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THE 



\ 

EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY 



I^ 



THEIR EITEBNAl OB HISTtBICAl DIVISION: 



EXHIBITED TN 



A COURSE OF LECTURES, 




BY CHAELaS PETTIT JTIIVAINB, B. D. 

BISHOP OF THE PBOTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE STATE Of 

OHIO. 



Sint casts delicus mess scriptura tusB ; nee fallar in eis, nee fdUam e2 eis. 

AUOUBTIKK. 



NINTH EDITION. 

BXTISSD AND DffPROTXn ^T THE ATTTHOR. 



PUBLISHED BY THE 
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

160 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK. 



:i 



i 



ED^«red by ilie aiitiior, tccoidiag to Act of Confess, in the year 1832^ in 
ihe Clerk^s Office of tiie District Court of the United States for the Sonthtm 
District of Hew York. 

Wght of fmUUtuv tnuMfemd tn Um AmerkaB Tract 8oel« y. 



CONTENTS. 



LECTURE I. 



\ 




INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS, 31 

The difficulty of presenting the evidences of Christianity arises, not 
from any lack of arguments, but from the difficulty of a just selec- 
tion and arrangement where materials are so abundant, . . 22 
I. 7%e high importance of the investigation proposed^ ... * 23 
The question is, /« the religion of Jesut Christ, as exhibited in the New 
Testament J a revelation from God, and consequently possessed of a 

sovereign right to universal faith and obedience? 24 

We must have the religion of Christ or none, 24 

Deism, the only imaginable substitute, shown to offer no refuge, 25 

The investigation urged on the experimentally convinced Christian, as 

a matter of spiritual pleasure and improvement, and as a matter 

of duty to the cause of truth, and to the good of his neighbor, 34 

The same urged on the merely nominal Christian, as necessary to a 

rational and steadfast belief of what he professes not to doubt, and 

for a deeper impression of the solemnity of its truth, . 36 

The investigation derives additional importance from the peculiar 

character of the present times, as those of licentiousness, under the 

boast of freedom, in such inquiries, 38 

It derives, also, advantage from the present times, as distinguished for 

scientifio. research and discovery, 43 

<^ II. 2%e importance of strict attention to the spirit in which this investu 

gation is conducted, 46 

\ \ The opposition between the precepts of Christianity and the natural 
^ dispositions of. man makes the question one of feeling as well as 

-^ evidence, and has a tendency to magnify objections, and to depre- 

^"^ ciate the contrary, 46 

The pride of human reason is often deeply offended at the claims of 

Oliristianity, 49 

It is true of Christianity, as of many other very important matters of 
truth, that objections are more easily invented than answeied, **^ 



.'^ 



4 CONTENTS. 

Phenomona which these considerations account for, ... 53 

Docility of mind, 53 

A deep seriousness of purpose, 64 

And prayer, earnestly reconunended as necessary to this inTe*tl« 
gation, 54 



LECTURE II. 

AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, W> 

The study of the evidences of Christianity may be brief or extended, 
according as the object is simply conviction ; or, in addition to that, 
the pleasure of collecting all the various lights which may bo con- 
centrated on this subject. 
The evidences are of two general classes, namely, txternaly or Tkutor^ 

teal, and inttmaly . » , • 57 

A brief account of ^ndiat each head includes, * 57 

The present course of lectures confined to the external. 
The complete trea^nent of this division would begin with the neces- 
nty of a divine revelation, as the hbtory of mankind exhibits it, 58 
We begin with the autsshticitt of tbk Nbw Tkstambnt, . 59 
Difference between authenUidtif and credibility, as used in tfaeie lec- 
tures, . . « . , 59 

The question is, Horn dou it mpptar that the several parts of the New 

Testament were written by the men to whom they are ascribed, the 

original disciples of Christ, and are therefore authentic? . « 61 

The same eoarse pursued as in ascertaining the authenticity of any 

other book, 61 

A general sketch of the argnmenty 62 

The books of the New Testament are quoted, or alluded to, by a series 
of writers, who may be followed up in unbroken succession from the 

present age to that of the apostles, 64 

This shown by reference to cateUogues, etc., from the fourth century 

to the age of the apostles, 65-75 

Particulars included in the above which require a mors spedal notice. 

1 . The books of the New Testament, when quoted or alluded to, are 
treated with supreme regfard, as possessing a singular authority, 
and as conclusive in questions of religion, . 75 

2. They were united at a rery early period in a distinct volume) « 76 
9. They were at a very early period publicly read and expounded in 

the churches, 77 

I. Conmientaries were written oc them, harmonies oonstmcted, 
eopies diligently compared, and translations made into diflerent 
languages, . ""S 



CODTTENtS. «5 

d. The agreement of the ancient churches as to what were the 

authentic books of the New Testament was complete^ • . • 79 
6. There was as entire an agreement among the heretics of the earliest 

centuries as among the orthodox, 80 

7 These several heads of evidence cannot be pretended to be in 

favor of any apocryphal scriptures, 81 

i'x evidences of tpuriousnesSj all of which are found in the apocryphal 

scriptures, none of them in the New Testament, 84 

Confirmation given by the existence of apocryphal writings to the 

claims of the New Testament, S5 

Lesson to the believer from what has been exhibited, .... 87 

LECTURE III. 

AUTHENTIOITT ANB INTEaRITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 89 

From the tenor of the preceding lecture, it is evident that tke canon 
of the New Testament was not made without the most mteUigent and 
careJnlm^ettigatUm^ • 90 

This further appears from tiie numerous catalogues that have come 
down to us, .91 

From the pains taken to procure information, and the decisive censure 
with which an Attempt to pass a spurious book was visited, . 91 

The gradual steps by which the canon was completed afforded the 
best opportunity for the settlement of 'Uie claim of any bodk to 
authenticity, 92 

3ome remarks cooo^ming the Ibrmation of the canon of the NeW 
Testament, 93 

The canonical authority of the epistie to -die Hebrews^ of James, the 
second of Peter, the see<md and third of John, of Jude, and of tbo 
bode of Bievelatkm, . • . • 98-lOd 

The testimony of tht advtrsaries of Christiamty, , lOil 

The preceding evidence confirmed by a reference to 

The languctge and ttyle of the books of the New Testament. 

1. They are in perfect accordance wii& the local and other circun* 
stances of the reputed writers, .«...« 110 

2. They are in perfect harmony with the known characters of the 
reputed ivtiters, llfi 

1 he result is, that if the bookit of the New Testament be not authen- 

tic, nothing less than a mirade can accotsntfor their early and uni^ 
versdl currency, 116 

On the INTB6RITT of these books, that they have undergone no mate- 
rial alteration, we reason, 

1. From the perfect impossibility of any material alteraklony . 123 

2 If'Kom the agreement among the existing manuscrlptR, . 129 

1* 



b CONTENTS. 

3. From tlie Agreement of the text with the numerous quotations in 
the works of eajrly Christian writers, and with ancient transla* 
lions, 127 

LECTURE IV. 

C aEDIBILlTY OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY, ..... 129 

ti book may be authentic and not credible, . . 129 

Aim of this lecture to prove that what the gospel history relates as 
matter of fact is worthy of reliance as such, independently of all 
inferences or doctrines connected therewith, 130 

The credibility of the gospel history ascertained precisely like that ol 
any other history, 130 

The peculiarity of the present case such as that, having proved the 
authenticity of the books containing the gospel history, we have 
proved the rrfc^ifoViYj^ of the history, 130 

But a broader plan of argument is taken : 

A general view of the proof of credibility. The two points to bo 
made out in relation to any historical document are competent 
knowledge and trustworthy honesty in the writer, 134 

I. The tvriters of the gospel history had opportunities of possessing 
adequate knowledge as to those matters of fact which they re- 
lated, 138 

II. There is abundant evidence that they were too honest to relate any 
thing but truth, 139 

1. The narratives are in a high degree circumstantial, . . .139 

2. The authors manifest no consciousness . of narrating any thing 
about which, as a matter of fact, there was the smallest doubt, 142 

3. There is a minute accuracy in all the allusions to the manners, 
customs, opinions, political events, etc., of the times, . . . 144 

4. The argument greatly strengthened by considering the New 
Testament as a collection of writings by eight perfectly independent 
authors, 146 

The consideration that the writers of the gospels were disciples and 
ministers of Christ should be regarded as strengthening their testi- 
mony, 147 

Absurd consequences of supposing them not to have been sincere in 
their statements, «. . . 152 

S» The gospel history has all the testimony that could possibly have 
been expected, in the nature of things, from the enemies of Chris- 
tianity, li^d 

It was utterly impossible that the gospel history should have gained 
snch currency as it had in the apostles' time, bad it not been 
true, 157 



COBTTENIS 7 

LECTUaE V. 

ICniACLES, . 164 

Authtnticity of the booka, aad ctadibility of the aistory contained 
therein, being ftscertained* we are prepared to open the contents of 
the New Testament. ' The first tiding we perceive is, that it ^ro< 
fesses to teach a divinely revealoa religtutif and the question Ia, 

What are the evieUnres that tha religion contained in the New leela 
ment is a divine revelation ? 1 64 

The Lord Jesus Christ constantly appealed to miracles for his cre«1en- 
tials as an ambassador from God, itJ 

The sufficiency of miracles as credentials, when well attested, aclmow* 
ledged by infidels, 16^1 

Reasons for not proceeding directly to the proof of such creden- 
tials, .*.... 166 

The present lecture devoted to certain preliminary considerations. 

1. There is nothing unreasonable or improbable in the idea of a miracle 
being torought in proof of a divine revelation, 167 

2. If miracles were wrought in attestation of the mission of Christ and 
his apixtleSy they can be rendered credible to us by no other evidence 
than thai of testimony^ 170 

3. Miracles are capable of being proved by testimony^ . . . .172 
Hume's argument against miracles, in proof of a divine revelation, 

Htated and answered, 173 

4. The testimony in proof of the miracles of the gospel has not dimin- 
ished in force by the increase of age^ 189 

«>. In being called to examine the credibility of these miracles by the 
evidence of testimony^ we are more favorably situated than if we had 
been enabled to subject them to the evidence of the senses, . . .192 

The whole truth exhibited in this lecture calls us to adore the wisdom 
of God, 197 

LECTURE VI. 

MRACliES^Cotittfiuedy 200 

Have we satisfactory evidence that genuine mirpcled were wi ought 

by the Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles ? 200 

This question is settled by the proof of credibility. 

Another line of ugument adopted. 

The religion of tne Bible is the only one which, ;a its first introdue* 

tiou, appealed to miracles for evidence of the divine authority of its 

teachers, 20& 

I. Supposing the works related of Christ to have 9<cki9>Uy oocurxed, 

;nany of them must have been genuine miracles, ... . 20d 



6 G0NXKNT8. 

2. fhe alleged miracles of Chruit were such aks admitted at once of 

the test of the senses, 206 

8 Thej were perfonned in the most public ma^uer, .... 207 
4. They were very mimetous and of great Tariety, . . . . . 208 
5 The success was in every instance instantaneous and complete, . 2 10 
6. There is no evidence of an attempt on the part of Christ or his 
apostles to perfoim a miracle, in which they were accused of a 
failure, 210 

7 The length of time during which they professed to perform mirac- 
ulous works, 212 

9. Their works underwent the most rigid examination from those who 
had every opportunity of ascertaining their character, . . . 213 

d. Their adversaries had ever}f advantage in the fact that these 
miracles Were published and appealed to immediately after, and in 
the places where they occurred, 214 

10. These arguments derive important aid from a consideration of 
the agents whose works were subjected to such scrutiny, . .217 

tl. None of those who were eye-witnesses of what Jesas or his apos- 
tles wrought, were ever induced to confess i^emselves deceived, ot 
that they had ever seen any thing but trut^ in those miraculous 
gifts by which they had been persuaded to embrace the gospel, 217 

12. The character of the miracles themselves, 220 

13. Evidence from the primitive adversaries of Christianity, . . 222 

14. Testimony of all who were converted to Christianity. Such 
testimony shown to be stronger than that of adversaries, . . 227 

The absurdities which must be believed by those who maintain that 
the miracles were fictions, and consequently, that their author^ 
were deceivers, . • . • ...... 230 

LECTURE VII. 

PROPHECY, 237 

In having proved the genuineness of the miracles attesting the divine 
mission of Christ and his apostles, we have made out a complete 
proof of the divine authority of Christianitjr. But dnr object being, 
not only to prove this, but to show by how many ways it may be 
proved, we take up a new line of argument derived from proph* 
ecy, 237 

What a prophecy is. The application of fulfilled prophecy to the 
proof of a divine revelKition, 238 

Prophecy furnishes an aignment which, in point of' foioe, is continu- 
ally growing, 240 

In ranch of the ai^gonient from prophecy, the evidence is before our 
eyes addressed to our senses, 242 



The religion of the Bible Ib the only one which, o.i its tkst iatroduo 
tion, appealed to prophecy for the credentials of its founder, . 244 

rhe weight of the evidence from prophecy, and the moral grandem 
with which it appears in evidence of Christianity, cait be appieci* 
ated only by a full view of the immense scheme and extent of ths 
prophecies in the Bible, 246 

The fulfilment of a selection of miscellaneous prophecies exhibited. 
Prophecies concerning Zedekiah, the destruction of Babylon, and 
of Tyre ; concerning Egypt ^ concerning the country and cities ol 
Judea; concerning the Jots; concerning the empires of Chaldea, 
Persia, Macedon, and Brf>mc, in Daniel, 254-267 

The fuliilment of prophecies concerning Christ, 261 

1. Those which relate to the time and circumstances of his ad- 
vent, 26S 

2. Those which speak of his life, sufferings, death, resurrection, and 
increase of liis kingdom, 268 

The idea of chance^ as explaining the coincidences mentioned, . 273 
Three conclusions from the prophetic argument, as exhibited, . 276 



LECTURE VIII. 

PROPHECY— Cb»ft»a**rf, 277 

Christ was the author, as well as the smbjeet, of prophecies. 

By prophecy, as welt as miracles, he proved his divine mission. 
None of his prophecies more impressive than those concerning the 
destruction of Jerusakm. These selected for present considera- 
tion, 278 

It is well ascertained that these w«re published before the event, 278 

1. The prediction of the appearing of false Christs, deceiving many, 
by signs and wonders, prior to the main event, . , . . .281 

2. Of wars and rumors of wars jMreceding the siege of Jerusalem, 283 

3. Of famines, pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places, . 284 

4. Of fearful signs from heaven, • . . . 285 

&, Of the persecution of Christians as one of the signs of ^pioaching 

desolations, 287 

6. A consequent declension of religion among the professed disciples 
of Christ, 289 

7. The preaching of the gospel in all the world lor a witness before 
^e event should come, ......•• 289 

8. Jerusalem compassed witii aimies, and the escape of the Cnris- 
tians, 291 

9. The method of the siege, 295 

10 The unparalleled tribulatioii, ^t 



10 CONTENTS. 

1a. Tiie complete destruction of the city and temple, , . 301 

12. The captivity of the Jews in all nations, . 306 

Jerusalem trodden down of the Gentiles, ....... . 307 

Attempt of Julian to rebuild the temple, 309 

Brief view of the condition of Jerusalem to the present timr., . 312 

13. The time between tke prophecy, and its fulfilment, . . . 3.5 
£ie£cctions on the preceding particulars, * 3 15 



LECTURE IX. 

THE PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY, 319 

The proof of Christianity a^ a divine revelation has already been timce 
finished : first, by the argument from miracles ; secondly, hy that 
from prophecy, *. 319 

A third independent proof is now to be undertaken. 

In estimating the propagation of the gospel as an evidence of divine 
attestation, consider, 

t. T%e difficulties which its first promulgators encountered, . . . 320 

I. The novelty of the idea of propagating a new religion, to the exclu> 
sion of all others, 320 

2 The peculiarity of the gospel, as a system of doctrine, and a rule 
of heart and life, ...... . . . 322 

3. From the above, it results that the propagation of Christianity 
must have been opposed by all the influence of every priesthood, 
heathen and Jewish, 325 

4. The opposition of the magistrate was added to that of the 
priest, 329 

5. To these associated powers were added the opposing prejudices and 
passions of all people, 330 

6. The wisdom and pride of the heathen philosophers were not the 
least formidable opponents, 331 

7. All these opponents derived the greater influence from the peculiat 
character of the age, 332 

8\ They appear the more formidable in contra&t with the peculiai 
character of the men to whom the propagation of the gospel was 
conunitted, 334 

ft. And by a consideration of the circumstances of depression and 
discouragement under which those men began their work, . . 335 

10. And of the mode they adopted, 336 

II. They were met everywhere by the fiercest persecution, . . 337 
It is certain that they understood the difficulties and anticipated the 

dangers of their undertaking, 341 

[I. T%e siu'cess of the apostles in propagating the gospel, . . . 349 



C0NTE1IT8. 11 

A bilef view of the progress of Christianity during about seventy 
years from the coipmencement of its promulgation, . . 342-349 

This rapid e7 tension" compared with that of the doctrines of heathen 
philosophers, 349 

And with the propagation of Mohammedanism, 351 

And with the success attending efforts at the present day for the 
establishment of Christianity among the heathen, .... 355 

The propagation of the gospel by the apostles was a miracle, . 357 

The absurdities necessarily attaching to any effort to account for it 
on other grounds than that of the power and favor of God, . 358 

The argument from propagation is not yet complete. It is yet to 
receive inunense additional force from the success which is yet 
promised to the gospel, 361 

LECTURE X. 

THE FRUITS OF CHRlSTIANITy, 362 

A fourth line of argument, and a fourth independent proof conomenced 

in this lecture. 
The true results of any system of doctrine are always a correct expo- 
nent of its character, as true or false. 
This is a test to which the Saviour himself directed us, . . . 362 
It were well if infidelity were more frequently tried by this test, 363 
The consideration of the fruits of Christianity divided into, 

I. The effects of Christianity on society in general, 364 

II. Its effects OH the character and happiness of its genuine dis- 
cipleSy 364 

The former made the subject of this lecture. 

A brief survey of the moral condition of the world at the first publi- 
cation of the gospel ' . . . 364 

1. The reh'gion of the heathen in the age of the apostles, . . 365 

2. The spirit of cruelty that reigned among them, 368 

3. Their. degra4ing vices, 372 

The striking contrast wherever genuine Christianity has reign- 
ed, ....... . 375-382 

There is no possible way of accounting for this contrast, but by ascrib- 
ing it to the direct influence of Christianity, .... 3S2-3S5 

Confessions of infidels, 386 

Illustrations of the fruit of Christianity in modem missions among 
the heathen, 387 

l>efence of Christianity against the charge of being the cause of the 
wars, persecutions, etc., which are connected with its history, 391 

Application of the argument. The absurdities necessarily involved 
in the creed of the infidel, ..... . S9fe 



la CONI£N!rS. 



LECTURE XI. 

• 

THE FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY— Cb7t<m««rf, 40-:. 

The trial of Christianity by its fruits is as philosophical as it is scrij)* 
tural. Eighteen centuries have afforded all conceivable opportiini> 
ties of ascertaining what are its genuine fruits, 40«} 

The present lecture confined to the fruits of Christianity in the chxii* 
acter and happiness of its genuine disciples, . 406 

F«ea/Son for placing such fruits among the external evidences, . 406 

1. The moral trajisformations which the gospel in all ages has noto- 
riously wrought, cannot be accounted for but on the supposition of 
a divine power accompanying its operations, ... . . . 406 

2. The fruits of Christianity in the lives of its genuine disciples, con 
trasted with those which notoriously characterize the lives of its 
opposers, 418 

3. The fruits, etc., as displayed in "the deaths of its genuine disci- 
ples, contrasted with those exhibited in the deaths of its op- 
posers, 438 

Practical conclusion, 455 

LECTURE XII. 

SUMMARY OF THE ARiHJMEirr AND APPLICATION TO OBJEC- 
TIONS, 458 

The recapitulation of tiie «i:gumentin the preceding lectixres, 4^-474 
This review leads to the consideration of^ 

1 . The plainness and simpHcity of the evidences of Christiiuuty, 474 

2. Their great variety and acatmuUUuMj 475 

3. Their impressiveness, 478 

4. The whole army b strictly p^i^op&icaZ, ....... 482' 

The objection founded on the mysterioutness of <)«rtain tilings in 

Christianity answered, « . . 491 

The objection that we cannot understand Hke reason of certain things 

for which Christianity is responsible, answered, 495 

The injustice done to Christianity by placing her so exclusively on 

the defensive. Let iu&delity be placed in the same position, . t^OO 



LECTURE XIII. 

jrSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES, AND CONCLUDINa OBSER- 
VATIONS, 505 

Christianity and the Scriptures are essentially associated. But the 
proof of divine revelation in the former is no proof of divint 



CONTENTS. 13 

inspitatioa in the latter. Need of inspiration in the book which 

tells us what Christianity is, 50S 

The proposition to be sustained in this lecture is, that 

Jill Scripture is given by inspiration of God^ 50Q 

inspiration defined, 507 

llaviug established the credibility of the Saviour and his aposties as 
messengers sent of God, our direct reference in the present inquiry 
is to what they have asserted; so that our simple question is, Does 
the New Testament bear witness that the several books of the Bible 
were treated by the Saviour or his apostles as divinely inspired? 508 
[. The inquiry begun with regard to the books of the Old Testa- 
ment, 508 

1. The Saviour and his apostles regarded the Old Testament with at 
least as much reverence as did the Jews in their day, . . . 508 

2. We have the direct assertion of the inspiration of the books of the 
Old Testament by St. Paul, 510 

II. The inquiry continued with regard to the books of the New Testa- 
ment, 512 

1. The inspiration of the New Testament may be naturally and 
reasonably inferred from that of the Old, 512 

2. The same conclusion necessarily follows &om Ihe evident inspira- 
tion of the apostles in their preaching and other official acts, . 514 

3. If the apostles did not intend to produce this conviction, and it 
be not well founded, they adopted the most likely means of leading 
us into a most important heresy, 518 

Practical iddieM to readers in conclusion, 923 



^ 



i 



t 



f 



PREFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITION. 



So many and so remarkable have been the in- 
stances which have come to the author's knowledge 
of a divine blessing attending the reading of this 
book, to the turning of men from infidelity, not only 
to the belief of the truths but to the earnest following 
of Christ, that he cannot but regard it as a call from 
God to endeavor to promote more widely its circula- 
tion. It would make a very interesting little book 
were it in the power of the author to recollect and 
relate the particulars of the many cases of persons 
who have ascribed their conversion from infidelity, 
and their affectionate embraging of the gospel, under 
the blessing of God, to the use of this little, unpre- 
tending work. In many instances, the accounts were 
given to the author by the persons themselves ear- 
nestly seekmg an interview for the purpose; in 
others, by their friends made happy by their con- 
version, or by those who had advised the reading of 
ihe book, and wished its writer to be partaker with 
them in the joy of knowing that it had been made a 
signal blessing. Some are now in the ministry of 
the gospel, who, when they bej^an the perusal, were 
in the darkness of infidelity. A copy of the first 
edition was sent by the author, as a present, to the 



16 PREFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITIOH. 

library of a literary institution. Some time after, he 
received a request for another copy, with the reascn 
that the first had got worn out before it ever reached 
Us destination. The explanation was, that an officer 
of the institution had lent it to a person living in a 
neighboring, village, who was well known among the 
inhabitants as an infidel, and who had succeeded iu 
poisoning the minds of many in the vicinity against 
the gospel. God blessed the book to the breaking up 
of that man's whole boasted system of opinion. He 
became a Christian, and then sent the volume as a 
missionary among those whom he had poisoned. 
When its rounds were done, which were greatly 
blessed, it was worn out, and a new one was re- 
quested for the library. 

The author is sensitively aware of the delicacy 
of his speaking of these things, lest he should seem 
to regard them with feelings of self-complacency, and 
to mention them with a view to his own praise. God 
forbid. How can he take praise to himself for that 
which is, and must be so exclusively, the work of the 
mighty power and unsearchable grace of God, as the 
conversion of a sinner from a hardened infidel to being 
an humble, obedient follower of Christ ? He has three 
motives in speaking of these things. One is, that he 
may thankfully acknowledge the goodness and con* 
desoension of God in having made use of an instru- 
ment so humble and unworthy, for the accomplish- 
ment of such a wonderful and infinitely precious end 
n» the tiirninu' of immortal souls " from darkness to 



PRKBACE TO THE SIXTH EUITION. 17 

light, and from the power of Satan unto God " Cer- 
tainly, when these lectures were composed, and when 
the author concluded to print them, he little expected 
ever to he greeted with such accounts of their use- 
fulness as have come to his ears. 

Another motive is, that persons may be encour- 
aged to put this, or similar books, into the hands of 
those who unhappily have taken up with sentiments 
opposed to the gospel of Christ. There is a mass and 
a solemnity of strength in the evidences of Christi- 
anity, when properly presented — there is visible upon 
them so distinctly the handwriting of God, that they 
cannot fail to be exceedingly impressive to any mind 
that is once induced to consider them. The author is 
persuaded that professing Christians are too Uttle 
informed on this subject- for their own benefit and 
usefulness, and that the importance of the general 
circulation of well-digested, serious, earnest, spiritu- 
ally-minded works thereon, is jiot rightly appreciated 
by the Christian community. 

A third motive is, to point out one reason which 
may account for the fact, that in the circulation of 
this book and others of the same class in a certain 
respect which will presently bo mentioned, there have 
occurred so many more insta/ices, not merely of the 
removal of sceptical doubts, but also of the actual 
work of God's grace in turning sinners to himself, 
than have usually. been known in connection with 
books on the evidences of Christianity. No explana- 
kion can be found in any greater skiU, or weight of 



18 PKEPACE TO THE SIXTH EDIJION. 

argument — in any new evidenoes, or any new logical 
method of arraying what had often been exhibited 
before It seems to be in this, that the argument is 
not presented merely as an argument, abstraotedl^ 
from the great and infinitely momentous interests 
which depend upon the conclusion to which the 
reade shall come, but is kept in close connection with 
the question, What must I do to be saved ? and tlms 
its whole force becomes a matter of serious and 
solemn impression, as well as of intellectual convic-. 
tion. This is seen in the admirable lectures on the 

m 

Evidences, by Bishop Wilson, and also in the forcible 
volume on the same subject, by one whom the pres- 
ent writer cannot speak of without an expression of 
veneration and love for one of the most eaiinent 
Christians and philosophers, of his age — ^his deceased 
friend, the late Olinthus Gregory, LL. D. Those 
books exhibit gospel truth, as well as prove tnat the 
gospel is true. The earnestness of the Christian 
preacher accompanies the argument of the scholastic 
reasoner. The question stands before the reader as 
one of conscience as well as of judgment. It seems 
invested with all that is serious in the worth of his 
soul and in the consideration of eternity. God blesses 
such books of evidences more Uian others, as ho 
blesses those sermons more than others which, though 
they may be inferior in argument, in talent, in elo- 
quence, have more of the seriousness and earnestness 
of the gospel. Perhaps the writer may be allowed to 
insert here, in confirmation of these views, the opinion 



PREFACE TC THE ENGLISH EDIXIOJM IV 

af one whose judgment he is glad of an opportunity 
of honoring. The present noble president of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society, Lord Bexley, ad- 
dressed to the writer, in 1883, a very kind letter con- 
cerning this volume, in which he said, **In one 
important respect, it seems to excel other works of a 
i^imilar kind, namely, that while the chain of argu* 
ment is deduced with great clearness and force, no 
opportunity is lost of giving it a practical application, 
and of impressing holiness on the heart, as well as 
conviction on the understanding. The want of this 
renders many books dry and repulsive, which are 
much to be admired for sagacity and extent of infer* 
niation." 

In the year 1833, this Work was reprinted in 
England, under the advice and superintendence of the 
late Dr. Olinthus Gregory, of the Royal Military 
Academy, whose preface to that edition the author^ 
in affectionate remembrance of his deceased friend, 
here subjoins/ C. P. M*ILVAINE. 



l^REFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION. 

BY OLINTHUS GREGORY. LL.D. 

The English friends of the author of these Lee- 
luies on the Evidences of Christianity are unanimous 
in deciding that they will constitute a valuable 

* A new London edition has recently been issued by the 
Messrs Seeley. November 12, 1852. 



20 PBEFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION. 

addition t.o our sacred literature. On a subject which 
has been repeatedly treated, and often by men of dis- 
tinguished talent and learning, much that is es 
sentially new is not to be expected. Yet the specific 
purpose for which a work of this kind is undertaken 
may cause the main arguments to be placed in such 
a position, while some of the subordinate topics may 
be exhibited in so strong a light, as to give to the whole 
an air of light and freshness well fitted to convey high 
gratification in union with rich instruction. Several, 
indeed, of the trains of reasoning pursued by the 
author seem to be entirely original; at the same 
time that they are conducted with considerable skill, 
and by their accumulative property, lead to an ulti- 
mate issue that must make a deep and salutary 
impression on the mind of any candid investigator of 
this ever momentous subject. It may further be 
added, that the Christian feeling, benevolence, and 
warmth with which the author conducts his inquiry, 
in its several stages, honorably distinguish this work 
from many of its predecessors ; while they show that 
instead of regarding Christian truth as supplying 
matter for a pleasing speculation, he considers it as 
that which alone can make men truly holy, happy, 
honorable, and useful, and transform the world from 
an aceldama to the paradise of God. 

Mat 1, 1833 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 



LECTURE I. 

INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 

I APPEAR before those who have come this evening 
to favor me with their attention, as sustaining, under 
appointment from the University of the city of New 
York, the office of Lecturer on the Evidences ol 
Christianity.* It is but justice to my own feelings, 
to assure you that I had not thought of entering on 
so much responsibility until earnestly requested to do 
so by respected individuals belonging to the council 
of that institution. I am not without much appre- 
hension of having ventured far beyond my qualifica- 
tions in acceding to their desires. When I think of 
the many in this city of much superior furniture of 
mind and spirit, to whom the office might have been 
intrusted, and of my own daily and engrossing occu- 
pations in the duties of the ministry, leaving so little 
time or strength for any other occupation however 
important, it is a matter almost of alarm that I find 

* These "lectures were delivered when the author was 
rector of St. Ann's church, Brooklyn, and connected with the 
University of the city of New York, then recently established 



22 M'lLVAINE'S B.yiDENCE8. 

myself committed to a series of lectures for which the 
very best intellect, the soundest judgment, and the 
most deliberate study, are so much needed. But 
having undertaken the work, I trust the Lord has 
ordered the step in wisdom, and, if I seek his guid' 
once, will enable me to go forward in a strength 
above my own ; so that I may be the instrument, 
under his hand, of contributing something to promote 
the improvement and everlasting happiness of those 
to whom I may have the pleasure of speaking. 

The present lecture will be exclusively of an 
Introductory kind. I pause at the threshold in re- 
membrance of the word and promise of God, " In all 
ihy ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct thy 
paths." I would devoutly acknowledge God as the 
omniscient witness in this undertaking; the only 
source of wisdom, strength, and blessing, "from 
whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just 
works do proceed." May his Holy Spirit, through 
the mediation of his Son, our Lord Jesus Chriert;, who 
IS " the way, the truth, and the life," " God, blessed 
for ever," condescend to guide our way and help our 
infirmities, that all may see and embrace the truth. 

The subject to which we are to direct our atten- 
tion, has engaged the powers of wise, learned, and 
good men, in almost all ages since the promulgation 
of Christianity. Minds of every class, and in all de- 
partments of intellectual occupation, have directly t)r 
indirectly, by design or unwittingly, -contributed 
materials for its elucidation. Thus it has come to 
pass that the difficulty of an appropriate exhibition of 



INTEODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. Ji3 

the evidences of Christianity is rather on the side of 
selection and arrangement and the just proportioning 
of arguments, than of their sufficient multiplication 
To give the various branches of the subject their just 
measure of relief and prominence ; to determine whai 
should be displayed strongly and completely, and 
what 'should be sketched with a lighter pencil, and 
placed in the background of the picture ; to adjust 
the numerous parts in such symmetry as will present 
the whole with the most undivided and overcoming 
effect, is a difficulty of no little magnitude, where 
attention to space and time is of so much conse- 
quence as in the present undertaking. The nicest 
discrimination, the most logical mind, and a talent 
for extensive combination, may here find room for the 
exercise of all their power$. The danger is that one 
will lose himself amidst the wide spread and accumu- 
lated treasures of illustration and evidence ; that he 
will fail so entirely in their classification t^s to see and 
exhibit them confusedly and unjustly, and for want 
of a good discipline among his own thoughts will lead 
out hid forces in feeble detail, instead of forming them 
into compact masses, and meeting the enemy on every 
side with a self-sustained combination of strength. 

Before we proceed io the main question on which 
our subsequent lectures are to be employed, it will be 
well to call your attention to, 

I. The niGH importance of the investigation on 
which we are about to enter. You are to unite with 
me in examining the grounds on which the religion 
of the gospel claims to be received, to the exclusion 



2i M'lLVAlNE'S EVID£NCE^. 

of every other religion in the world, as containing the 
only way of duty and the only foundation of a sin- 
ner's hope of salvation ; so that you may he enabled 
to answer satisfactorUy to your own consciences, an-l 
\o all who may ask a reason for your belief, this grcal 
question: Is the religion of Jesus Christ as exhib» 
ited in the New Testament^ a revelation from God^ 
and consequently possessed of a sovereispi right to 
universal faith and obedience ? 

There are considerations intrinsically belonging 
to this question, which place it in an aspect of unri- 
valled importance. 

We must have the religion of Christy or none 
A very little reflection will make it apparent, that 
the question as to the truth of Christianity is not one 
of preference between two rival systems of doctrine, 
having conflicting claims and nearly balanced argu* 
raents and benefits- It is not whether the gospel is 
more true and salutary than some other mode of re- 
ligion, which, though inferior, would still secure 
many of the most essential and substantial benefits 
for which religion is desirable. But it is no othei 
than the plain and solemn question, Shall we believe 
in the faith of Christ, or in none? Shall we receive, 
and be comforted by the light which the gospel has 
thrown over all our present interests and future pros- 
pects ; or shall our condition in this life — our relation 
lo the future — ^what we are to be, and what we are 
to receive hereafter and for ever, be left in appalling, 
impenetrable darkness? Such is the real question 
when we inquire whether Christianity is a revelation 



INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 26 

from God. Do any ask the reason? Because, if 
snch be the divine origin and authority of the religion, 
of Christ, there can be no other religion. It claims 
n>t only to stand, but to stand alone. It demands 
not only tliat we believe it, but that in doing so we 
Donsider ourselves as denying the truth of every other 
system of faith. Like the one living and true Q-ckl, 
whose seal and character it bears, it is jealous^ and 
will not share its honor with another; but requires us 
to believe, that as there is but one Lord, so there is 
but one faith — the truth as it is in Jesus. On the 
other hand, if Christianity be not of divine origin, it 
is no religion; its essential doctrines must be false; 
its whole structure baseless. Suppose then for a 
moment that such were the case, what could we sub- 
stitute for the gospel? We must either plunge into 
the abyss of Atheism, or find something in the regions 
of Paganism that would answer ; or be content with 
the religion of Mohammed; or else find what our na- 
ture wants in that which is unjustly distinguished as 
the Religion of Nature. In other words, we must 
become Deists. But is there a creed among the 
countless absurdities of Pagan belief and worship 
which any of us could be persuaded to adopt? Could 
we be convinced of the prophetic character of the 
Arabian impostor, and receive as of divine authority 
the professed revelations and unrighteous features oi 
the Koran, after haying rejected such a book as the 
New Testament, and such evidences as those of Jesus? 
Where else could We flee ? To Atheism ? But that 
is the gulf in which all religions are lost. Darkness is 

Vv«d»nc«a I 



26 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

on the face of che deep. Nothing remains that doef 
not acknowledge the divine revelation of Christianity, 
but Ihe self-styled religion of nature — Deism, And 
whal shall be said of this? I am unable to give an 
icc<iunt of it more definite, than that it is the denial 
of Christianity on the one hand, and of Atheism on th! 
lUier, and is to be found somewhere between these 
twc infinitely distant extremes; never stationary, 
changing place with the times; accommodating its 
character to the disposition of every disciple, and per- 
mitting any one to assume the name of Deist who 
will only believe these two articles of faith — that there 
is a God, and that Christianity is untrue. Such is 
the religion which, according .to Paine, *' teaches us, 
without the possibility of being mistaken, all that is 
necessary or proper to be known." And yet, notwith- 
sianding this boasted fulness and infallibility of in- 
struction, there is no agreement among Deists as to 
what their natural religion consists in, or as to the 
truth of what some of them consider its most funda- 
mental doctrines. Their chief writers are altogethei 
at variance as to whether there is any distinction be- 
tween right and wrong, other than in the law of the 
land or the customs of society; whether there is a 
Providence; whether God is to be worshipped in 
prayer and praise, or the practice of virtue is not the 
:nly worship required ; whether the practice of virtue 
forbids or encourages deceit, suicide, revenge, adul- 
tery, and all uucleanness ; whether the soul is mortal 
or immortal; whether God has any concern with 
human conduct. 



INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 2/ 

Now, without spending a moment upon the ques- 
tion as to what evidence or what adaptation to the 
wants of men and of sinners Deism could pretend to, 
after the rejection of evidence and exceUence such as 
thi>so of the gospel, let me ask whether Deism can 
with any propriety be called religion? Does that 
deserve the name of a system of religious faith which 
has no settled doctrine upon the most essential points 
of belief and practice — which may acknowledge as 
many contradictory forms, at the same moment, as it 
has disciples, and never could remain long enough in 
one position or under one countenance for the most 
skilful pencil to take its portrait? But aside from all 
this, it is too notorious to be argued, that whatever 
pretensions may have been advanced by Deists to 
something like a theory of religious belief, it is at 
best a mere theory; utterly powerless in practice, 
except to liberate its disciples from all conscientious 
restraint upon their passions, and promote in the 
public mind the wildest licentiousness as to all moral 
obligation. 

Substitute Deism for Christianity, and none ac- 
quainted with the nature or history of man can help 
acknowledging, that as to all the beneficial influence 
of religion upon the heart and life, in promoting 
either the moral purity of individuals or the happi- 
ness of society, we shall have no religion at all 
When have Deists ever maintained a habit of private, 
family, or public worship? Attempts have been 
mCide among them to keep up some mode of congre- 
gational service, but total failure, in every instance, 



^b ll'ILYAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

has proved how forced was the effort, and how little 
it would have been thought oi, had it not been for the 
surrounding influence of Christianity. The first at- 
tempt was by a man in England, who styled himself 
the Priest of Nature. He relapsed from being a dis« 
sonting preacher of an orthodox creed to Socinianism, 
thence to Deism; after which he set up in London a 
house of worship, formed a liturgy, was patronized 
by some persons of influence, preached, and collected 
some disciples. But most of his people became Athe- 
ists ; and after an experiment of four years, the con- 
gregation was reduced to nothing, funds failed, and 
the effort was abandoned. The most formidable en- 
terprise in this way took place in France during the 
revolution. Having found by some experience, that 
to acknowledge no God was to have no law, and to be 
without religious institutions was to want civilization 
and peace, certain persons distinguished for learning, 
and calling themselves Theophilanthropists, set up a 
society for the worship of God on the principles of 
Deism. The desolated churches of Paris were given 
for their object. A directory of deistioal worship 
was published, containing prayers and hymns. Lec- 
tures were substituted for sermons. The ceremonies 
were simple, tasteful, and classical. Music added 
its charms. The form of worship was sent into aL 
parts of the country, and great exertions were made 
by the powers of the state to get up this religion in 
every town. Circumstances were exceedingly pro- 
pitious to the enterprise. Christianity had been ban- 
ished. Her witnesses were in sackcloth. She had 



INTRODUCTORY OBSaRYATIOISS. 29 

none to oppose themselves to the scheme of hor ene- 
mies The country was sick of the horrors of Athe- 
ism. Some religion was demanded by public feeling. 
This contrivance had nothing in it offensive to the 
sinner, while it seemed to be skilfully adapted tc the 
people and the times. Moreover, it was patronized 
by government, and conformed to by the learned. 
The ceremonies were well performed; the musicai 
accompaniments excellent. But all would not do. 
^ No sooner had novelty ceased, than the assemblies 

were thinned. The trifling expenses of music and 
apparatus could not be raised out of the liberality of 
the people. The society was split up with dissen- 
sions, some refusing the manual of worship; others 
complaining against the lecturers as aiming at too 
much power; others demanding that the creed of the 
society should be more liberal, and allow a greater 
latitude of belief. None at last could be got to leo-i 
ture. To keep up the popular interest, and to escape 
the chaifge of bigotry, religious festivals were appoint- 
ed, in which a union of service was attempted be- 
tween Jews, Protestants, Catholics, Deists, and Athe- 
ists. There were festivals in honor of Socrates, of 
Bousseau, and of Washington. At one of these, a 
banner inscribed with the name Morality was carried 
by a man notorious as a professor of Atheism. But 
all would not do. The great principle of religion was 
wanting. There was no devotional spirit. The bjdy 
was dead, and therefore soon tumbled to dust. A 
short time after, a counsellor of France in a public 
address, declared the result of the experiment in thesQ 

.r 



30 K'lLVAINE'B EYIDElfCES. 

words: ''For want of a reli^oas education for the 
last ten years, our children are without any ideas of 
a Divinity, without any notion of what is just and 
unjust; hence arise barbarous manners, hence a peo 
fill become ferocious. Alas, what have we gained bf 
deviating from the path pointed out by our ancestors f 
What have we gained by substituting vain and ab. 
straot doctrines for the creed which actuated the 
minds of Turenne, Fenelon, and Pascal?"* 

I cannot omit, in connection with these striking 
confessions, the description given by one of the most 
famous infidels in those times, of all that class of 
philosophers whose views and schemes we have been 
noticing. Thus writes Rousseau : '' I have consulted 
our philosophers, I have perused their books, I have 
examined their several opinions, I have found them 
all proud, positive, and dogmatizing even in their 
pretended scepticism, knowing every thing, proving 
nothing, and ridiculing one another ; and this is the 
only point in which they concur, and in which they 
are right. If you count their number, each one is 
reduced to himself; they never unite but to dispute. 
I conceived that the insufficiency of the human un- 
derstanding was the first cause of this prodigious di- 
versity of sentiment, and that pride was the second. 
If our philosophers were able to discover truth, which 
of them would interest himself about it ? Where is 
the philosopher who for his own glory would not will- 
ingly deceive the whole human race ? Where is he 

* For more parlieulurs, see Alexander's Eridei^ces and 
Dwighrs Sermons, toL 1» 191. 



INTRODUCTOR'Y OBSERVATIONS. 31 

who in the secret of his heart proposes any other ob- 
ject than his own distinction ? The great thing for 
him is to think differently from other people. Under 
pretence of being themselves the only people enlight* 
ened, they imperiously subject us to their magisterial 
decisions, and would fain palm upon us, for the true 
causes of things, the unintelligible systems they have 
erected in their own heads ; while they overturn, de- 
stroy, and trample under foot all that mankind re- 
veres ; snatch from the afflicted the only comfort left 
them in their misery, from the rich and great the 
only curb that can restrain their passions ; tear from 
the heart all remorse of vice, all hopes of virtue ; and 
still boast themselves the benefactors of mankind. 
' Truth,' they say, * is never hurtful to man.' I be- 
lieve that, as well as they; and the same, in my 
opinion, is a proof that what they teach is not the 
truth."* Such are the singular expressions of a 
noted infidel, into whose mind the truth sometimes 
forced an entrance, in spite of all his levity of mind 
and profligacy of life. They are the confessions of 
one of the chief actors in the farce of natural relig- 
ion, and by leading us behind the scenes, display in 
a most impressive light, that, if deism be the only 
substitute for Christianity, we must have jio religion 
or that of Jesus. 

So that, in examining the evidences of Christi* 
anity, we should solemnly feel that the question be« 
fore us is of no less magnitude than whether life and 

* Gandolphy's Defence of the Ancient Faith: quoted in 
'^Jregory'a Letters, vol. I, pp. 6, V 



32 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES 

iinmoTtality have been brought to light by the gos- 
pel, or they are still involved in deep and confound- 
ing darkness ; whether religion is revealed in the 
Bible, or every thing on earth under the name of re- 
h'gion is false and impotent. Now, when it is con- 
sidered what desolation would sweep at once over all 
the interests of society, were the restraint of religion 
withdrawn from the floodgates of human corruption ; 
what immense benefits have ensued, and must en 
sue, even by the confession of some of its most vio- 
lent opposers, from the diffusion of the gospel ; what 
happy effects upon the character and present happi 
ness of its genuine disciples it has always produced, 
reforming their lives, purifying their hearts, elevating 
their affections, healing the wounds of the guilty, 
taking away the sting of death, and lighting even 
the sepulchre with a hope full of glory; when it is 
considered what high claims the gospel asserts to an 
unlimited sovereignty over all our affections and fac- 
ulties, requiring our entire submission, promising to 
every devout believer eternal life, and to all that re- 
fuse its claims everlasting woe, it must at once he 
evident that the subject before us is no matter of 
mere intellectual interest, but one in which every 
expectant of eternity has an immeasurable stake. 
No mind has any right to indifTerence here. With- 
out the most wonderful folly no mind can be indifTer- 
ent here. Whether the claims of the gospel are the 
claims of God, is a question to which in point of 
importance no other can pretend a comparison, ex- 
c^^pt this one: Believing^ in those claims^ have L 



.KTRODUCX'ORY OBSERVATIONS 33 

in my hearty embraced the gospel^ for peace with 
God? 

But I speak to a great many who have no iiffi 
culty on this head^ being fully satisfied that the gos 
pel of Christ is a divine revelation. What concern 
havo they with the investigation before us ? "Much 
every way." The question for them to ask is, On 
what grounds are ive satisfied ? Are we believers 
in Christianity because we were born of believing 
parents^ and have always lived in a Christian coun* 
try ; or because we have considered the excellence 
and weighed the proofs of this religion^ and are 
intelligently persuaded that it deserves our reliance? 
I am well aware that there are many truly devoted 
followers of Christ who have never made the evi- 
dences of Christianity their study, and in argument 
with an infidel would be easily confounded by supe- 
rior skill and information ; but whose belief never- 
theless is, in the highest degree, that of rational con- 
viction, since they possess in themselves the best of 
all evidence that the gospel of Christ is " the power 
and wisdom of God," having experienced its trans- 
forming, purifying, elevating, and enlightening effi- 
cacy upon their own hearts and characters. Did 
such believers abound, Cliristianity would be much 
less in need of other evidence. Were all that call 
themselves Christians thus experimentally convinced 
of the preciousness of the gospel, I would still urge 
upon them the duty and advantage of studying as far 
as possible the various arguments which illustrate 
the divinity of its origin. I would urge :t on con- 



> 



34 li'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

siderations of personal pleasure and spiritual im* 
vrovement. There is a rich feast of knowledge and 
of devout contemplation to be found in this study. 
The serious believer, who has not pursued it, has yet 
to learn with what wonderful and impressive light 
the God of the gospel has manifested its truth. Its 
evidences are not only convincing, but delightfully 
plain ; astonishingly accumulated, and of immense 
variety as well as strength. He who will take the 
pains not only to pursue the single line of argument 
which may seem enough to satisfy his own mind, 
but devoutly to follow up in succession all those 
great avenues which lead to the gospel as the central 
fountain of truth, will be presented at every step 
with such evident marks of the finger of God — he 
iv^ill hear from every quarter such reiterated assur- 
ances of, ^^this is the way^ walk thou in it^'^ he will 
find himself so enclosed by insurmountable evidences 
•hutting him up unto the faith of Christ, that new 
views will open upon him of the real cause and guilt 
and danger of all unbelief; new emotions of gratitude 
and admiration will arise in his heart for a revelation 
80 divinely attested ; he will receive a new impulse 
to follow and promote such heavenly light. 

But I would urge this study on all serious be- 
ievers, who have the means of pursuing it, as a 
matter of duty. It is not enough that they are well 
fjatisfied. They have a cause to defend and promote, 
as well as a faith to love and enjoy. It is enjoined 
on them, by the authority of their divine Master, 
that they be ready to give to every man that askoth 



INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 35 

them, a reason of the hope that is in them. They 
must be able to answer intelligently the question, 
Wh^ do you believe in Christianity? Vox this pur- 
pose, it is not enough to be able to speak of a senso 
>f the truth, arising from an inward experience of its 
power and blessedness. This is excellent evidence 
for one's own mind, but it cannot be felt or under- 
stood by an unbeliever. The Christian advocate must 
have a knowledge of the arguments by which infi- 
delity may be confounded, as well as an experience 
of the benefits for which the gospel should be loved. 
To obtain this in proportion to his abilities, he is 
bound by the all-important consideration that the 
religion of Jesus cannot be content while one sou* 
remains in the rejection of her light and life. She 
seeks not only to be maintained, but to bring all 
mankind to her blessings. The benevolence of a 
Christian should stimulate him to be well armed for 
the controversy with unbelievers. Benevolence, while 
it should constrain the infidel most carefully to con- 
ceal his opinions, lest others be so unhappy as to feel 
their ague and catch their blight, should invigorate 
the believer with the liveliest zeal to bring over his 
fellow-creatures to the adoption of a faith so glorious 
in its hopes and so ennobling in its influence. Even 
on the supposition that Christianity Svere false, un- 
speakably better should we think it, to be deluded by 
consolations, which though groundless would be still 
80 precious, than enlightened by an infidelity which 
shrouds its disciples in such darkness, and drowna 
them in such confusion. 



^ 



36 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

But if such are the weighty considerations which 
should induce an experienced Christian to study the 
evidences of Christianity, while he carries in his own 
l)reast the strongest of all assurances of its having the 
witness of the Spirit of God, how much more should 
this subject receive the attention of that numerous 
portion of the population of a Christian land who. 
while they are called Christians, have never experi- 
enced in their hearts the blessedness of the gospel? 
These are eminently dependent on this study for all 
rational and steadfast belief. Being destitute of the 
anchor obtained by an inward sense of the divine 
excellence of the truth as it is in Jesus, they must 
spread their sails to the influence of external evi- 
dence, or be liable to be tossed about with every 
wind of doctrine, and wrecked against the cliffs of 
infidelity. It is a matter of great importance that 
the attention of this class should be much more 
extensively obtained to the proofs of the religion in 
which they profess to believe. Multitudes of men, 
well informed on other subjects, are believers for 
hardly any other reason than because their parents 
were so, and the fashion of society is on this side. 
The same considerations that make them Christians 
in this land, would have* made them enemies of 
Christianity in others : Pagans in India, Mohamme- 
dans in Turkey. They can give a better reason for 
every other opinion they profess, than for their ao* 
knowledgment of the gospel of Christ. The effort oi 
infidels, combining ingenious sophistry with high 
pretensions to learning, and coming into alliance 



INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 37 

with strong dispositions of human nature, have an 
open field and must be expected to do a fearful work 
among minds thus undisciplined and unarmed. It is 
only in the lowest possible sense of the word that 
the} can receive the name of believers. nstcad ai 
adding strength to the cause of Christianity by their 
numbers, they rather embarrass it by their ignorance 
of its weapons, and bring it into disrepute by the 
ease with which they are entrapped in the snares of 
the enemy. They have no conception what a truth 
that is which they so carelessly acknowledge ; how 
impressively it is true; with what awful authority 
it is invested ; what a wonder is involved in profess- 
ing to believe and refusing to obey it. Do I speak 
to any who are thus situated? I would earnestly 
exhort them, for their own satisfaction and stead- 
fastness as believers in revelation, for the purpose of 
realizing how solemnly the Uving God has called 
them to submit as well as assent to the gospel oi 
Christ, and for the honor of a religion which so 
abounds in the best of reasons for our belief, to make 
a serious study of the evidences of Christianity. 

To any whose minds are not settled with regard 
to this momentous question, or who consider them- 
selves as having arrived at a definite opinion against 
the divine authority of the gospel, need I say a word 
to show why they above all others, should give the 
subject in view their most serious and diligent atten« 
tion? Suppose they should become fixed in the re- 
jection of Christianity, and to the influence of their 
example on the side of infidelity should add the effort 

4 



86 M'lLVAINE^S EVIDENCES. 

of argument, tending to weaken the faith of others, 
and to increase the number of enemies to Christ ; and 
finally, should be convinced on the verge of the grave 
as many of this mind have been most painfully con 
vinced — or in eternity should have it discovered to 
I hem, 'hat what they have been setting at naught 
was n:. less than God's own revelation, the gospel of 
Him who cometh to judge the quick and dead, and 
that what they had embraced and led others to em- 
brace in its stead, was only a miserable offspring of 
human pride and folly, a spirit of delusion and eter- 
nal destruction ; what then would seem the impor- 
tance of a serious application of mind and heart to 
this study — the madness of treating it with indiffer- 
ence, or pursuing it without the strictest impartiality ? 
That such a discovery is at least as likely as the con- 
trary, even infidels, in their continual declarations 
that all beyond the grave is unknown, have given 
impressive confessions. That it is at least exceed- 
ingly probable, independently of positive evidence, 
the unbeliever cannot but fear when he surveys the 
history of the world, and sees what minds and what 
hearts, what men of learning and of holiness have 
oeen ready to suffer any earthly loss or pain, rather 
than be unassociated with the eternal blessedness of 
the discipleship of Christ. 

I have now exhibited something of the incompa* 
fable importance of the question before us, as consid- 
ered by itself. There is an additional importance in 
its present investigation, arising out of the peculiar 
character of the present times. 



INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 39 

We rejoice with others in the belief that this age, 
in comparison with all before it, merits distinction as 
an age of freedom. We rejoice that it is an age of 
fn.'edom, as well in the investigation of all truth as 
in the assertion of all political rights. But what is 
called the spirit of freedom is not everywhere .denti- 
oal with the cause of truth and right. In one region, 
it i« the calm, deliberate determination to be governed 
only by just and equal laws; in another, it is the 
furious, desolating despiser of all laws but those of 
one's own passion and selfishness. This is seen as 
well in the discussion of religious truth, as in the 
vindication of assumed principles of civil liberty. 
There are certain just and necessary laws to govern 
us in reasoning, as much as in acting — to regulate 
the investigation of moral and religious, as well as 
physical and political subjects. True liberty of mind 
consists in the right of being governed by these laws, 
and no other ; and at the same time asserts their ab- 
solute necessity. But there is a spirit abroad whi<»h, 
under the name of freedom of opinion, would set at 
defiance all the fundamental laws of reasoning, and < 
denounce, as the offspring of intellectual despotism, 
whatever principles of moral evidence are at variance 
with itself. This is licentiousness, not freedom. 11 
is the enemy of latv, not of oppression ; the very 
menial of mental degradation, instead of what it 
blasts itself, the prompter of manly, elevated, inde- 
pendent intellect. This spirit of evil is greatly on 
the increase, because the name and boast of freedom 
are circulating far more rapidly in this world, than 



40 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

the knowledge of its character or the posscS!*ioii of ita 
blessings ; because it is so much easier for the mass 
of society to burst at once the whole body of law by 
which mind is restrained, than to separate between 
the precious and the vile; and chiefly because with 
the many there is too little reflection and too littlo 
moral principle, when religion is in question, to ap- 
preciate the important difference between the oppres- 
sion of opinion in matters of reason, and the just gov- 
ernment of reason in matters of opinion. Nothing 
in truth, has so promoted the freedom of thought 
of opinion, and of action, as Christianity. If any 
thing, under her name, has been guilty of the op- 
posite, it has been, so far forth, the corruption of her 
character and the denial of her principles. Pure 
Christianity has ever proclaimed liberty to the cap- 
tive, as well in mental as in physical slavery. The 
ages of the purest freedom have been those of her 
greatest advancement. She courts investigation when 
it is free, but rejects it when licentious. She is the 
patroness of law, and will be judged only by law. 
, Bring her trial to the judgment-seat of that inductive 
philosophy which one of her own children first illus- 
trated, and which on other subjects the world has 
learned to use so well and prize so highly — let her be 
judged by the evidence of fact, and she is satisfied. 
l)ut this reasonable privilege it is more than ever tho 
gpirit of self-constituted philosophers, in their ioud 
declamation against the slavery of opinion, and their 
licentious rebellion against all the laws of reasoning, 
to refuse. Hence tlie greater importance that our 



INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIO^NS. 41 

■ 

pre«eiu subject, in all its departments, from the most 
fundamental principles of evidence to the highest 
point of inductive argument, should be thoroughly 
studied by all whose interest it is to know, and whose 
duty it is to vindicate the truth. 

But there is one more consideration, in connection 
with the present age, illustrating the peculiar impor- 
tance of the study you are now commencing. The 
evidences of Christianity, while specially assailed, in 
these times, with a licentiousness and effrontery 
which the dignity of no truth can countenance, and 
the chastity of religious truth should never meet, are 
favored at the same time with advantages for con- 
vincing illustration such as no preceding age ever 
furnished. Time, while it has impaired the strength 
of none of our ancient arguments, has greatly in- 
creased the weight of some, and has added, and is 
daily adding new auxiliaries to a body of proof which 
its enemies have never ventured to attack in front. 
Every new year, in the age and trials of our holy 
faith, is an additional evidence, that like the pyramids 
of Memphis, it was made to endure. It wear^ wen. 
Christianity has been journeying, for the last eighteen 
hundred years, through unceasing trials. While as 
yet an infant in a land of almost Egyptian darkness, 
a Jewish Pliaraoh attempted to strangle her in the 
cradle. She grew up in contempt and poverty, and 
began her course, like Israel of old, through a Red sea 
of relentless persecution. Bitter waters awaited her 
subsequent progress. Amalek with all the principal- 
ities and powers of earth, during more than three cen- 

4* 



42 M'lLVAINE S EVIDENCEjS. - 

turies. opposed her march. Fiery serpents in the 
wilderness of sin have ever been stinging at her feet. 
The world has opened no fountain, nor vouchsafed 
any bread to sustain her. What alliances the na- 
tions have ever made witili her cause have only given 
I hem the greater power to encumber and divitle liei 
strength. Her drink has been drawn from the rock; 
her bread has been gathered in the desert. Noth- 
ing that malice, or learning, or power, or persever- 
ance could do to arrest her goings, has been wanting. 
Even treachery in her own household has often en- 
deavored to betray her into the hands of the enemy 
No age has encountered her advance with such a 
dangerous variety of force, or with a more boastful 
confidence of success, than the present. And yet, in 
none since that of the primitive Christians, has her 
triumph been so glorious or her conquest so extensive. 
At a time of life when, coasidering her fiery triak, 
one ignorant ot her nature would expect to see her 
wrinkled with age and crippled with manifold infirm- 
ities, it may be said of her with perfect truth, that 
though for more than eighteen hundred years she has 
been journeying through conflicts and trials innumer- 
able, her eye is not dim, nor her natural force 
abated She remains unchanged by time, the same 
precisely as when first proclaimed in the streets of 
Jerusalem. The shield of faith, the breastplate of 
righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the sword of 
ilic Spirit, are neither broken nor decayed, but as 
ready as in: the beginning to go forth ** conquering and 
to conquer." This long and hard experiment proves 



INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 43 

« 

that Christianity is formed for all trials, and will sur- 
vive all enemies. It is the privilege of our age to 
appreciate the evidence of this with a degree of satis- 
faction peculiar to itself 

But how different this sublime immutability u( 
(vhristianity, so much like the eternity of God, fnm 
the childish fickleness of infidelity. What is the his- 
tory of infidelity but a history of changes? Where is 
the resemblance between the writings of its modern and 
those of its ancient disciples? What Celsus and Por- 
phyry attempted to maintain against primitive Chris- 
tianity, none at present would think of advocating; 
while the positions and reasonings of recent infidels 
would have been subjects of ridicule among their 
earliest brethren. " The doctrines which Herbert and 
Tindal declared to be so evident that God could not 
make them more evident, were wholly given up as 
untenable by Hume; and the scepticism of Hume 
sustained no higher character in the mind of D'Alem- 
bert. Mere infidelity gave up natural religion, and 
Atheism mere infidelity. Atheism is the system at 
present in vogue. What will succeed it, cannot be 
foreseen. One consolation however attends the sub- 
ject, and that is, No other system gan be so ground- 
less, so despicable, or so completely ruinous to the 
morals and happiness of mankind."* 

But there is another aspect in which the study :•( 
the evidences of Christianity is presented as especia.iy 
interesting, in connection with the present age. This 

* See the two sermons on the Nature and Danger of Infidel 
Philosophy, hy the late Rev. Theodore Dwighi, D. D 



44 MILVAINE'S EYIDENCES. 

is an age peculiarly distinguished for scientific re* 
search and discovery. Never did science travel so 
widely, explore so deeply, analyze so minutely, com- 
pare so critically the present with the past, principles 
with facts, histories of ancient times with monuments 
of ancient things^, truths of revealed religion with re- 
sults of experimental philosophy. And what is the 
consequence? Has the Pentateuch suffered by him 
who found the key, and applied it to the hieroglyphi- 
oal memorials on the marbles and porphyries of 
Egypt? Did the geological researches of the lament- 
ed Cuvier enfeeble his belief in the Mosaic history ?* 
I venture to say there never was an age in which 
it could be asserted, with so much practical witness, 
that science and every extension of human knowledge 
are strengthening and multiplying the evidences of 
Christianity. Add to this the ever accumulating 
force of the argument from prophecy, a source of 
evidence in which we exceed by far the primitive 

* It is an interesting fact, well worthy of being recorded, 
that Cuvier, whose death has been recently announced, was to 
have presided at the next annual meeting of the Bible Society 
of Paris — 1832 ; and had proposed as the topic of Lis address, 
" The agreement between the Mosaic history and the modern dis- 
coveries in geology?^ - 

Since the above lecture was delivered, what a deep and 
rich mine of antiquarian research has been opened on the site* 
of the ancient cities of Assyria, with which so much of the 
historical books, as well as the prophecies of the Old Tesla- 
ment, are concerned. It is not enough to say, that nothing in 
the least at variance with these writings has been discovered. 
Much has been brought to light in strong and striking confirma** 
tion* of these writings 



INTRODTTCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 4fi 

times of the gospel, and which must be increasing as 
long as one prediction of the Bible remains to be ful- 
filled. Then consider what new exhibitions tlie pres- 
ent age of signal enterprise in all things has furnished 
5;id is daily presenting, of the power attendant upon 
the gospel to overcome every obstacle, and make tlio 
moral desert a garden, and savages meek and lowly 
of heart. Look at the missionary stations of the Pa- 
cific and of Hindoostan, and among our own frontier 
tribes. There it will be seen that Christianity has 
stiL her apostles, her martyrs, her conquests. The 
idol cast to the ground ; the idol-temple purged of its 
pollutions, and consecrated to Jehovah; the multi- 
tude, once naked devotees cf demons, now clothed 
and in their right mind, and sitting at the feet of 
Jesus — these are some of our additional testimonies 
to the gospel, that her arm is not shortened that it 
cannot save. But they are not all. Every new 
traveller into regions hitherto but little known, as he 
developes the condition of nations destitute of the 
gospel, increases our evidence of the utter helpless- 
ness of human reason, and the total prostration of hu- 
man nature, without the light which we enjoy; and 
consequently, our evidence of the universal n^ed of a 
' revelation Jike ours, as well as of the benefits which 
have followed in the train of Christianity wherever 
she has been received. And last, but not least, our 
experience of the tender mercies of infidelity is more 
impressive than that of preceding ages. Its nature, 
spirit, personal and public consequences have now had 
time to speak out, and make a full display of theix 



lb M'lLVAIwE'S EVIDENCES. 

benefits to all classes of mankind. Our times have seen 
enough, any of us have heard enough to form some 
adequate idea of what society would be favored with, 
in personal consolations, in domestic peace and pu- 
rity in public security and order, should the princi- 
ples of infidelity be generally adopted as the basis ol 
individual, family, and national government. 

1 have now endeavored to illustrate the impor- 
tance of a diligent attention to the great subject we 
have undertaken to treat, by considerations arising 
out of its own intrinsic nature, and from its special 
aspect as associated with the distinctive character of 
the present age. I will occupy but a little while 
longer in speaking of, 

II. The importance of strict attention to the 
SPIRIT in which we should examine the evidences of 
Christianity, 

" Blessed," said the Saviour, " is he whosoever 
shall not be offended in me." There is a' great deal 
in the religion of Jesus at which the natural dispo- 
sitions of man are offended. He is proud — the gos- 
pel demands humility; revengeful — the gospel de- 
mands forgiveness. Man is prone to set his affections 
on thi ngs on the earth ; the gospel requires him to set 
them on those which are above. He is wedded to 
self-indulgence, glories in being his own master, idol- 
• izes himself, encourages self-dependence, boasts his 
own goodness, lives without God in the world. All 
this the gospel peremptorily condemns ; requires him 
to repent of it, to deny himself, renounce all right 
over himself, give up his will to that of God, live for 



INTfiODUCTOm OJJSERVATIONS. 4? 

the Ijord Jesus, and lean upon and glory in him alone 
as all his strength, hope, and righteousness. Hence 
it is evident that the natural heart and the precepts 
of Christianity are directly at variance. " The mys* 
tory of an incarnate and crucified Saviour must nc 
3essarily confound the reason and shock the preju- 
dices of a mind which will admit nothing Ihat .t can- 
not perfectly reduce to the principles of philosophy. 
The whole tenor of the life of Christ, the objects he 
pursued, and the profound humiliation he exhibited, 
must convict of madness and folly the favorite pur- 
suits of mankind. The virtues usually practised in 
society, and the models of excellence most admired 
there, are so remote from that holiness which is en- 
joined in the New Testament, that it is impossible for 
a taste which is formed on the one to perceive the 
charms of the other. The happiness which it pro- 
poses in a union with God and a participation of the 
image of Christ, is so far from being congenial to the 
inclinations of worldly men, that it can scarcely be 
mentioned without exciting their ridicule and scorn. 
General speculations on the Deity have much to 
amuse the mind, and to gratify that appetite for the 
w^onderful which thoughtful and speculative men are 
tlelighted to indulge. Religion viewed in this lighi. 
appears more in the form of an exercise to the under- 
standing, than a law to the heart. Here the soul 
expatiates at large, without feeling itself controlled or 
alarmed. But when evangelical truths are presented, 
they bring God so near, if we may be allowed the 
expression, and speak with so commanding a voice to 



48 . M'lLVAINK'S EVIDENCES. 

the conscience, that they leave no alternative but that 
Dt submissive acquiescence or proud revolt."* 

Hence, the question as to the truth of Christianity 
is peculiar. You can investigate the truth of a nar- 
rative in common history, or of a phenomenon in 
physical science, or of a principle of political economy, 
with the coolness of a mere intellectual exercise. One 
sets out in such pursuits with no feelings already 
enlisted. Had this been the case with regard to the 
divine origin of Christianity, " a tenth part of the 
testimony which has actually been given, would 
have been enough to satisfy us ; the testimony, both 
in weight and quantity, would have been looked upon 
as quite unexampled in the whole compass of ancient 
literature."^ But here the question is one of feeling, 
as well as evidence — enlisting the heart, as well as 
the head. Powerful dispositions crowd around the 
investigation. Hence one is in danger, unless his 
natural inclinations be subdued, of looking at the 
argument through a medium which, while it dimin- 
ishes the importance of the evidence, will magnify 
the objections. This explains sufficiently how it has 
happened that there have been men of learning and 
talents and much practical wisdom, in many depart- 
ments, who have become and continued unbelievers. 
Their dispositions were stronger than their talents, 
and moulded the latter to their own service, instead 
af yielding to their guidance. The examination was 
conducted rather by the test of inclination, than of 
evidence. Now it is no part of the profession of 
* Robert Hall. t Chalmers 



lNTK.0JDl3CT0Ry OBSEH'VATiuNS 49 

Christianity to furnish eyes to those who will not see. 
Evidence that will force its way irresistibly through 
prejudice and unwillingness, compelling subraission, 
she does not promise. Enough to satisfy abundantl}* 
every candid, serious, diligent, humble inquirer, sho 
iloes profess to give. If she ever exhibit more, it is 
beyond her stipulation, and more than any have 
reason to denaand. 

The pride of human reason is often deeplj 
offended at the claims of Christianity. The gospel 
demands to be received as a revelation of truth, com- 
municated by authority, so that a wise man shall 
have no room to ascribe his knowledge of God and 
of his will to his own powers of discovery; but has 
to sit, just where the ignorant and lowly must sit, at 
the feet of Jesus. This pleases not the speculative 
and ambitious turn of the human intellect. Men 
like to find out truth by. reasonings of their own, 
rather than by the authoritative declarations of 
another, even though that other be infallible wisdom. 
They love to theorize and conjecture, and try the 
ingenuity of their own faculties, so as to praise them- 
selves for whatever is ascertained. Hence, in matters 
of science, there was a long and hard struggle before 
they could be brought down from the proud flights ci 
speculation, and consent to the self-denial of the 
inductive method, submitting to be instructed only 
by the revelations of experiment and in the unpre* 
tending soiu)ol of fact. To adopt the same method 
in matters of religious investigation, many are not yet 
willing. To give up all speculation — philosophy^ 



50 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

'^falsely so called" — and consent to receive^ instead 
of being ambitious to discover^ religious truth; to 
receive it at a source where the humblest and the lof- 
tiest mind must drink together out of the same cup ; 
lo receive it on the simple testimony of a well-at- 
tested revelation, which lies as open to the peasant sa 
the philosopher, this the wise men of the world are 
slow of heart to consent to. Their pride of reason is 
offended. Did an account come to tliem from the 
other continent of certain novel and interesting phe- 
nomena recently observed in the heavens, they 
would see at once how unphilosophical it would be to 
commence theorizing upon the question of their truth, 
and then reject them because inconsistent with cer- 
tain previous speculations of their own. They w^ould 
institute but the one inquiry. Is there reason to de- 
pend upon the accuracy of the observations, and the 
honesty of the reports of those from whom these state- 
ments proceed ? Satisfied on this head, they would 
at once receive the phenomena, and every truth re- 
sulting therefrom, on the great principle of modern 
science, that whatever is thus collected by induction 
must be received, notwithstanding' any conjectural 
hypothesis to the contrary f until contradicted or 
limited by other phenomena equally authenticated. 
Now we only ask them not to disown the philosophy 
of Newton in examining the evidence of the religion 
of Christ; to try the celestial wonders, the "wie* 
canique celeste^^ as given by Christ and his apoetles, 
not by theory or speculation, but precisely as they 
would try any other, in the open field of fact and 



INTEODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 51 

induction. We do not ask ihem to believe, unless 
upon the credit of facts. But we do ask, that what- 
ever is thus proved they will receive, notwithstand- 
ing any conjectural hypothesis to the contrary. The 
whole argument for Christianity, so far from being in 
any degree theoretical or speculative, is eminently 
one of experimental evidence and inductive sim- 
plicity. We take the position that our Lord Jesus 
Christ professed to make a revelation from God. It 
is conceded that if he attested his communications 
by miracles, he sealed that profession as true. We 
say he did thu^ attest them. But miracles are facts, 
phenomena^ to be proved by the testimony of eye- 
witnesses, like any phenomena in physics. To such 
testimony we appeal. We ask the unbeliever to 
refute it ; and if he cannot, to receive the revelation, 
and bow to its declarations as the attested word of 
G-bd. But here, unfortunately, we set the rule of 
sound philosophy against the dispositions of an 
unhumbled heart. The latter has the victory often, 
and the wise man goes to work to oppose our facts 
with his theories, our testimony with his specu- 
lations, till he flatters himself, because he has covered 
up his eyes in his own mazes, that he has refuted 
the evidences of Christianity. Hence, therefore, an- 
other cause that learned men are not all believers 
in Christianity. They are not all humble enough, 
in a question with which heart and life are so much 
connected, to abide by the results to which the 
principles of philosophical investigation would natu- 
rally lead them. But hence, also, a most important 



02 M'IL7AINE'S EVIDENCES. 

reason that whoever of you may have doubts as to 
the gospel of Christ, should, in the pursuit on which 
^e have entered, be cautious, candid, ready to learn, 
and determined to embrace the truth wherever it 
should be found. 

One consideration more. It is true of Chris- 
tianity, as of many other excellent subjects, that 
objections are more easily invented than answered. 
Objections in such matters are usually light affairs, 
floating on the surface of men's thoughts. Answers, 
to be solid, must be heavier and lie deeper, requiring, 
like the pearl, both labor and skill to bring them up 
and fashion them for use. But Christianity is pe- 
culiarly exposed to objections, from the simple fact 
that as it meets every body and compels every body 
to say yea or nay to its requirements, every body 
must needs have something to say, however un- 
reasonable, in its favor or against it. Few indeed 
would venture to give an opinion, without some 
study, on a question in science or polite literature ; 
but the most ignorant and unthinking will undertake 
an opinion upon the merits of the gospel, and raise 
an objection in a breath which would require much 
patience and some learning to refute. Hundreds 
hear the objection ; thousands relish, retain, and are 
poisoned by it ; while perhaps not one of them has 
the disposition to hear, or patience enough to under- 
utand, the reply. Evil hearts can do what only good 
and well-instructed minds can undo. '* Pertness and 
ignorance may ask a question in three lines, which 
it will cost learning and ingenuity thirty pages to 



INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 53 

answer. When this is done, the same question will 
be triumphantly asked again the next year, as if 
nothing had ever been written on the subject. And 
as people in general, for one reason or another, like 
short objections better than long answers, in this 
mode of disputation, if it can be styled such, the 
odds must ever be against us ; and we must be con- 
tent with those for our friends who have honesty and 
erudition, candor and patience, to study both sides 
of the question."* 

These observations explain the lamentable fact, 
that in a large portion of society, fhere is so much 
more acquaintance with the cant and slang of infi- 
delity, than with the reasonings in support of Chris- 
tianity ; that our young men are often so familiar 
with the boasting and floating calumnies which the 
troubled sea of infidelity is ever casting up, with its 
mire and dirt, in the face of the gospel ; while, with 
the innumerable efforts by which Christian science has 
scattered all such poisonous exhalations to the winds, 
many have not the most trifling acquaintance. 

All these considerations are at least sufficient to 
impress us with the eminent importance of the most 
serious attention to the spirit and manner in which 
one proceeds in the study of the evidences of Chris- 
tianity. 

Let me urgently recommend docility^ in this pur- 
suit. By this, I mean nothing resembling credulity ; 
but an open-hearted and humble-minded readiness to 
weigh evidence with simplicity of purpose in the 

• Home's Letters on Infidelity. 
5* 



94 H^ILVAINB'S ETII>BNCfiS. 

most even scales of truth ; and then to submit to, and 
follow the truth, wherever it may lead, with single- 
ness of heart, in the fear of God. 

Let me also recommend a deep serixmsness of 
Durpose, in this pursuit. I mean that calm and set- 
tled earnestness of mind, which a just sense of the 
unspeakable importance of the subject, and of the 
responsibility under which all, even the most indiffer- 
ent, must treat it, will necessarily inspire. 

