r. — Twenty-five or thii-ty years after Polycarp follows Justin Martyr, universally liiiown in the ancient church. He was a convert from heathen- ism after he had arrived at mature age, and Avas distin- guished as a philosopher, a Christian, and a Avriter. Of his Avritings Avc haA'e remaining only — two Apologies for the Christians, one addressed to the Emperor Titus Antoninus Pius, and the other to the Emperor ]Marcus Antoninus, and the senate and people of Home ; and his Dialogue Avith Tr}i:»ho the Jcav. AVe find, hoAvevcr, in these, thirty-five plain quotations from the Gospel of MatthcAv alone, and, in one case, a considerable part of the Sermon on the INIount, in the A^ery Avords of MattheAv. He either quotes, or clearly refers to, the 252 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIAXITY. Acts of the Apostles, and nearly all the Epistles, and says expressly that the lievelation was written l)y John. lie calls the books from which he quotes, "Memoirs composed by the Apostles," " Memoirs composed ])y the Apostles and their Companions," — which descrip- tion, the latter especially, exactly agrees with the titles which the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles now bear. This manner of reference " shows that the books were perfectly notorious, and that there were no other accounts of Christ then extant so received and credited as to make it necessary to distinguish these from the rest." Jiistin also tells us, in his first Apology, that the memoirs of the apostles, and the writings of the prophets, were read and expounded in the Christian assemblies for worship, which shows that the Gospels were at that time well known in the world. To this testimony of Justin, who sealed his belief in the Chris- tian religion with his blood, there is no objection, except that he does not quote the different Avriters by name ; but skepticism itself can not suppose that books were read and expounded in the Christian churches so generally that he should mention it in an a[)()logy to the ' emperor, and yet that all trace and record of those books should have been lost, and that others should have been fal)ricated, and substituted in their place. We find in this author almost a complete history of Christ; and yet he mentions only two circumstances which are not contained in our Gospels. Tatian. — After Justin ]Mai'tyr follows Tatian, a disciple of his. About the year 170, he composed a harmony of the Gospels, which he called " Diatessaron," — that is, of the four, — showing that there were then four, and only four. Gospels. PotJiinus. — About this time, the churches of Vienne and Lyons, in France, sent a relation of the sufferings of their martyrs to the churches of Asia and Phrygia, lEEN^US. 253 and the epistle is preserved by Eusebius. Among the victims was the aged bishop of Lyons, Potliinus. lie was ninety years old, so that his testimony would join on to that of the apostles. In this we find the follow- ing : " Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the Lord, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service ; " "with similar references to Luke and to the Acts. Irenceus. — To Pothinus, as bishop of Lj'ons, suc- ceeded Irenteus, who was, in his youth, a disciple of Polycarp. lie wrote many works, but his five books aojainst heresies are all that remain. In these he has shown a full acquaintance with the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament. Being only a century distant from the time of the publication of the Gospels, and only one step removed from the apostles, he speaks of himself and his contemporaries as being able to reckon up, in all the principal churches, the succession of bishops from the first. He mentions the code of the New Testament, as well as the Old, and calls the one, as well as the other, the Oracles of God. His testimony is full and explicit to all the books of the New Testa- ment, except the Epistle to Philemon, the Third of John, and the Epistle of Jude. And here we find, for tlie first time, what we might noAV expect to find — an appeal to the books as the ground of the Christian faith. "AVc have not received," says Irenaius, "the knowledge of the way of our salvation by any other than those by whom the gospel has been brought to us ; which gospel they first preached, and afterward, by the will of God, conmiittcd to A^Titing, that it might be for time to come the foundation and pillar of our faith. For, after our Lord rose from the dead, and they were endued from above with the power of the Holy Ghost coming down upon them, they received a perfect knowledge of all things. The}' then went forth to all the ends of the 22 254 E'STDEXCES OF CIIRISTL\>sIT\'. earth, declaring to men the blessing of heavenly peace, having all of them, and every one alilcc, the gospel of God. Matthew, then, among the Jews, wrote a Gospel in their own language, while Peter and Paul were preaching the gospel at Pome, and founding a church there. And, after their exit, Mark, also the disciple and inteqDreter of Peter, delivered to ns in writing the things that had been preached by Peter ; and Luke, the companion of Paul, put down in a book the gospel preached by him. Afterward, John, the disciple of the Lord, who also leaned upon his breast, he likewise published a Gospel while he dwelt at Ephcsus, in Asia." We could certainly wish nothing more explicit than this ; and there are other passages not less so. Clement. — After Irenajus, we come to Athenagoras, about the year 180, and to Theophilus, Ijishop at Anti- och, and to Clement of Alexandria, (A. D. 150-220,) an author of note, who quotes from , almost all the writers of the New Testament so largely, that the cita- tions would fill a considerable volume. He gives us an account of the order in which the Gospels were written, and then says that he received the account from presby- ters of more ancient times. Tertullian. — About the same time Avith Clement lived Tertullian, a presbyter of the church of Carthage, "vvhose testimony is very full and explicit. After enu- merating the apostolical churches he says, "I say, then, that with them, but not with them only, which are apostolical, but Avith all Avho liave fclloAvsliip AA'ith them in the same faith, is that Gospel of Luke received, from its first publication, Avhich Ave so zealously main- tain." He adds, "The same authority of the apostolical churches wall support the other Gospels Avhich Ave have from them, — I mean John's and JNlatthcAv's, — although that likcAvise which Mark published may ])e said to be Peter's, Avhose interpreter JNlark AA^as." In another place, GENER.VIi AGKEEMEXT. 255 Tei-tullian says that tlic three other Gospels were in the hands of the churches from the beginning. With Tertnllian I close my citations from the authors of the second centur}', of whom it has hecn said Avith truth, so numerous are their quotations from the New Testament, that, if that hook had heeu h)st, it might he ahnost compiled anew from these citations. Extent of assent. — And here we may remark, with Paley, " the wide extent tlirough Avhich the reputation of the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles had spread, and the perfect consent, on this point, of distant and independent societies. It is now only ahout one hun- dred and fifty years since Christ was crucified; and within this period, to say nothing of the apostolical fathers, we have Justin I\lai'tyr of Neapolis, Theophilus at Antioch, Irenteus in France, Clement in Alexandria, and Tertnllian at Carthage, quoting the same hooks of historical Scriptures, and, I may sa}s quoting them alone." These men, too, — which is an important point, — being bishops and presbyters, their testimony in- volves that of large bodies of men. It gives us the authority of common consent. And certainly such an authority and assent, extending over thousands of miles, could never have been gained to books esteemed as these were, except on the best grounds. There are no other books of antiquity that can be placed at all in competition with them in this respect. It has been \isual to continue citations down as far as the fourth century ; l)ut can this be necessary? I think not, especially as they noAV multiply upon us on every side. It has also been usual, and is, perhaps, more strictly logical, to trace the testimony upward; but, in the present state of this argument, that can not be important. Peculiar titles. — Bnt I ol)serve, secondly, not only were these writings thus quoted, but, when they were, 256 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTLVNITY. it Avas vritli pcciiluir titles and marks of respect. Thus Theophihis, l)isli()p of Antioch, who flourished a little more than a century after the books were Avritten, says, "These things the Holy Scriptures teach us, and all who were moved by the Holy Spirit, among whom John says, ' In the beginning was the Word.' " Origen (A. D. 185-254) says, "That our religion teaches us to seek after Avisdom, shall be shown both out of the ancient Jewish Scriptures, which we also nsc, and out of those written since Jesus, which are believed in the churches to be divine." Bead in j)uhllc assemblies. — These writings, more- over, as has already been stated, were early read in the public assemblies of Christians. Justin Martyr, who wrote only about one hundred years after the crucifix- ion, giving an account of Christian worship, has this remarkable passage : " The memoirs of the apostles, or the Avritings of the prophet.s, are read according as the time allows, and, when the reader has ended, the presi- dent makes a discourse." This passage is of great weight, because Justin speaks here of the general usage of the Christian church, and because he speaks of it as along-established custom. That by "memoirs of the apostles" he means our Gospels, is evident, because he tells us, in another place, that they are what are called " Gospels," and because he has made numerous quota- tions from them, and from no others. Collected into a volume. — At what time the books of the New Testament were collected into a distinct volume, and l)0('amo known to the churches in that col- lected form, is not certainly known ; but there is no doubt it was very early, and that this volume was ranked from the first with the Scriptures of the Old Testament. Polycarp sa3-s, "I trust ye are well exercised in the Holy Scriptures, as in these Scriptures it is said, 'Be ye angry and sin not.'" This passage, thus quoted by EVIDENCE AS WE SHOULD "WISH. 257 Polycarp, sliows that in his time there Avcre Christian writings distinguished as the "Holy Scriptures." This is in perfect accordance with what we should expect after the recognition, hy Peter, of the writings of Paul as a part of the Scriptures. Justin Martyr, also, in the "Apology" of which I have already spoken, (which was written about thirty }'ears after the Epistle of Poly- carp.) sa3's, " For the apostles, in the memoirs composed hy them, which arc called ' Gospels,' have thus deliv- ered it, that Jesus commanded them to take bread and give thanks." Comjjledon of the canon. — I speak of this subject because it has l)een said that no such book as the New Testament existed before the' fourth, century, and be- cause our evidence on this point stands just as we could wish — that is, it stands just as we should suppose it would from the nature of the case. Here are twenty- seven separate pieces written within the space of sixty years. It is not to be supposed that all these pieces should be possessed at once l)y all the churches, or that there should be at once a perfect agreement in regard to them all. "We should expect that copies Avould be taken, and collections made, of those writings concern- ing which there was no question, and that these would be quoted and incidentally referred to, precisel}' as our books are, till some question was raised about the intro- duction of another ])ook, or about the authority or authenticity of any part of it. Then wc should expect to find the grounds stated on which the books were received, and formal catalogues made out of such as were received. If, then, by saying that there was no such book as the Xcw Testament before the fourth century, it is meant that the canon, as it is called, was not formally settled by a council till that time, it is true ; but if it l)e meant, as is insinuated, that the writings were then first published, no man can make 22 * 258 E"\aDENCES OF CHRISTIAXITY. such an assertion, except from the grossest ignorance, or as a willful falsehood. The truth is, that we have in the first century, that is, within less than seventy years after the death of Christ, numerous quotations, and allusions to our sacred l)ooks, in which we have an incidental and unintentional testimony, more satisfactory than any formal testimony could be ; and, in these quotations and allusions, nine- teen or twenty of our present books are recognized. In the second century, we find the testimony' more express and full, and the quotations so numerous, that a large part of the Kew Testament might be collected from them. Of this age there are thirty-six writers of whose works some part has come down to us. In the third and fourth centuries, we have more than a hundred authors whose works testify to the authen- ticity of these books. During these two centuries, catalogues of the authentic works were expressly drawn \\p, harmonics were formed, versions were made into many languages, and the canon was full}' settled. Eusehius. — In settling the canon, we find, from Eusebius, w^-iting about the year 315, that there were seven books concerning Avhich there was some hesita- tion, and the grounds of the doubts are full}^ given.* Eusebius begins his enumeration of Scriptures univer- sally acknowledged in the foUoAving manner : " In the first place are to be ranked the sacred four Gospels ; then the book of the Acts of the Apostles ; after that are to l)e reckoned the Epistles of Paul ; in the next place, that called the First Epistle of John, and tbc Epistle of Peter, are to be esteemed authentic ; after this is to be placed the Revelation of John, about which we shall observe the diflcrent opinions at proper seasons. Of the controverted, yet well known, or approved by * He has proaervcd a catalogue by Origen, probably of the year 210, which is substantially the same as his own. EVIDENCE PERFECT. 259 the most, arc that called the Epistle of James, and that of Judc, and the Second of Peter, and the Second and Third of John, whether Avritten by the evangelist or by another of the same name." Concerning these last, however, all doubt was gradually removed, so that, by the time of Jerome and Augustine, A. D. 342-430, many catalogues are given, including all our present books, and none other. While, therefore, it appears that many of the writings of the New Testament wore collected while some of the apostles were yet living, or inimediately afterward, and known under the name of the Gospels and the Apostles; while the references to this volume, during the second century, are almost numberless; while no doubt ever arose respecting the mass of them, — still the book which we now receive was not, in all its parts, formally agreed upon, in consequence of a careful exam- ination of ancient testimony, till between three and four hundred years after the birth of Christ. It will ])e remembered, however, that if every part of the New Testament, concerning which there had l>cen dispute, or doubt, were blotted out, the argument for the truth of Christianity would not be in the least invalidated. There is, therefore, direct evidence, as perfect as the nature of the case admits, that those writings on which we depend for the truth of the Christian religion have existed, and were received without doubt from the very first. Rival partiefi. — So full and unexceptionable is the testimou}' thus given by early writers, that it Avould seem, in the absence of any thing to contradict it, or to throw over it the slightest discredit, tliat further evi- dence conkl not be needed. Indeed, if we were to stop here, Ave should have a body of evidence for the authenticity of these Avritings such as can be adduced in favor of no others of equal antiquity. The writings 260 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. of Cicero arc quoted by Quiiitilian, wliicli shoT\^s that they were then extant and ascribed to him. But the works of Cicero excited no controvcrs}^ they gave rise to no general opposition, they created no sects ; hence we have no means of knowing liow those works were regarded by enemies, or hy rival parties, appealing to their authority. This, Avhen it can be obtained, is the very highest kind of evidence, and, in respect to the Christian Scriptures, it is most full and satisfactor}--. The heretical writers do, indeed, sometimes deny that the apostle or writer is an infallible authority ; but they never deny that the books were written by those to whom they were ascrilied. Thus the Cerinthians and the Ebionites, who sprang up while St. John was yet living, washed to retain the Mosaic law, and hence rejected the Epistles of Paul, while they retained the Gospel of Matthew. And INIarcion, A. D. 130, who rejected the Old Testament, and was excommunicated, though greatly incensed, and though he speaks dispar- agingly of several of the books, yet nowhere intimates that they were forgeries. The same may be said of all the ancient sects. Enemies, — We have, also, the indirect testimony of the enemies of Christianity — as Celsus, Porphyry, and Julian. Of these, Celsus flourished only about a hun- dred years after the Gospels w^ere published, and was an acute and l)ittcr adversary ; and it seems quite im- possible that any one of them, much more the whole, should have l)een forged, and yet he not know or suspect it. He attacks the books, he speaks of contradictions and difficulties in them, Init he hints no suspicion that they were forged. Indeed, he claims the writings, for he says, "These things, then, we have alleged to yon out of your owni Avritings, not needing any other weapons." In Porphyry, born A. D. 233, (the most sensil)le and severe adversary of Christianity that antiquity can EVIDENCE OF EVERY KIND. 261 produce,) wc find no trace of any suspicion that tlic Christian writings -were not authentic, though he })ro- nounces the prophecy of Daniel a forger}'. Porphyry did not even deny the truth of tlie Gospel history. He admitted that the miracles were performed hy Christ, but imputed them to magic, which he said he learned in Egypt. Julian, commonl}' called the Apostate, flourished from A. D. 331 to 363. lie quotes the four Gospels and the Acts, and nowhere gives any intima- tion that he suspected the whole, or any part of them, to be forgeries. Ancient versions and manuscripts. — Another source of evidence is to be found in ancient versions and man- uscripts. The Syriac version was probably made early in the second century, and the first Latin versions almost as early. Of course the New Testament must have existed, and been received as the standard of Christian truth, before those versions were made. Of ancient manuscripts, containing the New Testament or parts thereof, there are several thousands. About five hundred of the most important have been collated with great care. INIany of them are of great antiquity. The Codex Yaticanus is believed, on very satisfactory evi- dence, to be of the fourth century, and the Codex Alexandrinus, of the fifth, — perhaps both uuich earlier. Tluis these manuscripts connect with manusc'ri[)ts com- pared by Jerome and Eusebius, A. I). 315-420, who })r(>parcd critical editions of the New Testament from manuscripts then ancient. The prodigious number of these manuscripts, the distant countries whence they were collected, and the identity of their contents with the quotations of the fathers of different ages, i)lace the New Testament incomparably above all other ancient works in point of authenticity. Is there, then, we are ready to ask, any kind of exter- nal evidence conceivable, which is Avanting to our sacred books ? 2G2 E\aDEXCES of ciieistianity. Internal evidence. — But, strong as is the external proof, it hardly equals that Avhich is to be derived from the circumstances of the case, and from internal evidence. Wc are little apt to consider how difficult the thing to be done was. It Avas to make an addition, and under peculiar circumstances, to the number of books then held sacred. These books were not confined to one spot, and guarded by one set of men, and shrouded in mystery. ]\Ioses and the prophets were " read in the S}'nagogues every Sabbath day." From the synagogue the early church was an outgroAvth, as Christianity from Judaism ; and it was composed of Jews nurtured to a high reverence for their sacred books, and to great scrupulousness in guarding them. For the first fifteen years at least, the Old Testament Scriptures, and those only, were read in the assemblies of Christians. And now consider what it was for such men to receive, indi- vidually, and in numerous, and largo, and independent bodies, other writings, and to put them on an equality with those so venerable, and held so sacred. And yet, •within sixty years this was done in respect to more than twenty separate productions, and with almost entire mianimity. It was a marvel, especially looking at the origin and position in society of the early Christians, that they should originate productions which the in- stinctive judgments of men could tolerate by the side of those, so wonderful, of the old seers, and bards, and prophet-kings, even if they had not been regarded as inspired; it was, perhaps, a greater marvel that they should incorporate them at once Avitli those productions, as a part of their sacred books. According to every law of human thought or action, this could :)ot have been done without the most searching scrutiny. The world has nothing to show like it. It Avas as if some man, or body of men, should attempt to add a book to our Bible, that should be universally received. SCRUTINY BY FRIEXDS AXD FOES. 263 Could not heforrjed. — For, if these "WTitings are not .luthcntic, they must he forgeries ; and they arc of such a character, and purport to have been written luider such circumstances, as to render a forgery of them impossible. Here, for example, are no fewer than nine letters which claim to have been written to numerous bodies of men, and received by them ; and can any man believe that such letters, often containing severe reproof, could have been received and read, as we know these were, by the early Christians, if they were for- geries ? " Come now," says Tertulliau, — bom only sixty years after the death of St. John, — "come noAV, thou who wilt exercise thy curiosity more protit^ibly in the business of thy salvation, run through the apostolical churches in which the very chairs of the apostles still preside, in which their authentic letters are recited, sounding forth the voice and representing the counte- nance of each." Can awy man suppose that letters thus spoken of at that early day could ho forged ? Besides, when could they have been forged? Not, cei-tiiiidy, during the lives of the apostles, for then they would have confuted them ; and, after their death, it is morally impossible such letters should have been received as from them by any body of Christians. Oj)posed hj holh heathen and Jews. — It is to be added, also, that Christianity sprang up in the midst of opposition, keen-sighted and relentless. It was opposed l)y Heathenism and by Judaism, and, more- over, there were always in its OAvn l)osom some who were false-hearted and ready to betray it. During almost three hundred years it Avas often the subject of violent and bloody persecutions ; and, in such circum- stances, it is morally impossible that twenty-seven l^ooks should be forged, and imposed as authentic upon ])oth friends and foes, and no one, for the first four hundred years, hint a suspicion of the authenticity of the most SG4 EVIDEXCES OP CIIRISTL\XITY. of the books. "When Celsiis reproached the Christians with dissensions, in tlie second century, Origen admits the truth of the accusation, ])ut says, nevertheless, that the four Gospels were received by the whole church of God under heaven. Language and style. — Again : the authenticity of the New Testament is confirmed b}- the language and style in which it is written. It could have jjcen written only by men who were born Jews, and who lived be- fore the destruction of Jerusalem. Every where their Jewish prejudices and habits of thought appear, and the references to Jerusalem and the temple, as then standing, are so blended Avith the whole narrative, that we feel it impossible it should not have been written at that time. This, however, is still more obvions from the peculiar language in which the New Testament is written. Greek was then a kind of universal language ; but the Greek spoken in Palestine was not the Greek of Attica. It was Hebraic Greek — that is, Greek mixed with the peculiar dialect of Hebrew then in use in Palestine ; and in such Greek are the Gospels writ- ten. After the destruction of Jerusalem, this peculiar dialect ceased. Probably there was not a man living, after the death of the apostle John, who could have l)lended the peculiar elements of language Avhich we find in the New Testament. But, if these books were written before the destruction of eTerusalem, they must be authentic, because no books could have been forged in the names of the apostles, while they were yet living, and have been undetected. Judgment hy seixtrate cJiurches. — It is to be re- marked, too, that the books of the New Testament were received and judged of by the churches separately. The Gospel of Matthew was received by the churches on its OAvn merits, and the question of its reception was not embarrassed by that of any other book. So the MICHAELIS. 