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pointment of God; whether, in fact, a people living, for ages past, amongst all the families of the earth, and yet separated from them by a seemingly impassable boundary, could have maintained this separate existence, unless it had been decreed in the government of God for the most important purposes. I do, indeed, see no advantage derived to infidelity from denying the more ancient and acknowledging, as the unbeliever must necessarily do, much of the latter part of the Jewish scriptures, together with the whole of the extraordinary history of the Jewish nation for the last eighteen centuries. The unbeliever refuses to acknowledge the divine mission of the Jewish lawgiver, the wanderings in the desert, the splendour of the reign of Solomon, the subsequent captivity of the people, and their restoration to their beloved country; but what is there more remarkable in these events, than that, after the Romans seized upon their country, and destroyed their city, and scattered their nation, they should still remain, in all countries wherein they sojourn, a separate people; that they should still adhere, as closely as the difference of situation and circumstances render it possible, to their ancient rites and eustoms, notwithstanding the persecution, and contumely, and loss, and misery, to which such adherence so frequently exposes them? The unbeliever talks of the impossibility of a miraculous interposition: he ridicules, as absurd, the belief® of miraculous interferences; but herein is a standing miracle from age to age, of which, he seems to be, either an unwilling, or a heedless, observer.

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Thus have I endeavoured, as far as the narrow limits of a discourse will allow, to present an outline of some of the leading evidences of the authenticity and divine authority of the ancient scriptures.

Interspersed throughout our review, are notices of several objections usually brought against them by the unbeliever. But lest it should appear to some, that too few of these are remarked upon, and that they are not fully enough replied to; I would observe, that it was impossible in the wide field we had to traverse, to notice, in a single discourse, fully, or even generally, objections, which have been extended to considerable treatises. From these causes, and others which arise. out of the plan pursued, a fuller examination of, and reply to, the charges of the unbeliever, have not been attempted. Instead of a more particular view of these charges, I have preferred adducing some branches of evidence for the divine authority of the scriptures, against which, if the inferences therefrom be correctly drawn, no objection of the unbeliever can be of any avail, how plausible soever it may appear.

I would, moreover, observe, with respect to the charges brought against particular parts of the bible history, or against the conduct of individuals mentioned therein, that these things do not affect the general character of the scriptures,—they do not tarnish the bright lustre of the revealed truths therein contained, they do not cause the general tenor of the scriptures to be less in favour of unaffected piety and vital godliness, nor eclipse

the glories of their innumerable excellencies. Whether these objectionable passages be suffered to pass as matters of history, setting forth the follies and vices inseparable from man's estate; or whether they be cast aside as injurious; still, the morality of the bible remains the same,-the purest that has obtained in the world; which, together with its sublime doctrines and encouraging promises, contributes to form the basis of man's improvement, happiness and honour. It should be considered too, that the ancient scriptures embrace a period of time, when the human mind, was, generally speaking, at a very low point in the scale of intellectual attainment; that morals were very imperfectly understood; that modes of life were totally different from those of the present day, and that many things were practised, with impunity, then, which would be condemned, as highly reprehensible, now. In fact, it would be well to consider, that the bible is, with respect to much of its contents, the work of man recording the deeds of men, and therefore must necessarily be interspersed with the history of much folly, imperfection and crime; that both the virtues, and the vices, of the respective characters, are left upon record for our instruction,-the one for imitation, the other for caution: and that though the revelation, contained in the ancient scriptures, came to man, always through fallible, and sometimes through erring channels, yet, that. these things neither affect its value nor its truth. It should be remembered, too, that we act unfairly, when we try, and condemn, by detached parts.

Nevertheless, this is a mode of trial to which the unbeliever invariably subjects the bible. No other book in the world ever was, and no book ever will be, exposed to such a severity of ordeal. It is a mode of proceeding which would infallibly injure the credit of any writings whatsoever, and which would cut off from literature and science all the works of antiquity.

I would observe, moreover, that a pertinacious habit of selecting and holding up to profane comment, certain objectionable passages of scripture, with which, neither the inspired word contained in its pages, nor the Jewish, nor the Christian religion, is in any way connected, is, in every point of view, as injurious to the individual pursuing it, as it is unfair and reprehensible. I cannot but conceive, that the indulging, as too many persons do, in holding forth these objectionable passages, as if they were specimens of the morality and general tenor of the bible, and thus endeavouring to bring the hope of generations into contempt, evinces a recklessness of consequences-a disingenuousness and an obliquity of mind and disposition, highly discreditable to the person persisting in the practice. Let the scriptures be examined as a whole; let their beauties be pointed out, as well as their seeming defects, and the unbeliever's triumph will be short: yea, if he possess a candid mind, he must, one would suppose, acknowledge their great overbalancing excellence, and thenceforth pay them the respect which they merit.

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III. OF THE ANTECEDENT PROBABILITY

OF THE CHRISTIAN REVELATION.

:

Man an insignificant creature, if the present life be the whole of his being. Ennobled by the prospect of a better existence beyond the grave.-State of the Jews at the time of Christ's appearance.-Judaism not calculated for an universal religion.-State of the heathen world. Theology.-Morals.-General view of opinious respecting a future state before the coming of Christ.-No sufficient motives to practice virtue, nor to abstain from crime.-The goodness of God, and his relation to man as their Father, an argument for the antecedent probability of the Christian Revelation.—Suitability of the character and doctrines of Christ to the circumstances in which the human race was placed.

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THE arrangement of our series of lectures has now brought us to the discussion of the evidences of Christianity.

It were needless to say much as to the impor tance of the subject. For, methinks, that which embraces the inquiry, and reviews the evidence,i respecting the hope and the promise of a future life. in a better world, is, surely, the subject of subjects.

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