that no human wisdom could have devised them, no human power could accomplish them. Many of the predictions, which are found in the Old Testament, foretold unexpected changes in the distribution of earthly power. And whether they announced the fall of flourishing cities, or the ruin of mighty empires, the event has minutely corresponded with the prediction. To mention a few instances: Nineveh is so completely destroyed that its site is not and cannot be known;- Babylon is made "a desolation for ever, a possession for the bittern, and pools of water :"-Tyre, all voyagers and travellers concur in stating, is become "like the top of a rock, a place for fishers to spread their nets upon ;"-and Egypt is "a base kingdom, the basest of the kingdoms," and still tributary, and subject to strangers. But the great object of the prophecies of the Old Testament is the redemption of mankind. This, as soon as Adam's fall had made it necessary, the mercy of God was pleased to foretel. And, as the time for its accomplishment drew near, the predictions concerning it gradually became so clear, that almost every circumstance in the life and character of the most extraordinary personage that ever appeared among men was most distinctly foretold. The connection of the predictions belonging to the Messiah, with those which are confined to the Jewish people, give additional force to the argument from prophecy; affording a strong proof of the intimate union which subsists between the two dispensations of Moses and of Jesus Christ, and equally precluding the artful pretensions of human imposture, and the daring opposition of human power. The plan of prophecy was so widely constituted, that the passions and prejudices of the Jews, instead of frustrating, fulfilled it, and rendered the person whom they regarded, the suffering and crucified Saviour, who had been promised. It is worthy of remark, that most of these predictions were delivered nearly, and some of them more than three thousand years ago. Any one of them is sufficient to indicate a prescience more than human: but the collective force of all taken together is such, that nothing more can be necessary to prove the interposition of omniscience, than the establishment of their authenticity; and this, even at so remote a period as the present, we have already seen, is placed beyond all doubt.1 Besides these external attestations, the Scriptures have the most excellent internal characters of truth and goodness (which prove their divine origin and inspiration,) in the sublimity, excellence, and sanctity of the doctrines and moral precepts which they deliver, and their admirable adaptation to the actual state and wants of mankind;2 -in the harmony and connection that subsist between all the parts of which they consist;3-in their wonderful preservation, notwith 1 See Chap. IV. Sect. III. pp. 322-333. supra, for a view of the prophecies reand 343 specting nations, and pp. 334-340. for those relative to the Messiah; pp. 349, and the Appendix, No. IV. Chap. II. Sect. III. infra, for the predictions of Jesus Christ concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, and the propagation of Christianity, &c. 2 See Chap. V. Sect. I. pp. 381-454. supra. 3 See Chap. V. Sect. II. pp. 454, 455. supra. standing all the attempts which were made by their enemies to destroy them; and finally, in their admirable tendency (which is demonstrated by its effects wherever the Scriptures are cordially and sincerely believed,) to promote the glory of God and the good of mankind, and the cause of virtue and righteousness in the world, and to prepare men by a life of faith and holy obedience upon earth for the eternal enjoyment of God in heaven. To which we may add the infinite superiority, in every respect, of the Christian revelation over every other religion which has ever been in the world.3 Upon the whole we have such a number of evidences of the truth of the Scriptures as no man can resist, who duly and impartially considers them and it is to the wilful ignorance of those evidences that we are to ascribe that infidelity which at present exists in different parts of the world. VI. "The Scripture," as a late eminent prelate has justly remarked, "is not a plan of Christianity finished with minute accuracy, to instruct men as in something altogether new, or to excite a vain admiration and applause; but it is somewhat unspeakably nobler and more extensive, comprehending in the grandest and most magnificent order, along with every essential of that plan, the various dispensations of God to mankind, from the formation of this earth to the consummation of all things." "Other books may afford us much entertainment and much instruction, may gratify our curiosity, may delight our imagination, may improve our understandings, may calm our passions, may exalt our sentiments, may even improve our hearts. But they have not, they cannot have, that authority in what they affirm, in what they require, in what they promise and threaten, which the Scriptures have. There is a peculiar weight and energy in them which is not to be found in any other writings. Their denunciations are more awful, their convictions stronger, their consolations more powerful, their counsels more authentic, their warnings more alarming, their expostulations more penetrating. There are passages in them throughout so sublime, so pathetic, full of such energy and force upon the heart and conscience, yet without the least appearance of labour and study for that purpose; indeed, the design of the whole is so noble, so well suited to