trinal expounding of the scripture; if he has produced no one work which has for its object the development of vital Christianity; let us in justice remember, that he has arrayed himself boldly on the side of unpopular truths; that he has pleaded for the humblest manifestations of genuine faith and zeal; and that he has occasionally stricken such blows at the monster-errors of the age, as have caused them to writhe.

ART. III.-The Christian's Defence, containing a fair Statement and impartial Examination of the leading objections urged by Infidels, against the Antiquity, Credibility, and Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures : enriched with copious extracts from learned authors. By James Smith. Two volumes in one. Cincinnati:

Stereotyped and published by J. A. James. Pages, Vol. I. 312, Vol. II. 364.

THE Great West is a land of exuberant productions, good and bad. Errors of every species spring up and flourish there, as luxuriantly as the plants which the fertile soil shoots forth in such vigour and abundance. But where poisons abound, there also Providence furnishes effectual antidotes. While men of strong but erratic minds arise, and exert all their talents to propagate errors of the most monstrous kinds, God in mercy to the church raises up other men, who clad in the panoply of truth are qualified to detect, and by sound reasoning and solid learning to refute the dangerous systems of infidelity and heresy, which, from time to time, the enemies of the truth promulgate.

We have been wont to consider the great valley of the Mississippi as a country too new, and too recently settled, to produce any literary works, requiring profound research and extensive erudition; but here we have a volume, or rather two volumes, extending to nearly seven hundred octavo pages, every one of which furnishes evidence of various and extensive reading; and much of it entirely out of the routine of the current literature of the country. Indeed our principal objection to the work before us, is, that it is encumbered with too much learning. The author has sometimes gone out of his way to gather up the fruits of

laborious study, which do not appear to have a very important bearing on the points under discussion. Still we have been greatly gratified to find that there are persons in the west who devote themselves with so much zeal and industry, to the defence of the gospel. While some of our strongest men are occupied in controversies about the cords and pins of the tabernacle, as though the ark itself was in no danger, we rejoice that there are those who apprehend the evils which threaten the church of God from the increase of infidelity and heresy. Another circumstance which affords us real pleasure is, that theological learning appears to be cultivated with so much diligence by some of the ministers of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, to which denomination, it is understood, our author is attached.

The opinion, entertained by many, that ministers of inferior talents and learning will answer well enough for our newly settled countries, is a great mistake. The fact is, that the pioneers who penetrate the wilderness, and are found among the earliest inhabitants of the new territories, are generally men of more than common shrewdness, energy and enterprise. Men of small capacity, and little courage, remain at home, while restless spirits, conscious of vigour, and prepared to endure hardships, are the men who are found on the frontiers; and these are frequently the advocates of erroneous opinions on the subject of religion; or, if they have adopted no system, they are commonly inimical to evangelical truth. When the preacher who is sent to these new settlements is a weak man, or deficient in learning, it affords a triumph to the infidel, and does an injury to the cause which the missionary undertakes to defend. Men of the best abilities are therefore needed in our frontier settlements, more than in the region where every thing is in an orderly, stable condition.

That our readers may have a correct view of the state of religious opinion, in some parts of the west, we will here insert a pretty long extract from the author's preface.

"That the causes which led to this publication, and the objects it is designed to effect, may be properly understood, it is necessary to remark, that in the south-western section of the Union, in which the writer for a number of years has extensively laboured as a minister of the gospel, his observation of the state of society has brought him to the conclusion, that of late years, the progress of infidelity has been great, especially among the better educated young men of the country; who residing, in many instances, far from the restraining influence of parental authority, and the enjoyment of the regular

means of grace, have been peculiarly exposed to be led away by the assertions and sophisms of the adversaries of Christianity. He has also noticed, with pain, that Christians generally, and even many ministers of the gospel, are not conscious of the true state of affairs; in consequence of which, the adversaries have been industriously circulating the writings of Hume, Volney, Taylor, Paine, English, and other infidels, while no efficient efforts have been made to present before the public, in a proper light, the evidences upon which the truth of revelation rests. Under the influence of such views, and knowing from experience, how incompetent unsuspecting young men are to ward off the attacks of infidels, for their special benefit his studies have been directed to the investigation of the nature of the objections urged by infidels against Christianity, and the evidences by which it is supported. In the course of his reading, he has met with many able works, which already demonstrate the claims of the Bible as a revelation from God; yet it has appeared to him that something was still wanting to attract the attention and convince the minds of those who have surrendered their judgment and reason into the hands of Volney, Paine, Olmsted, &c., Viz: a fair statement of all the more weighty objections, urged by infidels, with a confutation of each."

