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the inspiration of scripture, could they have done so more pointedly than in some of the above passages? THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT MUST STAND OR FALL TOGETHER. There is not an inch of ground, on which any man can consistently stand, between acknowledging the full inspiration, Divine authority, and infallible truth of the whole Bible,and the total rejection of it, as the production of designing impostors or deluded fanatics. "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.' May you all have grace to say, and my house, we will serve the Lord." *

"As for me

Into the various internal evidences of the Bible coming from God, which Paley and others have so ably brought forward, time will not allow us to enter. I cannot however forbear to notice, that "the endless differences" which appear to exist in the various books, and which are produced against them, become when closely examined, one of the strongest arguments in their favour. For supposing them not to have been inspired, the person, or persons who "put them together in one volume" in order to "palm them" upon us as the Word of God, would have taken pretty good care to remove all these "awkward passages," and to make them agree very closely together, so that every thing should be quite clear and straightforward, no stumblingblocks left in the way, nothing in short, that any opponent might make a handle of. But with all the show of agreement, which would then have appeared on the face of it, there can be no doubt, but that the more closely it was examined, the more its different books would have been found to disagree in little points, which the compilers of it had overlooked. The apparent agreement would have become on examination, real contradiction. Now every well-informed Christian knows, that in both these particulars, the case is exactly the reverse. The Bible is full of what appear at first sight, obvious, palpable, and glaring inconsistencies, such as no one who wished to palm it upon us as an infallible guide, if he dared have altered a word of it, would have allowed to remain for a moment. And yet these very inconsistencies, when thoroughly investigated, are found

There is one book of the Old Testament, the Song of Solomon, which is as much scoffed at even as the book of Revelations; and for the same reasonbecause it is not understood. In both cases ignorance is the parent of unbelief; in the one case ignorance of history, in the other of Christian experience. The Song of Solomon is a book, which above all others can only be "spiritually discerned." Under the figure of a bridal song in honour of Solomon's marriage, it describes the varied experience of a true believer; and to such a one no book is more full of meaning, or comes more plainly stamped with the seal of God. To those however whose religion consists merely in outward morality, who know nothing of the Spirit's work upon the heart and in the heart, nay who laugh at the very mention of it, it must of course appear unmeaning and unedifying; and no wonder that, on the boasted principle of human reason, they should reject it altogether.

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to give way, and to exhibit the most beautiful harmony. books written centuries apart and by men of various dispositions and habits, containing statements at first sight opposite enough, a diligent and patient examination discovers such a perfect agreement in the minutest particulars, as could only have been produced by their being written under the immedi ate direction of God. Another thing to be observed in the style of the Bible, which confirms our view, is the utter disregard of clearing up difficulties or answering cavils. Unlike all human writings, there is not the slightest attempt to guard its statements, or to smooth down its doctrines so as to make them less offensive: in fact its style is, what we should call in any thing else, injudicious, and that to an extreme The most startling truths are broadly stated in their naked simplicity without the slightest reserve-statements that won't bend an inch, that will break our necks if we attempt to climb over, and that we can only pass in safety by bowing down and creeping under. A person once expressed an opinion, that "the Bible was written by a man of unsound mind"; and this was the most consistent thing an infidel ever said; for no one of sound mind would ever have dreamed of writing such a book, unless under the immediate direction of God himself. Learn then never to be shaken or unsettled in your mind by any difficulties, objections, or apparent contradictions being brought against the Bible: if you can't see how to reconcile them, some one else perhaps can; the Spirit enlightens one on this point, and another on that point, that we may cultivate a spirit of mutual dependence and 'edify one another": and when a little experience has shown you, that difficulties, which appeared insurmountable to you, can be satisfactorily cleared up by another, you will learn to wait patiently and contentedly, and not to waver in unbelief or doubt, should any difficulties be raised, which you can find no one to explain to your satisfaction.

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There is one answer, however, which the true Christian, but no one else, can give to them all; an answer that requires no learning, no talent, no long course of reading to give; and yet a more conclusive answer to his mind, than fifty volumes from the most powerful writer-" He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself." Yes, this answer, and this alone, can "quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one." You may try to perplex him with arguments, or overwhelm him with difficulties; but touched with this weapon they vanish into nothing. The waves of the Red sea may foam before him, threatening to arrest his progress, the host of Pharaoh may press on behind as sure of victory; but this rod, stretched over the waters in the name of the Lord,