265 Epistle of Paul to the chiircli at Rome was judged of as authentic by that church, without any reference to the Epistle to the Ephesians. If, therefore, the New Testament is a forgery, it is not an instance of a single successful forgery, but of twenty-seven separate ones, imposed upon intelligent men whose interests were all involved in detecting the fraud. If, now, we consider how seldom literary forgeries are undei-taken — that they are, in fact, nearly or quite unprecedented, unless they come out under the shadow of some great name — that no possible motive can be assigned for the forgery of such books ; — if we consider the difficulty of it in any case, and the moral impossibility of it in reference to books of such pretensions, and that have, in fact, commanded the reverence of the civilized world, — I think we shall feel that twenty-seven successful forgeries, within the space of sixty years, is a supposi- tion not to be entertained for a moment. JS^ot one mark of sj>uriousness. — Once more : the reasons which render the authenticity of a work sus- picious are thus laid down by Michaelis : 1 . When doubts have been entertained, from its first appearance, whether it was the work of its reputed author. 2. When the immediate friends of the author have denied it to be his. 3. When a long series of years has elapsed, after his death, m which the book was un- kno-v\ni, and in which it must have been mentioned or quoted, had it been in existence. 4. "When the style is diflercnt from his other writings, or, in case no others remain, from Avhat might be reasonably expected. 5. AVhen events are recorded which happened later than the time of the pretended author. 6. When opinions are advanced contradictory to those which he is known to have advanced in other writings. Of these marks of spuriousness, not one can be attached to a single book of the Xew Testament. 23 266 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. Contrasted icith other hooJcs. — I ol)sci-vc, finally, that this evidence is, if possible, heightened by the contrast in all respects between our books and those which have been regarded as spurious. The fact that such books existed is sometimes made use of to create the impression that they were once of nearly equal authority with ours, and that there was difficulty aiid uncertainty in making the distinction. Nothing can be farther from the truth. For, 1. There is no evidence that those spurious or apocryphal books existed during the first century ; indeed, they all were manifestly for- o-eries of a later age. 2. No Christian history, besides our Gospels and the Acts, is quoted by any writer now known within three hundred years after the birth of Christ. 3. None of these apocryphal writings were read in the churches. 4. None of them were ever admitted to the voliune of the New Testament. 5. Nor do they appear in any catalogue. 6. Nor were they alleged by different parties, in their controversies, as of authority. 7. Nor were they the subjects of commentaries, or versions, or expositions. 8. Nor were they ever received by Christians of after ages, but were almost universally reprobated by them. And, now, is not this point proved? Is it not fully established that these books were written by the men whose names they bear, and at the time when they purport to have been written? Integriti/. — I close by a very brief reference to a sino^lc point more, which properly belongs here. How do we know that the integrity of the books of the New Testament has been preserved? I answer, first, we know it from the nature of the case. Augustine, in the foui-th century, reasoning with a heretic, puts this well. "If any one," says he, "should charge you with having interpolated some texts alleged by you, INTEGRITY. 267 "would 3'oii not immediately answer, that it is impossible for you to do such a thing in books read ])y all Chris- tians — 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 can not be cor- rupted by you, they can not be corrupted by any other people." We know the same thing, secondly, from the agreement of our books with the quotations in the works of the early Christian fathers. These quotations are so abundant that almost the whole of the Kew Testament might be gathered from them ; and yet, except in six or seven A^erscs, there is an agreement in all material respects between those quotations and the corresponding parts of our books. We know it, thirdly, from the entire agreement of our books with ancient versions. The old Syriac version, called Peshito, was certainly in use before the close of the second century. This was not kno-uii in Europe before the close of the sixteenth century. It came down by a line perfectly independent of that by which our Greek Testament was received ; yet, when the two came to be compared, the difference was altogether unimportant. Is it possible that evidence should be more satisfactory ? Various readings. — The sul)ject of various readings was at one time so presented as to alarm and disquiet those not acquainted with the fiicts. When a person hears it stated that, in the collation of the manuscripts for Griesbach's edition of the Xew^ Testament, as many as one hundred and fifty thousand various readings were discovered, he is ready to suppose that every thing must be in a state of uncertainty. A statement of the facts relieves every difficulty. The truth is, that not one in a thousand makes any perceptible, or at least important variation in the meaning ; that they consist almost entirely of the small and obvious mis- 2(5^ EVroENCES OF CHEISTIANITT. takes of transcril)ers, such as the omission or transpo- sition of letters, errors in grammar, in the use of one word for another of a similar meaning, and in changing the position of words in a sentence. But, by all the omissions, and all the additions, contained in all the manuscripts, no fact, no doctrine, no duty prescribed, in our authorized version, is rendered either obscure or doul)tful. Tliere was a time when the rubl)ish of antiquity did gather around these pillars of our evidence. The keen eye of the infidel saw it, and he hoped to show that they rested upon rubbish alone. But, like every simihir attempt, at whatever point directed, a full examination has served only to show how firm is the rock upon which that church rests which is " the pillar and ground of the truth." LECTUKE X. ARGUMENT TWELFTH; CREDIBILITY OF THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Our next subject, as •will have been anticipated, is the credibility of the books of the New Testament; and I proceed directly to the discussion. This question is purely one of historical evidence ; and if there is left for me very little that is new, either in the matter or in the manner of presenting it, I shall 3'et hope for attention, from the important place which this point holds, and always must, in the Christian argument. Authenticitt/. — And the first consideration which I adduce in favor of the credibility of these books is their authenticity. It was because I regarded every testimony adduced, in the last lecture, to prove the authenticity of the gospel histories as also a testimony to their truth, that I dwelt so fully on that subject. The fiithers did not quote so largely from those books because they were Avritten by apostolical men, but because they regarded them as true, and as having an authority paramount to all others. The testmiony of antiquity, therefore, thus given to the authenticity of these books, is equivalent to its testimony to the reality of the facts which they contain. Moreover, when men publish an account of facts under their own names, especially of facts that are within the immediate knowledge of the most of their 23 * (269) 270 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITT. readers, and facts, too, that have excited great atten- tion, they must either pu])lish what is substantially true, or Avillfully, and Avithout motive, sacrifice hoth character and reputation. There is no instance on record of the publication by any one, under his own name, of an account purporting to be of facts that were public, and recent, and concerning which a deep inter- est was felt by the community, which was not mainly true. But here arc four men who claim to have been witnesses of most of the events Avhich they relate, or, if not, to have had a perfect knowledge of them. These events must have been known, at the time the books were pu1)lished, to thousands of others, both friends and foes, as well as to them. Nothing could have prevented the instant detection of any falsehood ; and yet these men published their histories at the time, in the face of the world, and on the spot where the transactions took place. This consideration alone ought to be decisive, and in any other case it would be. 3/eans of knoiving the facts. — But, secondly, these books are crediljle because the authors of them had the best possiT)le means of knowing the facts which they state. For the most part, they had a personal knowl- edge of them. Compare our evidence, in this respect, with that for other anci(uit events. The main facts were not such as were concealed in cabinets, or in the intriijues of a court, l)ut were few, and such as all miii'ht know. But of the events of the life of Alexander, we have no contemporary historian, and yet they are not doubted. Of how few of the events in the histories of Livy, or of Tacitus, had they personal knowledge ! With how few of the men, whose lives he wrote, had Plutarch personal acquaintance ! In some cases, indeed, — as in the accoinit of th(> Ketreat of the Ten Thousand, or the Commentaries of Cifsar, — we have the story of a person who was present, and saw what he narrates ; NUSIBER OF -vnTNESSES. 271 and no one can fail to foci that the credibility of those accounts is greatly increased by that circumstance. In these cases, however, we have but a single witness, and the writers are the heroes of their own story ; and still these writings are received with entire contidence. And this leads me to observe, — The number of witnesses. — Thirdly, that the events recorded in our books are worthy of credit from the number of witnesses. To put this in its true light, let us suppose that there should now be discovered, among the ruins of Herculaneum, the writings of an oificcr and companion of Ctesar, giving an account of the same campaigns and battles. Let us suppose that there was a substantial agreement, but such incidental differences as to show that the writings were entirely independent of each other ; then, if we had before been inclined to -c^all the whole a fiction, or to attribute any thing to the ignorance, or the prejudices, or the vanity of Cc^sar, we should feel all our doubts removed on those points in which the accounts agreed. And if, after this, we should still find another independent manuscript, and still another, differing entirely in style and general manner, and yet agreeing in regard to the facts, — if, moreover, there should be found letters written in that day incidentally confirming these accounts by many allusions and undesigned coincidences, — we should feel that historical evidence could not go fiirther, and that skepticism would be preposterous. If events thus attested are not to be believed, it will not be for want of evidence. If they are not to be believed, no ancient history can be ; for there is no one for which we have any thing like this amount of evidence. But all this evidence we have for the facts of the gospel. The fact, that the four Gospels and the Acts were bound up together, is not to be permitted to weaken their force as separate testimonies. This is as far as historical 272 EVIDEXCES OF ClIiaSTIAXITy. testimony can go with respect to ordinary events ; but the facts of Christianity are of such a character that even this may, and does, receive additional confirma- tion. If Cesar's Avars had given rise to parties, and these different parties had all appealed to these writings as of undoubted authority, and if, moreover, we had, at no distant day, the distinct admission of the enemies of Ctesar that these books were trustworthy as to mat- ters of fact, then I think that we can conceive of nothing that could be added ; and all this we have in favor of the facts of the New Testament. If Ave lay aside all consideration of the nature of the CA'ents, and look at the evidence alone, Ave shall see that it has all the force of Avhich historical evidence, as such, is capable. Difficulties and discrepancies. — It is true, as was men- tioned in a former lecture, that there arc difficulties and apparent discrepancies in these accounts. They relate chiefly to the two genealogies ; to the time of the taxing mentioned hy Luke ; to the tAvo versions of the Sermon on the Mount, to the time of the last supper, and to the accounts of the crucifixion, and of the resurrection. Itequire minute criticism. — The explanation of this class of difficulties would require a minute criticism, not here in place. For this,- reference may be made to the Commentaries and Harmonics. It may, however, be said of them in general, — Do not affect the main features. — 1. That there are none Avhich affect the great features of the narrative. Are mostly negative. — 2. That many of them are based on mere omissions. It is said, for example, that there is a discrepancy between the account by jNIatthcAV and ^Mark of the demoniacs. jSIatthcAV says there Avere two, Avhile ]\Iark mentions but one. He does not say there Avas not another ; but one may have been less prominent and fierce, and so not have been mentioned by him. In the same way it is objected that John DIFFICULTIES "MAY BE EXPLAINED. 273 speuks of the presence of Nicodemus at the burial of Christ, while nothing is said of it by the other evange- lists ; and this is called a discrepancy. Mai/ ^^ explained. — 3. Of the above-mentioned diffi- culties, those connected with the accounts of the resur- rection seem the most considerable ; and we may apply to all of them, in substance, what is said of those in particular, in a recent excellent work : " This examina- tion of the several narratives shows us how many of the data are wanting which are necessary to enable us to form a regular, harmonious, and complete histor}^ of this eventful morning. Each of the evangelists gives us some particulars which the others omit, but no one of them aims to give us a full and connected account ; and for us to supply the missing links in the chain, is im- possible. To a superficial examination there seem many discrepancies, not to say contradictions ; but a thorough investigation shows that the points of real diiferenco are very few, and that in several ways even these dif- ferences may be removed. Whilst thus we can not say of ^ny order that we can frame that it is certain, we can say of several that they are probable ; and if they can not be proved, neither can they be disproved. This is sufficient for him who finds in the moral char- acter of the Gospels the highest vouchers for their historic truth." * Peculiar testimony. — But I obser^-e, fourthly, that tliis evidence is powerfully confirmed by the peculiar testimony which was given by their authors to the truth of these books. To state one of the fundamental prop- ositions of Paley : " There is satisfactory evidence that many, professing to be original witnesses of the Chris- tian miracles, passed their lives in labors, dangers, and sutTerings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the accounts which they delivered, and solely in consc- * The Life of our Lord. By Samuel J. Andrews. 274 EVIDENCES OF CHKISTIANITY. qucncc of their belief of tliose accounts ; and that they also submitted, from the same motives, to new rules of conduct." Into the proof that they did thus labor and suffer Paley enters at large. But it is so ol)vious that men who, in that day, should attempt to propagate an exclusive religion, that was entirely opposed both to Judaism and heathenism, and also to the natural pas- sions and inclinations of men, would l)e obliged to undergo labor and suiFcring in proportion to their sin- cerity and earnestness, that it seems to me scarcely to need proof. Then the idea of this is so much implied in the whole narrative, and regarded as a matter of course, — it is so much taken for granted in the exhortations, and promises, and consolations, given to the disciples by Christ himself, and in the letters of the apostles, and it is so fully testified to by heathen writers, — that I can not think it necessary to dwell upon it. If, then, these men did labor, and sufier, and finally die, in attestation of the truth of their accounts, then are our books confirmed in the highest possible manner, and as no other historical books ever have been. Testimony of oiJiers than the. writers. — It was not, however, — and here we come to one of the strongest points of the Christian testimonj^, — it was not simply those who compiled the accounts who thus gave their testimony, but thousands of others ; and, though their testimony is unwritten, yet it is so involved in the cir- cumstances of the case, that it comes to us with no less force than if they had certified, under their own hands and seals, the truth of our accounts. Every Christian who, in that early age, al)andoncd the prejudices of education, and friends, and property, to become a Christian, especially every one who was persecuted and suffered death for the cause, gave his testimony, in i\\Q most emphatic manner possible, for the truth of the EVERY CONVERT A WITNESS. 275 facts of the Gospels. Every member of a churcli which received an Epistle of Paul, and to which it was read, was a witness of its authenticity, and of the truth of the facts of Christianity, which is implied in all his Epistles. The great force of this unwritten testimony is fully set forth by Chalmers, as also the fallacy by which we are so often led to feel that heathen testimony is superior in point of force to that of Christians, as if the very strength of conviction which would lead a man to become a Christian should not also furnish the best evidence of his sincerity. It would be inconsistent that a heathen should testify to the truth of the religion with- out becoming a Christian, and it is surely unreasonable to make the very act by which he testified, in the high- est possible manner, his sincerity and consistency, a reason for not receiving his testimony. This testimony meets a positive cavil. It may be said that the eight writers of the New Testament were actuated, in their labors and siiiferings, by a desire to be of reputation, to be the founders of sects, or to preserve their consis- tency. But no such motives can be imputed to the mass of Christians in that day, each of whom did as really and as impressively testify to his belief in the facts of the New Testament as if he had written a book. Men may have motives for being impostors, but they can have none for being imposed upon, especially when the imposition costs them all that men usually hold dear. When, therefore, I see the apostles and their associates, and especially when I see vast numbers of persons, in the ordinary walks of life, preferring to relinquish any thing, and to undergo any thing, rather than to deny the truth of these facts ; when I see them led, one by one, or, perhaps, numbers together, to scourging and torture ; when I see them standing as martyrs, and, in that act, as it were lifting up their dying hand to heaven, and taking an oath of their sincerity, — then I 27G EVIDENCES OF CnRISTIANITY. know that they believed the facts for which they died ; then I think I have found the case of which Ilumc speaks, when he says, " We can not malve use 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 human nature, and that jio human motives, in such circumstances, could ever induce them to such a conduct." Authors neither deceivers nor deceived. — I obsei've, fifthly, that our books are worthy of credit, because it can be shown that their authors were neither deceivers nor deceived ; and this is the only alternative possible unless the religion is true. The alternative that, unless Christ and his apostles were what they claimed to be, they were either impostors or dupes, was first presented by Pascal ; and since his time this whole question has often been argued under it. The same thing, in fact, is sometimes argued under a positive form, when it is shown that the primitive Avitnesses were both compe- tent and honest. The only questions that can be asked respecting a witness are. Is he competent — that is, is he well informed? and. Is he honest? Does he know the truth, and will he tell it? and it obviously makes no diflerence whether we show that the apostles were well informed and honest, or whether we show that they were not cither deceivers or deceived. In either case, the truth of the religion is established. I^ot deceivers. — To one branch of this alternative — that which supposes the apostles to have been de- ceivers — all that was said, under the last head, of their labors and sufierings, will apply. It is not in Jiuman nature, there is no example of it, for even one man to persevere, through a long life, in undergoing labors and sufferings, and finally to die, in attestation of what he knew to be false ; much less can we suppose that twelve men, yea, that hundreds and thousands, can NOT DECEIVEES. 