Lastly, prayer is by all means to be employed in 
this pursuit. It is written most wisely, " If any man 
lack wisdom, let him ask of God." But do I forget 
that I am speaking from the chair of a lecture-room, 
instead of the pulpit of a church ? Prayer ! How do 
I know but that I am addressing many who are 
already on the side of infidelity ? Would I say to 
them, study the evidences of Christianity witk 
prayer? Is it not equivalent to begging the ques* 
tion? Is it not asking them to do what, as pro- 
fessors of infidelity, they object to ? In. one sense^ 
I verily believe it is begging the question. A spirit 
of serious, earnest prayer for the knowledge of 
truth, isi utterly inconsistent with the spirit of in- 
fidelity. Who does not feel the singularity involved 
in the idea of seeing a thorough infidel engaged 
in secret, earnest prayer to be preserved from all 
bias in search of truth, and to be led in the way 
in which God would have him to go? And yet, il 
he be not an Atheist, he can have nothing to say 
against the propriety of such a step But i^ it true 
tb^"* infidelity and the spirit of prayer are practioallj 



INTRODUOTOEY OB»ERVAXiQliS. 



bd 



so inconsistent? Is it true that we have already 
acconjplished at least half our work of conviction, 
when we have persuaded an unbeliever to make 
religious truth a subject of serious supplication at the 
throne of grace ? What does this say for the gospel ? 
The man who is desirous of being allowed to 
remain in unbelief will not seek a spirit of prayer. 
He would not like to ask God for what might break 
up all his present fancied security. But if any one 
feels that he lacks wisdom, in this great oonoern of 
eternity, and desires to know the way of light and 
life, " let him ask of God, who giveth to all men lib- 
erally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given 
him '^ JamefT L : 5. 



66 M'JLVAINE'S EV1DEJ»CJS8. 



LECTURE II' 

AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

Our last lecture was only introductory to the 
important subject to which I have undertaken to lead 
your attention. In the present, we enter directly 
upon one of its principal branches. 

The study of the evidences of Christianity may 
be either brief or extended, according to the object 
with which it is pursued. If it be merely the pos- 
session of some one distinct and conclusive train of 
reasoning, perfect in itself, the investigation may 
soon be ended. The student may take any single 
miracle or fulfilled prophecy; he may choose his 
premises from the narrative of the resurrection of 
Christ, or the conversion of St. Paul, or the propaga- 
tion of Christianity, and confining his argument to 
the point selected, may deduce a finished proof of the 
divine authority of the gospel. But if he desire not 
only rational satisfaction for his own mind, but a fuU 
view of all those great highways of evidence which, 
from every quarter, concentrate upon Christianity- 
if he would behold, not only that it is capable of con- 
clusive proof, but how variously and wonderfully its ^ 
divine Author has encompassed it with proofs of 
every kind, drawn from innumerable sources, and 



AUTKENIICll^ OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 57 

prepared at all points for every objection, he may lay 
himself out for a work of extensive research, as well 
as of rich gratification and improvement. 

The evidences of Christianity are classed under 
two general denominations, external or historical^ 
and internal evidence. Under the latter, are in- 
cluded whatever proofs of divine original may be 
drawn from the doctrines of the gospel; its incom- 
parable system of morality ; the adaptation of the 
religion of Christ to the condition and wants of man- 
kind ; the holy and elevated character of its Founder ; 
together with all those incidental, but striking and 
various marks of uprightness, accuracy, and benevo- 
lence, which appear in the spirit and manner of the 
New Testament writers, or which are seen by a com 
parison of their several books one with another. 
Such are the principal heads of internal evidence. 
Under the name of external or historical evidence^ 
we find whatever exhibits the need of a revelation, as 
apparent in the state of opinion and practice among 
the most enlightened nations at the commencement 
of the gospel ; the argument establishing the authea- 
ticity of the Scriptures, and the credibility of the 
history cont.ained therein; the proofs arising from 
miracles, from fulfilled prophecy, from the propaga- 
tion of Christianity, and from the social and personal 
benefits which have always accompanied its pro- 
motion, according to the degree in which its native 
character and influence have had room to appear, 
Such are the principal heads of external evidence. 

The present course of lectures, for want of time tii 

3* 



oS M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

carry it further,* will be confined to the department 
last described; which is chosen in preference to the 
oth(!r, not because it is more important or conclusive, 
but as more capable of having justice done it in a 
series of discussions such as that to which the cir- 
cumstances of these lectures restrict us. 

Should we embrace in our view of this grand 
division of evidence whatever belongs to it, your atten- 
tion would first be called to the indispensable necessity 
of a divine revelation^ as the history of the ancient 
world displays it, and as it is still exhibited in the 
dark places of the earth. This however we have not 
room to include in our course. Though extremely 
impressive and worthy of investigation, it is not an 
essential argument. The straightforward method of 
philosophical inquiry directs its attention to the testi- 
mony simply that an event did occur, and will not 
suspend assent till the need of such an event shall 
have been fully explained. If convincing evidence 
be adduced to the matter of fact that a revelation has 
been given, we may be reasonably content, while our 
limits forbid the proof that it was needed. Whoever 
may desire to read on this head will find it well dis- 
cussed in the first volume of Lectures on the Evi- 
dences, etc., by the Rev. Daniel Wilson, afterwards 
Bishop of Calcutta; or in the admirable letters on the 
same subject, by Olinthus Gregory, LL. D., Profes;5or 

* Sec the Bible Not of Man, or the Argument for the Di- 
vine Origin of the Sacred Scriptures drawn from the Scriptural 
themselves. By Rev, Gardiner Spring, D. D. Amer. Tract 
Society. 



ALIHENTICITY OF THjc NEW ThhTAMENT. 69 

of Mathematics in the Royal Military Academy at 
Woolwichj one of the most scientific and pious lay- 
men of the age ; or more at large in the learned vol- 
ume of Leland, on the Advantages and Necessity of 
a Divine Revelation. 

Let us begin with the authenticity or the New 
Testament. We possess a venerable volume under 
this title, consisting of twenty-seven independent 
books or writings, reputed to have been composed by 
eight different authors. It professes to contain, and 
is continually appealed to as containing, not only an 
accurate account of the history and doctrine of Jesus 
Christ, but an account written in the first age of 
Christianity by its earliest disciples and advocates, 
who were contemporaneous with its author, and were 
most of them eye-witnesses of the events related. 
Now, before we can be reasonably warranted in placing 
implicit reliance in the New Testament, as the book 
of the facts and doctrines of the gospel, two important 
questions must be determined. First, Is there satis* 
factory evidence that the several writings of which 
it is composed were written by the men to whom they 
are ascribed? This involves the authenticity of the 
New Testament. Secondly, Is the New Testament 
deserving of implicit reliance as to matters of his- 
to7'ical detail^ so that we may receive any narrative 
as unquestionably true, because contained therein? 
This refers to the credibility of the New Testa- 
ment. 

Thus you perceive, that whether a volume bo 
authentic, and whether credible, are two wMely sop» 



60 M'lLVAIKE'S EVIDENCES. 

arate questions, neither necessarily implying th^ 
other, however the evidence of one may bear upon the 
proof of the other. Writings may be authentic^ com- 
posed by the men whose names they bear, and yet 
not. credible. They may be credible^ because correct 
in their statements, and yet not authentic. Tho 
question of authenticity refers to the author; that 
of credibility to the narrative. *' The Pilgrim's Prog- 
ress" is authentic, because it was actually composed 
by John Bunyan, to whom it is ascribed; though, 
being an allegory throughout, it is credible only as 
to the truthfulness of its spiritual meaning. The 
book entitled, " Travels of Anacharsis the Younger," 
is credible so far as it exhibits a view of the anti- 
quities, manners, customs, religious ceremonies, etc., 
of ancient Greece; but it is not authentic, having 
been written in the eighteenth century by Barthe- 
lemy, and fictitiously ascribed to the Scythian phi- 
losopher. "Marshall's Life of Washington" is both 
authentic and credible, being a true history, and wor- 
thily honored with the name of that eminent and ex- 
cellent man from whose pen it professes to Have come. 
That the New Testament is also authentic and cred- 
ible, we undertake to show. We exclude the more 
ancient portion of the sacred volume, not because of 
any deficiency in its evidence, but for the sake o{ 
unity and clearness in our inquiries; and because, 
when the argument for the New Testament is set 
forth in a conclusive form, the authenticity and cred- 
ibility of the other is rendered, as will hereafter ap- 
pear, a necessary inference. The two questions will 



ATTTKENTICITT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Gl 

be the subjects of different lectures. To that of au» 
thenticity our attention will this evening be confined. 
Let us begin with the following: 

How does it appear that the several totitings 
ccmposing the volume of the New Testament were 
written by the nten to whom, they are ascribed^ the 
original disciples of Christy and are consequently 
authentic? 

We pursue precisoly the same method in deter- 
mining the authorship of the New Testament, as in 
ascertaining that of any other book of a past age. 
For example, we possess a celebrated poem entitled 
Paradise Lost. It bears the name of Milton. How 
do we know that Milton composed it? The answer 
is easy. Our fathers received it, as his production, 
from their fathers, and they from theirs. By such 
steps we ascend to the very year in which the book 
was first published, and find it invariably ascribed to 
Milton. Moreover, the history of the age in which he 
lived speaks of it as unquestionably and notoriously 
his work. Writers of every succeeding age refer to 
and quote it, as well known to be his. The language 
n{ the poem bears the characteristic marks of Milton's 
times. Its spirit, genius, and style display the dis- 
tinctive features of Milton's mind and character. And 
finally, though Milton had many enemies, and lived 
in a time of great divisions, and this poem redounded 
greatly to his praise, and many must have been dis- 
posed, had they been able, to discover some fake pre- 
tensions in his claim to its authorship, no other person 

in that age was ever mentioned as disputing his title ; 

6 



62 M'lLVAXNE'S EVIDENCES 

but all united in acknowledging him as the writer of 
Paradise Lost. On this evideo.ce, although the poem 
professes to have been written as far back as the 
year ] 674, we are so perfectly certain of its authen- 
ticity, that the man who should dispute it would be 
justly suspected of idiocy or mental derangement. 
And had Milton lived in the seventh, instead of the 
seventeenth century, a similar body of evidence would 
have been equally satisfactory. If, instead of the 
seventh century, he had lived in the first of the Christ 
tian era, similar evidence, reaching up to his time, 
would still prove beyond a question that he wrote 
Paradise Lost. Thus it is evident th[]it time has no 
effect to impair the force of such proof. Whether a 
book be ascribed to the Christian era, or to five cen- 
turies before or after, the evidence being the same, it 
is equally satisfactory. It as well convinces us that 
the history ascribed to Herodotus, in the fifth century 
before Christ, was written by that historian, as that 
the iEneiJ was written by Yirgil a little before the 
birth of Christ, or the ^'Faerie Q,ueene" by Spenser, 
in the fifteen hundred and ninetieth year after that 
event. We are no less satisfied of the authenticity 
of the orations of Demosthenes, than of that of New- 
ton's Prinoipia, though between the dates of their 
pablication there is an interval of more than two thou- 
sand years. So little does the age of a book affect 
the ei'idence required to establish its authenticity. 

Now, in ascertaining the authorship of the New 
Testament, we are. furnished with evidence precisely 
similar to that whioh settles the question so conoid- 



AUTHENTICITY OF THE KJiW TESTAMENT. 63 

sively as to either of the works above-meationed.* 
An unbroken chain of testimony ascends from the 
present generation to the preceding, and thence to 
the next beyond, and thence onward again till it 
reaches the very age of the apostles, exhibiting aii 
uninterrupted series of acknowledgments of the New 
lestament, as having been written indeed by those 
primitive disciples to whom its several parts are as^ 
cribed. Besides this, historians and other writers of 
the age ascribed to this volume, as well heathen and 
Jewish as Christian, not only recognize its existence 
in their day, but speak of it as notoriously the pro- 
duction of its reputed authors. The language is 
characteristic of their age, nation, and circumstances. 
The style and spirit exhibit the well-known peotiliar- 
ities of their respective minds and dispositions. And 
again, although the New Testament at the time of 
its first appearance, either in parts or collectively, was 
surrounded with numterous, learned, and ingenious, 
as well As most bitter enemies, both among heathens 
and Jews; and although there tirose at an early pe- 
riod many animated controversies between the real 
believers in gospel trilth, on one side, and sundry 
heretical pretenders to the Ciristian faith, whose 
cause would often have been materially served by a 
well-sustained denial of the authenticity of certain 

• "We know," gays St. Augustine, "the writings of the 
apostles, as we know the Works of Plato, Aristotle, Gieero, 
Varro, and others, and as we know the writings of divers ec- 
clesiastical authors ; for as much as they have the testimony 
of contemporaries, and of those who have lived in succeeding 
ftges." 



64 U'lLYAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

of the books of the New Testament, none in th* 
primitive ages, whether heretics or open enemies, eve/ 
denied that this volume contained the genuine writ- 
ings of the original apostles and disciples of Christ 
On the contrary, all received, argued, and acted upon 
it as unquestionably authentic. Thus we have thft 
same evidence that the books of the New Testament 
were written by those whose names they bear, aM 
that Paradise Lost was written by the man whoce 
name it bears. The force of this evidence is in no 
wise diminished by the consideration that the apos- 
tles lived in the first, and Milton in the seventeenth 
century. 

Thus have you received a general, outline of the 
argument. We proceed to a more particular view. 

The books op the New Testament are quoted 
or alluded to by a series op writers who may b? 
followed up in unbroken succession from the pres- 
ENT AGE TO THAT OF THE APOSTLES. lu prOOf of this, it 

is unnecessary for the satisfaction of any person of 
ordinary information to trace the line of testimony 
from the present time, or from any point of departure 
lower down than the fourth century. Whoever has 
the least acquaintance with the history of the civil- 
ized world as far upward as the fourth century, must 
know that the acknowledgment of the New Testa- 
ment, as composed of authentic writings, is inter- 
woven with eJI the literature, science, and political 
as well as religious institutions of every subsequent 
age. We begin, therefore, the chain of testimony at 
the fourth century. 



AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 65 

It is a rety impreissiye evidence of the high esti' 
mate in which the New Testament was universally 
held at this period, that besides innumerable quota- 
tions in various Writings^no less than eleven distinct, 
formal catalogues of its several books were compose4l 
at various times during the fourth century by differ- 
ent hands; and two of them by large and solemn 
councils of the heads of the Christian church. All of 
these are still extant ; and all agree in every particu- 
lar important to the present argument^ with the list of 
the New Testament writings as at present received. 
In the year 397 a national or provincial council as- 
sembled at Carthage, consisting of forty-four bishops- 
Augustine, bishop of Hij^, was a member. The 
forty-seventh canon of that council is thus Ai^^ritten: 
''It is ordained that nothing besides the canonical 
Scriptures be read in the church under the name of 
divine Scriptures; and the canonical Scriptures are 
these," ete. In the enumeration we find precisely 
our New Testament books, and no more.* 

About the same time Augustine wrote a book 
entitled, '* Of the Christian Doctrine," in which is 
furnished a catalogue of what he considered the 
authentic writings of the evangelists and apostles^ 
agreeing entirely with ours. " In these books," saith 
he, " they tvho fear Grod, seek his will."^ 

A short time before this, Rufinus, a presbyter of 
Aquileia, published an " Explication of the Apostle's 
Creed," in which he includes a catalogue of the Scrip* 

* Lardaer's Credibility of the Gospel History, vol. 2, p. 574 
t Tbid. vol 2, p. 578. 

6* 



66 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

tures. It commences thus: "It will not l>e im-" 
proper to enumerate here the books of the Old and 
Now Testament, which we find by the monuments 
of the fathers to have been delivered to the churches, 
aa inspired by the Holy Spirit." This list differs in 
nothing from ours.* 

Jerome, a contemporaneous writer, universally 
allowed to have been the most learned of the Latin 
fathers, in a letter concerning the study of the Scrip- 
tures, enumerates the books of the New Testament 
in precise correspondence with our volume. With 
regard to the epistle to the Hebrews, he states thai 
by some it was not considered as the work of Paul ; 
though it is evident, from other places of his- writ- 
ings, that he was satisfied of its authenticity, and 
numbered it among the canonical scriptures.* 

In the year 380, wrote Philastrius, bishop of 
Brescia. In a book " Concerning Heresies," he gives 
a catalogue agreeing entirely with ours, except that it 
omits the epistle to the Hebrews, and the book enti- 
tled the Revelation of St. John. But it does not 
follow that these were not considered canonical. The 
object of his catalogue is to enumerate the books 
appointed to bo read in the churches. The epistle to 
the Hebrews, he says, was read in the churches 
" sometimes." " Some pretend," he writes, " that 
additions have been made to it by some heterodox 
persons, and that for that reason it ought not to be 
read in the churches, though it is read by some." 
Philastrius himself received it, and frequently quoted 

• Lardner, vol. 2, p. 573. t Ibid, 2, 548. 



AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 67 

it as the work of St. Paul, and reckoned it a heresy 
ro reject it. He received also the Revelation as the 
work of John the evangelist, mentioning its rejection 
by some as among the heresies of the age, " There 
are some," he writes, •' who dare to say that the; 
Revelation is not a writing of John the apostle and 
evangelist."* 

About the year 370, flourished Gregory Nazianzen, 
bishop of Constantinople, who in a work " On the 
True and Genuine Scriptures," enumerates all the 
present books of the New Testament except that of 
Revelation. This, however, he has quoted in his 
other works. ^ 

At the same time wrote Epiphanius, bishop of 
Constantia, in Cyprus ; "a man of five languages " 
He wrote against heresies, and gave a list of the Ne\> 
Testament books which agrees exactly with ours."* 

About the year 350, another catalogue was pub- 
lished by the council of Laodicea, differing in nothing 
from ours but in the omission of Revelation. The 
decrees of this council were, in a short time, received 
into the canons of the universal church; so that as 
early as about the middle of the fourth century, we 
find a universal agreement, in all parts of the world 
in which Christianity existed, as to the constituent 
parts of the New Testament, with the single excep- 
lion of the book of Revelation. That this was also 
generally received, and why any doubted its authen- 
ticity, will appear in our subsequent progress.* 

• Lardnen ?, 522. t Ibid. 470, 471. * Ibid 416. 

* Ibid. 414. Alexander on the Canon, p. 150 



68 M'lLVAlJMifl'S EVIDKKCES. 

Atlianasius and Cyril, the latter being bishop of 
Jerusalem^ a little earlier in the century, have fur- 
nished catalogues: that of the former agreeing en- 
tirely with ours; that of the latter in every thing 
\ vt the omission of the Revelation of St. John. 

The last catalogue to be mentioned in the foar(h 
century, is that of Eusebius, bishop of Ceesarea, who 
flourished about the year 315. " A man," says Je- 
rome, <^most studious in the divine Scriptures, and 
very diligent in making a large collection of ecclesi- 
astical writers." In his Ecclesiastical History, he 
mentions, as belonging to the canon of Scripture, all 
our present books. While he speaks of the epistle 
of James, the second of Peter, the third of John, 
and the book of Revelation, as questioned by some, 
he states that they were generally received, and de- 
clares his own conviction that they ought not to be 
doubted.* 

The above testimonies, though capable of great 
multiplication, are amply sufficient to exhibit the 
universal confidence of Christians, of the fourtii cen- 
tury, in the authenticity of the New Testament. 

Let us proceed to the third. In tiiis, among 
other important names, w^e find that of the celebrated 
Origen, who flourished about the year 230, having 
been bom A. D. 184. Jerome speaks of him as the 
greatest doctor of the churches since the apostles; 
that he had the Scriptures by heart, and labored day 
and night in studying and explaining them.^ Great 
numbers of all descriptions of men attended his leo« 

* Lardner, 2, 368, etc. t Ibid. 1, 527. 



AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 69 

tures. Heathen philosophers dedicated their writings 
to him, and submitted them to his revisal. He wrote 
a threefold exposition of the books of Scripture, on 
which he bestowed all his learning. He lived within 
a hundred years of the death of St. John, and was 
tlierefore so near the time of the publication of the 
books of the New Testament, that he could hardly 
avoid obtaining the most accurate knowledge of their 
origin and authors. His enumeration of these writ- 
ings contains no other books than those of our sacred 
volume, and includes all that we receive, except the 
epistles of James and Jude, which could not have 
been omitted by design, as in other places he ex- 
pressly acknowledges them as part of the sacred 
canon. 

Besides Origen, we have in the third century, 
Viotorinus, a bishop in Germany ; Cyprian, bishop 
of Carthage; Gregory of Neo-Csesarea, and Dionysius 
of Alexandria, in whose writings are found most 
copious quotations from- almost every book of the 
New Testament. 

"We proceed to the second century. Here we meet 
with Tertullian, a native of Carthage, born about 
the year 150, within fifty years of the last of the 
apostles, and renowned in his day as a learned, vig- 
orous, and voluminous writer in defence of Christian- 
ity His works abound in quotations of the most 
direct kind, and with long extracts from all the books 
of the New Testament, except four of the minor 
epistles, which, as he nowhere professes to give a 
formal catalogue, he may easily be supposed to have 



70 II'ILVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

passed unquoted, without entertaining any opinion 
Unfavorable to their authentieiiy . Tertullian's quo- 
tations occupy nearly thirty folio pages. " There are 
more and larger quotations of the small volume of 
the New Testament in this one Christian author, 
than of all the works of Cicero in the writers of all 
characters for several ages."* 

The same is true with regard to Irenseus and 
demerit of Alexandria, both writers of the second 
century. In what spirit these early Christians re- 
garded the authority of the New Testament books, 
may he judged from the manner of their quotations. 
Irenspus writes, "As the blessed Paul says in the 
epistle to the Ephesians, 5 : 30, * For we are mem- 
bers of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.'" 
And so Clement, '' The blessed Paul, in the first 
epistle to the Corinthians, ' Brethren, be not children 
in understanding.' " 

It deserves to b6 specially noted, that in this early 
age, the book of Revelation is expressly ascribed to 
St. John. The testimony of Irenaeus to this effect is 
80 full and strong, that it may justly be considered 
as putting its authenticity entirely beyond reasonable 
dispute.* 

There is abundant evidence that, in the second 
century, the books of the New Testament were open 
to all, and well known in the world. In Tertullian's 
Apology, addressed to the Roman presidents, he chal- 
lenges an inspection of the Scriptures. " Look into 
the words of God, our Scriptures, which we ourselves 

* Lardner, 1, 435. t Ibid. 1, 372. 



AUTHENTICITY OF TilE NEW TESTAMENT. 71 

do not conceal, ami many accidents bring into the 
way of those who are not of our religion." In this 
appeal he calls the attention of the heathen rulers to 
the epistles and gospels, as constituting ^' the words 
of God, our Scriptures."* 

There is good reason to believe that, in the time 
of TertuUian, the very autographs or original letters 
of the apostles were in the possession of those 
churches to which they had been specially directed. 
" If," says this ancient writer, " you be willing to 
exercise your curiosity profitably in the business of 
your salvation, visit the apostolical churches, in which 
the very chairs of the apostles still preside ; in which 
their very authentic letters are recited, sounding 
forth the voice and representing the countenance of 
each one of them. Is Achaia near you ? You have 
Corinth. If you are not far from Macedonia, you 
have Philippi, you have Thessalonica," etc.t If Ter- 
tuUian did not mean that the original manuscripts, 
but only authentic copies of the epistles to the Corin- 
thians, Philippians, etc., were to be seen by applica- 
tion to those churches, why send inquirers thither? 
Could an authentic copy of the epistle to the Philip- 
pians be seen nowhere but at Philippi ; or of that to 
the Corinthians, nowhere bijt at Corinth?* 

The quotations from the New Testament, in the 
writings of the second century, are so numerous that 
were the sacred volume lost, a large part of it might 
be collected from them alone. Passing by the testi 

• Lardner, 1, 372. t Ibid. 1 42 1. 

^ Alexander on the Canon, p. 143. 



m M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

monies of Melito, bishop of Sardis, who wrote a com- 
mentary on the book of Revelation, and of Hegesip- 
pus, converted from Judaism, and of Tatian, who 
composed a harmony of the gospels, all born about 
the time of the death of St. John, we come to Justin 
Martyr, born about ten years prior to that event. 
Before his conversion from heathenism, he studied 
philosophy in the schools of the Stoics, Peripatetics, 
Pythagoreans, and Platonics. After becoming a Chris- 
tian, he occupied a high stand in learned writing and 
holy living. IJis remaining works contain numerous 
quotations from, as well as allusions to, the four gos- 
pels, which he uniformly represents as containing 
"the genuine and authentic accounts of Jesus Christ 
and of his doctrine." The same is true in relation 
to the Acts of the Apostles, and the greater part of 
the epistles. The book of Revelation is expressly 
said by Justin to have been written by ** John, one 
of the apostles of Christ." Having lived before the 
death of that apostle, he had the best opportunity of 
knowing. 

We finish the second century with Papias, bishop 
of Hierapolis in Asia, whom Irenaeus speaks of as a 
hearer of John, and a disciple of Poly carp, a pupil of 
John the apostle.* How he obtained his informa- 
tion will appear from the only fragment of his writ- 
ings remaining. It is found in Eusebius. "If at 
any time I met with one who had conversed with 
the elders, I inquired after the sayings of the elders ; 
what Andrew or what Peter said; or what Philip, 

• Lardner, 1. 336. 



AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 73 

riiomas, or James had said ; what Johu or Matthew, or 
what any other of the disciples of the Lord were wont 
to say."* Thus we have a witness who Hved near 
enough to the beginning to inquire of those who had 
conversed with the apostles, if not to listen to St. 
John himself. Too little remains of his writings to 
furnish many testimonies, especially as he had it not 
in view to confirm the authenticity of any part of 
Scripture; but still he gives a very valuable testi- 
mony'to the gospels of Matthew and Mark, and the 
first epistles of Peter and John. He alludes to the 
Acts and the book of Revelation. 

Thus we have ascended to the apostolic age 
But we may reach still higher. We have in our 
possession the well-authenticated writings of five 
individuals and fathers in the primitive church, who, 
because they were contemporary with the apostles, 
are called apostolical fathers. Three of them, Bar- 
nabas, Clement, and Hermas, are mentioned by name 
in the New Testament ;^ the fourth, Polycarp, was 
an immediate disciple of St. John ; the fifth, Ignatius, 
enjoyed the privilege of firequent intercourse with the 
apostles. There is scarcely a book of the New Tes- 
tament which one or another of these writers has not 
either quoted or alluded to. Though what is extant 
of their works is very little, it contains more than 
two hundred and twenty quotations, or allusions io 
the writings of our sacred volume, in which they aie 

• Lardner, 1, 337. 

t Acts 13 : 2, 3, 46, 47 ; 1 Cor. 9:4-7; Phil. 4 : 3 ; Eo* 
mans 16 : 14. 



74 M'lLVAINE'S EVlDJiNCEa. 

uniformly treated with the reverence belonging to 
inspired hooks, and entitled, '* The sacred Scriptures;" 
" The Oracles of the Lord." Their testimony having 
been given incidentally, without any view to ita 
)eing testimony, does not apply to all the bouks, 
Ih<4y had no design of enumerating for posterity, or 
for their contemporaries, the bodes of Scripture 
There was no controversy on that subject in their 
age* It would have seemed a needless waste of 
words, had they attempted to decide a question 
which no one asked. It is very natural therefore, 
considering the brevity of their remaining works and 
the incidental character of their quotations, that 
some of the shorter writings of the New Testament 
should not be alluded to ; while the fact that by one 
or another almost every book is quoted or alluded to, 
and that the whole number of quotations or allusions 
is upwards of two hundred and twenty, accompanied 
with every mark of reverence and submission, is a 
most impressive proof that the authenticity and in- 
spired authority of the New Testament books were 
then notorious and unquestioned among Christians. 

Thus we have ascended the line of testimony into 
the presence of the apostles. Our evidence has been 
collected from only a few out cf the many witnesses 
that might have been cited. It has been derived from 
writers of different times, and of countries widely sep- 
arated — from philosophers, rhetoricians, and divines, 
all men of acuteness and learning in their days, all 
concurring in their testimony that the books of the 
New Testament were equally known in distant regions, 



AUTHENIICITY OP THE NEW TESTAMENT. It 

arZid received as authentic bj tnen and churches tiiat 
had no intercoarse with one another. The argament 
is now, therefore, reduced to this. The apostles and 
disciples of Christ are known to have left some writ* 
ings. That those writings have been lost, none can 
•give a reason for believing. It is not pi^tended tliat 
any other V4Dluine tinan that of the New Testament 
eontains them. The books oontaaned in this volume 
were considerod to be the writings of the apostles, by 
the whole Christian church, as far back as those who 
were their contemporaries and companions^ being 
<x>ntmually quoted and alluded to as such. It was 
impossible that such witnesses should be deceived. 
Contemporaries and companions must have known 
whether they quoted the genuine works of the apos- 
tles, or only forgeries pret^ding to their immes. Our 
evidence, therefore, is complete. What I have pre- 
sented exceeds, above measure, the evideoice for the 
authenticity of any other ancient book. Should the 
fiftieth part of it be required for the proof of the 
authenticity of any book of ancient Grrecian or iB.o« 
iiiian origin, it could not abide the trial. 

Before relmquishing this department of evidence, 
there are certain very important particulars which, 
though embraced in what has been already advanced, 
require a more special notice. 

L It is worthy of distinct remark, that when iho 
U«ok8 of the New Testament ave quoted or alluded to 
by those whose testimony has been adduced, thep art 
treated with supreme regard^ as possessing an au^ 
thority belonging to no other books^ and as oon^ 



T 



76 M'ilvaibjl's evidences. 

elusive in questions of religion. For example^ 
IrensBus, born about A. D. 97, calls them " Divine 
Oracles ;" " Scriptures of the Lord." He says that 
the gospel- was " committed to writing, by the will 
of God, that it might be, for time to come, the 
foundation and pillar of our faith."* **He fled to 
the gospels, which he believed no less than if Christ 
had been speaking to him ; and to the writings of the 
apostles, whom he esteemed as the presbytery of the 
whole Christian church." Origen, born about A. D, 
184, says, " Christians believe Jesus to be the Son 
of God, in a sense not to be explained and made 
known to men, by any but by that Scripture alone 
which is inspired by the Holy Ghost; that is, the 
evangelic and apostolic Scripture, as also that of the 
law and the prophets."^ Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, 
born about the end of the second century, earnestly 
exhorts *'all in general, but especially Christian 
ministers, in all doubtftil matters to have recourse to 
the gospels and epistles of the apostles, as to the 
fountain where may be found the true original doc- 
trine of Christ." *' The precepts of the gospel," he 
says, " are to be considered as the lessons of God 
to us ; as the foundations of our hope, and the sup- 
ports of our faith."* 

2. The books of the New Testament were united 
at a very early period in a distinct volume. Not to 
mention, in evidence of this, that in all the earUest 
writers, the gospels and epistles are spoken of as con- 
stituting a well-known collection of sacred authorities, 

• Lardner 1. 372. t Ibid. 1. 54d. X Ibid. 2, 27, 592-3 



AUTHENIICItry OF THE KEW TESTAMENT. 7^ 

divided mio those two piorts ; we have Tertalliazi, boiA 
ouly fifty years after the death of St. Joho^ oaiUng 
(the oplle^tion of the gospels the ^' Evangelical lastru^ 
»ie«t;" the w^hole volume, the "New TestameBt;*' 
^aad tfce two parta^ the " Gospels and Apostles." 

3. 5f%« boobs of the New ^restament were^ ai a 
very eao'ly period^ pubtidy r^ad and expounded in 
ibe oongregaiitms of Christiafis, Ohrysostom, bom 
about A. D. 347, testifies that " the gospels, when 
written, wca?e not hid in a corner or buried in oh- 
seumty, bisit made known to all ;the world, before 
>exk^:nies as well ^as others, even as they are now." 
IrenSBUs, about two hundred years earlier, says, that 
in his time., "all the Scriptures, both prqpheoies and 
gospels, are open and clear, and may be heard of 
all."* Still earlier, we find Justin Martyar giving the 
emperor an aoooismt of the Christian worship, in 
whieh it is written, " The memoirs of the apostles or 
tibe wri'tix](gs of the prpphets are read,, according as the 
tinae allows; a^d when the reader has ended, the 
president mak-es a disoourse, exhorting to the imi- 
^ion of «o excellent things."^ The custom here 
•Qientioned is evidently spoken of as notorious and 
universal. This was about the year 140. But a 
^practice thus general and fieimiliaa: could hardly have 
^own up in less than forty years before the writing 
of ih^ last witness. Thus we reach the life jof St. 
Jofhn, and may therefore consider it as satisfectorily 
proved, that at a period as early as the last years of 
St. John, the Scriptures of the New Testament were 

• Lardner 1, 372 t Ibid. 1, 345. 

7' 



78 ll'ILVAINE'S EVIDENCES 

publicly read and expounded in the churches of 
Christians. Such is the natural inference, from many 
passages in the works of Augustine, of the fourth 
century. For example, ^'The canonical books of 
Scripture being read everywhere, the miracles therein 
recorded are well known to all people." " The epis- 
tles of Peter and Paul are daily recited to the people. 
And to what people? And to how many people? 
Listen to the Psalm, ' Their sound hath gone out 
into all the earth.' " Again, " The genuineness and 
integrity of the same Scriptures may be relied on, 
which have been spread all over the world, and which 
from the tiille of their publication were in the high- 
est esteem, and have been carefully kept in the 
churches."* 

4. During the primitive ages of Christianity^ 
commentaries were written upon the books of the 
New Testament ; harmonies of them were formed^ 
copies diligently compared^ and translations made 
into different languages. In proof of these asser- 

. tions, it .is needless, after the citations already made, 
to call up testimony. It may be found abundantly 
in Paley's !B^idences ;^ where it is well said, that 
"no grea,ter proof can be given of the esteem in 
which these ancient Books were holden by the ancient 

• Christians, or of the sense then entertained of their 
value and importance, than the industry bestowed 
upon them. Moreover, it shows that they were then 
considered as ancient books. Men do not write com- 
ments upon publications of their own times ; therefore 
• Lardner 2, 593-4. * t Page 1, cH. 9, sea 6. 






AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 79 

the testimonies cited under this head afford an evi- 
dence which carries up the evangelic writings much 
be\ond the age of the testimonies themselves, and to 
that of their reputed authors." There is but a single 
example of a Christian writer during the three first 
centuries, composing comments upon any other books 
than those in the New Testament. Clement of Alex- 
andria is mentioned by Eusebius as having written 
short notes upon an apocryphal book called the Rev- 
elation of Peter ; but that he did not consider it as 
having authority, may be inferred from the fact men- 
tioned by Eusebius, that in his other works it was 
nowhere quoted.* 

5. From the view we have taken of primitive tes- 
timony, it appears that the agreement of the ancient 
church as to what were the authentic hooks of the 
New Testament is complete. Out of twelve cata- 
logues, the earliest of which was furnished by Origen, 
living within a hundred years of St. John, and all of 
which were drawn up either by solemn councils or 
distinguished heads of the church residing in various j( 

and widely remote parts of the world — out of twelve, 
seven,. including the earliest, agree exactly with our 
New Testament list ; three others differ only in the 
omission of the book of Revelation, for which they had 
a special reason not implicating its authenticity ; and 
in the two which remain, the books omitted, and 
spoken of as doubtful in the estimation of some, were 
acknowledged and quoted as authentic by the framera 
of the catalogues. The fathers, in all their writings 

• Lardner 1, 410. 



Q 



60 K'lLVAIKE'S EVIDENCES. 

and of aU ages and coctntriee, appeal to the same 
Scriptures as infidlible authority. The t^onsent of ihM 
ttneient chiitFck was therefore tmiyersal. So £Eif af 
the argomeiEt for the divine Tevelation .of the go^pe* 
is connected with the Butiientieity of any of the 
books, it was without exception. The hooks omitted 
•in some writers and catalogues, have no essential 
^reference to the great question whether the gospel of 
■Christ is of divine revelatiooQ. 

6. Tke agreement among' ihe various sects of 
heretics in the earliest cent'uries^ is as entire as that 
cf the orthodox fathers, ^ The auHhentioity of the 
books of the New Testament was ackjoowledged eve» 
by those to whose sectarian interest thojbr authority 
was extremely detrimental. Instead of venturing tc 
dispute their having been written "by their reputed 
authors, tiiey sought refuge in arbitrary interpreta- 
tions of such passages as opposed their favorite views. 
Some among the Grnostics, for exampie, unable to 
escape ihe apostolic character of the sacred (books, 
maintained the necessity of giving an allegorical turn 
to their tleclaratioins. Aud when, in the course of 
time, heretics did undertake to question the authen^ 
ticity of fsovxe portions of the New Testament, ihar 
accusation was not based iipon any historical or testi 
monial objections, but ccnifined to some trifling an<f 
pretended internal causes of exception, whidi only 
their own convenience oould discover. Some of thesr 
later heretics, being opposed to the doctrine of the 
influences of the Holy Spirit, denied the gospel of St. 
John, because it contains the promise of tliat divine 



AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. SI 

Teacher and Comforter. But with regard to those of 
an earlier date, Irenaeus of the second century writes, 
" So great is the certainty in regard to our gospelsi 
that even the heretics themselves bear testimony in 
their favor; and all acknowledging them, each en- 
deavors to establish from them his own opinions."* 
Origen, on account as well of his candor and ac- 
quaintance with the heresies of his times as of the 
early age in which he lived, should be considered a 
competent witness on this head. He states that the 
heretics endeavored to impose upon people by alleg- 
ing texts of Scripture for their particular tenets, 
though they quoted them in a very unfair and muti- 
lated manner ; and that they appealed to them be- 
cause they were the only writings whose authority 
was universally allowed.^ Testimony more impres- 
sive than this, to the apostolic authorship of the 
New Testament books, cannot be demanded. 

7. The several heads of evidence which have.now 
been made out in proof of the authenticity of the V 
New Testament^ cannot be pretended to with regard 
to any of those writings which are called Apocry- 
phal Scriptures, To some who are aware that in 
the early ages of Christianity there existed a variety 
of apocryphal gospels and other compositions pre- 
tending to have been written by the apostles, it may 
be difficult to imagine by what rule the true works 
of the inspired writers were separated, without em- 
barrassment and with sufficient confidence, from all 

• Storr and Flatt's Bib. Theol. 1, 67. 

♦ Lardner 4, 521-2. 



82 it'ILVAIHE'S EYIBEVCISS. 

mere pretenders to that Ii4gh original. Bat it greatly 
<»haiices ooe'8 sense of the prodigious weight of evi- 
denioe in support of Hie true Soriptui?es, to lea^n how 
4)road aM unqaestionaUe was tbe distiiiotion. 

AiBorng 1^ apocrypkal writi^s, there are two 
slssses. Obo is that of histories which assumed the 
names of ^the apostles, bmt were literally foi^eries and 
therefore ^mf^ious, as well as apocryphal. The other 
oonsi^ of «^tam wiitings of a Christian character, 
Had •either entirely or in part historical, which -are not 
spurious, irat called apocryphal tecanse ^heir age and 
authors are mnkmowin, or their anthority is of no 
iR'eight. 

Of the first -class it may he asserted, without any 
hazard, that none are -quoted within three hiHidi«4 
years after the hir^h of Christ, by any writer tiow 
extant or known ; or if any are quoted, it is invari- 
ably with marks of eensure iind Tejectwm.* The only 
possible exception is *Hhe gospel according to the 
Hebrews ;" ** which," says Lardaier, " was probably 
either St. Ma'bthew's gospel in his original Hebrew, 
with some additions, or, as I ratber Ihink, a Hebrew 
franslation of 'St. Matthew^s Greek original, with the 
additions above-mentioned.^^ But this is quoted no- 
where, without marks of di^eredit, except in one 
flaoe in ihe works of Clement of Alexandria. 

Of the second olass, none but a book oalled Iha 
•*• Preaohing of Peter,^' and another -entitled the " Rev- 
elation of Peter,^ are quoted, without positive ocm* 
iemnation, by any writer of the three first centuries. 

* Paley's Evidences. 



AUTHENTICITY OP THE UfEW TESTAMENT. 83 

Those are spokea of only by the same Clement of 
Alexandria. Compare with these facts, the immense 
mass and variety of concurrent testimonies to the 
books of the New Testament in the writers of the 
three fir^ centuries — ^testimonies from all countries 
and all classes, orthodox or heretics : remember, for 
example, that you may find in the extant works of 
Tertollian, or of Ireneeus, or of Clemesit of Alex- 
andria, more and larger quotations of the small vol- 
ume of the New Testament, than you can find in 
writers of all characters, for several ages, of the 
works of Cicero, though voluminous and always 
80 universally popular ; and it will be evident that 
the apocryphal writings could have presented no 
difBcutties in ascertaining the authentic books of the 
apostles. None of them were read as having apos- 
tolic authority in the churches of Christians,, nor 
admitted into their saered volume, nor included in 
their catalogues, nor noticed as authentic. by the 
adversaries of Christianity, nor appealed to by all 
parties calling themselves Christians, as authority in 
their controversies, nor treated with sufficient re- 
spect to be made the subjects of commentaries, col- 
lections, or translations, unless the brief notes on the 
Revelation of Peter, by Clement of Alexandria, should 
merit exception. So wide was the contrast between 
the true aijd the false ; so easily were the true Scrip- 
tures distinguished from all unauthorized pretenders 
to that honorable name. 

But this is capable of being exhibited still more 
impressively. We have stated several important evi- 



84 M^ILVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

dences of authenticity^ all of which are found in the 
New Testament and none in any of the apocryphal 
writings. We will now exhibit certain evidences of 
spuriousness, all of which are found in the apocry- 
phal writings, and none in those of the New Testa- 
ment. 

The reasons which render the authenticity of a 
work suspicious, are thus enumerated in the learned 
^ " Introduction to the New Testament," by Michaelis : 
1. When doubts have been entertained, from its first 
appearance, whether it was the work of its reputed 
author. 2. When his immediate friends who were 
able to judge, have denied it to be his. 3. When a 
long series of years has elapsed after his death, in 
which the book was unknown, and in which it must 
have been mentioned or quoted had it been in exist- 
ence. 4. When the style is different from that of his 
other writings ; or in case no others remain, different 
from what might be reasonably expected. 5. When 
events are recorded which happened later than the 
time of the pretended author. 6. When opinions are 
advanced contradictory to those which he is known 
to have maintained in other writings.* Now it may 
' be affirmed, without fear of contradiction, that the 
apocryphal books exhibit all these evidences o* 
spuriousness; none of them being exempt firom 
nearly the whole list, and few of them deficient in 
any particular. While, with equal confidence, it is 
asserted that the books of the New Testament ex« 
hibit none of them. In no book of that holy volume, 

* Michaelis' Int. vol. 1, p 2/) 



AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMt^NT. 85 

&re opinions professed that are contradictory to any 
which the reputed author is known elsewhere to have 
maintained; nor are facts recorded which happened 
later than the age in which he lived ; nor is the style 
different from that of his other writings, or fironi 
what might reasonably have been expected from hia 
pen. Nobook of the New Testament was unknown 
during a long series of years subsequent to the death 
of the individual to whom it is ascribed ; none can 
be shown to have been denied by the near friends of 
the reputed author as his production ; no doubts can 
be proved to have been entertained of the authen- 
ticity of any part of the New Testament at the time 
of its first publication. 

That apocryphal writings existed in the first cen- 
turies, is a fact which, so far from embarrassing the 
evidence for the authenticity of the New Testament 
books and the truth of the gospel history, very mate- 
rially confirms it. Had it not been notorious that 
the apostles did write gospels and epistles, it is not 
likely that so many would have attempted to pass ofl 
spurious gospels in their names. Had it not been 
that the fame of Christ and his apostles was very 
great in all lands from the beginning, it is not prob- 
able that all these apocryphal authors rould have 
thought of writing about them, or in tneir names; 
much less that they would have expected a market 
for their works. Had it not been notorious and 
universally allowed, that Christ and his apostles 
wrought miracles and did many wonderful works, it 

is not probable that all these writers would have 

8 



66 M'lLYAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

taken it for granted, and sought to build up their 
particular opinions upon the assumption. '' They all 
suppose the dignity of our Lord's person, and a power 
of working miracles, together with a high degree ol 
authority, as having been conveyed by him to his 
ap.istles."* 

That apocryphal books should have been pub- 
lished in the name of the apostles, is precisely what 
was to be expected from the wide circulation, great 
popularity, and eminent reverence which iheir authen- 
tie writings had obtained. Current notes soon awa» 
ken a disposition to counterfeit them. Popular med- 
icines soon bring into the market apocryphal inven- 
tions wearing their names. The effort to pass off the 
latter is the best proof of the estimation of the former. 

The New Testament writers have been treated in 
this respect precisely like others. So writes Augus- 
tine: "No. writings ever had a better testimony af- 
forded them, than those of the apostles and evangel- 
ists; nor does it weaken the credit and authority of 
books received by the church from the beginning, 
fhat some other writings have been without ground, 
and falsely ascribed to the apostles ; for the like has 
happened, for instance, to Hippocrates; but yet his 
genuine works have been distinguished from others 
which have been published under his name."^ Such 
also has been the case with many others. Several 
spurious orations were published under the names of 
Lysias and Demosthenes. Works were ascribed to 
Plautus and Virgil and Horace, which had no title to 

• Lardner, vol 3, p. 131. t Ibid. 3, 134. 



AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 87 

their names. But it was no difficult matter for the 
Greek and Roman critics to separate the genuine 
from the apocryphal works of those authors. Thus it 
was also with the early Christians. They proved all 
things, and held fast that only which was good. 
"We receive Peter and the other apostles as Christ," 
said Serapion, bishop of Antioch; "but as skilful 
men, we reject those writings which are falsely as 
cribed to them." 

Here we might safely leave the question of au- 
thenticity ; for 2f the evidence adduced does not prove 
the New Testament books to have proceeded from 
the apostles, no book of a past age has any pretension 
to authenticity: that Milton wrote Paradise Lost 
must be considered unworthy of credit; that the 
orations bearing the name of Cicero were composed 
or delivered by that orator, must be condemned as 
one of the apocryphal inventions of some age of 
monks and darkness. "I find more sure marks of 
authenticity in the New Testament," said Sir Isaac 
Newton, "than in any profane history whatever." 

But inasmuch as your minds cannot be furnished 
with too much information on this fundamental sub- 
ject, I will reserve some important views for a sub- 
sequent lecture. 

There is a lesson for the believer in what has been 
exhibited of great practical interest. It is manifest 
from the testim<mies adduced, that the scriptures of 
the New Testament were treated among the primitive 
Christians, not only as true and possessed of inspired 
authority in reference to all questions of doctrine and 



66 H'lLVAlNE'S EVIlJEHCES. 

obedience, but as very precious — "more to be desired 
than gold," They loved them as an inestimable 
treasure; they kept them, consulted them, and ex- 
alted them in their hearts and houses and asseml lief, 
as a companion for every trial, a guide in every diU 
Gculty, a gift of God, for the preservation and honor 
of which they were ready to shed their blood. Thf»y 
ff^lt them to be *' profitable for doctrine, for reproof, 
for correction, for instruction in righteousness." How 
does all this rebuke the lukewarmness with which 
the Scriptures are regarded by too many professing 
Christians of the present day. In primitive times, 
believers would read them, though they paid for the 
privilege with their lives. In these days, multitudes 
who call themselves believers can hardly be persuaded 
to search the Scriptures, though every facility is 
afforded and the Bible is in honor. What a tremen- 
dous account must he give to God, who neglects his 
word! Let us imitate not only the affectionate de- 
votion with which the primitive Christians read the 
Bible, but also the diligent zeal with which they sur- 
mounted innumerable obstacles in circulating copies 
of its books through the world. We possess facilities 
for such an object which they had not. The press is 
placed in our hands for this very purpose. It is our 
gift of tongues. Let us realize the responsibility we 
are under for the improvement of so rich a talent, and 
speed its work and multiply its branches of applie3a- 
tion, till the sound of the gospel has gone out into all 
the earth, and the words of Jesus to the ends of the 
world, and there is nothing hid from the light thereof. 



AUTHENTICIXY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 89 



LECTURE III 

A.UTHENT1CITY AND JNTEGRITY OF THE NEW lESTA- 

MENT. 

Our attention was exclusively occupied, during 
the last lecture, in tracing up the line of testimony 
by which the church of Christ in these days is certi- 
fied that her sacred books, composing the volume of 
the New Testament, are those very books which were 
written by the apostles of the Lord Jesus. A series 
of attestations was followed up, by which we wero 
conducted into the very age and presence of the apos- 
tles, and enabled to inquire of those who, having been 
their contemporaries and in habits of intercourse with 
them, must necessarily have known what books they 
wrote. A mass of evidence was obtained, by which 
the authenticity of the New Testament was placed 
on the most immovable basis. But, inasmuch as we 
are now laying the foundation of our subsequent and 
more direct arguments for the truth of Christianity 
as a divine revelation, it is of the greatest importance, 
that in respect to this preliminary subject, every 
mind be well assured, and that nothing of importance 
to the impressiveness as well as sufficiency of lie 
evidence be omitted. In the present lecture there- 
fore, we pursue still further the question to which the 

last was devoted. 

8* 



9C M'lLYAIKE'S £yiD£JfC£S. 

From the whole tenor of the previous lectare, it 
is evident that the cawow of the New Testament — 
in other words, the collection of those books which 
were considered as the inspired and authoritative 
writings of the apostles and evangelists, to the exclu- 
sion of aU others — ^was not biade wrrnoiTT great care, 

AND THE MOST DELIBERATE, HCTELLIGENT INVESTIGATIOff 

Such is the witnessing of an eminent writer of the 
fourth century. '^ Our canonical books," says Angus- 
tine, ^^ which are of the highest authority among us, 
have been settled with great care: they ought to be 
few, lest their value should be diminished; and yet, 
they are so many, and written by so many persons, 
that their agreement throughout is wonderful."* The 
method pursued by the early Christians in determin* 
ing what books had a just claim to the character of 
canonical scriptures, was precisely that by which we 
have been investigating the same subject. It was 
not enough, for the reception of a writing, that i\ 
came to them under the name of an apostle, and was 
considered by some as justly entitled to that honor. 
Its descent was carefully traced. How was it re- 
garded by the preceding generation, and by the gener- 
ation before that? Was it known by those who lived 
nearest the time and the person associated with its 
claims? Had it been received by the churches — ^re- 
ferred to and quoted, as possessing canonical author- 
it}', by Christian writers since the period of its general 
publication ? Had it been handed down by the gen- 
eral and concurrent tradition of the church, written 

• Lardner, vol. 2, p. 596. 



AirTHENXICIT"X OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 91 

and unwritten, as the work of the writer whose name 
it bears ? Such was the mode which, we know from 
the remaining works of Irenseus, TertuUian, Eusebius, 
C}ril, and Augustine, was employed in their days., 
and in all times of the primitive church. *' The books 
of the canonical Scriptures," says Augustine, "estab- 
lished in the times of the apostles, and conlirmed by 
the testimony of the succession of bishops and churches 
in all following times, are placed in a peculiar de- 
gree of authority, to which the judgment and under- 
standing of all pious men are subject." 

The numerous catalogues which have descended 
to us from the early centuries, are sufficient evidence 
of the care with which th6 canon of the New Testa- 
ment was settled. In primitive times, when, from a 
variety of causes, spurious books abounded, and the 
distant and scattered churches, incapable of much 
intercourse with those near the centre of Christian 
light, were most liable to be deceived, these catalogues 
were of the greatest importance. How numerous 
they must h^ve been may be, in some w^ise, conceived 
from the fact, that although but a very small portion 
of the works of the first four centuries are extant, 
there are among them no less than thirteen indepen- 
dent catalogues, all of them composed by authors 
scattered over a period of not more than one hundred 
and eighty, out of the first four hundred years after 
llie birth of Christ. 

The same care is seen in the pains that were taken 
to obtain the most exact information as to the authen- 
ticity of the books bearing apostolic names ; and also 



^ I 



92 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

from the decisive censure and aversion with which an 
attempt to pass a spurious work upon the church was 
visited. Pious and learned heads of the churches used 
to journey to Palestine, and reside there for a consid* 
orable length of time, for the express ohjeot of obtain* 
ing whatever valuable knowledge might be found 
there as to the New Testament writings. And of the 
treatment bestowed upon attempted forgeries, we 
have an example in the case of a certain presbyter of 
Asia, soon after the death of St. John, who published 
a book, which is still extant, under the title of thft 
'*Acts of Paul and Thecla." The attempt at impo 
sition was charged upon the author, and confessed. 
Whereupon he was degraded from his office, and the 
whole matter was notified to the churches, that they 
might feel the need of the strictest care thereafter.* 

The gradual steps by which the books of the New 
Testament were multiplied to their present number, 
afforded the best opportunity for a careful and accu- 
rate determination of their authenticity. Had they 
all appeared at once, claiming in their collective form 
to be received by the churches as inspired Scripture, 
the attention of Christians being thus divided among 
twenty-seven independent writings which professed to 
have been written by eight different authors, the dili- 
gence of their investigation would have been also 
divided; its accuracy would have been endangered, 
and the opportunity of imposition greatly increased. 
But such was not the case. The books of the New 
Testament were published singly. They came before 

* Lardner, vol. 1 , p. 435. 



AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAM.ENT. 93 

the churches one by one, with considerable intervals 
between them; thus giving time for the claims of 
each to be deliberately and singly examined. The 
epistle to the Romans appeared at the bar of the 
church in the city of Rome, and had its authority as 
a writing of St. Paul determined, without embarrass- 
ment from any question as to the authentioglK of the 
epistle to the Ephesians. The Ephesianif'^ceived 
the epistle directed to them, and could sit in judg- 
ment upon its claims, without any necessity of de- 
ciding at that time upon the authentlPty of the epis- 
tle to the Romans, or Corinthiailij or Philippians 
Thus were there several years between the beginning 
and completion of the canon of the New Testament 
For a little while, a portion <^he church might pos- 
sess an additional book, which a distant region, on 
account of the difficulty of multiplying and trans- 
mitting copies, would not have received. It may 
have been a period of some years before a church in 
the distant parts of Asia received and was enabled 
satisfactorily to authenticate the e;:istle to the Ro- 
mans. Meanwhile, the canon of Scripture might have 
been composed oFmore books at Rome, than at that 
distant church. 

How long this state of things continued, or whea 
precisely the c^non was closed, is a question rather 
of curiosity than of importance, the authenticity and 
canonical character of any particular book h.-mg in- 
<lcpendent of its determination. We know that the 
principal parts of the New Testament were collected 
before the death of St. John, or at least not long sub- 



94 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

Beqnent to that event. But what individual, or what 
assemblage of persons collected them — where and 
precisely when the work was done, we may indulge 
in plausible conjecture, but cannot certainly ascer- 
tain But what connection have such matters with 
the question of apostolic origin? K the epistle to the 
Romans or the gospel of Matthew was written by the 
disciple whose name it bears, it surely matters little 
that we should know when it became the companion 
of other authentic books in the formation of a separate 
volume, or who arranged its place in that volume, or 
when an assemblage of Christian fathers inserted its 
name in a catalogue, and published it to the churches 
as a canonical writing. It was canonical as soon as 
it was composed. It was a part of the New Testa- 
ment from the moment of its birth. Had the books 
of Scripture never been collected into a volume, but 
kept in separation, as they were first published, to 
the present time, although their preservation would 
have been more difficult, their authority would have 
been the same, and the canon of the New Testament 
complete. Had no father of the church, nor any ec- 
clesiastical council ever issued a declaration of opin- 
ion as to what writings should be included in the list 
of canonical scriptures, we should have wanted indeed 
much valuable testimony now possessed from such 
sources; but the essential claim of each inspired book 
to a place in the canon would have remained unal- 
tered. To substantiate the title of any portion of the 
New Testament to so honorable a place, we need only 
the proof that it was written by the apostle r>r evan* 



AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 96 

gelist to whom it is ascribed. For this we require 
the testimony of primitive antiquity. So far as the 
opinion of ancient councils or authors is deserving of 
attention as a matter of testimony, it is of value in 
the settlement of the canon ; and in this view, such 
opinion is unquestionably of the highest importance ; 
and what we have already exhibited of this kind de- 
serves the greatest consideration. But the point to 
be especially noted is, that the proof of authenticity in 
the subject before us, is the proof of canonical author^ 
ity; that the canon began when the first gospel or 
epistle was pubUshed; that it increased with, every 
additional publication by inspired men, and was 
complete and closed the moment the last writing 
of the New Testament was issued to the churches; 
though at the same time but few of them may have - 
been acquainted with it, though no ecclesiastical as- 
sembly may have sanctioned it, and no union had 
been made with other inspired books, so as to present 
them to the churches as a collection of canonical 
writings under the general name of the New Testa- 
ment. 

As to the arrangement of these books in a single 
volume, it must have been a work of time, according 
to the relative situation and intercourse of any par- 
ticular region- of Christianity. "Those churches 
which were situated nearest to the place whore any 
particular books were published, would of course 
obtain copies much earlier than churches in remote 
parts of the world. For a considerable period the 
collection of these books in each church must have 



15 M'lLVAIWE'S EVIDENCES 

been necessarily incomplete, for it would take some 
time to send to the church or people with whom the 
autographs were deposited, and to write off fair 
copies. This necessary process will also account for 
the fact, that some of the smaller books were not 
received by the churches so early, nor universally, as 
the larger. The solicitude of the churches to possess 
immediately the more extensive books of the New 
Testament, would doubtless induce them to make a 
great exertion to acquire copies; but probably the 
smaller would not be so much spoken of, nor would 
there be so strong a desire to obtain them without 
delay. Considering how diiScult it is now, with all 
our improvements in the typographical art, to multi- 
ply copies of the Scriptures with sufficient rapidity, 
it is truly wonderful how so many churches as were 
founded during the first century, to say nothing of 
individuals, could all be supplied with copies of the 
New Testament, when there was no speedier method 
of producing them than by writing every letter with 
the pen. Even as early as the time when Peter 
wrote his second epistle, the writings of Paul were in 
the hands of the churches, and were classed with the 
other scriptures.* And the citation from these books 
by the earliest Christian writers living in different 
countries, demonstrates that from the time of their 
publication they were sought after with avidity, and 
were widely dispersed." " How intense the interest 
which the first Christians felt in the writings of the 
a]:ostles can scarcely be conceived by us, who have 

♦ 2 Peter, 3:14, 1.5 



AUTHENTICITY OF ^fHE BTEW TE^-TAMEKT 97 

been familiar with these books from our earliest 
years. How solicitous would they be, for example, 
who had never seen Paul, but had heard of his won- 
drrful conversion and extraordinary labors and gifts, 
1o read his writings. And probahly they who had en- 
joyed the high privilege of hearing this apostle preach, 
would not be less desirous of reading his epistles. 
As we know from the nature of the ease, as well as 
from testimony, that many uncertain accounts of 
Christ's discourses aad miracles had obtained circu- 
lation, how greatly would the primitive Christians 
rejoice to obtain an authentic history from the pen of 
an apostle, ©r from one who wrote precisely what 
was dictated by an apostle. We need no longer 
wonder, therefore, that every church should wish to 
possess a collection of the writings of the apostles; 
and knowing them to be the productions of inspired 
men, they w^ould want no further sanction of their 
authority. AH that was requisite was to be certain 
that the book was indeed written by the apostle 
whose name it bore."* Hence the care of St. Paul, 
as he commonly wrote by an amanuensis, to have 
the salutation in his own hand, or to annex his sig- 
nature ; as, for example, in the second epistle to the 
Thessalonians: "The salutation of Paul with mine 
own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so 1 
write." Hence, also, the care so often manifest in 
the epistles, to designate those by name to whom the 
oflfeo of carrying them whither they were addressed 
was intrusted. 

* Alexander on the Canon, p. 138, eto. 

Cvideo««a. ^ 



• . • • • ♦_ 



dh M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

From the authorities quoted in the previous loo* 
ture, it must be full in your recollection that while 
the agreement ^f the ancient churches may be con- 
sidered to have been complete, so far as is importani 
to the argument for the divine origin of Christianity; 
still, there was a difference of opinion as to the 
authenticity and canonical authority of the epistle to 
the Hebrews, of the epistle of James, the second of 
Peter, the second and third of John, the epistle of 
Jude, and the book of Revelation. This diversity was 
not by any means so great or important as some sup- 
pose. Had it not been for the great care and candor 
of those early Christians, from whom we learn the 
fact, it would have seemed of too limited an extent, 
and too inconsiderable in its origin, to merit any more 
than a very transient notice in their writings. But 
wo have no reason to regret the publicity they have 
given it. They have thus put into our hands a very 
strong proof of the discriminating care and jealous 
vigilance with which the primitive churches investi- 
gated the title of any book to admission into the 
canon of the New Testament. That some were 
iloubted, though afterwards universally acknowledg- 
ed, exhibits in a very strong light the certain authen- 
ticity of aU ''hose of which there was never a ques- 
tion. 

The canonical authority of the six epistles above- 
named, as well as of the Apocalypse, has no material 
connection with the argument of the ensuing lectures. 
The evidence of the divine origin and revelation of 
Christianity is entirely independent of the question of 



AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 99 

thoir authenticity. Should we acknowledge them to 
be spurious, no point of Christian doctrine or duty 
would be removed ; no gospel truth would be shaken ; 
no evidence of divine revelation would be diminished. 
To vindicate their authenticity cannot, therefore, be 
required of a lecturer on the evidences of Christianity. 
It is the appropriate office of the biblical critic, and 
belongs to discussions on the canon of Scripture, and 
to the prolegomena of a commentary, instead of the 
course we are now pursuing. But lest the mere 
statement of the fact that doubts were once enter- 
tained as to the authenticity of these writings, should 
leave on some minds an impression unfavorable to 
their character as inspired Scriptures, it will be well 
to bestow a moment's attention on the amount of im- 
portance to which those doubts are justly entitled. 

With regard to the epistle to the Hebrews, no 
question was entertained as to its being the work of 
St. Paul, among the churches of the earlier centuries, 
except those of the Latin Christians. The fact that 
the Arians were the first in the Greek churches who 
are said to have denied that it was ^written by St 
Paul, is an important testimony in its favor. The 
objections of the- Latins did not pretend to any eccle- 
siastical tradition, or any authority of earlier churches, 
in opposition to its Pauline origin ; but were based 
entirely on its internal character, and especially on 
th<» handle which the fourth and fifth verses of the 
sixth chapter seemed to afford the sect of the Mon- 
tanists, in viniication of their prominent doctrine, that 
those guilty of grievous transgressions should be irra 



100 1['ILVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

fooably ont off from the church. Hence it was that 
Jerome and Augustine, though of the Latins, could 
not adopt the opinions held by many of their oon- 
tr raporaries, being convinced of their incorrectness by 
the testimony of the ancient churches to the authen- 
ticity of the epistle. 

It should be remarked, that all those who qnes* 
tioned the canonical authority of this epistle, treated 
it with high respect as a Christian and very ancient 
writing of the apostolic age, if not by an apostle's 
hand. They ascribed it either to Barnabas or Clem- 
ent. But for this they had no testimony to appeal to. 
On the contrary, the testimony of the earliest Chris- 
tian writers is very decidedly for St. Paul. The 
fathers of the Greek church unanimously ascribed it 
to him. Jerome, of the fourth century, testifies that 
it was received as a production of that apostle, not 
only by the eastern churches, but by all the Greek 
ecclesiastical tariters, " I receive it," said he, " as 
genuine — guided by the authority of the ancient 
writers." Eusebius, the historian of the church of 
the fourth century, quotes it as the work of St. Paul, 
and says it had. not without reason, been reckoned 
among the other writings of the apostle. Theodoret 
j)08itively asserts that Eusebius received this epistle 
as St. Paul's, and that he manifested that almost all 
the ancients were of the same opinion. Augustine 
?aid " he followed the opinion of the churches of the 
East, who received it among the canonical Scrip- 
tures." Origen, bom A. D. 184, expresses his opin- 
ion that ^' it was not without cause that the ancieniSj^^ 






AUTHENTlCirr OF THE KEW TEaTAMENT. 1»0> 

that is, the immediate snccessora of the apoi^tles, 
'* regarded tlds as an epistle of Paul." The kiternal 
evideixoe is decidedly in fevor of its having been writ- 
ten hy thai apostle* The salutation from the Jewish 
Christians who had been driven out of Italy, Heb 
13:34, and the mention of Timothy as his fellow* 
traveller, Heb. 13 : 23, are very applicable to Paul. 
Not only does the general scope of this epistle tend to 
ihe same point on whieh so mnch stress is laid in his 
other writings, that we are justified only by faith in 
Christ, and that the works and institutions of the law 
are of no avail to our salvation ; but there are also 
various proqpositions found in it which are conspic- 
uous in his other works. The same characteristic 
warmth and energy of expression appear in this as in 
all writings ascribed in the New Testament to the pen 
of St. PanL Hebraisms abound in it as in his other 
epistiies. It contains particular expressions, phrases, 
and colocations of words, which are either peculiar to 
him, or are most frequent in his compositions.* But 
as this is not the place to do justice to a question of 
so nrnch importance, and yet not material to the 
argument of these lectures, I must refer you, for fur- 
ther knowledge and satisfaction, to the learned work 
of professor Stuart of Andover, on the epistle to the 
Hebrews, or to an excellent article in the " Biblical 
Notes and Dissertations," recently firom the pen ci 
Joseph John Gurney, of the society of Friends in 
England. 

The epistle of James, being addressed to Jewish 

* Smneker^s tpanslation of Storr and Flatt^s Bib. Thea. 

9* 



102 M ILVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

believers, was for some time, to a considerable extent 
unknown to the gentile Christians. While this was 
the case, its authenticity was questioned, or rather 
was not certified among the Grentiles. As soon as 
this ceased to be the case, its authenticity was un> 
doubted. It is of great importance to the charaotci 
of this epistle, that in the Syriac version, made at the 
end of the first or the beginning of the second cen- 
tury, while the second epistle of Peter, the second 
and third of John, and the Apocalypse, are omitted, 
the epistle of James, written particularly to the peo- 
ple for whom the version was made, is included and 
placed on an equality with all those books about 
which there was never a question in the church. In 
proportion as it became known among the gentile 
Christians, it passed through a severe and accurate 
scrutiny, till in a short' time it was universally re- 
ceived, and has ever since been universally honored 
as an authentic and inspired portion of the oracles of 
God. 

With regard to the remaining epistles, concerning 
the authenticity of which doubts were for a while 
entertained, it will sufiiice to remark in this place, 
that, the fact of their not having been immediately 
recognized throughout the church as the works of the 
apostles, only shows that the persons who were in 
doubt had not yet received sufficient information to 
make up their judgment; and that the primitive 
Christians, so far from being so greedy after additions 
to the sacred canon as to be easily deceived by a 
plausible pretension to apostolic origin, were ex- 



AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 103 

tremely deliberate and cautious in examining every 
candidate for* admission into the catalogue of Scrip- 
ture. Such being the case, the subsequent reception 
®f these epistles, as soon as full time was given them 
to be universally circulated and known, is perfect 
proof that they were capable of enduring the most 
trying investigation of their inspired origin, and were 
honored with a unanimous verdict as the veritable 
writings of those to whom they were ascribed, and 
as part and parcel of the word of God. The reader 
may find abundant satisfaction with regard to them, 
in Dr. A. Alexander's excellent work on the canon of 
Scripture. 

It has been stated, that at one period doubts were 
entertained in the churches as to the authenticity of 
the book of Revelation. Those doubts imply no defi- 
ciency of testimony. Until the fourth century, the 
character of this book was undoubted, and its author- 
ity was universally acknowledged ; only one writer 
questioning whether John the evangelist was its 
author, and even he admitting that it was written 
by inspiration of God. About the commencement of 
the fourth century, the Millenarian controversy hav- 
ing arisen and distracted the churches, and the mys- 
terious character of the book having been extensively 
employed in the support of new and extravagant doc- 
trines, its character declined } and without any refer- 
enco to testimony in the case, its authenticity was 
by some, though by no means universally or for a 
long nme, brought into question. Thus Eusebius, of 
that century, after having given a catalogue of Ihe 



104 K'ILTAIKS'8 ET:i)BVCES. 

books nniyefflally acknowledged, writes, ''After theaOf 
if it be thought fit, may be placed the^Bevelation ol 
John, ooneermng which we shall observe the different 
opinions at a proper time." And in another place, 
*' There are, concerning this book, diflerent opinions.*' 
'' This is the first doubt exjNressed by any respiectable 
writer, concerning the canonical anthcnrity o{ this 
book' and Ensebins did not rejeet it, bat woold 
have placed it next after those which were received 
with universal consent And we find, at this very 
time, the mo^ learned and judicious of the &ther» 
received the Revelation without scruple, and annexed 
it to their catalogues of the books of the New Testa* 
ment."* It is of no anall importance that a book so 
full of evidence against the heresies of the celelnrated 
Dr. Priestley, should have received from his pen the 
following testimony : ^ This book of Revelation, I 
have no doubt, was written by the apostle JobiL 
Sir Isaac Newton, with great truth, says he does not 
find any other book of the New Testament so strongly 
attested, or commented upon so early as this In* 
deed, I think it impossible for any intelligent and can- 
did person to peruse it without being struck, in the 
most forcible manner, with the pecuUar dignity and 
suUiuiity of its composition, superior to that of any 
other writing whatever ; so as to be convinced that, 
considering the age iu which it appeared, none but a 
person divinely insqpired could have written it."^ It 
IS true, and at first may seem surprising, thai 

* Alexander on tSie Canon. 

t Priestley's Notes on Seriptim 



AUTHENTICITY 01 THE NEW TESTAMENT. 10^ 

wkile a majority of the ancient catalogues contain 
this book, there are many in which it is omitted; 
though it is known that the authors of some of these 
acknowledged its authenticity. The omissions arc 
satisfactorily explained by the consideration thai the 
object of these catalogues was the guidance of the 
people in reading the Scriptures ; and since the mys- 
teriousness of this book* and the use made of it on 
the side of the Millenarian errors when the ceitalogues 
were chiefly composed, seemed to render it inexpedient 
that it should be as generally read as the other scrip- 
tures, its name was excluded from several lists of 
books for universal use, without any intention of pro- 
nouncing upon its canonical character. 

Having now exhibited satisfactory evidence of the 
authenticity of all the books of the New Testament, 
be it remarked, that while every part of the sacred 
volume is of inspired authority, and therefore of such 
importance as that no man can take away from it 
or add unto it without heinous offence against God ; 
still, the argument for the divine mission of Jesus 
and for the divine origin of Christianity depends 
chiefly upon the historical portions, and would ex- 
hibit no deficiency were no attention paid to the 
authenticity of the others. In what remains to be 
said, by way of addition to the various and unequalled 
evidence already adduced, we shall have a view par* 
ticularly to the gospels and Acts of the Apostles. 

ThK testimony of THE AnVERSARIGS OP ChRIS* 
TIAKITV. 

It may be said, with some appearance of a plan* 



106 liaLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

sible objection to the testimony hitherto produced, 
that it is all derived either from the devoted friends 
of the gospel, or else from those who professed to be 
its disciples. Is there no testimony from enemies ? 
The books of the New Testament were widely circu* 
lated ; Christian advocates, in their controversies 
with the heathen, freely appealed to them ; heathens, 
in their works of attack and defence, must have 
spoken of them. In what light did they regard them ? 
Did they ascribe them to their reputed authors; or 
did they question their authenticity ? Now we do not 
grant that the testimony already produced is justly lia- 
ble to the least disparagement on account of its having 
been derived exclusively from the friends of Christ. 
That certain ancients believed the facts contained in 
CsBsar's Commentaries, has never been supposed to 
diminish the value of their testimony to the authen- 
ticity of that work. We will take occasion, by and 
by, to show that the very fact that an early witness 
to the New Testament history was not an eiifuny, 
but a friend, of the gospel, and had become a friend 
from having been once an enemy, is just the ingre- 
dient in his testimony that gives it peculiar conclu- 
siveness. Still, however, we are under no temptation 
to undervalue the importance of an appeal to the 
opinions of adversaries. Let us inquire of enemies 
as well as friends — and. first, of Julian, 

Julian the emperor united intelligence, learning, 
and power, with a persecuting zeal, in a resolute 
effort to root out Christianity. In the year 361, he 
composed a work against its claims. We may be 



AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 107 

well assured that if any thing could have been said 
against the authenticity of its books, he would have 
used it. His work is not extant ; but from long ex- 
tracts found in the answer by Cyril, a few years 
after, as well as from the statements of his opinions 
and arguments by this writer, it is unquestionable 
that Julian bore witness to the authenticity of the 
four gospels and of the Acts of the Apostles. Ho 
concedes, and argues from, their early date ; quotes 
them by name as the genuine works of their reputed 
authors ; proceeds upon the supposition, as a thing 
undeniable, that they were the only historical books 
which Christians received as canonical — the only 
authentic narratives of Christ and his apostles, and 
of the doctrine they delivered. He has also quoted, 
or plainly referred to, the epistles to the Romans, 
Corinthians, and Gralatians, and nowhere insinuates 
that the a:uthenticity of any portion of the New Tes- 
tament could reasonably be questioned,* Let us 
ascend a little higher. 

Hierocles, president of Bithynia, and a learned 
man of about the year 303, united with a cruel 
persecution of Christians the publication of a book 
against Christianity, in which, instead of issuing 
even the least suspicion that the New Testament was 
not written by those to whom its several parts were 
ascrih d, he confines his effort to the hunt of interna) 
flaws and contradictions. Besides this tacit acknow- 
ledgment, his work, or the extracts of it that remain, 
refer to at least six out of the eight writers of the 

• Lardner, vol. 4, p. 341. 



108 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

boc>ks of the New Testament/ Let us ascend still 
higher. 

Porphyry, universally allowed to have been the 
most severe and formidable adversary in all primitive 
antiquity, wrote, about the year 270, a work against 
Christianity. It is evident that he was well ac- 
quainted with the New Testament. In the little 
that has been preserved of his writings, there are 
plain references to the gospels of Matthew, Mark, 
and John, the Acts of the Apostles^ and the epLstle 
to the Galatians.t Speaking of Christians, he calls 
Matthew their evangelist. ** He possessed every ad- 
vantage which natural abilities or political situation 
could afford, to discover whether the New Testament 
was a genuine work of the apostles and evangelists, 
or whether it was imposed upon the world after the 
decease of its pretended authors. But no trace of 
this suspicion is anywhere to he found; nor did it 
ever occur to Porphyry to suppose that it was spuri- 
ous."* How well this ingenious writer understood 
the value of an argument against the authenticity 
of a book of Scripture, and how greedily he would 
have enlisted it in his war against Christianity, could 
he have found such a weapon, is evident from his 
well-known effort to escape the prophetic inspiration 
of the hook of Daniel, by denying that it was written 
in the times of that prophet. We may ascenfi utill 
higher. 

Celsus, esteemed a man of learning among the 

• Lardner, vol. 4, p. 259. t Ibid. 4, 234 

7 MarsVs Michaelis, 1, 43. 



AUTHENXIGITY OF THE NEMr fEtil AmJiiN T. 109 

ancients, and a wonderful philosopher among modem 
infidels, wrote a labored argument against the Chria- 
tians. He flourished in the year 176, or about 
seventy-six years after the death of St. John. None 
can accuse him of a want of zeal to ruin Christianity. 
None can complain against his testimony as deficient 
in antiquity. An industrious, ingenious, learned 
adversary of that age, must have known whatever 
was suspicious in the authorship of the New Testa- 
ment writings. His book entitled, " Thf3 True Word," . 
is unhappUy lost; but in the answer composed by 
Origen, the extracts from it are so large, that it i& 
difficult to find of any ancient book, not extant, more 
extensive remains. The author quotes from the gos^ 
pels such a variety of particulars, even in these frag- 
ment's, that the enumeration would prove almost an 
abridgment of the gospel narrative.* Origen has 
noticed in them about eighty quotations from the 
books of the New Testament, or references to them. 
Among these there is abundant evidence that Celsus 
was acquainted with the gospels of Matthew, Luke, 
and John. Several of Paul's epistles are alluded to. 
His whole argument proceeds upon the concession 
that the Christian Scriptures were the works of tho 
authors to whom they were ascribed. Such a thing 
as a suspicion to the contrary is not breathed ; and 
yet no man ever wrote against Christianity witb 
greater virulence. Hence it appears, '*by the tes- 
timony of one of the most malicious adversaries the 
Christian religion ever had, and "who was also a man ' 

* Doddridge, in Lardner, vol. 4, pp. 145, 147. 

lO 



no H'lLYAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

of considerable parts and learning, that the writings 
of the evangelists were extant in his time, which 
was the next century to that in which the apostles 
lived ; and that those accounts were written by 
Christ's own disciples, and consequently in the 
very age in which the facts there related were done, 
and when therefore it would have been the easiest 
tiling in the world to have convicted them of false- 
hood, if they had not been true."* " Who can for- 
bear," says the devout Doddridge, " adoring the 
depth of divine wisdom, in laying up such a firm 
foundation of our faith in the gospel history, in the 
writings of one who was so inveterate an enemy to 
it, and so indefatigable in his attempts to overthrow 
it?"^ Who, I will add, can help the acknowledg- 
ment that in Celsus, Porphyry, Hierocles, and Jul- 
ian — all of them learned controversialists, as well 
as devoted opponents and persecutors of Christians, 
extending their testimony from the seventieth year 
after the last of the apostles, to the year of our Lord 
361 — every reasonable demand for the testimony of 
enemies is fully met, and a gracious Providence has 
perfected the external evidence for the authenticity 
of the New Testament ? 

