during a vision. 9. The production of an audible voice on such an occasion. converse on the part of a divine messenger with the recipient, while in a prophetic daydream. 11. Angelic converse in a waking state.* The second of these subdivisions coincides with what the Jews usually characterise by the name of , the Holy Spirit, by which they understand a supernatural influence exerted upon persons, exciting and enabling them to discourse or write on various topics in a strain in which they would not have done, had they been left to their own native ability. The very terms in which they expressed themselves were essentially different from any to which they had been accustomed, or such as they had not acquired in an ordinary way. To this degree of inspiration Maimonides expressly refers the composition of the Psalms by David, the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon, the books of Daniel, Job, the Chronicles, and the rest of the Hagiographa; and accounts for their receiving this designation from the fact, that they were written by the Holy Spirit.† Between Moses, who enjoyed the supreme degree of supernatural influence, and inferior * 12) 12. Edit. Buxtorf. Pars II. cap. xlv. p. 315. Basil. 1629. Carpzovii Introd. ad Libros Canon. Bibl. V. T. iii. p. 14. Ut sup. p. 319. E LECT. I. 50 LECT. I. prophets, the Rabbi thus distinguishes :--Moses received all his revelations in a waking state, whereas they received theirs in dreams and visions. His were derived immediately from God himself theirs were received through the ministry of angels. The communications with which he was favoured produced no perturbation or astonishment in his mind: the prophets were the subjects of fear and agitation. With him the gift of prophecy was permanent, so that he could, without preparation, exercise it whenever he chose; but in them it was only occasional, and required certain predispositions of mind.* Modifications of these views are found in the works of Albo, Nachman, Abarbanel, Kimchi, and other Rabbins ; but how much soever they may differ from Maimonides, and from each other, on minor points connected with the doctrine, they are unanimous in attributing infallible divine influence to the writers of the Hebrew Scriptures. Passing on to the christian writers by whom the dogma is recognised, it may be proper to repeat the remark which we made when adverting to the sentiments of Philo, that, while some of them may occasionally speak of themselves as the subjects of inspiration, it is nevertheless * Bernard's Main Principles of the Creed and Ethics of the Jews, pp. 116-118. London, 1832. + Smith's Select Discourses, p. 247, &c. London. 1831. evident they never meant to be understood as placing themselves on a level with the sacred penmen. All they intended by the expression was, the gracious instruction and direction, which, according to the Scriptures, every one is warranted to expect, who sincerely and humbly applies to God for the guidance of his Holy Spirit. To this remark there is one exception in the case of Hermas, one of the Apostolical Fathers, who, in his "Pastor," pretends to have been favoured with visions and angelic revelations, and speaks of inspiration with a degree of familiarity which sufficiently indicates the entire absence of the quality to which he lays claim. LECT. I. Fathers. In the Epistles of Barnabas and Clement of Apostolical Rome, the contents of Scripture are introduced by the formulas-"The Lord saith," "God saith,' Thus saith the Holy Spirit."* The latter calls the Scriptures, "the holy oracles of God," and exhorts the Corinthians to study them, in language which unequivocally evinces his conviction of their inspiration: "Look unto the holy Scriptures, which are the true words of "the Holy Ghost. Ye know that nothing unjust * Barnabas further expresses his belief in the inspiration of the sacred writers by such declarations as the following:λέγει εἰς τὴν καρδίαν Μωσῇ τὸ πνεῦμα ;-ἔλαβε παρὰ κυρίου τὰς δύο πλάκας γεγραμμένας τῷ δακτύλῳ τῆς χειρὸς κυρίου ἐν πνεύματι ;—γέγραπται γάρ, πῶς αὐτῷ ὁ πατὴρ ἐντέλλεται; Epous To TVεvμa roíμaσɛ.-Edit. Cotel. vol. i. pp. 39, 42, 43, 52. LECT. I. "or counterfeit is written in them."* Justin And reminding them of what Paul had addressed to them in his first Epistle, he writes: "Take into your hands the Epistle of the blessed Apostle "Paul. What did he write to you at the begin 66 ning of the gospel? Assuredly what he wrote "to you was by the Spirit."+ In his Epistle to the Magnesians, Ignatius, speaking of the holy prophets, declares that they were inspired by the grace of Christ fully to convince unbelievers of the unity of God.‡ The view taken of the subject by Justin Martyr is sufficiently evident from the two parallel passages in his first Apology, in which, when affirming that the Christians worshipped the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, he represents the Third Person as the author of that divine influence which the prophets enjoyed. His words are, "We also worship the Prophetic Spirit." He declares that "there were among "the Jews certain men, who were prophets of "God, by whom the Prophetic Spirit proclaimed "future events before they came to pass:" and in Ἐγκύπτετε εἰς τὰς γραφάς, τὰς ἀληθεῖς ῥήσεις) πνεύ ματος τοῦ ἁγίου. Ἐπίστασθε ὅτι οὐδὲν ἄδικον οὐδὲ παραπεποιημένον γέγραπται ἐν αὐταῖς.—Cotel. vol. i. p. 174. † — ἐπ' ἀληθείας πνευματικῶς ἐπέστειλεν ὑμῖν.-Ibid. p. 175. ἐμπνεόμενοι ὑπὸ τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ πληρο φορηθῆναι τοὺς ἀπειθοῦντας.-Cap. viii. § Πνεῦμα τε τὸ προφητικὸν σεβόμεθα καὶ προσκυνοῦμεν.—Apol. ii. p. 56. Lutet. Paris, 1615. almost every chapter the same epithet is employed. Of Isaiah he expressly affirms, that he was inspired "by the spirit of prophecy ;" and shortly after adds-" Now when ye hear the say 66 66 ings of the prophets read, imagine not that they are spoken by the inspired writers themselves, "but by the Divine Word, who moved them ;"* which latter statement may be reconciled with the former on the principle suggested by Bishop Kaye, that the Logos was regarded as the conductor of the economy of Divine grace from the beginning, though the Holy Spirit was the immediate agent. If the hortatory address to the Greeks was really written by Justin, which is questioned, however, by the learned prelate just referred to, Du Pin, and others, we have from his pen a description of the organic nature of inspiration, which would seem to have served as a model according to which the phraseology of many later writers was formed. "It was only 66 99 necessary, he says, "for the prophets to sur"render themselves entirely to the operation of "the Divine Spirit; that the divine plectrum de"scending from heaven, and using the instru 66 mentality of just men, as of a harp or lyre, "should reveal to us the knowledge of divine "and heavenly things."+ Similar language is * Ὅταν δὲ τὰς λέξεις τῶν προφήτων λεγομένας ὡς ἀπὸ προσώπου ἀκούητε, μὴ ἀπ' αὐτῶν τῶν ἐμπνευσμένων λέγεσθαι νομίσητε, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ τοῦ κινοῦντος αὐτοὺς θείου λόγου -Ibid. p. 76. ἀλλὰ καθαροὶς ἑαυτοὺς τῇ τοῦ θείου πνεύματος + LECT. I. |