277 have done this. The character of Christ and of his apostles in other respects, and the nature of the religion ■which he taught, forbid the supposition that they were deceivers. To suppose that men, teaching a morality more perfect than any other ever known, and exempli- fying it in their conduct, living lives of great simplicity, and self-denial, and benevolence, enforcing truth and honesty by the most tremendous sanctions of a future life, should, without any possible advantage to them- selves, die as martyrs in attestation of what they knew to be false, is practically absurd. If so^ hy conspiracy. — Moreover, if they were de- ceivers, they Avere so by combination and conspiracy. From the nature of the case this must have been so, and the number acquainted with the secret could not have been small. But it is morally impossible, under the temptations which we know assailed them from •without, and in the dissensions Avhich, by their oa\ti confession, sprang up among themselves, that such a combination of falsehood should have held together. A readiness to deceive always implies selfishness ; and, in such a company of deceivers, there Avould have been some one to expose any iniquity if there had been any to expose. I omit here, what I have very briefly no- ticed in another lecture — the general air of truth and sincerity in these narratives, their simplicity, their candor, their particularity, their minute and life-like touches. But I do say that, in the midst of all the varieties of human conduct, there are some principles as settled as the laws of physical nature ; and that for men to combine to propagate such a story as this, and to devote their lives to this object, and to die solely in attestation of it, when they knew it to be false, is as contrary to a fixed and uniform experience as any mir- acle can be. These men, then, could not have been deceivers. 24 278 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTLAJXITY. JSFot deceived. — But neither, on the other hand, could they have been deceived. This is evident from the nature of the facts, and from their character as iudicated by their writings. And here we are to keep in mind the distinction between testimony to facts, and infer- ences, or doctrines, or opinions. The apostles certainly knew whether there was, or was not, such a person as Jesus Christ; whether he called them to be his dis- ciples ; whether he spoke the discourses they have recorded ; whether multitudes followed him ; whether he was crucified. Nor, if we consider the number and character of his miracles, and the manner in which they were performed, is it more possible they should have been deceived respecting them. AVe read of their brinffinjr to him ffreat multitudes of " sick folk," with DO O every variety of disease, and of his healing thom all, of his eivinjT siixht to the l)lind, to those born blind ; of his raising the dead. And all this he did openly, before friends and enemies. Now, that men could be deceived respecting acts of this kind, repeated for years, under all varieties of circumstances, capable of being tested by all the senses, — that they could, for example, have failed to know that Lazarus was dead when they had the evidence of it given at his tomb, or that he was alive when they conversed and ate with him, — is impossible. Here is nothing that 'can be resolved into any false perception, no mere momentary effect ; nor can there be any doubt whether the events, if they took place, were miraculous. But not only did Christ liimself work miracles, — he communicated to his disciples that power. They retained it long after his ascension, and they could not have been deceived in supposing they wrought the cures related, if they did not. Eitlier we must al)andon our faith in the testimony of the senses, or we must admit that events thus tested really took place. No stretch of enthusiasm NOT DECEn''ED. 279 could have led them to believe thcat they saw such things if they did not see them. No enthusiasm is sufficient to account for the belief of so many, that they saw the Saviour after his resurrection, and conversed and ate with him, and, like Thomas, could touch his hands and his side. If Christ did not rise, it is equally impossible to account, on the supposition that they were deceived, for their belief that he did rise, and for the fact that the body was not produced l)y the Jews. I^ot enthusiastic or superstitious. — But if we look hito the Avritings of these men, we see no signs of su- perstitious weakness, or of enthusiastic fervors. There is nothing in their character, aside from their relation of miraculous events, and their maintaining their testimony at all hazards, that bears any marks of enthusiasm. On the contrary, their writings are marked with great good sense and sobriety. There are no extravagant ex|iressions, no indications of excessive emotion, no high-wrought description, no praise, and no censure. There is a simple statement of the fjicts of the life of Christ, and a record of his discourses. 8uch men could not have been deceived for so long a time respecting sucJi facts. But, if they were neither deceivers nor deceived, then the facts took place, and the religion is true. Leslie's ''Short Method:' — We now come to an argu- ment for the credil)ility of the facts contained in our books, which never has been answered, and never can l)e. Infidels have repeatedly been challenged to answer it, but they have never made the attempt. It is the argument of Leslie in his "Short ]\Iethod with the Deists." This ;u-gumcnt rests solely upon the peculiar- ity of Christian evidence, already mentioned, by which the truth of the religion is indissolubly connected with certain matters of ftict which could originally be judged of ])y the senses, and also upou the fact that there exist 230 EVIDENCES or CimiSTIANITY. in the cliurcli ceilain ordinances commemorative of those facts. Thu;-* the truth of our religion socnis to he emhodied in institutions that now exist, and in* oh- servances that pass before onr eyes. Tlie object of Leslie is to show, from the nature of tlie case, — for here we make very little reference to written testimo- ixy, — that the matters of fact stated could not have been received at the time unless they were true, and that the observances could never have originated except in connection Avith the facts. In showing this, he lays down four rules, and asserts that any matter of fact in which these four rules meet must be true, and chal- lenges the world to shoAv any instance of any supposed matter of fact, thus authenticated, that has ever been shown to be folse. I^ow- rules. — His four rules are these: 1. "That the matter of fact be such that men's outward senses, their eyes and ears, may be judges of it." 2. "That it be done publicly, in the face of the world." 3. " That not only public monuments be kept, up in memory of it, but some outward actions be performed." 4. "That such monuments, and such actions, or observances, be instituted, and do conmience from the time that the matter of fact Avas done." The first tioo rules. — "The first two rules make it impossible for any such matter of fact to be imposed upon men at the time, because every man's eyes, and cars, and senses, would contradict it." For example, if any man should affirm that all the inhabitants of this city yesterday, or last year, walked to Governor's Isl- and and returned on dry ground, while the water was divided and stood in h('ai)s on each side of them, it would be impossible that lie should be believed, because every man, woman, and child would knoAV better. It would be one of those things respecting which the un- learned and the young could judge as Avell as the learned Leslie's rules. 281 and the more experienced. Equally impossible is it that the children of Israel, of that generation, should have ])elicved that they passed through the Red Sea, or ■vvent out and gathered manna every morning, or drank water from the rock, or that the law was given with the terror and solenmity described in the Bible, if these things did not happen. Not less impossible is it that the five thousand should have believed they were fed by Christ ; or that the relatives of Lazarus, and the Jews who knew him, should have believed that he was raised from the dead, or the parents and friends of the man born blind, that he was made to see ; or that the multitudes before whom he healed the lame, and the sick of every description, should have believed that these events took place, if they did not. These mira- cles are of such a nature, that, unless they were really wrought, it is impossible they should have been be- lieved at the time. "Therefore it only remains that such matter of fact might be invented some time after, when the men of that generation wherein the thing was said to be done are all past and gone ; and the credulity of after ages might be imposed upon to believe that things were done in former ages which were not. The last two rules. — "And for this the last two rules secure us as much as the first two rules in the former case ; for, whenever such a matter of fact came to be invented, if not only monuments were said to remain of it, but likewise that puldic actions and observances were constantly used ever since the matter of fact was said to be done, the deceit must be detected by no such monuments appearing, and by the experience of every man, woman, and child, who must know that no such actions or observances were ever used by them." "For example," continues Leslie, "suppose I should now invent a story of such a thing done a thousand years 24* 282 EVIDENCES OF CURISTIANITT. ago ; I might perhaps get some to believe it ; but if I say that not only sueh a thing was clone, but that, from that clay to this, every man, at the age of twelve years, had a joint of his little finger cut olf ; and that every man m the nation did want a joint of such a finger ; and that this institution was said to be part of the matter of fact clone so many years ago, and vouched as a proof and confirmation of it, and as having descended without interruption, and been constantly practiced, in memory of such matter of fact, all along. from the time that such matter of fact was done ; — I say it is impossible I should be believed in such a case, because every one could contradict me as to the mark of cutting olf the joint of the finger ; and that, being a part of my origi- nal matter of fact, must demonstrate the whole to be false." uVpplication to bool's of Moses. — The case here put is not stronger than that cither of the books of Moses, or of the New Testament. For, at whatever time it might have ])een attempted to impose the books of Moses upon a su1)sequent age, it would have been im- possible, because they contain the laws and civil and ecclesiastical regulations of the Jews, which the books afiirm were adopted at the time of ISIoses, and were constantly in force from that time ; and because they contain an account of the institution of the passover-, which they assert to have l)een observed in consequence of a particular fact. If, then, a book had been put forth at a particular time, stating that the Jews had obeyed cei-tain very peculiar laws, and had a certain priesthood, and had observed the passover from the time of Moses, while they had never heard of these laws, or of this priesthood, or of a passover, it is im- possible the l)ook shovdd have been received. Nothing could have saved such a book from scorn or utter neglect. ClIEISTIiVN ORDIN^VNCES. 283 To the JSFeio Testament. — But what the Lcvitical law, and the priesthood, and the passover, were to the Jews, baptism, and the Christian ministry, and the Lord's supper, are to Christians. It is a part of the records of the Gospels that these were instituted by Christ ; that thoy were commanded by him to be continued till the end of time, and Avere actually continued and ob- served at the time Avhen the Gospels pui-port to have been written — that is, before the destruction of Jeru- salem. But if these books were fictions invented after the time of Christ, there would have been at that time no Christian baptism, nor order of Christian ministers, nor sacrament of the supper, thus derived from his appointment ; and that, alone, would have demonstrated the whole to be false. Our books suppose these insti- tutions to exist ; they give an account of them ; and it is impossible they should have been received where they did not exist. It is, therefore, impossible that these books should have been received at the time the facts are said to have taken place, or at any subsequent time, unless those facts really did take place. We now re- gard the sacrament of the supper as an essential part of the religion ; it was so regarded by our fathers ; nor can we conceive that it should have been otherwise up to the very time when the religion was founded. Thus we have a visible sign and pledge of the truth of our religion, handed down, independently of written testi- mony, from age to age ; and the force of which, age has no tendency to dnninish. iStrenr/th of the evidences. — Perhaps we do not suffi- ciently dwell on the great strength which the Christian evidences derive from this proof, or notice the contrast it makes l)etwcen the evidence for the facts of Chris- tianity and those of ordinary history. Not only is it impossible to point out any statement of fact, substan- tiated by these four marks, that can be shown to bo 284 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITY. false, but none of the best authenticated facts of ancient histoiy have them all. The fourth of July, as observed hy us, may illustrate the effects of such commemorative ordinances as guarding against false historical accounts. For any man to have invented the New Testament after the time of Christ, and to have attempted to cause it to be received, would have been as if a man had writ- ten an account of the Revolution, and of the celebration of this day from the first, when no revolution was ever heard of, and no one had ever celebrated the fourth of July. Nor, when such a festival was once established, would it be possible to introduce any account of its ori- gin essentially different from the true one. But the case of the Christian religion is much stronger ; because we have several different institutions which must have sprung up at its origin ; because baptism and the Lord's supper have occurred so much more frequently ; and because the latter has ahvays been considered the chief rite of a religion to which men have been more attached than to liberty or to life. Two great arguments. — Thus I have brought into close juxtaposition these two great arguments. AVe liave seen that it was impossible that the apostles shoidd have been either deceivers or deceived ; and that the books could not have been received, either at the time they purport to have been written, or at any subsequent time, if the facts recorded had not taken place. Credible because no others. — But again : our books are credible because there are no others. That such a movement as Christianity must have been, involving the origin of so many new institutions, and such eccle- siastical and social changes, should have originated at such a time, and in such a place, and that no written documents should have been drawn forth by it, is in- credible. And that the true account should have per- ished, leaving not a vestige behind it, and that false MIILVCLES rECULIAE. 285 • ones, and such as these, should have been substituted, is impossible. Of the origin of such institutions we should expect some account. That of our books is adequate and satisfactory. There is nothing contradic- tory to it, for even spurious writings confirm the truth of our books, and there is no vestige of any other. liccause of (he character of (he miracles. — I will only add, in this general department of evidence, that our books are credil)le because they contain accounts of siicli miracles. In the second lecture, I spoke of miracles as the proper and only adequate seal of a message from God, and also noticed the peculiar import of those words of Nicodemus, " We know that no man can- do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him," in Avhich it seems to be implied that the character of the miracle, as Avell as the mere fact that a miracle was wrought, may have something to do with the weight and bearing of its evidence. I have recently met with a passage, in "The Process of Historical Proof," by Isaac Taylor, in which, from a comparison of the Chris- tian miracles with the prodigies to which impostoi-s have made pretension, ho asserts that tliey so bear the st:unp of divinity upon them as to stand in no need of external ]n-oof. Perhaps this is too strongly stilted, but the thought is one deserving of attention. "Whoever," says he, "is duly informed of the state of mankind in ancient times, and is aware of the invariable character of the preternatural events or prodigies which were talked of among the Greeks, Romans, and Asiatics, (the Jews excepted, whose notions were derived from another source,) nnist allow that the miracles recorded to have been i)erf()rmed by Christ and his apostles difter totally from all such portents and prodigies. The l)e- neficcnt restorations Avhicli followed the word or the touch of Him who came, not to destroy life, but to save, were, if the expression may be allowed, perfectly 286 EVIDENCES OF CimiSTIAJSnTT. in the style of the Creator ; they held forth such exhi- bitions of iin absolute control over the material world as were most significant of the power of the doctrhie to restore health to the soul. If the idea of the mo- rality taught by Christ was absolutely new, so likewise was the idea of the miracles performed by him to enforce it." . . . " Were there room to doubt what is the character of the native imagination of enthusiasts — of fanatics — of interested priests — when they have devised the means of giving credit to their fraudulent usurpations over the consciences of their fellows, we might read the history of superstition in ancient Eg}q3t, India, or Greece ; or, if that were not enough, we might turn to the history of those 'Ij'ing wonders,' upon which the ministers of the Eomish religion in modern times have rested their pretensions." A missionary from India informs me, that the traditionary miracles of that coun- try, at the present time, are generally connected with stories the most whimsical and absurd ; tliat they were wrought to esta])lish no principle, and not unfrequently for the purposes of cruelty and lust. "The gospel miracles stand out, therefore, from the miiform history of false religions, just as the gospel morality stands out from the history of all other ethical systems. They alone are worthy of the Creator, — and that alone is worthy of the Supreme Lawgiver. Instead, then, of admitting that stronger evidence is necessary, to attest the extraordinary facts recorded in the New Testament, than is deemed sufficient in the common path of history, wo assert their intrinsic in- dependence of externcd ^^roo/",- aud we affirm that no sound and well-informed mind could fail to attribute them to the Divine Agent, even though all historical evidence were absent. Nothing is so reasonaljlc as to believe that the miracles and discourses of Jesus were WANT OF BELIEF NOT FKOM WANT OF TROOF. 287 from God, — nothing so absurd as to suppose them to have been of men." jSummari/. — Here, then, we have five authentic his- tories — four, of the same events — written by four diiferent persons, who were themselves eye-witnesses, or had the best means of knoAving Avhat they relate. We have original letters, Avritten at the time, both to bodies of men and to individuals, containing a gi*eat variety of indirect, and therefore of the very strongest, testimony. AYe find the books bearing every mark of honesty. Wc find the facts of such a nature that the witnesses could not have been deceived, and we find them laying down their lives to testify that they did not deceive others. We find institutions now existing, and rites observed, which hold such a relation to the facts of Christianity, as given in the books, that the books must be true. We find, moreover, no other account, nor the vestige of any, of the greatest revolution the world has ever known, while our accounts are in all respects simple, and natural, and perfectly satisfactory, assigning only adequate causes for efiects which we know were produced; and, finally, we find in these books the only account of miracles that are worthy of God. Can any man then refuse to believe facts thus substantiated, and yet receive evidence for an}' past event? Can he do it, and pretend he is not gov- erned by other considerations than those of evidence? Heathen icriters. — And here I might pause ; but I am to present the evidence, and there is still another department on which I have not touched. All the evi- dence hitherto adduced has been drawn from our owii books, or from the nature of the case. Let us now turn to that which we may derive from heathen writers, and from other sources. This evidence must be noticed, because there are those who attach to it a peculiar 288 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTLVNITY. value. There arc those ^vho give a weight to the tes- thiiouy of Tacitus the heatlicn, which they would not have given to that of Tacitus the Christian. This is unreasonable ; because, if Tacitus had become a Chris- tian, it would, under the circumstances, have implied both sincerity and more accurate knowledge. The very fact of becoming a Christian would have been, on his part, as it was on the part of every converted heathen, the most striking testimony he could have given of his belief in the facts of Christianity. Still, there are those who will not detach the idea of partisanship from the belief and maintenance of any great truth, and who look upon Christian testimony, as such, with suspicion. While, therefore, we say that they suflcr the very cir- cumstance, that ought to give this evidence weight, to impair its force, yet, for their sakes, as well as for its intrinsic value, the evidence from other sources must be given. Time and place of origin. — And here, again, as at other points, the evidence of Christianity shines with a peculiar lustre. It may, indeed, almost be said that our books are credible from the very time and place of their origin. "Few persons," says the forcible writer whom I last quoted, "few persons, perhaps, give due attention to the relative position of the Christian his- tory, which stands upon the very point of intersection where three distinct lines of history meet — namely, the Jewish, the Grecian, and the Eoman. These three bodies of ancient literature, alone, have descended, by an uninterrupted channel of transmission, to modern times ; and these three, hy a most extraordinary com- bination of circumstances, were brought together to elucidate the origination of Christianity. If upon the broad field of history there rests the common light of day, upon that spot where a new religion was given to man there shines the intensity of a concentrated bright- PLACE OF ORIGIX. 289 ncss." The Jews luul their own literature; they had been formerly conquered by the Greeks, and the Greek language ^vas in common use ; they were also a Roman province, and "during more than a century, in the cen- tre of Avhich stands the ministry of Christ, the affairs of Syria attracted the peculiar attention of the Eoman government." " Xo other people of antiquity can be named, upon whose history and sentiments there falls this triple flood of historic light ; and upon no period in the history of this one people do these triple rays so precisely meet as upon the moment when the voice of one was heard in the wilderness of Jordan, saying, 'Prepare ye the way of the Lord.'"