We proceed to confirm the abounding proof 
already adduced, by a brief reference to the I4n- 

GUA6R AND STYLE OF THE NeW TeSTAMENT. 

I . The language and style are in perfect accora-^ 

* Answer to " Christianity as Old as the Creation *' *»♦ 
Leland, vol. 2, chap. 5, pp. 150-154. 

t Doddridge, in Lardner, vol. 4, p. \A^ 



.-- ^. 



AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Ill 

ance with the local and other circumstances of the 
reputed writers. They were Jews by birth, Jews 
by education, Jews by numerous and strong attach- 
ments, Jews in all their associations of thought and 
feeling, Jews were, in great part, the persons to 
whom they wrote. Jewish prejudices, objections, 
and peculiarities were, to a great extent, the ob- 
stacles in their way. The religious and political 
institutions of the Jewish nation, though perfectly 
exterminated in a few years after they wrote, were 
in full establishment till after the death ot all of them 
except St. John. Hence it is reasonably expected 
that Jewish peculiarities should be found frequently 
and broadly stamped upon any writings truly pro- 
fessing to have proceeded from their pens. Such, 
notoriously, is the case with the writings of the New 
Testament. None but Jews could have composed 
them. None but Jews who lived before the destruc- 
tion of their temple and city and polity and nation 
could have cast them in their present mould, or 
marked them with all those indescribable and in- 
imitable touches of a Jewish hand which their style 
and language everywhere exhibit. The use of words 
and phrases which are known to have been peculiar 
to Judea in the times of the apostles ; the continual, 
familiar, and natural allusions to the ceremonies and 
temple-service of the Jews, as then existing, and 
which soon passed away; the universal prevalence 
of a mode of thinking and of expression, which 
none but a Jew brought up under tlm Old Testa- 
ment, always accustomed to think of religion through 



112 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDEKC15». 

» 

the types and shadows of the law, and reared amidst 
the usages, prejudices, associations, and errors of the 
Jewish people, as subsisting in the times of the apos> 
ties, could have introduced without awkwardness and 
obvious forgery — all bear decided witness not only 
that the writers of the New Testament were Jews 
originally in every sense, but that they must have 
formed their habits of thinking, feeling, and writing, 
before the destruction of the Jewish state ; in other 
words, before the fortieth year after the death of 
Christ. From that time, so entirely was every ves* 
tige of the religion and polity of the Jews destroyed, 
that except among those whose minds had been 
moulded under preexisting circumstances, the writ* 
ing of a book in the language and style, and abound- 
ing in the peculiarities of the New Testament, would 
have been at least next to impossible^ 

This conclusic^ will appear the more inevitable^ 
when you consider the characteristic features by 
which the Greek of the New Testament is distin- 
guished. In the times of the apostles, Greek was 
almost a universal language. It was spread over all 
Palestine. The Jewish coast on the Mediterranean 
was occupied by cities either wholly or half Greek 
On the eastern border of the land from the Arnon up- 
wards, towards the north the cities were Greek, and 
towards the south in possession of the Greeks. Sev 
eral cities of Judea and Galilee were either entirely, 
or at least half, peopled by Greeks. ^' Being thu» 
%vored on all sides, this language was spread, b} 
means of traffic and intercourse, through all classes 



AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 113 

80 that the people, though with many exoeptionsi 
considered generally, understood it, although they 
adhered more to their own language."* But tlie 
Greek thus spoken in Palestine was not like that of 
Attica, nor of the cities of Asia Minor; but having 
become degenerated in consequence of its associations 
with people whose native tongue was Hebrew, by 
means of Chaldee and Syriac intermixtures, into 
Western Aramean, it contained a large share of the 
idioms and other peculiarities belonging to this 
heterogeneous neighbor. Such was the language in 
which the apostles must have written. Now, if the 
books of the New Testament be their writings, they 
must contain the characteristic features of that Pal- 
estine Grreek. Such is most manifestly the case- 
These books are in Greek, not pure and classic, such 
as a native and educated Grecian would have written, 
but in Hebraic Greek ; in a language mixed up with 
the words and idioms of that peculiar dialect of the 
Hebrew which constituted the vernacular tongue of 
ilie inhabitants of Judea and Galilee in the age of the 
apostles. Had it been otherwise, were the language 
of the New Testament pure and classic, then the 
writers must have been either native and educated 
Grecians, or else Jews of much more Attic cultiva- 
tion than the apostles of Christ. In either case a 
suspicion would attach to the authenticity of our 
sacred books. Neither case being true, the evidence 
of authenticity is materially confirmed. 

• Hug on the Greek language in Palestine. — Bit Reposi* 
tary,Na 3 



M4 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

• 

But we go farther. The Greek of the New Tea* 
tament could not have been written by men who had 
learned their language after Ihe age of the apostles. 
This mingling of Ghrecian and Aramean, as it is pre- 
served in the New Testament, ceased to be the fa« 
miliar tongue of Christians in Palestine befc^re the 
death of St. John. When Jerusalem, with the whole 
civil and religious polity of the Jews, was, in the 
seventeenth year of the Christian era, entirely de- 
stroyed, and the descendattts ^ Abraham were rooted 
out of the land, and foreigners came in from all quar- 
ters to take their places, the language of the country 
underwent such a change, that exc^t with the scat- 
tered few who had survived the desolation ol their 
country, the Greek of the New Testament was no 
more a living language. When St. Jc^n died, there 
was probably not a man alive who could speak or 
write precisely that tongue. In the second century, 
an attempt to compose a book in the name of the 
apostles, and in imitation of their Greek, would have 
been detected as easily as if a full-bred Frenchman, 
never out of France, should attempt to compose a 
vohime in a dialect of English, and endeavor to pass 
it off as the work of a plain, sensible, but unpolished 
Yorkshireman. Hence, while doubts were enter- 
tained for a while, in some parts of the church, as tc 
the autl^nticity of some portions of the New Testa« 
ment, it was never doubted whether they were writ- 
ten by men who had lived when the Greek of Pales- 
tine, as it had been in the apostolic age, was yet 
alive. 



y 



AUTHENTICITT OP THE NEW TESTAMENT. 115 

2. The language, and style of the New Testa^ 
ment are in perfect harmony with the known char* 
acters of the reputed writers. The apostles and 
evangelists were men of plain, sound understanding! 
but without any polish of education, and not likely 
to adorn their writings with much rhetorical dress. 
Paul, the only exception to this character, was well 
read in Jewish, and, we have reason to believe, in 
Grecian literature. From other sources besides the 
New Testament, we are informed of certain peculi- 
arities of natural character, as having distinguished 
some of those to whom the books of the New Testa- 
ment are ascribed. John, for example, is always 
represented in ecclesiastical history as having been 
remarkable for meekness and gentleness, and a man- 
ner and spirit full of mild affection. Paul, we always 
read of as characterized by prompt, energetic zeal 
and animated boldness. If the books bearing their 
names were written by those apostles, we must ex- 
pect to find in them the distinctive stamp of their 
respective characters. So it is. In the historical 
books, none of which the educated Paul composed, 
there is no ornament of style, but merely the sim- 
{dioity and directness of plain sensible men, honestly 
relating what they familiarly knew, and disregard- 
ing style in their intentness upon truth. In the 
epistles of Paul, however, the case is entirely differ* 
ent. There we behold the style of a writer brought 
up in the schools, though obviously in the schools of 
JudeCi. Accustomed to writing and to argument, he 
voasons precisely as we should expect of Saul of 



nC M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

Tarsus, after having been educated at the feet of 
Gamaliel, and arrested by divine power and grace on 
the road to Damascus, and made to "count all 
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge 
of Christ." Everywhere in the epistles bearing his 
name, are written the strong characters of the pe- 
culiar zeal and boldness, as well as education, that 
belonged to Paul; w^hile throughout the writings 
ascribed to John, there breathes the sweet spirit of 
gentleness and tender aflfection, so characteristic of 
"that disciple whom Jesus loved." Similar state- 
ments might be made with regard to other writers of 
the New Testament, in proportion as their peculi- 
arities of temperament are known and conspicuous. 
• From all that has now been said, it may easily bo 
made to appear, that if the historical books of the 
New Testament, the gospels and Acts of the Apostles 
on which our subsequent argument will chiefly de- 
pend, be not authentic — in plainer terms, if they be 
forgeries, nothing less than a miracle can account for 
their early and universal currency. Remember that 
John liv^d to the end of the first century. It cannot 
be supposed that books falsely pretending to have 
been written by those very evangelists with whom ho 
had been so intimately associated, and one of them 
professing to have been written by himself, could 
have gained a reputable currency in the churches 
while he lived. He certainly knew what he and the 
other evangelists had published ; and no motive oan 
be assigned that could have induced him to suffer a 
forgery to pass unexposed. We conclude, therefore^ 



AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 117 

that if these books be not authentic, they must have 
been palmed on the churohes after the death of John ; 
tliat is, after the beginning of the second century. 
Suppose we descend to the third. Can it be im- 
agined that the deception was introduced after this 
century commenced? Impossible ; since by this time 
the books in question were read every Lord's day, in 
all the churches, quoted by writers of all countries, 
universally received as the oracles of God. If a de- 
ception was introduced at all, it was brought in 
somewhere between the death of John and the third 
century — somewhere in the course of the second. 
Now, to obtain a clearer view of the difficulties which 
such an attempt must have had to overcome, let it 
be supposed that during the present year, a volume 
containing a digest of laws, under the title of "Laws 
of the City of New York," should appear among us, 
pretending to be a code of municipal regulations, 
composed, about seventy years ago, by a few of the 
most distinguished inhabitants of that period, and to 
have been received by the citizens, and appealed to 
in their naunicipal courts ever since, as the book of 
the laws of this city ; claiming, moreover, to be ac* 
knowledged and obeyed by the present generation as 
ilie very code inherited from their fathers; what 
would be its chance ? A moral impossibility would 
prevent its success. Nothing but lunacy would 
undertake such a scheme. It would be enon<2:h for 
lawyers and judges and people to say, " It was never 
heard of before. It has never been known in oui 
courts." But this is only a feeble illustration of the 



Ilfi H'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

case before us. If the books in question were forged 
in the name of the evangelists, you must suppose 
that at some period within a hundred years of St. 
John, while many were living who had either known 
him personally or conversed with those who did 
enjoy that privilege, a volume appeared among the 
churches differing widely from those books which, as 
works of the evangelists, they had received and read 
from the beginning, and yet demanding to be con- 
sidered as nothing more nor less than those very 
works. You must suppose the abettors of the im- 
position to have said to the various nations of Chris- 
tians, " These are the genuine gospels in which you 
were educated ; which your fathers died for ; which 
your persecutors endeavored to destroy, and your 
martyrs labored to save ; which have been daily read 
in your families, expounded in your churches, quoted 
in your writings, and appealed to in all your contro- 
versies with heretics and enemies." And yet it must 
be supposed that Christians, notwithstanding their 
notorious love for the writings of the evangelists, and 
their great care in preserving them, were so easily 
and universally imposed on, as never to perceive that 
these fraudulent works, instead of having been ex- 
pounded and read and quoted and appealed to in all 
their churches, had never been heard of before. You 
have to suppose, moreover, that while Christianity 
was surrounded on all sides and opposed at every 
•top by keen-sighted and determined enemies — Jewg, 
on the one hand, with all their cunning ; Greeks and 
Romans on the other, with all their skill and power, 



AUTHENIICIIY OF THE NEW lESTAMENT. IV^ 

ever watching, accusing, and persecuting — none of 
them ever pretended to the discovery that these 
lx>oks, so fraudulently introduced, were not those 
which the apostles wrote and Christians had always 
read ; hut all believed them to be the identical writ- 
ings to which the churches had invariably referred a« 
the law and the testimony. 

You must go still further, and suppose that, not- 
withstanding the wide pubUcity which the genuine 
works of the apostles had obtained among the primi- 
tive churches, so immediately did these spurious pro- 
ductions expel them from the notice and recollection 
of all people, that no interval is known during which 
the question between the two conflicting volumes 
was so much as even debated. You must suppose 
that the spurious were instantly and everywhere 
treated with the reverence belonging to inspired books ; 
that though divers seets of heretics were starting up 
in various parts, all recognized their authority; that 
the churches of Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Colosse, 
Philippi, Gralatia, and Thessalonica, all believed that 
these several epistles, falsely pretending to have come 
to them from St. Paul, were those very ones the auto- 
graphs of which were then in their possession, and 
copies of which they had been continually reading in 
public from the time the originals were received from 
the apostle. Lastly, it must be supposed, that so 
perfect was the forgery, that although every weapon 
and artifice that wit and learning and power could 
contrive, has been employed during eighteen hundred 
years, for the single purpose of undermining the foun« 



12Q M'lI^VAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

datioijs of Christianity, no one of its enemies has yet 
succeeded in picking a flaw in the authenticity of its 
books. He that can digest all this for the purpose of 
maintaining that our sacred writings are not authen- 
tic, can swallqw the most abject absurdity. He sup- 
poses an endless succession of miracles wrought upon 
innumerable minds for the promotion of imposture. 
He believes the laws of nature to have been continu- 
ally violated, under the government of a holy God, to 
countenance unrighteousness. In sustaining this be- 
lief, he must adopt a principle, with regard to miracles, 
the boldness and novelty of which even Hume would 
liave been jealous of. He was so modest as only to 
maintain that no testimony can prove a miracle. 
Here, however, the sceptic must maintain that the 
most absurd miracle can be proved, not only without 
any testimony, but against all testimony. 

Enough has now been said to enable you to judge 
whether the learning or the honesty of the miserable 
Paine is most to be admired, when he says, "Those 
who are not much acquainted with ecclesiastical his* 
tory, may suppose that the book called the New Tes- 
tament has existed ever since the time of Jesus Christ; 
but the fact is historically otherwise. There was no 
such book as the New Testament till more than three 
hundred years after the time that Christ is said to 
have livedo Whether we ought to save this poor 
sceptic from the charge of a gross and deliberate 
falsehood, by imputing to him disgraceful ignorance, 
I leave you to decide. 

And now, having maintained our cause, permit 



AUTHENTICITY OF THE N£:W TESTAMENT. 121 

me to say, that in argument with unbelievers, wo 
cannot in justice be required to present any of the 
evidence to which you have been listening. The 
whole burden of proof lies with the objector. Should 
ihe authenticity of Paradise Lost be called in ques- 
tion, no believer in its Miltonian origin would feel 
himself called upon to prove it. We should wait in 
calmness till the sceptic had sustained his objection. 
The book has hved long enough with a fair reputa- 
tion, to be considered authentic till proved to be spu- 
/ious. So would common justice warrant us in say- 
ing with regard to the New Testament. Eighteen 
centuries of high and holy reputation are enough to 
sustain its authenticity, till sceptics, besides pro- 
flouncing^ shall prove it a forgery. Let the objector 
be kind enough to state the proof of its spuriousness ; 
let him show the deficiencies in its evidence; let him 
sstablish objections to its legitimacy, which all the 
enemies that surrounded its birth were unable to 
venture ; then will it be time for friends to stand on 
the defensive and prove its apostolic parentage. But 
this we know not that any opposer of Christianity 
ever pretended to have done. How these books were 
forced upon the world; when Christians were so 
asleep as not to perceive that they were not the books 
which they had always been reading, and consulting, 
and expounding, and loving, and suffering for ; when 
the enemies of Christians were so miraculously blind- 
ed, and the den of lions in which the church for so 
many centuries existed was so miraculously hushed 
and overruled, that such an imposture could gain ad^ 

KvidencM. X X 



122 M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

mission and dwell in universal quietness, without so 
much as one paw to pounce on the prey or one vigi- 
lant foe to discover its existence — ivhat is the evidence 
that such an event ever took place, I never heard of 
a human being undertaking to show. You might as 
well pretend to prove that our American Declaration 
of Independence, circulated in numberless copies 
tlirough the country, is not authentic — that our revo- 
lutionary fathers published no such document, or else 
that ours is not the declaration which they published. 
The adversaries of Christianity are wary. It would 
require learning and time and talents to make even a 
plausible show of strength, in conflict with the testi 
mony to the authenticity of the New Testament; bui 
it takes no time, requires no talent or knowledge, foi 
such persons to insinuate that its books are forgeries — 
to put out a wise suspicion that they were not writ- 
ten by the original disciples. No argument can re- 
fute a sneer, nor any human skill prevent its mis- 
chief. They know that many a mind will catch the 
plague of infidelity by the touch of their insinuation, 
without ever finding, or caring to seek the antidote. 
Any body can soil the reputation of an individual, 
however pure and chaste, by uttering a suspicion, 
which his enemies will believe, and his friends never 
hear of A puff of idle wind can take up a million oi 
the seeas of the thistle, and do a work of mischief 
which the husbandman must labor long and hard to 
undo, the floating particles being too trifling to be 
seen, and too light to be stopped. Such are the seeds 
ui infidelity, so easily sown, so difficult to be gathered 






INTEGRITY OF THE NEW IjSSTAMENT. 12o 

up, and yet so pernicious in their fruits, it is the 
work of Grod, much more than of man, that they do 
not spread more rapidly and widely. The hand cf 
divine Providence interposes to arrest it, where the 
rogular array of human reasoning would have no 
rof)m tc use its strength. 

Here we should leave the subject, were it not that 
one question of importance remains to be answered 
How do we know that the New Testament has pre- 
served its integrity? While it appears so conclu- 
sively that our present books are verily those which 
the evangelists and apostles wrote, and the primitive 
churches loved and read, how does it appear that they 
have undergone no material alteration since those 
times? On this head, the answer is complete. 

We may reason from the perfect impossibility of 
any material alteration. The Scriptures, as soon as 
written, were published. Christians eagerly sought 
for them, copies were multiplied, carried into distant 
countries, esteemed a sacred treasure, for which dis- 
ciples were willing to die. They were daily read in 
families and expounded in churches; writers quoted 
them; enemies attacked them; heretics endeavored 
to elude their decisions; and the orthodox were vigi 
lant, lest the former in their efforts to escape the in- 
terpretation should change the text. In a short time 
copies were scattered over the whole inhabited portior. 
ijf the earth. Versions were made into different Ian* 
guages. Harmonies and collations and commentaries 
and catalogues were carefully made and published 
Thus universal notoriety, among friends ap'l enemies, 



124 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

was given to every book. How, in such circum- 
stances, could material alterations be made without 
exposure? If made in one copy, they must have 
been made universally ; or else some unaltered copies 
would have descended to us, or would have been 
noticed and quoted in ecclesiastical history and the 
writings of ancient times. If made universally, the 
work must have been done either by friends^ or by 
heretics^ or by open enemies. Is it supposable that 
open enemies J unnoticed by Christians, could have 
altered all or a hundredth part of the copies, when 
they were so continually read and so aifectionately 
protected? Could the sects of heretics have done 
such a work, when they were ever watching one an- 
other as jealously as all their doings were continually 
watched by the churches? Could true Christians 
have accomplished such a task, even if any motive 
could have led them to desire it, while heretics on 
one hand, and innumerable enemies on the other, were 
always awake, and watchful with the Scriptures in 
their hands to lay hold of the least pretext against 
defenders of the faith? It was at least as unlikely 
that material alterations in the New Testament 
should pass unnoticed, and become universal, in tlie 
early centuries and in all succeeding ones, as that an 
important change in a copy of the Constitution of the 
United States should creep into all the copies scat- 
tered over the country, and be handed down as part 
of the original document, unnoticed by the various 
parties and jealousies by which that instrument is so 
closely watched and so constantly referred to. Such 



INXEaKITT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 12? 

was the precise assertion of a writer of the fourth 
century on this very subject. " The integrity," says 
Augustine, "of the books of any one bishop, however 
eminent, cannot be so completely kept as that of the 
canonical Scripture, translated into so many lan« 
guages*, and kept by the people of every age; and 
yet, some there have been who have forged writings 
with the names of apostles. In vain indeed, because 
that Scripture has been so esteemed, so celebrated, 
so known."* Reasoning with a heretic, he says, **If 
any one should charge you with having iaterpolated 
some texts alleged by you, would you not immediately 
answer that it is impossible for you to do such a thing 
in books read by all Christians? And that if any 
such attempt had been made by you, it would have 
been presently discerned and defeated by comparing 
the ancient copies ? Well, then, for the same reason 
that the Scriptures cannot be corrupted by you, 
neither could they be corrupted by any other peo- 
ple."t 

The agreement among the existing manuscripts 
oi the New Testament proves that this holy volume 
has not been corrupted. Of no ancient classic are the 
extant manuscripts so numerous, as those of the New 
Testament. Griesbach in making his edition coll ated 
more than three hundred and fifty. These were writ- 
ten in different ages and countries. Some of thorn 
are as old as the fourth or fifth century. Some con- 
tain all, others only particular books or parts of books 
of the New Testament. Several contain detached 

* Lardner, vol. 2, p. 594. t Ibid. 2 228. 



126 M'ILVAINE»S EVIDENCES. 

portions or lessons, as appointed to be read on ceitain 
occasions in the churches. In none of them have we 
any thing differing in essential points from the text 
at present received. It is true, and it sounds to un- 
informed ears quite alarming, that in the manuscripts 
collated for Grriesbach's edition of the New Testament, 
as many as one hundred and fifty thousand various 
readings are said to have been found. But all alarm 
will seem gratuitous, when it is Icnown that not one 
in a thousand of these various readings makes any 
perceptible, or at most, any important variation of 
meaning; that they consist almost entirely in mani- 
fest mistakes of transcribers, such as the omission or 
transposition of letters, errors in pointing, in gram- 
mar, in the use of certain words instead of others of 
similar meaning, and in changing the position of 
words in a sentence. The very worst manuscript, 
were it our only copy of the New Testament, would 
not pervert one Christian doctrine or precept. By 
all the omissions and all the additions contained in 
all the manuscripts, no fact, no doctrine, no duty, 
presented in our authorized version, is rendered either 
obscure or doubtful. The diversity of readings is 
ample proof that our present manuscripts were made 
from various copies in ancient times.; while the in- 
considerable importance of this diversity of readings 
shows how nearly those copies conformed to the origi*^ 
nal Scriptures, and how Uttle difference would be 
seen between our present New Testament and the 
autographs of its writers, could they be now collated. 
No anciont book has preserved its text so uncorrupt 



iNTEGEIjy OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 127 

as those of the New Testament. None is attended 
with so many means of detecting an inaccarate read- 
ing. A common reader, could he compare the varions 
Hianuscript.s, would he sensible of no more difTerenoe 
among them than among the several copies of his 
English Bible, which have been printed during the 
last two hundred years. 

The unoorrupt preservation of the text of the New 
Testament is also evident from its agreement with 
the numerous quotations in the works of early 
Christian writers^ and with those ancient transla- 
tions which are now extant. In the remaining hooks 
of the fathers of the first three centuries, quotations 
from the New Testament are so abundant, that 
almost the whole of the sacred text could be gathered 
from those sources. Excepting some six or seven 
verses, the genuineness of which is not perfectly set- 
tled, there is an exact agreement in all material 
respects, between those quotations and the corre- 
sponding parts of our New Testament. The same 
confirmation, though still more satisfactory, is de- 
rived fliom ancient versions. We possess, in various 
languages, versions of the New Testament, reaching 
as far back as the early part of the second century. 
The MsBso-Gothic version, discovered by Mai in 1817, 
and made by Ulphilas, bishop of the Meeso-Groths, in 
the year 370, of which only fragments were possessed 
before, has the same text as ours. The old Syriac 
version, called Peshito, is considered by some of the 
best Syriac scholars to have been made before the 
close of the first century. It was certainly in exist- 



128 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

ence and general use before the close of the second. 
Though never brought into contact with our copies 
of the New Testament, because not known in Europe 
till the sixteenth century; though handed down by 
a line of tradition perfectly independent of, and un- 
known to, that by which our Greek Testament was 
received ; yet when the two came to be compared, 
the text of the one was alifiost an exact version of 
the text of the other. The difference was altogether 
unimportant. So clearly and impressively has divine 
Providence attested the integrity of our beloved Scrip- 
tures. 

It is now high time we had relieved your atten- 
tion. You will allow me to proceed, in the subse- 
quent lectures, on the belief that the authenticity and 
integrity of the New Testament have been satis- 
factorily proved. But let us not separate without 
acknowledging, in thankfulness of heart, our debt 
of gratitude to Him who, on a subject of such un- 
speakable importance, has given us such abundant 
reason for complete conviction. He has made the 
great truth for which we have been contending, 
like 'Uhe round world, so sure that it cannot be 
moved." 



CRBBIfilLITT OF THE OOSPELS. 129 



LECTURE IV. 

CREDIBILITY OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 

In the last two leotures our attention was occapied 
with the authenticity and integriti/ of the New 
Testament. A body of proof was presented, of such 
variety and conclusiveness as should cause us to feel, 
that in taking these important points for granted in 
OUT subsequent course, we assume nothing which 
every candid mind should not acknowledge to have 
been satisfactorily established. You will allow me, 
therefore, to treat the books of the New Testament 
as needing no further argument to prove that they 
were written in the age to which they are ascribed, 
and by the authors whose names they bear. 

But it should be remembered, that a book may 
be authentic and yet not credible. It may have 
been written indeed by the reputed author, and yet 
its narrative may not be worthy of confidence. This, 
I say, is a possible case. Examples illustrating it 
are not numerous. So generally do authentic histo- 
ries prove to be true, that when we have ascertained 
a book to have been composed by the individual 
whose name is on it, we have a strong presumptive 
argument for the truth of all the conspicuous and 
important features in its narrative. But inasmuch 
as these two things are not always associated, an 

6' 



130 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

important question remains to be determined before 
we can open the New Testament as the book of the 
life and religion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and wor- 
thy of entire reliance as an account of what was 
done and taught by himself and his apostles. Does 
the New Testament contain a true history of events 
connected with the ministry of Jesus and his primi- 
tive disciples, so that we may receive as historically 
accurate whatever is related therein? This refers to 
what is usually called the credibility of the gospel 
HISTORY, and expresses the subject of our present 
lecture. 

But lest the bearing of my remarks should not 
be distinctly understood, I will endeavor to state the 
subject still more precisely. Observe, then, it is not 
the inspiration of the gospel history, or that it was 
written by holy men as they were moved by the 
Holy Grhost, that we are now to prove ; nor that it 
contains a revelation from Grod ; nor that its doctrines 
are true; nor that any of its facts were miraculous: 
these are subjects which it would be premature to 
introduce at present. All at which we nov/ aim, is 
\o furnish conclusive evidence that the gospel history 
Is true, in the same sense as Marshall's Life of 
Washington is true — that what it relates, as matter 
vjf fact, is worthy of entire reliance as matter of 
fact, independently of all inferences or doctrines with 
which it may be connected. 

How do we prove the credibility of the gospel 
history? I answer, precisely as you would ascer- 
tain the credibility of any other history. Though* 



OHEDIBILITY OF THE GOSPELS. 131 

a? in the case of authenticity, we are ready to pro- 
duce a variety and an abundance of evidence far 
exceeding what the best established and the most 
unquestionable books of ancient profane history can 
pretend to, still, the nature of the evidence is the same 
In one case as in the other. The fact that one history 
is called sacred, and another profane ; that in one book 
the actions of a holy and extraordinary philanthropist 
named Jesus are related, and in another the actions 
of a wicked and extraordinary man-slayer named 
Cses^r, occasions not the least difference in the nature 
of the evidence by which the credibility of both must 
be ascertained. 

Here it would be perfectly safe and reasonable to 
rest the question of credibility upon the proof arrived 
at in the last lecture. Although it does not follow, 
in all cases, that to prove a book authentic, is to 
prove it credible also with regard to its principal 
events ; yet, in the case before us, the fact that the 
books of the New Testament were written in the first 
century of Christianity, and by the apostles and 
original disciples of Christ, is complete evidence that 
in respect to the main events of the gospel history 
they are true. If one should write a romance, call- 
ing it the memoir of some well-known and distin- 
guished personage, and publish it, not as grave, cred- 
ible biography, but under the character of a novel, 
the authenticity of the work would have no connec- 
tion with its truth. But should he issue a book pro- 
fessing to be the true biography of Washington; 
should he vouch in every way for its truth, and stake 



132 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

his reputation upon its accuracy, in the nddst of a 
generation familiar with the life of that noble man, 
and still containing some who were his companions 
and the eye-witnesses of many of his deeds, it would 
be reasonably inferred, that unless the author were 
an idiot or a madman, his work must be correct, at 
least in the great mass of its statements and in all 
its conspicuous events. He must be aware that, 
under such circumstances, no important narrative 
without truth could escape detection. The fact 
therefore, that he has published, in the midst of this 
generation, what he expects to be received as a cor- 
rect biography of Washington, is sufficient warrant 
that, however inaccurate it may be in minute details, 
and however deficient in many respects of good writ- 
ing and useful history, we may safely receive its 
principal narratives. Such a thing cannot be pro- 
duced as a book published in the age in which its 
events are said to have occurred, and among the 
people to whose minds those events are said to have 
been familiar — a book which its author gravely 
avowed and defended as true and accurate, and yet 
which, in its principal narratives, in its prominent 
characters and occurrences, was not in accordance 
with fact. Men have too much sense, if not too 
much honesty, to attempt such a Quixotic adventure ; 
especially when character and worldly interests are 
committed by the falsehood. But there is no book 
to which this remark is so applicable as the New 
I'estaraent. . Not only was it published in the age in 
which the events related are asserted to have oo« 



CREDIBILITT OF THE aOSPELB. 133 

carred, and among the people to whom they are said 
to have been notorious, but in an age and among a 
people awake to the whole subject of its history, 
determined to sift its correctness to the uttermost, 
capable of the severest scrutiny, and anxious to take 
advantage of the smallest inaccuracy. This the 
writers were perfectly aware of. They must have 
known that in the brevity of the history, in the few- 
ness of its principal facts, in the great prominence 
and notoriety of each, in the few persons to whom 
they belong as their leading agents, in the few places 
and the confined region in which they are said to 
have occurred, and in the brief space of time within 
which they were all embraced, their adversaries 
possessed advantages for investigation which nothing 
but bold and plain truth could confront, and no fic- 
tion could possibly elude. That in the face of all 
these advantages, they did publish, and stake their 
characters and lives upon the correctness of their 
narratives, is a full warrant that they published truth. 
This argument can only be escaped by charging the 
writers of the New Testament with a degree of idiocy 
or madness, which the eminent wisdom and excel- 
lence of their works prove to have been impossible. 
I venture to say, that should the same argument be 
alleged with equal force in behalf of any other ancient 
book of history, its credibility as to the main evenis 
related would be considered, independently of any 
other evidence, as placed beyond a reasonable sus- 
picion. 

Here, then, we might proceed t^ open the New 

10 



134 M'lLVAINES EVIDENCES. 

Testament as a book of correct narrative ; certified 
that, because authentic^ it is therefore, as to all im- 
portant matters of fact, credible. But we are not 
restricted to a single method of proof. The subject 
is compassed about with a cloud of witnesses. Wc 
take up another and broader plan of argument, the 
force of which none can mistake. 

Let me ask by what sort of evidence you would feel 
assured of the credibility of any history professing 
to relate events of a past age ? Suppose you should 
discover a volume hitherto concealed, professing t<i 
have been written by some well-known individual of 
the Augustan age, and to contain a narrative of 
events in the personal history and domestic life ot 
Augustus CsBsar. You would first examine iato 
its authenticity. That settled, you would inquire 
into the credibility of its narrative. The first ques- 
tion would be, did the writer possess every advantage 
of knowing the events in the personal history ol 
Augustus ? May I depend on the sufficiency of his 
knowledge? Now, he may not have lived with 
Augustus, and yet his knowledge may have been 
perfectly adequate. But your mind would be fully 
satisfied on this head, should it appear that the writer 
was not only a contemporary, but that he was do- 
mesticated with Augustus — conversed familiarly with 
him, lived at his table, assisted at his councils, ac- 
p< mpanied him on his journeys. 

The question of adequate knowledge being thus 
nt rest, another would remain : May I depeiid on 
the honesty of the writer? In ordinary cases, you 



CREDIBILITY OF THE GOSPELS. 135 

would be satisfied if nothing appeared in the book 
itself, or in the testimony of contemporaneous writ- 
ings, impeaching his honesty. But your satisfaction 
MTould be much increased should you discover, in the 
style and spirit of the narrative, in its simplicity, 
modesty, and freedom of manner, in the circum- 
stantial character of its details and the frequency of 
its allusions to time, place, and persons, those inter 
nal features of honesty which it is so extremely diffi 
cult, if not impossible, to counterfeit. Your confi- 
dence would grow exceedingly if, on a comparison of 
the book with other well-established histories of the 
same times, you should discover not only that there 
is no contradiction in any particular, but that all its 
allusions to the customs, institutions, prejudices, and 
political events of the times, are abundantly con- 
firmed from other sources. This would set the 
honesty of the writer in a very favorable light. 

But suppose, that at this stage you should din 
cover 4:hree other books upon the same subject, each 
evidently written by a person in the family and 
confidence of Augustus, or else with equally favorable 
opportunities of knowing him — each evidently an 
independent work, and having all the inward and 
outward marks of truth before detailed. Suppose, 
that on comparing these four histories together, you 
find that while each contains some minor facts which 
the others do not, and relates in its own style and 
language what all contain in common, there is yet 
nc disagreement among them ; but on the contrary, 
Jhr most perfect confirmation one of another Surely, 



136 M»ILVA1N£'S EVIDENCES 

after this no further evidence could he demanded of 
the veracity of all those historians. But still, though 
you would have no right to require, you might per- 
haps discover additional evidence. You might search 
collateral history for the private characters of those 
writers ; and how would it heighten your satisfaction 
to find that universally they were esteemed heyond 
reproach, even hy their personal opponents. You 
might also inquire what motive they could have had 
for deception ; and how conclusive would it seem in 
their favor to discover, that so far from any suspicion 
of such a motive attaching to them, they had under- 
taken to publish what they did with the certainty of 
sacrificing every thing earthly, and actually plunged 
themselves by it into poverty, contempt, and suffer- 
ing. One can hardly imagine stronger evidence oi 
truth. None could, with any reason, require it. 

But yet there might be additional evidence 
These historians perhaps had many and bitter per- 
sonal adversaries. How did they treat their books? 
The books were published during the lifetime of 
many who had seen Augustus, and had witnessed 
the principal events described ; they were published 
in the very places where those events took place*, and 
in the midst of thousands who knew all about them. 
How, then, did their enemies treat these histories? 
Now, should you discover that the personal adver- 
saries of these four writers, however disposed, were 
unable to deny, but on the contrary aokno-^^Iedged, 
assumed, and reasoned upon their narratives t^ true ; 
and furthermore, that the thousands who had wit 



CREDlBlLlir OF THE GOSfJiLS. 137 

iiessed the principal events recorded, never contra- 
di<^;ed those narratives, but in numerous instanoet 
afibrded all die confirmation they were capable of; I 
am sure you would think the whole evidence for the 
credibility of those four histories not only conclustivct 
but singularly and wonderfully so. 

I have thus sketched a mass of evidence, and a 
variety of adequate evidence, which, were the half of 
it required for any book of ancient history but the 
Bible, would bring its credibility into utter condem* 
nation. If a book, with all this in its favor, ought 
not to be believed, historical truth, or the possibility 
of ascertaining it, must be given up. But who 
would thifik of resisting such evidence? What 
would be thought of the intellect, not to speak of 
the candor of the man who, with all this before him, 
should take up the memoir of the life of Augustus 
Caesar, as above supposed, and not feel that it were 
Uie absurdest folly to question the accuracy of its 
statements ? In laying out this sketch, I have ex- 
hibited a general view of the evidence for the credi- 
bility of the gospel history. In proceeding to more 
particular details, I hope to show you that every 
branch of the evidence I have glanced at, however 
vain to seek it in favor of any other ancient history, 
can be cited in attestation of the credibility of that in 
the New Testament. 

FroniL the brief view we have taken of the evi- 
lence which may be brought for the credibility of 
any historical document, it appears that the great 
points to be made out in favor of the writer are these 

12* 



138 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

two : competent knowledge and trustworthy honesty. 
Did he know enough to write a true account? and 
then, was he honest enough to he unable to write 
any other than a true account? Establish these, 
and the boofe: is established — the question is closeii 
Let us take this plan as to the history before us 
We have several independent writings containing the 
gospel history. Let us select that of St. John, and 
try the question first upon it. We begin, then, with 
this most important inquiry : 

I. Had the writer of this book sufficient oppor- 
tunities OF POSSESSING ADEQUATE KNOWLEDGE AS TO 
THOSE MATTERS OP FACT WHICH HE HAS RELATED ? I 

do not suppose that much array of argument can be 
necessary to prove that he had every opportunity. It 
is to be first considered, that the amount of know- 
ledge required to enable John, or either of the other 
evangelists, to give an accurate account of so much 
of the life of Christ and of the transactions connected 
with his cause as he has embraced in his narrative, 
was not very considerable. The gospel history is 
contained in a small space. Thirty pages of a com- 
mon family Bible comprise the whole of what John 
has related. It is a plain, straightforward account 
of a very simple, intelligible train of events. There 
arc no labyrinths of historical truth to trace out ; 
no perplexed involutions of circumstances to unravel. 
Consequently, when you consider that John, by the 
testimony of all tradition, as well as that of tho 
gospel history, was a member of the household ol 
Christ — admitted into his most unreserved and afibo- 



rj 



CREDIBILITY OF THE GOSPELS. 139 

tionate interoourse — the disciple whom he specially 
loved, who accompanied him in all hi« journeyings, 
followed him into his retirements, stood beneath his 
cross, and was a constant companion of the other 
disciples, and a witness of their actions— you will 
readily grant that John must have possessed all 
desirable opportunities of knowing, and must actually 
have known the gospel history so perfectly as to bo 
fully competent to write an accurate account. I 
shall therefore refrain from any further remarks upon 
this branch of the argument, and shall pass to the 
second, in entire confidence that I leave no mind in 
any reasonable doubt of the adequateness of our his 
tortan^s knowledge. 

11. The second and the main question to be pur- 
sued is this : Have we reason to rely with implicit 

CONFIDENCE UPON THE HONESTY OF THIS HISTORIAN ? 

Believing him to have known enough to relate the 
truth, may we also believe that he was too honest to 
relate any thing but the truth ? This is a fair and 
plain question. Prove the negative, and John's his- 
tory must be given up. Prove the affirmative, and 
it is " worthy of all acceptation." We begin the 
argument for the affirmative with the history itself 
There are certain characteristic marks of historical 
honesty which can hardly be counterfeited to any 
extent, and always produce a favorable impression 
Take up the history written by St. John. I call 
your attention to the obvious facts that, 

1. Its narrative is in a very high degree circum^ 
UafUial. A fahe witness will not need to be cau* 



14t) MULVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

• ■ 

tioned against the introduction of many mmuto 
circumstances into his statement. The more he 
cennccts it with the particulars of time and place 
and persons, so as to locate his facts, and hring ia 
living men as associated with them, the more doca 
he multiply the probabilities of detection. He gives 
the cross-examination every advantage. It would le 
impossible for a false statement abounding in such 
details, and at the same time exciting general interest 
in the neighborhood where, and soon after they are 
alleged to have occurred, to escape exposure. Conse» 
quently, when we take up a narrative thus minutely 
fyircumstantiai, and which we are sure did excite 
among all classes where its events are located, the 
very highest and most scrutinizing interest, and that 
too within a short time after the period to which the 
events are referred, we always feel impressed with a 
strong persuasion that the writer had the conscious- 
ness of truth and the fearlessness of honesty. It is 
evident that he had no disposition, and therefore no 
cause, to shun the closest investigation. On the 
other hand, if you take up any books professing to be 
histories of events within the reach and investigation 
of those among whom they were first published, but 
yet in a great measure untrue, you will find a great 
deficiency of such minute details of time, place, and 
persons, as would serve to test their faithfulness. 
Compare them with the histories of the Peloponnesia^n 
and Gallic wars, by Thucydides and Julius Caesar, 
and you will see directly how strong a feature of true 
narrative, in distinction from whatever ia in a great 



CREDIBILITY OF THE GOSPELS. 141 

\logree invented, is a circumstantial detail of minute 
Darticulars. 

Generality is the cloak of fiction. Minuteness is 
the natural manner of truth, in proportion to the 
importance and interest of the subject. Such is the 
precise manner and continual evidence of the honesty 
of St. John. His history is full of thp most minute 
circumstances of time, place, and persons. Does he 
record, for example, the resuscitation of Lazarus? 
He tells the name of the village, and describes the 
particular spot v^rhere the event occurred. He gives 
the names of some of the principal individuals who 
were present, mentions many unbelieving Jews as 
eye-witnesses, states the precise object for which they 
had come to the place, what they did and said, the 
time the body had been buried, how the sepulchre 
was constructed and closed, the impression which the 
event made upon the Jews, how they were divided 
in opinion in consequence of it, the particular expres- 
sions of one of them whose name is given, and the 
subsequent conduct of the Jews in regard to Lazarus. 
This, you perceive, is being very circumstantial. It 
is mly a specimen of the general character of St. 
John's gospel. It looks very much as if the writer 
were not afraid of any thing the people of Bethany, or 
tlie survivors of those who had been present at the 
tomb of Lazarus, or the children of any of them, 
might-have to say with regard to the resurrection. 
Now, when you consider that John's history was 
widely circulated while many were yet living in 
Bethany, who, had these events never occurred, must 



142 M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

havp known it, and among a people who in addition 
to every facility had every desire to find out the leasl 
departure from truth, I think you will acknowledge 
that the circumstantial character of this hook is very 
strong evidence that the author must have written 
in the confidence of truth. 

2. Anothet striking evidence to the same point 
is seen in this, that the author exhibits no conscious- 
ness of narrating any thing about which, as a mat- 
ter of notorious fact, there was the smallest doubt 
He takes no pains, evinces no thought of attempting 
to convince his reader of the truth of what he relates. 
On the contrary, the whole narrative is conducted 
with the manner and aspect of one who takes for 
granted the entire notoriety of his statements. He 
comes before the public as one familiarly known, 
needing no account of himself or of his pretensions to 
universal confidence. He goes straight forward with 
liis story, delivering the least and the most wonderful 
relations in the same simple and unembarrassed man- 
ner of ease and confidence, which nothing but an 
assurance of unimpeachable consistency can explain. 
Nothing is said to account for what might seem 
inexplicable — to defend what would probably be cav- 
illed at — to anticipate objections which one feeling 
himself on questionable ground would naturally look 
for. The writer seems to be conscious, that with 
regard tc those for whom especially he wrote, all this 
were needless. He is willing to conmiit his simple 
statement alone, undefended, unvarnished, into the 
hands of friend or foe. 



CREDIBILITY OF THE aOSPELS. 14.1 

Nothing is more remsurkable in this connection^ 
than that while he could not have been ignorant that 
he was relating many very extraordinary and won- 
lorful events, he shows no wonder in his own mind, 
iind seems to expect no wonder among his readers. 
This looks exceedingly like one who writes, not of 
extraordinary events just contrived in his own imagi- 
nation, but of extraordinary events which, whatever 
the wonder they excited when first known, are now 
perfectly familiar not only to himself, but to his read- 
ers. It is one thing to relate a series of astonishing 
occurrences which we feel are perfectly new to the 
readers, and a very different thing to relate the same 
to those who have long since been familiarly ac- 
tjuainted with their prominent particulars, and desire 
only a more circumstantial and confidential account. 
In the former case, the writer would naturally and 
almost necessarily betray in his style and the whole 
texture of his statement an expectation of the wonder 
and probable incredulity of his readers. In the lat- 
ter, he would deliver his narrative as if he were think- 
ing only of an accurate detail of truth, without par- 
ticular reference to whether it were astonishing oi 
the contrary. Thus it is with St. John. There is no 
appearance of his having felt as if any of his gospel 
would be new, or would excite any new emotions of 
wonder in his readers. The marvellous works of 
Christ were at that time notorious. When first heard 
of, they excited universal astonishment. '* His fame 
went abroad, and all the people were amazed." But 
80 much time had now elapsed, that emotions of 



144 M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

wonder had subsided, under the influence of repeti. 
tion and farjiiliarity. In striking consistency wiih 
this is the whole aspect of St. John's narrative. He 
goes directly forward in the relation of events, in 
themselves exceedingly impressive and astonishing, 
exhibiting no sign of any astonishment in his own 
mind, anticipating none in his contemporaneous read- 
ers. How is this to be explained 'r One can discover 
no plausible explanation but in the supposition that 
he was conscious of recording events with which, in 
their chief particulars, the public mind had been 
entirely familiarized. This may deservedly be con 
sidered a strong indication of truth. 

3. I see another plain evidence to the same point 
in the minute accuracy which marks all the allu^ 
sions of this narrative to the manners, customs, opin* 
ions, political events, ana other circumstances of the 
times* The situation of Judea in the time of the 
Saviour, was such as to bring it frequently under the 
eye of the profane writers of that age. From them 
we derive a great many particulars, illustrating the 
several modifications effected in the civil and religious 
institutions of the Jews by their subjection to Rome. 
And thus we have a great many points of comparison 
between the gospel history and the other histories of 
the same times. The former contains innumerable 
references to the peculiarities then existing in the 
Jewish state — its laws, courts, punishments, as well 
as to the opinions, prejudices, and customs then pre- 
vailing. This was dangerous ground for the inventor 
of a story. The continual fluctuations in public 



CREDIBILITY OF THE (JOSPELS. 146 

affairs, the numerous and complex changes in the 
supreme officers of Judea and the neighboring prov- 
inces, as well as in the boundaries and character of 
their governments, within the period embraced in tho 
g )3pel history, must have added greatly to the diffi. 
aulty of an inventor of a narrative located in such 
circumstances, and filled with allusions to them. Wo 
have a Jewish historian of the same age, with which 
to confront the gospel history. Josephus has furnished 
us with a full and minute account of those internal 
affairs of the Jews, both civil and religious, to which 
allusions are made in the gospel history. It would 
be evidently very far beyond the limits of a lecture 
to attempt a proof that all the minutest allusions in 
our sacred history are not only uncontradicted, but 
wherever the same things are spoken of, are posi- 
tively confirmed by the secular authority to which 
we have referred ; but we assert it as a fact well 
known to every student of the gospel history, and of 
which any who have the disposition to examine the 
question may easily be satisfied. Now, it seems to 
me it would have been next to impossible for the 
inventor of a story exciting such general and intense 
iaterest, branching out into such circumstantial de- 
tails, and connected at so many points with the pecu- 
liarities of the times, to tread upon ground so covered 
with snares without being caught.* 

* For this description of evidence the reader will find much ' 
very instructive and useful matter in a recent work entitled. 
•* Undesigned Coincidences in the Writings both of the Old 
and New Testaments, an Argument for their Veracity," by the 
Rev. J. J. Blunt, B D., Prof, of Divinity, Cambridge, Eng 



Bvideucr^ 



13 ■., 



146 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

4 Let us next consider the concurring testimonp 
of other witnesses. We have as yet directed your 
attention to the gospel narrative as furnished by a 
single contemporaneous historian and witness. But 
fl appose you should unexpectedly discover in the ruins 
r>f Herculaneum three distinct writings heretofore 
entirely unknown, but containing the most satisfac- 
tory evidence of authenticity, and evidently written 
in the first century of Christianity, by three several 
and independent authors, each possessed of the best 
opportunities of knowledge ; and suppose that in 
every one of them there should be found a history of 
Christ and his gospei; what an uncommon oppor- 
tunity would it seem of trying the accuracy of this 
book of St. John. Even if these three newly dis- 
covered authors were bad men, yet, if their state- 
ments should agree with his, it would det.ermine the 
accuracy of his history. But if it should appear that 
they were all good men, how much more complete 
would be their confirmation. Suppose, however, it 
should turn out that these three writers were not only 
good men, but, like St. John, disciples of Christ and 
ministers of his gospel, what effect would their concur- 
rent testimony then have upon his accuracy ? Would 
it be diminished in conclusiveness by the discovery of 
their Christian character ? I believe that in the minds 
of multitudes it would, but most unjustly. Precisely 
ths contrary should be the consequence. If four oi 

The volume is reprinted in New York, in connection with the 
celebrated Horse Paulins, by Paley, in which the same speoiei 
of argument is carried on with reference to the epistles of St 
Vanl. 



CfiEDIBILITY OF THE GOSPELS. 14? 

the chief officers in Napoleon's staff had published 
niemoirs of his life, I venture to say that the con- 
cnrrencc of their several statements, instead of hav- 
ing its evidence weakened because they were all 
attached to Napoleon and admitted to his domestic 
circle, would be greatly strengthened in your estima- 
tion by that very circumstance, inasmuch as it would 
insure the accuracy of their knowledge without im- 
peaching their integrity. But some seem to suppose 
that the laws regulating the force of testimony are 
all changed, as soon as the matter of fact in question 
is removed from the department of profane to that of 
sacred history. 

How much has been made of the testimony of the 
Roman historian Tacitus to some of the chief facts 
of the gospel history. It is the testimony of a heathen, 
and therefore supposed to be incomparably valaable. 
Now, suppose Tacitus the heathen had not only been 
persuaded of the facts he has related, but had been 
so deeply impressed with the belief of them as to 
have renounced heathenism and embraced the Chris- 
tian faith, and then published the history we now 
possess ; who does not know, that with the infidel, 
and with many a believer, the force of his testimony 
would have been greatly diminished ? No reason for 
this can be given, except that we have a vague idea 
of some depreciating effect arising from the fact that 
a Christian in the cause of Christianity must le an 
interested witness. To be sure, he is interested ; lut 
is his testimony the less valuable ? 

A scientific man bearing testimony to a ph6< 






I«8 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

nomenon in natural history is an interested witness^ 
because he is devoted to science ; but his testimony is 
not the less valuable. A good man bearing testimony 
to the character of another good man is an interested 
witness, because he is the friend of virtue and of all 
good men ; but his testimony is not the less valuable. 
In this and no other sense vv^ere the original disciples 
interested witnesses. They were interested in Chris- 
tianity only so far as they believed it true. Suppose 
them to have known it to be untrue, and vou cannot 
imagine the least jot or tittle of interest they could 
have had in it. In such a case, on the contrary, the 
current of all their interests and prepossessions would 
have run directly and powerfully in opposition to 
Christianity. This then being the only aspect in 
which they can be i^garded as interested, the force 
of their testimony, so far from being in the least im- 
paired, is greatly enhanced by the consideration. The 
bare fact that any primitive writer bearing witness 
to events related by St. John, was not a heathen or a 
Jew, but a Christian, is the very thing that should 
be regarded as completing his testimony. Is the evi- 
dence of Tacitus, who relates such events, but re- 
mained a heathen, any thing like so strong, as if we 
3ould say. It is the evidence of Tacitus, who was a 
heathen, but believed those events so firmly that he 
became a Christian ? If a man speak well to me of 
I he virtues of a certain medicine, but does not use it 
himself, is his opinion half so weighty as if he were 
to receive it into his own vitals, and administer it in 
his family? Would it be reasonable, in this case, to 



CREDIBILITY OF THE aOSPELS. M^ 

refuse his testimony because you might denominate 
him an interested witness ? 

I have thus enlarged upon this head, because I 
am going to present you with the concurrent testi 
mony of seven ancient writers, in confirmation of the 
accuracy of the gospel history as given by St John. 
They are writers whose testimony has this particular 
value, whereas once they were Jews and enemies 
to the gospel, they were afterwards converted to its 
belief and service, became Christians, and as ChriS' 
Hans wrote, and gave every practical evidence that 
what they wrote they believed. Of these, three 
composed regular histories of the life and labors of 
Christ, similar in object to that of John. One of 
them, besides a memoir of Christ, has carried on 
the subsequent history of Christianity, under the 
name of the Acts of the Apostles. Pour others com- 
posed various letters to different individuals, or bodies 
of Christians, in which they allude continually to 
events related in the narratives of the former. Now 
all these several writings are perfectly independent, 
each of the rest We have them bound up in one 
volume, and are apt to overlook the fact that they 
are as independent productions as if they had never 
been in contact with one another. Written by various 
authors in widely remote countries, in all parts of the 
first century from its forty-first to its ninety-seventh 
year, in as many difierent styles and methods as they 
had writers, these productions cannot, with the least 
reason, be suspected of having been composed in 

concert. Of the competency of the knowledge of 

13* 



150 M'lLVAlNE^S EVIDENCKS. 

each writer, we can have no more doubt than in the 
case of St. John. In each of their histories we see 
die same circumstantiality^ the same striking inter* 
nal* characteristics of honesty, as we have ahready 
noticed in that of the other evangelist. Now, let us 
divest ourselves of the delusion so apt to arise out of 
the thought that they are Christian witnesses, and 
as if this were a question as to the truth of a history 
of Pythagoras by one of his disciples, and these other 
writers were also contemporaneous disciples of Py- 
thagoras, let us bring them face to face and see how 
they agree. Here, then, we have four independent 
histories of the life of Christ, all of them by his con- 
temporaries, besides the other documents we have 
mentioned. Now, "it is an extraordinary and sin- 
gular fact, that no history since the commencement 
of the world has been written by so great a number 
of the companions and friends of an illustrious person 
as that of our Saviour. One contemporary history is 
a rarity ; two is a coincidence scarcely known ; four 
is, so far as appears, unparalleled."* We have there- 
fore an unequalled opportunity of coming at the 
truth. We compare our several histories. If we 
find them contradictory, our confidence declines. If 
they bear a systematic, particular, and yet com- 
prehensive resemblance, we must suspect collusion. 
But we perceive neither the contradiction nor the 
resemblance. We see great variety. What one re* 
lates, another sometimes leaves out. They difier in 
nrrangement, in minuteness, and sometimes as to fact, 

• Wilson's Lectures. 



CREDIBILITY OF THE aOSPELS. 1()1 

in such tnanner that the reader might be alarmed at 
first view, lest there should be found a contradiction; 
while such is the actual agreement, that all difficul- 
ties vanish before a strict investigation, and, down 
(o the utmost minuteness of statement, their mutual 
support is undiminished by a single opposing repre- 
sentation. The attempts of infidels to make out the 
appearance of a contradiction, show to what shifts 
they have been driven, and how accurate is the con- 
currence. Now this unfailing agreement of four 
several, independent, and contemporaneous historians, 
each so circumstantial, each so full of allusions to 
the events and institutions and customs of the times, 
and none contradicted by any evidence whatever, is 
as convincing an evidence of the honest accuracy of 
aU, as any mind should require. Were the gospe'. 
history untrue, such evidence would have been mor 
ally impossible. It is peculiar to that history. No 
other can plead it to any similar extent. And here 
we feel that we might safely leave the question of 
credibility. But there are two or three points remain- 
ing, which must not be left unnoticed. 

Should I occupy enough of your time to take any 
thing like a full view of the whole of this argument, 
I should here introduce the uncontradicted acknow- 
ledgment of Jewish and heathen enemies of the gospel 
to the purity and integrity of the primitive disciples 
of Christ; the strong evidence of their having pos- 
sessed these virtues, which is exhibited in the pecul- 
iarly modest and humble manner of the evangelists 
in speaking of themselves, never concealing or excus- 



Id2 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

ing what might make exceedingly against them, but 
always mentioning what might seem hnmiliating or 
honorable to themselves in the same plain, simple 
way as they relate any other matter of fact. We 
should also introduce the variety of incidental con« 
ilrmations obtained from profane writers, and from 
coins, of various particulars contained in the gospel 
history. We should cite especially the testimony 
of Tacitus to the time and the fact of the Saviour's 
crucifixion; as well as the records called the Acts 
of Pilate, bearing witness to the same event, and 
appealed to by early Christian writers as notoriously 
laid up among the papers of the Roman senate. But 
since we have not room for every thing, we must 
dispense with these particulars.* 

Let it be remembered, that we are still employed 
upon the honesty of the writers of the gospel history. 
Suppose then, for a moment, that they were not 
honest in their statements — that they knew they 
were endeavoring to pass off a downright imposition 
upon the world. We will not speak of their intellect 
in such a case, but of their motive. Now, it would 
be difficult to suppose that any man could devote him- 
self to the diligent promotion of such an imposture 
without some very particular motive; much more^ 
that without such motive the eight various ^writers 
concerned in the New Testament should have united 
in the plan. What motive could they have had? If 
impostors, they were bad men ; their motive, there* 
fore, must have been bad. It must have been to ad- 

• See Horne'8 Introduction, vol. 1 



CREDIBILITY OF THE GOSPELS. 163 

vance themselves either in wealth, honor, or power. 
Take either, or all of these objects, and here, then, is 
the case you have. Four historians, with four other 
writers of the New Testament — all but one of them 
poor, unlearned men — undertake to persuade the 
world that certain great events took place before the 
eyes of thousands in Judea and Galilee, which none 
in those regions ever saw or heard of, and which they 
know perfectly well did never occur. They see be- 
forehand that the attempt to make Jews and heathens 
believe these things will occasion to themselves all 
manner of disgrace and persecution. Nevertheless, 
so fond are they of their contrivance, that though it 
is bitterly opposed by all the habits, prejudices, dis- 
positions, and philosophy — all the powers and insti- 
tutions of all people, they submit cheerfully to mis- 
ery and contempt; they take joyfully the spoiling 
of their goods ; they willingly endure to be counted 
fools and the ofFscouring of all things; yea, they 
march thankfully to death out of a mere desire to 
propagate a story which they all know is a downright 
fabrication ! At every step of their progress they see 
and feel, that instead of any worldly advantage, they 
are daily loading themselves with ruin. At any mo- 
ment they can turn about and renounce their effort, 
and retrieve their losses ; and yet, with perfect una- 
nimity, these eight, with thousands of others equally 
aware of the deception, persist most resolutely in 
their career of ignominy and suffering. Not the 
slightest confession, even under torture and the strong 
alluriements of reward, escapes the lips of any. Not 



:54 MULVAIN'E'S EVIDENCES. 

the least hesitation is shown, when to each is oflered 
the choice of recantation or death. He that can be- 
lieve such a case of fraud and folly as this, oan be- 
lieve any thing. He believes a miracle infinitely 
more difficult of credit than any in the gospel history. 
I charge him with the most superstitious and besotted 
credulity. In getting to such a belief, he has to tram- 
ple over all the laws of nature and of reasoning. 
Then on what an unassailable rock does the honesty 
of the writers of the New Testament stand, if it can 
^ be attacked only at such sacrifices. How evident it 
is, not only that they could have had no motive to 
deceive, but that in all their self-devotion and sacri- 
fices they gave the strongest possible evidence of 
having published what they solemnly believed was 
true.* 

Now, if I have produced satisfactory proof from 
all the unquestionable marks of honesty in the gospel 
history — from the concurrence of profane historians 
with many of its facts — from their being contradicted 
by none — from the unprecedented harmony of eight 
Independent writers in their minutest events and allu- 
sions — from the- impossibility of supposing any mo- 
tive to deception, and from the sacrifices the apostles 
endured in the promotion of Christianity: if from 
ihidse sources I have satisfactorily shown that the 

• " We cannot make use,'' says Hume, " of a more con- 
vincing argument," in proof of honesty, *• than to prove that 
the actions ascribed to any persons are contrary to the course 
of nature, and that no human motives, in such circunistances, 
could ever induce them to such a conduct." Philosophical 
Essays. 



CREDIBILITY OF THE OOSPELS. 166 

writers of the gospel history could not have intended 
to reccffd any thing but truth, then, having previ- 
ously ascertained that they must have known whether 
what they wrote was true or false, we have those two 
requisites which insure the credibility of any history, 
knowledge and honesty. This shuts up the question. 
But it is not the whole strength of the argument. A 
question may be shut up and locked, but then it 
may have bolts and bars besides. The truth of the 
gospel history is not only sealed, but sealed seven- 
fold. 

5. // has all the testimony that could possibly 
have been expected^ in the nature of things^ from 
the enemies of Christianity It would have been 
unreasonable to expect that a heathen or Jew would 
come forward with a detailed statement to acknow- 
ledge the events narrated by the evangelists. We 
have not this, but we have much better : we have 
the confession of the whole nation of Jews and of all 
the Greeks to the same point. None ever ventured in 
any publication to deny the statements of the evan- 
gelists. Unquestionably they would have done it 
everywhere, had they been able. When Luke pub- 
lished in Jerusalem that a man lame from his birth 
was healed by Peter and John, while sitting as a 
beggar at the gate of the temple, and that a great 
multitude came together on account of the wonderful 
deed, had the Jews of Jerusalem been able to deny 
it, would their persecuting enmity have permitted 
them to be silent ? Be it remembered that the gos- 
pel history was published in the places where it** 



156 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

events are said to have occurred, in the lifetime of 
many enemies who are said to have seen th«jm. Now 
it is certain that no adversaries, either in ludea, or 
Greece, or Rome, rested their opposition to the gospel, 
in any degree, on the denial of these events. What 
is the consequence? They could not deny them 
"What is the meaning of this silence? Being inter- 
preted, it is nothing less than a universal testimony 
from all Jews and heathens who were capable of know- 
ing any thing of the matter, that these things were 
so. But they did not stop here. Tacitus the Roman 
historian positively asserts some of the chief events of 
the gospel.* Celsus, a bitter antagonist of Christian- 
ity, in the second century ;t Porphyry, a learned as 
well as earnest opposer, in the third ;* and Julian, 
the apostate emperor, in the next century,* all ac- 
knowledge not only the authenticity of the New Tes- 
tament books, but, so far as they refer to them, the 
historical correctness of their narratives, even as to 
the most extraordinary particulars, not excluding the 
miracles of Christ. 

But we have stronger witness still. 

About thirty- two years after the crucifixion, took 
place the first Roman persecution under Nero. The 
number of Christians discovered in the one city of 
Rome, and condemned, is called by Tacitus ** a vast 
multitude."" Of course they must have been exceed* 
ingly numerous in all other places taken together 

• Lardner, vol. 3, p. 611. t Ibid. 4, 121-130, 133, 134' 
t Ibid. 4, 234-238. * Ibid. 4, 341, 342. 

I Tac. AnnaL, lib. 15, ch. 44; Lardner 3, 610-614. 



C&EDIBILITY OF THE OOSPELS. |67 

These but a few years before were aU either Jews or 
heathens. Many resided in Jerusalem, Capernaum, 
Antioch, Philippi, Ephesus, Corinth, etc. By th^ 
time of this persecution, all the gospels but cne, as 
well as the Acts of the Apostles, had been published. 
The events recorded in these books are said to have 
taken place before the eyes of the people of the cities 
just mentioned. It was an easy thing for those peo* 
pie to ascertain whether they or their neighbors, or 
parents, had seen them. What did they do ? They 
came forward in great multitudes; they threw off 
Judaism; threw off paganism ; espoused the gospel, 
and sooner than renounce it, suffered unto death. 
This was but thirty-three years after the events record- 
ed of Christ ; it was in the lifetime of Paul. I say, 
therefore, that every Christian of those days was a 
witness, the strongest witness — far more impressive 
in his attestation than any enemy could have been 
to the shining, powerful truth of the gospel history. 
We are compassed about, therefore, with a great 
"cloud of witnesses" — ^witnesses who did not just 
acknowledge these things and still remain what thej 
were before, but witnesses adding to their acknowledg- 
ment the testimony of their conversion, the evidence 
of their lives which were wholly devoted to these 
things, the seals of ten thousand martyrdoms en- 
dured solely on account of their perfect assurance of 
these thingp. 

Now, consider a moment the utter impossibilttp 
that the gospel history should have gained such cur- 
rency for a single year, had it not been notoriously 

14 



168 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

I -T^ true. In about eight years after the crucifixion, 
Matthew publishes his gospel among the Jews. He 
tells the people of Jerusalem, that only eight years 
before that time, while a great multitude of them 
were witnessing the crucifixion of our Lord Jesns, 
there was darkness over the whole land from twelve 
to three o'clock in the afternoon, and "the veil of the 
temple was rent in twain, and the earth did quake, 
and the rocks rent." Suppose all this to have been a 
fabrication, would Jerusalem have held her peace? 
Could a book of such barefaced untruth have lived an 
hour? 

The book of the Acts of the Apostles was pub- 
lished about thirty years after the ascension of Christ, 
and was immediately circulated among the churches, 
and open to the perusal of the enemies of Christian- 
ity. It is related in the second chapter of that work, 
that on the day of Pentecost soon after the death of 
Christ, when a great multitude collected from aU 
parts of the earth were assembled at Jerusalem, a 
deep impression of astonishment was produced on the 
public mind by a rumor of certain miraculous events 
in the company of the apostles, so that "the multitude 
came together and were confounded, because that 
every man heard them speak in his own language.** 
Parthians and Modes and Elamites and Cretes and 
Arabians, dwellers in all countries, men of every 
speech, were amazed at hearing those Galileans, who 
were well known to have learned no other tongue than 
that of Palestine, speaking in all varieties of foreign 
laniruaofes the wonderful works of God. Such is the 



CREDIBILITY OF THE auSPELS. 159 

relation in the Acts of the Apostles. How could a 
writer in his senses attempt to pass it upon his read- 
ers, had it not been notorious that such things had 
actually occurred? The lapse of thirty years could 
not have so obliterated every recollection of that feas<, 
3r so swept the world of surviving witnesses, as to 
prevent the certainty that wherever this book should 
circulate, it would meet with persons capable of re- 
membering or of ascertaining whether these things 
were so. Had not the fact of the apostles having 
spoken in the presence of thousands in various tongues 
been undeniable, witnesses innumerable would have 
arisen against the book tiiat related it. Had no such 
event occurred, the Acts of the Apostles could have 
gone into no part of the world without finding those 
who would stand up and declare that they were at 
the feast referred to, and saw nothing and heard noth- 
ing of the marvellous things declared by its author. 
I say, therefore, the fact that the gospel history was 
received, loved, and read everywhere among Chris- 
tians — that it has outlived all the withering of time, 
and all the weapons of enemies — ^that Jews could not 
gainsay it, nor heathens resist it — that eighteen cen- 
turies of scrutiny and trial have only added new as- 
surance to its truth, is one which reduces the sup- 
position of imposture to a perfect and ridiculous ab- 
surdity. Therefore was it not in the power of such 
modern infidels as Hobbes and Chub and Bolingbroke 
to deny the point in question. The last, not to quote 
from the others, speaking of John and Matthew, ac- 
knowledges that "they recorded the doctrines of 



j60 mulyaine's evidences. 

Christ in the very words in which he taught them; 
and they were careful to mention the several oc- 
casions on which he delivered them to his disciples 
or others. If therefore Plato and Xenophon tell us, 
with a good deal of certainty, what Socrates taug^ht, 
these two evangelists seem to tell us, with much 
more, what the Saviour taught and commanded them 
to teach." 

Here, I think, we may safely leave the question 
of credibility. So conclusive and certain have seemed 
to my mind the several consecutive arguments to 
which you have listened, that instead of feeling at 
each step as if any candid hearer would wait for 
additional proof, I have felt not unfrequently as if I 
were tiring your attention with an unnecessary accu- 
mulation. Why this heaping of argument upon argu- 
ment, one may say, when from the very outset of the 
question, from the certain authenticity of the gospels, 
united with their internal evidence, we have a prool 
of credibility with which any rational mind should he 
])erfectly satisfied? We acknowledge the reasonable- 
ness of the inquiry. If the history under considera- 
tion related to the life of Alexander the Great and his 
generals, instead of that of the meek and lowly Jesus 
and his apostles, who would think it necessary to go 
into all this detail of evidence to establish its truth? 
That it contained no internal marks of dishonesty — 
that it was uncontradicted by 3ontemporaneous writ- 
ers and by other histories of the same times — that it 
had been received ever since as a true account, would 
be considered an ample warrant of its historical cor« 



CREDIBILITY OF THE aOSPELS. 161 

rectness. Few, if any profane histories, can produce 
more positive proof of credibility than this. But try 
them by the scale on which the gospel history is 
measured; require them to present one half of the 
weight of evidence which infidels demand and Chris* 
tians bring, in support of the sacred narrative, and 
you must exclude them from all cledm to the confi- 
dence of their readers. We might speak of the un- 
fairness of requiring so much more in proof of a his- 
tory, merely because its character is sacred, and its 
facts are connected with religion. Whether the con- 
sequences deducible from an alleged fact be in the 
region of science, of morals, or of religion, is a ques- 
tion which has no connection with that of the amount 
of evidence necessary to its proof. Whether an 
evangelist be worthy of dependence when he relates 
the works of Jesus, is a question of testimony to be 
determined by the same degree of proof that should 
satisfy us as to the accuracy and honesty of any other 
writer, on any other subject of history. But we have 
no disposition to complain that so much has been de- 
manded in evidence of the gospel narrative. It has 
only served t-o quicken the investigations of the firiends 
of truth, and to exhibit with a more impressive as- 
surance those great events on which all that is pre- 
cious in a Christian's faith is founded. It has showed 
not only how amply, but how wonderfully the Grod of 
truth and grace has made the anchor of our hope to 
bo sure and steadfast. It teaches how, in the hands 
of divine Wisdom, the wrath of man is made subsid- 
iary to the praise of God — how the fiery darts of the 

14* 



162 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

wicked are not only broken against the shield of faith, 
but made the means of increasing the light by which 
the Christian is guided, and often of carrying back 
confusion into the ranks of the enemy. It should 
lead the believer to adore with admiring gratitude 
the goodness of Him who, for the sake of those that 
love him, causes all the schemes and assaults of 
unbelievers to work together for good, making it 
more and more manifest, by the defeat of every new 
attack, that this is "the true light" — "the shining 
light, which shineth more and more unto the per- 
fect day." 

Had we time, or were it needful to enter upon a 
particular view of the authenticity and credibility of 
the Old Testament volume, this would be the place 
for the argument ; but we have room only to advert 
to it. The connection between the truth of the 
Christian Scriptures and that of the Jewish is so 
obvious and essential; the dispensation of Christ so 
continually assumes the divine authority of that of 
Moses, and is so evidently built on its foundations; 
the writings of the apostles so frequently quote and 
refer to the law and the prophets, as authentic, cred- 
ible, and inspired Scriptures; the argument for the 
books of the Old Testament is so parallel in its mode 
and means to that for the books of the New ; and the 
cavils of sceptics in relation to the former are so sim- 
ilar in objection, principle, and reasoning, to thos<^ 
with which they assail the latter, that in having es- 
tablished the authenticity and credibility of the one, 
we may be fairly said to have equally established, in 



CRBDIBILITT OF THE GhOSPELS. 16:5 

outline, the character of the other. Certain we are, 
that a man who is intelligently convinced of the au- 
thenticity and credibility of the New Testament, will 
not halt between two opinions as to the writings of 
Moses and the prophets, but will read them as as- 
I suredly the writings of those whose names they bear, 

and as deserving, in relation to all matters of fact, the 
character of credible Scriptures. 



164 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 



LECTURE V. 



MIRACLES. 



Our last lecture was on the credibility of the 
gospel history. In a previous one, we ascertained 
the authenticity of the books in which it is contained 
If the evidence adduced in proof of both these funda- 
mental articles appeared as satisfactory to the hear- 
ers as to the speaker, we are then prepared to open 
the New Testament with the assurance that the books 
it contains were written by those original disciples 
whose names they bear, and that we may confidently 
depend on the historical correctness of their state- 
ments. The seals therefore of the volume are now 
unloosed. Immediately on inspecting the contents, it 
appears that the grand and continual reference is to 
Jesus Christ, as a Teacher and Saviour sent from 
Grod, to communicate personally and by his apostles 
a revelation of truth and duty to man. This revela- 
tion the New Testament professes to contain. Now, 
the grand question is. What are the EvmsNCES that 

THE RELIGION CONTAINED IN THE NeW TeSTAMENT IS A 
DIVINE REVELATION? 

When an ambassador from a foreign power pre- 
sents himself at our seat of government, charged with 
certain communications from his sovereign, he first 
exhibits his credentials of appointment. These being 



I • 



IIIRACLES. ]6d 

satisfactory, whatever he may oommunicate in his 
official character is received with as much reliance as 
if it were heard from the lips of his sovereign him- 
self. It is treated as a revelation of the mind or will 
of that s« vereign. In the New Testament we read 
that our Lord Jesus Christ appeared among men as 
an ambassador from God, charged with certain im. 
portant communications to mankind. Before we can 
be justified in receiving those communications as a 
livine revelation, we must know the credentials of 
the ambassador — we must have sufficient evidence 
that he was sent of God. Furnish this, and we are 
hound to receive his communications as confidently 
as if they should be heard directly from the throne of 
the Most High. Thus the Jews said to him, ^'What 
sign showest thou then, that we may see and believe 
thee ? What dost thou work ?" The Saviour, admit- 
ting the propriety of the demand, appealed to his 
works as his credentials. " The works that I do, they 
bear witness of me."* On another occasion he called 
up his miracles. ** The blind receive their sight, the 
lame walk, tiie lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and 
the dead are raised up."^ As if he had said, " Such 
works can only be done by the direct and supernatu* 
ral interposition of the power of God. They are done 
at my word and will. They are therefore a perfect 
attestation that God is with me, and that my claim 
to your confidence as his ambassador is true.'' Nico- 
demus understood this, and expressed no other than 
the plain dictate of common-sense, when he said to 
* John 6 : 30; 10: 25. t Matt. 11:5. 



16G M-ILVAINES EVIDENCES. 

Jesus, *^ We know that thou art a teacher come from 
God ; for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, 
except God he with him."* The credentials of the 
apostles, as subordinate agents of divine revelation, 
are expressed in like manner. ^'God also bearing 
them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with 
divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost."^ None 
can question the absolute certainty of such creden- 
tials. This has been acknowledged even by the most 
famous advocates of infidelity. Woolston says, "I 
believe it will be granted on all hands, that the re- 
storing a person indisputably dead to life is a stupen- 
dous miracle, and that two or three such miracles, 
well attested and credibly reported, are enough to 
conciliate the belief that the author of them was a 
divine agent, and invested with the power of God."t 
Make good therefore the evidence, that the Saviour 
and his apostles wrought miracles in attestation oi 
their divine mission, and the Christian religion, as con- 
tained in the New Testament and taught by them, 
must be a divine revelation. 

Our way, therefore, is plain. We must inquire 
into the evidence on which it can be established, that 
THE Saviour and his apostles did work miracles. To 
this in(iuiry we should proceed immediately, were it 
not for the peculiar circumstances which meet us in 
the way. The adversaries of the gospel have had 
wit enough to see that either the evidence of miracles 
must be overthrown, or they must surrender the 

* John 3:2. t Heb. 2 : 4. 

t Scheme of Literal Prophecy, pp. 321, 3.22. 