divides the sea, and he walks over on dry land. And let me tell you, however useful all other answers may be, this is the only one that can place a man beyond the reach of danger in such times as these. The mere nominal Christian, who has no ballast to steady him, may make shipwreck of his faith at the first gust of wind, and become a Romanist, or Socinian, or anything else, just as the blow happens to be given him. But the believer, who has the witness in himself, is safe; "My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." No! he cannot be made to doubt that the Bible is the word of God, by all the sophistries or ingenuity in the world. He knows what it has done for him; he knows its power upon his own soul; it has shewn him a remedy for his disease, a recovery from his ruin, a way of access to his offended Father; in a word, it has led him by the Spirit's blessing to the foot of the cross. There the burden dropped off his back, and he experienced "the blessedness of him whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." He has "joy and peace in believing,"—that peace "which the world can neither: give, nor take away." And do you think that he would give up his Bible, to which he is indebted for all this, or be persuaded that it is the word of man, because he may'nt be able to answer all the objections or difficulties that can be raised against it? No! he that believeth hath the witness in himself: and that witness is beyond the power of earth or hell to shake. "He shall not be afraid of the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day. A thousand may fall at his side," by the dark superstitions of Popery, "and ten thousand at his right hand," by the open assaults of infidelity, "but it shall not come nigh" him; his “life is hid with Christ in God;" he has drank of the fountain of living waters, and they are "in him as a well of water springing up into everlasting life." May God give us all grace, so to drink of it, that we may thirst no more, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.

EXTRACT FROM "IT IS WRITTEN" BY PROFESSOR

GAUSSEN.

“Having read other books, if you feel the need of spiritual aliment, open the Bible, and hear it. Sometimes it is melodious with the songs of angels : but it is of angels visiting the children of Adam; at others, it pours forth the full tide of heaven's harmony, to cheer the heart of man, and to awaken the conscience, in the shepherd's cot, as in the palace, in the garrets of poverty, as in the tents of the desert. The Bible in fact instructs all conditions of men: it unmasks alike the humble and the great; revealing equally to both the love of God, and unveiling the same mysteries. It addresses itself to children; and it is often children who there shew us the way to heaven and the majesty of the Lord. It addresses itself to shepherds; and it is often shepherds who are then presented to us, to reveal the character of God. It speaks to kings and scribes; and it is often they who therein teach us the misery of man, humility, confession and prayer. Domestic scenes, compunctions of conscience, secret effusions of prayer, travels, proverbs, outpourings of heart, the holy walk of a child of God, unveiled weaknesses, falls, restorations, inward experiences, parables, familiar epistles, theological expositions, sacred commentaries on some ancient scripture, national chronicles, military annals, political developement, descriptions of God, portraits of angels, heavenly visions, practical exhortations, rules of life, solutions of mental difficulties, judgments of the Lord, sacred songs, predictions of the future, accounts anterior to creation, sublime odes, and inimitable poetic imagery-all these by turns present themselves to our view in full and grateful variety, and as a whole captivate us like the majesty of a temple. It is thus that the Bible, from its first page to its last, was intended to associate with its sublime unity the attractive features of a human-like, familiar, sympathetic, personal instruction,- and a drama of forty centuries. As has been said in the Bible of Desmarets, "There are shallows for lambs, and deep waters in which elephants may swim."

"But see, at the same time what unity, and what innumerable and harmonious combinations appear in this immense variety! Under manifold forms we have always the same truth presented to us; always man lost, and God in the character of a Saviour: always the first Adam driven from Eden, and losing the tree of life, and the second Adam with his ransomed ones re-entering Paradise, and finding again the tree of life; always the same cry in ten thousand tones-"O heart of man, return to thy God, for thy God pardons! Ye are in the abyss; escape out of it; a Saviour has descended into it. He giveth holiness and life."

LECTURE III.

ON HUMAN REASON.

ACTS XXV. 12.-"Hast thou appealed unto Cæsar? Unto Cæsar shalt thou go."

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THE objections urged by Unitarians against the doctrines of the gospel are drawn partly from scripture, and partly from reason. Those from scripture will be considered separately as each doctrine in turn comes before us; but the question of reason it will be better to settle at once in the very outset. And though we are told, that it is not "solely or chiefly the score of reason they reject certain doctrines, yet any one acquainted with their writings must be quite aware how much this weapon is made use of, and how much more effect it is likely to have upon a large class of minds, than any arguments from the word of God.* Now if you will examine the various objections brought forward by Unitarians apart from scripture, you will find that they all resolve themselves into these two; Ist, a physical difficulty, namely-Such and such a thing appears impossible; I don't see how it can be so: and 2ndly, a moral difficulty, namely, I don't see how such and such thing would be right, or consistent with the character of God. The first objection applies to the Trinity for instance: no Unitarian pretends to say there would be anything wrong in Father, Son, and Spirit being each God, and yet there being only one God; but it appears to him impossible. The second applies to original sin for instance: there is no physical difficulty in believing the possibility of children being born in sin; but it is thought to be a stain on the moral government of God. On

* Such expressions as-" A man that believes the doctrine of the Trinity must be either a knave or a fool"-tell wonderfully upon a crowd; especially if they forget, that the man who says so believed it himself, or pretended to believe it, enly the other day.

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