* Well, then, might an apostle say, " These things were not done in a corner." The time is not run back, like that of Indian legends, to obscm-e and fabulous ages ; nor is it in what are called the dark ages of more modern times. It was a civilized and an enlightened age — a classic age — an age of poets, philosophers, and historians. Xor Avas it in ]Mecca — a city little known or visited b}^ the civilized world, and where the people and language were homo- geneous — that Christ arose. It was in Jerusalem, in Western Asia, — the theatre of history from the lirst, — and from the bosom of a people with all whose rites and usages we are perfectly acquainted. It was, per- haps, the only place on earth in which a Eoman gov- ernor would have called the three languages which contain the literature of ancient civilization into requi- sition, to proclaim at once the accusation and the true character of Christ. "And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was — Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. And it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, ami Latin.'' Here, then, was a mixed population, with different prejudices and interests, speaking different languages, . * Process of Historical Proof. 25 290 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTIANITT. for that day a reading population, in a city to which Dot only the Jews dwelling in Palestine, but those from distant countries, and prosel^^tes, came up yearly, as the centre and seat of the only pure worship of God on earth. And was this the place to select for the production of forged writings ? or for an imposture of any kind to gather a force that should carry it over the earth ? I have already spoken of the opportunity furnished by the number and variety of the Christian witnesses for a most searching cross-examination, and we have seen how triumphantly they come out from such an ordeal. And here again they are brought to a test scarcely less trying. The contemporary writers, Jewish and heathen, in the three languages mentioned, are mimerous ; and whatever, in any of them, throws light on the manners, or habits, or sects, or forms of govern- ment, or general condition of the inhal)itants of Pales- tine and the surrounding countries, will enable us to put to a most decisive test those who dcseril^e with any minuteness important events passing upon such a scene. TJie Talmud. — Of Hebrew literature, then, we have the Talmud, a collection of Jewish traditions, the com- pilation of which was commenced as early as the second century. This speaks of Christ, and of several of the disciples, by name. It speaks also of his crucifixion. It admits, also, that he performed many and great mir- acles, but imputes his power to his having learned the right pronunciation of the ineffable name of God, which, it says, he stole out of the Temple, or to the magic arts which he learned in Eg}i)t. These writings are specific in their statements respecting the destruction of Jeru- salem, and throw much light on the sects and customs of the Jews.* Greek icriters — Josej^Inis. — Of Greek TVTiters, we * See Home. JOSEPHUS. 291 cite first Josephus, who, though ho was a Jew by ])iith, and a Eomaii by association and habits, yet wrote in Greek. Josephus lived at the time many of these events are said to have happened, and was present at the destruction of Jerusalem. In him, therefore, we have the most ample means of ascertaining every thing re- lating to JeAvish sects, and customs, and opinions, and of testing the accuracy of our books respecting many dates and names of persons and places. And, on all hands, it is agreed that, so far as Jose- phus goes, he confirms the accuracy of our books. Every thing said in relation to the sects of the Jews, and the Ilcrods, and Pilate, and the division of prov- inces, and Felix, and Drusilla, and Bernice, has just that asfreement with our accounts which we should ex- pect in independent historians. The account given by Josephus of the death of Herod is strikingly similar to that of Luke. The account by Luke you will remem- ber. Josephus says that Herod came into the theatre early in the morning, dressed in a robe or garment made wholly of silver, and that the reflection of the rays of the rising sun from the silver gave him a majestic and awful appearance, and that in a short time his flatterers exclaimed, one from one place and another from another, though not for his good, that he Avas a god, and they entreated him to be propitious to them. lie then adds, "Immediately after, he was seized with -pain in his bowels, extremely violent, and was carried to the pal- ace." Luke gives the cause of the pain, saying he was eaten of worms. Do we find in the New Testament the Jews calling upon Pilate to crucify Jesus, and say- ing, We have no power to put any man to death? Josephus says that they had the free exercise of their religion, and the power of accusing and prosecuting, but not of putting any man to death. Do we find the Roman captain, when Paul was arrested, asking, "^irt 202 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTIANITr. not thou that Egj^itian, which before these days madcst an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thou- sand men that were murderers ? " We find in Joscphus a full account of the transaction, which happened under the government of Felix, and, what is remarkable, Josephus does not mention his name, but ever\' Avhere calls him "the Egyptian," and ''the Egj-^itian false prophet." Do our books speak of Pharisees, and Sad- ducees, and Herodians ? Josephus confirms all that is said of these in the minutest particulars. Does Luke speak of soldiers who went to John the Baptist, using a word (^grqaxEvofievot) whicli indicates that they were then under arms and marching to battle ? Josephus tells us that Herod was then at war with Aretas, his father- in-law, and that a body of soldiers was at that very time marchinsr throuirh the reixion where John was. Does Luke speak of Herod as reproved b}^ John for Hcrodias, his brother Philip's wife? Josephus tells us it was on her account that Herod had sent back his wife, and that the war was undertaken. Does Paul say of Ananias, when reproached for reviling God's high priest, "I wist not, lirethren, that he was the high priest"? We find, from Josephus, that Ananias had l:)oen deposed, and his successor murdered, and that in the interim, Avhen there really was no high priest, Ananias had usurped the place. Docs Luke speak of a body of soldiers stationed at Ca^sarea, called the Augustan band? Josephus says, that though that gar- rison was chiefiy composed of Syrian soldiers, yet that there was a small body of Roman soldiers stationed there, called by this title, and he applies to them the very Greek term used by Luke. So minute and perfect are these coincidences, that no one can resist the con- viction that the writers of our books lived and acted in the scenes which they relate. But it is said that Josephus is silent respecting Christ JOSEPHUS. 293 and Christianity. This is not true, if wc admit as authentic either of two passages which arc found in all the manuscripts, and ^vhich have strong external testi- mony. The first passage is this: "Now there was, about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he performed many wonderful works. lie was a teacher of such men as received the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him many of the Jews, and also of the Gentiles. This was the Christ. And when Pilate, at the instigation of the principtd men amonff us, had condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him from the first did not cease to adhere to him. For he appeared to them alive again on the third day ; the divine prophets having foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, subsists to this time." * Subsequently we find the following : "Ananias assembled the Jewish Sanhedrim, and brought before it James, the brother of Jesus, who is called Christ, with some others, whom he delivered over to be stoned as infractors of the law." AVe also find a passage speaking of John the Baptist, in exact accord- ance with our Gospels. The authenticity of all these passages has been controverted, and there is so much reason for douljt, that I do not quote them as authorita- tive. If they are interpolations, then Josephus is silent on the whole subject. But that silence is not from ignorance. AVe know from Tacitus that before Jose- phus wrote, the Roman people, for whom he wrote, had seen the tortures of Christian martyrs suffering for their faith in Jesus Christ, whom they regarded as a Jew, and continuing himself to be a Jew, his silence becomes an indirect but very strong testimony. As a Jew, he could not confess the truth of the fiicts asserted by * For a vindication of the genuineness of thia passage, see the recent edition of Home. 25* 294 EVIDEXCES OF CHRISTIANITY. Christians ; but as an historian, he did not venture to contradict them, and, as has been seen, in all collateral matters he confirms them. But, if we suppose Jose- phus silent, then it is certain, from Tacitus, that his silence was not from ignorance, and, inasmuch as he continued a Jew, it thus becomes an indirect testimony. He could not say any thing to contradict our books ; he says nothing different from them ; he confirms them in all incidental points. Demosthenes. — But, again : docs Luke speak of the Athenians as spending their time in hearing and telling some new thing? We find Demosthenes, long before, inquiring of them whether it was their sole ambition to wander through the public places, each inquiring of the other, " l\Tiat news ? " Does Paul speak of the Cretans as liars ? We find that to " Cretize " was a proverbial expression, among the ancients, for lying. Testimony of Pilate. — Before citing two Latin au- thors, I will say a word of what may be called " ofiicial" testimony to the facts of Christianity. Its early de- fenders, as Justin Martp*, in his first Apology, addressed to "the emperor and senate of Eome," and Tertullian, addressing the Roman governor of his province ^ appeal to the ofl&cial communications of Pilate to the emperor Tiberius, as confirming their statements concerning Christ. The confidence with which thc}^ invite an ex- amination of the public records, and of the other sources of information, — and this at a time when such an exam- ination would certainly disclose the facts, — shows their mihesitating fiiith, not only as to the truth of the Chris- tian history, but also as to the al)undant evidence then existing and accessible, by Avhich it was supported. If no such documents had existed, it would have been mere foolhardiness thus to refer to them ; if they did exist, how perfect the evidence ! * * Uornc, to whom, and Palcy, I have chiefly referred in this part of the lecture. TACITUS AND TLIXr. 295 TacKus. — But I pass to Tacitus, T\'hose testimony even Gi1)bon admits must be received. In connection ■with an account of the l)uruing of Kome, in the tenth 3'ear of Xero, A. D. 64, whicli was imputed by Nero to the Christians, he tells ns that Christ -was put to death by Pontius Pilate, who was the procurator under Tiberius, as a malefactor ; that the people called Chris- tians derived their name from him ; that this superstition arose in Judea, and spread to Rome, where at that time, onl}^ about thirty years after the death of Christ, the Christians were very numerous. The words of Tacitus, in speaking of them, arc, ^^ ingens muUitudo" a great multitude. It is obvious, also, from the account of Tacitus, that the Christians were sul ejected to contempt and the most dreadful sufferings. "Their executions," says he, "were so contrived as to expose them to de- rision and contempt. Some were covered over with the skins of wild beasts, that the}'' might be torn to pieces by dogs ; some were crucitied ; while others, beiug daubed over with combustible materials, were set lip as lights in the night-time, and were thus burnt to death." This account is confirmed by Suetonius, and by ]\Iartial and Juvenal. In his first satire, Juvenal has the following allusion, Avhicli I give as translated by Mr. Gilford: — " Xow dare To glance at Tigcllinus, and you glare In tliat pitched shirt in -which such crowds expire, Chained to the bloody stake, and wrapped in tii-e." This testimony of Tacitus, confirmed as it is, is per- fectly conclusive respecting the time and the main facts of the origin of Christianity. Pliny. — It would here be in place to qnote the whole of the celebrated letter of Pliny to Trajan, and the reply ; but as these are so well kno^Mi, I will simply give two brief passages, one respecting the character, 296 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTL^nTY. and the other the numbers, of the Christians. Pliny was propraetor of Pontus and Bithynia, a part of Asia remote from Judea, and the letter was written but a little more than seventy years after the death of Christ. Many were brought before him for their faith in Christ. If they remained steadfast in it, refusing to offer in- cense to the idols, he condemned them to death for their " inflexible obstinacy." Under this fear numbers consented to deny Christ. Of those accused, many said that they had once been Christians, "but had aban- doned that religion, some of them three years before, some of them longer, and some even twenty years be- fore." "They affirmed," says he, — that is, those who said they had once been Christians, but were not then, — "that the whole of their fault, or error, lay in this, that they were wont to meet together on a stated day Ijcfore it was light, and sing among themselves, alternatclj', a hymn to Christ, as God, and ])iud themselves, by an oath, not to the commission of any wickedness, but not to be guilty of theft, or robbery, or adulter}-, never to falsify their word, nor to deny a pledge committed to them when called upon to return it. When these things were performed, it was their custom to separate, and then to come together again to a meal, Avhich they ate i-u common without any disorder." This account seemed so extraordinary to Pliny, that he applied torture to two women, but discovered nothing more. The passage in regard to numbers is — " Suspending, therefore, all judicial proceedings, I have recourse to you for advice ; for it has appeared to me a matter highly desei-ving consideration, especially on account of the great number of persons who are in danger of suffering ; for many of all ages and every rank, of l)oth sexes likewise, are accused, and will be accused. Nor has the contagion of this superstition seized cities only, but the lesser towns also, and the open country." Here STRENGTH AND VARIETY OF EVmENCE. 297 we find the testimony given in our books of the progress of the religion fully confinncd. Pontus and I>ith3'nia were remote provinces, and it does not appear that the Christian religion had spread more rapidly there than elscAvherc. How strong must have been that i)rimitive evidence for Christianity which could induce these per- sons, persons of good sense, in every walk of life, to abandon the religion of their ancestors, and thus, in the face of imperial power, to persist in their adherence to one who had suilered the death of a slave ! Other icriters. — We might also refer to Celsus, and Lucian, and Epictetus, and the Emperor ^Marcus Anto- ninus, and Porphpy, — who all throw light on the early history of Christianity, and all confirm, so far as they go, the accounts of our books. Coins, medals, inscriptions. — There is a single spe- cies of evidence more, that I will just mention — that ■which is derived from ancient coins, medals, and inscrip- tions. The most striking of these relate to the credi- bility of the Old Testament ; still, valuable confirmation to the New is not wanting, and I mention it because it shows how every possible line of evidence converges on this point. Luke gives to Sergins Paulus a title belonging only to a man of proconsular dignity, and it had been d()u1)ted ^vhether the governor of Cyprus had that dig- nity. A coin, however, has been found struck in the reign of Claudius Ca?sar, (the very reign in Avhich Paul visited Cyprus,) and under Proclus, who succeeded Sergius Paulus, on which the very title applied by Luko is given to Proclus. Luke speaks of Philippi as a col- ony, and the word implies that it was a Eoinan colony. It was mentioned as such by no other historian, and hence the authority of Luke was questioned. But a medal has l)ecii discovered Avhich shows that this dignity 298 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. was confeiTed upon tliat city hy Julius Ctesar. It is implied, in the nineteenth of Acts, that there was great zeal at Ephesus for the worship of Diana ; and a long inscription has been found there, by which it appears that, at one time, a whole month was set apart to games and festivals in honor of her. There have also been found, in the catacombs at Eome, inscrij)tions which show, in a touching manner, in opposition to the insinuations of Gibbon and of some later writers, the cruelty of the early persecutions, and the number of those who suffered mart^Tdom.* Much evidence of this kind might be added. Weak and obstinate skeiylidsm. — Thus have we every conceivable species of historical proof, both external and internal. Thus do the very stones cry out. And, my hearers, if there may be such a thing as a weak and obstinate credulity, may there not also be such a thing as a skepticism equally weak and obstinate ? * Wiseman's Lectures, LECTURE XI. ARGUMENT THIRTEENTU :— rROPHECY. — NATURE OF THIS EVI- DENCE.— THE GENERAL OBJECT OF rROniECY. — TUE FUL- FILLMENT OF PROPHECY. The subject of prophecy, upon wliich we now enter, is a great subject. It involves many questions of diffi- culty, and of deep and increasing interest ; and I find myself emljarrassed in the attempt to say any thing respecting it in a single lecture. Force of the evidence. — The term 'prophet' meant, originally, one who spoke the words of God, not neces- sarily implying that he foretold future events ; but, when I speak of prophecy as an evidence of revealed religion, I mean by it a foretelling of future events so contingent that they could not be foreseen by huniaa sagacity, and so numerous and particular that they could not be produced by chance. To foretell such events, and bring them to pass, is among the most striking of all possil)lc manifestations of the omniscience and om- nipotence of God." " To declare a thing shall come to be, long before it is in being," says Justin ^Slai-tp', " and then to bring about that very thing according to the same declaration — this, or nothing, is the work of God." Hume was fully aware of the force of this kind of evi- dence, and justly, though for an obvious reason, classed prophecies with miracles, as furnishing proof of a rev- (299) 300 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. eliition from God. Indeed, a prophecy fulfilled before our eyes is a standing miracle. Let it once be made out that a religion is sustained b}' genuine prophecies, and I sec not how it is possible that evidence should be more complete or satisfactory. Peculiar to CJiristlanity . — In claiming prophecy as a ground of evidence, Christianity again stands entirely by itself. ]\Iiracles and prophecy — those two grand pillars of Christian evidence — are neither of them even claimed by Mohammedanism, and are neither of them the ground on which it has been attempted to introduce any other religion. Impostors have pretended, and still do, to work miracles in suppoi-t of systems of pa- ganism and of superstition already established ; and, iu the same way, juggling oracles have been uttered, which seem to have resembled modern fortune-telling for more than Scripture prophecy. Indeed, the contrast is not greater l^etween the Christian miracles and the ridicu- lous prodigies of paganism, than it is between the prophecies of the Scriptures and the heathen oracles. Those oracles were given for purposes of gain, on special application, to gratify curiosity, or to subserve the purposes of ambition, political or military ; all the circumstances under which they were given favored imposture, and the responses were generally so ambig- uous, that they would apply to either alternative. "Thus, when Croesus consulted the oracle at Delphi, relative to his intended war against the Persians, he was told that he would destroy a great empire. This he naturally interpreted of his overcoming the Persians, though the oracle was so framed as to admit of an oppo- site meanino:. Croesus made war aijainst the Persians, and was ruined, and the oracle continued to maintain its credit." * But the prophecies of the Scriptures were generally uttered on no solicitation, and never for a * nornc. EVIDENCE ri:OM niOrilECY — CHARACTERISTICS. 301 sellisli end. They relate sometimes to iudividuals and sometimes to nations, and present us with a compre- hensive view of the kingdom of God in its rise and progress, and of those events most intimately associated -\\ ith it till the end of time. They are one great and har- monious s}-stcm, not one of which can l)c shown to have failed, commencing in the garden of Eden, uttered by persons of the greatest variety of character, and ex- tending over the space of four thousand years. A system of deception like this could have been under- taken from no conceivable motive, and could have been executed by no human power. Gives grandeur. — This is a species of evidence which mvests the Christian religion, and especially the coming of Christ, with a peculiar gi-andcur. As his coming is the great event to which the Christian world must al- ways look back, so prophecy makes it the great event to which the ancient church constantly looked forward. It makes him the centre of the system, the great orb of moral day ; and prophets and holy men of old it makes but as the stars and constellations that preceded and heralded the brightness of his coming. Condantli/ growing. — The evidence of prophecy is also constantly growing. This results, not from the nature of prophecy, in itself considered, l)ut from the number and nature of those unfultilled prophecies of which there are so man}', both in the Old and in tho New Testament. If prophecy has laid down a map of time till the end, then the evidences from it must be more full as the scroll of Divine Providence is unrolled, and is found to correspond with this map. It has even been said that this increasing evidence of prophecy was intended to act as a compensation for the decreasing evidence (|f miracles ; but I admit of no such decrease in the evidence for miracles. We may be as certain that miracles were wrought as those were who saw them ; 2G 802 e"\t:dences of christiaxity. just as we may be as certain that Jerusalem was be- sieged and taken as those were who saw it ; but, in both cases, according to a common hiw in respect to distance m space and time, the imj^ression upon our minds will be less lively than if it had been produced b}' the evidence of the senses, or from a near proximity in time or space. We might be as certain of the fact, if there had been an earthquake in China, as if one had swallowed up New Orleans or New York ; but how much less lively would be our impressions in one case than in the other ! It was a doctrine of Hume, that belief consists in liveliness of ideas, and this doctrine of a decreasing evidence for miracles seems to have resulted from confounding these two. Specially adapted to some 7ninds. — The evidence from in'ophecy, being thus conclusive, peculiar, grand, and growing, can not be omitted ; though if we look at Christianity as merely requiring a logical proof, it is not needed. But the minds of men are differently con- stituted. Some are more struck with one species of evidence, and some with another; and it seems to have been the intention of God that his revelation should not be without any kind of proof that could be reason- ably demanded, nor without proof adapted to every mind. To my mind, the argument from the internal evidence is conclusive ; so is that from testimony ; and here is another, perhaps not less so even now, and which is destined to become overwhelmins:. These are independent of each other. They are like separate nets, which God has commanded those who would be "fishers of men" to stretch across the stream — that stream which leads to the Dead Sea of infidelity — so that if any evade the first, they may be taken by the second ; or, if they can possibly pass the second, that they may not escape the third. Evidence not the sole or great object. — This evidence, EVIDEXCE FKOM PROPHECY — INCIDENTAL. 