MIRACLES. 167 

contest. Unabk to meet the direct and abounding 
testimony by which the wonderful works of Christ 
and his apostles are proved, they have taken position 
and entrenched themselves upon the advanced and des- 
perate ground of the insufficiency of any testimony to 
prove a miracle. Thus have we a redoubt in our way, 
commanding the whole field of controversy, which, 
though easily carried when properly assailed, would 
be of great damage if left in our rear. The present 
lecture will be occupied, therefore, with the discus- 
sion of certain preliminary subjects, anticipating a 
direct application to the evidence of miracles in our 
next. We commence with the following proposition : 
.1. There is nothing unreasonable or improbable 
in the idea of a miracle being wrought in proof of 
a divine revelation, I know not but that all per- 
sons of ordinary information have a sufficiently cor- 
rect idea of what is meant by a miracle, without the 
aid of a definition. No one would mistake the res- 
toration of sight to the blind by the use of human 
skill, however wonderful it might be considered, for 
a miracle. No one could mistake the sudden com- 
munication of sight to one born blind, at the mere 
word of another without any intervening cause^ for 
any thing else than a miracle. The former result, 
though astonishing, would be according to the com* 
man course of nature^ or to what are called the laws 
of nature. The latter would be beyond, or different 
from those laws. One would be a natural, the other 
a supernatural event, or a miracle.* 

* See Gregory's Letters, 1, p. 167. 



168 M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

Now the idea of a revelation from God, and the 
idea of a miracle to attest the divine commission oi 
those who make it, are essentially connected. If one 
or more individuals be sent to communicate the 
revelation, they must prove their mission by some 
credentials. What can their credentials be but 
miracles ? The necessity of these will be evident 
from a little consideration. They can appeal to but 
three sorts of proof: the internal excellence and 
fitness of their communications, their own integrity 
and judgment, and the miraculous works attendant 
on their ministry. With regard to the two former, 
it is manifest that in the most favorable circum- 
stances, they would need too much time and evidence 
and discrimination for their establishment ; and that 

* 

they would always remain of a character too uncer- 
tain to permit their being used with any effect in 
proof of a divine revelation. They would answer 
well as auxiliaries, but it would require something 
of a much more positive nature to sustain the chief 
burden of proof. The claim to be received as a 
messenger of Grod, for the purpose of making a reve- 
lation to the world, could never be substantiated on 
such grounds. Evidence is needed which all minds 
may appreciate. It must be something that has only 
to bo seen to be understood and acknowledged. 
When a plenipotentiary presents himself at the seat 
of government, intrusted with certain communica- 
tions from a foreign power of great importance on 
both sides, and requiring to be immediately acted 
upon, it would not answer for him to plead in evi- 



MIRACLES. 169 

denoe of his delegated anihority, that hia personal 
integrity is tinimpeached and his oomraunications 
are such as might be expected from his government. 
The time for action would be lost while such proof 
ffras being proved. He must exhibit credentials 
ivhich carry on their face the direct evidence of his 
eomniission. He must show the broad seal of his 
sovereign stamped upon their handwriting. So must 
an ambassador from God. What then can he show 
but miracles ? What else can set to his oommnni- 
cations the seal of God ? '' In fact, the very idea oi 
a revelation includes that of miracles. A revelation 
canTiot be made but by a miraculous interposition of 
Deity."* 

So that the idea of miracles can be unreasonable 
en* improbable only so fietr as it is unreasonable or 
improbable that God should commission one or more • 
persons to make a revelation of his truth and will. 
That such a revelation was needed in the world at 
the time when Christ appeared, can be denied only 
by asserting that the additional light now possessed, 
in consequence of the gospel, is superfluous and use- 
less. This denial can only be maintained by show- 
ing that the world, stmk in idolatry, vice, and dark- 
ness, as it was universally before the gospel came, 
had all the knowledge of God, and all the assuranoo 
of his will and of the retributicms of a future state, 
Ihat wore important to its happiness. A matter of 
prool which 1 suppose no one here imagines to be 
possible. Then if it cannot be shown that a revela- 

* Gregory'i^ Letters. 

Evidcnoct 7C 



170 M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

tion was not needed, it cannot be proved that the 
idea of a revelation from a God of infinite goodness 
and meroj was either unreasonable or improbable 
But a revelation can be attested only by miracles 
They are inseparable. Consequently, in the idea of 
n Jraoles being wrought in proof of divine revelation, 
it cannot be proved that there is any thing either 
unreasonable or improbable. 

It would not be difficult to show, that in the 
circumstances of the world at the Christian era, a 
revelation was not only probable, but necessary ; and 
by manifest consequence that miracles, as its neces- 
sary attestations, were also not only probable, but 
necessary. 

Having thus endeavored to show that there is no 
presumptive evidence against a miracle, except as it 
lies equally against a revelation, and that the one is 
probable in proportion as the other may be expected, 
let us proceed to our second proposition. 

2. If miracles were wrought in attestation of 
the mission of Christ and his apostles^ they can be 
rendered credible to us by no other evidence than 
that of TESTIMONY. There are various descriptions 
of evidence, as the evidence of senscj the evidence 
of mathematical demonstration, and moral evidence 
including that of testimony. Each of these has its 
own department of subjects. A question of morala 
?annot be demonstrated by mathematics, or proved 
by the senses. A question of historical fact can be 
settled only by testimony. It might as well be put 
to the tests of chemistry, as to have applied to it 



MTRAOLES. 171 

either the evidence of mathematical demonstration 
or of the senses. 

Not only is there a separate department for each 
of these species of evidence, but elich is sufficient, 
in its appropriate place, for the complete establish- 
ment of truth. By this I mean, that when the 
quantity of an angle is proved by mathematical 
demonstration, we have a result of no more practical 
confidence than when the existence of this house is 
proved by the senses, or that of the city of London 
is proved by testimony. Proof in either case is the 
foundation of entire belief. We are just as certain 
that such a man as Napoleon once lived, as that any 
proposition in geometry is true, though one is a mat- 
ter of testimony, the other of demonstration. "We 
are quite as sure that arsenic is poisonous as that 
food is nutritious, though one is, to most of us at 
least, a matter of testimony only, while the other is 
to all a matter of sense. We are perfectly certain of 
all these things. 

It is likely that some minds are led into erroneous 
notions of the comparative conclusiveness of testi- 
mony on one side, and that of mathematical demon- 
stration and of the senses on the other, on account of 
the technical name by which the former is distin- 
guished in philosophical discussions.* It is called 
probable evidence. It would seem to some as if 
because probable^ it must be less satisfactory, since 
in common speech what is merely probable is net 
certain. But in philosophical language, the word 

• Stewart's Phil. 2, p. 179. 



172 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

probable is used, not in distinction from certain evu. 
denoo, but simply from that which is sensible or 
demonstrative, without reference to {he measure of 
certainty attached to it. Thus, our belief that the 
sun will rise to-morrow, or that we are all to die, or 
that London was once visited with a dreadful plague, 
is founded on what is called probable evidence, 
though we should be suspected of lunacy did we 
question the propriety of acting upon it with perfect 
assurance. Such, then, being the sufficiency of 
ticstimony to convey a perfect assurance of any thing 
in its appropriate sphere, however distant in point of 
time or place, I return to the proposition that if 
miracles were wrought by Christ and his apostles, 
they can be rendered credible to us of the nineteenth 
century by no other evidence than that of testimony. 
Mathematical evidence is evidently inapplicable to 
the question. It is a matter of fact belonging to 
another century, and therefore intangible by sense. 
Nothing remains but testimony. This kind of evi- 
dence is perfectly appropriate to the subject of proof. 
If, therefore, the gospel miracles are true, they must 
be substantiated by testimony, or not at all. We 
proceed to the next proposition. 

3. Miracles are capable of being proved by tes* 
timony. This I consider to be as true and obvious 
as that miracles are capable of being proved by the 
evidence of the senses. That a certain person was 
dead and buried yesterday, and that he is alive and 
walking the streets to-day, the senses are perfeotJy 
competent to decide. I never heard of this being 



IIIRACLES. 173 

questioned. But if I and twenty others saw thesA 
facts, is there no way of making them credible to iny 
neighbor who did not see them? Will it be pretend- 
ed, that if twenty men of unquestionable honesty and 
intelligence should solemnly and by every means cf 
conviction in their power assure me that they saw 
the man dead, buried, and in corruption, I woultl have 
no sufficient reason to believe their assertion? Will 
it be pretended, that if the same men should in the 
same way assure me that subsequently they saw the 
«ame man alive and conversed with him, I should 
have no reason to believe their assertion? I think 
there are none among us who could avoid belief in 
such a casei It would evidently be a case of miracle, 
believed on testimony ; and to maintain that it would 
be believed without reason, and that no conceivable 
addition of honest testimony could furnish reason for 
the belief of those two simple facts, that the man was 
dead yesterday and is alive to-day, would seem an 
absurdity too gross to be touched by argument. 

Here I should leave the matter, confident in the 
common-sense of my hearers, were it not that the very 
absurdity in view has been so mystified with the 
drugs of false philosophy, so disguised under the 
dress of logical forms and ceremonies, and so followed 
in its circulation with the influence of one of the chief 
names in modern scepticism, as to perplex many 
minds unaccustomed to the entanglements of soph- 
istry. The principle that no conceivable amount of 
testimony can prove a miracle, with David Hume for 
Its original champion, has been eagerly adopted bv 

15* 



174 KULVAIKE'S EVIDENCES. 

the many whose convenience makes them unbeliev* 
ers, but whose convenience it would not suit to at* 
tempt an honest, manly answer to the abounding tes« 
timony by wUch the miracles of the gospel are proved. 
A labor-saving machine was wanted, by which ^ the 
whole business of silencing the inconvenient variety 
and troublesome multitude of Christian evidences 
might be done at once, as well by the ignorant as the 
learned. Hume invented it. Any body can work it. 
It is not necessary any more that a man should study 
the Bible, to refute its claims. He may never have 
seen it ; but if he can only retain in his memory these 
few talismanic words, "JVb testimony can prove a 
viiracle^^^ it is enough. At the rubbing of this mar- 
vellous lamp, the fabric of Christianity passes away ; 
the terrible genii of the gospel mysteries dissolve in 
air. Like a similar assertion, and equally philosophi- 
cal doctrine of the same writer, that there is no ex- 
ternal world — ^that this house is nothing but an idea, 
built not of matter, but only of mind — this happy 
invention of sceptical ingenuity digs so far below the 
foundations of all truth and common-sense, that the 
man whose convenience bids him use it, may feel 
assured that not many advocates of Christianity will 
descend low enough to spoil him of his consolation ! 

A brief attention to this matter will not be out of 
place at present. 

The argument of the writer referred to is abridged 
iu the Encyclopedia Britannica, as follows: ''Our 
belief of any fact from the testimony of eye- witnesses 
is derived from no other principle than our experience 



MIRACLES. 176 

of the veracity of humaa testimony. If the fact at> 
tested be miraculous, there arises a contest of two 
opposite experiences, or proof against proof. Now, i 
miracle is a violation of the laws of nature; and a9 
a firm and unalterable experience has established 
these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very 
nature of the fact, is as complete as any argument 
from experience can possibly be imagined ; and if so, 
it is an undeniable consequence that it cannot be sur- 
mounted by any proof whatever, derived from human 
testimony." 

Now, all this is very conclusive, provided we ad- 
mit its premises. The grand hinge of the whole is 
this, that our belief in testimony is founded on no 
other principle than our experience of the veracftv 
OF HUMAN TESTIMONY. Hencc the reasoning is that a 
miracle, being in the author's estimation contrary to 
experience, opposes and contradicts the very founda- 
tion of its evidence, and therefore destroys itself. But 
let me ask, admitting that a miracle is contrary to 
experience- — which is not true — what experience is it 
contrary to? The argument requires that it i^ould 
be contrary to our experience of the veracity of hu^ 
man testimony. To say merely that it is contrary to 
experience of some sort, without specifying this par- 
ticular sort, does not touch the question. It is its 
contrariety to that particular kind of experience on 
w^hich our faith in testimony, according to Hume, is 
built, that must destroy tiie credibility of a miracle, 
if it is to be destroyed at all. But this it would be 
ridiculous to assert. So far from miracles being in 



176 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

consistent with our experience of the veracity of hu- 
man testimony, the truth is directly on the other side. 
It is not the belief, hut the denial that miracles have 
ever been wrought, by which your Whole expe- 
rience of the veracity of human testimony is contra- 
dicted. 

But again. Is our belief in testiinony founded on 
our experience of its veracity? Prove that it is not, 
and the whole argument of our author is undermined. 
The proof is easy. None depend more absolutely upon 
testimony than those whose experience is almost a 
nullity. Children are perfect believers in its veracity. 
All writers on the philosophy of the mind but the 
one before us consider it an original principle of na- 
ture, that we should rely on testimony until there is 
proof either of suspicious competency to know, or of 
suspicious honesty to speak the truth. This prin- 
ciple is necessary to human nature long before any 
experience can be gathered up. Without it, how 
could children begin to learn? How could they avoid 
poison, or receive wholesome food, if they must wait 
for an experience of the veracity of their parents and 
nurses and teachers before they can believe what 
they testify ? The plain truth is, that instead of ex- 
perience being our whole dependence for the credibil- 
ity of testimony, it is just the school that makes us 
sometimes suspicious of that credibility. It teaches 
as that testimony may be false, and furnishes the 
characteristics by which we may distinguish between 
that which is suspicious and that which may be con- 
fidently relied on. "We deny therefore, and wiih evi- 



MIRACLES. 177 

leai reason, the whole foundation of the argument 
we are considering. 

But again, another essential hinge in this argu- 
ment is the assertion that a miracle, being, as the 
author defines it, '^ ei violation of the laws of natuie,' 
is contrary to experience. Here we might deny thai 
a miracle is a violation of the laws of nature. It is 
only a deviation from those laws, or from the cus- 
tomary mode of the divine operations. But waving 
this, what is meant by a miracle Keing contrary to 
experience ? Have we or others ever experienced the 
opposite of any of the miracles of Christ? I cannot 
conceive how this could be, unless we had been on 
the spot when the miracle is said to have taken place, 
as when Lazarus is said to have risen from the dead; 
and instead of seeing him rise, had seen him continne 
dead. That is the only way in which I can conceive 
of opposition between experience and a miracle. The 
resurrection of Lazarus is not contrary to my expe- 
rience, any more than a volcano is contrary to it. All 
I can say of either is^ that I have never experienced 
it. It is beyond^ not in opposition to my expe« 
rience. 

But when our author asserts that miracles are 
contrary to experience^ what are we to understand ? 
Does he mean one's own personal experience, or the 
experience of all mankind? If the former, then it 
would follow that testimony can render no event 
credible to us which we have not personally expe» 
rienced. But this would be too sweeping even for 
the most absolute scepticism. On this ground, a 

8* 



178 MaLVAiNES EVIDENCES. 

native of the torrid zone might refuse the testimony 
of the rest of the world, in evidence of the fact that 
water in winter is so congealed that we can drive our 
carriages upon its surface. He need only say, *'It is 
contrary to my experience. I have never seen it, and 
therefore no testimony can make it cr«^dihle."* 

But does our author mean to be understood as 
affirming that miracles are contrary to the experience 
of all mankind? His argument will then stand as fol- 
lows: "Belief in testimony is founded on experience. 
But miracles are contrary to the experience of all 
mankind. They contradict therefore the credibility 
of testimony, and cannot be proved by it." But this 
is a manifest assumption of the whole question. 
Whether miracles are contrary to the experience of 
all mankind, is the precise point in debate. We as- 
sert that mankind, in different ages and places, have 
experienced them. Our author is at liberty, if he 
pleases, to assert the contrary. But it is too much 
to expect us to receive his assertion until it is proved. 
And if his argument cannot be sustained without thus 
taking for granted, in one of its premises, what it 
seeks to demonstrate in the conclusion, its correctness 
is certainly very suspicious. 

The admission of the principle on which the argu- 
ment under consideration is founded, would lead to 
perfect absurdity. " There was a time when no one 
was acquainted with the laws of magnetism; these 
suspend in many instances the laws of gravity nor 

* On Hume's argument, in general, see the references ic 
Home's Introduction, vol. 1, p. 243. 



t 
d 



MIRACLES. 171' 

can I see, upon the principle in question, how the rest 
of mankind could have credited the testimony of their 
first discoverer; and yet to have rejected it, would 
have been to reject the truth. But that a piece oi 
iron should ascend gradually from the earth, and flj 
at last with an increasing rapidity through the air, 
and attaching itself to another piece of iron ore, 
should remain suspended in opposition to the action 
of its gravity, is consonant to the laws of nature. I 
grant it ; but there was a time when it was contrary, 
I say not to the laws of nature, but to the uniform 
experience of all preceding ages and countries; and 
at the particular point of time, the testimony of an 
individual, or of a dozen individuals, who should have 
reported themselves eye-witnesses of such a fact, 
ought, according to the argumentation " of Mr. Hume, 
*'to have been received as fabulous. And what are 
those laws of nature which, according to this writer, 
can never be suspended? Are they not different to 
different men, according to the diversities of their 
comprehension and knowledge? And if any one of 
them — that, for instance, which rules the operations 
of magnetism or electricity — should have been known 
to you or to me alone, while all the rest of the world 
were unacquainted with it, the effects of it would 
have been new and unheard-of in the annals and con- 
trary to the experience of mankind, and therefore 
ought not in your opinion to have been believed."* If 
this be the legitimate result of the principle in ques- 
tion — if no testimony could have rendered the phe- 

* Bishop Watson. 



180 M'lLVAIKE'S EVIMNCES. 

nomena of magnetism credible in the dawn of know- 
ledge on that subject, because they were contrary to 
experience, it is evident that a certain truth and 
Hume's principle would have been in that case di- 
rectly in opposition. But whether the experience of 
mankind be opposed by phenomena above the laws 
of nature — miracles — or by phenomena which, though 
n reality according to those laws, are perfectly new, 
and to all human view inconsistent with the estab- 
lished order of nature, is of no conseqaence to the 
argument. Experience is opposed in both cases alike. 
It cannot be less absurd in one than in the other 
to maintain, that because the phenomena have never 
been experienced, no testimony can make them cred- 
ible. 

But if the.argument of Hume, with all its assnmp 
tions and false statements and equivocal expressions, 
were true, it would prove not only that miracles can 
not be proved by testimony, but that they cannot be 
proved at all. Now, that it is possible for God to 
work a miracle, none will deny. Consequently, that 
it is possible that the miracles related in the New 
Testament are true, none will deny. Suppose them 
to be true, how can they be proved tx> us ? If testi- 
mony will not do, what remains? Matliematical 
evidence and the evidence of the senses are perfectly 
inapplicable. But there is no other descripticHi oi 
evidence. If, therefore, those miracles are to be 
proved to us, it must be done by some species oi 
evidence not now in existraice, entirely foreign to the 
laws of nature. In other words, it must be miracu- 



VIRAGLES. i81 

tons. Hiraole must be brought to prove miracle 
And since no testimony^ according to the principle 
we are considering, can prove a miracle, the very 
miracle which is brought in proof of those in tha 
New Testament, must itself be proved by another 
before it can be believed by any who did not see it 
But what an absurdity is here. If Jesus did open 
the eyes of the blind, who can maintain that Grod has 
no way of giving all generations reason to believe it, 
without an unceasing series of miracles in all places 
for the purpose ? 

There is but one way of evading this extreme and 
absurd conclusion. It must be denied that we have 
any reason to believe that Q-od can work a miracle. 
For as long as it is acknowledged to be possible that 
God by the apostles did work miracles, the possi- 
bility of his making them credible to us without 
other miracles to prove them, and by the natural 
means of human testimony, must also be acknow* 
ledged ; the ' latter, to say the least of it, being no 
greater effort of power than the former. To this 
necessity, the sagacity of our philosopher was not 
blind. Nor does he scruple at embracing it, rather 
tlian give up his favorite discovery. Speaking ol 
some alleged miracles, he writes, " What have we to 
oppose to such a cloud of witnesses, but the absolute 
impossibility or miraculous nature of the event?" 
fn this sentence, it is evident that " absolute impos- 
sibility," and " miraculous nature," are used as equiv- 
alent expressions. But elsewhere he endeavors to 
persuade us that there is no reason to suppose that a 

i6 



182 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

miraole is possible with God. " Though the Being,** 
he says, " to whom the miracle is ascribed, be in this 
case almighty, it does not on that account become a 
whit more probable ; since it is impossible for us to 
know the attributes or actions of such a Being, other- 
wise than from the experience which we have of his 
productions in the usual course of nature." This 
brings us directly to Atheism. The argument is 
thus: We know the attributes of God only by the 
experience of his works in the usual course of nature 
But, according to our philosopher, we have no experi- 
ence of a miracle among those works. Consequently, 
we have no knowledge that there is any divine attri- 
bute by which God can produce a miracle. Now, 
besides the folly of denying the possibility of a mir- 
acle because nothing like it is found in the usual 
course of nature, when a miracle by its definition is 
out of the usual course of nature, we have here the 
plain denial of the omnipotence of God. For if we 
have no reason to believe that God can produce an 
event differing from and above the ordinary course of 
nature, we have no reason to suppose that he is 
almighty, or that he is the Sovereign of nature, or 
that he created and preserves and governs all things. 
The nature and majesty of God are denied by this 
argument. It is Atheism. There is no stopping- 
place for consistency between the first principle oi 
the essay of Hume, and the last step in the denial at 
God with the abyss of darkness for ever. Hume, 
accordingly, had no belief in the being of God. If 
he dii not positively deny it, he could not assert that 



HIRACLES. 133 

he believed it. He was a poor, blind^ groping oom- 
pound of oontradictions. He was literally " without 
Clod and without hope;" "doting about questions 
and strifes of words," and rejecting life and immor- 
tality out of deference to a paltry quibble which com- 
mon-sense is ashamed of. '*An unfortunate dispo- 
sition to doubt every thing," said Lord Charlemont, 
one of hb particular friends and admirers, *' seemed 
interwoven with the nature of Hume, and never was 
there, I am convinced, a more thorough and sincere 
sceptic. He seemed not to be certain even of his own 
present existence, and could not, therefore, be ex- 
pected to entertain any settled opinion respecting his 
future state." 

But it was very needless for our author to give 
himself so much intellectual effort as must have been 
required for the invention of this short and easy 
method of undermining the evidences of Christianity, 
when he had previously produced a much shorter 
and easier plan. He had already proved, in his esti- 
mation, that there is no external world — nothing 
but ideas; consequently there can be no external 
miracles— nothing but miraculous ideas. Why not 
hold to this ? It was certainly just as reasonable, 
just as consistent with philosophy and common-sense, 
as the idea that no testimony can prove a miracle. 

But our sweeping sceptic was not quite so well 
satisfied with his arguments against all testimony 
and all sense, as would at first appear. Speaking of 
his speculations, he says, " They have so wrought 
upon me and heated my brain, that I am ready to 



184 M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

reject all belief and reasoning, and can look upon no 
opinion even as more probable or likely than another. 
WW^re am I, or what? From what causes do I 
derive ray existence, and to what condition shall I 
return ? Whose favor shall I court, and whose anger 
must I dread? What beings surround rae, and on 
whom have I any influence, or who have any influ- 
ence on me ? I am confounded with all these ques- 
tions, and begin to fancy myself in the most deplor- 
able condition imaginable, environed with the deepest 
darkness, and utterly deprived of the use of every 
member and faculty." A sad confession this of the 
satisfaction of what he calls '^ the calm, though ob- 
scure regions of philosophy." 

But he proceeds: "Most fortunately it happens 
that since reason is incapable of dispelling these 
clouds, nature herself suffices to that purpose, and 
cures me of this philosophical melancholy and delir- 
ium, either by relaxing this bent of mind, or by 
some avocation and lively impression of my senses, 
which obliterates all these chimeras. I dine, I play 
a game of backgammon, I converse and am merry 
with my friends ; and when, after three or four hours^ 
amusement, I would return to these speculations, 
they appear so cold and strained and ridiculous, that 
[ cannot find in my heart to enter into them any fur- 
ther." A sad exhibition this of the dignity and con- 
sedations of scepticism. But if Mr. Hume was some- 
times constrained to look upon his own speculations 
as strained and ridiculous, we may be pardoned if 
thoy appear to us in the same aspect. Indeed, it was 



MlRACLKo. 185 

more than he could do, to write consistently with 
them for any length of time. His own connnon- 
sense insisted, sometimes, on the privilege of speech; 
so that, after all the show of reasoning to which we 
have been attending, after having asserted that ■ * a 
miracle, supported by any human testimony, is more 
properly a subject of derision than of argument,' we 
find him apparently coming to himself, and makmg 
the following most singular acknowledgment: "I 
own there may possibly be miracles of such a kind 
as to admit of proof from human testimony." He 
then states an imaginary case of miraculous occur- 
rence, attested by a measure of proof, which he says 
philosophers ought to receive as certain testimony 
But how is this ? Has he entirely abandoned his 
ground ? One would think so. But mark his method 
of escape. We quote his words : " But should this 
miracle be ascribed to a new system of religion, men 
in all ages have been so imposed on by ridiculous 
stories of that kind, that this very circumstance would 
be a fall proof of the cheat." Here, evidently, the 
whole ground is changed. Miracles are no more con- 
sidered as incapable of proof by testimony. They 
are no more set at naught, because contrary to expe- 
rience. It is admitted that they may be proved by 
testimony, whether with object or without it, except 
when the object is religion. It is nothing, therefore, 
in the nature of a miracle, but only in its application, 
that renders it incredible. This is indeed a change. 
A miracle may be proved anywhere but in the service 
of a revelation from Qod. But why? BecausOi 



iSb M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

says our author, '^ men in all agei9 have been so im- 
posed on by ridiculous stories of that kind." Now, 
oesides that it is untrue that any religion but that 
of the Bible ever attempted to set up its claims by 
the credentials of miracles, this is utter trifling. After 
all the metaphysical parade to which we have been 
iittending, are we brought to this, that because some 
men have been knaves and fools, therefore all must 
be such ? Can we believe in the sincerity of none, 
because hypocrites haVe been many ? Must we refuse 
belief in any accounts of physical phenomena, be- 
cause men in all ages have been imposed on by ridic* 
ulcus accounts of such things? Must we decline 
accepting any notes issued by our banks, because 
men have so often been imposed on by counterfeit 
currency ? On the contrary, counterfeit currency is 
positive proof that there is such a thing as a sound 
and honest currency. And in like manner, the fact 
of spurious pretensions to miracles, so far from being 
a reason for rejecting all accounts of miracles,. is a 
strong presumptive proof that some of them are true. 
An argument which finds itself constrained to seek 
refuge under the shadow of such a position as this, 
must indeed have been reduced to an extremity. 

We have dwelt on this desperate effort of the 
most noted and acute sceptic of modern times, nmch 
longer than was called for by any thing either difli- 
cult or important in itself, because it affords a very 
strong presumptive proof of the impossibility, by any 
force of talent or skilfulness of manoeuvre, of break- 
ing the solid mass of testimony by which the miracles 



.J 
I 



1CIB.ACLES. 187 

of the g06pel are defended. Such a mind as that of 
tho historian of England would never have descended 
to the absurdity of denying the credibility of all testi- 
mony in proof of a miracle, had it not been that all 
bis efforts to pick a flaw in the testimony of those of 
Christianity had utterly failed. Show me a man 
endeavoring to pick his way through the stone wall 
of a prison, and I need not be told that he is shut up 
and ha? despaired of escape by the door. 

The pains which all sceptics have taken to escape 
from being shut up to the faith of Christ, adopting 
every other conceivable method than the one simple 
and equitable plan of refuting the direct evidences of 
Christianity, should be considered unequivocal proof 
that there is a force in those evidences which their 
enemies dare not encounter face to face — something 
that persuades the bold champion of infideUty that in 
this warfare '* discretion is the better part of valor." 

But we cannot relinquish this division of our 
lecture without pausing to draw a lesson from the 
scepticism of Hume. That he was a learned and 
very ingenious writer, none can deny. That he was 
much more amiable and less unexemplary in his 
temper and habits than infidel champions generally 
are, we have no disposition to question. But these 
commendations only render his case the more affect- 
ing, and Iiis insidious sophistry the more dangerous. 
The pride of reason was his master. The praise of a 
philosopher was his idol ; to doubt what others be- 
lieved, his habitual tendency ; to maintain a paradox 
against the worlds his prevailing ambition. Under 



I 



186 M'lLVAlKE'S EVlDElfCES. 

the inflaence of these dispositions, the very fact that 
the religion of Christ was a revelation requiring him 
to sit at its feet and learn, instead of a theory flat- 
tering the sufficiency of his own powers to discover 
truth, was its condemnation. The more it possessed 
the sanction of ages, and of the greatest minds, the 
more did it rouse him to its rejection. The imposing 
multitude and weight of its evidences were the strong- 
est stimulants of his unbelief. He first denied the 
miracles of the gospel, and then set his wits to con- 
trive some grand argument by which all the testi- 
mony in their favor might be undermined. He reas- 
oned himself almost out of his own existence, and 
surrounded himself with impenetrable darkness. The 
present was all contradiction, the future all "an enig- 
ma," to his mind. Poor unhappy philosopher ! How 
little his learning could do in the search of truth, for 
want of humility. How easily can all human know- 
ledge and all mortal wisdom become foolishness, 
when the wise man leans to his own understanding, 
instead of acknowledging and seeking Grod in all his 
ways! That Hume was accustomed to pray for 
guidance in his iiivestigations of truth, it is impossible 
to suppose. The great fountain of light being thus 
denied, Grod gave him up to the devices and desires 
of his own heart. Verily, " He taketh the wise in 
their own craftiness." Thus, most justly, did our 
philosopher meet with darkness in the daytime, and 
was permitted to grope in the noonday as in the 
night. One just view of himself as a sinner would 
have refuted and broke up his whole system of proud 



UIRACLES. 189 

nnbolief. I hare known a good deal, hy experience, 
of the conflict which infidels maintain behind the 
intrenchments of Hume and other champions of their 
cause ; I have known also something, pers<jnally, of 
conversions among such people ; and it has often aston- 
ished me to see how immediately a whole system of 
well-jointed infidelity tumbles to pieces — how entirely 
the most darling argument against the gospel is 
changed into folly, and given to the winds, as soon 
as one realizes that he is a sinner and must stand 
before Grod in judgment. 

4. Let us pass to our fourth proposition. The 
testimony in proof of the miracles of the gospel has 
not diminished in force by the increase of age. It 
is not an uncommon idea that the transmission of 
remote events by successive testimony, from gener- 
ation to generation, weakens their evidence in pro- 
portion to the time. It is supposed, that had we 
lived in the fourth instead of the nineteenth century, 
we should have possessed the testimonial evidence of 
the Christian miracles in much greater force than it 
is now enjoyed. But we deny that there is any 
reason for this supposition. Mere oral tradition 
must weaken with age ; but written testimony can- 
not suffer loss as long as the genuineness of the docu- 
ment containing it is unimpaired, and the character 
of the witnesses is substantiated. Fot example, 
suppose it be recorded on the minutes of the Young 
Men's Society of New York, that on the 13th day of 
January. 1832, this lecture was delivered to its mem- 
bers, on the Evidences of Christianity, and those 



190 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

minated be laid up among its records; and the society 
exist from generation to generation, keeping a regular 
account of its transactions, for four hundred years; 
and at the end of that time some one, searching 
into its early papers, should read the minutes of the 
above event — the evidence of the fact would be con- 
sidered as conclusive as if, instead of four hundred 
years, only fifty had elapsed since its occurrence. 
The event would be as certain as the genuineness of 
the record, and would have no reference to the age 
of either. Let the society continue a thousand years, 
and its records being still preserved uncorrupted, the 
evidence will remain undiminished. We rely upon 
the testimony in proof of the invasion of Britain by 
Julius Caesar, or of Italy by Hannibal, with quite as 
much conjfidence as we read of the wars of Charles 
the First in England. And if our present accounts 
of those widely remote events shall be preserved to 
the end of the world, the confidence of our posterity 
at that time in their historical correctness, cceteris 
paribus, will be as complete as ours. Indeed, it is 
only with regard to the facts related in the Bible 
that men ever talk of any diminution, by the lapse 
of years, in the credibility of testimony. But with 
how little reason is evident, when you remember that 
a matter of historical fact is of the same nature in 
regard to testimony, whether it be found between 
the covers of the Bible or those of a Roman historian. 
For precisely the same reason that the event of this 
lecture, recorded in the minutes of the Young Men's 
Society, would retain its evidence unimpaired as long 



MIRACLES. 191 

as the society and its minates should exist together, 
does the testimony to the great events of primitive 
Christianity continue to this day unahated.* 

The society denominated the church of Christ 
was in existence when the events recorded in its 
Scriptures occurred. Its principal institutions are 
founded upon them. Our New Testament books are 
the records of the constitution, origin, and early his- 
tory of that society, which, like those of any other 
institution of past ages, have been handed down from 
generation to generation. The members of the Chris- 
tian church have died from age to age, but the 
church, the society, the living keeper of these records, 
the Librarian of the Scriptures, has never died. The 
passing away of the several individuals who, since 
the commencement of Christianity, have belonged to 
this society, has no more to do with the permanence 
of the institution itself, than have the rapid changes 
in the particles of the human body with the perma- 
nence of the man. There is a personal identity in 
the midst of continual change. The man of seventy 
is the very identical man that he was at twenty, 
though many times have the particles composing his 
body been entirely changed. Thus the Christian 
church in her nineteenth century is the same iden- 
tical society that existed under that name in the 
days of the apostles, though so many generations ( i 
members have lived and died. She is as capable ol 
rememDermg the events of her youth, as we are ol 
remembering the events of ours. The records maae 

* Gregory's Letters. 



192 M'lLVAIlsrE'S EYIDENCEiS. 

by her members in testimony of those events, and in 
the age of their ocoorrence, having been preserved 
in her possession with the greatest vigilance and the 
most zealous attachment, are as certain evidence at 
present, as when they were written, of the facts 
related therein. She has been reading those records 
in her places of worship, in all parts of the world, 
ever since they were written ; and she knows as well 
that they have preserved their personal identity, and 
in all important respects, their uncorrupt, unmuti- 
lated character, as any of us can know that our 
family Bibles are the same now as when they were 
purchased. Thus, I think we are warranted in con- 
sidering our propositions sustained, that the testi- 
mony in proof of the miracles of the gospel has not 
diminished in force by the increase of age.* 

6. We proceed to our last proposition, that in 
being called to examine the credibility of the gospel 
miracles by the evidence of testimony, we are more 
favorably situated in regard to m4)ral probation 
and discipline, than if we had been enabled to jvdge 
of them by evidence addressed to our own senses. 
This will appear from the consideration, that evidence 
obtained by the investigation of testimony, and ap- 
preciated by reflection, is more consistent with the 
state of probation, and of moral discipline and respon- 
sibility in which we are placed, than evidence forced 
apon us by the involuntary agency of the senses. 

We are under trial and discipline, as well as to 
«mr understanding as our conduct. We are respon- 

* Wilson^s Lecturen. 



HI£ACLE8. 198 

sibXe as well for what we believe, as for what we do. 
Precisely the same causes that would persuade a 
man to immoral practice, may persuade him to im- 
moral principle. The same disposition that would 
'jiduce him to disobey the precepts, may lead him to 
leny the doctrines and evidences of the gospel. It is 
therefore his trial, in part, whether in forming his 
opinion of religious truth he will so resist evil ex- 
ample and prejudice, and so deny himself the influ- 
ence of all sinful inclinations and partialities, as to 
enter with honest candor upon the investigation of 
what he ought to believe and do, with a full deter- 
mination to embrace the truth wherever it may ap- 
pear. Now, with the nature and responsibility of 
this probationary condition, the evidence of testimony 
in proof of the Christian miracles is specially con- 
sistent. Did those miracles appear before us, as once 
for special reasons they did before multitudes, forcibly 
arresting our senses ; not only compelling attention, 
but almost compelling submission, by the palpable 
and amazing evidences attending them, it is evident 
that there would remain comparatively but little room 
for any freedom of mind or will, and consequently for 
any moral probation. Liberty of will and of decision 
would be suspended in proportion to the degree in 
which the senses should be directly and impressively 
addressed. But the miracles of the gospel address- 
ing, not our senses, but our minds, through the me- 
dium of testimony, possess a degree of evidence which, 
while amply sufficient to satisfy all who examine it 
with suitable impartialitv, is not so overcoming but 

Evideneet. jy 



>* 



194 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

that one may reject it if he choose ; not so irresist- 
ible, but that persons of indolence and indifference, 
or of pride and prejudice — persons who examine to 
refute it, more than to ascertain its truth, or whose 
habits and dispositions set them in direct opposition 
(o the holiness of the gospel, may receive their reward 
in being allowed to continue unconvinced. They are 
thus dealt with in a way peculiarly consistent with 
their character as moral and accountable agents. 

The exercise of an active solicitude for the dis- 
covery of truth thus presented, and of a fair, impar- 
tial consideration of its evidence before conviction, 
is as truly an exercise of morality, as much an act 
of moral discipline and of a correct temper of mind, 
as a correct reUgious practice would be in one already 
convinced. It is also as really an exhibition of im- 
morality and dissoluteness to manifest a spirit of 
indifference, or of prejudice or aversion, in relation to 
a matter of such infinite importance, as if one should 
display the same spirit in regard to the most neces- 
sary duties of moral living. " Thus, that religion is 
not intuitively true, but a matter of deduction and 
inference — that a conviction of its truth is not forced 
upon every one, but is left to be by some collected 
with a heedful attention to premises — this as much 
constitutes religious probation, as much affords oppor- 
tunity for right and wrong behavior, as any thing 
wnatever."* It tests the heart of the inquirer. 

But to illustrate our doctrine, take the case of 
one who is disposed to put religion away from him— 

• Butler's Analogy, part 2, ch. 6. 



MIRACLES. 195 

who comes to its evidences with a decided wish that 
it may appear untrue, and examines them under 
strong aversions and prejudices. Suppose him sud- 
denly arrested by the sight of a miracle wrought in 
his presence, so that in spite of ail his disUkes and 
evil dispositions, he cannot escape believing. Take 
then the case of another bearing a precisely similar 
character, who, having no evidence but that of testi- 
mony, is obliged either to discipline his mind into a 
frame for candid, honest investigation, or else hazard 
the consequences of an inquiry Conducted under the 
influence of habits and tempers directly hostile to 
the clear view and impartial acknowledgment of truth. 
Suppose him to choose the latter alternative, and that 
he is permitted, in reward for this voluntary perver- 
sion of his judgment, to continue in unbelief. I ask, 
which of these individuals is treated in a way most 
consistent with his condition as a moral and account- 
able agent?* 

* " If," says Butler, " there are any persons who never set 
themselves heartily and in earnest to be informed in religion . 
if there are any who secretly wish it may not prove true, and 
are less attentive to evidence than to difficulties, and more to 
objections than to what is said in answer to them — ^thcse per- 
sons will scarcely be thought in a likely way of seeing the 
evidence of religion, though it were most certainly true and 
capable of being ever so fully proved. If any accustom 
themselves to consider this subject usually in the way of 
mirth, or sport ; if they attend to forms and representations, 
and inadequate manners of expression, ini^tead of the real 
things intended by them — ^for signs often can be no more than 
inadequately expressive of the things signified— or if they 
substitute human errors in the room of divine truth, why 
may not all, or any of these things, hinder some men from 



196 M'lLVAIKE'S EVIDENCES. 

But besides the greater adaptation to a prcbatioii' 
ary state, there is greater spiritual profit in the way 
b} which we of latter days must arrive at the truth 
uf the miracles of the gospel. Take the case of two 
^'hristians; let one be a disciple of these days, and 
the other, Thomas, one of the apostles. They are 
equally convinced of the Saviour's resurrection, but 
by different means : Thomas, by the force of sight and 
touch; the other, by a careful, honest examination of 
the testimony we now possess. Which, in becoming 
a disciple, expressed the greater lore of the truth? 
Which, the greater readiness to receive and submit to 
it? Thomas had only to open his eyes and reach 
forth his hand; the other pursued a course of candid, 
patient, serious reflection. Thomas required for his 
conviction that the Saviour should stand before him, 
and say, *'Be not faithless, but beUeving." The 

seeing that evidence which really is seen by others, as a like 
turn of mind with respect to matters of common speculation 
and practice does, we find by experience, hinder them from 
attaining that knowledge and right understanding, in matters 
of common speculation and practice, which more fair and at- 
tentive minds can attain to ? And in general, levity, careless- 
ness, passion, and prejudice, do hinder us from being rightly 
informed with respect to common things ; and they may in 
like manner, and perhaps in some further providential manner 
with respect to moral and religious subjects, hinder evidence 
from being laid before us, and from being seen when it is. 
T2i? Scripture does declare that every one shall not under- 
fta7id. And it makes no difference by what providential con* 
duct this comes to pass ; whether the evidence of Christianity 
was originally and with design, put, and left, so that those 
who are desirous of evading moral obligations should not see 
it, and that honest-minded persons should ; or whether it comes 
to pass by any other means.^* Butler^s Analogy, part 2, oh. 6. 



MIRACLES. 197 

• 

other went forth seekmg "the truth as it is in Jesus," 
through all the reasoning and objections, all the pa« 
tient consideration and study which ciroumstancea 
placed in his way, not demanding to be constrained 
by the arrest of his senses, but prepared to submit as 
soon as the testimony was sufficient. Now, it is 
plain that in this case there is a simplicity of heart, 
a love of truth, a candor in its pursuit, and a willing- 
ness to bow to it at all cost, such as are by no means 
implied in the conviction of Thomas. It is plain, also, 
that the moral discipline to which the former was 
subjected, and the state of mind involved in the mode 
by which he came at the truth, are far more condu- 
cive to his happiness, and afford a much higher promise 
of steadfast and elevated attachment to the service of 
the truth, than if, like Thomas, it could be said of 
him, "Because thou hast seen^ thou hast believed." 
So that we may now acknowledge the truth of those 
words, "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yei 
have believed;" and may repeat our proposition, that 
in having to try the credibility of the gospel miracles 
by the evidence of testimony, we are more favorably 
situated, in a very important sense, than had we 
been present to judge them by the evidence of oui 
senses.* 

From the whole truth exhibited in this lecture, 
we are called to adore the wisdom of God. "His 
ways are not as our ways, neither his thoughts as our 
thoughts." Why, in such a momentous business as 
that of religion, demands some weak mortal, was not 

• See Saurin on Obscure Faith. 

17* 



198 M'lLTAIirE^S ETIDEVCE8. 

tmth rendered intoitively certain, so diat the most 
careless could not mistake? Why, asks another, 
shonkl snch tremendoos matters be necessarily settled 
by inTestigation and argament, by the weight of tes* 
timony and the records of distant ages, instead of 
bringing them at once to the test of ev^y (He's expe- 
rience? ''Show ns a sign/' is still the requisition 
of multitudes, who, if they must believe, desire to do 
it without trouble ; but would mu(^ rather be excused 
from both. Grod is infinitely wiser. ''He knoweth 
whereof we are made." He has dignified ns with 
reas<xi, as well as sense; and made us capable of 
Learning by reflection and study, as well as of know-" 
ing by instinct and necessity. He deals with us as 
rational beings. He makes us re$p«»isible for the 
use of our minds, as well as of our limbs. He re- 
quires the obedience of the will, the labor of our 
thoughts, and the painstaking of all our intellectual 
and moral faculties, in <»rder that we may know and 
serve him as becometh our natures. To this end, he 
has so constructed religion, and delivered to us its 
evidences, that whoever is sufficiently desirous of the 
knowledge of His will, to bestow his best thoughts and 
affections and efforts upon the work of its discovery, 
in order that he may embrace it, earnestly looking up 
to G-od for prot/cction against prejudice and for guid- 
ance in the way of light, will certainly come to the 
knowledge of ihe truth, and will arrive at it by a way 
most wisely adapted to make him hold fast and obey 
it. On the other hand, God has so framed the gos- 
pel and set before us its credentials, that whether 



• KIRACLXa. 199 

one will b(Jieve or not is left to his free and volun- 
tary choice; his probationary character is inviolate; 
his reason and his will are perfectly responsible. If 
he desire not to believe; if his heart revolt against 
the gospel on account of the humility and repentance 
and holiness and self-denial it demands of him ; if he 
fttudyits nature and evidence carelessly, proudly, and 
partially; if he consult more the objector than the 
advocate, and try to invent reasons for unbelief more 
than 9,rguments for the contrary ; if he love vice, and 
would retain his sins, he may easily convince him- 
self against the ckims of the gospel. God has left 
unclosed many avenues by which such a man may 
escape into infidelity. He is wisely punished by 
being permitted to go in thereat. God may justly 
take him at his word, and condemn him to the dark- 
ness and final misery of rejecting what he investi- 
gated so unjustly. It is the wisdom of God that his 
truth does not, in offering conviction to such examin- 
ers, afford at the same time encouragement to such 
onworthiness. 



200 It'ILVAINE'S EYIDENCffiS. 



LECTURE VI. 



MIRACLES— CONTINUE D 



Odr last lecture was occupied in settling certain 
preliminaries, for the purpose of being enabled in 
this to enter directly upon the work of weighing the 
testimony to the miracles of Christ and his apostles 
The question to which we now proceed may be stated 
thus : The Lord Jesus Christ claimed to be received 
as a teacher come from Grod for the purpose of com- 
municating a divine revelation. His apostles claimed 
to be received as his inspired and divinely commis- 
sioned agents in publishing that revelation. All ap- 
pealed to miracles as the credentials of their embassy. 
None can deny that such credentials, plainly ascer- 
tained, are certain proof of the sanction of Grod. The 
appeal to them is therefore unquestionably fair. The 
point, then, which remains to be determined is, Havk 

WE SATISFACTORY EVIDENCE THAT GENUINE MIRACLES 
V^'ERE WROUGHT BY THE LoRD JeSUS ChRIST AND HIS 
APOSTLES ? 

In answer to this question, we might proceed on 
a plan of argument which would occupy but a few 
mrments. In the lecture preceding the last, we 
ascertained the credibility of the gospel history; in 
other words, that we have the strongest reason to 
rely implicitly on the narratives contained therein, as 
to. all matters of fact. Now, it is there related, that 



KTRACLE8. 2U| 

on a certain occasion our Saviour was followed by 
five thousand men into a desert place, where they 
were in need of food; that all the food at hand was 
Gve barley loaves and a few small fishes; that oi 
these he commanded his disciples to distribute fo the 
multitude; and after they had all eaten and werf 
fiUed, the fragments remaining were much more in 
quantity than the original loaves and fishes. These 
are plain statements, related in the gospel as unques- 
tionable facts. The gospel history beibg orediblei 
they must be true. To call that a credible history, 
and then suppose it unworthy of reliance in such 
prominent particulars, would be absurd. But these 
facts constitute a miracle. There must have been a 
miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes. 
Consequently, in having proved the credibility of the 
gospel history, we have proved that in this case a 
miracle was wrought. 

Thus might we proceed with regard to a great 
variety of other statements, as to the works of Christ 
and his apostles; and I fully believe that, in strict 
justice, nothing more ought to be required in evidence 
of the gospel miracles, than what has been already 
adduced in proof of the credibility of the narratives 
contained in the New Testament. But inasmuch as 
our object is not merely to exhibit a sound and con- 
clusive argument, such as ought to satisfy every 
mind, but so to present the great variety and abun- 
dance of proof in support of Christianity, that no at- 
tentive, candid mind can help being satisfied, we will 
adopt a broader plan« 

9^ 



202 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

Before proceeding any further, let it be remarked^ 
that the religion of the Bible is the only one which, 
in its first introduction, appealed to miracles for 
etndence of the divine authority of its teachers. 
Under the religion of the Bible I include the dispen- 
sation of Moses and that of Christ, as exhibiting es- 
sentially the same religion, though more largely and 
clearly revealed under the latter than under the for- 
mer. Both dispensations were introduced and sanc- 
tioned by miracles. Now, I know it is a common 
supposition, that the same mode of attestation was 
resorted to by all the false religions that ever gained 
acceptance in the world, and that this was the chief 
cause of their ascendency in the public mind ; but the 
truth is, that no religion, except that of the Bible^ 
was ever set up by appeal to miracles as the creden- 
tials of its founder. We speak of miracles which are 
capable of being witnessed and investigated by oth- 
ers. It is not asserted that many wonderful things 
of a miraculous nature have not been pretended to 
and boasted among the disciples of sundry false relig- 
ions. The annals of paganism abound with relations 
of auguries and oracles and apparitions. Many mi- 
raculous, not to say ridiculous marvels, are asserted 
of Mohammed. But the remark is applicable to all 
of these things, and is of great importance in connec- 
tion with our present object, that they were asserted • 
not as/?roo/5 of religions appealing to them for creden- 
tials, but only as appendages of religions already set 
up, and previously received on considerations entirely 
independent of the truth or falsehood of such marvelo. 



MIRACLES. 203 

Tt was the credit and influence of a religion already 
established which gave them all their currency, and 
not their evidence which established the religion with 
which they were respectively connected. The prod- 
igies of heathenism, unaccompanied as they were by 
any pretence of proof, had no manner of reference to 
the setting up of a new system of faith, or pf a teach- 
er pretending to a divine commission. Miraculous 
stories were published of Mohammed by writers of 
six and eight centuries after his death, but no such 
pretensions were made by himself. On the contrary, 
he expressly disclaimed miraculous powers. In the 
Koran it is written of him, ** Nothing hindered us 
from sending thee with miracles, except that the for- 
mer nations have charged them with imposture." 
Again, " They say, unless a sign be sent down unto 
him from his Lord, we will not believe; answer, 
signs are in the power of God alone, and I am no 
more than a public preacher. Is it not sufficient for 
them that we have sent down unto them the book of 
the Koran, to be read unto them ?" We grant that 
Mohammed did give out to the credulity of his follow- 
ers a few marvellous doings ; but they were such as 
cannot be included under the title of sensible miracles, 
inasmuch as he always took the discreet precaution 
of having no witness but himself, entirely avoiding 
the hazardous experiment of resting the evidence of 

m 

his divine mission upon the testimony of any eyes 
more disinterested than his own. 

But how can it be accounted for that one of such 
high pretensions — aware, as he was, of the success 



204 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

which miracles had obtained for the gospel in times 
past — should have neglected so powerful a means jf 
proselyting the world ? It was not for want of im- 
portunity on the part of others; for his oppose^rs 
M-ere constantly teasing hinl with their demands on 
this head. It was not because he could anticipate 
no favorable influence from a well-sustained preten- 
sion to miracles; for his adversaries assured him, 
even by oaths, that on the evidence of one such sign 
they would own his claims. Nor was it that Mo- 
hammed was too honest. The marvellous tales of 
the nocturnal visits of Grabriel, of his own night- 
journey, and of the transmission, from time to time, 
of parcels of the uncreated book from heaven, prove 
what this impostor was capable of attempting when 
allured by a prospect of success. Nor was it that 
this unequalled adventurer was deficient in an un- 
usual degree of craft and address for the manage- 
ment of bold imposture. His whole biography would 
refute such an opinion. Nor was it that he was sur- 
rounded with a people peculiarly prepared, by know- 
ledge and cultivated discernment, for the detection of 
such frauds. The age was one of the darkest in the 
annals of man, and his country one of the darkest of 
that age. Nor could it have been that his cause 
needed no such auxiliary, for the fruits of his labor^ 
during the first three years, were only fourteen dis- 
ciples ; and in ten years his cause had not advanced 
beyond, and had made but little progress within, the 
walls of Mecca. Then if Mohammed was neither too 
honest to attempt the forgery of miracles, nor too 



MIEACLS8. 206 

unskilful to manage it with ciunning and address; 
if his cause needed it, and his enemies demanded it, 
and the barbarity of the people and age favored it, 
no earthly reason can be given for his having dis- 
claimed the attempt, except that he considered it too 
difficult and hazardous, too certain of detection, oven 
among a barbarous, credulous, and superstitious race. 
The religion of the Bible is the only one that ever 
ventured on such evidence in proof of divine original. 
This single fact, united with the well-known truth, 
that however her miracles may have been derided 
and suspected by enemies, tione ever pretended to 
have discovered an imposition, is strong presumptive 
evidence that they had a reality which no human 
device Could rival— a truth which no human scrutiny 
oould alarm. 

In coming, therefore, to our present examination, 
we should feel that the religion of the Bible stands 
alone, not only as to the wisdom and grandeur of her 
communications, but equally so as to the boldness of 
her evidence, the sublimity of her credentials, and 
the godlike dignity with which she Cometh to the 
light, that her deeds " may be made manifest that 
they are wrought in God." 

We proceed to the testimony connected with the 
miracles of Christ. 

1. We observe, in the first place, that supposing 
the works related of the Lord Jesus to have actually 
occurred, many of them must have been genuine 
miracles. They cannot be ascribed to natural causes. 
If five thousand men were fed, when all the food to feed 

i8 



206 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

them with, prior to the act of Jesus, was a few loaves 
and fishes ; if the centurion's servant was healed at 
the word of Jesus, while the latter was nowhere 
within the sight, or hearing, or knowledge of that 
servant ; if the man born blind was made to sec by 
no other physical act than tnat of Jesus putting clay 
on his eyes, and his washing it off in the pool of 
Siloam ; if Lazarus, having been dead four days, did 
come forth from the sepulchre at the word of Jesus, 
then we have facts for which no natural causes can 
account. They are unquestionable miracles, and we 
are forced to the alternative of either denying, in the 
face of all evidence, the truth of the statements con- 
tained in the gospel history, or else- acknowledging 
that miracles, in the fullest sense, were wrought at 
the word of Christ. 

2. The miracles of Christ were such as could at 
once be brought to the test of the senses. It is essential 
to a rational belief in miraculous agency, that we he 
presented with facts of such a nature that the senses 
of those present could easily decide upon their reality 
and their supernatural character. Now, that the 
senses of the most ignorant were as coriipetent as 
those of the most learned ; that the senses of any 
man or woman in Judea were perfectly competent to 
decide whether the son of the widow of Nain, having 
been dead and carried out to be buried, did arise 
and sit up at the word of Christ, and continue there- 
alter to reside, a living man, in Nain ; that any one's 
senses were perfectly competent to judge whether 
thousands of men were fed with a few ioaves and 



MIRACLES. 207 

fishes, or the blind received their sight, or the lepers 
were cleansed, or those notoriously lame from their 
birth were enabled to walk at the bidding of Christ, 
it would be folly to doubt. 

3. The miracles of Christ were performed for the 
most part in the most public manner. It is the de 
tracting circumstance of all the most plausible pre- 
tensions to miracles, exclusive of those of the Scrip- 
tures, that they were done in a corner, or in the pres- 
ence only of those already inclined to beheve them, or 
under favor of circumstances calculated to prevent a 
free examination. Just the contrary is the fact with 
regard to a great portion of the wonderful works of 
Christ. Not only were they accessible to the senses 
of witnesses, but to the senses of multitudes of wit- 
nesses, of witnesses with the most eager and violent 
enmity to the claims of Jesus; witnesses from all 
. ranks and classes in society — ^the learned and mighty, 
as well as the ignorant and feeble — the scribes and 
Pharisees, the priest and the centurion, as well as 
the publicans and* beggars. It was in the syna- 
gogues, in the streets, in the open fields surrounded 
by thousands, in the midst of Jerusalem, and at the 
time of the great annual festivals, when an immense 
concourse of Jews, from all parts of the world, 
crowded the holy city, that almost aU of the mighty 
works of Jesus were performed. In this way, as in 
other ways, he could say to his persecutors, " I spake 
openly to the world." 

His miracles were wrought upon subjects so nu- 
merous, in so many places, and in such circumstancesy 



208 M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

that none could suspect the cases to have been prevU 
ously selected and prepared. What the condition of 
the sabject had been before the miracle, thousands 
knew, and all could easily ascertain. What it was, 
for a long time after the miracle, was equally noto« 
rious. Those who were cured of blindness, or leprosy, 
or lameness, or palsy, or who had been raised from 
the dead, did not die immediately after, nor hide 
themselves from public inspection ; but continued to 
go in and out among the people, as living examples 
of the power of Christ. The grave of Lazarus was 
surrounded with unbelieving Jews. They saw him 
come forth. They had as much opportunity as dis- 
position to find out whether it was Lazarus or some 
one else — whether the man was alive, or only pre-' 
tending to be alive. Instead of being immediately 
snatched from their view, he was seated some time 
after as one of the guests at a supper in Bethany ; 
and so well known was the fact, that " much people 
of the Jews" came to the place to have a sight of 
one who had been raised from the dead. " The chief 
priests consulted that they might put him to death, 
because that, by reason of. him, njany of the Jews 
went away and believed on Jesus." 

4. The miracles of Christ and his apostles were 
very numerousy and of great variety. It has been a 
characteristic of all cases of impos mre, that the won- 
derful works pretended to were but few in number, 
and of great sameness. The sect of the Jansenists, 
in the church of Rome, pretended to miracles at the 
tomb, and by the posthumous intercessions of the 



MIRACLES. 209 

Abb6 Paris. But, besides the want of evidence that 
any of the facts recorded were miraculous, they were 
neither numerous nor various. Could this be said of 
the works of Christ, it would deprive them of one :f 
the most palpable evidences of the fearless integrity 
in which they were wrought. But his history is full 
of miraculous works. Besides about forty that. are 
related at large, we frequently meet with such ac- 
counts as this : " His fame went throughout all Syria : 
and they brought unto him all sick people that were 
taken with divers diseases and torments, and those 
which were possessed with devils, and those which 
were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he 
healed them."* Similar declarations are made as to 
the miracles of the apostles. As, for example, in 
Acts 5 : 16 : " There came also a multitude out of the 
cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick 
folks, and them which were vexed with unclean 
spirits ; and they were healed every one." 

But the miracles of the Saviour and his apostles 
were also of great variety. It was not disease of 
one or two classes only that Jesus removed, but dis- 
ease of ail kinds. Not diseases only, but all kinds 
of human calamity, departed at his will. ' Even death 
surrendered his captives at his command. The blind 
from their birth, the hopeless leper, those that were 
lame from the womb, those that had long been bowed 
down with infirmity, the withered, the palsied, the 
insane, all were alike delivered from their affliction. 
On two occasions thousands were fed with a mere 

• Matt. 4 : 24 
l8* 



210 UULVAINE'S BVIDENCES 

pittance of food. Thrice, besides the instance of hi? 
own resurrection, did Jesus raise the dead. A cor- 
responding variety characterizes the works of his 
apostles. 

5. It is a matter of great importance to remark, 
that amidst all this variety, the success in every 
instance was instantaneous and complete. The sick 
were perfectly healed. The deaf and blind and 
lame were perfectly delivered from their infirmities; 
the leper was entirely cleansed ; the dead arose, not 
merely to life, but to health and strength. These 
effects were as immediate as they were perfect. No 
sooner was the voice spoken, or the thing done, that 
was required of the applicant, than all was finished. 
Did Jesus say, " Let there be light ?" there was li^ht ; 
"Let there be health?" there was health. He left no 
time for second causes to operate — no room for human 
means to intervene. "He spake, and it was done. 
He commanded, and it stood fast." 

6. There is no evidence of an attempt on the part 
of Christ or his apostles to perform a miracle, in 
which they were accused of having failed. It is 
notorioudy true of the wonderful works ascribed to 
the tomb of 'the Abbe Paris, for example, that the 
cases in which any beneficial effects resulted to the 
applicants? were very inconsiderable in number, com- 
pared with those in which there was a manifest and 
total failure. But although the ministry of Christ 
lasted between three and four years, during which 
he was continually resorted to by multitudes, with a 
great variety of cases, seeking his miraculous aid ; 



MIRACLES. 211 

ana although the ministry of his apostles continued 
many years longer, during which' time they are said 
to have been attested by '^ divers miracles," no case 
is mentioned in which an attempt was unsuccessful, 
or in which an applicant was denied. The language 
of the history in relation to the multitudes that ap« 
plied to Christ is continually, ** He healed them all." 
The enemies of the gospel, who were eye-witnesses of 
these applicants, did never maintain that the power 
of Christ or of his disciples was exerted unsuccess- 
fully in a single instance. Had such an event taken 
place, would they not have discovered it ? Had they 
discovered it, would they not have p^oclaimec^ it far 
and wide ? Would any of the books written against 
Christianity in the first centuries have omitted so 
important a fact ? The total absence of all insinua- 
tion of such a thing in the whole controversy between 
the primitive Christians and their adversaries, is cer- 
tain evidence that an unsuccessful attempt was never , 
made, and that an' unsuccessful applicant was not 
known.* 

Now, on the supposition that the miraculous do- 
ings recorded in the gospel were all a cheat, what a 
miracle is here ! That all was contrivance and im- 
posture and accident, and yet not an enemy ever 
detected an instance of failure ; that the machinery 
was never out of place, out of time, or out of order ; 

* The case mentioned in Matthew 17 : 14-21, would have 
been an example of failure, had the narrative ended with the 
inability of the disciples. But the Master performed what 
they, being as yet in their noviciate, had attempted in vain. 



212 K'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

that it was equally suooessful in all cases, equally 
ready at all seasons, always invisible, yet always at 
hand, and always instantaneously effectual — ^what fr 
miracle ! Who is the man of weak credulity ? the 
believer, or the infidel ? 

7. The length of time during which the Saviour 
and his apostles professed to perform miracles, should 
be specially considered. Seventy years elapsed be- 
tween the commencement of the ministry of Christ 
and the death of the last of the apostles. During all 
this interval the miraculous gifts in question were 
exercised. Now, as every repetition in case of im 
posture multiplies the dangers of detection, and every 
extension of time makes it the more difficult to keep 
up the confederated plan, it is no inconsiderable evi 
dence of the genuineness of the miracles of the 
gospel, that they continued to be wrought and in- 
spected during a period of so many years, and yet so 
securely. 

This consideration is the m6re important when 
you reflect that the miracles were not confined to 
one or two places — ^were hot wrought in little vil- 
lages, or among the poor and ignorant only, but that 
the scenes of most of them were in the chief cities of 
the Roman empire. Instead of remaining together 
in one place, or moving together wherever they de- 
sired to produce an impression, and then confining 
themselves to such places as might be most easily 
deceived, the apostles, with singular folly, on the 
supposition tliat they were confederated for an im- 
posture, separated to all parts of the world. They 



MIRACLES. 213 

went alone to the most populous, polished, and en- 
lightened cities. They put themselves in the most 
puhlic places of those cities ; thus making combina^ 
iion impossible, and rendering their success, as mure 
counterfeiters, perfectly miraculous. 

8. We have the most perfect certainty that the 
miracles of the gospel at the time they were wrought, 
and ijT a long time after, were subject to the most 
rigid ejcamination from those who had every oppor- 
tunity of scrutinizing their character. Forged mir- 
.Acles may pass current where power and authority 
or the favorable dispositions of the people protect 
them from too close an inspection. But let the 
power of the magistrate, the authority of public 
opinion, and the partialities of those concerned, be 
once leagued in opposition, and the imposture cannot 
escape. Such was the league against the miracles 
in question. Never was the power of the state in 
more perfect alliance with public opinion, or more 
zealously supported by all the envy, hatred, and 
malice of which popular feeUng is capable, than when 
it set its face against the gospel. Not only were these 
miracles exposed by their great publicity to univer- 
sal examination, but they were of such a nature that 
any mind was capable of examining them. Not only 
did they presfent themselves to the wise and the great, 
in the chief places of concourse, and in the great 
oities of the world, but they were such as neccdsarily 
provoked every description of scrutiny. Being per- 
form id in avowed support of a religion which could 
not be successful without destroying the whole 



214 M'lLVAIKES EVIDENCES. 

hierarchy of the Jews, and advancing its victorief 
over the ruins of heathenism, they roused at once 
into united and stern opposition all the civil power of 
the governments, all the enmity of Jewish and pagan 
priesthoods, all the partialities and prejudices and 
national attachments of all people. The enmity of 
the scribes and Pharisees, of the doctors and lawyers 
and priests, of the Jews, must have been fired with 
peculiar indignation. As miracles multiphed and 
disciples increased, the deepest interest must hava 
been awakened in relation to them among all classes 
of society. This we know to have been the case 
Hence, it is certain that they did not escape the most 
thorough examination ; that all the ingenuity and 
diligence of contemporaries and eye-witnesses, ani- 
mated by the strongest motives, and favored by every 
conceivable advantage, were enlisted in the trial; 
and this not for a day or a week or a month, but as 
long as miracles were professed and a hope of detec- 
tion remained. 

9. It is a matter deserving of special remem- 
brance, that the adversaries of the gospel were placed 
in the most favorable circumstances for a thorough 
investigation of the reality of its miracles, by their 
being published and appealed to immediately after ^ 
and in the very places where they occurred. The 
miracles ascribed to the founder of the society oi 
Jesuits are sufficiently answered by the fact, that 
during his life, and for many years after his death, 
nothing was heard of them. Those of Francis Xavier, 
one of the first disciples of Loyola, are deficient in 



lilRAGLES. 215 

evidence, because having been wrought, it is stated, 
in the far distant East, they were first published in 
the western world; and the narratives, if they ever 
reached the places to which they relate, could not 
have been known there till long after the opportunity 
of a close investigation had passed away, and must 
have been published among a people too indifferent to 
be at the pains of inquiring into their truth or false- 
hood. But the miracles of the gospel were published 
immediately after, and in the very places of their 
occurrence. It is true, indeed, that the earliest gos- 
pel, that of St. Matthew, is not by any supposed to 
have been published earlier than the seventh or eighth 
year after the death of Christ. Supposing this te 
have been the first publication of the miracles, it was 
sufficiently near their date to afford every reasonable 
opportunity of investigation. 

But we know from the gospel history, that during 
the three years of the Saviour's ministry, and all the 
while the apostles labored, their miracles were noto- 
rious. The scribes and Pharisees met in council on 
the subject. Many, unable to deny them, ascribed 
them to demoniacal power. Herod, when he heard 
of them, said, " This is John the Baptist ; he is risen 
from the dead ; and therefore mighty works do show 
forth themselves in him."* The fame of the miracles 
of Jesus, at the beginning of his ministry, " went 
throughout all Syria ;" so that multitudes, with all 
kinds of afflictions, flocked to him from all quarters 
to be healed, and when healed, returned to publish 

* Matt. 14:2. 



216 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

still more widely the works of their deliverer.* The 
rising of Lazarus was so widely published in Bethany, 
where it took place, and in the region round about, 
that in a few days ** much people of the Jews came, 
not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see 
Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead."* 
When, at the word of Peter and John, the impotent 
man at the gate of the temple had been made whole, 
they immediately published the miracle on the spot 
to the multitude of Jerusalem, appealing to it in 
evidence of the power of their Lord. " His name, 
through faith in his name, hath made this man 
strong, whom ye see and know ; yea, the faith 
which is by him hath given him this perfect sound- 
ness in the presence of you all."* Only about fifty 
days was Jesu« risen from the dead when his dis- 
ciples began to proclaim everywhere, and first at 
Jerusalem, among those who slew him and had set 
the guard at the sepulchre, this greatest of miracles. 
They appealed to it in every discourse, challenged 
every examination, defied all contradiction. All the 
miracles of Christ they declared before the very 
people whom they asserted to have witnessed them. 
*' Ye men of Israel, hear these words," said Peter ; 
" Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among 
you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God 
did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also 
know."* How eminently this bold and immediate 
publication must have aided as well as stimulated 

• Matt. 4 : 23-25. t John 12:9- 

^ Acts 3: 16. i Acts 2: 22 



ICIRACLES 217 

the investigation of the enemies of the gospel, fur- 
nishing those who had every disposition, and all 
power, and all intelligence and cunning, with every 
opportunity to try the minutest circumstance, and 
ferret out every clue to the detection of imposture, I 
Ueed not show. 

10. Now, consider who the agents were^ whose 
works were obliged to stand such trials. Had they 
been men of learning, of power, of wealth, accustomed 
to any thing that was calculated to furnish them for 
the work of imposing upon mankind, the case would 
not be quite so strong. But on the supposition that 
Christ was a mere man and pretender, what was he, 
or what were his apostles, by education or standing 
in society, that they should be qualified for such an 
unparalleled effort of ingenuity and concealment ? Is 
tJiere any miracle more marvellous than that which 
is involved in the idea of a poor and, humanly peak- 
ing, unlearned individual of Nazareth, followed by 
twelve obscure, unlettered Jews, for the most ptirt 
accustomed to nothing but their nets and fishing- 
boats, having practised such a system of imposture, 
under such circumstances of risk and exposure, with- 
out an individual among their numerous enemies being 
able to discover their secret, or detect the deceit ? 

11. Consider, moreover, that notwithstanding all 
that was done to entice and intimidate the early 
Christians who were eye-witnesses of what Jesus oi 
his apostles wrought, none were induced to confess 
themselves deceived^ or that they had seen any 
thing but truth in those miraculous gifts by which 

Kvt.Vn.-tw. JQ 



218 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

they had been persuaded to embrace the gospel. It 
is not asserted that none who professed to be con- 
<rerted from Judaism or paganism to Christianity, ever 
renounced the profession of Christianity. The perse- 
cution of enemies was sometimes successful in forc- 
ing iheir victims to forsake the gosp.el, and do sacri- 
fice to idols, rather than be burned at the stake or 
thrown to wild beasts. But the case cannot be 
brought of one such unhappy deserter, whether man 
or woman, having been persuaded to bear witness 
against the Christian miracles. A convert, after 
having united himself to the apostles, been received to 
the fellowship of the church, and become an dgent 
in advancing its cause, must have become acquainted 
with its secrets. He must have often looked behind 
the scenes, and had many opportunities of knowing 
the hidden machinery by which the imposition, if any 
existed, was carried on. Had the evidence of con- 
trivance and forgery been ever seen by the primitive 
Christians, those who deserted the cause had every 
motive to divulge it. Their own indignation at hav- 
ing been deceived, the rewards which they might 
have expected from the enemies of Christianity, 
would have been sufficiently persuasive. That none 
ever went a step further than simply to give up the 
profession of the gospel, through fear of torture ; that 
none ever turned round upon the apostles by whose 
miracles they had been convinced, and charged them 
with fraud, is absolutely inexplicable on any other 
supposition than their thorough conviction that fraud 
did not exist. 



MIRACLES. 2iy 

This evidence is especially strong in the case of 
Judas Iscariot. He was one of the twelve who 
always companied with Jesus. He was the treasurer 
of the family — admitted to every opportunity of know- 
ing whatever secrets may have belonged to the workf 
of Christ. That he knew what and where the impo- 
sition was, if any existed in the gospel miracles, 
cannot be doubted. That he was treacherous enough 
to betray it, is manifest from his having betrayed 
the Master himself. That he had every inducement 
to do so, none can question who knows how precious 
the chief priests and Pharisees would have considered 
such a disclosure. Did he come forward with any 
such thing? He delivers up the person of Christ; 
does he accuse his character? deny his works? 
expose his cause ? The Saviour is arraigned before 
his powerful enemies — witnesses are called. Where 
is Judas? False witnesses are brought. Where is 
Judas ? Has he nothing to say against him whom 
he has already sold for thirty pieces of silver ? The 
enemies of Christ could not be ignorant of the impor- 
tance of such a witness ; nor could he be ignorant ol 
the gain that would accrue from his delivering such 
testimony. But he was not there. The Jews never 
pretended to have obtained any accusation from that 
traitor. Not a word is spoken, in all the controversy 
with primitive adversaries, about the treachery of 
Judas as having turned to their advantage. On the 
contrary, it is written in the gospel history, and wbf 
never denied by those men, that he not only ab- 
stained from any accusation^ but in the strongest 



:a20 M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

pcMBsible manner confessed the truth and excellence 
of Jesus and his cause. Under the stings of con- 
science, and in spite of the covetousness of his dispo- 
sition, he went and delivered up the money he had 
received for his iniquity into the hands of those who 
had paid it. Nor was this all. He was constrained 
to a>nfess to the chief priests and elders, whose wrath 
he knew it would inflame to the uttermost, saying, 
*^ I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent 
blood. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the 
temple, and departed, and went and haiiged himself."* 
Stronger evidence of truth and righteousness, it is 
impossible for any works or any cause to possess. 

12. Haying considered in another place the char- 
acter of the individuals by whom the miracles of the 
gospel were performed, it is important now to remark 
the character o/ the miracles themselves. Either 
they were real miracles, or false. If false, the indi- 
viduals who performed them could not, by any excess 
of infatuation, have supposed them true. They must, 
therefore, have been the deliberate asserters of a 
divine commission, which they knew had not been 
given them, and the persevering exhibiters of creden- 
tials which they knew were forgeries.* Hence, it is 
not possible that they could have been honest men ; 
much less, good men. And inasmuch as they must 
have acted from some motive and with some object 
in view, and we cannot sappose that such impostors 
would be sacrificing themselves merely out of a be- 
nevolent disposition to promote the happiness of their 

* Matt. 27 : 4, 5. 



MIRACLES. 221 

fellow^creatures and relieve their woes, it must hav€ 
been some object of ambition or of gain which they 
were pursuing. We do not pause now to show what 
perfect idiots they must have been to select such a 
scheme cut of ambitious or pecuniary motives. But 
since, on the supposition that their works were ficti- 
tious, we can imagine no other, the question arises^ 
How do these miracles correspond with the idea that 
the agents were impostors, and their motives ambi- 
tious or covetous ? 

Now I maintain, that considering how many and 
various are the miracles recorded in the New Testa- 
mcnt, in what ve^rious circumstances and by what 
various agents they were performed — ^not for a month 
or year only, but many years, in full assemblages ol 
enemies — it would have been quite miraculous, sup- 
posing them f^se, had they been in every instance 
garnished with a concealment so perfect that nothing 
low, or mean, or undignified, nothing betraying the 
spirit of designing, ambitious, or covetous men, should 
ever have been manifested. Take up the accounts 
of any confessedly fictitious miracles, in any age or 
country, and you will soon detect the handwriting 
of the spirit and motives that produced them. But 
most singularly, contrary to all experience and all 
law, on the assumption that the miracles of Christ 
and his apostles were fictitious, you discover nothing 
in them but what is entirely worthy of the majesty, 
holiness, justice, and goodness of that God by whoso 
power they professed to be wrought. The most per- 
fect correspondence appears between the exalted and 

19* 



822 M'lLVAIKE'S EVIDENCES. 

holy character and office in which the Saviour and 
his apostles claimed to be received, and the works b} 
which their claim was sustained. Propriety, lignity, 
disinterestedness, benevolence of the loveliest spirit, 
and compassion of the tenderest sensibility, distin 
gnished them. Not the least trace is marked on them 
of any ambitions or other suspicious motive. Though 
the Lord Jesus and his apostles were compassed 
about with reproachful and persecuting enemies, you 
discern nothing vindictive or resentful. Though al- 
ways in personal poverty, ^^ despised and rejected of 
men,^^ their miracles discover nothing ostentatious, 
nothing to gratify curiosity, no anxiety for reput>e, no 
aim at wealih or temporal power. While feeding 
the hungry by thousands, Jesus continued in poverty. 
While, as the good shepherd, ever following the lost 
sheep through suffering and want, th||^ he might ad- 
minister to their necessities, he showed no sign of any 
care for himself. Now, if Jesus and his apostles did 
not work miracles in truth — ^if their high claims were 
false, and they consequently were prosecuting a 
scheme of imposture with selfish purposes, either of 
ambition or gain, there is something in all this sin- 
gularly unaccountable— very unlike the laws of na- 
ture — exceedingly miraculous. 

