SPURIOUS COPIES.

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ruder and more uncultivated states of society. The scrupulous care and reverence with which Christians have in all ages protected their Sacred Scriptures, has ever been a proverb and a byword among the enemies of religion.

5. The fate of spurious and of interpolated copies proves the genuineness of the true. My reader is aware that during the first and second centuries, as was predicted, false Christs, and false gospels and epistles swarmed like locusts. These counterfeits not only prove the existence of the original which they copied, since men do not counterfeit that which has no existence, but the fiery ordeal to which they subjected the true original must have tended to consume all dross. Nothing could well withstand so intense a furnace but the pure gold.

What can be more satisfactorily proved to a candid and intelligent mind, than that we have the writings of the New Testament essentially genuine and entire, as they came from the hands of their authors?

The facts in the history of Jesus of Nazareth, must forever be to intelligent and contemplative minds, objects of most intense interest, and of profoundest admiration. The whole history of Christ, and of his religion, from his birth to this hour, is transcendently above all that is human. His coming was predicted by the concurrent voices of various

and distant prophets; his birth was announced by a predicted star blazing over Bethlehem, and by a choir of angels; he was declared to be the Son of God by a voice from Heaven; he demonstrated his almightiness by a series of astonishing miracles wrought in presence of multitudes; the law of kindness and meekness was written upon every action of his life, so that his most malignant enemies could find nothing against him—he walked over the earth as an angel of light. He paid no court to fame, nor wealth, nor power. He called most of his disciples from the humble walks, and through them proclaimed the naked truths of his gospel to mankind, depending on no adventitious means of success. In the face of sensuality, idolatry, pride, and malice, he declared that the world was in rebellion against God, and with unflinching moral firmness proclaimed, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish!"

He inculcated those profound principles of morality, which every succeeding age has proved with growing assurance to lie at the foundation of all right character, and which, wherever they take effect, change the entire character of men and of society. He brought to light facts in the spiritual world which thousands of every age, by following his instructions, have proved true in their experiHe predicted his own sufferings and death for the salvation of men. He did accordingly suf

ence.

FACTS OF CHRISTIANITY.

fer and expire on the cross.

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He was laid in a

tomb; on the third day he rose from the dead, dispensed to his disciples his final commission and ascended on high. His disciples, a handful of uneducated men, went forth in the face of all the learning, pride, cast, prejudice, and idolatry of the earth, and unfolded the truths and precepts of the gospel, preaching Jesus Christ and him crucified. Through them the moral and religious world was shaken. It was a new and peculiar era. Antiquated forms, rites, and superstitions began to pass away, like morning mists before the rising sun. A series of moral causes commenced operation, which have decended from age to age, redeeming the human character, and blessing every nation and every soul over which they have gained dominion.

These are facts for philosophy, not less than religion, to account. In the language of Mr. Croly, they are the "mightiest phenomena on which the spirit of man can gaze, the stars of our moral twilight, and worthy of our loftiest admiration, till the gates of the grave shall be unbarred, and the vision of glory shall spread before us without a cloud."

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CHAPTER IX.

INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES.

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God."

HAVING proved the authenticity and genuineness of the Scriptures, we are now prepared to examine the evidence of their inspiration. If you receive a letter written by the factor or agent of some gentleman abroad, in whose service you are engaged, communicating important facts and instructions, you may first inquire whether his agent really wrote the letter, and whether the facts which he communicates are authentic. But there yet remains another question. Did he write under the special authority and instruction of your employer; so that if you act in obedience to this letter, you will act in obedience to his will? This is what is meant by the inspiration of the Scriptures. They are not only genuine and authentic, but they were written by the authority and under the infal lible guidance of God; so that when you have ascertained what they teach, you know his wili and your duty.

DEGREES OF INSPIRATION.

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Some theological writers make three degrees of inspiration. The first and highest is that of revelation; by which the Spirit of God reveals new truths to the mind of the writer. The second is that of elevation; by which the writer's mind is elevated and inspired to call to remembrance truths already known, and to present them with superior energy and effect. The third is that of mere guidance; by which the mind of the writer is so superintended and directed in reporting historical facts, as to insure their being reported correctly. This division is adopted merely for convenience; there is essentially but one and the same inspiration. It is the Spirit of God so directing and illuminating the minds of the writers, that what they write is according to his will, the perfect rule of our religious faith and practice.

Let us then proceed to the evidence that the Scriptures are thus given by inspiration of God.

1. We have the testimony of the sacred writers themselves to their own inspiration. "Which things," says Paul, "we speak, not in the words. which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual." "The things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord." "He therefore, that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God; who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit." "All