the sad condition of human kind; the morals have in them such purity and dignity; the doctrines, so many of them above reason, yet so perfectly reconcileable with it; the expression is so majestic, yet familiarised with such easy simplicity, that, the more we read and study these writings, with pious dispositions and judicious attention, the more we shall see and feel of the hand of God in them." Thus are the Scriptures the only rule of our faith and standard of our lives; and thus do they point out to us the only way by which to attain solid comfort, peace and happiness. "But that which stamps upon them the highest value, that 1 See Chap. V. Sect. III. pp. 456, 457. supra. which renders them, strictly speaking, inestimable, and distinguishes them from all other books in the world, is this, that they, and they only, contain the words of eternal life. In this respect every other book, even the noblest compositions of man, must fail; they cannot give us that which we most want, and what is of infinitely more importance to us than all other things put together, ETERNAL LIFE. "This we must look for no where but in Scripture. It is there, and there only, that we are informed, from authority, of the immortality of the soul, of a general resurrection from the dead, of a future judgment, of a state of eternal happiness to the good, and of eternal. misery to the bad. It is there we are made acquainted with the fall of our first parents from a state of innocence and happiness; with the guilt, corruption, and misery which this sad event brought on all their posterity; which, together with their own personal and voluntary transgressions, rendered them obnoxious to God's severest punishments. But to our inexpressible comfort, we are further told in this divine book, that God is full of mercy, compassion, and goodness; that he is not extreme to mark what is done amiss; that he willeth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and save his soul alive. In pity therefore to mankind, he was pleased to adopt a measure, which should at once satisfy his justice, show his extreme abherence of sin, make a sufficient atonement for the sins of the whole world, and release all, who accepted the terms proposed to them, from the punishment they had deserved. This was nothing less than the death of his Son Jesus Christ, whom he sent into the world to take our nature upon him, to teach us a most holy, pure, and benevolent religion, to reform us both by his precept and example; and, lastly, to die for our sins, and to rise again for our justification. By him and his evangelists and apostles we are assured, that if we sincerely repent of our sins, and firmly believe in him and his gospel, we shall, for the sake of his sufferings and his righteousness, have all our transgressions forgiven and blotted out ;-shall be justified, that is, considered as innocent in the sight of God; shall have the assistance of his Holy Spirit for our future conduct; —and, if we persevere to the end in a uniform (though from the infirmity of our nature, imperfect) obedience to all the laws of Christ, we shall, through his merits, be rewarded with everlasting glory in the life to come." Thus do the Holy Scriptures contain "all things necessary to salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation."3 VII. Such then being the utility, excellence, and perfection of the 1 John vi. 68. 2 Bishop Porteus, Lectures on St. Matthew, vol. i. pp. 18. 21. 3 Article vi. of the United Church of Great Britain and Ireland. The sufficiency of Scripture is ably illustrated by Bishop Tomline (Elements of Christian Theology, vol. ii. pp. 190-196.); by Bishop Vanmildert (Bampton Lect. pp. 61-76.), by Dr. Edwards, in his "Discourse concerning the authority, style, and perfection of the books of the Old and New Testament," vol. iii. pp. 1-44., and most elaborately by Archbishop Tillotson in his "Rule of Faith," particularly part iv. sect. ii. To these works the student is referred, who is desirous of investigating this important topic. 3 Holy Scriptures, since they are not merely the best guide we can consult, but the only one that can make us wise unto salvation, it becomes the indispensable duty of all carefully and constantly to peruse these sacred oracles, that through them they may become "perfect, thoroughly furnished to every good work." This indeed is not only agreeable to the divine command,2 and to the design of the Scriptures, but is further commended to us by the practice of the church in antient as well in modern times, and by the gracious promise made by Him who cannot lie, to all true believers, that "they - shall all be taught of God." What time is to be appropriated for this purpose, must ever depend upon the circumstances of the individual. It is obvious that some time ought daily to be devoted to this important study, and that it should be undertaken with devout simplicity and humility; prosecuted with diligence and attention;6 accompanied by prayer for the divine aid and teaching; together with a sincere desire to know and perform the will of God, and, laying aside all prejudice, to follow the Scriptures wherever conviction may lead our minds. For it is indubitable, that persons of piety, who are anxiously desirous of the knowledge of divine truth, are aided by the Spirit of God in searching out the meaning of Scripture, particularly in such subjects as have an especial reference to faith and religious practice.8 In order, however, to study the Scriptures aright, it should be recollected that they are not to be contemplated as one entire book or 12 Tim. iii. 17. 