13. But that the miracles of the gospel were not 
fictitious, but genuine and undeniable, we have the 
plainest and strongest confession from the primitive 
adversaries of Christ and his cause. In the first 
place, we have a very conclusive and impressive con- 
fession, though silent, from the whole Jewish nation 



MIRACLES. 223 

and the whole gentile world. It consists in this 
unquestionable fact, that no individual among them 
ever detected, or was supposed to have detected, an 
imposture. * Yoa are to remember that these miracles 
were addressed to the senses, performed in open day- 
light, with all possible publicity; that they were 
exceedingly numerous and various, wrought by many 
different agents, in many and remote countries, before 
citizens of the most enlightened cities, and in the 
most enlightened age of the Roman empire; that 
those of the apostles did not cease until nearly sev- 
enty years from their commencement, during all 
which time they must have endured the very closest 
scrutiny that the combined forces of learning, enmity^ 
and political authority could institute. You are to 
remember, also, what kind of men were those who 
performed them, and that the accounts of them which 
we now possess were published far and wide in the 
very places where the works were done, and among 
the very people who are said to have witnessed them. 
You are to remember, for example, the miracle of the 
gift of tongues on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem; 
how it was published abroad in Jerusalem and the 
whole empire, that on that day an immense multi- 
tude of people of all languages were amazed at hear- 
ing the twelve apostles, who wore well known as 
unlettered Jews, preaching the gospel in so many 
different languages; that all, whether Cretes, Ara- 
bians, Mesopotamians, or of any other name, all 
heard in their respective tongues the wonderful works 
of God. You are to consider, that in publishing an 



224 Jft'ILVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

acGouut of this astonishing transaction, as was done 
by the apostles in all their preaching, and a few 
years afterwards by Luke in the Acts of the Apos- 
tles, an open, honest appeal was made to all the hun- 
dreds of thousands who had been assembled on that 
day in Jerusalem, to come forth and deny that these 
things did then and there occur. Thus was every 
possible facility afforded for the detection of impos- 
ture. Without a miracle for its concealment it could 
not have escaped. Had there been a detection with 
regard to but one of all the miracles, we should hav3 
heard of it. Judea and Grreeoe and Rome would 
have rung with the news. The books of Jewish and 
Jieathen adversaries would have reiterated its publi- 
cation in illuminated pages and golden capitals. All 
the generations of succeeding adversaries would have 
quoted it as one of the dearest bequests of classic 
antiquity. Is there any such thing? I sound the 
inquiry through the whole region of Jewish and 
Grrecian and Roman history, and I hear nothing in 
answer but the echo of my own voice, " Is there am 
such thing?" I must answer it myself. There is 
no such thing, in all that has come to us from anti- 
quity, as even a pretence to the detection of imposture 
in the gospel miracles. 

This I think you will join me in considering a 
very impressive and conclusive confession, though a 
milent one, from the whole Jewish nation and gentile 
world, to the undeniable reality of the miracles of 
CSirist and his apostles. It is all the evidence we 
could with any reason expect from enemies. When 



MlitACLES. 226 

Deists bid us produce the testimony of enemies a« 
well as friends, it is perfectly unreasonable to require 
that we should find enemies, in those days of bitter 
hostility to Christianity, positively acknowledging 
that it was attested by miracles. That they did not 
leny it, that Jews and Gentiles, that the Mosaic and 
the Pagan priesthoods, that the Pharisees of Jerusa- 
lem, and the philosophers of Corinth and Ephesus 
and Rome were silent on this head, one would sup- 
pose, is a great deal to get from such adversaries. 

But we can go further. Unreasonable as it is to 
demand more positive testimony from enemies, we 
can meet the demand. Having in a previous lecture 
ascertained the credibility of the gospel history, we 
may now appeal to it for the acknowledgment of 
enemies. Peter on the day of Pentecost assumed the 
fact that the multitudes of Israel, to whom he was 
speaking, acknowledged that Jesus of Nazareth had 
approved himself among them by " miracles, and won- 
ders, and signs."* " This man doeth many miracles,"^ 
was the confession of the chief priests and Pharisees, 
in council, relative to Jesus. "What shall we do to 
these men ?" said the Jewish rulers in relation to 
Peter and John. " For that indeed a notable miracle 
hath been done by them is manifest to all them that 
dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it."* You 
know that the only way of escape the Jewish rulers 
could find, while they could not deny the miracles, 
was to ascribe them to magic, or the power of demons. 
"He casteth out devils by Beelzebub." But wa 

• Acts 2:22. t John 11 : 47, t Acts 4 16. 



2"JC M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

have similar testimony without recourse to the Scrip- 
tures. The Jewish rabbies, in the Talmud, acknow- 
ledge these miracles, and pretend that they were 
wrought by magic, or by the power attendant upon a 
certain use of the name Jehovah, called tetragra^n* 
tnaton, which, they pretend, Jesus stole out of the 
temple.* But we have positive testimony also from 
heathens. Celsus, who wrote in the latter part of 
the second century, not only allows the principal facts 
of the gospel history, but acknowledges that Christ 
wrought miracles, by which he engaged great multi- 
tudes to adhere to him as the Messiah. That these 
miracles were really performed, so far from denying, 
he tries to account for by ascribing them to magic, 
which he says Christ learned in Bgypt.^ 

Hierocles, president of Bythinia, and a persecutor 
of Christians, in a work written against Christianity 
does not deny the miracles of Christ, but compares 
them with those which he pretended had been wrought 
a long time before by one Apollonius of Tyanea, a 
heathen; complaining at the same time that Chris- 
tians made so much ado about the works of .Jesus as 
to worship hun for God.* 

Julian the emperor, in the fourth century, ao- 

* Quod Ghristus per hoc nomen quoque miracula sua edi- 
derit, probavit ante multos annos Furchetus. Ejus tamen 
fabulaD illustrandsD causa, hoc addo, quod apud Talriudioos 
reperi. Ut Ghristus in ea historia refertur descriptum Shem* 
kamphorasch, (id est, nomen expositum, quod est ipsum nomen 
rvTC^i) inclusisse in discissam cutem pedis, et ex templo edux- 
isse, ut sic per ejus vim miracula postmodum ediderit. Bux* 
torf. 

t Lardner, toI. 4, p. 120-130. t Ibid. 4 254. 



MIRACLES. 227 

knowledges the miracles of Christ, and contents him- 
self with trying to depreciate their importance. " Je- 
sus," he says, ''did nothing worthy of fame, unless 
any one can suppose that curing the lame and the 
blind, and exorcising demons in the villages of Beth- 
saida, are some of the greatest works." He acknow- 
ledges that Jesus had a sovereign power over impure 
spirits, and that he walked on the surface of the deep.* 
Now, it is a matter of no little wonder, to say the 
least of it, that in this nineteenth century men should 
be so sagacious as to discover that Christ and his 
apostles did not attest their claims and doctrines with 
miraculous powers, when learned, sagacious, and 
sufficiently hostile unbeUevers of the earliest centu- 
ries of Christianity, having opportunities for discover- 
ing the state of the case such as none in modern 
times can pretend to, were constrained to acknow- 
ledge precisely the contrary. I marvel that Celsus 
and Porphyry, and Hierocles and Julian, and the 
scribes and Pharisees, can rest in their graves, when 
such reflections are cast upon the zeal and ability 
with which they searched for imposture in the works 
of Christ ! 

14. But we have even better testimony than that 
of enemies. Had Celsus found himself not only un- 
able to deny the miracles of Christ, but persuaded, by 
the mere force of their truth, to renounce heathenism, 
and consecrate his life, in the face of persecution and 
death, to the service of the gospel, would not his tes- 
timony have been greatly increased in importance? 

* Lardner, vol. 4, pp. 3.^2-342, 



228- MULVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

Would uot the very fact of his becoming a Christian, 
under the power of evidence, be the consideration 
which, instead of injuring his testimony as that of a 
friend, would have given it peculiar force as that of a 
friend who was once an enemy? Then if I find cases 
precisely corresponding with this — if I present you 
with hundreds and thousands of such cases, and tens 
of thousands, will you not own that their positive 
testimony is far stronger than even that of the adver- 
saries whom we have cited, and the strongest of 
which in the nature of things we could be possessed ? 
I find precisely such cases in the apostles of Christ. 
They are regarded as interested witnesses, because 
they were friends. But what made them friends? 
Were they not men, like others ? Jews, like others ? 
Consider Paul, once a fierce persecutor of Chris- 
tians. What made him a friend ? Consider the three 
thousand converted from bitter, persecuting Juda- 
ism to the faith of Christ on the day of Pentecost. 
What made friends and disciples of them ? Was it 
that they expected any earthly honors or gains from 
taking up the cross of a crucified Master, in whose 
wonderful works they did not believe ? Was it that 
they coveted reproach, enjoyed suffering, and loved 
death; or because, by careful consideration, they 
were so convinced that the miracles of Christ, espe- 
cially that of his rising from the dead, were true, that 
no certainty of persecution, no sacrifices of property, 
character, friends, or life were sufficient to prevent 
them from confessing him before men? To these 
add the hundreds of thousands who, during the iiiin* 



MIRACLES. 229 

istry of the apostles, from haying been Jews or hea- 
thens, and enemies of the gospel, became its devoted 
followers and heroic confessors. They bore witness, 
by word and deed, in torture and death, to the great 
fact that the miracles of Christ were true. And what 
is their testimony worth ? What possible motive can 
you assign for the total change which took place in 
all their habits, attachments, manners, and affections, 
when they became Christians, other than that of deep, 
solemn conviction ? To suppose they were not con 
vinoed, is to suppose that they made the most tro 
mendous sacrifices not only without motive, but in 
direct opposition to the most powerful motives of the 
hunian breast. They well knew the poverty and 
oersecution and martyrdom to which they exposed 
themselves. Why, then, did they become Christians? 
When afterwards pursued as the ofT-scouring of aU 
things, and pests of the world; when no name was 
90 odious as that of Christian; when to bring those 
who bore it to torture was universally accounted mer- 
itorious ; when it was the study of magistrates and 
soldiers to invent new modes of tormenting them; 
when thousands of all ranks and ages were daily slain 
for the testimony of Jesus, who, by the act of a mo- 
ment, could have stilled the storm to perfect peace, 
why did they persist and die? To pretend to explain 
their steaulfastness, except on the supposition of their 
having firmly believed what they professed, were per- 
fectCy absurd. But did they not know? Living in 
the same age with the apostles — living in the very 
places where the miracles were performed, they, if 

20 



230 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

any on earth, must have possessed the opportunity of 
discovering the truth with regard to them. We have, 
then, the impressive facts of hundreds of thousands 
of the adversaries of the gospel, in the first century of 
Christianity^ Jews and Greeks and Romans, many 
of whom had been persecutors of Christians, bearing 
the most positive testimony to what they had every 
opportunity of investigating, the reality of the mir- 
acles of Christ; and sealing their testimony by re- 
nouncing all that was dear to them by birth, habit, 
or education, and embracing Christianity at the ex- 
pense of the keenest reproach and the most painful 
death. Testimony stronger or more undeniable than 
this, I cannot imagine. If this be not sufficient to 
prove a plain matter of fact, such, for example, as 
that Lazarus was seen alive after he was known to 
have been dead, then farewell all history and all know 
ledge. Nothing can be reasonably believed, except 
on evidence of sense, and hardly then, after rejecting 
this. . 

A^e have now arrayed as many of the materials 
of the argument for the gospel miracles as our time 
would permit. It only remains that we put them 
together into one view, so as to enable you to appre- 
ciate their united strength. I know not how to do this 
in a better way, than to take the supposition that all the 
miracles of Christ and of his apostles were fictions, and 
consequently their authors deliberate deceivers; and 
then consider how far the supposition will carry us. 
Let us do so. You understand the supposition. What 
must be believed by one who will maintain it? 



MIRACLES. 231 

He mast believe that Jesus and his apostles, being 
obscure, unlettered Jews, without a single circum- 
stance to give them influence, were so perfectly silJy 
and mad as to flatter themselves that they could set 
up a scheme of religion, which, though in utter con- 
tradiction to the habits, passions, prejudices, and in- 
stitutions of all the world, should succeed in overturn- 
ing the religious systems and institutions of the most 
enlightened nations; and yet that, with this unac- 
countable infatuation, they were so singularly wise 
as to maintain throughout all the miracles which they 
professed to work in proof of their system, the most 
perfect consistency with the dignity and disinterest- 
edness of the ofiice they assumed, and with the maj- 
esty, holiness, and goodness of that God in whose 
name they professed to come. 

He must believe that Jesus and his apostles were 
so wicked as to attempt an imposture which involved 
not only continual dishonesty, but downright blas- 
phemy, and this from motives of mere ambition or 
avarice; and yet, that during the space of seventy 
years they kept up such an invariable show of emi- 
nent goodness and disinterestedness, as in all their 
works to manifest not the smallest appearance of self- 
ishness or any evil design; but, on the contrary, the 
utmost evidence of self-denial, of self-humiliation, of 
purity, of holiness, of the tenderest compassion, and 
the most laborious benevolence, so that even their 
enemies never brought inconsistency to their charge. 

He must believe the apostles to have been so 
Etrangely in love, either with wealth, or honor, or 



232 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

power, or something else, as to be willing even out oi 
their obscurity and weakness to seek it by such a 
desperate scheme as that of Christianity, and yet 
that, when honors were offered, they earnestly refused 
th«»/m ; when they saw the triumph of their eneuiies 
in the crucifixion of Christ, and that nothuig awaited 
his followers but disgrace, poverty, and persecution, 
they persisted in advocating the cause of their fallen 
leader; and when the storms of persecution grew 
darker and darker, and ruin and death were the cer- 
tain consequences of perseverance, and one word of 
confession would have saved them, such was their 
infatuated attachment to this scheme of imposture, 
such their singular devotion to self, to honor, or 
wealth, or power, or something else^ that they drove 
on from suffering to suffering, from shame to shame, 
ending at last their pursuit in a bitter death, with the 
full belief, as Jews, that in eternity they should be 
condemned to an awful retribution for their whole 
career. 

He must believe, that while the apostles were so 
utterly destitute of common ingenuity that they se- 
lected precisely that kind of credential which it was 
the most difficult to forge, and instead of seeking, as 
other impostors would have done, private or confined 
or solitary places for their miracles, chose those of the 
greatest resort and publicity, and then placed and 
left their miracles directly under the senses of the 
multitude ; that while they had so little contrivance, 
that instead of selecting a few masked friends, or the 
most ignorant of the populace for witnesses, they 



MIUACLES. 233 

seemed rather to prefer having hardly any witnesses 
but enemies, and those frequently of the highest, 
most literary, and powerfiil classes; that while so 
utterly wanting in the oommon cunning of impostors, 
that instead of keeping their doings to one or a few 
places, they performed them anywhere, upon any 
subjects, however suddenly or confusedly prestented, 
and instead of ceasing when they had done a few 
with success, continued the hazard for many years, 
in innumerable instances, and while they were widely 
separated from one another — I say it must be believed, 
that Christ and his apostles, with all these evidences 
of extraordinary idiocy or lunacy, were yet so won- 
derfully ingenious, wary, and wise, so singularly 
skilled in imposture, so learned in human nature and 
the world, such a marvellous match for the combined 
efforts of the wise and mighty and diligent of Judea 
and Greece and Rome, laid their plans so deeply, 
concerted their movements so skilfully, kept their 
secrets so closely, carried on the whole complicated 
plot for many years so consistently, that though ever 
watched while together and while separated, and con* 
tinually scrutinized by all sorts of witnesses and of 
enemies, none could ever detect the least flaw in 
their pretensions — none could discover that the blind 
did not see, that the lame did not walk, that the 
dead did not rise. On the contrary, the people of 
Bethany were so deceived as actually to believe that 
they daily saw one of their townsmen, whom they 
knew to have died, living and eating among them. 

The people of Jerusalem were so deceived as to be- 

20* 



234 a ILVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

lieve that they saw a uoan whom they knew to have 
been lame from his Uith, daily walking among them 
perfectly well. The fire thousand were fully per- 
suaded that they did all eat and were filled with a 
few loaves and fishes. The people of Syria were so 
tricked as really to believa that their multitudei» of 
sick with divers diseases and torments, whom they 
had brought to Jesus, went home with them perfectly 
well, without an exeeptioa. Yea, the whole Jewish 
and heathen world was so imposed upon by these 
unlettered, simple, despised, persecuted Jews, as 
tacitly to confess the genuineness of their miraeles. 
Philosophers and rabbies, when they attacked Chris- 
tianity, did not deny it; several of them positively in 
their books acknowledged it; and hundreds of thou- 
sands in the age of the apostles, out of the most polished 
cities and most respectable classes, were so entirely 
taken captive and spellbound by the magic scheme 
of these weak men, that they forsook all, and took 
joyfully the spoiHngof their goods, and yielded them- 
selves to fire and sword and wild beasts, rather than 
not confess and follow Christ. 

Such are the wonderful things, such the violations 
of the laws of nature and of common-sense, such the 
wicked and contradictory miracles, which necessarily 
follow as true, as soon as the miracles of Christianity 
are rejected as false. Now, tell me on which side 
the charge of credulity lies with the greatest weight. 
Now, give the reason why our modern unbelievers, 
instead of meetii^ the testimony of the gospel mir- 
acles in front,, are so conscientiously scrupulous never 



MIRAGLBS. 235 

tu know anj thing about it^ and always expend their 
ingenuity in ridiculing the dignity, or ia picking Ofut 
what they would represent a» the inconsistencies of 
Scripture. Now explain the singular phenomenon 
that the grand high-priest of modern infidelity should 
have invented the convenient principle which soep- 
tic^il philosophy had ever before so painfully sighed 
after, that no testimony can prove a miracle. Ah, 
yes. It was his only hope. The testunony of the 
Christian miracles is perfect. It is so overwhelming, 
that if there be any difficulty about their miraculous 
character, it arisen from the very brightness of their 
evidence itself. It is almost inconceivable that such 
works, wrought ^o publicly and frequently, and with 
such ineontrovertible marks of a divine hand, should . 
not have made more converts — ^that all who beheld 
them did not yield at once to the great Teacher whom 
they attested, and espouse his cause. But the ex« 
planation is not difficult. The human heart is de- 
praved enough for the most desperate rejection of such 
a master as the Lord Jesus. Men will go to the 
greatest lengths of folly and unbelief to gratify their 
passions, foster their pride, retain their prejudices, 
and escape the necessity of making sacrifices for con- 
science' sake. The truth that so many Jews and 
heathens^ with this blaze of testimony before them^, 
did not submit to the gospel, b not so astonishing as 
what is seen every day among ourselves: persons 
believing the New Testament, and that Christ is the 
only Saviour of sinners — ^that eternal blessedness 
awaits those who follow him, and eternal woe those 



236 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

who neglect his salvation, and yet, for all practical 
ends, as unmoved hy these truths as if they were 
fables — as little engaged in the service of Christ as if 
they had never heard his name. 

But we must conclude. I trust you will hence* 
forth allow me to consider the miracles of the gospel 
as proved to be genuine. If so, we must consider th*^ 
credentials of Christ and his apostles as acknowledged. 
They were therefore what they professed to be, di- 
vinely commissioned and inspired teachers. God was 
with them. What they published as a revelation 
from God, we are consequently bound to receive as a 
revelation from God. That publication is contained 
in the New Testament. We have already ascertained 
the authenticity and credibility of the New Testa- 
ment. We now cease, therefore, with the conclusion 
that the religion published in the New Testament is 
a revelation from God. 

May the greatest and best of all the works of the 
Lord Jesus be wrought in all of us, even the blessed 
work of his grace, awakening the sinner from spirit- 
ual death; changing, exalting, purifying all the af- 
fections of his depraved nature ; opening the eyes of 
his understanding to behold the glory of God; leading 
him in repentance and faith to the cross, for pardon 
and pea6e; shedding abroad in his heart the spirit of 
divine love, and causing him to rejoice in the bless- 
ed assurance of a crown of glory that fadeth not 
away 



rAOFHEOT. 337 



LECTURE VII. 



PROPHECY. 



Having shown the genuineness of the miraoies 
recorded in the New Testament in attestation of the 
divine mission of the Saviour and his apostles^ we are 
now to take up the subject of prophecy. But while 
proceeding to this additional source of evidence, it is 
important to be observed that we do so, not be- 
cause we consider the reasoning in proof of Chris- 
tianity as a divine revelation, to which you have al- 
ready listened, in any sense incomplete. Had our 
course of lectures been terminated with the last, the 
argument would have been brought to an incontro* 
vertible issue. Having made out the great pointy 
that genuine miracles were wrou^t by the Saviour 
and his apostles in attestation of the divine authority 
of what they did and taught, we have established^ by 
necessary consequence, the great truth that Jesus 
Christ was a teacher come from God^ and that the 
New Testament, as an authentic publication of the 
religbn taught by him, is to be received as contain- 
ing a divine revelation of truth and duty. One line 
of evidence therefore, one road leading to the Scrip* 
tures as the great central fountain of divine truth, we 
have travelled over, and it has set us down beside 
the water of life. Now, if this were the only road, it 
would be amply sufficient. The loftiest intellect need 



£38 M'lLTAIKE'S STIBESCES. 

not be ashamed — Hie weakest need not fear to walk 
dierein.* Bot Grod has not only fiunished ns with 
the plainest, bat with Ihe most Taiioos and abondant 
eTidenoe. And since the object of these lectoies is, 
not only to prove the divine anthoiity of the goqiel, 
but also to give yon an idea of the diversified char- 
acter of the many ways by which the proof may be 
established, we pn^xise now to letnm from the poai- 
ticm we have reaidied by the argoment of our last 
iectoie, and endeavor to arrive at it again by a roote 
entirely diflerent. We take np the prophecies r^ 
corded in the Scriptores, and diall endeavor to pro- 
dace frran them satisfactory and impressive evidence 
that in the Bible we have divine in^iratkHi, and in 
Jesas Christ a teacher sent of God. 

What is a prophecy, according to the sense of 
Scripture, and as we are now aboat to consider it? 
It is a declaration of fatare events, sach as no haman 
wisdom or forecast is saflicimt to make — depending 
on a knowledge of the innomerable contingencies of 
human affiurs, which belongs exclusively to the 
omniscience of G-od; so that from its very nature, 
pro{diecy must be divine revelaticm. *' The prophecy 

* A celebrated infidel once acknowledged that even Athe- 
ism wonld be refated by the proof of a single miracle of the 
gospeL Spinoza declared that he ^vronld have broken his 
atheistic system to pieces, and embraced without repugnance 
the ordinary faith of Christiaiis, conld he have been persuaded 
of the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead. Was it not a 
foresight of the inferences that would necessarily result Iroa 
the proof of this miracle, that prevented him &om being per- 
suaded of its truth? 



PROPHECY. 239 

came not in old time ty the will of man, but holy 
men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost." 

A prophecy, considered in itself, separately from 
its fu'£lment, is no evidence of revelation. But aa 
soon as fulfilled, it is complete. .The hand of God is 
then attested. The evidence that the person by 
whom it was uttered was under the influence of di- 
vine omniscience, is finished. Then prophecy takes 
the place of miracle, and becomes at once one of the 
highest and most unquestionable proofs, not only that 
the individual who declared it was the agent of com- 
municating, in that particular, a divine revelation, 
but also that a divine sanction is impressed upon that 
whole system of religion with which his prophecies 
may be connected.* "Future contingencies, such, 
for example, as those which relate to the risfl and fall 
of nations and states not yet in existence, or to the 
minute concerns of individuals not yet born, are se- 
crets which it is evident no man or angel can pene- 
trate, their causes being indeterminate, their relations 
with other things fluctuating and unknown. It fol- 
lows therefore, that the prediction of such contingent 
events cannot otherwise than proceed from God ; and 
further, since God cannot without a violation of his 
perfect holiness and rectitude visibly aid delusion and 
wickedness, the inference is equally cogent and nec- 
essary, that the accc mplishment of predictions deliv- 

* " All prophecies," says Hume, " are real miracles, and as 
guch only, can be admitted as proofs of any revelation." Phil* 
osophica Essays. 



>40 ll'ILVAINB'S BVIDEKCES. 

ered by those who profess divine authority amoanie 
to a full proof that tliey really possess the aulliority 
they assume. Other arguments may be evaded — 
other evidence may not convince. Strange effects 
though not miraculous ones, may be produced by 
other than divine power."* But this can only be 
evaded by refusing to behold it, and only counterfeited 
by him who is ingenious enough to borrow omniscience 
in aid of imposture. *^ To declare a thing shall come 
to be, long before it is in being," says Justin Martyr, 
'^and then to bring about the accomplishment of that 
very thing according to the same declaration, this, 
or nothing, is the work of God." 

There are considerations connected with this par* 
ticular source of evidence, which render it specially 
interesting and valuable. 

Prophecy furnishes an argument, the force of 
which is continually growing. The argument be* 
gan when first a single prophecy was fulfilled. It 
increased more and more, as predictions and fulfil- 
ments multiplied. In the age of the apostles, it was 
a powerful as well as favorite weapon in proof of the 
gospel. But during that period many new predic- 
tions were published, and many ancient ones remained 
to be accomplished. The argument consequently was 
not yet at its height. It has been growing ever since, 
as one century after another has exhibited an ad- 
ditional fulfilment, or completed and enlarged those 
already advanced. We, in the present age, enjoy an 
expanse and variety and completeness of prophetic 

• Gregory's Letters. 



i 



t'fi.OPlIECT. 241 

■firideaoe far exceeding those which the chart of his- 
tory presented to St. Paul. There is to us a voice 
from the silent solitudes where Babylon and Tyre 
once stood in pride and reigned in power; from the 
modern history of the prostrate Egypt ; from the won- 
lerful annals and present condition of the Jewish 
i*ace; from the desolate state of the Holy Land and 
adjoining countries; from the rise and present aspect 
of the mystic Babylon — -which the primitive Chris- 
tians had not the privilege of hearing. The force of 
this argument is yet to grow more and more until the 
consummation of all things. A few years hence, in 
all probability, will exhibit it invested with a bright- 
ness and glory, compared with which all present evi- 
dence will seem but as morning twilight At the 
end of the world will be its full maturity. Prophecy 
having begun with the history of sin, extends to the 
completion of its tragedy ; and not till the blazing of 
the great conflagration when ^^the earth and all that 
is therein shall be burned up," will its every predic- 
tion be fulfilled, or the fulness of glory with which it 
was designed to show the truth of God in the gospel 
of his Son, be made to appear. 

Now, it is this continual growing of prophetic 
evidence that makes it so peculiarly valuable. The 
argument derived from miracles, though it could 
lever have been more conclusive than it is to us, was 
.^rtainly more impressive to those who saw the mir- 
acles, or who lived in the age in which they were 
wrought. And it is very difficult for most persons to 
distinguish between the conclusiveness and the im- 



242 MTLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

pressiveness of evidence. Because the lapse oi cen* 
furies, hy removiug the Christian miracles far from 
us, has diminished the sensible effect they would 
atherwise have had upon our minds, it is very gen- 
erally supposed that the same cause has enfeebled 
the evidence on which their genuineness is main* 
tained. This idea, though entirely unfounded, is 
too natural, to those whose thoughts reach not be- 
neath the surface of such subjects, to be easily re- 
moved. But with regard to the evidence arising 
from prophecy, it cannot exist. Predictions, now in 
progress of fulfilment, are miracles which centuries 
can only render more certain and impressive. If 
there was a peculiar privilege conferred on those who 
saw in the njiracles of Christ, manifest to sense, the 
wonderful works of God's omnipotence^ there is also 
a similar privilege conferred on us, who, in conse- 
quence of the ever-increasing fulfilment of prophecy, 
may see in the Scriptures, more brilliantly illuminated 
than ever, the handwriting of God's omniscience. 

There is another peculiarity in much of the evi- 
dence from prophecy, which renders it peculiarly 
valuable. It is evidence before our eyes addressed 
to our senses. By this we do not mean that the evi- 
dence arising from the miracles of Christ and his 
apostles would be any more conclusive, however 
much it would be increased in its impression on oui 
minds, did we behold the miracles instead of reading 
of them in well-attested history. We believe, on the 
contrary, that this description of evidence, as ad- 
dressed to us, is perfect. But still there is, and per* 



PROPHECY. 243 

baps ever will be, a class of persons who, like the 
disciple Thomas, will require to see hefore they will 
believe. Either their indifference or sluggishness 
prevents them from pursuing a line of argument that 
would carry them back amidst the testimonies of 
antiquity, or else their willing scepticism, by in- 
genious sophistry, would shield them from all the 
evidence derived from miraculous agency, by the 
assumption that no testimony can prove a miracle. 
The utter fallacy of this position, we trust, was satis- 
factorily shown in a preceding lecture. But here are 
evidences with which, were it true, it could have no 
connection. Grod, in Lis infinite wisdom and mercy, 
has provided for all classes of minds, and all descrip- 
tions of infidelity, that all unbelievers may be with- 
out excuse. The argument from prophecy may be 
rendered brief enough for the most sluggish, tangible 
enough for the most obstinate opposers of historical 
testimony. They have only to read in the Bible the 
predictions with regard to the once proud cities oi 
Babylon and Tyre, or the once powerful empire ol 
Egypt, and then to open their ears to the accounts 
which almost every wind conveys, or go and see for 
themselves the obscure remnants of the ruins of those 
cities and of that once mighty empire ; they have only 
to read in the books of Moses what, thirty-three hun- 
dred years ago, was foretold of the history of the 
Jewish people, and then to lift up their eyes and 
behold the present condition and the notorious peculi* 
ariiies of that wonderful race, to see that the proph- 
ecies of the Bible have been plainly and most par- 



244 H'lLYAINE'S EYIIiENCES. 

ticularly fulfilled — ^fulfilled in a maimer which no 
human sagacity conld have foreseen, which no hn- 
man power could have brought to pass, and conse- 
qnently that the authors of these prophecies were 
inspired men, and the religion they taught was the 
word of God. In these and various other examples 
which might be adduced, of the present and visible 
fulfilment of prophecy, the miracles of the Jewish 
and Christian dispensations are in &ct continued 
among us. " Men are sometimes disposed to think 
that if they could see a miracle wrought in their own 
^ht, they would believe the gospel without delay, 
and obey it unreservedly. They know not their own 
hearts. ^ If they hear not Moses and the prophets, 
neither will they be persuaded though one rose firom 
Hie dead.' But in the whole range of prophecy now 
fulfilling before their eyes, ihey have in fact a series 
of divine interpositions, not precisely of the nature of 
miracles, in the sense of brief and instant and visible 
suspensions of the laws of nature, but evidently so in 
the sense of supernatural interference : in the rise 
and fall of cities and nations and empires ; in the 
arrangement of times and circumstances; in that 
wonderful display of infinite foreknowledge and in- 
finite power, apparent in the control of the wiUs of 
unnumbered free and accountable agents to a certain 
result"* 

In our last lecture we stated that the religion of 
the Bible is ike only one which, on its first introduc- 
tiim, appealed to miracles in evidence of the divine 

* Wilson's Leetnies. 



PROPHECY. 246 

authority of its teachers. "We make a similar re- 
mark, with still more evident truth, in regard to 
prophecy. The sublimity of men professing to be 
the commissioned and inspired'^essengers of God, 
making their appeal to a series of future events for a 
thousand years as the sure attestation of the divine 
authority of their embassy; the moral grandeur ci 
that appeal, which, after having deposited in the 
hands of nations a prediction of minute transactions 
which the innumerable contingencies of a long retinue 
of centuries are to bring out, stakes its whole cause 
upon a perfect fulfilment, thus resting itself singly 
upon \h.Q omniscience and omnipotence of Grod, and 
separating to an infinite distance all possibility of 
human support — this is a dignity to which nothing but 
the inspiration of the Scriptures can pretend, a noble 
daring on which nothing else was ever known to ven- 
ture. The corruptions of Christianity, as existing in 
the church of Rome, have attempted to prop up their 
feeble foundations on the credit of miracles, easily re« 
futed indeed, but widely boasted ofc But prophecy, 
even the effrontery of that " man of sin," " whose com- 
ing," saith St. Paul, "is with all deceivableness of 
unrighteousness," has never pretended to. Although 
Mohammed did not profess to support his pretensions 
by miracles, and the Koran expressly concedes that 
miraculous power was not given him, yet his foU 
lowers, hundreds of years after his death, related 
many miracles as having been performed under his 
hand. But that Mohammed, though styled the 
prophet of God, ever declared a prophecy ^ on the ful 

21* 



246 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES, 

tilment of which he rested his claims to inspiration, 
none ever asserted. 

The history of pagan nations indeed abounds 
with stories of augturies and oracles and detached 
predictions; but it was with no reference to the 
establishment of paganism that they were uttered. 
On the contrary, the fact that paganism was estab- 
lished already gave them all their reverence. But 
what an immeasurable distance separates all the 
pretended oracles of paganism from the dignity of the 
prophecies in the Bible. The avowed end of the 
former was to satisfy some trivial curiosity, or aid 
the designs of some military or political leader. The 
influence of intimidation or of bribery produced them. 
They were never spontaneous. The oracles were 
careful to take advantage of the security of silence, 
until obliged to speak in answer to a direct appeal. 
Then they never uttered a syllable without getting 
time for preparation. Inquiries were rendered as 
difficult and as expensive as possible, in order not 
only to enrich the oracles, but to diminish the occa- 
sions of exposure. Every inquiry must be attended 
with numerous and minute ceremonies on the part of 
the applicant as well as the prophet, in order that 
omissions or mismanagements might afford frequent 
excuses for the failure of the response, without im- 
plicating the inspiration of its author. The god was 
not always in a humor to be consulted. " Either he 
was talking, or he was pursuing, or he was in a 
journey, or peradventure he was sleeping, and must 
be awakened." This afforded a very convenient op- 



PR0PHEC7. 247 

portunity of putting off a difficult case. ** Omenci 
were to he taken, and auguries examined, which, if 
uniavorahle in any particular, either precluded the 
inquiry for the present, or required further lustrations, 
ceremonies, and sacrifices — to purify the person who 
had consulted, and render him fit to receive an 
answer from the gods, or to bring their wayward 
deities to a temper suitahle to the inquiry."* When 
no means of evasion remained, the answers given 
were either so ambiguous as to suit any alternative, 
or so obscure as to require a second oracle to explain 
them. When the prediction failed there was no want 
of subterfnges by which to maintain the credit of the 
oracle. It was conveniently discovered, either that 
the gods were averse to the inquirer, or that he had 
not been in a proper state for the consultation, or 
that some indispensable ceremony had been omitted 
or mismanaged. But all these precautions and arti- 
fices were not sufficient to prevent those oracles from 
falling into utter contempt with the more enlightened 
heathens.^ Who could think of comparing such 
pitiful mockeries of divine omniscience with the 
dignified and sublime and holy prophecies which arc 
spread out so openly and widely in the Scriptures ? 
To point out the particulars in which the prophets of 
the Bible were distinguished above all the oracles of 
the pagans, were to suppose a measure of ignorance 
among my hearers, as to the most conspicuous fea- 
tures of the Scriptures, with which I cannot believe 

* Nare's View of Prophecy. 

♦ StilliiifffleeVs Orig. Sftcne, L 2, ch. 8, p. 221. 



248 SI ILVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

them chargeable. But oar assertion remains, and 
deserves to be repeated, that neither in the rise, nor 
in the progressive advancement of any religion bat 
that of the Bible, have prophecies been professed or 
appealed to in evidence of its truth. This single 
fact, that all other religions have shrunk from at- 
tempting such dangerous ground ; that notwithstand- 
ing the boldness with which other descriptions of 
evidence have been counterfeited among pagans and 
Mohammedans, and in support of the corruptions of 
popery, all have kept aloof from this ; and yet, that 
this very evidence, so extremely hazardous, so cer- 
tain of ultimate exposure in case of imposition, is 
everywhere professed in the Bible, and forms the 
golden chain that holds all its parts together, and by 
which it spans the world, touching at once its be- 
ginning and ending, the first and the last : this, 1 
say, independently of the question of fulfilment, is a 
strong presumptive argument that the Bible contains 
something of great importance which no other religion 
possessed — something to warrant it in venturing where 
nothing but divine Omniscience is able to tread ; in 
other words, that its writers were holy men, who 
'* spake as they were moved by the Holy Grhost." 

The overpowering weight of the evidence from 
prophecy, and the moral grandeur with which it 
attests the inspiration of Grod and the Messiahship of 
Christ, can only be appreciated by a full view of the 
immense scheme and the vast extent of the prophe* 
cies in the Bible. Their record occupies a large por- 
tion of the Scriptures. In the third chapter it begins: 



PROPHECY. 24y 

in the last, it ends. Its spirit arose with the fall of 
man in Eden ; its predictions will end only with his per- 
fect recovery in heaven. During the progress of more 
than four thousand years the scheme of prophecy was 
continually opening, its predictions were continually 
multiplying, its grand object and purpose wore be- 
coming more and more distinct and luminous. The 
spirit of prophecy first uttered ite voice when as yet 
our fallen parents had not been expelled the garden 
of innocence. Cain heard in it the warning of his 
punishment. Enoch continued its declarations. Noah 
transmitted its strain. Abraham's whole life was 
guided and encouraged by its inspirations. Isaac was 
the. child, as well as the instrument of prophetic 
communication. Jacob with his last breath foretold 
the future history of his twelve sons in their genera- 
tions, and the reign of a lawgiver in Judah till Shiloh 
should come. The harp of prophecy remained in 
silence while the posterity of Jacob remained in 
Egyptian bondage; but no sooner was Israel free, 
than the Spirit again breathed upon its strings, and 
in the hand of Moses it spoke of the great Prophet 
who was to come to the church, and sketched the 
Jewish history with wonderful minuteness, down even 
to the present and far future times. Between Mo- 
ses and David lived Samuel, a prophet of the Lord. 
Immediately after him began what may be styled, 
with emphatic distinction, '*the age of prophecy." 
It opened with the elevated and sublime poetry 
of David. It advanced with. the stern ministry of 
honored Elijah. As he went up in the flaming 



250 M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

chariot, translated to heaven, his mantle descended 
upon the " man of God" Elisha. Among the minor 
prophets who carried on the spirit of this age of seers, 
were Hosea, Amos, and Micah. Then followed Isaiah, 
as full of the spirit of the gospel as of the spirit of 
prophecy; and Jeremiah, overflowing as well with 
*:ender lamentation for the affliction of Israel, as with 
the sublimest predictions of the days when the Lord 
would heal and comfort them; then Ezekiel, with as 
many visions of the future as the eyes in his myste- 
rious wheels, prophesying " in the midst of the valley 
which was filled with bones." Ezekiel connected 
in his person the age of prophecy with that of the 
captivity of Judah. Daniel succeeded him, and«be* 
sides the prophetic interpretation of the handwriting 
on the wall, foretold the succession of the four pow- 
erful monarchies, and the feeble rising and ultimate 
dominion of the fifth, and determined the time when 
the daily sacrifice would cease, and Messiah be cut 
off — not for himself. Haggai and Zechariah con- 
tinued the prophetic strain, after the return of Judah 
from captivity. Malachi terminated the line of Old 
Testament prophets and the canon of Old Testament 
scriptures, with the sublime annunciation of one who 
was to come, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to 
prepare the way of the Lord. Again the harp of 
prophecy was silent, as during the bondage of Egypt, 
until "that prophet" like unto, but infinitely greater 
than Moses arose. Jesus, the great object cf proph- 
ecy from the beginning — himself ^^ the spirit of 
prophecy ^^ — foretold, besides his own death and resnr 



PROPHECY. 251 

rection, the calamities that should befall Jerusalem, 
as well as the utter destruction of the Jewish state. 
Paul followed his Master's steps, as well in the walks 
of prophecy as of martyrdom, forewarning the church 
of " that man of sin, the son of perdition, whose com- 
iug is after the working of Satan, with all power, and 
signs, and lying wonders."* John closed the succes- 
sion of prophecy and the canon of Scripture together, 
with predictions, the awful sublimity of which no pen 
can rival, and the wonderful expanse of which noth- 
ing but the events of all future time can measure. 

Thus have we a train of holy men, reaching from 
the earliest age of mankind, through a period of more 
than four thousand years, and extending their pre- 
dictions to the world's end. I see in them the utmost 
variety, as well in condition and character as in the 
ages in which they lived — ^princes, patriarchs, priests, 
legislators, shepherds, fishermen. Exceedingly vari- 
ous in natural qualifications, in education, habits, 
and employments, they wrote in various styles, but 
each as he was moved by the Holy Ghost. Now 
when, in connection with this variety in the prophets 
themselves, I consider the vast variety and extent of 
the subjects on which their predictions are employed, 
embracing not only the history of the Jews for many 
centuries, but that also of the minor nations imme- 
diately around, with that of the more remote empires 
of Egypt and Assyria, and Chaldea and Persia, and 
Hacedon and Rome ; when I consider that in this im- 
mense vastness of extent, so great is their minuteness 

• 2 Thess. 2 : 3-9 



eS2 M'lLVAIKE'S EVIDENCES. 

of detail, that sundry particnlar eyents and features in 
the destmction of the city of Jerusalem, of NineveL 
and Babylon and Tyre, are predicted with the most 
graphic and striking precision ; when, in the midst 
of such wonderful diversity of authors, ages, circum- 
stances, and of subjects, from the downfall of an 
empire to the tumbling of a wall, I perceive not the 
smallest inconsistency or collision, but on the con- 
trary the utmost harmony, as well of execution as 
of purpose and of spirit, the whole array of prophecy, 
from first to last, bearing down and concentrating 
upon one grand object, tl^ testimony of Jesus — the 
risej progress^ and eternal accomplishment of his 
plan of redeeming' love ; in a word, when I behold 
a scheme so vast as to embrace all time, and yet sc« 
minute that it can detail the events of an hour; s;!i 
general, that in a few lines it predicts the history oi 
the four mightiest empires, and yet so particular that 
chapters are devoted to the history of one individual; 
so diversified in its materials as to be made up ol 
contributions from men of all ages and minds, during 
a period of four thousand years, and yet so identical 
that one spirit and one grand, harmonious purpose 
animated the whole: when I compare all this, arrayed 
as it is in the richest poetry and loftiest eloquence 
that eye of man ever read, with whatever else in the 
world ever pretended to the praise of prophecy, I be- 
hold a grandeur of conception, a sublimity of design, 
an all-controlling power of execution, a unity and 
.nelf-depending supremacy of mind which bespeak the 
omniscience and omnipotence of Him who '* was, and 



PROPHjiCY. adJ 

is, and is to come, the Almighty." I say nothiDg 
\ et of the fulfilment of any portion of this stupendous 
plan; I only say, look at the plan itself in all its 
comprehensiveness and minuteness, and tell me if it 
be not utterly at variance with all human experience, 
and in itself perfectly incredible, that imposture should 
have conceived such a scheme, or should ever have 
dared to commit its cause to a venture that could 
only succeed by a continuance of miraculous fortune 
through all ages of the world. Consider the plan 
itself, the varioiis minds that carried on the succes- 
sion of its several predictions, forming a line of hol^ 
men from the earliest periods of antediluvian history 
down to the last of the apostles of Christ; see how 
they all agree in spirit and purpose, while yet so 
different in character and circumstances; see how 
they all unite in testifying to Christ, so that as the 
last of them said, "The testimony of Jesus is the 
spirit of projdiecy ;" then tell me how imposture can 
be supposed to have wrought unexposed for so many 
thousands of years, how it could have chosen its 
agents out of forty centuries, out of circumstances 99 
disadvantageous, and bid them embrace such an im- 
mense range of subjects for their predictions, and yet 
without any inconsistency or want of harmony, or 
any thing incompatible with the idea of one all-per- 
vading mind having regulated the whole. I do not 
say that so much as one prophecy has been fulfilled. 
I only say, and I challenge all denial, that not a 
single prediction in the whole succession can be shown 
to have failed, or to have been contradicted bv t)ie 

22 



254 M'lLVAINE S EVIDENCES. 

times or events to which it referred. I only asserti 
that while many of the prophecies remain unfulfilled 
because the times they relate to have not arrived, a 
very great number must have either been fulfilled 
already, or have utterly failed; and yet no unb^ 
liever could ever put his hand on that portion of his- 
tory which contradicted the truth of any. I ask you 
to remember this important and undeniable fact, and 
then say whether it is not most impressive evidence 
that another mind than that of man was the author 
of the prophecies of the Bible — ^whether it can be 
supposed possible in the nature of things that human 
ingenuity could have contrived a volume of predic- 
tions reaching so far, extending so widely, telling so 
much, assuming such particularity, without having 
been contradicted by a single event in the history of 
nearly six thousand years. 

We now enter upon the question of fulfilment. 
I undertake to show that the history of the world has 
wonderfully responded to the prophecies of the Bible, 
and echoed back to the holy men who uttered them, 
a complete assurance that they ^^ spake as they were 
moved by the Holy Ghost." But where shall I begin ? 
It were easier to write a volume on this one subject 
than to compress the matter wHhin our necessary 
limits, so as to do it any tolerable justice. Selecting 
some insulated portions of the train of prophecy, we 
must content ourselves with exhibiting their aooom 
pUshment as specimens of the whole. To this, the 
remainder of the present lecture, and the whole of the 
next, will be devoted 



PROPHECY. 25d 

Afl an example of minute prediction and singular 
fulfilment, compare Jeremiah 34 : 2, 3, with Ezekiel 
12 : 13. In the former scripture, it was foretold by 
one prophet, B. C. 590, that Zedekiah the king of 
Judah should be delivered into the hand of the king 
of Babylon, and behold his eyes, and speak with him 
mouth to :nouth, and go to Babylon, In the latter, 
it was foretold by another prophet, B. C. 694, that 
Zedekiah should not see Babylon^ though he should 
die there. But is there not a contradiction here? 
How could Zedekiah be taken to Babylon and behold 
her king and die there, and yet never see the city ? 
The history of the kings of Judah, written without 
any design of pointing out the fulfilment of prophecy 
fiilly explains the difficulty. Zedekiah was delivered 
into the hands of the king of Babylon, and beheld his 
eyes, and spoke with him mouth to mouth — not, 
however, at Babylon, but at Riblah. There his eyes 
were put out by command of his captor, B. C. 688. 
In this state he went to Babylon and died there, 
having never seen the city of his captivity. 

Another example of wonderful minuteness is found 
in the prophecies of the fall and destruction of Baby^ 
Ion, We can notice only a small part of them. " It 
shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in 
from generation to generation. Neither shall the 
Arabian pitch tent there, neither shall the shepherds 
make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert 
shah lie there, and their houses shall be full of dole- 
ful creatures ; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs 
shall dance there, and the wild beasts of the islands 



256 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in 
theii pleasant palaces."* *' I will ako make it a pos- 
session for the bittern, and pools of water : and I will 
sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the 
Lord of hosts." These words were uttered when 
Babylon was " the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of 
the Chaldee'S excellency," about one hundred and 
sixty years before she was brought down. " How 
hath the golden city ceased !" " Her pomp is brought 
down to the grave." Sixteen centuries have passed 
since her foundations were inhabited by a human 
being. Deterred by superstitious fears of evil spirits, 
which are said to haunt the place where she stood, 
and by the more rational dread of reptiles and wild 
beasts, the wandering Arab never pitches his tent 
there. In a plain once famous for the richness of its 
pasture, the shepherds make no fold. Reptiles, bats, 
and "doleful creatures" — jackals, hyenas, and lions- 
inhabit the holes and caverns and marshes of the 
desolate city. In the fourth century, Babylon was a 
hunting-ground, for the Persian monarchs. By the 
annual overflowing of the Euphrates, pools of stag 
nant water are left in the hollow places of the ancient 
site, by which morasses have been formed, so that 
Babylon has indeed become a "possession for the bit- 
tern, and pools of water." It has been swept " with 
the besom of destruction." The fertile plain of Shi- 
nar, renowned for its ancient abundance, is an unin- 
terrupted desert, strewed with the confused ruins oi 
Grecian, Roman, and Arabian towns. A modem 

• Isa. 13:20,21,22. 



J 



PROPHECY. 257 

traveller, in his " search after the walls of Bahylon," 
describes " a mass of solid wall, ahout thirty feet in 
length, by twelve or fifteen in thickness," as the only 
part of them that can now be discovered.* Thus, 
according to the words of the prophet, is she cast vp 
as heapsy destroyed utterly ; nothing of her is left.* 
Tyre was once the emporium of the world, " the 
theatre of an immense commerce and navigation, the 
nursery of arts and science, and the city of perhaps 
the most industrious and active people ever known."* 
Situate at the entry of the sea, she was a merchant 
of the people for many isles. All nations were her 
merchants in all sorts of things. The ships of Tar- 
shish did sing of her in the market ; and she was 
replenished and made very glorious in the midst of 
the seas.^ It was of this mistress of princes that 
Ezekiel prophesied, in the name of the Lord, " I will 
scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top 
of a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of 
nets in the midst of the sea."" How singularly par- 
ticular! She was not only to be utterly destroyed, 
but the use that would be made of her site, and the 
kind of men who would inhabit it, were pointed out 
more than a thousand years before her complete de- 
struction. How precise the fulfilment ! Shaw, in 
his book of travels, describes the port of Tyre as so 
choked up that the boats of the fishermen, who now 
and then come to the place and dry their nets upon 

* Buckingham's Trayels. t Jer. 1 : 26. 

t Volney's Travels. f Ezek. ch. 27 

I Ezek. 26 : 4, 5. 

22 



258 M»ILVAIKE*a EVIDENCES. 

ittf rocks and rains^ can hardly enter.* Bruce da* 
scribes the site of Tyre as " a rook wherecm fishers 
iry their nets." Bat the testimony of the infidel 
Vohiey is more valuable. '^The whole village o^ 
Tyre contains only fifty or sixty poor families, who 
live obscurely on the produce of their little ground 
and a trifling fishery."^ 

Egypt ^ the most ancient, was also the most power- 
ful and wealthy of kingdoms. But a prophecy went 
forth against her while yet she was in all her pomp 
and pride, that the pride of her power should come 
down ; that her land and all that was therein should 
be made waste by the hand of strangers ; that there 
should be no more a prince of the land of Egypt, and 
the sceptre of Egypt should depart away.* How uni- 
versally this once fertile country, the granary of the 
world, has been wasted, and her innumerable cities 
have been buried^ how remarkably the hand of 
strangers has done it, and how deplorably the rem- 
nant of this populous nation is now, and has been 
for many centuries, under slavery and ignorance and 
poverty and rapine and every crime, I need not de- 
scribe. The most remarkable portion of the prophecj 
is that which declares that there shall be ''no more 
ft prince of the land of Egypt." From the conquest 
Df the Persians,^ about 350 years before Christ, to the 
present day, the sceptre of Egypt has been broken ; 
she has been governed by strangers ; every effort to 
raise an Egyptian to the throne has been defeated. 

♦ Shaw's Travels, ch. 2, p. 31. t Travels, ch. 2, p. 212 
t Ezek. 30-6, 12, 13 ; Zech. 10: 11. 



( 



PItOPHECnr. 259 

Out of the mouth of Vohiey the Lord has caused to 
be declared the fulfilment of hia word. Of Egypt, 
that most unwilling agent in establishing the truth oi 
Scripture writes, " Deprived, twenty-three centuries 
ago, of her natural proprietors, she has seen her fer. 
tile fields successively a prey to the Persians, the 
Macedonians, the Romans, the Grreeks, the Arabs, 
the Creorgians, and at length the race of Tartars, dis- 
tinguished by the name of Ottoman Turks. The 
Mamelukes, purchased as slaves and introduced as 
soldiers, soon usurped the power, and elected a leader. 
If their first establishment was a singular event, their 
continuance is not less extraordinary. They are re- 
placed by slaves brought from their original country. 
The system of oppression is methodical. Every thing 
the traveller sees or hears reminds him he is in the 
country of slavery and tyranny."* 

Among the most interesting fulfilments of proph- 
ecy are those discovered in the present condition of 
the country and cities of Judea, For a very striking 
view of them the reader is referred to Keith on 
Prc^hecy, a valuable work lately refmblished in this 
country. But there is one prediction in this depart- 
ment which I cannot pass over. After describing the 
divine judgments upon the land, the prophet adds^ 
" The generation to come of your children, and the 
stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, 
when they see the plagues of that land, and the sick- 
nesses which the Lord hath laid upon it, Wherefore 
bath the Lord done thus unto this land? What 

* Travels, ch. J, p. 74. 103, llOl 198. 



260 M'lLVAIN-E'S EVIDENCES. 

meaneth the heat of this great anger?"* About 
three thousand years after these words were written, 
a famous traveller, a scoffer at the Scriptures, walks 
through this smitten country. He is a stranger from 
a far land. Deeply impressed with the aspect of all 
things around him, and in. all probability entirely 
ignorant of the prophecy he is about to fulfil, he 
exclaims, "Good. God! from whence proceed such 
melancholy revolutions ? For what cause is the for- 
tune of these countries so strikingly changed ? Why 
are so many cities destroyed? Why is not that 
ancieut population reproduced and perpetuated?" " I 
wandered over the country. I traversed the prov- 
inces. I enumerated the kingdoms of Damascus and 
Idumea, of Jerusalem and Samaria. This Syria, 
said I to myself, now almost depopulated, then con- 
tained a hundred flourishing cities, and abounded 
with towns, villages, and hamlets. What are become 
of so many productions of the hands of man?"^ etc. 

No prophecies deserve more of the attention of 
the student of Scripture than those concerning the 
Jews, which are scattered from one end of the Bible 
to the other. Their wonderful accomplishment is in 
every one's view. We can only glance at some ot 
the many particulars which they embrace. Three 
thousand two hundred years ago it was written by 
Moses, " The Lord shall scatter thee among all peo- 
ple from the one end of the earth even unto the 
other. And among these nations shalt thou find no 
ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest ; and 
• Dcut. 29 : 22. 24. t VolaeyV Ruins, ch. 2, p. 8. 



PROPHECY. 261 

thou Bhalt become an astonishment, a proverb; and a 
byword among all the nations whither the Lord 
shall lead thee ; and thou shalt be only oppressed 
and crushed always; and the Lord will make thy 
plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, «ven 
great plagues, and of long continuance."* But not- 
withstanding all this, the Jews were not to be de- 
stroyed without recovery. " Yet for all that," saith 
the prophecy, "when they be in the land of their 
enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I 
abhor them, to destroy them utterly."^ " I will make 
a full end of all the nations whither I have driven 
thee, but I will not make a full end of thee."* " For 
the children of Israel shall abide many days without 
a -king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, 
and without an image, and without an ephod, and 
without teraphim: afterward shall the children of 
Israel return, and seek the Lord their God and David 
their king ; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness 
in the latter days."* 

There is nothing in the history of nations so 
unaxscountable on human principles, as the destruc- 
tion and the preservation of the Jews. " Scattered 
among all nations," where are they not ? Citizens of 
the world, and yet citizens of no country in the 
world, in what habitable part of the world is not 
the Jew familiarly known ? He has wandered every- 
where, and. is still everywhere a wanderer. One 
characteristic of this wonderful race is written over 

• Deut. ch. 28. t Lev. 26 : 44. 

t Jer. 46 : 27, 1^8. f Hosea 3 : 4, fi. 



262 H'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES, 

all their history, from their dispersion to the preseat 
time. Among the nations they have found no ease, 
nor rest to the soles of their feet. Banished from 
city to city, and from country to country — always 
insecure in their dwelling-places, and liable to be 
suddenly driven away, whenever the bigotry or ava- 
rice or cruelty of rulers demanded a sacrifice, a late 
decree of the Russian empire has proclaimed to the 
world that their banishments have not yet ceased. 
Never certain of permission to remain, it is the noto- 
rious peculiarity of this people, as a body, that they 
live in habitual readiness to remove. In this con- 
dition of universal affliction, how singular it is that 
among all people the Jew is "an astonishment, a 
proverb, a byword." Such is not the case with any 
other people. Among Christians, heathens, and Mo- 
hammedans, from England to China, and thence to 
America, the cunning, the avarice, the riches of the 
Jew, are proverbial. And how wonderful have been 
their plagues. The heart sickens at the history of 
their persecutions and massacres and imprisonments 
and slavery. All nations have united to oppress 
them. All means have been employed to extermi- 
nate them. Robbed of property, bereaved of children, 
buried in the dungeons of the inquisition, or burned 
at the stake of deplorable bigotry, no people evei 
suffered the hundredth part of their calamities, and 
still they live. It was prophesied that, as a nation, 
the) should be restored ; consequently they were not 
only to be kept alive, but unmingled with the nations, 
everywhere a distinct race, and capable of being 



PROPHECY. 26:5 

selected and gathered out of all the world, when the 
time foi their restoration should arrive. The fulfil 
ment of this forms the most astonishing part cf the 
whole prophecy. For nearly eighteen hundred years 
they have been scattered and mixed up among all 
people; they have had no temple, no sacrifice, no 
prince, no genealogies, no certain dwelling-places. 
Forbidden to be governed by their own laws to 
choose their own magistrates, to maintain any com 
mon policy, every ordinary bond of national union 
and preservation has been wanting; whatever influ 
ences of local attachment, or of language, or man 
ners, or government, have been found necessary to 
the preservation of other nations, have been denied 
to them ; all the influences of internal depression 
and outward violence which have ever destroyed and 
blotted out the nations of the earth, have been at 
work with unprecedented strength for nearly eighteen 
centuries upon the nation of Israel ; and still the 
Jews are a people, a distinct people, a numerous 
people, unassimilated with any nation, though mixed 
up with all nations. Their peculiarities are undi- 
minished. Their national identity is unbroken. 
Though scattered upon all winds, they are perfectly 
capable of being again gathered into one mass 
Though divided into the smallest particles by nu- 
merous solvents, they have resisted all affinities, and 
may be traced, unchanged, in the most confused 
mixtures of human beings. The laws of nature have 
been suspended in their case. It is not merely that 
a stream has held on its way through the waters of 



26.4 li'ILVAllSTE'S EVIDENCES. 

a lake without losing the color and characteristic 
marks of its own current, but that a mighty river, 
having plunged from a mountain-height into the depth 
of the ocean, and been separated into its componeni 
drops, and thus scattered to the ends of the world, 
and blown about by all winds during almost eighteen 
centuries, is still capable of being disunited from the 
waters of the ocean; its minutest drops, having 
never been assimilated to any other, are still dis- 
tinct, unchanged, and ready to be gathered, waiting 
the voice that shall call again the outcasts of Israel 
and the dispersed of Judah. Meanwhile, where are 
the nations among whom the Jews were scattered'' 
Has not the Lord, according to his word, made a full 
end of them ?* While Israel has stood unconsumed 
in the fiery furnace, where are the nations that 
kindled its flames? Where are the Assyrians and 
Chaldeans ? Their name is almost forgotten. Their 
existence is known only to history. Where is the 
empire of the Egyptians? The Macedonians de- 
jstroyed it, and a descendant of its ancient race can- 
not be distinguished among the strangers that have 
ever since possessed its territory. Where are they of 
Macedon? The Roman sword subdued their king- 
dom, and their posterity are mingled inseparably 
among the confused population of Greeoe and Tur- 
key. Where is the nation of ancient Rome, the last 
conquerors i)f the Jews, and the proud destroyers of 
Jerusalem? The Goths rolled their flood over its 
pride. Another nation inhabits the ancient city. 

* Jeremiah 46 : 28. 



J 



PROPHECY. 26^ 

Even the language of her former people is dead* 
The Goths, where are they? The Jews, where 
are they not ? They witnessed the glory of Egypt 
and of Babylon and of Nineveh ; they were in ma- 
tnre age at the bitth of Macedon and of Rome; 
mighty kingdoms have risen and perished since they 
began to be scattered and enslaved; and now they 
traverse the ruins of all, the same people as when 
they left Judea, preserving in themselves a monu- 
ment of the days of Moses and the Pharaohs, as un- 
• changed as the pyramids of Memphis which they are 
reputed to have built. You may call upon the ends 
)f the earth, and will call in vain for one living repre- 
sentative of those powerful nations of antiquity by 
«vhom the people of Israel were successively op- 
pressed ; but should the voice to gather that people 
out of all lands, be now heard from mount Zion, call- 
ing for the children of Abraham, no less than four 
millions would instantly answer to the name, each 
bearing in himself unquestionable proofs of that noble 
lineage. 

What is this but miracle ? Connected with the 
prophecy which it fulfils, it is a double miracle. 
Whether testimony can ever establish the credibility 
of a miracle, is of no importance here. This one is 
obvious to every man's senses. All nations are its 
!>ye-witnesses. 

Among the most striking and comprehensive, and 
^et particular prophecies, are those of Daniel. The 
history of the four great empires of Chaldea, Persia, 
Macedon, and Eome, is embraced in his predictions 

Evidence*. 2 'J 



u 



266 M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

We mention these, not that we intend to trace out 
their fulfilment, but merely, in passing, to insert a 
remarkable testimony concerning them from one of 
the most learned expositors of the prophetic Scrip- 
tures, and another from the most learned and acute 
of the ancient opposers of Christianity. Bishop New- 
ton, speaking of that portion of Daniel's prophecies 
which relates to the kingdoms of Egypt and Syria, 
from the death of Alexander the Great to the time of 
Antiochus Epiphanes, a period of one hundred and 
forty-eight years, remarks, " There is not so complete , 
and regular a series of their kings, there is not so 
concise and comprehensive an account of their af- 
fairs, to be found in any author of those times. 
The prophecy is really more perfect than any history. 
No one historian hath related so many circumstances, 
and in such exact order of time, as the prophet hath 
foretold them; so that it was necessary to have re- 
course to several authors, Greek and Roman, Jewish 
and Christian, and to collect here something from one, 
and to collect there something from another, for the 
better explaining and illustrating the great variety of 
particulars contained in this prophecy."* Thus far, 
the testimony of a learned friend of Christianity. The 
corresponding testimony of a learned enemy we have 
in the celebrated Porphyry of the third century, to 
whom the exact correspondence between the predic- 
tions and the events was so convincing, that he could 
not pretend to deny it. He rather labored to confirm 
it; and from the very exactness of the fulfilmenl 

• Newton on Prophecy, eh. 2, p. 149, 



f 



PEOPHECT. 

forged his only weapon of defisnoe, in the 
that the prophecy oonld not have been written hf 
Daniel, but mast have been written by soroe one in 
Judea, in the time of Antiochns Epiphanes.* Othen 
after him have asserted the same tiling, not only 
without any proof, but contrary to all the pnxrfp 
which can be had in cases of this nature. They pre* 
ferred the denial of the plainest historical eridenee of 
the time when tiie prophecy was written, to Ae ae- 
knowledgment that its author must have written ^bj 
inspiration of God." Paine, howerer, whose willing- 
ness to escape the argument from prophecy cannot 
be questioned, and who was probabiy ignorant of 
what Porphyry had acknowledged as to the eorre- 
spondence between the words of this prophet and thoae 
of' subsequent history, confessed the authen ticity of 
the book of DanieL Here, then^ we hare one 
infidel acknowledging that the prophecy was 
at Ihe time and by the man to whom it is mserU^^ 
and another verifying die exactness of its fnlHIrrKct 
in the history of a subsequent age. Paine denied the 
fulfilment; Porphyry, the authenticity. Porphyry 
acknowledged the fulfilment ; Paine, the autfaeotkrity 
**He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.^ 

I now call your attenticHi to the prophecies erjO' 
ceming our Lord Jesus Christ. They are scattered 
everywhere throughout the prophetic portirjoa of fbe 
Bible. ''To him bear oi/ the prophets winieflB.'^ Xooc 
of them could lay down the pen of in sp iiaiy jn till they 
had written something, directly or indireedy, of Jiuns 

• Laidaer, eh. 4^ p. SIS. 



268 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

1. The first class of these predictions consisls of 
those which relate to the time and circumstances of 
the advent of Christ, Daniel, B. C. 556, determined 
the year of his coming, when four hundred and ninety 
years should be accomplished from the going forth 
of the command to rebuild Jerusalem. Jacob, more 
than a thousand years before Daniel, had said it would 
be when the sceptre was departing from Judah, and 
a lawgiver from between his feet.* Haggai and Isaiah 
declared that it would be before the destruction of 
Jerusalem, and during the existence of the second 
temple.;^ Micah designated Bethlehem Ephratah as 
his birthplace.^ Many prophecies predicted that he 
should come, not only of the stock of Judah, but of 
the stem of Jesse.^ Isaiah and Malachi spoke of tiie 
messenger who should go before him, in the spirit and 
power of Elijah, to prepare his way." 

2. The next class of predictions concerning our 
Lord contains those which speak of his life^ suffer- 
ings, deathj resurrection, and the increase of his 
kingdom. These are so numerous and particular, 
and so familiar to most readers of the Bible, that we 
shall content ourselves with a rapid summary. They 
predicted that Christ, or Messiah, would be born of a 
virgin ;ir that he should enter Jerusalem on the foal 
of an ass;** that in his manner of teaching he should 
be characterized by special gentleness and compas- 
sion;^^ that he would be distinguished as wise ^<to 

* Gen. 49:10. IIsa.40:3; Mal.3:l;4:& 

t Isa.40:9; 41:27; Hag.l}:6-8. f Isa. 7:14. 
t Micah 5:2. •• Zech. 9 : 9. 

< Isa. 11:1. itUa. 42:1-3. 



PROPHECY. 269 

speak a word in season to him that is weary ;"* that 
he should blind the eyes of the learned and proud,t 
and preach good tidings to the poor and despised; 
that under his ministry the lame should be made to 
walk, the deaf to hear, the blind to see, the dumb 
to speak, the captive to be loosed, and the dead raised 
up;* that he should teach the perfect way, and be 
the instructor of the Gentiles;* that he should be a 
sacrifice for sin, be rejected of the Jews, who them« 
selves should be rejected of God;* "that the kings of 
the earth and all people should worship him;"ir but 
that the people who rejected him should continue a 
distinct people, and yet be scattered over all nations, 
and wander about without princes, without sacrifices, 
without an altar, without prophets, looking for deliv- 
erance and not finding it, till a very distant period.** 
The correspondence between the several particu- 
lars related of the death of Christ, and the predictions 
scattered through the Bible, is extremely striking. 
The evangelists in this respect are but echoes of the 
prophets. I can give but a rapid sketch. These pre- 
dictions include the treachery and awful end of Ju- 
das, ^^ the precise sum of money for which he betrayed 
his Master, and the use to which it was put.** They 
specify not only the sufferings of Christ, but of what 
they should consist. That his back should be given 
to the smiters, his face to shame and spitting;** that 

• Isa. 50 : 4. 1 Isa. 60 : 1 0-1 2, etc.; 33 ; 1 2. 

t Iga. 5 : 15. *• Jer. 31 :36; Hos. 3:4, 5. 

t Isa. 35:5, 6; 9:2. tt Psa. 41:9; 55:12-15. 

i Isa. 42 : 6. ** Zech. 11 : 12, 13. 

I Isa. ch. 53; 8 : 14, 15. ^ Isa. 50: 9 

2y 



270 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

he should be put to death by a mode which would 
cause his hands and his feet to be pierced; that he 
should be wounded, bruised, and scourged;* that in 
his death he should be numbered with transgressc rs,t 
and in his sufferings have gall and vinegar given him 
to drink;* that his persecutors should laugh him to 
scorn, and shake their heads, reviling him, and say • 
ing, "He trusted in the Lord that he would deliver 
him; let him deliver him."^ Although it was the 
custom to break the bones of those who were cruci- 
fied, and although the bones of the thieves crucified 
with him were brpken, yet it was predicted that '*not 
a bone of him should be broken;"" and moreover, that 
his garments should be divided, and lots cast for his 
vesture;! that while lie should "make his grave with 
the wicked," as he did in being buried like the wicked 
companions of his death, under the general leave for 
taking down their bodies from the cross, he should at 
the same time make his grave "with the rich," as 
was done when they buried him in the sepulchre of 
Joseph of Arimathea.** I might enumerate many 
more details of prophecy centering upon the life and 
death of Christ. What have been mentioned are 
abundantly sufficient for our present argument I 
have only recited a concise list of the predictions. I 

♦ Zech. 12:10; Psa, 22:16. B Num.9:12; Exod. 12.46; 

t Isa. 53 : 4, o, 8, 12. Psa. 34 : 20. 

t Psa. 69 : 21 . f Psa. 22 : 18. 

*Psa. 22:7, 8. 

** Isaiah 53 : 9. The translation of this verse in Low^h*« 
I iaiah is much more to the point than that of the common text: 
^^ And his grave "was appointed with the wicked; but with tlie 
rich man was his tomb.'' 




PROPHECY. . 871 

cannot suppose any of you so unacquainted with the 
history of Christ, as not to be able familiarly to refer 
to all those passages in his life and death by whioh 
they were minutely and wonderfully fulfilled. Now, 
consider that no question is raised by any one, wheth- 
er these predictions were made and published several 
centuries before the birth of Christ. The enemies of 
Christ, his crucifiers, have been the librarians of these 
writings.* The Jews preserved them for us, wi th sacred 
care, for many hundreds of years. They were trans- 
lated from Hebrew into Greek at least two hundred 
years before Christ. The Jews then understood them 
to refer to the Messiah, as we do now; and it was on 
account of some of them that a general expectation of 
the speedy coming of Messiah prevailed so widely in 
Judea at the time of the public appearance of Christ. 
That all these particulars were most remarkably 
combined in the person, character, works, sufferings, 
and burial of the Lord Jesus, I need not say. If the 
predictions did not originally refer to him, and only 
happened to be accomplished in him, it would be 
reasopable to suppose that out of the innumerable 
millions of men that have lived since they were pub- 

* Augustine, in tho fourth century, spoke very often of the 
great advantage which Christian^ had in their arguments for 
the truth of the gospel, from the subsistence and dispersion of 
the Jewish people, who everywhere hear testimony to the an- 
tiquity and genuinenestf of the hooka of the Old Testament; so 
that none could say they were afterwards forged by Christians. 
He therefore calls the Jews the librarians of the Christians; he 
compares them to servants that carry hooks for the use of chil* 
dren of noble families, or that carry iv chest or bag of evidence foi 
a disputant. Lardner, cb« 2, p. 598. 






272 • M'lLVAINE'S LVIDENCES. 

lislied, some other individual, if not hundreds, would 
have appeared exhibiting the same correspondence. 
Where is the record of such an event? Can the per- 
son be mentioned in whom there was even an approx* 
imation to the fulfilment exhibited in the history of 
Josus? I need not say, that no one ever pretended 
to be able to find such a person. These prophecies 
describe a combination of gentleness with power, 
merit with ignominy, benevolence with contempt — 
they bring together details of ancestry, of family, of 
birth, of time, of works, of sufferings, of death, which 
it were ridiculous to pretend have been united in any 
individual whose name is in the annals of man, except 
the Son of man, Christ Jesus. 

But it may be said, that among these predictions 
there are some which human design might have 
brought to pass. It may be suggested that a band 
of men undertaking to promote an imposture, and 
having these predictions before them, might have 
selected for their leader one who had been bom at 
Bethlehem, of the lineage of David, and might have 
ordered his appearance at the precise time of the 
prophecy. Let this be supposed, and let us overlook 
the fact that no possible motive can be assigned that 
could induce a band of impostors to desire the setting 
up of such a cause as that of Christ; still, how would 
imposture contrive to unite in its leader the fulfil* 
inent of prophecies which on one hand foretold him 
as eminent for wisdom and benevolence, and on the 
other for shame and suffering? How, on this sup- 
position, could all those predictions have been aocom- 



PR0PHE07. 273 

plished which relate to the agonies of the cross? 
Would a deceiver seek crucifixion for the sake ol 
fulfilling prophecy ? How was it managed that one 
should betray him, and afterguards, out of remorse, 
hang himself? How was it contrived that the ene- 
mies of Christ should measure the price of his bloo<l 
at the exact sum predicted ; and then, that the mer- 
cenary traitor should return it to them again, and 
they should use it in purchase of the predicted pot- 
ter's field ? How did imposture so artfully combine 
in its cause all the persecutors of Christ, that with- 
out any design to advance its interests they should 
have chosen precisely that mode of execution, those 
expressions of contempt, those instruments of tor- 
ture, those companions of his sufferings, that mixture 
for his drink, that severity to his body while he was 
alive, and that forbearance to it after he was dead, 
which, if they had been anxious to prove him the 
true Messiah foretold in the Scriptures, would have 
composed the most effectual means they could possi- 
bly employ ? Most evidently, the bitter adversaries 
of Christianity, not its friends, brought out the dem- 
pnstration that Jesus was he to whom gave all the 
prophets witne§s. 

Aud now, is there any possible escape from the 
absolute necessity of acknowledging that the Spirit 
of God was in the writers of the Bible, and that hia 
Spirit has testified of Jesus ? Will any one pretend 
that in the idea of chance there is any explanation of 
the coincidences which have been mentioned? It 
will not be useless to spend a moment on this matter 



27-i M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

of chance. It is conceivable that a prediction, uttered 
at a venture, confining its terms to but one event, 
and expressing that in a general way, may happen to 
result so plausibly as to seem like a genuine proph- 
ecy. But only let it descend to the minutiae of time, 
place, and incidents, and it is evident that the possi- 
bility of its success, by a fortuitous concurrence of 
events, will become extremely desperate. Hence, the 
oracles of heathen antiquity always took good care to 
confine their predictions to one or two particulars, 
and to express them in the most general and ambig- 
uous tefms. Hence, in the whole range of history, 
except the prophecies of the Scriptures, there is not 
a single instance of a prediction, expressed in une- 
quivocal language and descending to any minuteness, 
which bears the slightest claim to the praise of fulfil- 
ment. But to set this in a more impressive light, I 
will quote a few sentences from one of the most sci- 
entific laymen of the present day. " Suppose," says 
Olinthus Gregory, "that instead of the spirit of 
prophecy, breathing more or less in every book of 
Scripture, predicting events relative to a great variety 
of general topics, and delivering besides almost innu-. 
merable characteristics of the Messiah, all meeting 
in the person of Jesus, there had been only ten men 
m ancient times who pretended to be prophets, each 
of whom exhibited oidy Jive independent criteria as 
to place, government, concomitant events, doctrine 
taught, eflfects of doctrine, character, sufferings, or 
death, the meeting of all which in one person shoald 
prove the reality of their calling as prophets, and of 



PROPHECY. 276 

his mission in the character they have assigned hiin; 
gnppose, moreover, that all events were left to chance 
merely, and we were to compute, from the principles 
employed by mathematicians in the investigation of 
euch subjects, the probability of these fifty indepen- 
dent circumstances happening at all: assume that 
there is, according to the technical phrase, an equal 
chance for the happening or the failure of any one of 
the specified particulars ; then the probability against 
the occurrence of all the particulars in any way, is 
that of the fiftieth power of two to unity ; that is, the 
probability is greater than eleven hundred and twenty- 
five millions of millions to one, that all these circum- 
stances do not turn up even at distinct periods."* But 
this calculation, you must observe, specifies no partic- 
alar period for these things to take place, but allows 
from the time of uttering the predictions to the end of 
the world for all the fifty particulars to occur. But if 
a time be fixed, at or near which they must happen, 
the immense improbability that they will take place 
exceeds all the power of numbers to express. This, 
moreover, is on the supposition of every thing being 
under the disposal of that fiction of unbelief, a blind 
chance. How infinite does the improbability appear 
when it is remembered that "all ovents are under 
the control of a Being of matchless wisdom, power, 
and goodness, who hates fraud and deception, who 
must especially hate it when attempted under his 
name and authority." This is enough, one would 
think, to silence for ever all pleas of chance, as fur« 

* Gregory's Letters. 



27€ M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

nishing an unbeliever the least opportunity cf escape 
from the evidence of prophecy. What then is the 
conclusion to which, by the considerations presented 
in this lecture, we are authorized to come ? 