303 SO striking and peculiar, it has generally been supposed it was the object of prophecy to give. That this Avas one object I can not doubt. It may even have been the sole object of some particular prophecies, as Avhen Christ said to his disciples, respecting the treachery of Judas, "Xowlhave told you before it come to pass, that when it is come to pass, ye might believe." But, important as this object is, it seems to me to be only incidental. Prophecy seems, like the sinlessncss of Christ, to enter necessarily into the system — to be a part, not only of the evidence of the system, but of the system itself. I speak not now of this or tliat par- ticular prophecy ; but I say that the prophetic element causes the whole system to have a different relation to the human mind, and makes it quite another thing as a means of moral culture and discipline. It is one thing for the soldier to march without any knowledge of the places through which he is to pass, or of that to which he is going, or of the object of the campaign ; and it is quite another for him to have, not a map, perhaps, but a sketch of the intended route, with the principal cities through which he is to pass dotted down, and to know what is intended to be the termination and tlie final object of the campaign. It is evident that in the one case a vastly wider range of sympathies will be called into action than in the other. In the latter case, the soldiers can cooperate far more intelligently with their commander-in-chief; they will feel vcr}' diflcr- ently as they arrive at designated points, and far higher will be their enthusiasm as the}' approach the end of their march, and the hour of tlie final conflict draws on. And this is the relation in which God has placed us, by the prophetic element in revehition, to his great plans and purposes. He has provided that there shall be put into the hands of every soldier a sketch of the route which the church militant is to pursue in following the 304 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITT. Captain of her salvation ; and this sketch is continued all the way, till we see the bannered host passing through those triumphal arches where the everlasting doors have been lifted up for their entrance into the Jerusalem above. This is not merely to gratify curiosity ; it is not merely to give an evidence which liecomes com- pleted only when it is no longer needed ; but it is to furnish ol)jects to faith and affection, and motives to effort, and to put the mind of man in that relation to the great plan of God which properly belongs to those whom he calls his children and his friends. Obscurity. — Objection has been made to the obscu- rity of the prophecies. This olyection can not lie against them as indicating the general course of events, and thus accomplishing the great end for which I sup- pose they were given. Nor can it lie against some of the particular prophecies, for nothing can be more direct and explicit. Others, however, are obscure. The revelations were made by symbols which are sul3- ject to their own laws of interpretation, and the mean- ing of which the prophets themselves did not always understand. But it is through this very obscurit}^ in the exact degree in which it exists, that many of these prophecies furnish the highest possible evidence of their genuhieness. If the object had been to furnish the very best evidence that certain prophecies were in- spired, it could have been done only by investing them with such a degree of obscurity that the events could not have been certainly recognized before their fullill- mcnt, and yet hy makhig them so clear that they could not be mistaken afterward. And this is precisely the principle on which many of the prophecies are con- structed. L(jokod at in this point of view, they show a divnie skill. If a prophecy had the plainness of a narration, it might be plausil)ly said that it was the cause of its own fulfillment. Individuals wishing it to OLD AyrD XEAV TESTAMENTS. 305 be fulfilled might accommodate themselves to the proph- ecy, or, as has been done in one fomous instance,* they might endeavor to prevent the fulfillment. How eagerly this objection would have been seized on may be seen from the fact that Bolingbroke says, even now, that Christ did l)ring on his own death willfully, that his disciples might boast that the prophecies were fulfilled in him. But when prophecy, while it spans, as with a luminous arch, the whole canopy of time, and reveals some events with perfect distinctness, yet so far shrouds others as to show only their general fomi, while it so far reveals them that they can not be mistaken when they stand in the light of actual fulfillment, then we see the certain signature of a divine hand; we have the veiy best evidence that the prophecy is from God. Connection of the Old and the JVew Testaments. — Perhaps I ought to say a word on another point. ]Much has been said of the connection between the Old and the Xew Testaments. To some it has seemed that the Old Testament was only a dead weight, and that Chris- tianity would move on triumphantly if it were once fairly cut loose from this. Its morality has seemed to them barbarous, and its narrations improbable. They would not, perhaps, say positively that those events never did take place, but they gi'eatly doubt whether they did, and they talk of "those old myths.'' But I have no fears that the Old Testament will drag down the Xew. I have no wish to cut Christianit}^ loose from any connection Avith it, but would rather draw that connection closer. To me the morality of the Old Testament is the morality of the ten commandments. I find nothing sanctioned there which these Avould not allow, and I wish for nothing better. To me its narra- tives are facts ; and I remember that the Saviour said of these books that they were they which testified of Him. * That of Julian. 2G* 306 EVIDENCES OF CIIKISTIANITY. F'our 2^oi)i(s to be estahlished. — "With these vicT\s, while I allow that there are difficulties connected with the proper interpretation of some of the prophecies, and in a few cases with the manner in which they arc referred to hy the Xew Testament Avriters, I yet feel that there is overwhehnini!^ evidence, 1. Of the fiillill- ment of those prophecies which related to events that occurred before the time of Christ. 2. That Christ and his apostles did claim that many of the Okl Testa- ment prophecies were fiiltilled in him. 3. That those prophecies were thus fultilled. And, 4. That not only the prophets of old, but Christ and his apostles, littered prophecies which have been ftilHlled since his time, and which are in the process of fulHllment now. I*roj)Iiecies relating to events before Christ. — Let us, then, look at the fulfillment of those prophecies Avhicli related to events that occurred before the time of Christ. Of these the number is very great, relating to the Jews, and to those nations with whom they were connected. Of those respecting the Jews, I shall adduce only such as relate to their Babylonish captivity and return ; and of these I can give but single specimens out of large classes of passages. Jeremiah says, (xxxii. 28,) "Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Xebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it." This is sufficiently explicit with respect to the taking of the city. He says again, (xxix. 10,) "For thus saith the Lord, that after seventij years be accomplished at Bab3don I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place." Hear, now, Isaiah, a hundred and sixty years before these events, calling by name and pointing out the work of one who was not yet. Isa. xliv. 28. "That saith of Cyrus, lie is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure : even saying to Jerusalem, PARTICULAR rROrilECIES. 307 Thou shalt 1)C Iniilt ; and to the Temple, Thy founda- tion shall be laid." Xoav lot us hear the deerec of this same Cyrus, made at the expiration of the seventy years. Ezra i. 2, 3. "Thus saith Cynis, king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kinirdoms of the earth ; and he h:ith charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem Avhich is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people ? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and l)uild the house of the Lord God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem." History itself could not be more plain or specific, and such events were plainly beyond the reach of human sagacity. The nations chiefly connected with the Jews were the Xinevites, the INIoabitcs, the Annnonites, the Philistines, the Edomites, the Egyptians, the Tyrians, and the Babylonians ; and concerning each of these there are numerous and specitic prophecies. Of Nineveh, that exceeding great city of three days journey, the prophet says, (Nahum i. 9,) "What do ye imagine against the Lord ? He will make an utter end : affliction shall not rise up the second time." And says another prophet, (Zoph. ii. L3, 15,) "He will make Kincvch a desolation, and dry like a wilderness. This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me : how is she become a desolation ! " Of the IMoabites, and the Ammonites, the prophet said, (Zeph. ii. 8, 9,) "I have heard the reproach of INIoab, ;ind the revilings of the children of Amnion, wherel>y they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border. Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, surely ^Nloab shall he as Sodom, and the chil- dren of Amnion as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation." "Moab," says another prophet, (Jcr. xlviii. 42,) "shall 308 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. be dcstroyod from bcini? a people." All this respecting Nineveh, and Moal), and Annnon, has been literally accomplished. Of the Philistines the prophet says, (Zeph. ii. 4,) "Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation : they shall drive ont Ashdod at the noon- day, and Ekron shall be rooted np." Of Edom the prophecies are the more remarkable, because commen- tators on the Bil)le -were long troubled to know how to dispose of them, and because their literal and exact fullillment has l)een known only a few years. This country was once a great thoroughfare, and a mart for commerce, and remained so long after the prophecies were uttered. Here was Petra, that city the ruins of which have recently become so celebrated. When this was discovered in the midst of such utter desolation, then, and not till then, was the meaning of such pas- sacres as the followins; made known. Jer. xlix. lG-18. "Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, tliat boldest the height of the hill. Also Edom shall l)e a desolation : every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof. As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the neighl)or cities thereof, saith the Lord, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it." The discovery of this country and its ruins, which no ti'aveler seems to have visited for a thousand years, was like the resurrection of one from the dead to bear witness to the literal truth of the prophecies of God. Concerning Egypt, once so mighty, it was said, (Ezek. xxix. 15 ; XXX. 13,) "It shall be the basest of the king- doms ; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I -will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations. And there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt." Up(m this ims- sM«'-e the wliole history of Egypt is but one commentary. PARTICULAR PROrilECIES. 309 The prophecies concerning Tyre and Bab3'lon are well known. Of Tyre it was said, (Ezek. xxvi. 4, 5,) "And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers ; I will also 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." Alexander scraped the ruins from the site of the old city for the purpose of filling up a passage to the new, and the infidel Volney tells us that it is now a place where the fishermen spread their nets. Of "Babylon, the glory of kingdoms," it was said, (Isa. xiii. 20, 21,) "It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in 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 their houses shall be full of doleful creatures ; and oavIs shall dAvell there, and satyrs shall dance there." No better description of the fate and condition of Babylon could be written now. These prophecies were literal, and they have been literally iidfilled. At the time they were uttered there was nothing to indicate the probability of such events. The world had then had no experience of the transfer of the seats of power and civilization. How strange that all these cities and nations should have perished I Why should not the ]Moal)ites, or the Annuonitcs, have re- mained a separate people, as well as the Jews or the Ishmaelites? The prophets of God no longer Avander over those regions, but he has not left himself Avithout a Avitness. No voice could be more eloquent than that of those ruined cities and desolate kingdoms, testify ing hoAv fearful a thing it is to fall under the displeasnre of God, and how cei-tainly he Avill execute all his threatcnings. CJaim of Christ and his a2)os(J€S. — I noAv proceed 310 E"V^DEXCES OF CimiSTIAXITY. to show that Christ and his apostles did claim that many of the Old Testament prophecies were fultilled iu him. This claim, it seems to me, if it coukl have been made by language, was made. I shall cite a few pas- sages, and teave you to judge. Christ says, (John v. 39,) "Search the Scriptures, for they are they which testify of me." John v. 46. "For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me ; for he wrote of me." "The Son of man," said he, (Matt. xxvi. 24,) "goeth, as it is written of him." Mark ix. 12. "It is "written of the Son of man, that he must sufler many things." Luke xviii. 31. "All things written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accom- plished." Luke xxiv. 25-27. "Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken ! Ought not Christ to have suf- fered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." And it was when he thus opened to them the Scriptures, that their hearts burned within them. Again, he said, (verses 44-40,) "All things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of ]\Ioses, and the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might under- stand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to sutler, and to rise from the dead." Could Christ have claimed that he was the su])ject of prophecy, not only in one portion of Scripture, but in all the Scriptures, more plainly than he did claim it? It is obvious, from the narrative, that the effect Avas scarcel}^ greater of seeing him aliAC, than was that produced ])v his opening to them the Scriptures. But what say the apostles? " Paul went iu unto the Jews," (Acts xvii. 2, 3,) "and three Sab))atli daj's PROPHECY CLAIMED. 311 reasoned with tliein out of the Scriptures, opening and allco:iuoth out of the hiAV of Moses and out of the prophets." Paul declared before Agiippa (Acts xxvi. -2-2) that he said '' none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come." Apollos (Acts xviii. 28) " mightily convinced the Jews, pul)licly showing, by the Scriptures, that Jesus was Christ." Peter, even in his first discourse to the Gentiles, said, (Acts x. 43,) "To him give all the prophets witness." And again, (Acts iii. 18,) "Those things which God before had showed by the mouth of all Ids jwoj^hets, that Christ should suficr, he hath so fulfilled." Again, (verse 24,) he says, "Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel, and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days." And Peter says expressly (1 Pet. i. 10, 11) that "the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified Ijcforehand the suflferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." To me it seems that these passages show, if any thing can show it, not only that Christ and his apostles claimed that the Old Testament Scriptures weix; ful- filled in him, but that the great question, when they attempted to convert the Jews, was, whether they had been thus fulfilled. Prophecies fulfilled in Christ. — Our next inquiry is, whether there are jn-ophecics in the Old Testament which were thus fulfilled in Christ. 312 EVIDENCES OF CniilSTUXITY. And here I liiirdly know Avhut conrse to take. I might propound a theory, or make general assertions, and perhaps, as has too often been done, mystify the sul)jeet ; but this would not be proof. Proof must be di'awn from a comparison of scripture with scripture. Hence only can conviction arise. AMU the audience then permit me to present briefly, letting the Scriptures speak for themselves, some corresponding passages of the Old and of the New Testament on this subject? It will be my intention to produce no passage which is not applical^le ; but, if I should, it would not invalidate the general argument. The question here is not one of small criticism. It is as when we stand in the light of open day. "We should not deny, perhaps, that there might be found dark corners into which a man could run and see nothing ; nor that so small an object as his hand even might conceal from him the whole horizon. So here, the question is not whether a man may not find some dark points, or some small objection which he may hold in such a position as to eclipse the glory of the whole prophetic heavens ; but whether there is not, for the candid mind, one broad flood of light pour- ing out from the prophecies of the Old Testament, the rays of which converge, as in a halo of glory, around the head of the Redeemer. We contend that there is, and that this light began to shine even before our first parents were expelled from Eden. To bruise the head of the serj^enf. — The first intima- tion we have of a Messiah was in the promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the ser- pent. Gen. iii. 15. In the New Testament it is said, " God sent forth his Son, made of a woman." Gal. iv. 4. And again : He became a partaker of flesh and blood, that '' through death he might destroy him that bad the power of death, that is, the devil." Heb. ii. 14. SPECIFICATIONS. 313 To he of the seed of Abraham. — The next general intimation was given to Abraham, and his family was predicted. " And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be ble-ssed." Gen. xxii. 18. "Now, to Abra- ham," says Paul, "and his seed, were the promises made. He saith not. And to seeds, as of many ; but as of one. And to thy seed, which is Christ." Gal. iii. IG. "For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham." Heb. ii. 16. Of the tribe of Jiidah. — He was to be of the tribe of Judah. " The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come : and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." Gen. xlix. 10. "For it is evident," says Paul, "that our Lord sprang out of Judah ; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood." Pleb. vii. 14. Of the house of David. — He was to be of the house of David. "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people ; to it shall the Gentiles seek : and his rest shall be glo- rious." Isa. xi. 10. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I Avill raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice ; and this is his name whereby he shall be called. The Lord our Rigiiteousxess." Jer. xxiii. 5, 6. Paul says, "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh." Rom. i. 3. Place of birth designated. — The place of his birth was designated. "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, thoucrh thou be little among: the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be Ruler in Israel ; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Micah v. 2. "Now," says 27 314 EVIDENCES OF CimiSTIAJSTTT. Matthew, " when Jesus was born iu Bethlehem of Ju- dea." Matt. ii. 1. The time of birth. — The time was designated. It was not only to be before the sceptre departed from Judah, but while the second Temple was standing. "And I will shake all nations," says God by Ilaggai, " and the Desire of all nations shall come : and the glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of Hosts." Hag. ii. 7, 9. Daniel also said, " Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon the holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." Dan. ix. 24. Accordingly we find, not only from Jewish writers, l)ut from the most explicit passages in Tacitus and Suetonius, that there was a general expectation that an extraordinary person would arise in Judea about that time. So strong was this expectation among the Jews as to encourage numerous false Christs to appear, and to enable them to gain fol- lowers ; and so certain were they that the Temple could not be destroyed before the coming of the Messiah, that they refused all terms from Titus, and fought with des- peration till the last. Elias to come first. — He was to be preceded by a remarkable person resembling Elijah. "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me." Mai. iii. 1. "Behold, I will send 3'ou Elijah the j)rophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." Mai. iv. 5. "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." Isa. xl. 3. "Li those days came John the Bap- tist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, SPECIFICATIONS. 315 Repent ye ; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt. iii. 1, 2. Was to icork miracles. — He was to work miracles. "Then the eyes of the blind shall l)o opened, and the ears of the deaf shall l)e unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing-." Isa. xxxv. 5,6. These arc precisely the mira- cles recorded as wrought by Christ in instances too numerous to mention. Ills public entry into Jerusalem, — He was to make a public entry into Jerusalem, riding upon a colt the foal of an ass. "Kejoice greatl}^ O daughter of Zion ; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem : behold, thy King cometh mito thee : he is just, and having salvation ; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." Zech. ix. 9. An account of the exact fulfillment of this prophecy Avill be found in the twenty-first chapter of Matthew. To he rejected by the Jeics. — He was to be rejected of his own countrymen. " And he shall be for a sanc- tuary ; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel." Isa. viii. 14. "He hath no form nor comeliness ; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desh'c him. He is despised and rejected of men ; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief : and we hid as it were our faces from him ; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." Isa. liii. 2, 3. "He came unto his own," says John, "and his own received him not." John i. 11. And again : " Though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him : that the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fultillcd, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report?" — quoting the first verse of the fifty-third of Isaiah, and thus claiming it as spoken of the INIessiah. And after quoting another prophecy, the apostle sa3's, "These things said Esaias, 316 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTLVXITY. ■when lie saw his glory, and spake of hini." John xii. 37, 38, 41. To he scourged and moched. — lie was to be scourged, mocked, and spit upon. "I gave my back to the smi- ters, and my checks to them that plucked off the hair : I hid not my face from shame and spitting." Isa. ]. G. "And when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified." Matt, xxvii. 