III. ALIQUIS. I am glad we are favoured with a holiday to-day, for I have done little else since I saw you than think of our last conversation, and am anxious to listen to your evidences which prove the Divine Inspiration of the Bible. I can see that to question the reality of Inspiration because we cannot explain the mode of it, would be as irrational as it would to deny the influence of mind over matter. We cannot understand the complex laws which govern the two, nor are we able to disperse many mysteries which surround us, and yet we accept and enjoy the results these mysteries supply. NEMO. I unreservedly accept the sacred writers' own account of the fact of their complete inspiration, each writer joining "the sweet Psalmist of Israel" in his avowal; "the Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His Word was in my tongue." They were the amanuenses of the Eternal Spirit, and while their doctrines and truths are Divine, an indescribable charm of tone, and expression, and sympathy constitute their communications the One Book for all men everywhere, and to the end of time. The Divine did not supersede the human, but appropriated and guided it, and thus the individuality of the scribe, as expressed in his vocabu lary, mental associations, range of knowledge, and general dispositions, remained and moved with conscious freedom, under the eye of the presiding Agent. I venture again to define what I mean by the Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, namely, that the several writers of them had imparted to them such a degree of Divine assistance, influence, or guidance, as enabled them to communicate religious knowledge to others, without error or mistake, whether the subjects of such communications were things beyond the discovery of human reason immediately revealed to them, or things with which they were before acquainted. This Inspiration is distinguishable from genius, or mere human mental elevation, in such particulars as the following. Genius is a natural gift, Inspiration a supernatural one; genius is given for general purposes, Inspiration for restricted and extraordinary ones; genius. pervades the whole of life, Inspiration is confined to only portions of it; genius would have existed had there been no Inspiration, Inspiration likewise may exist where there is no genius; of human reason genius is the handmaid, Inspiration anticipates it; the thinkings and teachings of men of genius may contradict each other, inspired men think and teach alike; genius is an uncertain and untrustworthy guide, Inspiration an infallible one; finally, Inspiration built up the fabric of revealed truth, genius, alas! has too frequently been employed in attempts to pull it down. You now very properly ask, what evidence exists, corroborative of the supernatural state of mind, in the conscious possession of which the holy penmen claim to have written their books. The writer who professes to bring more than human knowledge to us must be prepared to produce more than human credentials. And by external and miraculous credentials the Biblical writers sustained their claims to a Celestial Inspiration. The books themselves contain internal evidence of a superhuman agency. Then there is the evidence of fulfilled prophecy, being at once doctrine and miracle, and proving its heavenly origin by carrying in itself the certitude of its Inspiration. There is likewise the moral evidence, or that which arises from the superior excellence of Scriptural truth, as compared with other systems. There is further the experimental and practical evidence of Christianity, and its progress in the world under circumstances unfavourable to its triumphs. And above all there is the identification of Scripture with the absolute certainty of the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I suggest the careful consideration of these evidences as corroborative of the Divine Inspiration of Holy Scripture. I. Let us begin with the last mentioned, the reality of Christ's earthly life and death. Let these commanding miraculous events of history be established, and the rest of the supernatural facts of the sacred narratives, with the plenary inspiration of their writers, will likewise be established. During the period when Palestine was a part of the Roman empire, "Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God by wonders and miracles and signs," lived and died. All history verifies the reality of the earthly life of this Wondrous One. You will encounter immovable difficulties in any attempt to disprove this stupendous fact. And never before, and never since, stood there up before men such a character as Jesus of Nazareth. We can discover no defect in it, and imagine nothing beyond. It is a living, practical Originality, of which the model nowhere existed, and for which absolute perfection is claimed. Notwithstanding the attacks of sceptics, the moral character of Jesus of Nazareth stands out in centuries of time to which He has given a designation, and before the nations of the earth which He has elevated, as unapproachable, sublime, peerless. I cannot here resist reading you a striking passage from a recent publication on the many-sidedness of the Personality of Christ, as depicted in the Gospels. "So far has the many K sidedness and richness of His character transcended the thoughtful analysis of the closest observers, that scarcely any man, or section of men, has been able to appreciate more than one of its purely human aspects. The knights of old saw in Him the mirror of all chivalry; the monks, the pattern of all asceticism; the philosophers, the enlightener in all truth. To a Fenelon He has seemed the most rapt of mystics; to a Vincent de Paul, the most practical of philanthropists; to an English poet, "The best of men That ere wore earth about him was a sufferer, A sceptical historian, accidentally taking up the New Testament, suddenly finds in Christ the explanation of all history; a fiery demagogue tells a nation, crushed by long oppression, that he was a child of the people, "le bon sansculotte"; a victorious Emperor, the last great man of secular history, contrasting his own utter evanescence with Christ's eternal rule, declares that he understands and recognises men, and that Jesus Christ was not a man; a prophet of anarchy and naturalism, in the mid-confession of his faith, suddenly bursts into eloquent admiration, and "with a hand as firm as that of a martyr," writes that "if the life and death of Socrates are those of a sage, the life and death of Jesus are those of a God." Here I might ask you to think of the unlettered and unimaginative followers of Christ. creating such a character, and palming it upon the world! I must continue to insist, that the difficulties of unbelief are far more formidable than any difficulties. of faith in Christ's Divine character, and the superhuman features of Holy Scripture. It is easy to discover in the current literature of the day, that many suppose credence in Christianity, and general ignorance, to be allied. There is an assumption, that adepts in human wisdom are suspicious of the "The Witness of History to Christ," by Rev. F. W. Farrar, M.A. claims of the Gospel. This is not only an unjust reflection upon Christians, but a very remarkable expression of sentiment, or opinion. For, is it not true that some of the most gifted and erudite men have embraced Christianity, and have assigned reasons for their attachment? Men who have been versed in historic lore, and have had special qualifications for the scrutiny and criticisms of historical facts, such as Lardner, Arnold, and Merivale, have likewise been devout believers in our holy religion. It is true some historians have been sceptics, but if Christianity had had no foundation in truth, all sagacious students, all sound reasoners, would have been sceptics too. But how different is the fact. Christianity crumbles not to pieces, nor does the glorious figure of Jesus of Nazareth resolve itself into a myth, when touched with the wand of critical research. ALIQUIS. I am one with you on the reality of Christ's earthly life. His existence is a great and solemn event in the history of the world, and one I firmly own which cannot be disproved. But is it not noteworthy that Christ's life and resurrection are described with many discrepancies? You will allow that discrepancies exist, and yet on so vital a point nothing seems more desirable than oneness of testimony. NEMO. The life of Christ is the production of four distinct and independent minds, and as might be expected exhibits variations and apparent discrepancies. Yet, with magnificent fulness, that Life stands before us. I have already granted that errors may have crept into the process of transcription and translation, but whatever variations of detail, or omissions, you may notice, these do not change a single fact, nor affect the reality of Christ's transcendent Personality. The foundations of our faith are not in any way disturbed by the allegations of minute discrepancies and various readings. A careful examination of such apparent differences, especially with regard to the appearances of the Risen |