First, that in the Bible there is a great variety ol 
prophecy relative to the Messiah, which has been so 
remarkably fulfilled in Jesus Christ, arid so entirely 
unfulfilled in any other individual of whom we have 
any history, that the correspondence necessarily proves 
the predictions to have been given by inspiration of 
God, and Jesus Christ to be the person to whom that 
inspiration, in the uttering of those predictions, referred. 

Secondly, that the Bible, in thus containing gen- 
uine prophecies scattered through its several books, 
contains a revelation from God, and exhibits numer- 
ous and wide-spread impressions of the seal of divine 
authority. 

Lastly, that Jesus Christ, being thus pointed but 
and honored by the Spirit of God breathing on the 
lips of holy men, who, in various centuries before his 
coming, concurred in rendering him their testimony 
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, was and is 
to come, no other than what he said, the Son of 
God ; the Saviour of sinners ; " King of kings, and 
Lord of lords." 

'* Behold," saith He, "I come quickly: blessed 
is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this 
bock." "He that confesseth me before men, him 
will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven." 
But "how shall we escape, if we neglect so great 
salvation ?" 



PEOPHEOT. 911 



LECTURE VIIT. 

PROPHECY— CONTINUED. 

Our blessed Lord was a prophet, as well as the 
^and subject of prophecy. Not only did he possess 
omnipotence to call up the dead from the sepulchre, 
hut omniscience also to hring forth from the darkness 
of the future what to unini^nred man lies as secret 
as the mysteries oi death. By prophecy, as well as 
miracles, he estaldished' the divinity of his mission. 
In the latter, his appeal was to the senses of eycpwit- 
nesses : <' The works that I do they bear witness of 
me." In the former, it was to the testimony of sub- 
sequent history : " Now I tell you before it come to 
pass, that when it is come tp pass ye may believe 
that I am he." He predicted not only his own suf*- 
ferings and death and resurrection, but the manner 
and circumstances attending them ; the treachery oi 
Judas; the denial of Peter; the particulars of his 
ignominious treatment in the council of the Jews, 
and under the hands of Pilate and his soldiers. He 
forotold ih^ rapid spread of the gospel,^ the persecu- 
tions 4>f his disciples, the precise manner of Peter's 
martyrdom, the contijiuance of John till after the 
destruction of Jerusalem, the rejection of the Jews, 
and the briqging of the Oentiles into the church of 

God 

24 



278 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

But none of our Saviour's prophecies are more 
impressive than those concerning the destruction of 
Jerusalem, contained in the gospels of Mark %nd 
Luke, but most at large in the twenty-fourth chapter 
?f Matthew. These we select as the subject of our 
consideration at present, believing we shall be enabled 
to show, by most impressive evidence, that Jesus did 
indeed possess the spirit of prophecy, and consequently 
was divinely commissioned in setting up the faith of 
the gospel. 

There is but one preliminary question to be an- 
swered at the commencement of this investigation, 
Is it well ascertained that these prophecies werepub* 
lished before the destruction of Jerusalem? 

This has been already settled in our lecture on the 
subject of authenticity ; in which it was shown that 
the several books of the New Testament were written 
in the age to which they are referred, and by the 
men whose names they bear. It will be sufficient tc 
state in this place, that of the three evangelists who 
have related these prophecies, Matthew and Mark are 
well ascertained to have died, and there is good rea« 
son to suppose that Luke also was dead, before the 
destruction of Jerusalem. 

The gospel of Matthew, which contains the most 
complete account of the predictions in question, is 
commonly acknowledged to have been written first. 
Its date is about the eighth year after the death ol 
Chris>. The destruction of Jerusalem being in the 
seventieth year of the Christian era, the prophecies in 
relation to it were published bv Matthew about thirty 



i 



PROPHECT. 279 

years, and were deolared by our Saviour about thirty- 
seven years before their fulfilment. Several years 
elapsed also between the publioation of the same 
prophecies by Mark and Luke, and the events to which 
they relate. John, the only one of the four evange- 
lists that lived and wrote subsequently to the ruin of 
the holy city, is the only one that omits an account 
of the predictions concerning it. But we have the 
most satisfactory evidence that no suspicion of an ex 
post facto origin can justly attach to these prophecies, 
in the important fact, that although familiarly quoted 
by the early Christian writers as striking evidence of 
the prophetic character of Jesus, we read of no writer 
against Christianity in the primitive centuries having 
attempted to paralyze the argument by maintaining 
that they were not published till Jerusalem was de- 
stroyed. If enemies so near the events predicted had 
nothing to say, will any deny us the privilege of pro- 
ceeding in our present investigation unembarrassed by 
any question on this head?* 

There is a history of the destruction of Jerusalem, 
which, if it had been composed for the express pur- 
pose of attesting the complete accomplishment of our 
Lord's predictions, could have hardly been made more 
appropriate to our present object. It was written by 
an eye-witness of the tragedy, a learned witness — a 
witness who, having been first an eminent leader 
among the troops of Judea, and then a prisoner to the 
Roman commander, and continually kept about his 

* On this subject, see some excellent remarks m Paley*i 
Evidences, part 2, oh. 1. 



280 M'ILVAINE»S BTIDENCES. 

pei^n for the sake of his services, cannot be accused 
of having written without accurate information. His 
book was composed at Rome ; and having been pre- 
sented by the author to the emperor Vespasian, and 
t: his son Titus, who had commanded at the siege of 
Jerusalem, the latter not only desired its publioatioiii 
but subscribed his own hand in confirmation of its 
correctness. It was also presented to and approved 
by several Jews who had been present at the scenes 
described.* We could not desire a more complete 
attestation of the fulfilment of our Saviour's prophe- 
cies than this book affords. And yet the writer was 
a Jew to the day of his death, and donsequently an 
enemy of Christianity, and could have had Ho design 
in favor of the prophetic spirit of its founder. I speak 
of Josephus^ It is remarkable that one of the most 
miniite prophecies in the Bible should have from an 
enemy the most tfiinute of histories to show its ful* 
filment. No great event in profane history is related 
with so much attention to all the particulars connected 
with it, as is the destruction of Jerusalem by this 
Jewish writer. When we consider these things, and 
remember the extraordinary manner in which Jose- 
phus was several tim^s protected from almost inev- 
itable death, we may clearly discern the hand of a 
wise Providence preparing the wb.y of the gospel. A 
witness was preserved and chosen of God, to write 
an account of the divine judgments upon Jerusalem^ 
whose testimony neither Jews noir heathens could 

* Josephus' life, Bed. 65, p. 23. Contr. Apion. l^ook h 
see. 9. 



PROPHECY. 281 

deny or suspect. We proceed to compare his state- 
ments with the prophecies in question. 

1. Let us begin with those events which the Sav- 
iour foretold as signs of approaching desolation. Thus 
it is written, "Take heed that no man deceive youj 
for many shall come in my name, saying, I am 
Christ, and shall deceive many."* Here are two 
distinct predictions — many pretenders to the charac- 
ter of the Messiah, and their success in deceiving 
many. As the prophecy draws nearer to the chief 
event, it enlarges on this particular sign: "There 
shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall 
show great signs and wonders." Here it is intimated, 
that as the great catastrophe should approach, these 
deceivers would multiply ; and that they would pre- 
tend to signs and miracles. The very places where 
they would appear, and whither they would lead their 
followers, are also pointed out. "If they shall say 
unto you. Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: 

behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it 
not."t 

Now, it is worthy of note, that until the day 
when these words were uttered, there had been nc 
events in Jewish history in any manner correspond, 
ing with those which they describe. Two years, 
however, had not elapsed before their fulfilment be 
gan. Simon Magus, very soon after the crucifixion, 
was heard boasting himself as the Son of Grod, de- 
ceiving the people of Samaria with sorceries ; to whom 
they all gave heed, saying. This man is the greal 
• Matt. 24 : 4, 5. t Matt. 24 : 26 . 



282 ll'ILYAINE'fl SYIDENGES. 

poM^r of Q-od.* Aikoth^, named Dositheus^ a Samar 
itan, pretended that he Was the ChriiSt faretold by 
MfMies. In about the tenth J^^ar after the death of 
Cfarildt, appeared one Theudad, who assured the peo^ 
pie that he was a prophet, Jirortiisiiig to show « mir« 
acie in dividing the waters of Jordan.^ "By euoh 
spefeohes," says Josephus, in tiife v^ry words of ttre 
pfophecy, "Ae deceived many.^^^ As we approach 
kiearer the final event, A. D. 65, thefte deceivers mul* 
tiply. " The country was filled with impostors who 
^oeived the people," and "persuaded them to fol- 
low thetn into the wilderness; where, as they Sfetidj 
they should see manifest wondei*s and signs."* Not 
only were the people thus seduced into the deserts^ 

♦ Acts 8:9, 10. 

^ The impostor mentioned above must not he eonfbimded 
with him of the same name, spoken of 1>y Gftrnaliel, A^^ts 5: 36. 
There wore two noted characters M* Ihe )iame of Theudas. 
The one referred to by Gamaliel appeared about thirty years 
prior to the time of the council which that learned PhaYiSee 
add j*essed. But he was a mere insurrectionist^ making tfo pre- 
tension to any of the honors of that great prophet whotn the 
Jews were expecting. The person referred to in the text ap- 
peared in Judea in the time of Cuspius t'adus the governor, and 
professed to be inspired, to he a prophet, and to have the gift of 
miracles. Jad^ of Galilee, of5p the Gaulonite. mentioned also 
by Gamaliel, was a political partisan, in oppceition to the en- 
rolment made by Cyrenius in -Judea, whose doctrine was, that 
the Jews were free and should acknowledge no dominion but 
that of God. Keither he 'nor the elder Theudas can, with ttny 
propriety, 1)0 nuffihered among "false Christs" or "false proph* 
ct<3," such as the Saviour spoke of in the prophecy undei con- 
fidcration. See Lardner, vol. 1, pp. 221-225. 

t Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, b. ^, 3i.l(, siM. J. 

i Ibid. ch. 8, Me. 5. 



:bot also into ^^the secret chambers.^ The inner 
a^rtments of the temj^ Were tlie seoret chambers 
reiferred to in ihe prophecy. Josephus relates that a 
great multikide whom the iloman sokiiers decoyed 
in the ^^^loisters^^ of the temple, had been led there 
by a false prophet, who had made a public prockma- 
tion i3mi Tery day, tha^ God commanded them to get 
upon the temple, and that there they wK)uld receive 
miracQloud i^ns for their deliverance. At that crisis, 
there was a great number of false profits."* Thus 
imve we all the partiioulars of the prophecy, so far as 
it has been quoted : many fiedse Christs and prophets, 
deceiving many, pretending to signs and wonders, 
leading their followers into the deserts and ^secret 
climbers, and ^multiplying las ihe destrootbn drew 
near. 

2. "Ye shall hear of wars und rumors ofwwrs: 
;see that ye be not troubled ; lor all these Ihings must 
•come to pass, bat the end is not yet. For nation 
'Shall rise ag£tinst nation, and kingdom against king^ 
dom.^'t At this time, the Jews were at peace timong 
•themselves and with all nations. To human view, 
iihere was so Kttie reason to expect a war, that -even 
'some yeara after, when the emperor Caligula ord^ed 
^is ^ta±i:» to "be set tip in the itemple, and there was 
danger of slaughter on aocount of the resistance oif 
the Jews, Josepiiira remarks, iJiat " some of tiiem could 
not believe the stories that spoke of a war.'^^ Never- 
theless, such -became in a diort time tkerum&r oj 

* Josephus' Wars of the Jews, b. 6, ch. 5, fleo. 2, 3. 

t Matt. 34 : 6, 7. ^ Wars, etc., b. 42, c. 10, sec. 1 



284 M ILVAINE'S EVIDENCES 

war^ that the field? remained uncultivated on account 
of the public anxiety. The country was soon filled 
with violence. In Alexandria, Cssarea, Damascus, 
Ftolemais, Tyre, and almost every other city in which 
many Jews and heathens were mingled, fierce con* 
tentibns arose, and dreadful slaughter ensued. In the 
words of the Jewish historian, "The disorders all 
over Syria were terrible. For every city was divided 
into parties armed against each other; and the safety 
of the one depended on the destruction of the other. 
The days were spent in slaughter, and the nights in 
terrors."* In addition to these calamities, the Jew- 
ish nation rebelled against the Romans; Italy was 
convulsed with contentions for the empire ; and as a 
proof of the troublous and warlike character of the 
period, within the brief space of two years four em- 
perors of Rome suffered death.^ 

3. Another class of signs was predicted, as follows : 
*• There shall be famines and pestilences and earth- 
quakes in divers places.^^^ These, together with the 
signs previously mentioned, the Saviour said would 
be "the beginning of sorrows." There came a fam- 
ine not long before the war, which extended all over 
the country of the Jews, and lasted with severity for 
several years.^ Both before and after this there were 
famines in Italy, which are mentioned by historians of 
those day s.^ Pest ilences raged in various places, as the 
full time for Jerusalem's cup of trembling drew nigh.K 

* WarSfb. 2;Ch. 18, sec. 1,2. I Ant. b. 3, ch. 15, sec. 3. 

t Keith on Prophecy. If Lardner, vol. 3, p. 499. 

t Matt. 24:7, 8. 

^ Acts 1 1 : 27-30; Ant b. 20, ch. 2, sec. 63 oh. 5, sec. 2. 



PROFHECr. 285 

, Josepbus upeaks of one at Babylon. Five years before 
the destruction of the holy city, there was a great mor- 
tality at Rome, while various parts of the empire were 
visited with similar calamities. Earthquakes were 
alsc among the signs of the times. Of these^ the hea« 
then historians, Tacitus, Suetonius, Fhilostratus, etc., 
speak of many. Crete, Italy, Asia Minor, and Judea 
were visited at different times, and some of them 
repeatedly, with earthquakes.* Josephus describes 
one in Judea, as so extraordinary in its awfulness, 
that '^ any one fnight easily conjecture that these won- 
ders foreshowed some grand calamities that were ' 
coming."^ 

4. To the signs already mentioned, we find in 
Luke's account of these prophecies the addition of 
^^ fearful sights^ and great signs from heaven J^ 
These sights and signs Josephus sets himself to the 
work of narr&ttng with as much particularity as if he 
had been specially bent upon making good the wordi? 
of Christ. He relates that just before the desolating 
wat, "a star resembling a sword stood over the city, 
and a comet that continued a whole year." At the 
feast of unleavened bread, and ^'at the ninth hour of 
the tiight, So great a light shone round the altar and 
the holy house, that it appeared to be bright daytime; 
whioh light lasted for half an hour.'' ^^ The eastern 
gate of the famer court of the temple, which was of 
brass and vastly heavy, and had been with difficulty 
shut by twenty men, and had bolts fastened very 
deep into the firm fioor, was seen to be opened of its 
* Lardner, vol.. 3, p. 499. f Wan, «to.,b. 4, <v 4, seo. 5. 



286 K'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

ciwn accord about the sixth hour of the night." Thii 
the learned of Jerusalem understood as a signal of 
approaching desolation. Moreover, "before sunset- 
ting, chariots, and troops of soldiers in their armor, 
^^ere seen running about among the clouds, and sur- 
rounding cities." "At the feast of Pentecost, as the 
oriests yrere going by night into the inner court of the 
temple, they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise, 
and after that they heard the sound as of a multitude, 
saying, ' Let us rieraove hence.' " But the sign which 
Josephus considered the most impressive, was that of 
• a man named Jesus, who, four years before the war, 
at a time of entire peace, having come to the feast of 
tabernacles, began suddenly to cry aloud, "A voice 
from the east — a voice from the west — a voice from 
the four winds -^a voice against Jerusalem and the 
holy house — a voice against the bridegrooms and the 
brides; and a voice against the whole people." With 
this cry he went through all the city day and night. 
No severity of punishment, no acts of kindness, cauld 
silence this voice. He spoke neither good nor ill to 
any, whether they gave him food or scourging. For 
seven years and five months his solemn cry contin- 
ued, until its warning was just about to be fulfilled. 
A little while before the city was taken, as he was 
going round upon the wall, he cried with his utmost 
force, " Woe, woe to the city again, and to the peo- 
ple, and to the holy house;" and just as he added, 
»* woe to myself also," a stone from one of the engines 
killed him immediately.* 

• Wars, etc., b. 6, ch. 5, see. 3 



PROPnfiCT. 287 

However incredible the narrative of these signs 
may seem to some, it is not a little in its confirma- 
tion that the Roman historian Tacitus, speaking of tht> 
same time and place, says, ** There were many prodi- 
gies presignifying their ruin, which were not to bo 
averted by all the sacrifices and vows of that people* 
Armies were seen fighting in the air with brandished 
weapons, A fire fell upon the temple from the clouds. 
The doors of the temple were suddenly opened. At 
the same time there was a loud voice, declaring that 
the gods were removing, which was accompanied 
with a sound as of a ntultitude going out. .All which 
things were supposed by some to portend great calam- 
ities."* Whether all these things did really take place, 
or whether some or all of them were not the conceits 
of superstitious and excited minds, I shall not discuss, 
nor is the question at all material to our present ob- 
ject. Certain it is, that they were regarded as real- 
ities at the time, and consequently were in effect 
"fearful sights and great signs from heaven" to the 
Jews, whatever they may have been in reality. It 
required as much of the spirit of prophecy to predict 
that the Jews should believe such things to have 
occurred, as to predict any thing else that did cer- 
tainly occur. Whatever we may conclude, therefore, 
concerning the singularly concurrent testimony of tlio 
Jewish and Roman historians, the prophecy of the 
Saviour was most impressively fulfilled, 

6. From the calamities of the nation and city 
our Lord continued his prophecy to those of his own 

. * Lardner, ch. 3, p. 613; Tacit. Hist. b. 5, oh. 9-13. 



2^ K'lLVAIKS'C ET1DEN0E8. 

followers: ** Before all these, they shall lay theii 
hands on you and persecRte you, delivering you up 
to the synagogues and into prisons, being brought 
before kings and rulers for my name's sake."* ♦'They 
ehall kill you ; and ye shall be hated of all nations 
for my name's sake."^ " I will give you a mouth 
and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be 
able to gainsay nor resist.*** For the proof of the 
accomplishment of all this, the Acts of the Apostles 
afford abundant evidence. Remember how Saul 
made havoc of the church, entering into «very house ; 
punishing the Christians in every synagogue, and 
persecuting them even unto strange cities. Peter 
and John -v^^re delivered to councils. Paul waip 
brought before 4iing6. "Hie former were also impris- 
oned. Paul and Silas were not only imprisoned, bul 
beaten.^ There was given them indeed a wisdom 
which their adversaries were not able to gainsay noi 
resist. The very discourses of Peter that caused his 
persecution subdued tiiousands into obedienoe to the 
faith of Christ.ii Hie murderers ^ Stephen were not 
able to resist the wisdom with which he spoke.lT The 
jailer that incarcerated Paul and Silas in the even- 
ing, was their convert bcffore the morning.** Felix 
trembled, and Agrippa was almost persuaded to be a 
Christian, under the speech of Paul. Stephen and 
James were put to death. There is reason to believe 
that none of the original apostles or evangelists, but 

• Luke 21 : 12. t Matt. 24 : 9, % Luke 21 : 15. 

« Acts 8:3; 26:10, 11; 4:5; 18:12; ch. 24, 25; 4:3. 
I AcU a : 41. T Acta 6 : 10. *• M» 16 : 32-34 



PEOfUECT. SA9 

John, died a nataral dcrath. Clmsitia»B were oouisted 
at the filth of the trorld^ being litemlly hated fof ihm 
Ycry name they bore. About six years befofe th^ 
destruction of Jerusalem, arose the tremendous perse- 
cution under Neto^ when it was enough that any one 
was called by the name of Christdan to lead him i» 
tortare.'^ Taeitus bears witness not only to their 
exqukite sufferings, but also to 1^ fieiet that they 
were held in universal hatred on account of their 
religion and name.* 

6* <^ Then shall many be offended^ and shaU betray 
one another, and shall hate one another ; and because 
iniquity shall aHound, the love of many shall wax 
cold,"t The apostle of the Gentiles^ in his epistles^ 
complains of Demas and Phygellus and Hermogenes^ 
and many others in Asia, who turned away from him f 
aiKl that when he first appeared at the bar of Nero,. 
'' no man stood with him^ bnt all forsook him*"^ And 
Tacitus, speaking of the persecution by Nero, says, 
'^At first, those who were seized confessed fheir sect; 
and then, by their indication, a great multitude were 
©onvicted."* 

7. Immediately after the prediction of the out- 
ward persecutions and internal defections by which 
the servants of Christ were to be troubled^ there fbl* 
lows this remarkable prophecy: <' This gospel of the 
kingdom s/uUl be preached in all the taorldyfor a 
witness unto all nations; and then shall the end 

♦ Lardner, vol. 3, p. 498; Tac. An. Book 15, chap. 44. 
f Mat. 24 : 10-12. t 2 Tim. 1:13; 4 : 1^. 

^ Tac^ Ann. book 15.^ 

KvktCfKM. 25 



290 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES 

rowif."* The end referred to was that of the Jewish 
polity, which entirely ceased at the destruction of tht 
Jewish metropolis and temple. Jesus prophesied 
that before this, that is, in forty years. from the time 
when he uttered these words, the gospel would be 
preached in all the world. Of all that was then in 
futurity, what could have been more improbable, or to 
human view more impossible, than this ? The gospel 
was then received but by a handful of unlettered 
Jews. In a few days after, its Author was crucified 
as a malefactor, his disciples were scattered and dis- 
couraged, his enemies triumphant, and the gospel 
seemed at an end. When the infant church was 
gathered together in Jerusalem, immediately after 
the ascension of its Head, the number of the disciples 
that could be collected was but one hundred and 
twenty. What but the omniscience of God could 
have foreseen that in less than forty years that church 
would be extended into all countries of the known 
world ? But thus it camie to pass : " It appears from 
the writers of thie history of; the church, that before 
the destruction of Jerusalem the gospel was not only 
preached in the Lesser Asia and Greece and Italy, 
the great theatres of action then in the world, but 
was likewise propagated as far northward as Scythia, 
as far southward as Ethiopia, as far eastward as Far- 
thia and India, as far westward as Spain and Brit- 
ain.^'t The epistles of Paul, in the New Testament, 
were directed to churches then flourishing in Eome, 
Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Oolosse, and 

• Matt. 24 : 14. t Newton, ch. 2, p. 257, 258. 



PROPHECY. 291 

Tbessalonica. In the epistle to the Romans, he 
asserts that the Christian faith was then, ten years 
before "the end," "spoken of throughout the whole 
world."* To the Colossians, about three years after, 
he asserts that the gospel had been " preached to 
every creature which is under heaven ;"* meaning, 
that to all nations, without distinction, it had been 
pubUshed. Tacitus bears witness, that in the sixtli 
year before the destruction of Jerusalem, during 
Nero's persecution, the religion of Christ had not only 
extended over Judea, but through Rome also; and 
that its followers were then so numerous, that "a 
vast multitude" were apprehended and condeinned to 
martyrdom.'?* Thus, impossible as such an event 
must have seemed at the time when this prophecy 
was uttered, the end did not come until the gospel 
of the kingdom of Christ was preached " in all the 
world." We know not which should be considered 
the most impressive evidence that God was with the 
gospel, this wonderful fdct\ brought to pass by such 
means, and in the face of such universal and deadly 
opposition, or the prophetic eye by which the Saviour 
predicted, in circumstances so unpromising, that thus 
it would be. 

8. The next prophetic sign brings us almost to the 
awful catastrophe. "When ye shall see Jerusalem 
compassed with armies ;" . or, as the expression is in 
Matthew, "When ye shall see the abomination of 
desolation stand in the holy place," "then know that 
the desolation thereof is nigh." " Then let them 

• Eom. 1:8. t Colot 1 '23. t Tac. Ann. b. 15 



092 H'lLYAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

which be Iq Jadec^ flee iato the mountains ; let him 
whiob is ou the house-top not come down to teU^e any 
tilling out of his house ; neither let him which is in 
the field return h^ok to take his clothes."* 

6j '' the abomination of desolation standing in 
tbn holy place," Matthew expresses the same thing 
as when Luke speaks of Jerusalem being ^^oompasaed 
wit^ armies." The standards of the Roman armies 
had on them images to which idolatrous worship wets 
paid, and which were tibierefore an abomination to the 
Jews. On this aooount, we read that a Roman gen* 
eral, when conducting his array through Judea tow- 
ards Arabia, was besought by the principal Jews to 
lead it another way.^ " Every idol and every image," 
«(ays Chrysostom, ^^ was called an abominatii»a among 
the Jews." Th^se idolatrous ensigns being connected 
with a desolating army, constituted them ^^tbe abom- 
ination of desolation ;" and when the Roman army 
planted its standards around the holy city, the abom- 
ination of desolation literally stood ^^ in the holy place," 
QT m holy ground. This ihe Saviour predicted. It 
was to be the signal to Christians that the descJation 
of Jerusalem was nigh. Then they were to escape 
with haste to the mountains. The warning implied, 
that even after Ijie city was encompassed with armies 
they would have an opportunity of escape ; but, at 
the same time, that the opportunity would be brief; 
AH thip came to pass. One would suppose that the 
Christians, in having delayed till tiie city was sur 
rounded with a besieging host, would thus have 
* Luke 1^1 : ^; Mat. 24 : 1&-18. t Ant. b. 18, ch. 6, s«c S 



PROPHECl. 293 

waited till all escape was out off. But a remarkable 
providence took care that they should await the sign^ 
aud yet obey the admonition to flee. Gestius Grallus 
the Roman general, at the commencement of ilia 
war, besieged the city, took possession of the suburbSy 
CDcamped over against the royal palace, and might 
easily, Josephus says, have got within the walls and 
won the city. Indeed, " many of the principal men 
were about to open the gates to him." But although 
the abomination of desolation was thus in the holy 
place, the followers of Christ were there also. The 
time of the end, therefore, was not yet come. An 
opportunity must be found for them to flee. The 
Lord sees to this. Just as the city was ready to open 
its gates to the Bx)man chief, ^'he recalled his soldiers 
from the place without having received any disgrace, 
and retired from the city without any reason in the 
world?^ . This the Jewish historian expressly. ascribes 
to a special interposition of Providence, though he 
knew not its object. It could be accounted for on no 
military or prudential considerations. Josephus re- 
lates that many principal men of Jerusalem embraced 
this opportunity to depart from the city as from a 
sinking ship.* . A short time after, when the Roman 
armies were again approaching with the abomination 
of desolation towards the holy place, our historian 
states that a great multitude fled to the mountains^ 
Among these were probably the disciples of Christ. 
But we learn more certainly from ecclesiastical his- 
torians of the early centuries, that at this crisis aU 

* Wan, b. 2, eh. 20, sec. 1. t Ibid. b. 4, ch. 8, sec. 2. 

25* 



994 Jl'ILVAIIIE'S IgVIDENCES. 

• 

the foUowers of Chrifit took refuge in th^ mountainoiu 
regions b^yood J<Nrdt(n, thua obeying the prophetic 
Wftming of their Lord ; 90 that there is nowhere any 
mention of a single Christian having perished in the 
siege and destr^etion of Jerusalem/ But as the 
Saviouf forewarned them, what they were tc do hey 
had to do quioUy. For as soon as Jerusalem was 
again enoompassed with armies, it was surrounded 
entirely with a waU, so that, in the words of the his- 
torian, " all hope of escaping was now cut off fr<«n 
the Jews."* 

Who the ^lemy would he, and what the power 
and fury and universal spread of his desolations, the 
8avi(Hir foretold hy the use of this proverbial oxpresh 
sioB, ^< Wheresoever the carcass is, there will the 
eagles be gathered together.''* Prophecy often speaks 
a great deal in a few words. The carcass was the 
Jewish nation, given wer, as thowngUy oormpt and 
forsaken of Qod, to be devoured as by birds of prey. 
An army is distinguished by its banners. They oon- 
stitute its charactanstio insignia. The banners of 
the Roman army were surmounted by eagles, em* 
blems of strength, of swiftness, and ferocity. By 
these the Saviour described it as that which would 
desolate Jerusalem. Literally, wherever the carcass 
was, these, eagles were gathered. Josephtzs testifies 
that all parts of the land participated in the desoku 
ttons of Jerusalem.* The legions of Rome, like flooln 

• Lardneri vol, 3, p. 507; Newton, ck. 2, p. 266. 

t Wars, b. 5, ch. 12, sec. 2, 3. 

t Matt. 24: 2S. ( Wars, h. 4, oli. 8, mo. 1. 



PKOPKECT. 2&d 

«rf birds of prey, flew from city to city, ^preading 
devastatioa and slaughter wherever they planted 
their standards. With eagle-swiftness they descended 
upon the unj^repared population ; with eagle«strength 
they triumphed over every opposition; with eagle- 
fierceness they devoured and tore in pieces^ sparing 
neither $ge nor sex, sending into hopeless slavery the 
few who escaped the sword. The melancholy record 
of Jotapata relates that all its population were slain, 
hut infants and women. These were carried into 
bondage. The rest, forty thousand, were slaughtered. 
Joppa was demolished ; the neighboring villages were 
destroyed ; the whole region was laid waste. Of all 
the population of Gamala, two women alone escaped. 
Here, not even infants were spared the sword. Such 
was the extreme awfulness of the slaughter, that 
many Jews in preference threw their children, their 
wives, cmd themselves, from the hill on which the 
citadel was built, into the deep abyss below. The 
number that perished thus was computed at five 
thousand. These are but a few cases out of the 
many which illustrate the perfect accomplishment of 
the prediction before us.* 

9, But our Lprd foretold not only the enemy by 
whom Jerusalem would be destroyed, but the means 

* How minutely were the enemy and hig desolations de- 
Rcribed by Moses as much as one thousand five hundred years 
before the war. "The Lord shall bring a nation against thee 
from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; 
a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand ; a nation of 
fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, 
Qor show favor to the young : and he shall eat the fruit of thy 



296 M'lLVAlKE'S EVIDENCES. 

by which it would be taken. " The days shall oome 
upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench 
about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in 
en every side."* A trench and a wall or embankment 
always go together in military operations. Both 
were certainly intended here. But it was exceed- 
ingly improbable that such a measure would be 
resorted to in the siege of Jerusalem. The nature of 
the ground, and the great extent of the city, rendered 
it extremely difficult. It had never been attempted 
in the previous sieges of the same place. It was nol 
necessary, because, had the Roman general been con- 
tent to wait a little, the famine and the contending 
factions within the city would soon have delivered it 
into his possession. After all, it was contrary to the 
advice of his chief men, and was adopted only be- 
cause a more protracted siege would have been less 
glorious. The higher cause however was, that he 
was God's instrument unwittingly to fulfil the words 
of Christ. Titus must confirm the prophetic char- 
acter of Jesus. By building a wall about Jerusalem, 
he was to build up the defence of the gospel. The 
city was therefore literally compassed round, and its 
inhabitants were kept in on every side by a wall and 

cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed : which 
also shall not leave thee either com, wine, or oil, or the increase 
of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. 
And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and 
fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout 
all Ihy land ; and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throned* 
out all thy land which the Lord thy God hath given thee.'' 
Deut. 28 : 49-52. 
• Luke 19:43. 



PROPHEOT. 297 

trench put up by the troops of Titus, azid measuring 
about five miles in circumference. Josephus is very 
{)articular in stating precisely the direction of the 
wall in its whole circuit.* 

10. " These be the days of vengeance,^^ said tht? 
Lord : "/or then shall be grpat tribulation, such as 
was not from the beginning of the world to this 
time, ndf nor ever shall be^^ Days of vengeance 
indeed they were, when all that was written and 
threatened in Moses and the prophets was fulfilled. 
As if Joeephus had written with the very words o^ 
the Saviour in view, he bears record that in his 
opinion " no other city ever suffered such miseries ; 
nor was there ever a generation more fruitful in 
wickedness, from Ihe beginning of the world." ** It 
appears to me that the misfortunes of all men from 
the beginning of the world, if .they be compared to 
these of the Jews, are not so considerable." *^ For in 
reality it was God who condemned the whole natiout 
and turned every course that was taken for their 
preservation to their destruction." It is impossible 
to describe the truth in this case. " The multitude 
of Ihose who perished," says our historian, " exceeded 
all the destructions that man or God ever brought on 
the world."^ At the commencement of the. siege, im* 
inense multitudes having come up from all parts of 
the country to the feast of ibe passover, the nation^ 

• Wars, etc., b. (5, oh. 12, sec. 2. 
t Luke 21 : 22 ; Matt. 24: 21. 

t Wan, ate., b. 6, ah. 10, sea. 6 ; Prafaoa to Wars, lea. 4 
Wars, b. 6, <s)i. 13, tee. 4; b. 6, oh. 9, 900, 4. 



29a 1I»1LVA1NE'S EVIDENCES. 

literally, was crowded into Jerusalem ; so that Uie 
city was supposed to have in it upwards of two 
million seven hundred thousand souls. The miseries 
endured by this imprisoned multitude are minutely 
detailed in the history of the siege. Famine com. 
menced, and numbered its thousands of unburied 
and loathsome victims. The destroyer raged so 
widely that the people devoured their shoes and 
girdles, the soldiers the leather on their shields. 
Wisps of old straw were turned into food. That 
which before they could not endure to see, they now 
consented to eat. United to these desolations were 
the remorseless cruelties of contending factions. The 
city was filled with robbers, who divided its popula- 
tion into parties more destructive than all the soldiery 
of the besiegers. Filled with rage and instigated by 
hunger, they alike refused to be at peace with each 
other, or to capitulate to the common enemy. They 
robbed the temple, slew the priests at the altar, and 
defiled ithe sanctuary with a sea of blood. To keep 
each other from food, they fired storehouses containing 
provisions for a siege of many years. Whenever any 
corn appeared, bands of robbers instantly seized it. 
They searched every house in which they suspected 
there was food. Parents snatched it from their chil- 
dren, children from the mouths of their parents. 
There was a lady of high birth and much weallh, 
who had come from the country, and was kept in 
Jerusalem by the siege. All her effects, and all the 
food she had saved for herself and children, had been 
taken by the prowling bands that continually ranged 



I 






?KOPHECT. 299 

the streets for prey. By imprecations and reproaches 
she endeavored in vain to provoke; them to take her 
life as well as bread. At last she prepared a feast. 
Keen hunger found out a lamb. A mother's despera- 
tion slew and served it. Having consumed a part, 
the rest was concealed. The smell of food soon 
brought in the wolves. They threatened instant 
death unless she discovered it. With bitter irony 
she assured them that a fine portion had been saved 
for them^ dLToJi then uncovered what remained of the 
lamb. . It was the half-eaten body of her infant son. 
Struck motionless with horror, they would not par- 
take of it. Then she upbraided them as pretending 
to more tenderness than a woman, and more com- 
passion than a mother. All the city> and the whole 
Roman camp, were filled with astonishment at this 
horrid evidence of the reigning wretchedness ; so that 
the dead were envied for having escaped the sight of 
such miseries.* But the woe went on. The prisoners 
taken in endeavoring to desert the city were nailed 
on crosses by the Roman soldiers, "some one way, 

* How exactly did Moses, at least fifteen hundred years 
before, depict this very scene. He described even the tank, 
quality, and habits of the unhappy woman. ^^ The tender and 
delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set 
the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tender- 
ness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, 
and toward her son, and toward her daughter,' and -toward hei 
young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward 
her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for 
want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness wliere* 
with thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates." D^ui 
28:56,67. 



too H'lLYAIKE'S EVIDENGKS 

0omd another, as it were in jesi," around 1^ ottte^ 
of the walls, ^' till so great was the namber, that 
room wa» wanting for crosses, and crosses were want* 
ing for bodies."* Thus had the Jews, forty years 
before, oradfied the Lord of ^ory without the walls, 
with cruel jesting and bitter mockery.^ Those who 
eontinued within the city took tefttge in carems^ 
aqueducts, sewers, and other secret places, to escape 
from one another. Titus, as he beheld the dead 
bodies that had been thrown from the walls into the 
valleys, ^^ lifted up his hands to heaven, and called 
God to witness that this was not his doing."^ Thc^ 
number of those who perished during these ^' days of 
vengeance," is^ computed by Josepfaus at upwards of 
one million three hundred thousand ; and of these, one 
million one hundred and fifty thousand were of Je* 
rusalem, besides ninety-seven thousand carried into 
slavery, and an innumerable multitude wht) perished 
uncounted in various places, through famine, banish- 
ment, and other miseries.^ Add to this destruction 
of life, the complete ruin of their holy city and mag> 
nificent temple, dearer to the Jews than life; add, 
moreover, the universal desolation and almost dep<^^ 
ulation of Judea, and you will find no difficulty in 
interpreting the Saviour's prediction of '* a tribulation 
such as was not from the beginning of the world." It 
was when our compassionate Redeemer had all this 
in fuL prospect, that "he beheld the city" from the 

• Warsj etc. b. S, ch. 3, see. 4; h, S,- eh. 11, sec* I. 

t '^ His blood be dn i», wad on <mr ehildren." 

t War^, etc., b. 5, ch. 12, sec. 4. i Lardner, vol. 3, p. 539 



PROFllJiCir. 301 

mount of Olives, " and wept over it, saying, tf thou 
hadst known, even tiboti, in this thy day, tiie things 
that make for thy peace ! bat now they are hid from 
thine eyes."* How did the anticipation of all this 
misery affect him, when, as he was going to his 
cross, he turned to the women who wept and wailed 
because of him, and said, '* Daughters of Jerusalem, 
weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your 
children ; for behold, the days are coming, in the which 
they shall say. Blessed are the barren, and the womb^ 
that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. 
Then shall they begin to say to the mountains. Fall 
Dn us ; and to the hills, Cover us."^ Who can help 
reflecting here upon that solemn question, '< What 
shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel ol 
aod?" 

11. We come now to the work of destruction, 
which forms the most remarkable particular in this 
wonderful prophecy. The ruin of the city was fore- 
told in these words : ^* They shall lay thee even with 
the ground^ and thy children within thee : and they 
shall not leave in thee one stone upqn another?^^ 
The ruin of tiie temple was foretold as follovirs. As 
the disciples were showing to Jesus the stupendous 
buildings of the temple, he answered, '< See ye not all 
these things ? Verily I say unto yoUj there shall not 
be left here one stone upon another^ that shall not he 
thrown down.^^^ Most wonderfully was the spirit of 
\>Toph.eey manifested in these words. Every thing 

* Luke 19 : A2. t Luke 23 : 28-30. 

t Luko 19 : 44. i Matt. 24 : 2. 

26 



302 ll'ILVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

oonspired to make the events appear improbable, and 
to prevent their occurrence when the time predicted 
had arrived. Jerusalem was surrounded with three 
massive walls of immense strength, rendering its gar- 

• 

risen almost unassailable except by famine, or pesti- 
lence, or internal discord.* Never were men more 
perfectly devoted to the defence of a city than those 
of Jerusalem. None cared for life at the expense of 
her ruin. The garrison was ten times the number 
of the besiegers. It was, therefore, exceedingly im- 
probable that the city would even be entered by the 
Romans. Such was the testimony of Titus as he 
looked round upon its towers. " We have certainly," 
said he, **had God for our helper in this war. It is 
Grod who has ejected the Jews out of these fortifica- 
tions. For what could the hands of men, or any 
machines, do towards throwing down such fortifica- 
tions ?''^ But it was equally improbable, even if the 
city were taken, that such complete destruction would 
be made of all therein. Think of the difficulty of 
completely destroying such an immense extent of 
triple wall, and of buildings within. Think of the 
temple: what a pile to be laid low! Its walls 
enclosed more than nineteen acres ; that of the east- 
ern front rose to a height of nearly eight hundred 
feet from its base in the valley beneath. In this and 
the other walls the stones were immense, the largest 

* Gibbon, speaking of the strength of Jerusalem at this lime, 
jaysj "The craggy ground might supersede the necessity of 
fortifications, and her walls and towers would have fortified the 
most accessible plain." Decline and Fall, vol. 8, oh. 58, p. 144 

t Wars, b. 6, ch. 9, seo • 



PROPHECY. 303 

measaring sixty-five feet in length, eight in height, 
and ten in breadth. How great the difficulty of a 
thorough levelling of such a structure, even under 
the instigation of the strongest motive! But what 
motive was likely to excite the Romans to such de- 
struction ? They prided themselves upon a venera- 
tion for the arts, and upon the sacred care with 
which, in all their conquests, the monuments of 
architectural taste were protected. The temple was 
emphatically such a monument. The immensity of 
its walls, its splendid gates and beautiful marble 
colonnades, the glory of its golden sanctuary, the 
grandeur of its whole appearance, and all its associa- 
tions of antiquity and of sacredness, constituted the 
temple of Jerusalem precisely such an object as Ro- 
man commanders had always gloried in preserving 
from the desolations of conquest. Even barbarians 
were used to spare such monuments in their march 
of devastation. Genseric, when, with his Moors and 
Vandals, he had sacked the city of Rome, spoiled her 
wealth, and carried away the ornaments of her tem- 
ples and Capitol, but spared her noble structures ;* 
and to this day, after all the scenes of war that have 
raged through her streets, the pillar of Trajan, the 
triumphal arch of Titus, the unmutilat-ed Pantheon, 
and the noble Coliseum, with numerous other monu- 
ments of art, attest the ancient glory of the mistress 
of the world. How often have hostile armies filled 
the streets of Athens, and hordes of Gothic barbarians 
encamped amidst her sanctuaries ; and yet the beau* 

• Gibbon, vol. 5. 



304 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

fiful temple of Theseus is scarcely injured as a model 
of architecture, and the Parthenon, though defaced 
and robhed, remains a noble example still of the 
grandeur and purity of Athenian taste in the age cf 
Phidias and Pericles. How improbable then must it 
have seemed to one beholding the temple in the days 
of our Lord, that Romans should lay it even with 
the ground. Much uioso improbable, had the culti- 
vated taste, and the mild, amiable, and humane dis-* 
position of Titus, their commander, been anticipated 
Still more improbable, when it is remembered how 
strongly he was bent upon saving the city and temple 
from destruction ; how he employed all the means in 
his power to induce the Jews to surrender before 
such extremities were necessary.* When he had 
reached the temple, and saw the danger it was in ol 
being sacrificed to the obstinacy of its defendej^s and 
the rage of his own soldiers, he was '^ deeply affect-^ 
ed," and appealed to the gods, to his army, and to the 
Jews, that he did not force them to defile the holy 
house. **If," said he, **you will change the place 
whereon you will fight, no Eoman shall either come 
near your sanctuary, or offer any afiront to it ; nay, 
I will endeavor to preserve your holy house, whether 
you will or not."t But the Lord of that temple had 
said, ^' Behold, your hou^ is left unto you desolate." 
God would not suffer the prophetic words of his Son 
to return unto him void. Now, therefore, even the 
authority of Titus was of no avail with his troops. 

* Wars, etc.,.1». 5, ch.8, sec 1 ; eh. 9, see. 2; oh. 11, seo. 2; 
b. 6, ch. 2, seo. 1. t Ibid.) b. 6, ch. 2, sec. 4 



PROPHECY. 305 

Now the discipline of the Roman legion was broken 
up, that all that was written might be fulfilled. 
When the fire first reached the temple, thoir com- 
mander dispatched a force to extinguish it. As it 
broke out again, he again used his authority to save 
the edifice. A soldier, disobeying the will of his gen- 
eral, thri3w fire into the golden window of the inner 
sanctuary. At this, Titus, followed by all his chief 
officers, rushed to the place, and by voice and gesture 
and force exerted himself most earnestly to prevail 
with his troops to spare the building. He ordered a 
centurion to punish the disobedient. But neither 
his threatenings nor persuasions could arrest their 
fury. At last a soldier, taking advantage of his ab- 
sence, when he had gone out of the sanctuary to 
restrain the others, "threw fire upon the holy gate 
in the dark, whereby the flame burst out from within 
the holy house immediately."* And thus was it de- 
voured by the fire. And now orders were given to 
demolish to the foundation the whole city and temple. 
Nothing was spared of the former but three towers, 
and so much of the wall as was required for a shelter 
to the garrison to be stationed there. "As for all 
the rest of the whole circumference of the city, it 
was so thoroughly laid even with the ground, by 
those who dug it up to the foundation, that there was 
nothing left to make those who came thither believe 
it had ever been inhabited."^ In quest of plunder, 
the soldiers literally turned up the ground on which 
the city and temple had stood, searching the sewers 

• Wars, b. 6, ch. 4, sec. 2-5, etc. t Ibid. b. 7, ch. 1, Be«. 1 

26* 



30^ M'lLVAINE-'a BVII^ENCES 

aad aquisducts. Laet o£ all^ it is relatad by the Jbw^ 
ish Talmud and Maimooid^s, that ac eaptaia, of the 
ari»y of Titus^. Terentius Rufu0> ^^did with a. plough- 
shajo teaii up the foundations of the templev"* ^' A 
ploughshare)" says Gribbon> " wa^; drawji over thef 
conseorated gr-ound, as a sign of peif)etual inteidic^ 
tion." Thus literally fulfilling that prophecy of Mi- 
oah, " Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed 
as a field, and Jerusalem become heaps^ and the moun- 
tain of Hie house a^s the high places of the forest."^ 
How forcibly is the perfect fulfilment of the Saviour's 
prediction illustrated in the speech of Eleazer to a. 
remnant of Jews in the city of Hasada : " Where is 
now that great city, fortified by so many walls andr 
fortresses and towers, which could hardly contain the 
instruments prepared for the war, and had so many 
ten thousands of men to defend it ? Demolished to 
the very foundations, and hath nothing left but the 
camp of the destroy^s among its ruins ; some unfor- 
tunate old men also lie upon the ashes of the temple, 
and a few women are there preserved alive by the 
enemy for our bitter shame and reproach."* 

12. But the prophecy of our Lord did not end with 
the destruction of the city and of tiiie civil and eccle- 
siastical pality of the Jewsv His omniscient eye fol- 
lowed the unhappy race in their subsequent disper« 
sions: and afflictions. '' They shall fall by the edge 
of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all 
natwns.^^^ How many fell by the edge of the sword: 

• Whitby on Matt-. 24 : 2. t Mioab 3:12. 

t Wars, b. 7, ch. 8, sec. 7. * Luke 21 : 24. 



psoTH^saY. soar 

m fulfilmeii:t of these words^ I need not state;. ISaod 
flowed through the streets of Jerusalem like a mec 
But many who eseaped the sword were led away 
eaptive into various parts of the earth. Be&rOi the 
city was taken, it is related: tibat an^ ^^ immense nmcv 
her'' of deserters, having: fallen into the handa of the 
besiegssfs, were sold, . "with their wives and chiHreUi!'* 
Besides ninety-seven, thousand, who wentJnto slavery 
from Jerusalem: alone^, there were sent from Tarichea 
to Nero six thousand choice young: men^ while thirty 
thousand, from the Sjeutne place, were sold. Similar 
convoys of slaves were meutihed from many other 
desolated towns. Of the captives from Jerusalem, 
the- tall and handsome: were carried to Rome: to grace 
the; triumphal entry of Titua Of the remainder, 
many were sent as slaves to the public works in 
Egypt; but the greater number were distributed 
through the Roman provinces, literally "into all na^ 
tions," to be- slain by gladiators, or exposed; to wild 
beasts in ihe shows of the amphitheatre. From that 
time to the present, the history of ail. the nations, oi 
Europe^ Asia, and Afrioa is filled with testimonies to 
the prophetic spirit of Him who, when Jeruscdem was^ 
in peace and strength, predicted, the approaching and 
vet existing osdamities of her sons^ In. what country 
of the worlds as then known,, have they, not, been per- 
aeouted emd: enslaved? 

But in. addition' to the captivity of the people,: 
** Jerusalem, shall be trodden dowur of the Gentiles^ 
until the times of the Gentiles be ftUfilledP It is 

* Wars, b. 6 eh. 8, leo. 3« 



30d M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES 

well ascertained, by corresponding passages of the 
Bible, that by this expression, the times of the Gen- 
tiles being fulfilled, was intended the universal in- 
gathering of the nations to the faith of Christ. This 
has not yet arrived. Jerusalem is therefore still trod« 
den down of the Gentiles, just as she has, ever been 
since the ploughshare of the Roman desolation was 
first driven over the ruins of her temple. The hand 
of Providence, in the uninterrupted fulfilment of this 
prediction down to the present time, is wonderfully 
manifest. Two things are specially to be noted in 
the prophecy : first, that the Jews were never to be 
reestablished in Jerusalem; and secondly, that it 
wais not only to be in possession of, but to be " trod- 
den down of the Gentiles,^^ until the times of the 
Gentiles should be fulfilled. That the Jews have 
never been reestablished in Jerusalem since its de- 
struction, has not been owing to any want of desperate 
effort on their part, nor because the power of the 
Gentiles has not been vigorously employed in their 
behalf. In about sixty-four years after their almost 
total expulsion from Judea, under the conquest ot 
Titus, Jerusalem was partially rebuilt by the emperor 
Adrian. A Roman colony was settled there, and all 
Jews were forbidden, on pain of death, to enter therein, 
or even to look at the city from a distance. Soon 
after this the Jews revolted with great fury, and 
made a powerful effort to recover their city frorr. the 
heathen. They were not subdued again without great 
loss to the Romans, and immense slaughter among 
themselves. 



tROPHECl. 300 

In the reign of Constantine the Great their effort 
was repeated, and terminated' as before in perfect 
d,efeat, with increased massacre and expression. Bnt 
in the person of the nephew of Constantine, their zeal 
foi the rebuilding of their temple was associated with 
(he dfciitirmination of the emperor Julian to overthrow 
Christianity^ and between the power of a Roman 
sovereign with a victorious army at his feet and the 
exulting enthusiasm of the whole remnant of the 
Jewish people, a union was formed for the sdn^e 
object of rearing up the temple with its ancient ritual 
and of planting around it a numerous colony of Jews, 
which, to all human judgment, bore the assurance of 
complete success. The grand object of Julian was 
to convert '^the success of his undertaking into a 
specious, argument against the faith of prof^ecy, and 
the truth of revelation."* A decree was issued to 
his fciend Alypius^ that the temple of Jerusal^n 
should be restored in its pristine beauty. To the 
energies of Alypius was joined the support of the 
governor of Palestine. At the call of the emperor, 
the Jews from aU the provinces of the en^re ass^n. 
bled in triumphant exultation on the hills of Zion» 
Their wealthy strength,, time, even their most dehcate 
females^ were devoted with the utmost enthusiasm 
^o the preparation of ihe ground,, eoveved then with 
rubbish and ruins« But was the ten^le rebuilt ?^ 
The foundations were not entirely laid. Why ? Was 
force deficient; or zeal^. or wealth, or perseverance, 
when Bconan power and Jewish dei^pemtion were 

* Gibbons 



310 M'lLVAlJITE'S EVIDENCES. 

associated? Nothing was lacking. "Yet," says 
Gribbon, " the joint efforts of power and enthusiasm 
were unsuccessful, and the ground of the Jewish 
temple still continued to exhibit the same edifying 
spectacle of ruin and desolation." There was an 
unseen hand, which neither Jews nor emperors could 
overcome. The simple account of the defeat of this 
threatening enterprise of infidelity is thus given by a 
heathen historian of the day, a soldier in the service, 
and a philosopher in the principles of Julian. " While 
Alypius, assisted by the governor of the province, 
urged with vigor and diligence the execution of the 
work, horrible balls of fire breaking out near the 
foundation, with frequent and reiterated attacks, ren- 
dered the place from time to time inaccessible to the 
scorched and blasted workmen; and the victorious 
element continuing in this manner obstinately and 
resolutely bent, as it were, to drive them to a distance, 
the undertaking was abandoned."* " Such authority 
should satisfy a believing, and must astonish an in- 
credulous mind," acknowledges even the sceptical 
Gibbon. He cannot but own that " an earthquake, 
a whirlwind, and a fiery eruption, which overturned 
and scattered the new foundations of the temple, are 
attested with some variations, by contemporary and 
respectable evidence." One writer, who published 
an account of this wonderful catastrophe in the very 
year of its occurrence, boldly declared, says Gribbon, 
that its preternatural character was not disputed^ 
even by the infidels of the dayJ^ Another speaks oi 

* Ammianus Marcellinus. t Gibbon, vol. 3. oh. 23. 



PROPHECT. 311 

it thus : " We are witnesses of it, for it happened in 
our time, not long ago. And now, if you should go 
to Jerusalem, you may see the foundations open; 
and if you inquire the reason you will hear no other 
than that just mentioned."* 

Whether this attempt of Julian was defeated by 
miraculous interposition, is a question which our 
present object does not require us to argue.* Two 
things are certain : first, that the power and wealth 
of the Gentiles were united with the devoted en- 
thusiasm of the Jews, to defeat the prophecy of 
Christ, by rebuilding the temple, and by reestablish- 
ing its ritual, and by reorganizing a Jewish popula- 
tion as possessors of Jerusalem ; secondly, that con- 
trary to all expectation, when nothing was lacking 
for the work, and none in the world lifted a finger 
against it, it was suddenly abandoned on account of 
sundry alarming a;nd singular phenomena bursting 
from the original site of the temple, by which even 
the fanaticism of the Jews was deterred, and the 
enmity of Julian to the gospel defeated. These un- 
deniable facts are sufficient to show, with impressive 
evidence, the hand of God protecting the prophetic 
character of our Lord. When, in connection with 
these, you consider the great anxiety so universally 
felt among the Jews of all centuries, to enjoy the 
privilege of living and dying in Jerusalem ; that no 
risk of life, or sacrifice of property, would be thought 

• Chrysostojn. See Lardner, eh. 4. p. 324. 
t See the miraculous character of this event very ablf idi 
vocated in Bishop Warb'irton's Julian. 



312 M'lLVAnfE'S ETIDENCES. 

» 

too great for the purpose of once more setting up the 
gates and altars of the holy city ; that the nation is 
now as numerous as at any period of its ancient glory ; 
and yet, that during almost the whole period since 
the destruction of Jerusalem, so entirely hare Jews 
been prevented from living on her foundations, tliat 
they have had to purchase dearly the permission to 
come within sight of her hills, and to this day are 
taxed and oppressed to the dust, as the cost of being 
allowed to walk her streets, and look at a distance 
upon her mount Moriah, you will acknowledge that 
the prediction of our Saviour in reference to their 
exclusion from Jerusalem, has been not only most 
strikingly fulfilled, but fulfilled in spite of the most 
powerful causes and efforts for its defeat. 

But it was predicted that Jerusalem should not 
only be possessed by the Grentiles, but ^'trodden 
down^^ by them till their times should be fulfilled. 
What ihe soldiers of Titus did has already been 
stated. From that time, during sixty-four years, a 
Roman garrison alone inhabited the ruins. At the 
end of these years the city was rebuilt by the em- 
peror Adrian, under the name of CElia; a Roman 
colony was planted there; all Jews were banished 
on pain of death; every measure was used to de-* 
stroy sacred recollections, and desecrate what were 
esteemed as holy places. The city was consecrated 
to Jupiter Capitolinus ; a temple was erected to the 
pagan god over the sepulchre of Jesus; a statue of 
Venus was set up on mount Calvary, and the figure 
^ of a swine placed in marble on the gate tbat lo^>ked 



PROPHECY. 313 

towards Bethlehem. Jerusalem oontinueJ in pos- 
session of the Roman emperors till subdued in the 
year 637 A. D. by the Saraoens. The king of Persia 
had in the mean while besieged and plundered it, but 
his dominion was too short-lived to claim an excep- 
lion from this statement.* In the hands of Moham- 
medans, sometimes of Arabian, sometimes of Turk- 
ish, and sometimes of Egyptian origin, it continued 
to be literally trampled down and desecrated, during 
a period of more than four hundred years ; when 
having been taken by the crusaders, its government 
was assumed by one of their leaders, and Christians 
alone were allowed to dwell therein. Only about 
eighty-eight years elapsed, however, before the ores- 
cent of Mohammed was again planted upon the hill 
of Zion, where t5 this day it has remained, with a 
single trifling exception, undisturbed either by Jew 
or Christian. During the seven centuries of this 
uninterrupted dominion of Mohammedanism, Jerusa- 
lem has been captured and recaptured, again and 
again, by the various contending families and factions 
of the followers of the Arabian prophet. The desola- 
tions of war, the marches of contending hosts, have 
indeed ^^ trodden doum^^ her melancholy bills. In 
the sixteenth century, when Selim the ninth emperor 
of the Turks visited the city, it lay just as it had 
been seen by the famous Tamerlane more than one 
hundred years before, ^< miserably deformed and 
ruined," inhabited only by a few Christians, who 
paid a large tribute to the sultan of Egypt for the 
. * Gibbon's Decline and Fall, vol. 6, eh. 46, p. 906. 



314 M'lLVAINE S EVIDENCES. 

possession of the holy sepulchre."* Its condition 
still, is thus stated by a recent traveller. *^ At every 
step, coming out of the city, the heart is reminded of 
that prophecy, accomplished to the letter, * Jerusalem 
shall be trodden down of the Gentiles.' All the 
Btreets are wretchedness ; and the houses of the Jews 
more especially, the people who once held a sceptre 
on this mountain of holiness, are as dunghills." " No 
expression could have been invented more descriptive 
of the visible state of Jerusalem, than this single 
phrase, * trodden down,^"^ " Not a creature is to be 
seen in the streets," says another traveller, " not a 
creature at the gates, except now and then a peasant 
gliding through the gloom, concealing under his gar- 
ments the fruits of his labor, lest he should be robbed 
of his hard earnings by the rapacibus soldier. The 
only noise heard from time to time in the city is the 
galloping of the steed of the desert."* " The Jerusa- 
lem of sacred history is in fact no more. Not a 
vestige remains of the capital of David and Solomon ; 
not a monument of Jewish times is standing. The 
very course of the walls is changed, and the boun- 
daries of the ancient city are become doubtful."^ 

Thus, during a period of seventeen hundred and 
sixty years have the captivities and dispersions and 
oppressions of the Jewish people, together with the 
desolate condition of their city and temple, most 
j signally attested the prophetic character of our Lord. 

F 

i 

5 * Newton on Prophecy, vol. 2, p. 319-334. 

I t Jowett's Researches, p. 200. t Chateauhriaad 

* Modern Traveller, Palestine, p. 75. 



PEOPHECY. 316 

And shall we not hence be confident that what re- 
mains of his prediction will be accomplished ? WiU 
not the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled ? Will not 
Jerusalem continue, until then, to be trodden down 
of the Gentiles ? And then will it not cease to be 
subject to them ? And does not the expression of the 
prophecy imply that it will be again rebuilt and pos- 
sessed by the Jews in the day when " all Israel shall 
be saved ?" " For what reason can we believe, that 
though they are dispersed among all nations, yet by 
a constant miracle they are kept distinct from all, 
but for the further manifestation of God's purposes 
towards them? The prophecies have been accom- 
plished to the greatest exactness in the destruction 
of their city, and its continuing still subject to 
strangers; in the dispersion of their people, and 
their living still separate from all people ; and why 
should not the remaining parts of the same prophe- 
cies be as fully accomplished in their restoration at 
the proper season, when the times of the Gentiles 
shall be fulfiUed ?"• 

13. We have now exhibited the exact fulfilment 
of all the particulars of this remarkable prophecy, 
with one exception. The Lord specified the time of 
those great events which he so minutely foretold. 
^^ This generation shall not pass, till all these things 
bo fulfilled." Forty years had not elapsed from the 
date of this prediction, before all things referred to in 
H had taken place. 

And now let me add but a few words in conclusion. 
• Newton, vol. 2, p. 336. 



81b M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

No charge oan be brought against the prophecy 
which we have been exhibiting, on the score of ob- 
scurity or ambiguousness of expression. It is ex- 
pressed in the plainest terms, and admit^s of but one 
interpretation. Nothing can be said in detraction 
from its claim to inspiration, on the ground of its 
being general in its expression. It is singularly par- 
ticular, as well as comprehensive. Nothing can be 
said in denial of the complete correspondence be- 
tween these various • predictions- and the history of 
the times and places to which they refer. We have 
drawn the evidence from sources which cannot be 
suspected of any partiality to the prophetic character 
of Jesus. The History of the Wars of the Jews, by 
Josephus the Jewish priest ; the Annals, by Tacitus 
a Roman consul ; and the History of the Decline and 
Fall of the Roman Empire, by Gibbon the English 
sceptic, are all the vouchers we require. What then 
is the alternative to which the student of prophecy is 
reduced ? He must either acknowledge that Jesus 
was possessed of the spirit of genuine prophecy, or 
that he was so sagacious as to be able to foretell all 
these particulars when no one else could see any 
sign of them, or that the gospels containing these 
predictions were written after the evente. The first 
the sceptic is resolved at all hazards to deny ; the 
second he cannot suppose ; the last he must assert, or 
give up his cause. For the same reason, therefore, 
that the heathen Porphyry, when he could not deny 
the strict correspondence between the prophecies of 
Daniel and the subsequent history of Egypt and 




PROPHECY. 31T 

Syria, rather than confess that Daniel was a prophet^ 
contradioted every principle of historical testimony 
for the sake of pretending that he must have written 
after the occurrence of what he foretold ; so iavo 
some modern Porphyries been driven to assert that 
the evangelists who relate this prophecy of Jerusalem, 
must have written after the city was destroyed.* I 
need not say that the only reason pretended to in 
support of this assiertion, is the very thing we have 
been laboring to show : the strict agreement between 
the prophecy and the event. Their argument is nei- 
ther more nor less than the following : If these words 
were written before the destruction of Jerusalem, 
Jesus was a genuine prophet ; but we will not believe 
him to have been a geiiuine prophet ; therefore these 
words were not written before the destruction of Jeru- 
salem. A conclusion as shameless as it is sense- 
less — as opposite to the faith of all history as to the 
rules of all sound criticism, and the opinion of the 
learned of all ages. It shows the strength of the 
argument from prophecy, as w^ell as the infatuated 
obstinacy with which the human heart is capable of 
resisting whatever would bind it to the obedience of 
Christ. 

But let us not forget that the destruction of Je- 
rusalem, with its signs and tribulations, is set in the 
Scriptures as a type of an unspeakably more awful 
and momentous event — the end op the world. A 
day Cometh when " the sun shall be darkened, and 
the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall 
• Voltaire. Watson's Ap. for Bible, p. 169. 



^ I 



319 H'1LYAIN£*S BYIDENCES. 

fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall 
be shaken : and then shall appear the sign of the Son 
of man in heaven ; and then shall all the tribes of the 
earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man 
coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great 
glory. And he shall send his angels with a greai 
sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together 
his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven 
to the other."* When that day shall arise on the 
world, knoweth no man. One thing we know, that 
it will find us just as death shall find us. Death, to 
each of us, will be virtually the coming of the Son of 
man. Then our eternal state will be sealed. There- 
fore doth wisdom utter her voice : ye sons of men, 
prepare to nieet your God ; fcr in such an hour as 
ye think not, the Son of man cometh. Watch ; walk 
as children of light. Embrace the promises of the 
gospel, and live by faith in Christ Jesus the Lord. 
^^ Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when lua 
oometh. shall find so doing." 

• Malt. 24:S»-S1. 







PAOPAaATION OF CHRISIIAKITY. 31^ 



LECTURE IX. 

THE PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY. 

Tbbe£ is a peculiarity in the argument for the 
divine authority of Christianity, which we cannot but 
notice in the commencement of this lecture. While 
the several parts unite with the utmost harmony and 
prodigious strength in the construction of one grand 
system of evidence, each is a perfect argument in 
itself, and capable of furnishing, had we nothing else 
on which to depend, an ample support for the whole 
fabric of Christianity. We speak of the several parts 
composing that general division to which these lec- 
tures are restricted: the external evidence, such as 
the miracles^ the prophecies^ and that on which we 
are now about to enter, the propagation of Chris* 
tianity. The two former have been discussed. We 
praise the subject, not the lecturer, in saying that we 
have not only established on solid ground the genu- 
ineness of the miracles of the gospel, and the pro- 
phetic attestation to the divine mission of our Lord ; 
but that, in having done thus, we have twice finished 
the proof of Christianity as a divine revelation. It 
was complete when we had shown that Jesus and his 
apostles were attended by the credentials of genuine 
miracles. It was commenced again, and completed 
a second time, by a course of argument entirely dif- 



iv 



320 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

ferent, when we had shown that Jesus was a proph* 
et, as well as the great subject of prophecy. We are 
now to begin anew, hoping to prove a third time, and 
by a course of evidence entirely different from either 
of the preceding, that the gospel of Christ is none 
other than "the glorious gospel of the blessed God." 
Our argument will be drawn from the rapid propaga- 
tion of the gospel, in contrast with the difficulties it 
had to overcome. 

It was only forty days after the resurrection of 
Christ, that he delivered to his little band of apostles 
the parting charge, "Go ye into all the world, and 
preach the gospel to every creature.", " Go, teach," or 
disciple, "all nations, baptizing them in the name of 
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." 
In other words, Go, carry the war of the truth into 
the midst of its enemies; think not your work com- 
pleted till you have planted the cross upon the high 
places of the heathen, and have gathered together my 
elect " from the four winds, from one end of heaven to 
the other." Such was the work intrusted to those 
few unlearned, despised disciples, who formed almost 
the whole strength of the Christian church in the day 
when their beloved Master was received out of their 
sight, and uscended into heaven. Now let us con- 
sider, in the first division of this lecture, 

t. The difficulties they had to surmount in exe* 
ctiting this command. Be it remarked, 

1. That the idea of propagating a new religion^ 
to the exclusion of every other, was at that time a 
perfect novelty to all mankind, with the exception of 




rROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY. 321 

perhaps a few individuals of the Jews, specially en- 
lightened in the prophetic declarations of the Old 
Testament scriptures. The Jewish religion was in- 
deed sufficiently exclusive ; but in its external organ- 
ization it was neither designed nor adapted for exten- 
sive promulgation. Nothing could have been more 
perfectly foreign to all the reigning opinions, preju- 
dices, and dispositions of that insulated nation, in the 
days of the apostles, than the thought of attempting 
to convert even a single city of the Gentiles to their 
system of religion. Their zeal was indeed extremelj 
energetic in behalf of whatever involved the security 
and honor of their feiith; but in regard to other na- 
tions, it was the zeal of jealousy to keep them at a 
great distance, rather than of invitation to bring them 
to a participation in their superior privileges. 

The charge of the Saviour to his apostles was, if 
possible, still more novel to the G*entiles than the 
Jews. Heathenism had never been propagated from 
place to place. In its innumerable forms, it had 
grown up out of the depraved dispositions of human 
nature all over the world, as thorns and thistles, 
though never sown by the husbandman, are found 
everywhere on the feuse of the earth. Without a 
creed, it was without principle ; and therefore it had 
nothing to contend for but the privilege of assuming 
any form, worshipping any idol, practising any ritual, 
and pursuing any absurdity, which the crafb of the 
priesthood or the superstitions and vices of the peo- 
ple might select. It never was imagined by any de- 
scription of pagans, that aU other forms of religion 



322 M'lLVAiNE'S EVIDENCES. 

were not as good for the people observing them, M 
theirs were for them ; or that any dictate of kindness 
or common-sense should lead them to attempt the 
subversion of the gods of their neighbors, for the sake 
of establishing their own in their stead. So that 
nothing could have been more perfectly new, surpris- 
ing, or offensive to the whole gentile world, than the 
duty laid upon the first advocates of Christianity, to 
go into all nations, asserting the exclusive claims of 
the gospel, denouncing the validity of all other relig- 
ions, and laboring to bring over every creature to the 
single faith of Christ. Had Christianity been content 
to stand, without urging its right to stand alonCj the 
heathen nations might have allowed it as much tol- 
eration as they were accustomed to yield to the various 
systems of idolatry among themselves. An altar 
would perhaps have been vouchsafed in many an idol- 
temple, to the Christian's God, and an image in honor 
of Christ might have been permitted a place among 
the divinities of the Pantheon. But its character 
being rigidly exclusive, and yet its spirit universally 
benevolent, the apostles must have seen at once that 
they were charged with a work not only perfectly 
new, but which would necessarily bring them into 
conflict with all the institutions, passions, customs, 
prejudices, and powers of all nations of the world.* 
2. But the difficulties to be surmounted by tho 

* A religion under which all men could unite with one an- 
other appeared to the ancients an impossibility. ^^ A man must 
be very weak," said Celsus, " to imagine that Greeks and bar- 
barians, in Asia, Europe, and Lybia, can ever unite under tht 
same svstem of religion.*' 



PEOPAaATION.OF CHRISTIANITY. 328 

apostles were not confined to the novelty of their en- 
terprise, and the exclusiveness of their faith. In the 
whole character .of the gospel, as a system of relig^ 
ious doctrine and a rule of heart and life^ there was 
a barrier in the way of its progress, which to human 
wisdom and power would have rendered their cause 
perfectly desperate. To propagate any religion at the 
expense of every other would have been to them, in 
their own strength, destitute as they were of all 
earthly auxiliaries, a hopeless task ; but to propagate 
the religion of the gospel was unspeakably more diffi- 
cult A system of doctrine partaking in the least 
degree of any of its characteristic qualities, was a 
thing entirely unimagined among the heathen, and 
scarcely thought of by one in ten thousand of the de- 
generate posterity oi Abraham. Religion, among the 
Gentiles, was a creature of the state; it consisted 
exclusively in the outward circumstance of temples, 
and alters and images, and priests and sacrifices, and 
festivals arid lustrations. It multiplied its objects of 
worship at the pleasure of the civil authorities ; taught 
no system of doctrine, recognized no system of moral- 
ity, required nothing of the heart, committed the life 
of man to unlimited discretion, and allowed any one 
to stand perfectly well with the gods, on the trifling 
{Condition of a little show of respect for their worship, 
to whatever extent he indulged in the worst passions 
and lowest propensities of his nature. Heathen relig- 
ion, in all its forms, was the most perfect contrast to 
every thing spiritual, holy, humbling, self-denying. 
Nothing could have been more foreign to every habit 






324 K'lLTAINfi'S EYIBEKCES. 

of thought, in the mind of a native of G reeoe or Roma, 
than the scripture doctrine of the nature and guilt of 
sin, of repentance, conversion, faith, love, meekness, 
and purity of heart. Their languages had scarcely 
expressions sufficiently approximated to these sub- 
jects to admit of their explanation, without the coin- 
age of new words for the purpose. And in many re- 
spects the whole race of the Jews, degenerate as they 
were in the time of the apostles, were as little pre- 
pared for a spiritual, heart-searching religion, as any 
people of the G entiles. 

Then imagine the incipient effort of the disciples 
of Christ to gain over the nations to the obedience of 
the gospel. What could they say to them by way of 
conciliation, of all their systems of religion and habits 
of living, to which from time immemorial they had 
been accustomed? Nothing but unqualified, uncom- 
promising reprobation. What could they offer as a 
substitute, and with what recommendations could 
they propose it? The unity of God^ to the extermi- 
nation of all idolatry ; the fall of man and his entire 
ruin and condemnation by sin, to the utter subversion 
of all their proud conceit of their own merit, and ot 
the dignity of their degraded nature ; the necessity of 
a new hearty including repentance and holiness and 
humility^ and the diligent pursuit of all godliness 
of livings to the complete breaking up of all their 
philosophy, the mortification of all their pride, and 
the direct prohibition of aU those unbridled passions 
and odious vices which then held such universal do- 
minion in the world. It was no aid to the work of 



PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIAMITT. 3t6 

the apostles, that besides the above unwelcome tmths 
and requisitions, the gospel stipulated for a habit of 
secret prayer, a life of faith, a heart animated with 
patience, gentleness, forgiveness, and benevolence tn 
all mankind; and above all, a single reliance bt 
peace with God upon the death and intercession of 
One who had been crucified as a malefactor, despised 
and rejected even by the despised nation of the Jews. 

It is easy to perceive from this brief sketch of 
some of the peculiarities of' the gospel, in contrast 
with all that was loved and practised and gloried in 
by the nations of the earth, that while a new religion, 
willing to make terms with the habits and corruptions 
of men, might, if aided by the fascinations of elo- 
quence, the enticements of worldly interest, and the 
arm of secular power, have gained some advancement, 
Christianity, with its uncompromising spirit, itd holy 
requirements, and its twelve unlettered and despised 
apostles for its whole earthly strength, must have 
perished in its infancy, had not the mighty Ruler of 
the universe been its friend. 

3. From what has been said, it is manifest that 
the enterprise of the apostles must have arrayed 
against it all the influence of every priesthood both 
among Jews and heathens. In the beginning of 
Christianity, the priests of the Jews were not only 
very numerous and degenerate, but exceedingly in- 
fluential in their nation. They were, in reality, the 
nobility of Judea. The power of the magistracy was 
in a great measure in their hands. The people were 

educated under their charge. They held the reins of 

c3 



326 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

publio opinion, and headed all the great public move^ 
ments of the community. What tremendous resist- 
ance they were capable of making to the advance- 
ment of Christianity; how bitterly they replied to 
those claims which pronounced the dissolution of their 
priesthood and the termination of their authority ; and 
with what deadly concert they persecuted its blessed 
Author, thinking they had put also his gospel, when 
they had put his person to the cross, I need not re- 
mind you. 

We turn to the priests of the Gentiles, The en- 
terprise of the apostles was directly at war with their 
dignities, their influence, and their gains. What re- 
sistance they were capable of making, is obvious from 
a consideration of the extensive establishment, the 
high official dignity, the wealth, the political influence, 
and the superstitious veneration attached, in the first 
years of Christianity, to a heathen priesthood. " The 
religion of the nations," says Gribbon, " was not mere- 
ly a speculative doctrine, professed in the schools or 
preached in the temples. The innumerable deities 
and rites of polytheism were closely interwoven with 
every circumstance of business or pleasure, of public 
or of private life ; and it seemed impossible to escape 
the observance of them, without at the same time 
renouncing the commerce of mankind. The impor- 
tant transactions of peace and war were prepared or 
concluded by solemn sacrifices, in which the magis- 
trate, the senator, and the soldier were obliged to par* 
tioipate." The Roman senate was always held in a 
temple or consecrated place. Before commencing 



PROPAaATION OF GHRISTfANIiy. 327 

business, every senator performed an act of homage 
to the gods of the nation. The several colleges of the 
sacerdotal order in the single city of Rome; the fif- 
teen pontiffs, the fifteen augars, the fifteen keepers 
of the sybilline books, the six vestals, the seven 
epuli, the flamens, the confraternities of the Saliana 
and Lupercalians, etc., furnish an idea of the strong 
establishment of the priesthood in an empire that 
embraced the known world. The dignity of their 
sacred character was protected as well by the laws 
as the manners of the country. " Their robes of pur- 
ple, chariots of state, and sumptuous entertainments, 
attracted the admiration of the people ; and they re- 
ceived from the consecrated lands and public revenue 
an ample stipend, which liberally supported the splen- 
dor of the priesthood, and all the expenses of the 
religious worship of the state." The great men of 
Rome, after their consulships and military triumphs^ 
aspired to the place of pontiff or of augur. Cicero 
confesses that the latter was the supreme object of 
his wishes. Pliny was animated with a similar am- 
bition. Tacitus the historian, after his prsetorship, 
was a member of the sacerdotal order. The fifteen 
priests, composing the college of pontiffs, were distin- 
guished as the companions of their sovereign. And 
as an evidence of what accommodations paganism 
must have had in Rome in the days of her glory, the 
number of its temples and chapels remaining in the 
three hundred and eightieth year after the birth of 
Christ, when for more than three centuries Christian- 
ity had been thinning the ranks of its votaries, and 



328 M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

for sixty years had been the established religion ot 
the empire, was four hundred and twenty-four.* In 
connection with all this organization and deep rooted 
power of heathenism, consider its varioas tribes of 
subordinate agents and interested allies — ^the diviners, 
augurs, and managers of oracles, with all the attend- 
ants and assistants belonging to the temples of a 
countless variety of idols; the trades whose craft was 
sustained by the patronage of image- worship, such a? 
statuaries, shrine-mongers, sacrifice-sellers, incense- 
merchants : consider the great festivals and games by 
which heathenism flattered the dispositions of the 
people, and enlisted all classes and all countries in its 
support — the Circensian and other grand exhibitions 
among the Romans, the Pythian, Nemean, Isthmian, 
and Olympic games, celebrated with great pomp and 
splendor in almost every G-recian city of Europe and 
Asia — the pride of the people, the delight of all the 
lovers of pleasure or of fame, intimately associated 
with and specially patronized by the religion of idols, 
and therefore directly attacked by all the efforts oi 
Christianity: then say, what must have been the 
immense force in which the several priesthoods of all 
heathen nations were capable of uniting among them- 
selves, and with the priests of the Jews, in the common 
cause of crushing a religion by whose doctrines none 
of them could be tolerated. That with all their va- 
rious contingents they did unite, consenting in this 
one object, if in little else, (£ smothering Christianity 
in her cradle or of drowning her in the blood of hei 

* Gibbon, yoL 4, oh. 88. 