2G. "Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and otliers smote him with the palms of their hands." Matt. xxvi. G7. Ills hands and feet to he pierced. — Ilis hands and Iiis feet w^erc to be pierced. "The assembly of the wicked have inclosed me ; the}^ pierced my hands and ray feet." Ps. xxii. 16. This is remarkable, because the punish- ment of crucifixion was not known among the Jews. To he numhered luith transgressors. — He was to be numbered with the transgressors. "And he was num- bered with the transgressors ; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." Isa. liii. 12. To he reviled on the cross. — He was to be mocked and reviled on the cross. "All they that see mc laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying. He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him : let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him." Ps. xxii. 7, 8. "Likewise also the chief jiriests, mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said. He saved others ; himself he can not save. — He trusted in God; Jet hiui deliver him'now, if Jie wiU have him : for he said, I am the Son of God." Matt, xxvii. 41-43. To have gaU and vinegar to drink. — He was to have gall and vinegar to drink. " They gave me also gall for my meat ; and in my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink." Ps. Ixix. 21. "And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, A place of a skull, tJieg gave him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall" Matt, xxvii. 33, 34. SPECIFICATIONS. 317 Ills garment!^ to he parted. — His gaiinents were to be parted, and upon his vesture lots were to be cast. "They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture." Ps. xxii. 18. "Then the soldiers, when they liad crucitied Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part ; and also his coat ; now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be : that the Scripture might be fultilled." John xix. 23, 24. His death to he violent. — He was to be cut off by a violent death. "For he was cut out of the land of the living." Isa liii. 8. "And after threescore and two weeks shall jNIessiah be cut off, but not for himself." Dan. ix. 26.- Was to he pierced. — He was to be pierced. " And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications : and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced." Zcch. xii. 10. "But one of the soldiers with' a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there- out blood and water." John xix. 34. To malce his grave with the rich. — He was to make his grave with the rich. " And he made his grave with the wi(;ked, and with the rich in his death." Isa. liii. 9. "AVhci the even Avas come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself Avas Jesus' disciple. He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock." Matt, xxvii. 57, 58, 60. Was not to see corrujition. — He was not to see cor- ruption. " For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell ; neither Avilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corrup- tion." Ps. xvi. 10, "Men and l)rethren," says Peter, after citing this passage, " let me freely speak unto you 27* 318 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is MJlh us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne, he, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption." Acts ii. 29-31. And yet there are some who say that these prophecies are no prophecies, and were never claimed to be. But I think it evident that Peter did not belong, as an inter- preter of prophecy, to the schools of German neology. Convergence of the passages. — These passages arc far from l)eing all that might be adduced. Respecting some of them as they stand, a person without previous knowledge would be led to ask the question of the Ethiopian eunuch, '^'I pray thee, of Avhom speaketh the prophet this ? of himself, or of some other man?" But when we sec these passages brought together ; when we sec their wonderful convergence, so that the history of Christ, from his miraculous birth — of the foretelling of which I have not spoken — to his death, was' only their counterpart ; when wc And that the Jews them- selves referred most of them to the ]\Icssiah, and that they are expressly claimed by Christ and his apostles, the general argument l)ecomes exceedingh' strong. Hoav strong it is may be seen b}' any one who will attempt to apply one tenth part of these passages to any other per- son that ever lived. Let him attempt to apply them to Titus, of whom Josephus says that he was the extraor- dinary person foretold, and see how he will succeed. If we admit that these prophecies were extant before the coming of Christ, — and of this we have the best possible evidence, because, as was said by an ancient father, the Jews, the enemies of Christianity, were the li1)rarians of Christians, — and if we estimate mathemat- OFFICES OF CHRIST. 319 ically, l)r the doctrine of chances, the proljahility that these cireunistanees would meet in one person, it wouhl, as is said by Dr. Gregory, surpass the powers of num- bers to express the immense improbability of its taking place. Offices of Christ foretold. — But, striking as are these passages in their application to Christ, while many of them, if not applied to him, would seem to mean noth- ing, they are yet far from giving the whole weight of the argument ; for not only were the circumstances of hislife and death minutely pointed out, but his offices were also described. Was to he a irrophet. — lie was to be a prophet, like unto Moses. "I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth ; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him." Deut. xviii. 18. This is expressly quoted by Peter, in the Acts, (iii. 22,) as fulfilled by Christ. Aj^riest. — He was to be a priest. "The Lord hath sworn, and wall not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchisedek." Ps. ex. 4. "Called of God," says Paul, ^ high priest after the order of Melchisedek." Heb./v. 10. A Idng. — lie was to be a king. " Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion." Ps. ii. 6. "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." Ps. ex. 3. "All power," says Christ, "is given unto me in heaven and in earth." Matt, xxviii. 18. "For he must reign," says Paul, " till he hath put all enemies under his feet." 1 Cor. xv. 25. Kingdom of peace. — His kingdom was to be one of peace. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given : and the government shall be upon his shoulder : and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of 320 EVIDENCES OF CIIKISTIAXITY. Pearr. Of tlic increase of his government and i^eace there shall 1)C no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it Avith judgment and Avith justice from henceforth, even for- ever." Isa. ix. 6, 7. " And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pnming-hooks ; nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Micah iv. 3. "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain." Isa. xi. 9. To include the Gentiles. — His kingdom was also to include the Gentiles. "And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacol), and to restore the preserved of Israel : I Avill also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou maycst be my salvation unto the end of the earth." Isa. xlix. 6. "And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. The abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee." Isa. Ix. 3, 5. This is especially remarkal)le, l)ccause there was nothing in the feeling of the Israelites, or in their rela- tions to the nations around them, in the time of Isaiah, to indicate the possibility of a spiritual and universal kingdom, in which the Gentiles should become fellow- citizens, and have equal privileges with the Jews. Here, then, we have the three great offices of prophet, priest, and king, united by prophecy in one person ; we have a kingdom of peace, and that kingdom one which was to include all nations. IIow perfectly all this is fullilled in the person and kingdom of Christ I need not say ; nor how entirely impossible it would be to make these passages apply to any- other person or kingdom. Prophecies seemingly incompatible. — And not only were these three great offices united in one person, SEEMING INCOMPATIBILITY. 321 but the prophecies respecthig him "sverc so apparently iiicoinpati1)lc and contradictory that it nuist have seemed beforeliand impossible they should be fullilled, and they must have caused great perplexity in the minds of those who were unwillhig to receive the word of God and rest on it by simple faith. Now, he was represented as a triumphant conqueror, as a king sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling all nations, and now he was spoken of as " despised and rejected of men," as " oppressed and afflicted." It was said of the Messiah, "I have set my King upon my holy hill of Zion," and that " of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end," It was also said of him, " After threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off." What contradic- tions, might a Jew have said, have we here ! A King who is to have perpetual dominion, and is to reign till he has put all enemies under his feet, and j'et is to be despised, and rejected, and oppressed ! A Messiah who is to be slain, and yet is to reign forever ! These asser- tions might, indeed, have been received separately, by faith, as the Avord of God; a reasonable Jew would have so received them ; but, before the event, he could not have understood and reconciled them with each other ; and yet the demand made by each of these as- pects of the prophecy is fully met in Christ. Fulfilled hij enemies. — How, then, can the conclu- sion be avoided, that these prophecies were given by inspiration of God? Not by the supposition that they were fulfilled by human contrivance, for the enemies of Christ, far more than his friends, contributed to that fidfillment. As was said by Paul, (Acts xiii. 27,) "They that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, lie- cause they knew him not, nor yet the voices of tho prophets which are read every Sal)bath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning lihn." It was they that smote him, and hung him on a tree, and parted his 322 EVIDEXCES OF CHRISTIANITY. garments among them, and ca.st lots, and pierced liis side. It was they who paid the thirty pieces of silver, the goodly price at which they valned him, and who bought, with the price of blood, the potter's held. Xor can this conclusion be avoided on the supposition of chance ; for, as lias already l^een said, it Avould surpass the power of numbers to express the extreme improba- bility of the fulfillment of such prophecies. Types proplietic. — Nor is this all; for it would l)e easy to show that the whole of the Old Testament dis- pensation, the ark of the covenant, with all its arrange- ments, the passover, the sacrifices, the ceremonies, the priesthood, were all typical, and therefore prophetic; and that the true import and substance of all these is to be found in the Christian dispensation. This, however, is a great subject, and I can not enter upon it. Prophecies hy Christ and the apostles. — We now come to the fourth point mentioned — namely, that Christ and his apostles uttered prophecies Avliich have been fulfilled since their time, and which are in the process of fulfillment now. Fully to illustrate this po- sition, would require a lecture. I can only glance at it. The destruction of Jerusalem. — As the prophecy of Christ respecting the destruction of Jerusalem had for one of its objects to Avarn his followers to escape from that city, it was delivered in the most direct and ex- plicit terms. IJcfore the time of Christ, and during his life, no false Christ arose ; there was no war, and no prospect of one ; and the Temple, and Jerusalem, Avere .standing in all their strength. But he foretold that false Christs should arise, and should deceive many; that there should be eai'thquakcs and famine, and fear- ful sights in heaven, and wars and rumors of wars, and great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world, nor ever should be ; and that Jerusalem TERinCATION. 323 should be compassed ^vith annies ; and that a trench should be cast round about it ; and that one stone of the Temple should not be left upon another ; and that the Jews should be carried captive among all nations. Paul also prophesied of the gi-eat apostasy, and the coming of the man of sin ; and John, in the Revelation, has spoken of the course of events till the end of time. Josephus. — To verify the prophecies of Christ re- specting the destruction of Jerusalem, and the events preceding it, we have a history of those times, wa-ittea by Josephus, an eye witness and a Jew ; and nothing can be more striking tkm a comparison of the history and the prophecy. Josephus gives particular accounts of the false Christs and false prophets,, and of their deceiving many. He speaks of the distmcted state of those countries, corresponding to the prophecy ; of wars and rumors of wars ; and says that the " disorders of all Syria were teniljle. For eveiy city was divided into parties armed against each other, and the safety of one depended on the destruction of the other; the days were spent in slaughter, and the nights in teiTors." He speaks also of famines, and pestilences, and earth- quakes, and especially of "fearful sights, and great signs from heaven." He tells us that just before the war, a star, resembling a sword, stood over the city, and a comet that continued a whole year; that "before sunsetting, chariots, and troops of soldiers in their armor, Avere seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding cities." He says, also, "At the feast of Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the iimer 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 depart hence ! ' " Tacitus. — Nor is Josephus alone in giving these accounts. Tacitus, also, says, " There were many prod- igies prcsignifyiug then- ruin, which was not averted by 324 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTLiXITY. 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." He speaks, also, of the fact that Jerusalem was compassed by an army at the beginning of the war, and that, owing to the state of parties, many of the principal men were about to open the gates ; but says that the Roman general recalled the soldiers from the place without having received any defeat, and retired from the city, without any reason in the world. He then mentions that, when the Roman armies approached again, a great multitude fled to the mountains. Thus a way was made for the disciples of Christ to escape, and it is not known that a single one of them perished in that destruction. It really seems to have prefigured the final destruction of the wicked, when the righteous shall all have been gath- ered from among them. Josephus also speaks particularly of the trench and wall which were made about Jerusalem by Titus. This was done with great difiiculty, and, except for the pur- pose of a little more speedy reduction of the city, with- out necessity, and was contrary to the advice of the chief men of Titus. But so it was written. In respect to the tribulation of those days, of which our Saviour speaks so strongly, if the purpose of Josephus had been to confirm the words of the prophecy, he could have said nothing more to the point. '' No other city," says he, ''ever sufifered such miseries ; nor was there ever a generation more fruitful in wickedness from the begin- ning of the world." Again: "It appears to me that the misfortunes of all men, from the beginning of the DESTEUCTION OF JERUS^VLEM. 325 world, if the}' be compared to those of the Jews, are not so considerable. For in reality it was God wlio condemned the whole nation, and turned every course that was taken for their preservation to their destruc- tion." And again : " The multitude of those who per- ished exceeded all the destructions that man or God ever brought upon the world." The great mass of the nation was gathered within the city. They were di- vided into contending factions, who fought with the fury of liends against each other. Famine did its slow but fearful work, so that women were known to eat their own children. And while those within were thus the prey of famine and of each other, those who at- tempted to escape were taken by the Eoman soldiers and nailed on crosses, 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 for bodies. As Titus beheld the dead bodies that had been thrown from the walls into the valleys, "he lifted up his hands to heaven, and called God to witness that this was not his doinsf." These were " the days of vengeance ; " and it is com- puted by Josephus that upward of one million three hundred thousand persons perished in the siege of Jerusalem alone. And not only so, but, when the city was taken, it was, contrary to the wish of Titus, de- voted to utter destruction ; and the prophecy of Christ, that not one stone of the Temple should be left upon another, was literally fulfilled. Otlu'v j^rojyhecies. — Of the other prophecies I have not time to speak ; but the Jews were carried into cap- tivity among all nations, and their condition from that time till now has been a standing and Avonderful attes- tation of the truth of the prophetic record, while their l^resent condition is an evident preparation for the ful- 28 326 ETIDEXCES OF CHRISTIAOTTY. filliucnt of those still more wonderful prophecies which now stand like the bow of promise overarching the future. According to that expression of the prophet, so wonderfully accurate, they have been sifted among all nations ; yet have they, of all ancient people simi- larly situated, alone preserved their identity, and now seem to be preparing for that restoration which shall not only be to them the fulfillment of the prophecies, but shall be as life from the dead to the Gentile nations. Summary. — Thus, whether we look at the proph- ecies that related to events before the time of Christ, or to those relating to him, or to those which he uttered, or to the present state of the Jews, and indeed of the world, as indicating a complete fulfillment of the l^rophecies, we shall see the fullest reason to believe that " the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but that holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Prophecy and Christianity as counterparts. — I :^dll only add, as a beautiful instance of the consistency of all Scripture, that the magnificent pictures of the prophets, respecting a state of future blessedness on earth, are just such as would be realized by the entire prevalence of Christianity, and by nothing else. These pictures are not drawn at random, or in general terms. They are precise and definite. They represent a state of peace, and purit}^, and love — of high social enjoy- ment, and of universal prosperity. And it is onlj' by the prevalence of Christianity that such a state of things can be realized. Let this become universally preva- lent, not in its fomi only, but in its spirit, and then nation would no more lift up sword against nation, neither would they learn war any more ; then the wolf also would dwell with the lamb, and the leopard lie down with the kid ; then Avould the wilderness and sol- CONSmnLVTION OF PROPHECY. 327 itary place be glad for them, and the desert rejoice ; then, instead of the thorn would come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier would come up the myrtle-tree ; then would the inhabitants of the rock sing, and shout from the top of the mountains ; the people would be all righteous, and inherit the land forever. LECTURE XII. OBJECTIONS. -ARGUMENT FOURTEENTH: THE PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY, — ARGUMENT FIFTEENTH: ITS EFFECTS AND TENDENCIES. — SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION. Objections. — It has been my wish to present, in this course of lectures, as I was able, the positive argument for Christianity. I commenced the course with an invitation to 3'ou to go Avith me round about our Zion, and tell* the towers thereof. Those towers are not yet all told. To some of the most common and effective topics of argument I have yet scarcely referred, and I ought, in logical order, to proceed at once to the con- sideration of them. This I have thought of doing, and of omitting to say any thing upon the ol)jcctions against Christianity. To the consideration of these I should be pleased to devote at least a lecture ; for, while there arc objections which are unworthy of an answer, — while there are persons, who make them, who would l)e no nearer becoming Christians if their objections were all removed, — there are objections, the force of which I think may be removed, that Avcigh heavily upon some Avho arc sincerely inquiring for the truth. To every such individual I would give my hand. I would make any effort to relieve him. I know what it is to wade in the deep waters of doubt, and the blessedness of finding what seems to me to be the rock. For the sake of such I would gladly dwell upon this point at length ; but as (32S) WAITING. 