4. The consent of all the parts of Scripture, is another evidence of their divinity. This harmony of the sacred writers, when fairly viewed, is indeed wonderful. The different writers were not only of different ranks in life, and of different education, but they wrote at periods of time far distant from each other, and on subjects of very various kinds; and often without knowing more than a part, at most, of what had been written by others. From the time that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, to the time that John penned the Apocalypse, was a period of about fifteen hundred years. Now, that a series of writers, of such different characters, and discussing such dif ferent topics, should be adding something to the sacred volume through all this period, and often with. only a very partial knowledge of what was there before, and yet that there should be no contrariety, no inconsistency, but the most entire consent and harmony of the whole, this we affirm has no parallel— nothing resembling it, among merely human productions: and we affirm that it can be satisfactorily accounted for in no other way, than by saying that these writers were all guided by one and the same Spirit of infallible truth. Many attempts, we know, have been made to find some inconsistency of one portion of Scripture with another; but they have uniformly led to investigations which have more clearly demonstrated the entire agreement of the whole.

5. "The scope of the whole Scripture, which is to give all glory to God," is another internal evidence of its divinity. The whole sacred volume, taken together, is calculated to exhibit the Deity as glorious in all his attributes;-to exhibit Him as infinitely worthy of the highest admiration, esteem and love, of all intelligent and moral beings-to show that they were created, as I have heretofore shown, to behold and promote his glory, and to find their supreme happiness, both here and to all eternity, in this high and delightful service. This we might naturally expect in a revelation from God, and we find it in this revelation;-find it as it is not found in any other compo

sitions that ever were written. This book, therefore, . we believe came from God himself.

6. The full discovery which the Bible makes of "the only way of man's salvation," affords a strong internal evidence of its divine origin. The insuperable difficulty, among the best of the heathen philosophers and moralists, was, to collect any entirely satisfactory evidence of the immortality of the soul, and that God would both forgive and reward the penitent sinner. How, indeed, can these things be certainly known, unless they are revealed. That reason and observation might, and did afford some probability, and excite some hope in regard to them, we admit. But on such infinitely interesting topics, the mind is deeply anxious for certainty, for full assurance: and this never could be obtained, but by revelation. Here, blessed be God, we have it. "Life and immortality are brought to light in the Gospel:" and here— and only here-the whole plan of redeeming mercy, is clearly and gloriously exhibited.

By revelation, and by revelation alone, we learn, that in the perfect unity of the divine essence, there are three distinctions, usually called persons, and that each of these divine persons bears a part in the great work of man's redemption and salvation. Here, and here only, we learn of a way of pardon, in consistency with the justice of God, through the atonement and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we learn, that sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit: and that thus the human soul-redeemed by the blood of the Son of God, and meetened for glory by his own blessed Spirit-shall be admitted to perfect and endless felicity in heaven. This plan of salvation never did enter, and never could have entered, the mind of any human being, if it had not been revealed. But when revealed, the glory and excellence of it are seen to be inexpressible. It has accordingly been the reliance of the best of men, even in the trying hour of death-Of the reality of it, as the truth of God, they have doubted no more than of their own existence.

I have now finished what I propose to offer on the internal evidence which the Scriptures contain, that they are a revelation from God. I have, by no means, touched on all the points of evidence of this kind; and I have unavoidably been very brief on each point that I have noticed. Yet I have said more than I should, but for the consideration that it is of the internal evidence of the divinity of the Scriptures, that persons of all descriptions can best and most satisfactorily judge for themselves. It is indeed. the internal evidence of the truth of revelation which, at last, most completely satisfies every mind, and dispels every doubt. I give it as my decisive opinion, that any man who will carefully, diligently, candidly, and prayerfully study the Holy Scriptures, and compare one part with another, will at length, and before long, have no doubt left, that there he finds the revealed will of God.