PROPA^OATION OF CHRISTIANITY-. 32<» 

disciples, all history assures us. How she survived 
their efforts— how the fishermen of Galilee oould hava 
overcome their whole array without the help of God, 
is a problem which infidelity only shows its own 
weakness by attempting to solve. 

4. But the authority of the magistrate was 
united with the influence of heathen and Jewish 
priesthoods in zealous hostility to the gospel. In all 
countries, the support of the religion of the state was 
the duty of the magistrate. Toleration, among the 
most civilized heathens, much as it has been eulogized 
by infideb, allowed of no religion that would not per- 
mit entire communion on the part of its followers in 
the worship appointed by Ihe state. On this condition 
it countenanced the utmost latitude of belief and 
practice.* But to refuse conformity with the nation- 
al rites, and worship to the national gods, was an 
unpardonable offence not only to the gods, but to the 
civil authority. This it was that excited so much 
wonder among the Gentiles, and nerved the secular 
arm with such deadly offence against the disciples oi 
Christ. *• Keep yourselves from idols," was a precept 
that met the pagan Greek and Roman, whenever he 
beheld a Christian. '^ What can be the reason," said 
a Roman prefect to an Alexandrian bishop, ^^why 

• " The Athenian notion of toleration is well described by 
Socrates, and much resembles the opinion on that subject that 
many entertain even in our own times. ^It appears to me/ 
says Socrates, Hhat the Athenians do not greatly care what 
sentiments a man holds, provided he keeps them to himself; 
but if he attempts to instruct others, then they are indignant.' '* 
Douglas on Errors, etc., p. 212. 

28* 



380 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENGES. 

you may not still adore that God of yours, supposing 
him to be a G-od, in conjanction with our gods?'' 
"We worship no oliier God," was the Christian's 
answer;* a declaration which from the sword of a 
heathen magistrate could have na forbearance, and 
being everywhere received as a characteristic prin- 
ciple of the gospel, called out the whole power of the 
civil governments of the Gentiles to unite with their 
priesthoods in its destruction. 

5. To these associated powers were added the 
prejudices and passions of all the people. These, 
among the Gentiles, were powerful, not only in favor 
of their own idolatries, but especially in aversion to 
a religion originating among Jews; still more to a 
religion advocated by Jews who were despised and 
persecuted by their own despised countrymen; and 
yet a great deal more to a religion so spiritual and 
holy, so utterly at war with vice and idolatry, as that 
of the gospel. 

See, in the epistle to the Romans, a picture from 
the pencil of a master, of the fierce passions, the 
vicious debasements, which universally characterized 
the gentile nations in the days of St. Paul. " Filled 
with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, 
covetousness, maUoiousness ; frill of envy, murder, 
debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, 
haters of God, despiteftil, proud, boasters, inventors 
of evil things, disobedient to parents,. without under* 
standing, covenant-breakers, without natural affec- 
tion, implacable, unmerciful : who, knowing the judg« 

** Euseb. Hist. EceL b. 7, eh. 11. 



PaOPAaATION OP GHRISTIAKITY. 331 

inent of G-od, that they which commit such things 
are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have 
pleasure in them that do them."* This description 
is far3rne out to the letter by the testimonies of hea* 
then writers. Paul has furnished a picture of the 
morals of his own nation corresponding with it in aU 
essential features. What then could the gospel, with 
all its holy duties and spiritual doctrines, encounter 
in such a world, but a most violent opposition from 
the whole mass of the people? 

6. But the wisdom and pride of the heathen 
philosophers were by no means the least formidable 
enemies with whicfi the gospel had to contend. Their 
sects, though numerous and exceedingly various, were 
all agreed in proudly trusting in themselves that they 
were wise, and despising others. Their published 
opinions, their private speculations, their personal 
immorality, made them irreconcilable adversaries of 
Christianity. It went up into their schools, and 
called their w^isdom fodishness, and rebuked their 
self-conceit. It " came not with excellency of speech," 
or "the enticing words of man's wisdom," "doting 
about questions and strifes of words;" but, knowing 
nothing among men, save Jesus Christy and him 
crucified^ it just bade them repent, be convertedi 
become as little children, and believe in a crucified 
Saviour for peace with God. This was indeed, "to 
the Greek, foolishness." "What will this .babbler 
say?" "He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange 
gods," were the taunting words of certain of the Ej». 

* Bom. 1:29^32. 



332 M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

cureans and Stoics, when they encountered St. Paul 
Mockery was the natural expression of their mindsi 
*'when they heard of the resurrection of the dead."* 
The apostles, therefore, in attempting to propagate the 
gospel among the Gentiles, were opposed by all the 
wit and learning and sophistry, all the pride and 
jealousy and malice, of every sect of philosophers. 
And how formidable was this hostility^ is obvious 
from the great credit, superior even to that of the 
priests, among the higher classes of society, which 
those sects had obtained. "Whoever pretended to 
learning or virtue, was their disciple; the greatest 
magistrates, generals, kings, ranged themselves under 
their discipline, were trained up in their schools, and 
professed the opinions they taught.''^ 

7. In connection with these powerful adversaries, 
consider the character of the age in which the apos- 
tles undertook the propagation of Christianity. It 
was distinguished as one of profound peace among 
the nations, when the minds of men were peculiarly 
capable of deliberately investigating the claims of the 
gospel; it was the Augustan age, when philosophy 
thronged the cities with her disciples, and every de- 
scription of polite literature was in the highest culti- 
vation. Its peculiar feature was directly the reverse 
of credulity. No age of the world, before or sincci 
was so extensively characterized by scepticism. While 
the great mass of the plebeians were superstitiously 
given to idolatry, the patricians were no less corrupted 
with opinions which went to the denial of all religion. 

• Acts 17 : 18-32. t Lyttleton's Conversion of St. Paul 



/ 



PROPAaATION OF CHRISTIANITY. 333 

Among the various schools which then divided the 
learned of the Roman empire, those which declared 
openly against the most fundamental truths of relig- 
ion were much the most numerous. Of this descrip- 
tion were the Epicureans* and Academics: the former 
maintaining that the soul was mortal, and that, if 
gods there were, they took no care of human affairs ; 
the latter, that to arrive at truth was impossible — 
that "whether the gods existed or not, whether the 
4oul was mortal or immortal, virtue preferable to vice, 
or vice to virtue," could not be ascertained. These 
^wo sects, the one atheist, the other too sceptical 
even to believe in athjsism, were the most numerous 
df aU in the age of the apostles, and were particularly 
encouraged by the liberality of the rich and the pro- 
tection of the powerful.^ From this prevalence of 
philosophy, "falsely so called," the age was distin- 
guished for curious and bold inquiry; the learned 
everywhere, like those of Athens, spending their time 
in little else but either to t^U or to hear some new 
thing.^ It was also, for the same reason, an age of 
special contempt for whatever claimed to be received 
as supernatural. While every city, through the in- 
fluence of the priests and magistrates, was wholly 
given to idolatry, so far as the multitude and the ex- 
ternal aspect of all classes were concerned ; yet, in the 
inner schools of philosophy, and the private opinions 

* Cicero complains, that of all sects of philosophers, this 
made the most remarkahle progress and gained the most adhe« 
rents De Finibus. 

t Mogheim's Hist., part 1, sec. 81. ^'Aots ch. 17. 



334 MULVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

of the educated, it was almost entirely pervaded with 
scepticism A.dd to this its necessary companion, the 
universal prevalence of unprecedented luxury and 
dissoluteness of living, and you will have a true out' 
line of the character of the age in which the apostles, 
by "the foolishness of preaching," knowing "nothing 
among men, save Jesas Christ, and him crucified," 
were to "destroy the wisdom of the wise," and con- 
vert whole nations to Christianity. 

Most evidently was the age peculiarly and entirely 
unpropitious. Nothing, on human calculation, could 
have been more certain of utter rejection and con- 
tempt at such a time, than the simplicity, spiritual- 
ity, and holiness of the gospel; especially its two 
cardinal points, humble repentance and submissive 
faith. 

8. Consider, next, to whom the propagation of 
the gospel was committed. Who were they that re- 
ceived the commission, " Go, preach the gospel to every 
creature," and **make disciples of all nations?" Men 
adapted to such a mighty work in no single qualifica- 
tion, except to show, in their weakness, that their suc- 
cess was alt(^ether of &od. They were neither phi- 
losophers, nor orators, nor educated men. They were 
from a class of mankind denominated by the ruling 
nations, barbarians; they were of that nation among 
the barbarians, whom all the rest of the world par- 
ticularly despised; they were of that portion of the 
nation which was least esteemed hy its own mem- 
bers. They were pooi^, without the least worldly 
consideration or influence. They were acquainted 



PROPAaATlON OF OHRISTIANIXT. 33d 

with no craft but that of publioans and fishermen 
They had never learned any language but that of 
Galilee, and yet they were to preach to people of all 
languages. Such were the men whose work it was 
to assault the high and fenced walls of Judaism — to 
break the power of heathenism, though entrenched in 
the vices of the people, upheld by the craft of their 
priesthoods, defended by the power of all nations, and 
sanctioned by the traditions of immemorial ages. 
Such were the men who were to go into the proud 
schools of philosophy, show their wisdom to be fool- 
ishness, teach their teachers, bring out captives to the 
humble faith of the crucified Nazarene, and baptize 
them in the name of the Father and the Son and the 
Holy Ghost. 

9. Consider the circumstances of depression mid 
discouragernentmv7}ii(Ai they commenced this work. 
The enemies of their Master had just succeeded in 
putting him to the shame of the cross, under accusa- 
tion of capital guilt. Their taunting language to the 
agonizing victim, " If thou be the Son of God, come 
down from the cross," shows what a death-blow they 
supposed themselves to have given to his cause. All 
his disciples had forsaken him and fled. The stone 
upon the mouth of his sepulchre was not heavier than 
the weight upon their hearts, when they beheld him 
dead and buried. After a few days they assemble*! 
together again in Jerusalem, when an upper room 
contained the whole congregation of those that be- 
lieved in Christ. Their cause was universally sup. 
posed to have died with its Master. The fact that 



33$ H'lLVAIlTE'S EVIDENCES. 

he had not been saved by the power of God from the 
disgrace of crucifixion, was regarded everywhere as a 
perfect answer to all his claims. Such was the be- 
ginning of the propagation of the gospel. These were 
the desperate circumstances in which the unfriended, 
unprotected, ridiculed apostles were to set up their 
banner. What could they do 1 

10. Consider the mode they adopted. They sought 
no favor from worldly influence ; courted no human 
indulgence ; waited for no earthly approbation ; paid 
as little deference to rank, or wealth, or human learn* 
ing, as to poverty and meanness. They spoke as men 
having authority — as ambassadors commissioned from 
a throne, and sustained by a power before which they 
had a right to demand that priests and philosophers 
and kings should submit. " Not with enticing words 
of man's wisdom," did they seek to advance their 
cause, but in simple reliance upon " the demonstra- 
tion of the Spirit." Instead of selecting such doctrines 
as would best conciliate their hearers, and concealing 
the rest, they fixed their preaching most emphatically 
on what they knew was the special topic of derision 
find mockery both to Jew and Greek, glorying in 
nothing save in the cross of Christ. Instead ol 
seeking retired and ignorant people as the subjects of 
their efforts; instead oi a double doctrine^ as the 
philosophers had — one thing for the world, another 
for. their disciples, a part for the novice, the whol6 
only for the initiated — ^they kept back nothing any- 
where, declaring boldly the whole gospel in the 
most public places and before tlie greatest enemies. 






/ 



PEOPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY. 337 

" Jesus and the resurrection " were preached as freely 
to Epicureans and Stoics in Athens, as to publicans 
and sinners in Jerusalem. Instead of accommodating 
their declarations in any degree to the vainglorious 
and vicious characters of those whom they addressed, 
they declared the wrath of God to be " revealed from 
heaven against all ungodlienss and unrighteousness 
of men." To every soul that would be a Chrisfian, 
they issued the requirement, "depart from iniquity," 
** crucify the flesh, with its affections and lusts," and 
be willing to be esteemed a fool and persecuted to 
death for Christ's sake. Such was the mode selected 
by these powerless Galileans, by which to subdue the 
fierce opposition of the proud, self-righteous Jews, 
and to make Christians out of Greeks and Romans, 
alike devoted to degrading vices and puffed up with 
the conceit of superior wisdom. 

11. Now let us see in what manner the attempt 
to propagate Christianity was received. It was met 
everywhere by the most strenuous hostility, and the 
fiercest persecution. From the first discourse of the 
apostles, down to the three hundred and fifth year of 
the Christian era, persecution never entirely ceased, 
while its more public and general onsets followed one 
another in such close succession that the church had 
hardly time to bury her dead before she was called 
to prepare more candidates, by thousands at a time, 
8»r the tortures and triumphs of martyrdom. The 
[^reaching of the apostles began at Jerusalem, and 
there also persecution began. Saul hunted Christians 
with the appetite of a bloodhound. Stephen was the 

EvU«B«M. 29 



33S MULVAINB'S EVIDENCES. 

first victim. Soon the brethren were scattered fill 
and wide by the fury of the storm. James was siaia 
with the sword; Peter imprisoned for execution ; Paul 
scourged and stoned, and pursued so continually, 
that in every city bonds and afiliotions awaited liim. 
Whatever Jewish hate, goaded on by a jealous priest- 
hood, could do, was put in requisition to crush the 
caifle. All the devices that Roman governors, sec- 
onded by the superstitions and passions of the several 
nations of heathenism, could employ, were united in 
the one business of driving back the advancing cause 
of Christ. His disciples were calumniated as atheists, 
enemies of man, murderers and devourers of their 
own children, and as. guilty of the most loathsome and 
horrible practices.* Instruments of torture were ex- 
hausted. Jews and Gentiles, soldiers, slaves, govern- 
ors, and emperors racked their ingenuity to find out 
new ways of tempting Christians to unfaithfulness ; 
and when they were steadfast, of increasing their ago- 
nies without hastening their death. Every province 
and city and village was a scene of martyrdom. The 
great principle of the ruling powers was, that this 
"superstition," as they called it, must at all hazards 
be put down. "In a short time, the punishments 
by death were so common, that, as related by the 
writers of those times, no famine, pestilence, or war 
ever consumed more men at a time." The edict ol 

* " The Atheists," was the universal name for Christians. 
To the charge of dire hostility to all religion, was added that 
jf combined rehellion against all law and all mankind. '^ Irre- 
ligiosi in CsBsares; hostes CsBsarum; hostes popuU Romani/ 
was their universal character ai&ong their enemies. 



PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY. 3S9 

Trajan, conimandixig the presidents to mfliot capital 
pnnishment on all who would not reBotince Christi- 
anity, was never abrogated while heathenism reigned 
in Rome.* What persecution was in the heart of the 
empire, it was also in Africa, Persia, Arabia, Gapa*^ 
d^oia, Mesopotami£^ Nicomedia, Fhrygia, and in 
almost every place where the Christian name was 
known. " Those who suffered for the cause of CErist, 
men, women, youths of both sexes, were so numer- 
ous as to be estimated only in the mass." "In tor- 
ments they stood strcmger than their tormentors; 
their bruised and mangled limbs proving too hard for 
the instruments with which their flesh was racked 
and pulled from them : the blows, however often 
repeated, could not conquer theit impregnable faith, 
even though they not only sliced and tore off the 
flesh, but raked into their very bowels." Such is the 
description given by one of those who thus endured 
to the end.^ The strong language in the epistle to 
the Hebrews is eminently applicable. Some " were 
tortured, not accepting deliverance; and others had 
trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, 
of bonds and imprisonment : they were stoned, they 
were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain witbi 
the sword : they wandered about in sheep-skins, and 
goat-skins ; being destitute, afflicted, tormented : they 
wandered in deserts, and in moimtains, and in dens 
and caves of the earth."* 

Christians were often the victims of popular furji 

* Lardner, val. 4, p. 300* t Heb. U : 3&-S8. 

t Cyprian. 



S40 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

as ^ell as of public edicts and imperial authority. 
Every odious slander was propagated against them 
for the purpose of instigating the rage of the populace. 
The evidence pf abject slaves or of persons forced by 
torture to testify as an incensed community desired, 
was used to justify the most dreadful explosions of 
vulgar hate. Did a drought occur ? It was a pro- 
verbial explanation, that ^'if Grod refused rain, the 
Christians were in fault." Did the Nile refuse its 
annual irrigation, or the Tiber overflow its banks? 
Did earthquake, or famine, or any other public ca- 
lamity excite the popular mind ? A ready cause was 
in every mouth — the anger of the gods on account of 
the increase of Christianity! A ready sacrifice to 
propitiate the offended deities was immediately re- 
sorted to — the slaughter of the Christians. How the 
better informed of society endeavored to stimulate 
the mob to these hecatombs of innocent victims, may 
be judged from the fact that '* Porphyry, a man who 
wished to be accounted a philosopher, found a cause 
for the inveteracy of an infectious and desolating 
sickness in this, that iEsculapius could not exert any 
effectual influence on the earth in consequence of the 
prevalence of Christianity !"* 

Such, then, were the obstacles which opposed the 
propagation of the gospel. "Who, in anticipating 
them, must not have said, "If this cause be of 
man, it must come to naught ?" Either it must die 
a natural death in the obscurity of its birth, or be 
tore to pieces at the first onset of its foes ; or else 

* Neander'8 Ch. Hist. 



T-.ROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY. 341 

H must be of God, protected and advanced by his 
pciwer. 

Before proceeding to speak of the success of the 
apostles, we may deduce from the premises we have 
established a conclusive proof of the power by which 
they acted. 

It is certain that they understood the difficulties^ 
and anticipated the danglers of their work. As 
men ot ordinary tmderstanding they must have fore- 
seen, while by the predictions of Christ they were 
distinctly apprized of the obstacles and perils they 
would encounter. Nevertheless, with a perfect know- 
ledge of their own weakness, they undertook to propa- 
gate the gospel among all nations. Why ? What was 
there in reproach and beggary, in racks and prisons, 
in wild beasts and flames, so inviting? Must they 
not have been sincere in their professions ? Could 
any thing short of a thorough belief that Jesus was 
risen, and had promised to be with them in all their 
labors, have induced them to undertake such an 
enterprise ? It is impossible, without ridiculous 
absurdity, to question their entire persuasion of this. 
But is this a proof that Jesus was risen, and that, in 
divine power, he was with them ? We do not pre- 
tend that, in general, the fact of the advocates of a 
doctrine being convinced, is valid evidence of its 
truth ; but in the case of the apostlfes it should be 
thus regarded, inasmuch as they could not have been 
deceived. Whether Jesus wrought genuine miracles 
or not; whether he had appeared to them "at sun- 
dry times and in divers manners" after his burial 

29* 



M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

whether he had eaten with them, conversed with 
them, journeyed with them during the space of forty 
days subsequent to his death; whether they heard 
and saw him, at the end of those days, solemnly give 
them their charge to propagate the gospel, and the 
promise of his presence and power wherever they 
should go, they must have known. Consequently, 
when with such undeniable knowledge and unques- 
tionable sincerity, they went into all the world 
preaching Jesus and the resurrection, neither deceived 
nor wishing to deceive, the evidence was perfect that 
they labored in the service of truth — that their faith 
stood not " in the wisdom of men, but in the powei 
of God." 

11. Let us now consider the success of the apostles 
in executing their Master^s charge. On the fiftieth 
day after his death they commenced. Beginning in 
Jerusalem, the very furnace of persecution, they first 
set up their banner in the midst of those who had 
been first in the crucifixion of Jesus and were all 
elsie with the triumph of that tragedy. No assem- 
blage could have been more possessed of dispositions 
perfectly at war with their message, than that to 
which they made their first address. And what was 
the tenor of the address ? " Jesus of Nazareth, being 
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknow- 
ledge of Grod, ye have taken, and by wicked hands 
have crucified and slain ; whom God hath raised up. 
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, 
that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have 
crucified, both Lord and Christ" One would have 



PBOPAOATION OF CHRISTIANITY. 343 

Buppoded that the same hands that had rioted in the 
blood of his Master, would now have wreaked their 
enmity in that of this daring, and, to all human view, 
most impolitic apostle. But what ensued? Three 
thousand souls were that day added to the infant 
church.* In a few days the number was increased 
to five thousand ;^ and in the space of about a year 
and a half, though the gospel was preached only in 
Jerusalem and i^ vicinity, '' multitudes both of men 
and women," and "a great company of the priests, 
were obedient to the faith."* Now, the converts 
being driven by a fierce persecution from Jerusalem, 
" went everywhere preaching the word ;" and in less 
than three years churches were gathered "through- 
out all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and were multi- 
plied."* About two years after this, or seven from 
the beginning of the work, the gospel was first 
preached to the Gentiles ; and such was the success, 
that before thirty years had elapsed from the death 
of Christ, his church had spread throughout Judea, 
Galilee, and Samaria ; through almost all the numer- 
ous districts of the lesser Asia ; through Greece and 
the islands of the iBgean sea, the sea-coast of Africa, 
and even into Italy and Rome. The number of con- 
verts in the several cities respectively, is described 
by the expressions, " a great number," " great multi- 
tudes," " much people." What an extensive impres- 
sion had been made, is obvious from the outcry of the 
opposers at Thessalonica, that " they who had turned 

• Acts 2 : 41. X Acts 5 : 14 ; 6:7. 

« Acts 4: 4. > Aot8 8:4; 9:31. 



344 KaLYAINS'S EVIDENCES. 

the world upside down^ were come hither also." Do* 
melrias, an enemy, complained of Paul, that '^ not 
only at Ephesus, hut also throughout all Asia," 
what is now called Asia Minor, ^^ he had persuaded 
and turned away much people."* In the mean while 
Jerusalem, the chief seat of Jewish rancor, continued 
the metropoUs of the gospel, having in it many tens 
of thousands of believers.^ These accounts are taken 
£rom the hook of the Acts of the Apostles; hut as 
this book is almost confined to the labors of Paul and 
his immediate companions, saying very little of the 
other apostles, it is very certain that the view we 
have given of the propagation of the gospel during 
the first thirty years is very incomplete. In the 
thirtieth year after the beginning of the work, the 
terrible persecution under Nero kindled its fires; 
then Christians had become so numerous at Rome, 
that, by the testimony of Tacitus, " a great multu 
ttide^^ were seized. In forty years more, as we are 
told in a celebrated letter from Pliny the Roman ^ 
governor of Pontus and Bythinia, Christianity had 
long subsisted in these provinces, though so remote 
from Judea. "Many of all ages, and of every rank^ 
of both sexes likewise," were accused to Pliny of 
being Christians. What he calls, " the contagion of 
this superstition," thus forcibly describing the irre- 
sistible and rapid spread of Christianity, had " seized 
not cities only, but the less towns also, and the open 
country," so that the heathen temples " were almost 
forsaken," few victims were purchased for sacrifice, 
• See Paley'a Evidenoefl. t Acts 21 ; 20. «* jmam pvpitUkc^ 






PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANXX T . 345 

and '< a .ong intermission of the sacred solemnities 
had taken place.* Justin Martyr, who wrote about 
thirty years after Pliny, and one hundred after the 
gospel was first preached to the Gentiles, thus de- 
scribes the extent of Christianity in his time : " Thero 
is not a nation, either Greek or barbarian, or of any 
other name, even of those who wander in tribes and 
live in tents, among whom prayers and thanksgivings 
are not offered to the Father and Creator of the uni- 
verse by the name of the crucified Jesus." Clemens 
Alexandrinus, a few years after, thus writes : " The 
philosophers were confined to Greece and to their 
particular retainers, but the doctrine of the Master of 
Christianity did not remain in Judea, but is spread 
throughout the whole world, in every nation and 
village and city, converting both whole houses and 
separate individuals, having already brought over to 
the truth not a few of the philosophers themselves. 
If the Greek philosophiy be prohibited, it immediately 
vanishes ; whereas, from the first preaching of our 
doctrine, kings and tyrants, governors and presidents, 
with their whole train and with the populace on their 
side, have endeavored with their whole might to ex- 
terminate it, yet doth it flourish more and more." 

There is no reason for diminishing the wonder 
which this rapid success of the gospel so necessarily 
excites, by the supposition that all these conversions, 
or the greater part of them, were little more than a 
change of profession and name — the substitution of a 
Christian church for a heathen temple — a mere tran* 

• Lardner, vol. 1, p. 13-15. 






346 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

eition from one system of religious ceremonial to an* 
other. In times of fierce persecution, the reality of a 
conversion is tried "as by fire." There was little, 
during the first three hundred years of Christianity, 
to encourage a profession of its faith, except so far as 
the heart had become sufiiciently devoted to its holy 
and self-denying duties, to be willing to suffer on 
their account the loss of all things. Mere cold 
assent and dead formality were not likely to put 
themselves in the way of being torn by wild beasts 
or buried in the mines. The change wrought in the 
converts was, for the most part and notoriously, a 
change of heart and of life, as well as an entire change 
of opinion. The striking alteration in those who em- 
braced the gospel, bore a powerfiil attestation to its 
divine authority. Philosophers complained that men 
improved but little in goodness under their instruc* 
tions ; while Paul could say to the Christians of Cor- 
inth, a city famous for the profligacy of its inhabi- 
tants, " Such were some of you: but ye are washed, 
ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name of the 
Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." " The 
doctrine of Christ," says a writer of those times, *'did 
convert the most wicked persons who embraced it 
from all their debaucheries to the practice of all vir- 
tues."* So remarkable was the difference between 
the Christians and those whom they had once resom* 
bled, that Origen, defending their faith against the 
attacks of Celsus, challenges a comparison between 
their moral character and that of any other societiei 

* Origen cont. Celsiim. 



PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY. 847 

in the world. Even the sceptic G-ibbon unites in 
this testimony. Speaking of these early cotiverts, he 
says, ''As thoy emerged from sin and superstition to 
the glorious hope of immortality, they resolved to 
devote themselves to a life not only of virtue, but of 
penitence. The desire of perfection became the ruling 
passion of their soul." " Their serious and seques- 
tered life, averse to the gay luxury of the age, inured 
them to chastity, temperance, economy, and all 
the sober and domestic virtues. The contempt of 
the world exercised them in the habits of humility, 
meekness, and patience. The more they were per* 
secuted, the more closely they adhered to each other. 
Their mutual charity and unsuspecting confidence 
has been remarked by infidels, and was too often 
abused by perfidious friends. Even their faults, or 
rather their errors, were derived from an excess of 
virtue."* Prom all these authorities it is evident 
that the propagation of the gospel was not only of 
great rapidity, but of great power in transforming 
the hearts and lives of the multitudes who em- 
braced it. 

In connection with the moral power and vast ex- 
tent of this work, it should be considered, that among 
those who were brought to the obedience of Christ 
were men of all classes, from the most obscure and 
ignorant to the most elevated and learned. In the 
Now Testament we read of an eminent counsellor, 
and of a chief ruler, and of a great company of priests, 
and of two centurions of the Soman army, and of a 
* Gibbon, vy>1. 3, ch. 15, p. laS, 139. 



348 M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES 

proconsul of Cyprus, and of a member of the Areop* 
agus at Athens, and even of certain of the household 
of the emperor Nero, as having been converted to the 
faith. Many of the converts were highly esteemed 
for talents and attainments. Such was Justin Mar- 
tyr, who while a heathen was conversant with all the 
schools of philosophy. Such was Pantsenus, who 
before his conversion was a philosopher of the school 
of the Stoics, and whose instructions in human learn- 
ing at Alexandria, after he became a Christian, were 
much frequented by students of various characters. 
Such also was Origen, whose reputation for learning 
was so great that not only Christians but philosophers 
flocked to his lectures upon mathematics and philos- 
ophy, as well as on the Scriptures. Even the noted 
Porphyry did not refrain from a high eulogium upon 
the learning of Origen.* It may help to convey some 
notion of the character and quality of many early 
Christians, of their learning and their labors, to notice 
the Christian writers who flourished in these ages. 
St. Jerome's catalogue contains one hundred and 
twenty writers previous to the year 360 from the 
death of Christ. The catalogue is thus introduced : 
" Let those who say the church has had no philos- 
ophers, nor eloquent and learned men, observe who 
and what they were who founded, establislied, and 
adorned it."* Pliny, in his celebrated letter to Tra- 
jan, written about sixty-three years after the gospel 
began to be preached to the Gentiles, expressly states, 
that ii: the provinces of Pontus and Bythinia many 

* Stiliinorfleet'i Orig. Sao. p 273, 274. t See Paley, p. .?46. 



PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY. 349 

9faU ranks were aecused to him of the crime ol being 
Christians.* 

We have now prepared the several facts that con- 
stitute the materials of our argument. Here is an 
unquestionable historical event-— the rapid and exten- 
sive spread of Christianity over the whole Roman 
empire in less than seventy years from the outset ol 
its preaching. Has any thing else of a like kind been 

* The early advocates of Christianity, in controversy with 
the heathen of Greece and Rome, were accustomed to dwell 
with great stress upon the argument from its propagation. 
Chrysostom, of the fourth century, writes, ^^The apostles of 
Christ were twelve, and they gained the whole world." 
'^ Zeno, Plato, Socrates, and many others endeavored to intro- 
duce a new course of life, but in vain ; whereas Jesus Christ 
not only taught, but settled a new polity, or way of living, all 
over the world." " The doctrines and writings of fishermen, 
who were beaten and driven from society, and always lived in 
the midst of dangers, have been readily embraced by learned 
and unlearned, bondmen and free, kings and soldiers, Greeks 
and barbarians." '^Though kings and tyrants and people 
strove to extinguish the spark of faith, such a flame of true 
religion arose as filled the whole world. If you go to India 
and Scythia, and the utmost ends of the earth, you will every- 
where find the doctrine of Christ enlightening the souls of 
men." Augustine of the same century, speaking of the heathen 
philosophers, says, " If they were to live again, and should se« 
the churches crowded, the temples forsaken, and men called 
from the love of temporal, fleeting things to the hope of eternal 
life and the possession of spiritual and heavenly blessingf| and 
readily embracing them, provided they were really such as 
Lhey are said to have been, perhaps they would say, ^ These 
are things which we did not dare to say to the people ; we 
rather gave way to their custom, than endeavored to draw themr 
over to our best thoughts and apprehensions.' " Lardner, vol. 2| 
|)}). 614, 597. 

3^ 



ftM M'lLYAINE'S EYIDRNCfiS. 

known in ihe world ? Did the learniog and popo- 
larity of the ancient philosophers, powerfallv aided 
by the favor of the great and the peculiar character 
^f the age^ accomplish any thing in the least resem- 
bling ike success of the apostles ? It is a notorious 
{act,, that only one of th&m '^erer dared to attaolc the 
base religion of the. nation^ and substitute better 
f epretsentations of God in its stead, although its ab^^ 
surdity ^as apparent to many of them. An attempt 
of this kind having cost the bold* Socxates his life, no 
Qtheis had resolution enough to offer suoh a sacrifice 
for the general good. To excuse their timidity in 
this respect, and give it the appearance of profound 
wisdom^ they called to their aid the general principle 
that it is imprudent and injurious to let the peq>}e 
see the whole truth at once; that it is not only 
necessary to ^pare sacred prejudices^ but,^ in partic- 
ular circumstances^ an act of beneirolenee to deceive 
the great mass of the people. This was the unani- 
mous opinion of almost all the ancient philosophical 
spools."* No further proof is needed, that such men 
were incapable of effecting any thing approximating 
to the great moral revolution produced in the world 
by the power of the gospel. How different the apos- 
tles ! boldly attacking all viee, superstition, and error 
at all hazards, in all places, not counting their lives 
dear unto them, so that they might '^ testify the gos- 
pel of the grace of God.'^ But where else shall wo 
turn &r a parallel to the vrork we have described ? 
What efforts, independently of the gospel, were over 

t Reinhard's Plan, pp. 165, 166. 



PROPAGATIOK OF CHEISTIANITY. 351 

iniocessful in the moral regeneration of whole coni- 
munities of the superstitions and licentious ? 

Xhe oidy event in the annals of time that has ever 
been supposed to bear any resemblance to the propa*- 
gation of Christianity, is the rapid progress of Mo« 
hammedanism. But a little reflection will show you 
that the single fact of its rapid and extensive progress 
is the only point of resemblance, while in every thing 
dse thete is direct (Opposition. The Koran based its 
cause upon no professicHi of miracles, ajud therefore 
had no detection to fear. The gospel rested all upon 
its repeated miracles; and oonsequently, Unless it 
had been tree, would have be^i (^rtain of detec^tioii. 
JCohaimned was of ihe most powerful and honorable 
family m Mecca, the chief city of his nation, and 
thou^ net rich by inheritance, became so by mar- 
riage. Jesus was of a fiimily of poor and unknown 
inhabitants of an obscure village in J^dea^ and had 
not wiiere to lay his head. Mohammed began his 
vroA among the rich and great His first three years 
were consumed in attaching to his cause thirteen or 
the ddef people of Mecea. Jesus commenced among 
ihe poor. During his three y esrs of ministry on earth, 
twelve obscure Jews, maay of them fishermen, all 
unlearned and powerless, were his chosen disciples. 
Of the first thirteen apostles of the Koran, all ulti« 
luately attained to riches and honorfb to the com- 
mand of armies and the government of kingdoms. 
Of tiie twelve aposUes whp commenced the propaga- 
tion of the gospel, all attained to the utmost povertyi 
contempt, and ignominy, and all but one to a violent 



362 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

death on account of their cause. The age, when 
Mohammed set up his banner, was eminently pro- 
pitious to his enterprise. ^^ Nothing can equal the 
ignorance and darkness that reigned in this century."* 
Science, philosophy, and theology had everywhere de- 
clined into almost nothingness. The age when the 
apostles of. Christ began their work, was eminently 
unpropitious to any cause but that of God. It was 
the Augustan age. Mohammedanism took its rise in 
an interior town of Arabia, among a barbarous people, 
and its first conquests were among the rudest and 
least enlightened of the most ignorant regions of the 
world. Christianity arose in the splendid metropolis 
of a populous and intelligent nation, and achieved her 
earliest victories in some of the most polished and 
enlightened cities of the world. In the town of Mecca, 
where Mohammed opened his mission, there was no 
established religion to contend with. In the city of 
Jerusalem, where Jesus and his apostles began their 
work of love, an established religion was powerfully 
fortified within the triple wall of priest, magistrate 
and people, abd defended by all the powers and pas 
sions of the nation. When the prophet of Arabia ap- 
peared, his cause was favored by the feuds that pre- 
vailed among the Arab tribes around him, and by 
the bitter dissensions and cruel animosities then reign- 
ing among various sects of degenerate Christians- 
dissensions that filled the greater part of the East 
with such enormities as rendered the very name ol 
Christianity odious to many. When the great Prophet 

* Mosheim. 



■^ 



PE0PA<*ATION OF GHaiSXlAMlTY. 303 

ef Chf ifttiaEity appeared^ iht temple af JfiAos wad 
shut, in token <d vknWei&al peaoe, «o tkat ^ ti)0 
sc3io^ of pkiloo^I^y, all «eots «f j»uper£rtitk>ii, aad aU 
the powers and animo^ties of the nations Were free 
to combiae against his gdspel. Mohammed attocapteJ 
to oencUiate the preyailintg refilgiofi of t^e empire, by 
pre$sckmg to the ignarant generatien of Christians 
tfaa^ his areligmi was 210 tuikex thaii what had been 
originaMy their ^own. The nMtf <t <3rod, 4J)e p^o* 
phetiG ^aracter of the patiaard^ and |»r9phets ef th€ 
43id Testament, aitoi the divme mission -of Jesus, he 
tsarefiilly and artfully assexted, pretending to restore 
the pndty, instead ^ odttacking the foundatiens id 
Ithe Teli^n tiiey had taught This was politSe. The 
apos^es, on Hoi tyther hand, attacked boldly and un* 
4^aringly the relig^n tif ail ike wofrid. While assort- 
ing the GBssentisi pnadples of ihe religion ^ Jfoaes, 
nhey aimed directly at the subveisioa of its then 
degteerate instituticnis ; aM, as to aU Oentile nations, 
they pretended to nuthtng bu^ unoompronlising ^}^^ 
,sxtinn< This certainly was any tiling hut ;politie. 
Muhatiuned, wMte he requiired nothing taf his followers 
that oaUed for self-deni«d,* expressly aanctioned and 
firomoted their iBtrongest passions. Impurity, reyekige, 
.amloliDn, pride, were liis caardiaal and honored kaixA* 
genees. Thus he cntieed human nature. I need not 
say that the xe^paisitiond and allurements prodlakaeC 

* The prohibitioa of wine, the fast of Ramadan, and the 
pilgrimage to Mecca, were no part of Mohammedanism Until 
•everal years after its commencement, when military successes 
had completely established its atidfliotily. 

30* 



Mii M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

by the apostles of Christ were precisely the contrary. 
But thus they repelled human nature. 

Even with all these advantages in his favor, Mo^ 
hammed at the end of the first twelve years of his 
enterprise had not extended his cause beyond the 
walls of Mecca, and had gained but few disciples 
within them, because his eiforts had been confined 
to persuasion. While Christianity with all its dis- 
advantages, in half the time from the beginning of 
the ministry of Christ, could number more than ten 
thousand disciples in Jerusalem, and churches through- 
out all Judea and Galilee and Samaria ; and yet her 
efforts were also confined to persuasion. But Mo- 
hammed, after twelve years experience, discovered 
that even with all his indulgence to passion and pride, 
some argument much more cogent than that of per- 
suasion was necessary to convince the nations. This 
was found at the edge of the sword. He sounded 
the trump of war, promised the spoils of nations; the 
fairest of the captives, and the most luxurious arbor 
in paradise, to those who would join his standard. 
Then proselytes were multiplied. The roving Arabs, 
converted to the faith for the sake of the plunder, 
flocked to his cause. Death or conversion was the 
only choice of the idolater. '^ The Koran, the tribute, 
or the sword," was vouchsafed to Jews and Christiana. 
Henceforward the demon of Mohammedanism was 
always seated on the hilt of the sword, and made its 
way by force and slaughter. How and why it pre- 
vailed both rapidly and extensively from this time, I 
am as little bound to explain as to account for tho 



PROPAaATION OP CHRISTIAiriTY. Mft 

martial prowess of Napoleon, or of the Goths and 
Vandals. It was the success of the warrior, not of 
the prophet. 

But 1 may not leave this subject without turning 
what to some may have seemed almost parallel to 
the success of the gospel, into an auxiliary illustra- 
tion of its superhuman power. It is a strong fact 
in evidence that God was on the side of the apostles, 
that when they had every thing on earth to contend 
with, they succeeded, by mere efforts of persuasion, 
in subduing kingdoms, and bringing innumerable 
multitudes to holiness of life ; while Mohammed and 
his apostles, in the most favorable circumstanoes, 
were confined, as long as they used no weapon but 
that of persuasion, to a few followers, and had they 
never taken the sword would probably never have 
been heard of beyond the sands of Arabia. 

But should it still be contended that the success 

* 

of the apostles may be accounted for without refer- 
ence to supernatural aid, let the 'question be answered 
why, when the same human means have since been 
employed in so many instances, nothing even approxi- 
mating to the same results has ever ensued. Jews are 
found at present as numerous as ever. Some of the 
strongest obstacles which opposed the success of the 
gospel among them in the apostolic age, do not now 
exist. They have no religious establishment, no reg- 
ular priesthood, no power to persecute. Christianity, 
on the other hand, is established. Instead of appearing 
to the Jew as a thing of yesterday, advocated but by a 
few obscure meUi as she did of old^ she now presents 



36C H'lLYAIIilS'S EVIDENCES. 

herself under the sanction of eighteen oenturies, illus* 
trated by the learning of her disciples, professed by 
all civilized nations. It cannot be said that less hit- 
man effort in the aggregate has been employed for the 
conversion of the Jews, than was used by the twelve 
apo^les. Much more money has been expended; 
much more learning has been devoted ; much more 
human power has been exerted; many more individ- 
uals have be^i employed. The same goi^el has been 
preached. The same arguments have been ui^ged. 
And why should not corresponding effects appear ? 
" There is reason to think that there were more Jews 
converted by the apostles in one day, than have since 
been won over in the last thousand years."* The 
simple explanation is and must be, that the great 
power of Grod was with the apostles for the establish* 
ment of the tru&, in a degree far greater than that in 
which it is now vouchsafed to his ministers in pro- 
moting the wide extension of truth. 

From the Jews turn to the heathens. There is 
no reason to believe that the heathenism of the pres- 
ent day is any more opposed to the propagation of 
Christianity, than that of tiie world in the age of the 
apostles. Instead of twelve, there are hundreds of 
laborers in this field — ^men of education, talent, inde- 
fatigable zeal, undaunted devotion. The art of print- 
ing has famished tiiem with facilities of which the 
a,po8tles, unless it be conceded that they possessed 
the miraculous gUffc of tongues, were entirely desti 
tute. The Scriptures are now circulated in full, 
* Bryant on the Truth of Ohrirtiaiuty. 



PROPAaATION OF CHRISTIANirY. 367 

while, in the days of St. Paul, the canon being incom- 
plete, they were circulated only in parts. In addition 
to all this, Christianity is recommended among many 
heaihen nations by the political importance of the 
countries from which its preachers have gone, and in 
some by the actual cooperation of Christian powers 
ruling in the midst of pagan institutions. With these 
important advantages, what is the success of present 
efforts among the heathen? Enough, indeed, to re< 
ward all the zeal expended in their support — enough 
to show that still the power of God is with the gospel, 
and that ample encouragement is given for all the 
increase of effort which Christians can ever bestow 
on the heathen, but nothing comparable with the 
success of the apostles. Paul was instrumental in 
converting more heathens in thirty years, than all 
modern missionaries in the last five hundred. Ex- 
plain this fiict. It is absurd to attempt it, in view 
of all the circumstances of the case, except you admit 
the solution given by Paul himself: " I have planted, 
and ApoUos watered, but God gave the increase." 
Without this grand truth, ^*God gave the increase," 
Christianity would have perished on the rjross of its 
founder. 

I have now set before you a miracle, the evidence 
of which no eye can be too blind to see : Christian^ 
ity universally propagated, and yet propagated by 
no earthly influence but that of the apostles. This 
is the miracle. It is as directly contrary to the laws 
of nature and to universal experience, as if at the 
word of man the desert of Arabia should bud and 



358 K'lLTAINE'S £yiD£NG£8. 

blossom like a fruitful garden, or ihe sepulchre giv« 
up its dead. As long as this one feiot, the propaga- 
ti<»i of (Christianity, shall remain, the gospel will be 
supported by a weight of proof which infidels can 
remove only by taking away the foundation of aU 
inductive evidence, and bringing down the whole tern- 
'ple of human knowledge to their own destruction. 

Now, in conclusion, let us see what an unbe^ 
liever must beU^eryc. in consistency with his profession. 
He must behev« that the aposlies were either such 
weak-minded men as to imagine that their crucified 
Master had been with them from time to time 
during forty days after his burial, had conversed 
with them and eaten with them, and that they had 
every sensible evidence of his resurrection, while m 
truth he had not been near them, but was still in his 
sepulchre ; or else that they were so wicked and deceit* 
ful as to go all over the world preaching iiiat he was 
risen from the dead, wh^i they knew it was a gross 
fabrication. Suppose 'Ae unbeliever to choose the 
latter of these alternatives. Then he believes not 
only that those men were so singularly attadied to 
this untruth as to give themselves up to all manner 
of disgrace and persecution and labor for the sake oi 
making all the world believe it, knowing that their 
own destruction must be tiie consequence; but also, 
what is still more singular, that when they plunged, 
immediately at the outset of their ministry, into an 
immense multitude of those who, having lately oru« 
cified the Saviour, were full of enmity to his disciplesi 
they succeeded, without learning, eloquence, power 



or a single eonoelvaUe raotive^ in making thf ee thou- 
sand of them believe that he whom they had seen on 
the cross was indeed alive again; and believe it so 
fultj, a$ to renounce every thing and be willing to 
suffer any thing for the sake of it^ and this on the very 
spot where the gnatds that had kept the sepulchre were 
at hand to tell what was become of the body of Jesus. 
He must befieve^ moreover^ that although, in attempt* 
ing to propagate a new religion to the exclusion oi 
every other, they were undertaking what was entirely 
new, and opposed to the views of all nations; although 
the doctrines they preached were resisted by all the 
influence of the several priesthoods, all the power of 
the several governments, all the passions, habits, and 
prejudices of the pec^le^ and all the wit and pride of 
the philosof^ers of all nations ; although the age was 
sudi as insured to their fabrications the most intelli- 
gent examination, with the strongest possible disposi- 
tion ta detect them ; although, in themselves, these 
infatuated men were directly the reverse of what 
such resistance demanded, and when they commenced 
were surrounded by circumstances of the most de- 
pressing kind, and by opposers specially exulting in 
the confidence of their destruction ; although the mode 
th^ adopted was of all modes most calculated to expose 
their own weakness and dishonesty, and to imbitter 
the enmity and inci ease the contempt of their opposers, 
so that they encountered everywhere the most tremen* 
dous persecutions, till torture and death were almost 
synonymous with the name of Christian ; although 
they had nothing to propose, to Jew or Gentile, as a 



360 M'lLVAINE^S EVIDENCES. 

matter of faith, but what the wisdom of the world 
ridiculed, and the vice of the world hated, and all men 
were united in despising; although they had nothing 
earthly with which to tempt any one to receive their 
fabrication, except the necessity of an entire change in 
aU his habits and dispositions, and an assurance that 
tribulations and persecutions must be his portion : 
yet, when philosophers, with all their learning and 
rank and subtlety and veneration, could produce no 
effect on the public mind, these obscure Galileans 
obtained such influence throughout the whole extent 
of the Roman empire, and especially in the most en* 
lightened cities, that in thirty years what they them- 
selves (by the supposition) did not believe, they made 
hundreds of thousands of all classes, philosophers, 
senators, governors, priests, soldiers, as well as ple« 
beians, believe and maintain unto death; yea, they 
planted this doctrine of their own invention so deeply, 
that all the persecutions of three hundred years could 
not root it up — they established the gospel so perma- 
nently, that in three hundred years it was the estab- 
lished religion of an empire coextensive with the 
known world, and continues still the religion of all 
civilized nations. This, says the unbeliever, the} 
did simply by their own wit and industry; and yet 
he well knows that preachers of the gospel with in- 
comparably more learning, with equal industry, in 
far greater numbers, and in circumstances immeas- 
urably more propitious, have attempted to do some- 
thing of the same kind among heathen nations, and 
could never even approximate to their success. StiU 



PROPAaATIOK OF CHRISTlAITITr. 361 

the apostles had no help but that of their own inge 
nuity and diligence ! Such is the belief of the unbe- 
liever. To escape acknowledging that the apostles 
were aided by miraculous assistance, he makes them 
to have possessed in themselves miraculous ability. 
To get rid of one miracle in the work, he has to make 
twelve miracles out of the twelve agents of the work. 
The Christian takes a far different course. Paul 
planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 
The weapons of their warfare were not carnal, but 
mighty through Grod to the pulling down of strong- 
holds. To which solution genuine philosophy or com- 
mon-sense would award the prize of rational decision, 
it is easy to determine. 

The argument for the propagation of Christianity 
is not yet complete. Satisfactory already, it is yet 
to receive an immense accession erf strength. " The 
wilderness and the solitary place," the immense 
regions of pagan and Mohammedan desolation, shall 
yet be glad for the blessings of the gospel, and " the 
desert rejoice and blossom as the rose." Every na- 
tion and kindred shall be brought " into captivity to 
the obedience of Christ;" for the word hath gone 
forth out of the mouth of the Lord, " I will give thee 
the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost 
parts of the earth for thy possession." How should 
every heart respond, Amen ; and pray, ** Thy king- 
loni come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in 
heaven." 



tfTtdiiieM 



31 



^62 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 



LECTURE X. 

THE FHUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 

In our preceding lectures we have followed (he 
currents of three independent arguments, each of 
which was found sufficient to conduct us to a com- 
plete proof of the divine authority of the gospel of 
Christ. That to which we now proceed is especially 
capable of being ^^ known and read of all men," and 
deserves to be ranked in the highest class of the evi- 
dences of Christianity. Our blessed Lord, speaking 
of false pretenders to divine revelation, delivered the 
following rule by which they might be distinguished : 
*' Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men 
gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ? Even so 
every good tree bringeth forth good fruit ; but a cor- 
rupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. Wherefore by 
their fruits ye shall know them." This is a test 
universally approved of, and necessarily employol. 
Its influence on our judgment is unavoidable, and 
when properly applied, its results are certain. The 
goodness of a tree cannot be doubted while we know 
the excellence of its fruit. No more reason have w v 
lo question the holy character and divine origin ot 
religion, while its legitimate effects on the lives and 
hearts of its genuine disciples are holy. We may 
come to an erroneous conclusion by judging erro* 



/ 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 363 

neously of the fruit ; by ascribing effects to causes 
which did not produce them ; by charging upon re- 
ligion a train of consequences of which it was only 
the incidental occasion, instead of the natural cause. 
But these are errors in the application, and independ* 
out of the correctness of the test. Whenever you 
have ascertained the true results of any system oi 
Joctrine, you have found a plain and certain expres- 
sion of its intrinsic character. It is good in propor- 
tion as the fruit is good. If its fruit be godly, it must 
itself be of God. 

Let infidelity be always tried by this equitable 
rule, so as to receive the full credit of all the evils 
which may easily be found to have grown upon its 
branches — let it be stripped of all those adventitious 
circumstances of a favorable kind for which it is in- 
debted to the surrounding influence of Christianity, 
and few eyes will fail to see that the root is one of 
bitterness, and the tree fit only to be cut down as a 
cumberer of the ground. If men would judge Chris- 
tianity also by the fair application of this rule, care- 
fully separating from her genuine productions all 
those of which, however enemies may love to lay 
them to her charge, she is only the innocent occasion, 
it would require but little discernment to be con- 
vinced of her heavenly origin, and of the duty of all 
to spread the knowledge and acceptance of her divine 
revelation. Such will be the object of the present 
lecture. Christianity may be known by its fruits. 
Christians are desirous that their faith should be 
judged by this test, as well as by every other that is 



364 M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

just and equal. We set out, therefore, with this 
question : What are the fruits of Christianity ? In 
the examination of this subject we will consider, 

1. The effects of Christianity on society in gen* 
eral, 

2. Its effects on the character and happiness of 
genuine disciples. 

Reserving the latter of these divisions for another 
lecture, we devote our attention at present exclusively 
to the former. 

I. In proceeding to illustrate the beneficial 
EFFECTS OP Christianity on society in general, I 
know of no way so direct as to consider in what con- 
dition the countries now blessed with its influence 
would have remained, had they been left to the sev- 
eral forms of religion under which they had pre- 
viously subsisted. Let us take a brief survey of the 
moral state of the ancient world in the age when the 
preaching of the cross effected its wonderful revolution 
in the whole fabric of society. And that we may not 
be accused of unfairness, let us take into view, not the 
more distant and uncivilized provinces, but Uiose chief 
central states where all the light and moral vigor of 
the heathen world were concentrated. Let our survey 
be confined to the society of Italy and Greece, where 
philosophy held her court, and literature and the arts 
were cultivated with the utmost devotion and suc- 
cess. Unfortunately for the interests of truth, the 
history of Greece and Rome has fallen for the most 
part into the hands of writers much more concerned 
with their intellectual and martial prowess, than theii 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 366 

moral attainments and social virtues ; so that while 
the reader is occupied in admiring the acuteness of 
their schoolmen, the taste of their poets, the perfec- 
tion of their arts, and the warlike character of their 
soldiery, he is seldom called to look within the 
inclosures of society, and inquire how they lived, 
what manner of men they were in their families, in 
their social relations, in their moral principles, and 
their private habits. 

A certain eminent v/riter who lived in the age 
to which we refer, addressing the people of Rome, 
describes the heathen population of the civilized 
world as given up to the vilest, most unnatural, and 
beastly affections; filled with all unrighteousness and 
degrading wickedness; full of envy, murder, deceit, 
malignity; disobedient to parents; covenant-break- 
ers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerci- 
ful ; not only committing such things as were worthy 
of death, but having pleasure in them that did them. 
Such, according to St. Paul, were the polished 
Grecians and the sterner Romans.* 

1. Consider their religion. "Professing them- 
selves to be wise, they became fools; and changed 
the glory of the incorruptible God into an image 
made like to corruptible man, and to birds and four* 
footed- beasts and creeping things."* Deities wero 
multipUed tiU there was a god for every thing, and 
any thing answered for a god. Athens was full of 
statues dedicated to different deities ; those of various 
countries being so crowded together, that it was said 

• Rom. 1 : 29-32. t Rom. 1 : 22, 23. 

31* 



366 HULYAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

to be '^ easier to find a god than a man." There 
was the god Caius Csesar, and the god Augustas 
Gsesar, and the god Luoius Ceesar, and the goddess 
Julia, the profligate daughter of Augustus, to whom 
the rulers of Athens ascribed the title of Providence* 
The senate of the Areopagus, and that of the six hun* 
dred, erected her statue and enacted her divinity. 
An £dtar had there been consecrated many years 
before, to "/Ae Unknown God.^^ Rome exceeded 
Athens in the number of her gods, only by having, 
as the mistress of the world, all nations to collect 
from and all fo^ms of paganism to countenance. 
'^ The deities of a thousand groves and a thousand 
streams possessed in peace their local and respective 
influence ; nor could the Roman who deprecated the 
wrath of the Tiber, deride the Egyptian who pre- 
sented his oflering to the beneficent genius of the 
Nile. Every virtue and even vice acquired its divine 
representative, every art and profession its patron, 
whose attributes, in the most distant ages and coun- 
tries, were uniformly derived from the character 
of their peculiar votaries. It was the custom of the 
Romans to tempt the protectors of besieged cities by 
the promise of more distinguished honors than they 
possessed in their native country. Rome gradually 
became the common temple of her subjects, and the 
freedom of the city was bestowed on all the gods oi 
mankindc'-* "In this mania for foreign gods, the 
nobles and the emperors themselves set the most cor- 
rupting examples. G-ermanicus emd Agrippinadevotod 

• Gibbon's Decline and Fall, vol. 1, pp. 32, 35, 36. 



FRUITS QF CHRISTIANITY. 367 

themselves especially to Egyptian gods. So also 
Vespasian. Nero served all gods with the exceptioa 
of the Dea Syra, Marcus Aurelius caused the priests 
of all foreign gods and nations to be assembled, in 
vfder to implore aid for the Roman empire against 
the incursions of the Marcomanni. Commodus caused 
himself to be initiated into the mysteries of the Egyp- 
tian Isis and the Persian Mithras. Severus wor- 
shipped especially the Egyptian Seraphis ; Caracalla 
chiefly the Egyptian Isis; and Heliogabalus the 
Syrian deities, though he was desirous of becoming 
a priest of the Jewish, Samaritan, and Christian 
religions."* 

The traditions of the principal divinities of the 
ancient heathen are a true guide to the vices of their 
worship. What the gods were said to have been in 
their lives, their worshippers actually were in their 
service. " It is a shame," said one who knew them 
well, " even to speak of those things which are done 
of them in secret," The chief oracles of the heathens 
appointed human sacrifices, so that not only the bar- 
barians, but even the Athenians, Lacedaemonians, 
and Romans, were accustomed to worship idols with 
the blood of their fellow-creatures. What must have 
been the state of public morals when gods were 
patrons of vice, and their rites encouraged both 
cruelty and obsceneness, it is easier to imagine than 
describe. " Eusebius is compelled to use language 
when describing the height of wickedness and im- 
purity which the loorship of the heathens attained, 
* Prof. Tholuck on Heathenism. Biblical Repository. 



368 M'lLVAINE^S EVIDENCES. 

such as no virtuous man can read without shuddei* 
ing." The gods were entreated, by costly offerings 
on splendid altars, to favor the indulgence of un- 
natural lusts, the perpetration of murders, the rob* 
bery of the orphan and the widow. Seneca exclaimS; 
" How great is now the madness of men. They lisp 
the most atominable prayers in the ears of the gods. 
And if a man is found listening, they are silent 
What a man ought not to hear, they do not blush to 
rehearse to God."* Well might St. Paul describe 
them as '^ given up to uncleanness through the lusts 
of their own hearts."* 

2. Consider the spirit of cruelty that reigned 
among those people. It was not solely owing to the 
madness and depravity of a Tiberius, a Caligula, a 
Nero, or a Caracalla, that a cruel and sanguinary 
spirit in their day was so universal. Had not the 
whole mass, the peasant, the soldier, the citizen, and 
the senator, as well as the prince, been foully tainted, 
the monstrous enormities of those vicious tyrants 
could never have been perpetrated. Such was the 
cruelty of Romans to their slaves, that it was not 
unusual to put the aged and useless to perish on ar 
island in the Tiber; and some masters would even 
drown them, as food for the inhabitants of their fish- 
ponds.* Scenes of blood and slaughter were the 

• Epist. 10. t See Potter's Antiquities, vol. 2, p. 301 

^ " The custom of exposing old, useless, or sick slaves oc 
an island of the Tiber, there to starve, seems to have boes 
pretty common in Rome ; and whoever recovered after having 
been so exposed, had his liberty given him by an edict of the 
emperor Claudius." "The ergtistula, or dungeons, wheia 



FRUITS OF CHKISTIAKlTJf. 3G9 

public diversicms of the people. "Witness the shows 
of gladiators in the crowded amphitheatre ; when, to 
celebrate a birthday or gratify a popular whim, 
crowds of captives were set to mutual slaughter, or 
else to contend with the fury of wild beasts. What 
must have been the moral sensibility of those nations, 
rf which the most refined females delighted in such 
revolting cruelties, criticising the skill of the ferocious 
swordsman, and exclaiming with enthusiasm at the 
graceful stroke that opened the heart of the van- 
quished, and poured out his lifeblood upon the arena?* 
St. Paul describes the heathen community as '^ full 
of murder and malignity." Hume, speaking of ** the 
most illustrious period of Roman history," says, that 

slaves in chains were forced to work, were very common all 
over Italy." "A chained slave for a porter, was usual in 
Rome, as appears from Ovid and other authors." The evidence 
of slaves *' was always extorted by the most exquisite torments.'^ 
Hume on the Populousness of Ancient Nations. 

* "Who," says Hume, "can read the accounts of the 
amphitheatrical entertainments without horror ? or who is sur- 
prised that the emperors should treat people in the same way 
the people treated their inferiors ? One's humanity is apt to 
renew the barbarous wish of Caligula, that the people had but 
one neck. A man conld almost be pleased, by a single blow 
to put an end to such a race of monsters." Note to Essay on 
the Populousness of Ancient Nations. 

How Cicero, " the mildest of all pagan philosophers and 
orators," regarded with an inhuman approbation the crueltiei 
above named, may be seen from his sayings, as quoted in Jor* 
tin's Discourses concerning the truth of the Christian Religion. 
He stales that the supplications of a poor wretch begging his 
life on the arena, only made the spectators, as a matter of 
course, the more violent against him, and the more set upon hi« 
death See the Oraticm for Milo. 



370 MULVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

*' at that time the horrid practice of poisoning was so 
common, that during part of a season a prsetor pun- 
ished capitally for this crime above three thousand 
persons in a part of Italy, and found informations of 
this nature still multiplying upon him. So depraved 
in private life," adds the historian, " were that peo- 
ple whom in their history we so much admire."* 
Murder was in common practice among all classes. 
"Such," says Gibbon, "was the unhappy condition 
even of Roman emperors, that whatever might be 
their conduct their fate was commonly the same; 
almost every reign is closed by the same disgusting 
repetition of treason and murder." Suicide was not 
only extensively practised, but advocated as a right, 
and commended as virtuous. Seneca pleaded for it. 
Cicero was its advocate. Brutus and Cassius, with 
many others, both defended and practised it. Cato 
is praised by Plutarch for having been his own mur- 
derer. These, in their day, were among the lights of 
the heathen world. What then must have been the 
awfal deeds of darkness among the more ignorant 
populace ? 

They were " without natural affection." Nothing 
could exhibit in a more appalling light their utter 
annihilation of moral principle and natural affection, 
than the fact that "the exposition, that is, the mur- 
der of new-born infants, was an allowed practice in 
almost all the states of Greece and Rome: even 
among the polite and civilized Athenians, the aban- 
doning of one's child to hunger or to wild beasts was 

* Essay on Politics. 



FRUITS OP CHEISIIANITT. 371 

regarded wittout blame or censure."* "This prac- 
tice," says Hume, "was very common; and is not 
spoken of by any author of those times with the hor- 
ror it deserves, or scarcely even with disapprobatioa 
Plutarch, the humane, good-natured Plutarch, men- 
tions it as a merit in Attains king of Pergamus, that 
he murdered, or if you will exposed, all his own chil- 
dren, in order to leave his crown to the son of his 
brotlier Eumenes. It was Solon, the most celebrated 
of the sages of Greece, that gave parents permission 
by law to kill their children."^ Philosophers sup- 
ported the custom by argument. Aristotle thought 
it should be encouraged by the magistrates. Plato 
maintained the same inhuman doctrine. It was 
complained of as a great singularity, that the laws of 
Thebes forbade the practice. In all the provinces, 
and especially in Italy, the crime was daily perpe- 
trated. From one end to the other, the Roman em- 
pire was stained with the blood of murdered infants. 
Think of the state of domestic virtue, when such was 
a prevailing inhumanity of parents — when the learned 
defended it as wise, the magistrate countenanced it 
as useful, and public sentiment regarded it as inno- 
cent. Such was the power of a father, by the Roman 
law, that his adult children might be sent to the 
mines, sold into slavery, or destroyed at his will; his 
daughter could be compelled at his discretion, to for- 
sake a husband whom he himself had approved; while 
his wife could be dismissed at pleasure, and for cot- 

• Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments. 

t Hume on the Popnlousness of Ancient Nations. 



372 M'lLYAIKE'S EVIDENCES. 

tain crimes, some of them of a very trivial natare, sho 
might be put to death. The authority of the father 
was that of a despot ; the subjection of his family was 
that of slaves. 

3. But the Greeks and Romans were as notorious 
for their departure from the lowest grade of decency^ 
as for their savage disruption of all the ties of natural 
affection. Sallust, speaking of the Roman youth in 
the time of Cicero, says, " Luxury, avarice, and pride 
enslaved them; they wantoned in rapine and prodi- 
gality; undervalued their own, and coveted what 
belonged to others ; trampled on modesty, friendship, 
and continence ; confounded things divine and human, 
and threw off all manner of consideration and re- 
straint" "Men and women laid aside all regard to 
chastity."* We cannot name the degrading crimes 
which in Greece were sanctioned by the public laws, 
and at Rome were practised, in the time of Seneca, 
without shame. It was considered a singular exam- 
ple in Athens, that the most moral philosopher did 
not indulge in them. Even Cicero could speak, with- 
out any sign of disapprobation, of Cotta, an eminent 
Roman, as having owned an habitual addiction to the 
vileness we are alluding to, and as having quoted the 
authorities of ancient philosophers in its vindication. 
There was no species of degrading crime which had 
not itE attempted justification in the written doctrines, 
and its shameless perpetration in the avowed prao- 
lices of the wise men, and. such as are usually sup- 
posed to have been the good men, of the most civil- 

* Rose's Translation 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIAWiTY. HfH 

ized nations of antiquity. Q,uin6tifilfa, speaking «f 
the philosophers of the first century bf tiie Christian 
era, says, "The most notoKouis vices are «ofeeiiecl 
under that name; and they do hot labor tb iiiiBiihtaih 
the character of philosophers by vifttud aiid study, bu< 
concferi the most vicious lives under an austere look 
imd singularity oiF dress."* Such als6 is the acknow- 
ledgment of Plutarch, "with regard to the ancient 
philosophers in general. "Vfhile he owniS that they 
were generally noted for a certain infamous vice 
whifek we cannot name, he excuses them by the pleaj 
that they improved their minds At the same time that 
they corrupted their bodies. LuciAn and others unite 
in this rejpresentatioh. Neither Seneca, nbr X^no- 
phon, nor Plato, nor AJistotle, nor feveh Socrates, 
whose morals have been extolled by infidels as sur- 
passing any thing in the Bible, is excepted from the 
revolting account of these writers; Granting that 
jealousy and calutiiny, amoiig the aUbientS, included 
some of those illustrious names under a charge so 
degrading, what must have be^h ihe character of the 
great mass of the philosophers, when calumny durst 
venture so far?^ 

Such were the men whom our modern reformers 
would hold up to th^ public as patterns of virtue. 
" They opposed each other," says Voltaire, " in their 
dogmas ; but in morality they were all agreed " 
'< There has been no philosopher in all antiquity, wha 
has hot been desirous of making men better." To 
the truth of the first assertion, we have no reason to 

* Quinctilian, Inst-Orat. t See M'Knight oh Rom. 1 : 26; 27 






374 MULVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

object. In a sense directly opposite to that in which 
the writer intended it to be understood, they were 
indeed in morality all agreed. As to their unani- 
mous desire of making men better, we can only say 
that they adopted the most singular means of effect- 
ing it. A Roman citizen, of the Augustan age, de- 
scribed them as those who, being past feeling, had 
given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all 
uncleanness with greediness.* 

We have now exhibited some of the prominent 
features in the moral character of, the society of 
Greece and Rome, in their most enlightened ages. 
From what has been stated, we may form a concep- 
tion sufficiently accurate of the condition of things in 

* Among the philosophers of the time of Cicero, the Cynics 
were held in great repute, and were widely spread throughout 
the Roman empire. The wise man of this school "gave up all 
human relations towards mankind, contemned his country, Ylu 
kindred, and the joys of wedded love, and sought his consolation 
in a self-complacent beastliness. One might see these beastly 
men half-naked, moving about everywhere, with a great cudgel 
and a bread- bag, performing the animal necessities of their na- 
ture before the eyes of all; thrusting themselves with extreme 
rudeness among the multitudes, and there stepping forward as 
teachers of wisdom, not in a regular discourse, but with abrupt 
and broken language of vulgar sport and derision." And yet 
even the new Platonic philosophers greatly revered Cynicism 
and represented Diogenes its leader as a godlike man. 

Whoever may desire a more extended account of ancient, 
classic heathenism, in regard to its gross superstition, its dis* 
gusting sensuality, its obscene idols and ceremonies, its ^umam 
sacrifices, its legalized cruelties, the odious vices of those who 
conformed to it, and its utter impotency for all purposes of moral 
improvement, is referred to an article, already quoted, on the 
Nature and Influence of Heathenism, by Prof. Tholuek of Halle, 
ir Nos 6 and 7 of the Biblical Repository.. 



J 



y 



* 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 'o76 

all those departments of morality on which depends 
whatever is important to personal, domestic, and pub- 
lic happiness. "We have been speaking of the most 
cultivated people of the ancient world. Unspeakably 
darker and more appalling would have been the pic- 
ture; had we described the spirit, habits, and pervad* 
ing crimes of any other pagan nations. But we are 
content that a fair representation of the best, should 
also be received as a good likeness of the worst com 
munities of ancient heathenism. 

We ask, what has become of all these deep-rooted 
deformities? Look around upon the countries over 
which the influence of Christianity has been exerted; 
those especially where the religion of Jesus has been 
enjoyed in the greatest purity, and cultivated with 
the truest devotion. Where are the remains of the 
aborninations we have described? Crime remains 
indeed, but only in hidden dens. It shuns the light. 
Laws do not afford it countenance. Public sentiment 
drives it into concealment. What would the feeling 
of society now say to a show of gladiators; to the 
legalized exposure of infants by the hands of mothers ; 
to the public, deliberate murder of worn-out slaves ; 
to the justification of suicide and theft, and lying and 
assassination, and the acknowledged practice of the 
most odious sensuality, by those who are looked up 
to as the moral teachers and examples of society? 
How would idolatry, with all its cruelties and ob- 
scenities, its profligate deities, its human sacrifices, 
its hidden mysteries of iniquity, and its public ritual 
<>f vice, affect tiie public mind, were its temples and 



Jr7;6 ItULVAINE'S EVIDJENOES,. 

images and lasoiyious oeremomes now set up \n qxxt 
pities? It ia not enough to say, tiiat m oountries 
wli^re ay these ahoIni^ations^ once i;ioted without re- 
ftrai^t and in fuU symp^^thy with the puhliq taste, 
th^ haye long sinqe bjeen driven away with abhor« 
r^jpk9a Positive biesedngs, in every form and foj ey^ry 
olasj of sojoiety , have risen up in their place, A meas- 
ure, of yirtoa y^hiqh would haye singled out an ancient 
philospphq^ 9<s a ^^onderful exception ip the rest of 
the world, is absolu^ly necessary at present to a 
character of ordiu^xy <Je^pqnGy. Benevolence, SRich as 
w^s not kno^n 19 Greecjs or Bopne^ and had it ap- 
peared^ woulj^ ^ot have been cpmpa^ehended, is now a 
matter pf oqmi^n, daily intercourse between man 
and man. An iiicalpulable improvement has, l^eei^ 
effected in all dep^rtqii^Qts of l^uman agairs, &Qm th^ 
admimstrai|ipn of nati6^al government doyi^ t6 the 
most reti];e4 relations of the fsimily circle* What 
ruler;S would have be^n remarkable pnoe fox fwt doings 
ih& people, would now ^xpel them fojr- ^tl^naptrng* 4 
spirit of equity, moderation, and^ respept for the inter- 
ests and happiness of the community, is. required in 
the governinants of oountrias under the iujSuenoe ol 
Christianity, \)^hioh was Wdly opnceivejd; of by the 
^^tions; of antiqiaity,, a^n^l if it pyer appeared, w;as a 
mary&Uous. exoeptio$L^ to a general r^ile. Laws> re* 
generate, iu their principles, are enacted in wisdom, 
fkp^ es^ecu^, ^ith a faithfi:ilnpss unknown to. the 
heatl^n. Instead of the. despotic harshness with 
Mrhiph a father \Kaa wjoa permitted to, ruje his chil- 
dren apd his. wife as his tools and slaves, universal 



FRUITS OF CHEISTIANITY. 377 

sentiment demands it, as necessary even to decency, 
that he shall be kind to them as his own flesh, and 
as the rightful sharers in aU his comforts. Women 
have been elevated from the rank of beasts of burden, 
to an equal participation in all the refinements and 
blessings of society. The condition of the dependent 
classes of the community has been raised from that 
of contempt and oppression and utter ignorance, to a 
level, in point of natural right, with all; while edu- 
cation shines upon their dwellings, and religion seeks 
their souls, as worthy of all sacrifices 'virhich Christian 
benevolence can make for their salvation. 

Efforts to provide for the sick, the destitute, the 
orphan, the widow, were unknown among the an- 
cients. Rome, Athens, Corinth, contained no hos- 
pitals, no asylums, no public charities, no systems of 
gratuitous educatidn. Such deeds of benevolence 
were impossible among a people who were accus- 
tomed to look upon all forms of human suffering witib 
indifference, and to derive enthusiastic amusement 
from their promotion. In vain are the writings of 
their moralists exammed for exhortations to any thing 
like an active concern for the poor or the ignorant. 
An orphan child was no object of public compassion 
in countries where orphans "were daily and deliber- 
ately made, and lefk to perish by^ cold-blooded aban- 
d mment on the part of their parents. 

But what new sympathies sprung up immediately 
where the gospel prevailed. It was made the duty 
of the whole Christian community to provide for the 
stranger, the poor, the sick, the aged, the widow, and 

0-^ 



378. It'ILVAlAji'S KVID^NCES. 

tJie orphan^ For this one object, publip contributions 
dt tne time, of diviQe service were established, and 
private donations, vsrere multiplied. How; muph such 
benevolence w:as. insisted on, may be judged from a 
passagcf of Tertullian, v^herc; faking of the impedjh 
ments. which a Christiax^iVfoman would, encounter, by 
marriage with a heathen, he says, ""VKhat hea);hen« 
wilj suffer. his. wijfe, in visiting the breliirenj to go.from, 
street to street^iQto. stranger sf' ai^d Qven into the mosti 
miserajble. qpttages ? ^ho will suffer tl^em, to, steal 
ip|;o, prisons, tO; kiss, the chains of martyrs.?. If a 
stranger-brother comes^ what reception wjU he find in 
^^ stranger's hoqs^ ? If she has alms, to, b^stqWj. the 
sa£^ and tj^e cellar^ are closed tp,her."- 

What the gospel effected in promoting, benevolence, 
aR(i trampling down, all the obstacles. of. selfishnesa 
and fear, when good was hardly to be donp but at tJie 
CQstof life, m^ybe seen frpm the fpllpwing r;&prQseni- 
tation.ofI)yoi^sius bishop of Alexandria,, who had an 
opportunity, of observing the cgnfirast between hea^ 
then^ and Christians when, a terrible pestileDce v^as 
raging, in V that city. " That pestilence appeared to 
the heathen a^.the most dreadful of all thiqgs, as 
ths^t which, left them po I^ope; not so, ho^yever, did 
it seem to us, but only a peculiar an^ipistctiQal trial. 
Xhe greater jjari of. qur people^ in, the abundapce of 
their brotherly love^ 4id i^ot spare .themselv^,; and 
mutually attending to each, otheir, they would visit 
the sick without fear, and ministering to them fpr the 
sake.qf Christ, they would chci^rfully give up their 
life with, them. Mai^y died, after their, care had 



BRUITS OF CIJRISTIANIIJY. 379 

roatoted others from the disease to health; . The best 
ftmong our brethren) some priests and deacons, antj 
some who were celebrated e^mong tibie laity, died ii^ 
this manner ; and such a, death, the fruit of great 
piely mi strong- faithj is hardly inferior to. martyr, 
dom. Kany who, took tibe, bodiesof their ChristiaZ: 
brethren; in^to their; hands and boson^s, closed their 
mouth and eyes, and buried tfiem with every atten- 
tion, soon followed them' in. death* But with the 
heathen, matiiers stood quite^ differently : £^t the first 
symptom, of sickness, they drove a man from their 
society ; they tore themselves away from their dearest 
oonneotions ; they threw the half dead into t^e streetsj 
and left the dead ujibqried; endeavori4g by all the 
means in their power, tp escape contagioii' — which, 
notwithstanding; all their contriyancesf, it. was< very 
difficult for them to appomplish." 