329 that is now out of the question, I will make a few observations on the subject of objections generally, and then go on with the argument. Willingness to wait. — And here, if I may be per- mitted to drop a word in a more familiar way in the ear of the candid and practical inquirer, referring to my own experience, I would say, that I have found great benefit in being willing — a lesson which we are all slow to learn — to wait. It has not unfrequently occuri'ed that I have stood in such an attitude (perhaps for months or years together) to a certain objection as to see no way of evading it, till, at length, light would break in, and I could see Avith perfect distinctness that there was nothing in it. Are there not many here who have unexpectedly met with something which has removed, in a moment, objections which have lain with weight upon their minds for years ? I well remember when it seemed to me that there was a direct contradic- tion between Paul and James, on the suljject of faith and works. It seemed so to Luther, and, because he could not reconcile them, and was unwilling to wait, he rejected the Epistle of James, calling it a strawy Epis- tle. I can now see that Paul and James, not only do not contradict each other, but harmonize perfectly. I have sometimes compared the path of a sincere in- quirer to a road that winds among the hills. Who has not seen the hills, perhaps the liigh mountains, closing doAm upon such a road so as to render it apparently impossible he should proceed ; and who has not been sm-prised, Avhen he reached the proper point to see it, to find the road taking an unexpected turn, and holding on its own level way. And to such a point I think every sincere inquirer Avill come, Avho is willing to fol- low the right path so far as he can find it, and to Avait, putting up the petition, and adopting the resolution, of Elihu, "That Avhich I sec not, teach thou mc; if I 2d>* 330 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. have done iniquity, I will do no more." I have the fullest conviction, not only of the truth, but of the philosophical profoundness, of that saying of our Sa- viour, "If any man Avill do his Avill, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." No objection that objections can be made. — But, leav- ing this, I observe, in the jfirst place, that we are not to have our confidence in the Christian religion shaken, from the mere fact that objections can be made against it. There are those who seem to think that, if an ob- jection can be made, some degree of uncertainty is introduced at once, and that there comes to be a balance of probabilities. But this is not so. ^\Tien once a thing is fairly proved, all objections must go for noth- ing. Very plausil)lc objections may be made to many things w^hich we yet know to be true. Thus objections have been made to the existence of matter, and to the truth of the evidence of the senses, which a plain man would find it difficult to answer, and which yet would have no weight with him whatever. We all believe there is such a thing as motion, and yet there may be some here who would find it difficult to answer the common logical olijcction against it. Let me put that objection. You will, I suppose, all agree that, if any thing moves, it must move either where it is, or where it is not. But certainly nothing can move where it is, for that would not be moving at all ; and it would seem quite as certain that nothing could move where it is not; and hence there is no such thing as motion. "There are ol)jections," says Dr. Johnson, "to a vac- uum, and there are objections to ajjlenum; but one of these must be true." But to any one who has been turned aside, and is eddying round among these shoals of doubt, I would recommend that masterly pamphlet, by Whately, the " Historic Doubts respecting the Exist- WORLD IN A STR.VXGE STATE. 331 ence and Acts of Napoleon Bonaparte." I think it woulcl lead him to see that there may be plausi1)le objections against that concerning wliich there can not be the least donbt. General objections not valid, — I obsei^ve, secondly, that, if we would consider the objections against Chris- tianity fairly, we must distinguish those which lie against Christianity, as such, from those which may be made equally against any religion or scheme of belief whatever. This Avorld is in a strange state. There is a condition of things very different from what we should suppose, beforehand, there would be, under the government of a God of inhnitc power, and wisdom, and goodness ; and it is not nncommon for men to burden Christianity with all the difficulties that are connected with the origin of evil, or the doctrine of the foreknowledge of God as connected with human freedom. But these are ques- tions that belong to the race, and have equally exercised the mind of the Grecian philosopher, of the Persian sage, and of the Christian divine. You, as a man, may be as properly called on to solve any difficulties arising out of such questions, as I can as a teacher of Chris- tianity. Christianity had nothing to do with the origin of evil. It takes for granted, Mdiat we must all admit, that it exists ; it does not attempt to account for its origin, but it proposes a remedy. If, then, men object to Christianity, let them object to it as what it claims to be. Let them show that, when fairly received and fully practiced by all men, it would not be the remedy which it claims to be, and their objections will be valid. It is of no avail for infidels and deists to shoot arrows against Christianity which may be picked up and shoty back with equal force against their own systems ; an^ yet a much larger portion of the objections against Christianity than is commonly supposed is of this character. 332 E^^DENCES OF CIIEISTIANITY. Distinction of Butler. — I observe, thirdly, that wo are to keep in mind the distinction of Butler, already referred to, between objections against Christianity and ol)jcctions against its evidence. Of the evidence for Christianity we are capable of judging. I insist upon it that there are laws of evidence, which any man of good sense can understand, according to which we judge and act in other cases ; and I only ask that these same laws may be applied to Christianity, as a matter of fact and a ground of action, just as they would be to any thing else. But of Christianity itself, as a part of an infinite scheme of moral government, having relation to the eternity that is past and to that which is to come, and perhaps to other worlds and to other orders of being, we ought as much to expect that we should find in it things beyond our reach, and which would seem to us strange and objectionable, as that there would be such things in nature. And if, as Butler has most fully shown, the objections which are made against Chris- tianity are of the same kind with those which may be made against nature, then those very objections are turned into arguments in its fiwor, as they show the probability that Christianity and nature came from the same hand. Here is one principal source of the power of Butler's great work. It shows that all the chief objections M'hich are urged against Christianity may be urged equally against the constitution and course of nature, and would equally show that that was not from God. If Christianity itself can be shown to be either innnoral or absurd, we will reject it ; but, with these exceptions, objections to Christianity on the part of such a being as man, as distinguished from objections against its evidence, are, in the language of Butler, "frivolous." Nor, in saying this, do we undervalue reason, or refuse to give it its true place. To quote Butler airain : " Let reason be kept to ; and if any part MOTIVES FOR OBJECTIONS TO CKRISTLVNITY. 333 of the Scripture account of the redemption of the •world by Christ can be shown to be really contrary to it, let the Scripture, in the name of God, be given up ; but let not such poor creatures as we go on object- injr, acrainst an infinite scheme, that we do not see the necessity and usefulness of all its parts, and call this reasoning." Objections to every scheme. — Character of infidelity. — But, fourthly, we are to observe that Christianity is not the only scheme against which objections can be made. From its position, its success, its uncompromis- ing claims, Christianity has been met from the first by every objection that ingenuity, quickened by a love of pleasure and hatred of restraint, could invent; and, from the constancy with which these have been i)lied, it has been felt by many that Christianity was especially liable to objections. It has hence been the habit of many Christians to stand on the defensive, and infidels have felt that it was their place to attack. In propor- tion as any scheme has about it more that is positive, it of course presents a larger surface for objections ; but as far as other schemes have any thing positive about them, they are equally liable to objections with Chris- tianit}', and have none of its evidence. And the only reason that these schemes have not l)een as much ol)- jected against is, that men do not care enough about them. If an infidel has nothing positive in his belief, then, of course, nothing can be objected to it. But if it were possible, as it is not, for any man to take such a position, we should object to that. AVe say that it is a state of mind from which no good can possibly come, either to the individual or the community. It is a poor, cold, heartless state, furnishing no ground for hope, no elevation to character, no motive to effort, that has no adaptation to the wants of man even in prosperity, and that must utterly fail him in those trying hours when ho 334 EVIDEXCES OF CmUSTIAXETr. needs such supports as religion only can give. It can be made to appear, from the very laws of mind, tliat groat achievements, powerful exertions, self-denying labors and sacritices, must spring from a vigorous faith ; and that, in proportion as a belief, or a religion, be- comes one of negations, it must lower the pulse of intellectual, and especially of moral life. Let a man, however, have any thing positive in his belief, — let him bring forward his own solution of the great problems which must be connected in the mind of every thinking man with human life and destiny, — and it would be no difficult matter — a very child could do it — to start ob- jections against that solution, whatever it might be, which it would troul)le the wisest infidel to meet. Hence I have sometimes been amused at the effect, upon a noisy and l)oastful objector, of a quiet question or two in regard to his own belief. I have seen those to whom it never seemed to have occurred that we were thrown into this world together Avith certain great common difiiculties, and that other people could ask questions as well as they. Whenever, indeed, infidelity has thus assumed a positive form, it has been met and fairly driven from the field ; and now, it is difficult to say what the preva- lent form of it is. It has always been Ishmaolitish in its habits, pitching its tent now here and now there, and constantly varying its mode of attack. The infi- delity of one age is not that of another, Avhile Chris- tianity remains ever the same. And so we are to expect it will ])e M-hilc the human heart remains Avhat it is. Infidelity will exist. There is at present more of it than appears. Not being reputable in its own form, it conceals itself under various dissruises. But the infidelity that springs from the heart is not to be reached by a course of lectures on the evidences of Christianit3^ As I have already said, argument did rEOPAGATIOX OF CnRISTIANITT. 335 not cause, and argument will not remove it. For that, we look to a higher power. ARGUMENT XIV. THE TKOPAGATION OF CURISTIANITT. I now proceed wdth the evidence. As yet I have said nothing of the argument to be derived from the mode and circumstances of the propagation of Chris- tianity, and have only incidentally alluded to its effects and tendencies. Each of these is a standing topic of argument on this subject, and, when properly presented, suiBcient of itself to prove the tmth of the Christian religion. But I shall now be able to do little more than to indicate the place which these arguments hold, with- out giving them their proper expansion and force. These topics of argument are entirely distinct in their nature, but are so connected at certain points that it is difficult to treat of one, without involving considerations .which belong also to the other. Propagation. — First, then, of the propagation of Christianity : And in speaking of this subject, I will notice, 1, the facts; 2, the difficulties; and, 3, the instrumentality. This subject has been ably treated by Bishop M'llvaine, in his excellent lectures on the evi- dences, and I shall avail myself of his labors in pre- senting it.* It would appear, then, that on the fiftieth day after the death of Christ the apostles commenced their labors. " Beginning in Jerusalem, the very furnace of persecu- tion, they first set up their banner in the midst of those w^ho had been first in the crucifixion of Jesus, and were all elate with the triumph of that tragedy. No assem- blage could have been more possessed of dispositions perfectly at war with their message than that to which they made their first address." And what was the tenor * Lecture IX. 336 EVIDENCES OF CIIEISTIANITY. of the adtlrcss? "Jesus of Nazareth," said Peter, " being delivered by tlie determinate counsel and fore- knowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands Lave 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 gospel was preached only in Jerusalem and its vicinity, multitudes, both of men and women, and a great company of the priests, were obedient to the faith. Now, the converts, being driven by a fierce pci'secution from Jerusalem, went every where preach- ing 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 begin- ning 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 from Palestine throughout Syvia ; through almost all the numerous districts of 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 respec- tively is described by the expressions, "a gi-eat num- ber," "great multitudes," "much people." AYhat an extensive impression had been made is obvious from the outcry of the opposcrs at Thessalouica. "These that have turned the world upside-down are como NU3IBER OF CimiSTLVXS. 337 hither also." Dcmetnus, an enemy, complained of Paul, "that not alone at Ephesus, but almost through- out all Asia," he had persuaded and turned away much jieople. In the mean while, Jerusalem, the chief seat of Jewish rancor, continued the metropolis of the gos- pel, 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 labors of Paul and his immediate companions, saj^ing very little of the other apostles, 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, "wx are told, in a cele- brated letter from Pliny, the Roman governor of Pontus and Bythinia, 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 de- scribing the irresistible and rapid progress of Christian- ity) 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. Justin ]\Iartyr, who wrote about thirty years after Pliny, and one hundred after the gospel was first preached to the Gentiles, thus describes the extent of Christianity in his time : " There is not a nation, either Greek or barbarian, or of any other name, even those who Avandcr in tribes and live in tents, among whom prayers and thanksgivings are not offered to the 338 EVIDENCES OF CIIEISTIANITY. Father and Creator of the universe by the name of the crucified Jesus." Clemens Alexandrinus, a few years after, thus wi-ites : "The philosophers were confined to Greece, and to their particuhu- retainers ; but the doctrine of the Mas- ter 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 van- ishes ; whereas, from the first preaching of our doc- trine, kings and tyrants, governors and presidents, with their whole train, and with the populace on their side, have endeavored with their whole might to exterminate it, yet doth it flourish more and more." Nothing can so well represent the mode in which this extension took place as the comparison, by our Saviour, of Christianity to leaven. It had an affinity for the human mind, l)y which it passed from individual to individual, as the leavening process passes from parti- cle to particle , and no human power could arrest its progress. Since the world stood, no change like it has taken place, nor has any power existed that could have produced such a change. TliG difficulties. — 2. In estimating the obstacles to this progress, we are to observe that the enterprise of propagating a religion, as such, and especially an exclusive religion, was then entirely new. The Jewish system was not adapted to universal diflusion, and the zeal of the Jews was directed rather to keep other nations at a distance than to bring them to an equal participation of their privileges. The Gentiles knew nothing of an exclusive religion, nor of a benevolent reliijion — exclusive because it was benevolent. Hea- thenism, being without a creed and without principle, CimiSTLVXITY EXCLUSIVE. 339 ** had notliing to contend for but the privilege of assum- ing any form, Avorshiping any idol, practicing 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 miagined, by any description of pagans, that all other forms of religion were not as good for the people observing them, as theirs Avas for them ; or that any dictate of kindness, or common sense, should lead them to attempt the sub- version of the gods of their neighbors, for the sake of establishing their own in their stead." This is the species of charity and the ground of harmony — arising from a want of the knowledge of the true religion, and of its unspeakable value — which is so highly praised by Gibbon and Voltaire. But, in such a state of things, "nothing could have been more perfectly new, suiprising, or offensive to the whole Gentile world, than the duty laid upon the first advocates of Christianity to go into all nations assert- ing the exclusive claims of the gospel, denouncing the validity of all other religions, and lal)oring to bring every creature to the single faith of Christ." And then, how different the religion of the gospel, not only in its relation to other religions, but in itself, from any of which they had any conception! "Religion, among the Gentiles, was a creature of the state. It consisted exclusively in the outward circumstances 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 ; recognized no system of moral- ity ; required notliing of the heart ; committed the life of man to imlimited 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 340 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTL^NITT. and lowest propensities of bis nature. Xothing could have ])een more forciiru to every bal)it of thought, in the mind of a native of Greece or Home, than the • Scripture doctrines of tlie nature and guilt of sin, of repentance, conversion, faith, love, meekness, and pu- rity of heart." Both Jews and heathen opposed. — The priests. — In the nature of the case, such a religion "must have arrayed against it all the influence of every priesthood both among Jews and heathens." With the power of the priests among the Jews, and their bitterness against Christianity, we are sufficiently acquainted, but are less familiar with the superstitious dread in which they were held, and with their power among other nations. "The religion of the nations," says Gibbon, "was not merely a speculative doctrine professed in the schools or taught in the temples. The innumerable duties and rites of pol3^i;heism were closely interwoven Avith every cir- cumstance of business or of pleasure, of public or of private life j and it seemed impossible to escape the observance of them without at the same tune renoun- cing tlie commerce of mankind. The important transac- tions of peace and war were prepared and concluded by solemn sacrifices, in Avhich the magistrate, the senator, and the soldier, were obliged to participate." Speaking of the priests, the same author says, "Their robes of purple, chariots of state, and sumptuous enter- tainments, attracted the admiration of the people ; and they received from the consecrated lands and public revenue an ample stipend, which lil)erally supported the splendor of the priesthood, and all the expenses of the religion of the state." It is stated, as an evidence of the extent and power of the organizations with which this priesthood was connected, that, sixty years after Christianity had been the cstablislicd religion of the lioman empire, there were four hundred and twenty-four CLASSES OPPOSED TO CHRISTIANITY. 341 temples and chapels, at Eome, in which their worship was colebratcd. " In connection with all this organiza- tion and deep-rooted power of heathenism, consider its various tribes of subordinate agents and interested allies, — the diviners, augurs, and managers of oracles, with all the attendants and assistants belonging to the tem- ples of a countless variety of idols ; the trades whose craft was sustained Iw the patronage of image-worship, such as statuary, shrine-mongers, sacrifice-sellers, in- cense-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, — and say, what must have been the immense force in which the several priesthoods of all heathen nations were capal)lc 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 l)e tolerated. That M'ith all their various contin- gents they did unite, consenting in this one object, if in little else, of smothering Christianity in her cradle, or of droM^niug her in the blood of her disciples, all history assures us." The magistrates. — And with the influence of the priests was associated the power of the magisti'ate. The true principle of toleration was entirely unknoAvn among heathen nations, and is to this day. Toler- ation, in its true sense, — as distinguished from indif- ference on tiie one hand, and from zeal, manifesting itself through a wrong spirit and in a wrong direction, on the other, — is not natural to man. It is a Christian virtue. The heathen were ready to tolerate any thing which did not interfere with the established worship of the state ; l)ut the moment a religion arose which for- bade its followers to unite in that, the fires of a relent- less persecution were every where kindled, and the whole force of the civil arm was brought to bear upon it. 29* 342 EVIDENCES OF CimiSTIANITY. The populace. — With this position of the priesthood and of the magistracy toward Christianity, we should naturally expect the tumults and outbreaks of popular passion which we find were generally excited when it was first preached. Vicious, unprincipled, accustomed, in many instances, to gladiatorial shows and sights of blood, — it was from the populace that the more im- mediate danger to the preachers of Christianity often arose. The philoso2:)hers. — Nor was Christianity less op- posed to the philosophers, or less opposed by them, than by other classes of the community. " Their sects, though numerous, and exceedingly various, were all agreed in proudly trusting in themselves that they were M'ise, and despising others. Their published opinions, their private speculations, their personal immorality, made them irreconcilable adversaries of Christianity. It went up into their schools, and called their wisdom foolishness, and rebuked their self-conceit. 'What will this l)abbler say? He sccmeth to be a setter forth of strange gods,' were the taunting 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 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 jeal- ousy, and malice, — of every sect of philosophers." General state of the vorld. — These remarks Avill enable us to judge whether the state of the world was at that time favorable to the propagation of Christian- ity ; for on this point very different views seem to be entertained by different persons. Of those who think the state of the world was thus favorable, there are two classes. Some have thought they could see the hand of Divine Providence in the arrangements and preparations STATE OF THE WORLD. 