We fully concur in the opinion that such a work as is here described is a desideratum in our theological literaAnd we feel under great obligations to the author for his laborious exertions, but we must be permitted to express some doubt, whether the book under review is the exact thing which is needed. It contains the materials out of which such a work might be composed. But it is by far too voluminous, and will not be read by the persons for whose benefit it is intended; and it comprehends much irrelevant matter; and contains some discussions and statements in which we cannot concur. We regret that the work was so speedily stereotyped. We believe that if it were reduced to one-half, or even to one-third, of the size it now has, every thing truly valuable and pertinent to the design might be included in it. The plan of such a work as we deem necessary would be, to state concisely the objections of infidels, and then to subjoin to each a clear, forcible refutation, leaving out all that is doubtful, or superfluous. There is certainly, in this work, a want of that lucid order, and digested system, which adds very much to the force of reasoning. At the same time that we feel it to be a duty to make such strictures on this learned work, we would again express our admiration of the extensive reading of the author, and our approbation, generally, of his solid answers to infidel objections. In some cases, indeed, we think that he has given importance to trifling ob

jections, by an elaborate reply, when they should rather have been passed over with a slight notice, or with silent contempt. We are less satisfied with the first sections of the work, than with any of the other parts; and if our opinion could have any weight, we would advise that in future editions, all disquisitions respecting the being of a God and the immateriality of the soul be entirely omitted.

The author informs us that in early life he was himself a deist, led astray by Volney, and Paine; he therefore knows the need there is of such a work as he has attempted to produce: but anxious as he was to see it executed by some masterly hand, he had no idea, he adds, of undertaking it himself, from a sense of his inability to do justice to so important a subject; nor would he ever have attempted the task, had not the dealings of divine Providence, in his estimation, plainly indicated that he should engage in the undertaking.

The circumstances which led him to the conclusion were the following:

"During the winter of 1839-40, while upon a tour in the south, the writer visited Columbus in Mississippi, at that period the residence of a very artful and violent enemy of Christianity, Mr. C. G. Olmsted, author of a work, entitled, The Bible its own Refutation'; who, by his easy manners and gentlemanly bearing, had so ingratiated himself with many of the citizens of the place, especially with the young men, as to exercise a most pernicious influence, by the dissemination of his infidel principles. Indeed, he had not only cheated many into the belief that the Bible is an imposition on the credulity of mankind, but he had succeeded to a considerable extent in making the impression, that so conscious were the ministers of the gospel of the weakness of their cause, that no one of any intelligence, would dare, with him, patiently, to discuss the claims of the Bible, as a revelation from heaven. From a sense of duty, the writer determined, for the benefit of the young men of the place, to deliver a series of discourses on the nature and tendency of Infidelity; and another on the Evidences of Christianity. While the former was in progress, he received from a committee of infidel gentlemen, with the sanction of Mr. Olmsted, a written challenge, publicly to discuss, with their champion, the following questions, Were the writers of the different books of the Bible inspired men? Did the facts which they detailed occur? Was Jesus Christ miraculously begotten? Did he perform miracles? Did he rise from the dead?" Believing, that to decline the proposed discussion, would prove prejudicial to the interests of Christianity, by the advice of religious friends the challenge was accepted. The writer, however, was careful to put off the time of the debate, so as to leave a sufficient opportunity to prepare for the conflict. In the mean time, being far from the necessary facilities, he apprized certain friends in Great Britain of what

was pending, who immediately procured and forwarded to him, every necessary aid.

Fifteen months after the passage of the challenge, the discussion took place, which continued for nearly three weeks.

"The result, in the opinion of the audience, was favourable to the cause of divine revelation. When the debate was ended, the author received the following testimonial, signed by sixteen of the most respectable men of the town, viz:

Rev. James Smith. The undersigned having heard the arguments advanced by you to prove the genuineness, credibility and inspiration of the Bible, in the late discussion, between yourself and C. G. Olmsted, Esq., and believing many of your arguments especially those in favour of the credibility and inspiration of the Old Testament, to be entirely new, in this country, and which we judge to be most conclusive and triumphant :—and further believing, that their publication would do much to arrest the poisonous and destructive influence of infidelity, and be calculated to promote Christianity and true patriotism, we respectfully request you to give them to the public, together with your other arguments, which were not delivered, as soon as you can consistently with the difficulties and importance of the task.'"

It may be proper also to add to this testimony, that of some of the editors of periodical papers. The South Western Christian Advocate says, "We found Mr. Smith well prepared for the contest. He had his arguments systematically arranged-had written them all, and read them well. He proved to a demonstration the GENUINENESS, AUTHENTICITY, and INSPIRATION of the Old Testament. His arguments were interesting and convincing. His arguments on the New Testament were equally happy, and if possible more convincing. The conclusion of every inquirer after truth must have been, that the champion of deism was signally defeated, and his cause left bleeding on the field."

The Union Evangelist remarks, "Every one of unbiassed mind, was left at the close, a firmer and more intelligent believer. Mr. Smith has done much, very much, for the whole Christian church.”

A correspondent of the same paper, who was present, describes the close of the controversy, as follows; "After Mr. Smith had closed his argument on the last night, and returned thanks to the audience, Mr. Olmsted rose, and told the audience that he would occupy much more time than usual, but if there were any that wished to leave he would not think hard of their doing so, but intimated that he expected the friends of truth only to remain. Whereupon the congregation in a crowd, with a few exceptions only, left