31 Tim. ii. 4. 2 SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES, John v. 39. 4 Psal. cxix. 24. Acts xvii. 11. 2 Tim. iii. 15. Psal. i. 2. 5 Isa. liv. 13. Jer. xxxi. 31. John vi. 45. Heb. viii. 11. and John xvi. 13. Luke xi. 13. Eph. i. 17. "The Revelation of the Holy Ghost inspireth the true meaning of the Scripture to us: in truth, we cannot without it attain true saving knowledge." Second Homily of the Scripture."Quo etiam spiritu scripturæ facte sunt, eo spiritu legi desiderant, ipso etiam intelligendæ sunt. Nunquam ingredieris in sensum Pauli, donec usu bonæ intentionis in lectione ejus, et studio assiduæ meditationis, spiritum ejus imbiberis. Nunquam intelliges David, donec ipsâ experientiâ ipsos Psalmorum affectus indueris. Sicque de reliquis." St. Bernard, Epist. ad Fratres Montis Dei. 6" Without attention," says a pious but neglected writer of the seventeenth century, "all books are alike, and all equally insignificant: for he that adverts not to the sense of what he reads, the wisest discourses signify no more to him, than the most exquisite music does to a man perfectly deaf. The letters and syllables of the Bible are no more sacred than those of another book: it is the sense and meaning only that is divinely inspired: and he that considers only the former, may as well entertain himself with the spelling-book." Lively Oracles, sect. viii. § 25. 7 "Though the natural man may well enough apprehend the letter and grammatical sense of the word, yet its power and energy, that insinuative, persuasive force whereby it works upon our hearts,- -is peculiar to the Spirit: and therefore, without his aids, the Scripture, while it lies open before our eyes, may still be as a book that is sealed (Isa. xxix. 11.), and be as ineffective as if the characters were illegible." Ibid. sect. viii. § 24. 8 Non est dubitandum, viros pios et veritatis divinæ cupidos adjuvari a Spiritu Dei in scrutando Scriptura sensu, in iis quidem rebus quæ propriè ad fidem et mores pertinent.Ernesti Institutio Interpretis Novi Testamentí, p. 25. edit. 4te. Lipsia, 1792.-Though the truth of God receives not testimony from men, it is pleasing to observe it thus expressly recognised by men of such intellectual greatness as John Augustus Ernesti; who is admitted to have been one of the most erudite and elegant scholars of modern Germany. treatise. "The knowledge of divine truth is, indeed, perfectly distinct from human science, in that it emanates immediately from the fountain of infinite wisdom. Yet has it this in common with human science, that it is made by its heavenly author to flow through the channel of human instruction. While, therefore, we receive it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the Word of God (1 Thess. ii. 13.), we must nevertheless examine it as it is delivered to us, clothed in the language of men and subject to the general rules of human composition. The deference due to it as a divine production does not interfere with this province of human learning; it only exacts submission with respect to the subject-matter of the revelation, to which the critical investigation is entirely subordinate." But, besides the paramount importance of the contents of the Holy Scriptures, a further motive to the diligent study of them presents itself, in the facilities that are offered to us for this purpose by the numerous publications on the criticism and interpretation of the Bible, which have appeared at different times, and whose most valuable precepts it is the design of the present work to concentrate. In fact, "a willingness to know and to do the will of God, implies a willingness to resort to all necessary helps for advancement in the truth, and for security against error.' The value of such helps was never questioned, except by those who chose to despise what they did not possess. "They are of distinguished value in theology; but then, like every thing else that is excellent, they have their province. While they are supreme in the concerns of human investigation, they are subordinate in those of divine. They cannot communicate a right disposition of heart, nor can they compensate for its absence. Like the armour of the antient warrior, if the native vigour of the frame can wield them with alertness and skill, they are his defence and ornament: but if this vigour be wanting, they are of no advantage whatever; they become, on the contrary, a burden and an incumbrance." With regard to the order to be pursued in reading the Scriptures, it may be sufficient to remark, that it will be desirable to peruse those books first which are written in the plainest style, and consequently best adapted to the capacity of the mind; and afterwards to proceed gradually from the easier books to such as are more difficult, and especially to read those in succession which are of parallel argument; from the New Testament to the Old, and from the simpler books to such as are more abstruse. .Further, as it is of importance to understand the several dispensations given by God to mankind, besides this elementary reading of the Scriptures, it is necessary that they be studied according to the historical order of time. This mode of reading the Bible will at once help both the memory and the judgment: it will also discover to us those connections and dependencies which are otherwise undiscerni 1 Bishop Vanmildert's Bampton Lectures, p. 22. 2 Ibid. p. 41. The whole of his second sermon, on the moral qualifications requisite for a right apprehension of the Sacred Word, is truly excellent. |