Page images
PDF
EPUB

UNIVE

CALIFO

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

ΤΟ

THE FIRST EDITION.

THE present times are happily distinguished by an uncommon attention to the Holy Scriptures. By the unprecedented exertions of the religious public, this inestimable gift of Heaven, which has brought life and immortality to light, is circulated far and wide among the nations; and the day seems to be rapidly approaching, when every people and every tribe shall read in their own language the wonderful works of God. The object is worthy of even greater exertions than have yet been made, and of a much larger expense than has yet been incurred; for the Scriptures are the power of God and the wisdom of God, to the salvation of perishing sinners. They present the most sublime and instructive subjects of contemplation to the human mind; they restrain the angry and impetuous passions, which agitate the bosom of man, and too frequently break forth in deeds of shame; they purify his desires and affections; they expand and invigorate his faculties; they elevate and enlarge his views; and wherever they come, wherever their voice is heard and their authority acknowledged, they rescue from a state of

G.

A

ignorance and barbarity, vice and profligacy; they humanize the heart, and adorn the life; they form the strongest and sweetest bond of civil society, and open the purest and most abundant sources of individual and public happiness. To what is to be ascribed the remarkable difference between the wisest, the most learned and polished nations of antiquity, and the communities of modern Europe among whom the Scriptures are allowed to circulate freely? Is it, as many contend, to the instruction and influence of a more enlightened and efficacious philosophy; or to the unobserved, but powerful energy of the divine word? An impartial and intelligent observer will be at no loss to determine. Philosophy herself has been indebted to Revelation for much the greater part of her wisdom and refinement; she has detected many of her principal errors by the light of divine truth; has relinquished her prejudices and follies by its secret influence; and has borrowed from it her wisest lessons, her most powerful motives, and her brightest and most elevated views. To this, and not to any power of her own, must be referred the superior and more salutary impressions which she produces in modern times.

But the great and important amelioration in the sentiments and conduct of civil society, is the least part of the benefit which the Scriptures bestow. They discover the real character of God, and of his rational creature, man; they describe the state of sin and misery into which we have fallen, and the wonderful method which infinite wisdom has contrived for our deliverance the obedience and death of the Son of God. The change which they produce in the unrenewed mind, is of incalculable value and of eternal

duration; it cannot be described with more force and propriety than in the words of inspiration itself: -The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.' While the most extensive views of moral science are confined to the narrow span of human life, the word of God draws aside the veil which conceals a future state, and unfolds the final destinies of man; it points our hopes to enjoyments beyond the grave, commensurate with the vast desires and capacities of the glorified spirit, and durable as the nature and perfections of the Eternal; and our fears, to sufferings equally intense and perma

nent.

A treasure so precious, surely possesses a strong claim to the affectionate and solicitous attention of mankind, and imposes a duty on all who enjoy it, to facilitate its acceptance in their respective stations, and by all the means in their power, and to secure to themselves and others, the numerous and important blessings which it contains. The call of duty has not been heard in vain; men of great capacity and deep research, have investigated, with complete success, the claims of the Scriptures to a divine origin, and exhibited in the most satisfactory manner the grounds upon which they rest; patient and learned expositors have laboured to ascertain and illustrate the meaning, and acute eritics to dissipate the obscurity which hangs over some parts of the sacred text. But something more was required, fully to elucidate the sense, and display the incomparable accuracy, force, and beauty of the inspired writings;-an accu

rate knowledge of the natural phenomena and moral condition of the East. When the time of the promise drew near, that the earth should be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, he sent forth his agents to visit those remote regions where the scene of our redemption is laid, and collect the necessary information. Animated by the daring spirit of commercial adventure, or prompted by a fearless and romantic curiosity, men of intelligence and observation made their way into every region on which the light of Revelation had shone, and mingled familiarly with almost every people to whom the holy Scriptures had been originally addressed. Whether they were actuated by a principle of hostility or love to the writings of the prophets and apostles, the result of their inquiries, as might be expected, was the same -the statements of inspiration were illustrated and confirmed by their narratives.

But the rich and ample materials which those travellers had collected in their perilous wanderings, were scattered over a multitude of writings in different languages, which the greater part of Christians could neither procure nor understand, and intermixed with remarks and observations on many general subjects, which had no relation to Sacred Literature. Even few Biblical students had leisure to travel over so wide a field, or patience to note the facts and statements which served to illustrate the sacred page. Το separate those materials, therefore, from the extraneous matter with which they were encumbered, and to give them a condensed and systematic form, was render a service of no inconsiderable importance to the interests of truth and holiness. Urged by this consideration, various writers, both in our own

« EelmineJätka »