Let us now, very briefly, consider the external evidence that the Scriptures contain a divine revelation. Among the numerous sources of this kind of evidence, I have time to mention only two of the chief-miracles and prophecy: If, indeed, there be any just ground for distinguishing between prophecy and miracles.

A miracle has been defined "an effect contrary to the established constitution and course of things, or a sensible deviation from the known laws of nature." That a miracle should ever be wrought for a trivial purpose, is certainly contrary to all our ideas of fitness-to all our perceptions of the wisdom, regularity, order, and stability, which we observe in the works of God. But that for a great and important purpose, there should be some deviation from the established laws and order which we observe in the works of creation and providence, is in no respect unworthy of the power, the wisdom, or the goodness of the great Author of nature. "Man (says Dr. Gleig) is unquestionably the principal creature in this world, and apparently the only one in it, who is capable of being made acquainted with the relation in which he stands

to his Creator. We cannot, therefore, doubt, but that such of the laws of nature as extend not their operation beyond the limits of this earth, were established chiefly, if not solely, for the good of mankind; and if, in any particular circumstances, that good can be more effectually promoted by an occasional deviation from those laws, such a deviation may be reasonably expected." Now, when we consider, as already shown, how desirable, useful, and even necessary, a revelation is, to teach man the true knowledge of God and the method in which he may be restored to the favour and eternal fruition of his Creator, we cannot deem it unworthy of infinite wisdom and goodness, and therefore not unreasonable, that we should expect some occasional deviation from the established laws of nature, for this great and important purpose. And you will observe, that in whatever degree it is reasonable to expect that a revelation should be made to mankind, in that same degree it is reasonable to expect that miracles should be wrought-for without a miracle, the supernatural communication could not be verified to the world at large.

When any one affirms that he has a supernatural communication to make, we justly demand of him the evidence of this. And let it be remembered, that this is the doctrine of Scripture, and the test to which, as I have heretofore intimated, all who profess to have received revelations ought, in all cases, to be brought. If what they profess to teach were a mere matter of reason, we might judge of it by reason; or if a reliance were placed on argument, we would listen to the argument. But here is a communication to be made, of which reason is not, abstractly, the competent judge; and which demands regard, not from argument, but from divine authority. Show us, then, the authority by which your demand is sanctioned. This can be done, only by working an undeniable miracle. If this be done, but not otherwise, we submit to the demand. We submit, because we cannot believe that He alone who can control and change the laws of nature, would do it to

confirm a falsehood; and by doing so, to impose in the most grievous manner, on his rational creatures. Miracles, therefore, are essential to a revelation for the good of mankind at large; and when really wrought, they give it a divine sanction.

That almost every kind of religion in the world has professed to have miracles connected with its pretensions, we admit. But mark a difference, which at once annihilates this objection, as it relates to the Jewish and Christian systems. Yes, although this objection has been so much dwelt on, yet it is an undeniable fact, that the Jewish and Christian systems are the only ones since the foundation of the world, that have professed to take their ORIGIN from miracles, wrought in the face of the world, and of which both friends and enemies might judge. This is what those systems professed to do, and they succeeded in it; and this has never been attempted, with success, by any other religion of which the world has yet heard. No other religion, I repeat, has ever begun its career, and professed to rest all its pretensions on open undeniable miracles, wrought in the presence of foes as well as friends, and succeeded in the attempt. Mahomet did not found his pretensions on miracles. He disclaimed this. He professed indeed to have divine communication; but they were all in secret. He avowed that his religion was to be propagated by the sword; and accordingly by the sword it was propagated.

Mr. Hume is the infidel writer of most note who has opposed the credibility of miracles. But he has been answered by Dr. Campbell, in a manner which seems to me to preclude all reply. The answer is the most satisfactory piece of controversy that I have ever read. Mr. Hume's bold position is, that no testimony whatever, can warrant a belief in miracles, because miracles are a violation of the laws of nature; and all our experience, he says, tells us that the laws of nature are never violated, while the same experience tells us that human testimony is often false-therefore, it is more reasonable to believe that