343 ■which they think wore made for its introduction ; while others evidently speak of it in this way for the puipose of diminishing the force of the argument usually drawn from the propagation of Christianity. To the most, however, it has seemed that the state of the world never opposed greater obstacles to the propagation of such a religion. On the one hand, it is said that the world was at peace, and was united under one goveni- ment, and that it was easy to pass from place to place, and to affect a large mass, and that the force of the old superstitions was expended, and that the minds of the jDCople Avere prepared for a new religion. On the other hand, it is said that if it was an age of peace, that only gave opportunity to examine the claims of the new religion with the more care ; that it was an enlightened age, an age of literature and refinement, of vice, of a general prevalence of the Epicurean philosophy, and of skepticism ; and that it was the very last period in the history of the world in which any thing false or feel>le woidd have been likely to succeed. This is my im- pression. For the extension of such a religion as Christianity, with its indubitable evidence and mighty motives, there were certainly many things most favorable ; but if Christianity had not been what it claimed to be, cer- tainly the most enlightened, and civilized, and skeptical age which the world had ever seen would have been the most unfavorable period for its pro]iagation. What would the infidel have said, if, instead of springing up in this age of light and refinement, Christianity had first been spread among au ignorant and barbarous people? But, however this point may be decided, if any man thinks it could be an easy thing, under any circumstances, to cause such a religion as Christianity to take the place of any thing, or of nothing, in the mind of any hiuiian being, so that that person, too, 344 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIAOTTY. should become a centre of influence to extend the reli- gion to others, he has only to try the experiment any Avhere, and under the most favorable circumstances. Let him take the first unconverted man he meets in the streets, and try to make him an active Christian, — such as t-ens of thousands and millions must have become on the first preaching of Christianity, — and he will have some conception of the difficulty of working a change iji the wills, and habits of thought, and object of pur- suit, and whole mode of life, of people of different nations, of the most various belief, of every age and condition. But this did the apostles. The instrumentality. — 3. And now, b}'^ what instru- mentality did they accomplish this? On this I need not dwell. Eleven men, — for it was not till after the death of Christ that the great enterprise of converting the world was commenced, — eleven men, without learning, or wealth, or rank, or power, from the humble walks of life, among a despised people, never resorting to force, apd having no connection with politics, by a simple statement of facts, by preaching Christ and him crucified, subverted the divinely-appointed institutions of Judaism, and overturned the superstitions of ages throughout the known world. The history of the race has nothing to show that can for a moment compare with this. If ]Mohammedanism may be compared with Christianity in respect to the rapidity of its extension, it is yet in entire contrast with it in all the circum- stances in which it arose, and in all the means adopted for its diff'usion. While it confined itself to persuasion, it accomplished nothing Avorthy of notice ; and it never has l)cen extended at all in the only method by which it can be clearly shown that a true religion must be extended. Its sway is perpetuated only as it holds its sabre over the neck of its followers, and threatens them with instant death if they turn to any other religion. ARGU31ENT CONCLUDED. 345 "Whether, then, wc cxiimine the nature of the case, or look at it in the light of history, we must feel that the propagation of such a religion, in opposition to such obstacles, with such rapidity, and by such means, is a moral miracle, and can be reasonably imputed only to the power of truth and of God. IIow will the intidcl account for it ? Docs he believe that these men were weak and deluded ? Then he believes that weak and deluded men could accomplish a work requiring greater moral power than any other. Does he believe they were deceivers? Then he believes that these men labored, and suffered, and died, to cause others to believe that which they did not believe themselves ARGUMENT XV. EFFECTS AND TENDENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. We now proceed to the effects and tendencies of Christianity. If it can be shown that this religion, and this alone, has been the cause of the greatest blessings that mankind have enjoyed, and that, if fully received, it would carry the individual and society to the hiirhest possible state of perfection in this life, and fit man for the highest conceivable state of happiness hereafter, — it must be from God. And this can be shown. Nor, in speaking of this subject, would I con- ceal any evil that has taken place in connection with the introduction of Christianity, or any iniquity that has been perpetrated by those who have borne its name. I only ask that men will distinguish, as every candid man must, between tendencies and actual results when those tendencies are perversely and wickedly thwarted ; and also between names and things. First distinction. — The persecution by Xcro — to illustrate the first distinction — was an evil, and with- out Christianity it would not have existed. But who or what was the cause of it? AVas it the inoficnsivo 346 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. Christians, simply asserting their own inherent right to love the Saviour, and to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience ? or Avas it the wicked- ness of Xero and of his creatures? AVhen, at the command of Christ, the devil went out of one who had been possessed, and tore him, and left him as dead, was it Christ who was the cause of this suflcring? And thus has it always been with Christianity, whether its ol)ject has been to enjoy its own rights or to IxMielit others. If evil has arisen, it has been because men have persecuted Christians, and have sought to take from them the inalienable rights which God has given ; or because, when Christianity has attacked great and deeply-seated evils, as idolatry and slavery, men have clung to these with a wicked pertinacity, and the devil has not been cast out of society vrithout rending it. Second distinction. — In regard to the second dis- tinction, that between names and things, there is a very general delusion which steals insensibly over the mind from the application of the term ' Christian ' to those who are in no sense governed by Christian principle. If men w^ould test the effect of a medicine, they must take tliat, and not something else which they may choose to call l)y that name. If they take arsenic, and call it flour, the mere fact that they call it by a Avrong name will not prevent its poisonous effects. And so am- bition, and pride, and vanity, and malice, and deceit, -svill produce their own appropriate effects, in what- ever form of society they may exist, and by whatever name they may be called. Keeping these two dis- tinctions in view, it may easily be shown that Chris- tianity has really been the cause of no evil, Avhile it has conferred infinite blessings upon mankind, and only waits to bo fully received, to introduce a state as per- fect as can be .conceived of in connection with Ihc present physical constitution of things. EFFECTS OF CmHSTLiNITT. 347 Effects. — Certainly, no revolution that has ever taken place in society can l)e compared to that which has been produced by the words of Jesus Christ. Those words met a w^ant, a deep want, in the spirit of man. They placed in the clear sunlight of truth a solution of those profound problems and enigmas, in relation to man and his destiny, about which the philosophers only disputed. They more than confirmed every timid hope which the "wisest and best of men had cherished. He pointed men to a Father in heaven, to the man- sions of rest which he w^ould prepare. He "brought life and immortality to light." He erected a perfect standard of morals, and insisted upon love to God and love to man, and he stood before men in the glorious light of his own perfect example. He spoke, and that spiritual slumber of the race which seemed the image of death was broken up, and a move- ment commenced in the moral elements that has not ceased from that day to this, and never will cease. Those who were mourning heard his voice, and were comforted; those who were weary and heavy-laden heard it, and f;)und rest unto their souls. It stirred up feelings, both of opposition and of love, deeper than those of natural affection. It therefore set the son against the father, and the father against the son, and caused a man's foes to be they of his o^vn household. Having no affinity with any of the prevalent forms of idolatry and corruption, and making no compromise wdth them, it turned the world upside down wherever it came. Before it, the heathen oracles Avere dumb, and the fires upon their altars went out. It acted as an invisible and secret force on society, communing with men upon their beds by night, dis- suading them from wickedness, seconding the voice of conscience, giving both distinctness and energy to its 348 EVIDENCES or CnrJSTIAXITY. tones, now -vvliispcring, and now speaking with a voice that made the stoutest tremble, of righteousness, tem- perance, and of a judgment to come. It oi)ened heaven, and .s})oke to the car of hope. It uncovered that world, "where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." It was stern in its rebukes of every sin, and encour-' aged every thing that was "pure, and lovely, and of good report.'' Being addressed to man universally, without regard to his condition or his nation, it paid little regard to difierences of language, or habits, or the boundaries of states. Persecution was aroused ; it kindled its fires, it brought forth its wild beasts. Blood flowed like water, but the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church. Ko external force could avail against a power like this. The word was spoken, and it could not be recalled. The hand of God had made a new adjustment in the movement of the moral world, and the hand of man could not put it back. No other revolution has ever been so extensive or so radical. JNIoving on directly to the accomplishment of its own more immediate and higher objects, the voice of Christ has incidentally caused, not only moral, but social and civil revolutions. It has l)anished idolatry and polytheism, with their inseparable degradations, and pollutions, and cruelty. Human sacrifices, offered by our oAvn ancestors, by the Greeks, and Romans, and Carthaginians, and the ancient worshipers of Baal and Moloch, — offered now in the islands of the Pacific, and in India, and in Africa, — cease at once where Christianity comes. It was before its light had visited this continent, that seventy thou- sand human beings were sacrificed at the consecration of a single temple.* * rrcBCOtt's Mexico. EFFECTS OF CITRISTIANITY. 349 It has banished the ancient games, in which men slew each other, and were exposed to the fury of wild beasts, for the aniusemcnt of the people. It has banished slavery, once so prevalent, from Europe, and from a large portion of this continent. To a great extent it has put an end to the exposure of infants. It has elevated woman, and given her the place in society which God designed she should occupy. By putting an end to polygamy, and to frequent divorces, it has provided for the cultivation of the domestic and natural affections, for the proper training of children, and for all the unspeakable blessings con- nected with the purity and peace, and mutual love and confidence, of Christian families. It has so elevated the general standard of morality, that unnatural crimes, and the grosser forms of sensu- ality, which once appeared openly, and were practiced and defended by philosophers, now shrink aAvay and hide themselves in the darkness. It has diminished the frequency of wars, and miti- gated their horrors. It has introduced the principle of general benevo- lence, unknown before, and led men to be Avilling to labor, and suffer, and give their property, for the good of those whom they have never seen, and never expect to see in this life. It has led men to labor for the wclfjire of the soul, and, in connection Avith such labors, to provide for the sufferings and for the physical wants of the poor ; and it is found that these two go hand in hand, and can not be separated. If there be here and there a mistaken zealot, or a Pharisaical professor of Christianity, who would seem to be zealous for the spiritual wants of men, and yet would say to the hungry and the naked, Be ye clothed 30 350 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTIAXITY. and 1)C yc fed, — at the same time giving them nothing to supply their wants, — it is also found, not only that the truest regard for the present well-being of man must manifest itself through a regard for his spiritual wants, but also that, when a regard to those wants ceases, the lower charity which cares for the body will decay with it. When the tree begins to die at the top, where the juices are elaborated that nourish it, it will die doAvn. Christianity alone has built hospitals for the sick and for the insane, and almshouses, and houses of refuge, and provided for the instruction and reformation of those contincd as criminals. Was there ever any thing in a heathen land like what is to be seen at South Boston? What book is it that the blind are taught to read ? If there had been no Bible, and no such estimate of the worth of man as that contains, can any one believe that the great work of printing for the blind would have been performed ? or that the deaf and dumb would have been so provided for? When I recently saw those blind children so instructed, and heard them sing, — when I saw thoughts and feelings chasing each other like light and shade over the speaking countenance of Laura Bridgman, deaf, and dumb, and blind, — I could not but feel, though the ordinary fountains of knowledge were still sealed up, yet that in a high sense it might be said to them and to her, as Peter said to Eneas, "Jesus Christ maketh thee whole." Present effects. — And what Christianity has hitherto done, it is now doing. It is to some extent embodying its force in missionary operations, and it has lost none of its original power. Men are found ready to take their lives in their hands, to forsake their country, and friends, and children, and go among the heathen, for the love of Jesus ; and it is found that the same simple preaching of the cross, that was mighty of old to the pulling down of strongholds, is still accompanied with UNSEEN EFFECTS TOWER INDICATED. 351 a divine power ; and nations of idolaters, savages, can- nibals, infanticides, arc seen coming up out of the night of paganism, and taking their place among civilized, and literary, and Christian nations. £ut indications of something greater. — These, and such as these, are the puWic, visible, and undenial)le effects of Christianit}', uniformly produced in any com- munity in proportion as a pure Christianity prevails. To me, however, these are rather indications of a great work, than the work itself. They are but as the coral reef that appears above the surface, which is as nothing to the deep and concealed labors of the little ocean architect. Like that architect in the ocean, Christianity begins at the bottom of society, and works up. It never acts successfully upon the faculties of man as an external force. It must act through these foculties, and hence it can change public institutions and forms of government, and produce those great public effects which are noticed, only as it changes individuals. How innnense the work, how mighty the changes, which must have been wrought in individuals, before these embodied and public effects could appear ! Such institutions and effects are the results of a life, a vitality, *a power; and they stand as the indices and monuments of its action. When I see the earth covered with vegetation, — when I see a vast forest standing and clothed with the green robes of summer, — I know there must have been an amazing amount of elemental action. I think how the atmosphere, and the light, and the moisture, and tho earth must have conspired together, and hoAV the prin- ciple of vegetal)le life must have lifted up the mass, particle by particle, till at length it had formed tho sturdy trunk, and set his "coronal" of green leaves upon the monarch of the forest. And so, when I see these results, these institutions, standing in their fresh- ness and greenness, — when I see the moral desert bud- 352 EVIDEXCES OF CIIRISTIAXITY. ding and Mossoming, — I know tliore must have been the play of moral lite, the clear shining of truth, the movement of the Spirit of God, and the deep, though, it may be, silent strugglings of the spirit of man. Then I know that conscience must have been aroused, and that there has been the anxious (jucstioning, and the earnest struggle, and that the tear of penitence has flowed, and that the secret prayer has gone up, and that songs of hope and salvation have taken the place of a sense of mult and of anxious fear. Then I know that there have been holy lives and happy deaths. Such changes in individuals, and such results, who that lives in these days has not seen ? Such changes and results it is the great object of Christianity to produce. When it shall produce these changes fully upon all, fitting them for heaven, then, and not till th(!n, will its ten- dencies be fully carried out. Then will every thing "wrong in the constitution and relations of society be displaced, and without violence, as the organization of the chrysalis is displaced l)y that of the' bright and winged being that is infolded within it, and society shall come forth in its perfect state. Then shall the will of God b6 done ; and this earth, so long tempest- tossed, like a clear and peaceful lake, shall reflect the image of heaven. Summary and conclusion. — Thus, as well as I Avas able under the severe pressure of other duties, with a sincere desire to promote the views of the mtmiflcent founder of these courses of Lectures, and I trust with some sense of my responsibility to God, have I pre- sented, separately, such arguments as the time would permit fov the truth of Christianity ; but, if Ave Avould see tne proof in all its strength, Ave must look at these arguments in their united force. We knoAv that an argument may be framed from separate circumstances, SUMIVIARY. 353 each of which may have little weight, while the force of the whole combined shall amount to a moral demon- stration. It is in til is way that some of the separate arguments for Cln-istianity arc constructed ; but it is not tlnis that wc present these separate arguments as conspiring together. We claim that there are for Chris- tianity many separate infaHil)le proofs, each of which is sullii;ient of itself; but still, the general impression upon the mind may be increased when tliey are seen together. "We claim that the proofs for the religion of Christ are like those for his resurrection given through the different senses of the disciples. Some believed when they merely saw him ; some believed when they saw him and heard his voice. Each of these was a sep- arate and adequate proof; but Thomas thought it neces- sary, not only that he should see and hear him, but that he should put his finger into the prints of the nails, and thrust his hand into his side. Christ did not ask his disciples to believe without proof then ; he does not now. He has provided that which must satisfy, if he be only fair-minded, even an unbelieving Thomas ; and this proof, as it comes in from very various and inde- pendent sources, is adapted to every mind. We have seen that there was nothing in the nature of the evidence, or in any conflict of the evidence of testimony and of experience, to prevent our attaining certainty on this sulyect. ^Ve have seen that there was no previous improba- bility tliat a Father should speak to his own child, benighted and lost ; or that he should give him the evidence of miracles that he did thus speak. We have heard tiie voice of Nature recognizing, by her analogies, the aliinities of the Christian religion with her mysterious and complex arrangements and mighty movements. We have seen the perfect coincidence of the tcac-hings 30* 354 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. of natural rcliiriou with those of Christianity ; and, Mhon Christianity has transcended the limits of natural reli- gion, ^\■Q have seen that its teachings were still in keep- ing with hers, as the revchitions of tlie telescope arc with those of the naked eye. "We have seen that this religion is adapted to the conscience, as it meets all its wants as a perceiving power, by establishing a perfect standard. We have seen that, though morality was not the great object of the gospel, yet that there must spring up, in coimection with a full reception of its doctrines, a mo- rality that is perfect. We have seen that it is adapted to the intellect, to the affections, to the imagination, to the conscience as quickening and improving it, and to the will. That, as a restraining power, it places its checks pre- cisely where it ought, and in the wisest way ; so that, as a system of excitement, of guidance, and of restraint, it is all that is needed to carry human nature to its highest point of perfection. We have seen that it gives to him who practices it a witness within himself. That it is fitted, and tends, to become universal. That it may be traced back to the beginning of time. Such a religion as this, whether we consider its scheme, or the circumstances of its origin, or its records in their simplicity and harmony, we have seen could no more have been originated b}?- man than could the ocean. We have seen the lowly circumstances, the unprece- dented claims, and the wonderful character, of our Saviour. Around this religion, thus substantiated, we have seen every possible form of external evidence array itself. We have seen the authenticity of its books substan- smoiART. 355 tiatcd by every species of proof, both external and internal. We have seen that its facts and miracles were such that men could not be mistaken respecting them, and that the reality of those facts was not only attested, on the part of the original witnesses, by martyrdom, but that it is implied in institutions and observances now existing, and is the only rational account that can be given of the great fact of Christendom. We have seen, also, that the accounts given by oui* books are confirmed by the testimony of numerous Jewish and heathen writers. And not only have we seen that miracles were wrought, and that the great facts of Christianity are fully attested by direct evidence, but we have heard tlie voice of prophecy heralding the approach of Him who came traveling in the gTeatness of his strength, and saying, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord." We have seen this religion, cast like leaven into soci- ety, go on working by its mysterious but irresistible agency, transforming the corrupt mass. We have seen it taking the lead among those influ- ences by which the destiny of the world is controlled, so that the stone which was cut out without hands has become a great mountain. And finally, we have seen its blessed effects, and its tendency to fill the earth with righteousness and peace. United testimony. — These things we have seen sep- arately ; and now, when we look at them as they stand up together and give in their united testimony, do they not produce, ought they not to produce, a full, a per- fect, and abiding conviction of the truth of this religion ? If such evidence as this can mislead us, have we not reason to believe that the universe itself is constituted on the principle of deception ? Certainti/. — May I not hope, then, that as we have 356 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. thus gone together about our Zion, some of you, at least, have felt that her towers are impregnable, — that " Walls of strength embrace her round"? May I not hope that you have been led so to see the certainty of those things in which you have been in- strnc'ted, as to gain strength in your own moral conflicts, and to tread with a firmer step, and gird yourselves for higher exertion, in spreading this blessed religion over the world ? If so, I have my reward. 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