"In the. samci mapjier," writes Neander,, frorQ 
whose Ghureh History, tbe:abpvejis taken^ ''theChrisr 
tians of Carthage let. the ligbfeof their love aiid Chris* 
tian. conduct i^ine befor/^.the heatiien in a, pestilence 
whichvisitedilfortb Africa aJitfte before,.in the reign 
of: G^allus. The: heathen, out of cowardice^ left the 
sick Bind the dying; the streets^.weire full of corpses, 
whidi no. man dared: to bqry.;, and ayaripe was the 
only passion which mastered tbp ^fear of death, for 
wicked men endeavored tp n>ak^ e^, gain out of the 
misfortunesuof their, neighbors;: and. the heathen acr 
cused the;Christicms.of boingt^ causp of this calam* 
ity. as enemies of tbe.god$, instead: of being brought 
by it to the consciousness of their own guilt and cor- 



380 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES' 

ruption But Cyprian required of his church that 
they should behold, in this desolating pestilence, a 
trial of their dispositions. ' How necessary is it, ray 
dearest brethren,' he says to them, * that this pdsti* 
lence, which appears to bring horror and destruction, 
should prove the consciences of men. It will deter 
mine whether the healthy will take care of the sick, 
whether relations bear tender love one to another, 
and whether masters care for their sick servants.' 
That the Christians should show a spirit of mutual 
love among themselves, was not sufficient to satisfy 
a bishop who formed his notions after the model of 
the great Shepherd. He therefore called his church 
together, and addressed them thus : ' If we do good 
only to our own people, we do no more than publicans 
and heathens. But if we are the children of God, 
who makes his sun shine and his rain to descend 
upon the just and the unjust; who sheds abroad his 
blessings not on his own alone, but even upon those 
whose thoughts are far from him, we must show 
this by our actions, endeavoiing to become perfect 
as our Father in heaven is perfect, and blessing those 
who curse, and doing good to those who persecute 
us.' Encouraged by this paternal admonition, the 
members of the church addressed themselves to the 
work, the rich contributing money and the poor 
their labor ; so that in a short time the streets were 
cleared of the corpses who filled them, and the city 
saved from the dangers of a universal pestilence."* 
That the spirit of primitive Christians is still 

* Rosens translation of Neander^s Church History 



FRUITS, OF CHRISTIANIT"\ 381 

the charaoteiristio spirit of Qhristianity, in regard to 
all works of charity, may easily be seen. Go where, 
the gospe.. has attained the greatest supremacy, and 
behold how ev^ry form of human xxiisery is met by 
the self-denying diligence,^ and comforted by the mu- 
nificence of the benevolent. What conceivable method 
of removing distress, of preventing vice, and dissemi- 
natmg happiness has not been put in operation ? 
The whole Roman empire had not one benevolent 
institutiou. The single city of London counts her 
more than three hundred. And why is so little said 
or thought of thwn, except that the public mind has, 
becoiQe so accustomed to the noblest efforts o/ benev-. 
olenco, that they are now regarded almost as matters, 
of course-^the natural consequence of prevailing prin- 
ciples of brotherly kindness aijid charity ? 

It is not my design to exhibit any thing like a 
full-length portrait of the contrast between the civile, 
ization of modern and that of ancient nation^. It is 
seen, in ajl the relations of life, in the whole fabric 
of soc£^ty,^ from, the government of the fsimily to that 
of the ijtate — from the tender car:es of the cradle and 
tbe mpt^ejr to the: wide conperns of communities, and' 
rulei?s. Every thing has felt the change. Though 
not. perlectj. it is immense Much remains to b^ done, 
l^U;t n^ighty improvements have been e^Ebcted. Were 
tii^. w^le work; undone — should the sun which now 
9nlighjkeas the morale world be commanded to go. back, 
and su^er the classic paganism of Greece aj^d Rome 
to resume its sway, every joint in the mechanism of 
society would groan with pain, every corner in the 



382 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

household of civilized beings would be filled with 
darkness : the transition from the arts and literature 
:f England to thos>e of the Hottentots, would not be 
greater than such a change from the moral elevation 
of the present age, to the highest refinements of the 
purest nations of antiquity. 

Such is the fact. It remains to be accounted for. 
What produced this change ? The religion of ancient 
heathens pleads "not guilty" to the charge. It had 
no reference to morals. The vilest crimes and the 
highest repute for piety were perfectly consistent with 
each other among heathens of the Augustan age. It 
Was no part of the business of their priests to teach 
men virtue. No religion but that of the Bible ever 
possessed or aimed at the power of reformation. 
Equally clear are the literature and philosophy and 
arts of antiquity from the imputation of this mighty 
revolution. Never did they prevail so extensively 
among the heathen as in the first century of Chris- 
tianity, and never were they accompanied with such 
moral degradation. Philosophy had as little disposi- 
tion as ability to reform. Whatever light it may 
have possessed it monopolized, holding its truth in 
unrighteousness, and studiously conforming its prac- 
tice to the worst abominations. ' " Cicero declares 
that the ancient philosophers never reformed either 
themselves or their disciples : and that he knew not » 
a single instance in which either the teacher or the 
disciple was made virtuous by their principles.' 



»• 



* Dwight on Infidel Philosophy. 

'* In their writings and oonversation. the philosophers of an- 



PKUITS OF CHEISTIANITY. 383 

But it may be supposed, that without any other 
cause than its own natural fluctuation, the moral 
condition of ancient nations may have taken a change, 
like the tides of the ocean, and begun to rise from 
the mere fact of being reduced to so low an ebb. 
Answer this by the present state of those nations that 
have continued under the native influence of pagan- 
ism. In which of them has such a thing ever been 
known as a reformation of public morals? Their 
unvaried history &om the days of Moses to the pres- 
ent settles the matter, that heathenism has no power 
but of progressive corruption ; and left to itself, can 
only reduce its votaries into deeper and deeper debase- 
ment. Then, if the vast improvement in question is 
neither the consequence of the religion, nor the phi- 
losophy, nor the arts, nor the literature, nor of any 
natural reaction in the moral state of the ancient 
heathen, to what other cause must it be assigned? 

tiq^uity asserted the independent dignity of reason, but they 
resigned their actions to the commands of law and custom. 
Viewing with a smile of pity and indulgence the various errors 
of the vulgar, they diligently practised the ceremonies of their 
fathers, devoutly frequented the temples of the gods ; and some- 
times condescending to act a part on the theatre of superstition, 
they concealed the sentiments of an Atheist under the sacer- 
dotal robes. It was indifferent to them what shape the folly of 
the multitude might choose to assume, and they approached 
with the same inward contempt and the same external rever- 
ence the altars of the Lybian, the Olympian, or the Capitoline 
Jupiter." Gibson's History, vol. 1, p. 34. 

A sorry tribute, by a philosopher, to the benevolence and 
honesty of his ancient brethren. Paul would have drawn iheir 
picture with a darker pencil still. PauPs Master would have 
named them ^^ hypocrites," ^^whitod sepulchres.*' 



B34 KU£.rAllr£'S EYiD£-KCEfr. 

History has but one atisv^t> E^adoii h^s but oiie an- 
swer. Christianity aloue^^singte-handed, persecuted 
Christianity, by the agsncy of twelve obscurie Jews, 
began the Wonderful change) and under thb favor of 
drod has accomplished its i^v^f y step of advaneefnent. 
Till such a thi^ as the teligibu Of Ohrist appeedred in 
ihB world, a reformatioil of heathen society wad never 
dreamed of. Till Christians appeared among the Gren- 
tiles, none Imd ever adventured, n(^e were ever dis- 
posed, to labor for the improv^ent of mankind. Christ 
tian Writers were the first that da^ed to drag the aborh'^ 
inations of dassic antiquity to lights and brand them 
with tha <3&ndemnation of ti^U^ and righti^ousness; 
The dfst Chri6tid,n emperor issued ike first prohibition 
of inhuman practic€i6 and amusementd^ whi^h many 
centuries had s^n^tidned^ Till the gdspel set Up itid 
churches £^nd gathered itid disciple^) the gentile World 
had never seen such a speotadle as that of a soei^ty 
united by bands of love, shining in the beauty of holi- 
ness, animated with zeal to do good at the expense of 
self-denial and sacrifice. 

How exclusively the happy effects of which we 
have been speaking are the fruit of Christianity, is 
evident from the fact, that when you take up a map 
6f the workl and mark out th^ boundaries of Christen- 
dom, you mark also th^ boundaries of all civilization 
and refinement; that as you approach the regions 
where the Bible is best known and most obeyed, yoit 
perceive a rapid increase of all the virtues and char- 
ities and blessings of which the society of man is ca-. 
pable ; that the highest elevation of the human char- 



I 

^ FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 335 

aoter is where Christianity reigns in her purest form, 
and the blackest page in the history of Christendom, 
the page most polluted with vice, and red with cruelty 
and murder, is the record of the people who trampled 
down the institutions of the gospel, decreed the living 
Grod out of existence, and attempted to raise the 
deities of ancient paganism from the dead. That 
many individuals who deny the truth, and profess to 
be free from the influence of Christianity, are decent 
men and far removed from the condition of the hea- 
then in point of moral precept, as well as practice, is 
no evidence against our position. The light of Chris- 
tianity is all about them, and they cannot help seeing 
by its aid. They have learned Christian truth from 
^heir childhood, and it cannot be unlearned. Do 
what they may, they cannot think or act without its 
influence. They niay boast the sufliciency of their 
own reason, but they can no more exercise their rea- 
son without the aid of revelation, than they can 
breathe the air of spring without the fragrance of its 
flowers. " On all questions of morality and religion, 
the streams of thought have flowed through channels 
enriched with a celestial ore, whence they have de- 
rived the tincture to which they are indebted for their 
rarest and most salutary qualities."* What a com- 
munity of Deists would be without Christianity, can 
only be known by remembering what Deists were 
before Christianity came into the world, and what 
they became when, in France, they supposed th<*y had 
almost banished her from the earth. 

• Robert HaU. 
33 



886 M'lLYAINE'S EVIDENOES. 

How remarkable are the confessions of infidels Iai 
the excellent fruit and indispensable influence of the 
gospel. Bolingbroke acknowledges, that '' Constantine 
acted the part of a sound politician in protecting 
Christianity, as it tended to give firmness and solid- 
ity to his empire, softened the ferocity of the army, 
and reformed the licentiousness of the provinces, and 
by infusing a spirit of moderation and submission to 
government, tended to extinguish those principles ot 
avarice and ambition, injustice and vloleiice, by which 
so many factions were formed." "No religion," says 
the same opposer of Christianity, "ever appeared in 
the world, whose natural tendency was so much di- 
rected to promote the peace and happiness of mankind. 
It makes right reason a law in every possible definition 
of the word. And therefore, even supposing it to 
have been purely a human invention, it had been the 
most amiable and the most useful invention that was 
ever imposed on mankind for their good." Thus even 
Rousseau: "If all were perfect Christians, individ- 
uals would do their duty ; the people would be obe- 
dient to the laws; the magistrates incorrupt; and 
there would be neither vanity nor luxury in such a 
state." Such are the confessions of many other 
writers of the same clas& And yet, these men would 
run the ploughshare through the foundations of the 
church of Christ, so that one stone should not be !efi 
upon another. So much for the consistency^ the vtr* 
tue, and disinterested benevolence of infidelity; oi 
rather, so much for the contradiction betweeis it« 
head and its heart, its convictions and its vices- 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 887 

I know of nothing, in the way of hct, more strike 
ingly illustrative of the legitimate fruits of Ghristian« 
ity, more completely in proof that all the social and 
moral blessings which civilized nations at present en« 
joy are to he ascribed to her influence, and that what 
she once was, as a tree of life to the nations, she is 
now, and ever will be, than the history of the mis- 
8i<ms among the heathen which Protestant Christians 
are now sustaining. Here we have experiments of 
her power in all climates, over all habits and dispo- 
sitions, and with all classes of mind. She has gone 
in among the ice-bound inhabitants of Q-reenland, 
whose intellect was as slow and sleepy and creeping 
as the seals they lived on, and whose hearts were as 
barren and cold as their perpetual snows. She has 
entered among the inhabitants of the southern ex- 
treme of Africa, the Hottentots, the very lowest grada- 
tion of human nature, whose souls were supposed to 
be as incapable of enlightening and enlargement as 
the instincts of the vermin that covered them. She 
has tried her powers among the ferocious tribes of 
American Indians — upon warriors nourished with 
blood, and breathing a spirit of slaughter which no 
sufferings nor dangers could ever tame. She has 
lifted up her voice in the islands of the Pacific, among 
savages, uniting with the most inhuman idolatry the 
most beastly vioes and unnatural cruelties ; and from 
all this heterogeneous display of unshapen depravity, 
by the mere influence of her truth and love, edie has 
.ed forth a multitude of disciples for the Lord Jesus, 
in whom are found precisely the same distinctive fea- 



388 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

tares of meekness, humility, love, and holiness. Look 
at the Sandwich, or the Spciety Islands. Within our 
own times were they universally pagan, having no 
altars but those of demons; no law but that df vio- 
lence: no morals but those of unbridled passion. 
Theft was the most national art. Polygamy, crimes 
against.nature, the murder'of prisoners taken in war, 
the destruction of infants, and the sacrificing of hu- 
man victims, prevailed throughout their population. 
What is the change? Where are now their idols? 
In the museums of our missionary societies, as trophies 
of the victories of the cross, or cast "to the moles and 
the bats" by those who once adored them. The plan 
and mould of society have been recast. Laws, wisely 
enacts, aijd. well administered, keep the peace and 
promote improvements. Grimes of all kinds are 
obliged to cease, or go into concealment. Marriage 
has given parents* new affection for their children, and 
their children new ties among each other. Benev- 
olence, unknown before, has awakened a desire to go 
about doing good. The Sabbath is reverenced and 
widely observed for rest and worship. The arts of 
peace are cultivated where formerly the only art de- 
sired was that of war. The march of civilization is 
visible in all domestic comforts and private affairs; 
in agriculture, commerce, buildings, cleanliness, dress, 
manners, and government. Schools are spread through 
the islands, and education is eagerly sought by a 
large portion of the people of all ages and classes 
Such are the fruits of Christianity in our day. Noth- 
ing else could have produced such fruits. Just aftet 



F&UITi OP CHEX8IXA1SIIY. 3S*J 

infidelity had given the world a full*iength portrait, 
in the French revolution, of her power to tear down, 
and tear in pieces, and drown in blood, whatever is 
lovely and of good report, then Christianity set out on 
the opposite side of the world to furnish a striking 
contrast, in tlie missions of the Pacific, of her benign 
influence to exterminate whatever is odious and de- 
praved,* 

* It is weU known to the axit]u>r, that trsyellers and Toy- 
agers not unfrequently bring baek reports of the efieets of mis- 
sionary labors in th« regioiis they hare visited, whieh stagger 
the minds of many sineere friends of foreign missions. The 
accounts of what those honored and dereied serrants of Christ 
called missionaries are doing, and of the advanees which the 
gospel is making under their influence, may all be true; muoh 
more than they relate may be true; and yet it is very eoneeiv* 
able, yea, natural, that such men as our ordinary visitors of for<* 
cign lands should return from those regions, having neither seen 
nor heard any thing of the matter. Suppose a missionary were 
aeeomplishing, with his schools an^d his prradiung, among a tribe 
of Indians in the eentre of the state of New York, about as 
much as is reported of the American laborers in the island of 
Ceylon; how long might an intelligent traveller, with no interest 
in religicm, no relish for its intelligenee, no love for the society 
of its disoiplM, no knowledge of its journals — a man of fashioc 
and gayety, mingling^only with the literary and worldly-minded-— 
how long might he reside in the fashionable circles of the city 
of New Yoik, and sail up the Hudson^ and stop at Saratoga, and 
visit Niagara, and yet know absolutely nothing of that diligent 
mission&ry and his usefulness? Men who have lived all their 
days in a city which abounds in religions institutions and Chris* 
tian labom, without having become sufficiently informed to give 
a stranger a correct aeeonnt jsven ef their respective dtaraeteTSj 
much less of their real usefulness, will touch at a port of an 
extensive pagan laud, see the port poiHilatiim, go no further than 
the coast, inquire of none but the ungodly, and then come home 
and report that the missionaries have done nothing to civiSize of 

33* 



390 M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

Not only has the religion of the gospel produced 
such fruits, but the experiment of eighteen hundred 
years is perfect proof, that in proportion as it shall 
ever be possessed in native soundness, and have room 

3onvert the Deople. How should such men know? On then 
principles of judging, it might be reported with equal reason, 
that Christianity has secured no influence and done nc good in 
the city of New York. An anecdote will illustrate how such 
authorities deserve to be regarded. A gentleman not long since 
returned to his native city in England, after having spent some 
three or four years in India. The pious people of his acquaint- 
ance, not considering the extent of the Indies, and his indifference 
to the cause of Christ, supposed that of course he had seen the 
missionary stations, and knew by his own observation all about 
the reported progress of religion in that country. They inquired 
of him the state of things in this respect. He assured them that 
the accounts they had read of missionary doings and successes 
in the East had no foundation — were mere traps to get contri- 
butions. He had been in India, and travelled extensively, an J 
had seen nothing of any inroads upon heathenism, nor any 
changes among the people— had scarcely heard of the existence 
of missionary stations. The people were amazed. Mueh harm 
was doing; when a clergyman of the place, hearing of the mat- 
ter, took an opportunity to converse with the traveller. Before 
disclosing his object, he said to him, ^' You are probably familiar 
with the national school system of instruction in this country. 
What do you think of it?" "Why, no," answered the travel 
ler, "I really am not acquainted with it." "But you doubtless 
know that there is such a system, and have probably seen its 
establishments, and heard much of its usefulness?" "Why, no 
I have never happened to do so, though I have an indistinct 
idea of the existence of such a system." " Well," said the cler- 
gyman, " I will teU you. The national school system has been 
established for several years in England. Its schools are all 
over the country; its pupils are many hundreds of thousands; 
its influence is universally felt. It maintains more than one 
school in your immediate neighborhood. Almost all your life 
has been spent in England, a small country, and yet you know 



tJlUITS OP CHRISTIANITY. 391 

and freedom to spread its roots and extend its branches, 
it will continue to bear such fruit, more and more 
a'jundantly and perfectly, to the end of time. This 
tree of life was planted to lire through all ages, and 
spread its shadow over all nations. The trials it 
stood in its infancy, the fierce assaults of every spe- 
cies of enmity, which in every age of its subsequent 
growth have endeavored in vain to destroy it, are evi- 
dences, that as no human power could have thus 
protected it, so no human opposition can hereafter 
prevent its increase — that it must grow and spread 
and blossom till time shall be no more. 

I am well aware, and I desire not to conceal, that 
it is very common with infidels to ascribe wars, in- 
trigues, bloodshed, and persecutions to the influence 
of Christianity, and to assert that the world has been 
covered with slaughter by the hand of the gospel. 
The truth is, that whenever any evils such as wars or 
persecutions arise, though infidels by profession, oi 
mere nominal Christians, are at the bottom of them ; 
though they were originated and carried on out of direct 
enmity to the gospel, yet, because the Christian name 
is involved in the contest, infidels set down the whole 
to the account of a religion which, nevertheless, as 

nothing of these interesting facts. You have been a short time 
in the immense region of India, over which a few missionary 
stations are scattered, as drops upon a desert; and because, in 
visiting a few prominent places, you heard or saw nothing of 
their influence upon the millions of heathen, you would persuade 
us that what we have read is all untrue. How much more 
should we believe that the national school system is a fable V^ 
The traveller was silenced; the people were satisfied. 



392 IC'IliVAlliVt} £TIi)SirCE8. 

their chief men oonfess, has a direot tendency to make 
every body do his duty^ and ^^to promote the peace 
and happiness of mankind?^^ Bnt on the other 
hand, whenever any good is done in society, snch as 
the 1>anishment of the crimes and vices of heathen- 
ism, the promotion of virtue, peace, good laws, good 
institutions, benevolence, domestic and public happi- 
ness, then infidels have great difficulty in seeing how 
these blessings are connected with Christianity, even 
though, by their own acknowledgment, the life of 
Jesus ^< showed at once what excellent creatures men 
would be, when under the influence and power of that 
gospel which he preaohed."+ 

It is freely gmnted that in countries called Chris- 
tian, great evils remain to be cured; their history 
abounds with wars, some of which have been on 
account oi the Christian religion, and have been 
accompanied witii great sdau^ter and lasting enmi- 
ties. But before these deplorable facts can justly be 
attributed to the influence of the peaceful and gentle 
religion of Jesus, a number of important questions, 
which we shall presently name, must be decided. 
By the confession of one of the most noted infidels, 
« we have in Christ an example of one who was jnst, 
honest, upright, and sincere, and above all, of a most 
gracious and benevolent temper and behavior: one 
who did no wrong, no injury to any man ; in whose 
mouth was no guile ; who went abont doing good, not 
only by his ministry, but also in curing all manner 

* Roueseaa. t BolinglM'ok* 

t Obubb's Trae Gospel, see. 8, pp. 55, 56. 



PRTTITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 393 

of diseases among the people. His life showed what 
excellent creatures men would be when under the 
influence and power of that gospel whiph he preached 
unt; them."* But hear on this head the eloquence 
of the profligate Rousseau, venturing for once to speak 
the truth : " I will confess that the majesty of the 
Scriptures strikes me with admiration, as the purity 
of the gospel has its influence on my heart. Peruse 
the works of our philosophers; with all their pomp 
of diction, how contemptible are they compared with 
tli^e Scriptures ! Is it possible that a book at once so 
simple and sublime should be merely the work of 
man ? Is it possible that the sacred personage whose 
name it records, should be himself a mere man ? 
What sweetness, what purity in his manner ; what 
sublimity in his maxims ; what profound wisdom in 
his discourses, WJiere is the man, where the phi- 
losopher, who could so live and so die without weak- 
ness and without ostentation ? If the life and death 
of Socrates were those of a sage, the life and death oi 
Jesus were those of a Grod." Such are the confes- 
sions of a man whose vice and vanity constrained 
him to say, '* I cannot believe the gospel." No won- 
der, when at the same time he was saying in his 
heart, I will not renounce my debaucheries. 

But such confessions abound in the writings cf 
infidels, so that "the whole Christian argument 
might be maintained on the isulmissions of one oi 
other of the leading infidel writers ; and no contest 
remain, unless, if it could then be called one, with 
• Chubb'a Trae Gospel, sec. 8, p. 56, 57. 



•194 H'lLYAINE'S EVIPENCES. 

the miserable, ignorant ferocity of Paine and his as- 
WKjiates."* 

On the ground of such acknowledgments, and of 
the acquaintance which any who ever read the New 
Testament must have with its principles and ten- 
dency, let the following questions be answered . Is 
there any tendency in the principles of the gospel to 
the enkindling of strife, hatred, war, or bloodshed ? 
Was the character of its founder — were the char- 
acters of the apostles and primitive Christians, among 
whom the native influence of Christianity was most 
unequivocally exhibited, in any manner indicative of 
such a tendency in its principles ? Is not the whole 
history of the purest ages of the gospel, as well as 
every page in the New Testament, directly in proof 
of the very opposite effect ? Did not all the evils of 
war and national dissension prevail much more uni« 
versally before the establishment of Christianity, than 
they have done since ? Is not the influence of this 
religion plainly visible in mitigating those horrors of 
war which she has not exterminated? And as to 
those which have continued to afflict mankind, are 
they in direct consequence, or in spite of her influ- 
ence — ihe fruit of the tree, or the poisonous weeds at 
its root, which oppose its growth ? Are the men who 
have been concerned in promoting these evils, and 
who are called Christians, believed to have been reoi 
Christians ? Do not infidels discriminate sufficiently 
between genuine and nominal reUgion, to understand 
that in thus acting they were departing from the 

* Wilson's Lectures. 



/ 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 390 

prinoiples of the gospel, and proving that they were 
Christians but in name ? " Have not the courts of 
princes, notwithstanding Christianity may have been 
the professed religion of the land, been generally 
attended by a far greater proportion of deists than of 
serious Christians; and have not public measures 
been directed by the counsels of the former, much 
more than by those of the latter ? It is well known 
that great numbers among the nobility and gentry of 
every nation consider religion as suited only to vulgar 
minds, and therefore either wholly absent themselves 
from public worship, or attend but seldom, and then 
only to save appearances towards a national estab- 
lishment. In other words, they are unbelievers. This 
is the description of men by which public affairs are 
commonly managed, and to which the good or the 
evil pertaining to them, so far as human agency is 
concerned, is to be attributed,"* 

It is a favorite manoeuvre with infidels to charge 
Christianity with all the persecutions on account of 
religion, and at the same time to speak in high terms 
of '^the mild tolerance of the ancient heathens;" of 
^^ the universal toleration of polytheism ;^^ of "the 
Roman princes beholding without concern a thousand 
forms of religion subsisting in peace uxider their 
gentle sway."^ Better information on this subject is 
greatly needed in the community. Heathen tolera- 
tion was any thing but virtuous, and much less uni- 
versal than its modern eulogists would represent. It 
allowed all nations to establish whatever description 
• Fuller's Gospel its own Witness. t Gibbon. 



396 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

of religion they pleased, provided each would acknow« 
ledge that all in their several spheres were equally 
good. But pagan nations required of every citizen 
conformity to the national idolatries. This yielded, 
he might believe and be whatever he pleased. This 
denied, immediately toleration ceased. Take a few 
examples. Stilpo was banished Athens for affirming 
that the statue of Minerva in the citadel was no 
divinity, but only the work of the chisel of Phidias 
Protagoras received a similar punishment for this 
single sentence: "Whether there be gods or not, 
I have nothing to offer." Prodicus and his pupil 
Socrates suffered death for opinions at variance with 
the established idolatry of Athens. Alcibiades and 
^schylus narrowly escaped a like end for a similar 
cause. Plato dissembled his opinions, and Aristotle 
fled his country, under the lash of "the mild and 
universal toleration of the Grecian mythology." 
Cicero lays it down as a principle of legislation en- 
tirely conformable to the rights of the Roman state, 
that " no man shall have separate gods for himself., 
and no man shall worship by himself new or foreign 
gods, unless they have been publicly acknowledged 
by the laws of the stat«."* The speech in Dion 
Cassius, which Mtecenas is said to have made to 
Augustus, may be considered a fair index of the pre- 
vailing sentiment of that polished age. " Honor the 
gods," says Maecenas, "by all means, according to 
the customs of your country, and force others so to 
honor them. But those who are for ever introducing 

• De Legibus, vol. 2, p. 8. 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITV. 397 

something f<»reign in these matters, hate and panishi 
not only for the sake of the gods, but also beoaiise 
they who introduce new divinities mislead many 
others into receiving foreign laws also. Suffer no 
man either to deny the gods or to practise sorcery/* 
Julias Paulus the Roman civilian gives the follow- 
ing as a leading feature of Roman law : '< Those whc 
introduce new religions, or such as were unknown in 
their tendency and nature, by which the minds of 
men might be agitated, w^e degraded if they be- 
longed to the higher ranks, and if they were in a 
lower state were punished with death." Under this 
legislation many of the governors endeavored to com- 
promise with Christiaps, by allowing them to believe 
and honor what they pleased in their hearts, provided 
they would observe outwardly the religious oejrerao-5 
nies ordained by the state.* 

Examples to the same efTect might be greatly 
multiplied. I have furnishe4 enough to show in 
what sense the heathen princes ^^ beheld without 
concern a thousand forms of religion subsisting in 
peace under their gentle sway;" and how far Vol- 
taire was accurately informed or honestly disposed, 
when boasting tiiat the ancient Romans ^' never per* - 
secuted a single philosopher for his opinions from thq 
time of Romulus till the pq)es got possessioii of their 
power." 

It is willingly conceded that persecutions on 
account of religion were enormously increased im- 
mediately after the promulgation of Christian ity, 

* See Neander's Church History. 

34 



398 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

inasmaoh as nothing had ever before attacked the 
superstitions and vices of the heathen with* her 
undaunted, uncompromising spirit. But did Chris- 
tianity persecute, or was she the object of persecu- 
tion ? Was Jesus the persecutor of Pilate ? Did 
Paul persecute the worshippers of the Ephesian 
Diana, or the heathen of Iconium, or those who 
stoned him at Lystra? By whose intolerance was 
'it, that for three hundred years the Christian church 
was continually overflowed with the blood 6f her 
martyrs ? Did the multitudes who perished for 
Christ's sake under the paw of the lion and the 
sword of the gladiator and the screws of the rack — 
did they persecute the heathen priests and people and 
ftiagistrates, Nero and Trajan and Diocletian, with 
their proconsuls and governors and executioners ? I 
grant that in the lapse of centuries the guilt of perse- 
cution did attach to the church. Christian powers 
and ministers and people have in Various ages been 
justly liable to this lamentable charge. But who 
does not know that the church, before ever she began 
to persecute, had manifestly degenerated from the 
purity of the gospel and become deeply perverted by 
the spirit of the world, having her chief places occu- 
pied by such men as infidels know were not influ- 
enced by vital Christianity?* Who is so blind as 

* The emperor Julian acknowledged that persecutions were 
the inventions of the later Christians ; that neither Jesus, nor 
Paul, nor any other of the first preachers of the gospel, h.ad 
taught men to kill others for heing of a different religion, or foT 
difiering about lesser matters among themselves. Lardnor, vol 
4. p. 337. 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 399 

" not to see that wherever suoh evils have existed 
among any people called Christians, they have been 
because those people had so little of the spirit of the 
gospel, and not because they had any of it ? They 
have been directly the reverse of the religion pro 
fossed by suoh persons ; the fruits of their own native 
disposition, combined with the character of the ages 
they lived in, assimilating them thus far to infidels, 
who have always been persecutors in proportion to 
their power. True Christianity desires but one 
favor — ^liberty to preach "Jesus Christ and him 
crucified." Her whole dependence is on " the dem- 
onstration of the Spirit." " God giveth the in- 
crease." 

We have now applied to Christianity the test by 
which she claims to be proved — one universally 
employed as safe, and approved as just — the tree is 
known by its fruits. The religion of the gospel we 
have seen coming into the world at a period when 
every moral evil abounded. The grossest idolatry, 
attended, with the most inhuman and indecent rites, 
prevailed among the most enlightened nations. Spec- 
tacles of slaughter and suffering constituted the pub- 
lic amusements. Parents without natural affection, 
children in slavery to their parents, and at the mercy 
of their displeasure, the female sex degraded to a 
rank of servile inferiority, murders and cruelties, 
characterized the age. Vices of the most beastly 
kind were practised and avowed in the highest and 
most influential classes of society. "What would 
now shame out of the world the most degraded of 



^ 



400 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

mankind oduld then be acknowledged, even by a 
public telLcheir of niorals, Without reproach. Public 
opinion^ the thermometer bf public virtue, had no 
condemnation for habits not only agaitist all the 
securities of domestic happineiss and social welfco'e, 
btit. against every dictate of nature^ and requiting foi 
their permission th6 lowest debiasement of ihe moral 
d6nsd 6f the community. Among all the gentile 
nations^ none possessed the benevolence to attempt, 
nothing had power to effect the reformaticm of a 
world thus sunk in wretchedness and paralyzed with 
vice* It was the era indeed of the world's wisdom, 
but of a wisdom by which the world knew not Ood 
For centuries had the wise men after the flesh been, 
teachitig tod Writing and boa&ting, and as long had 
every Woe been ia(^reasing, and every school becoming 
more perplexed in itd doctrined and more abandoned 
in the practice of its disciples. No change for the 
better whs hc^ed for from any human source. Then 
appeSEired " the wisdom of God." Christianity, un- 
invited, un welcomed^ rejected — Christianity, perse- 
cuted as intarusive^ despised as. foolishness, ridiculed 
as weakness, 6iommenc<9d at this crisis the bold work 
of regenerating the world. "Wherever she gained 
acceptation the face of soci&t^ was renewed. Order, 
purity, benevolence, justice^ inercy^ every personal, 
domfestic, tod public virtue increased as her influ- 
ence extended. Under her charge extensive com- 
munities of men and women were formed, who seem 
became famous in the World for their earnest selfi 
denying benevolence, and their devotion to hAineim 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 401 

No sooner was Christianity professed by the ruler .« 
of the Roman empire, than idolatry, with every un- 
natural crime and oruel amusement, was abolished 
from society, or coinpelled to deny its existence. In 
proportion as this religion has reigned in any age or 
country, there has been a manifest increase of all the 
blessings of civilization, all the arts of peace, all the 
virtues of individual character, all the securities of a 
wise and equitable government. Nothing has re- 
tarded the growth of these benefits but what has 
alike retarded the progress of Christianity. No Chris- 
tian people have suffered on account, of any evil 
which Christianity hfis not directly opposed. Present 
efforts to spread this holy religion among the heathen 
demonstrate that her natural force is not abated, nor 
her influenae changed. What she did among the 
pagans of the first century, she is accomplishing, 
though as yet by slower steps, amohg those of the 
nineteenth. Such has been from the beginning, 
such is now, and such, we have every reason to 
believe, ever will be the fruit of Christianity. By 
this she is known. By this let her claims to truth 
and a divine origin be judged. Every honest mind 
is capable of appreciating the evidence and of ap- 
plying' the law. It is a case by itself. No party 
appears to claim the credit of what Christianity 
ascribes to herself. Philosophy and the light of 
nature are joined to their idols and vices, and caiinot 
come to the trial, and must therefore be excused. 
Infidelity was tried during the " reign of terror " in 
France, and received its sentence %t the guillotine, 

34* 



402 K*ILVAI»E'S SYIDENCES. 

imd therefor^ caimbt eome. Either the blessings 
we have described i^ust be adjudged, acoofdiag to 
the plea, to the gospel of Christ, ot pronounced to be 
effects without a cause. Do they belong to the gos- 
pel, or to nothing ? We dpeak ^e language of every 
conscience and of ail commcm-sense when we say, 
the gospel alone produced them, and the gospei 
ulone could produce them; and should tbe gospel be 
thoroughly Conformed to in all the world, the whole 
world Would be morally renovated^ and all those 
physical evils which proceed from the vices of man* 
kind would pass away. 

What then is Christianity ? '^ Do men gathei 
grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" ^^ Can a cor- 
rupt tree bring forth good fruit?" This religicMi is 
either a truth or a fable ; the revelation of God, oi 
the wicked and bleisphemous contrivance of man. li 
it be the work of human conl^ivance^ it must be un^ 
speakably offensive to Grod, inasmuch as it ascribes 
all its doctrines directly to his teaching, exalts it? 
Founder to &e dignity of the divine nature, calling 
him the Son of God, and making him equal to the 
Father in power and glory. Between its entire truth 
as a divine revelation, and its unparalleled audacity 
and impiety as a human imposture, there .can be no 
middle ground. tThe unbeliever, in rejecting tbe 
former, must resort, if consistent, to the latter. Then 
Jet us see how much he is bound to beHeve in main- 
(;aining his position. He must believe that since the 
truth, according to his views, does not reside in 
Christianity, it d«es reside in some or all of the sy9« 



FRUITS OF OHRISTIANlTy. 403 

teois t)f religion, or of philosophy, or of infidelity, to 
which Christianity is opposed. His creed, therefore, 
is substantially the following : "I believe that in 
proportion as the world has ever been comttiitted to 
ihiQ Infiaenoe of those antichristian syi^tiemd among 
which the truth is to be found, it has been ocmtinually 
increasing in aU moral degeneracy, having in it no 
spirit nor power of reformation. I believe, also, that 
in proportion as Christianity, whi<5h should be re^ 
garded only as a human contrivance of the grossest 
bla^faemy and impiety, has reigoed in the hearts 
and lives of men, the world has been morally reno- 
vated, society humanissed^ benevolence invigo^rated, 
personal and public ha{>pine8s extended and purified. 
Conseqiientiy, I believe that ia God infinitely wise, 
holy, and trUe, has so constituted mankind, that for 
the improvement and well-being of society we are 
under the necessity of believing and promoting what 
is not only false, but heinously offensive to himself; 
truth must be concealed because we learn by experi- 
ence that its currency can only be accompanied with 
the greatest evils to the morals, the peace, the whole 
interest of mankind ; teachers of error and darkness 
must be depended upon as instruments of human 
elevation, while teachers of the truth should be dis- 
countenanced as capable of nothing but the unhing- 
ing of the whole frame- work of private and public 
welfare." These, I say, are .the articles of belief 
which, whether avowed or not, do lie wrapped up in the 
rejection of Christianity. The proof of this assertion 
is in the lecture we are now closing. I need not say 



404 It'ILVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

that it sets in strong and shining relief the truth of 
the gospel of oar Lord Jesas Christ, as a revelation 
from Him who is the giver of every good and perfect 
gift. " For the preaching of the cross is to them that 
perish, foolishness ; bat unto us which are saved, it is 
the power of God. Where is the wise? Where is 
the disputer of this world? Hath not God made 
foolish the wisdom of this world ? For after that in 
the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not 
God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching 
to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, 
and the Greeks seek after wisdom : but we preach 
Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, 
and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them 
which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ tha 
power of God and the wisdom of God."* 

* 1 GorinthiaiiB, 1 : 18-24. 



F&UITS OF CHRISTIANirY. 40S 



LECTURE XI. 

THE FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY— CONTINUED. 

The rule by which Christianity was tried in our 
last lecture, is as philosophical as it is scriptural. It 
Is the rule of experiment j in distinction from all the^ 
whims of conjecture and ingenious theory, and has 
an application as legitimate and conclusive, to the 
character of Christianity, as to that of any tree, or food, 
or tnedicine. None can deny that the experiment of 
the religion of Christ has been varied sufficiently to 
put it to the fairest trial, and continued long enough 
to develope its most hidden qualities. Expoi^d to all 
extremes of physical and moral temperature, tried 
upon all descriptions of human, beings, required to 
preserve its purity amidst all contagions, to display 
its energies under all conceirable burdens and boi^ds, 
to bear its fruit under the m^st blasting influeiices, 
and to stand against all possible combinations of en* 
mity — sometimes subjected to the action of the fire, 
then of the rack, atid then of the knife of unrelenting 
oersecutors*— eighteen hundred years have measured 
out its trial, during which, whatever could be effected 
by science united with industry, malioe united with 
power, or vigilance united with hypocrisy, has been 
done unceasingly to torture it into a confession or a 
display of something at variance with a divine origin. 



406 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

The trial, therefore, is suiEcient. The tree has had 
time and ample opportunity to be known by its fruits 
If it may not be finally tried by this rule, in the nine- 
teenth century of its budding .and bearing, the fault 
must be sought in the rule itf^elf, not in the subject 
i»f inquiry. 

In our last lecture we confined our attention to the 
fruits of Christianity in regard to society in general. 
In the present we are to consider, 

11. Its fruits in regard to the character and 
happiness of its genuine disciples. 

It is not without reflection that I introduce this 
subject into the department of external evidence, I 
am aware that it is generally considered as belonging 
exclusively to the class of arguments denominated 
internal^ but I see not with 'what propriety. So far as 
any effects of Christianity on individual disciples are 
incapable of being brought under the observation of 
others, because confined to the inward experience of 
the true believer, they are unquestionably internal 
in their character, and do not belong to our present 
department. But if thay be such efiects as witnesses 
can take knowledge of, if the proof of them may be 
seen and appreciated by those that are without, I see 
not but that they belong as appropriaitely to, the ex- 
ternal evidence as any of the effects of Christianity 
upon society at large. Without further vindication 
of a matter of mere classification, I proceed. * 

1. The moral transformations which the gospel 
in all ages has notoriously wrought, and by unques* 
tionable proofs exhibited to the world, in ihp c&or > 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITI. 407 

acter of those who have become its genuine disct" 
pies J cannot be accounted for, but on the supposition 
of a divine power accompanying its operation. 

T:) illustrate my meaning, let me describe what 
has been witnessed under the ministry of Christian- 
ity so repeatedly, that hardly any who have been in 
the way of such things can have failed to become 
acquainted with apposite examples. Persons of all 
grades of society and of intellect, and of all degrees 
of enmity to the religion of Jesus, in circumstances 
the most unpropitious to its influence on their hearts — 
even while they were filled with the spirit of malice 
and persecution against its truth and disciples— have 
had their minds suddenly arrested by some simple 
expression of the Bible, or some unpretending state- 
ment of Christian doctrine or experience : perhaps 
it dropped from the lips of a minister against whom, 
at that very time, they were nerved with anger ; or 
was read in a Bible, or a little despised tract, that 
seemed accidentally to lie in their way, and at which, 
as if by accident, they condescended to look. It told 
them nothing new — ^nothing but what they had often 
heard or read before without the smallest effect. And 
yet, without any argument to shake their ungodly 
principles, or special application, by any human being, 
of the word thus heard or read to their particular con- 
dition, they felt their min^s seized upon by an influ- 
ence from which no effort of infidel argument, nor 
struggle of pride, nor drowning of thought, nor exer- 
tion of courage, nor devices of company and amuse- 
ment could enable them to escape. A hand seemed 



408 tf'ILYAIKE'S EVIDEKCSS. 

to be upon them which all their efforts to shake it off 
only fastened with inore painful power. They ooulcl 
get no peace of mind till they submitted to its arrest. 
They were induced to listen to the gospel of Christ, 
eYtm while deeply conscious of a cordial opposition to 
its requirements. A coiiviction of sin and eondem« 
nation, such as they had ever derided^ soon brought 
them to a posture of body and a spirit of supplication 
before God, in which, a short time before, they would 
not have been seen for the world. Soon they sub* 
mitted to the claims of the gospel, became believers 
in Jesus, confessed him before men, and appeared to 
all that had known them before — in what aspect? 
As new creatures! Only a few days have elapsed 
since ihey were notorious scaffers, bold blasphemers, 
angry persecutors.; of profligate habits, impure con. 
versation, and hardened hearts, armed at all points 
against religicm ; immovable, in their own estima- 
tion, by any thing Christians could say, and regarded 
by almost all that knew them as utterly beyond 
conversion. 

Now behold the change. It is a change not merely 
of belief, but of heart. Their whole moral nature has 
been reeafit; affections, desires, pleasures, tempers, 
conduct, have all become new. What each hated a 
few days since, he now affectionately loves. What 
then he was devotedly fond of, he now sincerely de« 
tests. Prayer is his delight. Holiness be thirsts for 
His old companions he pities and bves for their souls 
sake; but their tastes, conversation, and habits arc 
loathsome to hL« heart Feelings recently obdurate 



(ft 



^ 



t J 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 409 

have become tender. A temper long habituated to 
anger and violence and resentment, is now gentle, 
peaceful, and forgiving. Christians, whose company 
and intercourse he lately could not abide, are now hi« 
dear and chosen companions, with whom he loves to 
think of dwelling for over. The proud unbeliever is 
an humble disciple. The selfish profligate has be- 
come self-denying and exemplary, animated with a 
benevolent desire to do good. All these changes are 
so conspicuous to others — he has become, and con- 
tinues to be, so manifestly a new man in life and 
heart, that the ungodly are struck with the sudden- 
aess and extent of the transformation. 

This is a drawing from life. That such cases 
have frequently occurred, and have been followed by 
all the permanent blessings of a holy life, in thou- 
sands of places and before witnesses of all descrip- 
tions, it were a mockery of human testimony and of 
the faith of history to question. There is scarcely a 
faithful preacher of the gospel, whose ministry has 
not been blessed with such fruits. There is scarcely 
a village in this country, whose inhabitants cannot 
tell of many «uch examples. They began when 
Christianity began. They have been repeated as 
pure Christianity has been promoted and extended. 
Such a case was that of Saul of Tarsus. One mo- 
ment he was a furious enemy of Jesus; learned, tal- 
f^nted, proud; of high reputation, of brilliant pros- 
pects; the champion of Judea against the gospel of 
Christ; bearing the commission and full of the spirit 
of a persecutor : the next, he was on his face on the 



410 ll'lLVAINB'S EVIDENCES. 

ground, ealliiKg upon Jesas in the spirit of entire sab- 
mission and deep repentance. In a few days, he was 

life, having made a total sacrifice of all earthly pros- 
pects and possessions, and given himself up to re- 
proach, poverty, and universal hatred, for the sake of 
the gospel. All his dispositions, affections, and hah- 
its, had in that short space undergone so complete a 
change, without any human agency, that he had he- 
come, and cc«itinued to he, directly the opposite of 
his former character. Many similar examples must 
have heen included in those three thousand converts 
of the day of Pentecost, who, although when the 
morning rose upon them they were filled with all the 
enmity of Jews and of crucifiers of Jesus, hefore the 
day was over were howed at the feet of the same 
Jesus as his haptized disciples. So changed were 
they in every worldly disposition, that they "sold 
their possessions and goods, and parted them to all 
men as every man had need ;" and all this under no 
human influence hut tiiat of the preaching of men 
whom they hegan to hear with contempt, and of a 
doctrine to which they hegan to listen with the most 
rancorous aversion. How many thousand cases of 
the same kind would the domestic history of the first 
century of the gospel furnish. What volumes might 
Lu filled with similar examples, which the annals of 
f^hristianity in the nineteenth century, and especially 
in this country, would exhibit. Who has attended 
to the blessed effects with which the distribution of 
(racts and Bibles has been accompanied, bikI can* 



FRUITS OF CHRlSriANITY. 411 

not call to mind instances in which the wonderful 
changes that were wrought in the Earl of Rochester, 
in Colonel G-ardiner, and in the once degraded and 
afterwards excellent John Newton, have in all impor- 
tant respects been equalled? Since I commenced the 
preparation of this lecture, a case in point has come 
to my view. Called from my study to see a man 
who had come on business, I found in the parlor a 
well-dressed person, of respectable appearance, good 
manners, and sensible conversation — a stranger. After 
a little while he looked at me earnestly and said, ^^ I 
think, sir, I have seen your face before." " Prob- 
ably," said I, supposing he had seen me in the pulpit. 
^^ Did you not once preach in the receiving-ship at 
the navy-yard, on the Prodigal Son, sir ?" " Yes." 
*' Did you not afterwards go to a sailor sitting on his 
chest, and take his hand and say, ^Friend, do you 
love to read j-our Bible?'" "Yes." "I, sir, was 
that sailor; but then I knew nothing about the Bible, 
or about Grod : I was a poor, ignorant, degraded sin- 
ner." I learned his history, in substance as follows : 
He had been twenty-five years a sailor, and nearly 
all that time in the service of the British navy, indulg- 
ing in all the extremes of a sailor^s vices. Drunken- 
ness, debauchery, profaneness, made up his character. 
The fear of death, or hell, or Grod had not entered hiii 
mind. Such was he, a sink of depravity, when an 
humble preacher of the Uethodist denomination one 
day assembled a little congregation of sailors in the 
ship to which he was attached, and spoke on the 
text, "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, 



412 M'lLVAlNE'b EVIDENCES. 

now is the day of salvation." He listened, merely 
because the preacher was once a sailor. Soon it ap- 
peared to hini that the latter saw and knew him, 
though he was sitting where he supposed himself 
concealed. Every word seemed to be meant for a 
description of him. To avoid being seen and marked, 
he several times changed his place, carefully getting 
behind the others. But wherever he went Ihe preacher 
seemed to follow him, and to describe his course of 
life as if he knew it all. At length the discourse was 
ended, and the poor sailor, assured that he had been 
the single object of the speaker's labors, went up and 
seized his hand, and said, ^' Sir, I am the very man. 
That 's just the life I have led. I am a poor, miser- 
able man ; but I feel a desire to be good, and will 
thank you for some of your advice upon the subject." 
The preacher bade him pray. He answered, " I have 
never prayed in my life, but that I might be damned, 
as when I was swearing, and I don't know how to 
pray." He was instructed. It was a day or two 
after this, while his mind was anxious but unen- 
lightened, that Providence led me to him, sitting on 
his chest. He said I showed him a verse of the Bible, 
as one that would guide him. I asked him if he 
remembered which it was. "Yes; it was, 'Him that 
Cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.' " Soon 
after this his mind was comforted with a hope of 
salvation through Jesus Christ. His vices were all 
abandoned. He became from that time a new crea- 
ture in all his dispositions and habits, took specia\ 
care to be scrupulously attentive to every duty of his 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 413 

station, gained the confidence of his offioors, and, 
having left the servioe, has continued ever since, 
more than three y^urs, an exemplary menaber of 
society and of the diurch of Christ. He is so entirely 
renewed, that no one could imagine from his appear- 
ance or manners that he had been for twenty-five 
years a drunken, abandoned sailor. This case I have 
selected only because it was at hand. It is by no 
means a solitary case. Nor is it any the worse for 
being taken from among the poor and ignorant. I 
know not that beastly vice is more susceptible of 
removal, or that habits of drunkenness, debauchery, 
and profaneness are any more capable of being 
changed into those of soberness, purity, and prayer, 
for being seated in ignorance and poverty, than when 
associated with learning, rank, and opulence. 

Now, be it remarked, that the reality of such cases 
is a matter of fact, which one may question with 
about as much reason as he might deny the best 
established phenomena in natural history. Be it re- 
marked also, that in all such effects, the individuals 
concerned have ascribed the total change in their 
hearts and lives to the direct influence of the word 
and Spirit of God, as set forth in the gospel of Jesus 
Christ. They have generally been able to tell the 
|>artM3ular truth, or combination of scriptural truths, 
that awakened them from the death of sin, and Vd 
them to embrace the hope of Christ and the life of 
righteousness. Be it remarked also, that among all 
the cases of such conversions, in all ages and regions 
and circumstances, and with all varieties of charac« 

35* 



414 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

ter, there has been a wonderful identity. The same 
effects, essentially, have ensued under the application 
of the same gospel in the present century, as in the 
time of St. Paul ; in modern Europe, as in ancient 
GT3eoe and Rome ; in Hindostan, as in North Amer** 
ica * among Hottentots and the islanders of the South 
Sea and savages of our western borders, as among 
the polished inhabitants of New York or London. 
While all these varieties of age, climate, customs, 
and cultivation, give a natural and pleasing variety 
to what may be called the complexion and costume in 
which the conversion appears, the great change itself 
exhibits, under all circumstances, the same charac- 
teristic and inimitable features ; insomuch that if you 
draw the likeness of a genuine convert to Christ in 
his chief peculiarities as manifested in this country, 
and send it to Burmah, or to the Sandwich Islands, or 
to Caffre-land, or to Whampoa in China, or to Green- 
land, it will be considered a good likeness in main 
points of the dispositions, affections, tempers, habits, 
and life, produced by the converting power of the 
gospel in any of those widely differing regions. A 
genuine convert to Christ in China or in Africa, may 
come to this country, and find among genuine Chris- 
tians precisely his own feelings, tastes, sympathies, 
and labors, though he never saw an American or 
European before ; and he will be more at home 
among their Christian feelings, than he can be among 
the manners and dispositions of the people among 
whom he grew up and has always lived. Thus it is 
evident, that whatever be the cause of these uni- 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 415 

rcrsally similar effects, it must be the same cause 
universally — the same in all ages, and in all parts of 
the world. 

Now, whether the gospel of Jesus Christ produceil 
these great and invariably corresponding effects, or 
whether they proceeded from some other universal 
cause, of which none of the subjects were ever con- 
scious, and which was never known where the gospel 
was not known, and never operates but under the 
name and by means of the gospel, no man of any 
philosophical pretensions is at liberty to doubt. He 
has precisely the same reason to be assured that the 
gospel, and nothing else on earth, is the cause of these 
admirable fruits, as that any medicine is the cause 
of a sick man's recovery to health, or that any vine, 
rather than a thorn-tree, produced the grapes obtained 
from its branches. 

Then, since these efTeocs unquestionably belong to 
the gospel, how are they to be accounted for ? It will 
not do to put them aside under the unceremonious 
imputation of fanaticism or enthusiastic excitement. 
Words are not reasons. Infidel cant is not philo- 
sophical argument. If the gospel be untrue, then not 
only must these most excellent fruits be attributed 
to a corrupt tree, and these wholesome streams to a 
poisoned fountain, but it must be supposed that such 
sudden and entire transformations of human charac- 
ter, from the lowest debasement of nature to the 
highest principles of virtue and purity, are nothing 
more than the results of human agency and natural 
means. But if this be the case, if a svstem of un* 



416 M'lliVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

truth in the hand of man has done all this, we have 
reason to expect that some other systems of doctrine, 
with the same agency, would be productive of equal 
effects. How then can it be accounted for that noth- 
ing has ever been invented or heard of, in all the 
earth, to which any results of a like kind could be 
ascribed? Other causes have produced strong ex- 
citements, but no transformation of heart and life from 
sin to holiness. Other means have improved the 
morals of men by slow and in small degrees, but none 
ever took hold of a human wreck, and lifted him up 
cut of the mire and dirt of his profligacy and carried 
him at once across the wide gulf that separated him 
from pureness, and in a few days placed him in a 
new moral region, with a new heart, and in all things 
a new creature. How can this be explained, if the 
gospel be a human invention and its effects of human 
production ? Why should not infidels be capable, 
with all their wisdom and eloquence, of getting up a 
set of influences to rival these gospel wonders, and 
deprive Christians of this monopoly of the work oi 
new creation and of holiness ? How is it, that in pro- 
portion as any church degenerates from the simplicity 
and purity of the gospel, it ceases to witness such 
changes in the people attendant on its preaching? 
It is nothing to say that many things called con- 
versions eventuate in no good fruits, and are nothing 
niore than the natural consequences of temporary ex- 
citement. This is freely granted. But you do not 
condemn a whole orchard because some of the trees 
were not successfully grafted ; nor all virtuous men. 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 417 

because some, undet the profession oi virtue, are 
mere pretenders. It is sufficient that thousands and 
thousands oi these effects have been of the most 
radical and permanently beneficial character. Were 
they of human production, something of a correspond- 
ing kind would have appeared from other sources; 
by other hands than those of Christians; in other 
countries and ages than those enlightened by the 
Bible. Inasmuch rs this has never occurred, we are 
fully warranted in concluding that it could not; con- 
sequently, that these effects are above the reach ol 
human power. To whom then shall toe go but unto 
thee, O Lord? who hast committed this treasure ol 
the gospel to earthen vessels, to feeble men, to dispense 
it, "that the excellency of the power might be of 
God, and not of us." That we cannot comprehend 
in what manner the power of God operates in the 
hearts of men, to work such wonderful revolutions 
in their characters, is no valid objection to the mat- 
ter of fact. " The wind bloweth where it listeth, 
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not 
tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth." The 
phenomena of the winds are incomprehensible, and 
yet believed. ** So is every one that is born of the 
Spirit." 

Now, I think we may be content to pass from the 
position with which we began, that the moral trans- 
formations which the gospel in all ages has notoriously 
wrought, and by unquestionable proofs exhibited to 
the world in the character of those who have become 
its genuine disciples, cannot be accounted for but on 



418 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

the supposition of a divine pov/er accompanying its 
operations. 

2. We proceed to speak of the fruits -of Christian- 
ity, as displayed in the lives of its genuine disciples^ 
in contrast with those which notoriously characf'^* 
ize the lives of its opposers. The virtues of truo 
Christians have been the same in all ages of Chris* 
tianity. It was " with well-doing" that, in the days 
of St. Paul, they were accustomed to silence their 
enemies. Having become freed from sin, they be- 
came servant* of righteousness, and had their fruit 
unto holiness. " Such were some of you," said St. 
Paul to Christians of that famous brothel of all 
Greece, the city of Corinth — "such were some of 
you," partakers in all vice; "but ye are washed, 
but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the 
name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our 
God." The apostles could appeal to whole commu- 
nities for evidence of their blameless character. ** Ye 
are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justiy 
and unblamably we behaved ourselves among you." 
Even by the testimony of the ancient and deadly 
enemies of the goi^l, the lives of Christians had no 
parallel among any other people. The early defenders 
of the faith publicly challenged a scrutiny of their 
virtue. It was iheir remarkable steadfastness in 
resisting the allurements of vice, and their heroic pa«^ 
tience under all the tortures employed to break their 
attachment to holiness, that often excited the bitter- 
est hatred of their enemies. Compare the purity, 
benevolence, and humility of the apostles with those 



. PAUITS OF CHEISIIANIIT. 419 

oT any philosophers of antiquity, or any leaders in 
modern infidelity. Pliny the Eoman governor, in 
the first oentury, having investigated extensively, 
and even by torture^ the moral character of the Ghris- 
(ians who filled the province over which he presided, 
declares, id his celebrated letter to Trajan, that he 
could discover nothing more against them than that 
^' they were accustomed, on a stated day, to meet before 
daylight, and to repeat among themselves a hymn to 
Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by an oath 
not to commit any wickedness, but on the contrary, 
to abstain from thefts, robberies, and adulteries ; also 
not to violate their promise, or deny a pledge ; after 
which it was their custom to separate, and to meet 
again at a promiscuous, harmless meal." Gibbon 
fully sustains this testimony. By his description 
alone, the primitive Christians were lights of une- 
qualled excellence in the midst of heathen darkness 
and depravity. What Christians were in primitive 
ages they still remain, exactly in proportion as you 
have reason to believe their hearts to be engaged in 
their faith. To j^y in this country that any one is a 
true Christian, is at once to give a certificate that he 
is worthy of all confidence, and more than usually 
virtuous. We could not desire a more complete proof 
of ptMic opinion than this, as to the personal fruits 
of the gospel. The bare fact that there are hypocrit- 
ical professors of the Christian character, that bad 
men will put themselves to the self-denial of endeav- 
oring to act and seem like Christians, for the pur- 
pose of gaining confidence in their integrity, is a 



420 M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

strong proof of the public estimation in which Chris- 
tian virtue is held, and of the genuine gold of which 
the chaxacter of a real disciple of Christ is composed. 
Men never counterfeit a spurious currency. Copper 
coin is too cheap to tempt a forgery. We never hear 
of the wicked putting on the mask of infidelity to 
secure a character for honesty, soberness, chastity, 
faithfulness, and benevolence. If Christian virtue 
were not in high repute, and much more current in 
society than any other, hypocrites would take care to 
choose a mask that would sit more pleasantly upon 
their vicious propensities ; they would select a cloak 
that would less confine and smother their sinful hab- 
its. It is notorious among us, that no sooner do we 
hear of an individual that he has become a communi- 
cant in the church, than the presumption is that he 
is not only sober, honest, and of pure morality, but 
that he has adopted principles of a very elevated 
virtue and purity, and is more than ordinarily benev- 
olent. Whence this, but from the general experience 
of what communicants are ? What is it that makes 
a breach of truth and honesty, or an act of cruelty, 
or a violation of justice, or a departure from chastity 
or temperance, in a person professing to be a genuine 
Christian, so immediately and generally a matter of 
particular notice and surprise among all classes? 
Is it not because such occurrences are singular, and 
little expected? But they excite no surprise; and 
but little attention, when attached to those who reject 
Christianity, because among such people they are 
neither singular nor unexpected. 



FKUITS OP CHRISTIANITY. 42! 

Why is it that parents so universally prefer to 
have genuine Christians intrusted with the education 
of their children? that when places of trust and 
temptation are to be filled, when men have property 
to invest, or agents to engage in a business requiring 
special inflexibility of uprightness, they feel it to be 
at once a heavy weight in the scale of a candidate 
that he is a sincere and devoted Christian ?* Who 
are the benevolent, disinterested, self-denying laborers 
in all good works ? Where do the poor and hungry 
and outcast apply for assistance with the most confi- 

* The lecturer was once particularly struck with the evi< 
dence of this. He was officially connected with the military 
academy at West Point. Two offices of great importance to 
the discipline of the corps of cadets were to be filled from its 
own ranks. The order of the academy had suffered materially 
for want of officers in those places who would not swerve from 
the duty out of deference to public opinion, the persuasions or 
threatenings of their fellows. Two cadets were .selected who 
had recently become professors of religion. They were assailed 
with all manner of influence to induce them to relax in favor 
of certain indulgences to which a portion of the corps had been 
accustomed at the hands of their predecessors. I need not say 
they mildly but firmly held to their duty. One day, as they 
were leading out the companies to which they were attached 
for evening parade, I said to an officer of the institution who 
had been chiefly instrumental in their selection, "Why have 
you chosen these cadets for such places ? One of them, indeed, 
has a fine soldierly appearance, but the other is just the con- 
trary, and has nothing of the soldier about him." *' Why,'' 
said he, *^ the truth is, we required those who would do thci 
duty without regard to the wishes and expectations of others, 
or to the custom that has been prevalent in the corps ; and as 
they had recently become professors of religion, we expected 
they would be firm." I never heard of this confidence being 
disappointed. 

^,6 



422 IL'lLVAiJUL'S EVIDENCES. 

dence oi finding a sympathizing heart and a ready 
hand ? Go around to all the noble institutions of 
charity — to the asylums for orphans, for widows, for 
the blind, for the deaf and dumb, for juvenile crimi- 
nals; to the schools of gratuitous instruction: take 
a list of those who give money and time and toil for 
their support : what would become of them were it 
not for the Christians associated in all their concerns? 
Who are they that tread the loathsome alleys and dive 
into the wretched habitations of vice and poverty in 
crowded cities, in cold winter, hunting up the wretch- 
ed subjects of disease and pollution for the purpose of 
relieving and reclaiming them? Who put themselves 
to the painful work of begging for the poor, and after 
bearing all the extreme unpleasantness of such a task, 
finish their labor in the careful distribution of their 
hard-earned alms, asking no recompense but that of 
doing good ? 

From Christians in general, turn your attention 
to their leaders. Is it not well known that when a 
minister of the gospel can be commended for nothing 
more than a moral life and unblemished honesty, it is 
considered a positive condemnation? To give him 
the highest praise that a Deist can pretend to, and 
then to say no more, is to leave his character under 
a taint. It is expected that he will be more than 
moral and honest and friendly. You look that he 
ahall be holy ; eminently pure ; full of active lenev- 
olence, going about doing good. Prove that he is 
destitute of these distinguished virtues, and public 
opinion will adjudge him unworthy of his name and 



FEUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 423 

profession. That all ministers are not exemplary and 
devotedly holy men, only proves that the sacred office, 
like all others, is liable to be intruded on by the un- 
worthy. Everybody knows that such cases, instead 
of being favored by the influence of Christianity, are 
directly opposed to it. But subtract from the number 
of the Protestant ministers of the gospel, every one on 
whom the least suspicion of a want of virtue ever 
rested ; leave none but those who at any moment can 
obtain from all that know them the praise of being the 
excellent of the earth, and what a host will remain of 
men whose lives are conspicuous examples of inflex- 
ible integrity and of exalted principles of purity and 
holiness — whose daily strength is laid out in efforts 
to benefit their fellow-creatures,' and around whom, at 
the bare mention of a charge implicating their char- 
acter, will be collected the widow, the fatherless, the 
stranger, with those who have been lifted up out of 
ignorance, or reclaimed from profligacy, or delivered 
from wretchedness, in grateful defence of their best 
earthly benefactors. 

Now, for the sake of a contrast, let us turn to 
the lives of infidels. I do not deny that there are in- 
stances of such men who have led what passes for a 
good moral life ; men of fair dealing in business, and 
of sober, decent habits; whom public opinion, the 
customs of society, intellectual occupations, and 
prosperous circumstances, have preserved from the 
slavery of low propensities and criminal deeds. But 
what is there in such virtue beyo«d a fair outside ? 
Is it formed upon any foundation more meritorious 



424 M'ILVAINE»S EVIDENCES. 

than that of reputation, interest, and the expectation 
of society ? Could you trust its purity in the pres- 
ence of strong temptation ? What would become of 
it, should interest, reputation, and human customs 
withdraw their countenance and preach a contrary 
practice ? But we speak of infidels as a body. The 
fact that a few are singled out and marked as sober, 
honest, moral men, only proves that such cases are 
exceptions to the character of the heterogeneous body 
with which they are associated. It is a general rule, 
that when you say of a man, *' he is an infidel," it 
is to say that he is not a moral man, not a benevo- 
lent man, not a person to engage in any self-denying 
labors for the purpose of doing good. This is public 
opinion, the result of a long experiment of infidelity. 
Its foundation may be seen in the whole history of 
criminal jurisprudence ; in the records of our courts ; 
the annals of our penitentiaries; the police of large 
cities ; the inner chambers of the gambling-house 
and the brothel. Cases of seduction, adultery, and 
suicide, are the authorities to which reference should 
be made for the fruits of infidelity as generally ex- 
hibited. 

A French writer, addressing Voltaire, asks him, 
"Will you dare assert that it is in philosophic 
families we are to look for models of filial respect, 
conjugal love, sincerity in friendship, or fidelity 
among domestics? Were you disposed to do so, 
would not your own conscience, your own experi- 
ence, suppress ths falsehood, even before your lips 
oould utter it ?" An anecdote in point is related by 



FRUITS OF CHEISTIANITS". 425 

Fuller. A man of literary eminence, but an infidel, 
was accustomed to converse with a brother sceptic 
where they were necessarily heard by a pious but 
uneducated countryman. Afterwards it came to pass 
that the educated infidel became an humble Chris- 
tian. Feeling now a serious concern lest his con- 
versation should have poisoned the mind of the 
countryman, he inquired if such was the fact. "By 
no means," answered the other ; " it never made the 
least impression." " No impression ! Why, you must 
have known that we had read and thought on these 
things much more than you had any opportunity of 
doing." " yes," said the other ; " but I knew 
also your manner of living. I knew that to maintain 
such a course of conduct, you found it necessary to 
renounce Christianity."* 

It is well known how very seldom such a thing 
has occurred as the detection, in any penitentiary 
crime, of one who had enjoyed the benefit for a 
considerable period of a Sunday-school education, 
although during tlie last twenty years millions in 
Great Britain and the United States have had that 
privilege. What if all these had been trained with 
equal diligence in schools of infidelity ; how differ- 
ently would the effects of the system have been 
marked upon the records of crime, and upon, the 
peace, purity, and order of society. 

The precise difference between the fruits of Chris* 
tianity and of infidelity, as exhibited in the general 
assembly of their respective professors, consists in 

* The Gospel its own Witness. 



A'sc-h M»ILVAINE»S EVIDBKCES. 

this : There are those who profess to be Christians, 
and yet are wicked men ; but they are wicked in 
direct opposition to the influence of Christianity, as 
well as to the character and influence of those with 
whom they are connected. There are also those who 
profess to be infidels, and yet are men of sobriety and 
amiableness and moral deportment; biit they are 
such in direct opposition to the influence of infi- 
delity, as well as to the character and influence ol 
those with whom, as infidels, they are associated. 
The former and the latter are alike exceptions to the 
general rule. 

But let us turn from infidels in general to their 
teachers and leaders. A stre£tm is seldom purer than 
its fountain. A river rises no higher than its source. 
We may consider the chief priests and scribes, the 
elders and rulers and champions of infidelity, who 
have constructed its various creeds and composed its 
books of scripture — its Humes and Tindals and 
Bolingbrokes and Paines and Voltaires and Rous- 
seaus — as affording in the average of their character 
a fair standard for the measurement of the moral 
stature of infidels in general. What then W€U3 the 
moral worth of those renowned leaders in the war 
against Christianity ? Let us look at their prin- 
ciples. 

Herbert maintained that the indulgence of lost 
und anger is no more to be blamed than the thirst of 
a fever, or the drowsiness of a lethargy. Thus everp 
vicious propensity was licensed. Hobbes, that every 
man has a right to all things, and may lawfully get 



FBUJ.TS OF CHRISTIANIIY. 427 

them if he can. Thus, all theft was licensed. Again, 
that a subject may lawfully deny Christ before a 
magistrate, although he believes in Christ in his 
heart. Thus, all hypocrisy was licensed. Again, 
that a ruler is not bound by any obligation of truth 
or justice, and can do no wrong to his subjects. 
Thus, all tyrannical oppression and cruelty wer.e 
licensed. Again, that the civil law is the sole foun- 
dation of good 'and evil, of right and wrong. Thus, 
moral principle is as various as climate and country, 
aad vice in one place may be exalted virtue in an- 
other. Hume maintained that self-denial, self-mojti- 
fication, and humility, are not virtuous, but useless 
and mischievous ; that pride and self- valuation, inge- 
nuity, eloquence, strength of body, etc., are virtues ; 
that suicide is lawful and commendable ; that adul- 
tery must be parctised, if we would obtain all the 
advantages of life; that female infidelity, when 
known, is a small thing; when unknown, nothing. 
Bolingbroke, that ambition, the lust of power, ava- 
rice, and sensuality, may be lawfully gratified, if 
they can be safely gratified ; that modesty is inspired 
by mere prejudice, and has its sole foundation in 
vanity ; that man's chief end is to gratify the appe- 
tites and inclinations of the flesh ; that " adultery is 
no violation of the law, or religion of nature ; that 
there is no wrong in lewdness, except in the highest 
incest."* 

These principles will suflice as specimens of in- 
fidel writers in regard to moral obligation. If is fair 
* See D wight on Infidel Philosophy. 



428 M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

to judge men by their professions. Few rise above 
their opinions in practice, none in heart. When 
one contends that he may innocently indulge his 
vicious propensities, we need not doubt that he does 
indulge them. These writers either believed what 
they professed, or they did not. If the latter, they 
were gross hypocrites, endeavoring to spread what 
they knew was deadly poison. If the former, then 
tell me what kind of practice — what Veracity, what 
honesty, what chastity, or any other virtue, can be 
supposed to have dwelt in men who in grave, philo- 
sophical discussions could publish such sentiments to 
the world? Had we no other evidence of the lives 
they led, we might conclude with certainty, from 
these professed opinions, that while one here and there 
may not have carried them out to their full extent, 
none could have been in any sense good men ; while 
the mass of them must have been without any regard 
to truth, guilty of gross hypocrisy and dissimulation, 
willing to offer any sacrifice at the shrine of ambition 
and human praise, unbridled in temper and passion ; 
seducers, adulterers, and corrupters of their fellow- 
creatures. Such is the description which, so far as 
any accounts of their private character have been 
received, is fully sustained by facts. 

Hume pretended to a great diligence in search of 
truth, and spent all his powers against the gospel; 
and yet, says Dr. Johnson, " confessed that he had 
never read the New Testament with attention." His 
friend in scepticism, Adam Smith, considered him 
** as approaching as nearly to the idea of a perfectly 



FRUITS OF CHB.ISTIANITY. 429 

mse and virtuous man, as perhaps the nature of hu- 
man frailty will permit." But since, in his estima- 
tion, female infidelity when unknown was nothing, 
one needs pretty positive evidence to believe that he 
was specially pure.* 

Gibbon's moral character is seen in his history of 
the Roman empire — a work full of hypocrisy, per- 
version, and impurity ; the production of a mind as 
unchaste as it was insidious. When he could not 
find an occasion to insult Christianity, he made it by 
false glosses .or dishonest colorings. "A rage for 

• That Hume was virtuous without chastity, is evident from 
his essays. They contain passages by way of wit or illustra- 
tion, not only gratuitously introduced, but forced in by a mere 
amateur taste of the writer, which a chaste mind would not 
have thought of, and a man of chaste habits and principles 
would have rejected, as both polluting to his pages and dis- 
graceful to his character. I cannot believe that one who could 
venture on such sentences before the public eye, and show such 
pleasure and evident facility in grovelling indecencies of writ- 
ing, was free from unclean practice where no public eye was 
to be encountered. And still, in Adam Smith's opinion, he 
may have been ^' as perfectly virtuous as the nature of human 
frailty would permit." What exceptions are included under 
this last clause, who can say? In an infidel's creed, virtue 
has no more quarrel with unchasteness, than, in the creed of the 
Spartans, it had with theft. Among the latter, nothing was 
required to make stealing virtuous, but concealment. Among 
the virtuosi of infidelity, what more is required to establish 
the -innocence of impurity ? 

The person who put out an edition of Hume's Essays in 
this country, dedicating it to the president of the United States, 
and lauding Hume and his principles to the skies, showed 
rery plainly how he had profited by his favorite volume, at 
least by the essay in defence of suicide. He killed himself by 
drunkenness. 



430 MULVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

indecency pervades the whole work, but especially 
the last volumes. If the history were anonymous, I 
should guess that these disgraceful obscenities were 
written by some debauchee, who having from age, 
or accident, or excess, survived the practice of lust, 
still indulged himself in its speculations, and exposed 
the impotent imbecility after he had lost the vigor 
of the passions."* This was no "arrow shot at a 
venture." 

What gross hypocrisy and lying pervade the 
writings of Herbert, Hobbes, Shaftesbury, Woolston, 
"Tindal, Collins, Blount, Chubb, and Bolingbroke. 
One while they are praising Christianity, exalting 
Jesus, professing to have the sincerest desire that 
the gospel may be promoted. At another time they 
are scoffing at its essential doctrines, charging its 
founder with imposture, and diligently laboring to 
destroy it. Hobbes affirms that the Scriptures are 
the voice of God, and the foundation of all obliga- 
tion, and yet, tliat all religion is ridiculous. Shai'tes- 
bury says, that it is censurable to represent the gospel 
as a fraud; that he hopes its enemies will be recon- 
ciled to it, and its friends prize it more highly ; and 
yet he represents salvation as ridiculous, insinuates 
that the designs of Christ were those of deep am- 
bition, and his zeal and spirit savage and pei:se- 
cuting ; that the Scriptures were an artful invention 
for mercenary purposes. Collins protests that none 
are further than he from being engaged in the cause 
of infidelity ; that he writes for the he^or of Jesusk 

• Porson. 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY 431 

and the defence of Christianity ; to advance the Mes- 
siaship and truth of the holy Jesus, "to whom," he 
says, " be glory for ever and ever, amen :" and yet 
he casts the most scurrilous reflections on this holy 
One, compares the gospels to GuUiverian tales, says 
Ihey are full of absurdities, and must be rejected, and 
the authority of Jesus along with them.* 

Such are a few examples of the honesty of such 
men. What if Christians should thus flatter infi- 
delity, and next revile it ? When would their oppo- 
nents cease exposing their hypocrisy ? The best of 
infidel writers cannot be trusted on the score of ve- 
racity when Christianity is in question. The corrup- 
tion of. the texts of books, the misrepresentation of 
facts, the grossest unfairness in citations, are ac- 
counted lawful by their Humes and Gibbons in this 
controversy. One of their own fraternity may here be 
allowed to testify. ** If," says Rousseau, **our phi- 
losophers were able to discover truth, which of them 
would interest himself about it? There is not one 
among them who would not prefer his own error to 
the truth discovered by another. Where is the phi- 
losopher who, for his own glory, would not willingly 
deceive the whole human race ?" I need not spend 
time, after all that has been exhibited, in showing 
that such leaders in infidelity have evinced no spirit 
of benevolence, no disposition to labor for the benefit 
of their fellow-creatures; but on the contrary have 
lived unto themselves, and almost without exception 
cultivated the coldest selfishness. 

* Dwight on Infidel Philosophy. 



432 m:»ilvaike's evidekces. 

But to speak more directly of the morals of lead- 
ing- infidels. Bolingbroke was a libertine of intem- 
perate habits and unrestrained lust. Temple was a 
corrupter of all that came near him, given up to ease 
and pleasure. Emerson, an eminent mathematician, 
waB " rude, vulgar, and frequently immoral." ** In- 
toxication and profane language were familiar to him. 
Towards the close of life, being afflicted with the 
stone, he would crawl about the floor on his hands 
and knees, sometimes praying, sometimes swearing." 
The morals of the Earl of Rochester are well known. 
Grodwin was a lewd man by his own confession, as 
well as the unblushing advocate of lewdness. Shaftes- 
bury and Collins, while endeavoring to destroy the 
gospel, partook of the Lord's supper, thus professing 
Christian faith for admission to office. ** Woolston 
was a gross blasphemer. Blount solicited his sister- 
cn-law to marry him, and being refused shot himself. 
Tindal was originally a Protestant, then turned Papist, 
then Protestant again, merely to suit the times ; and 
was at the same time infamous for vice in general, 
and the total want of principle. He is said to have 
died with this prayer in his mouth: 'If there is a 
God, I desire that he may have mercy on me.' 
Hobbes wrote his Leviathan to serve the cause of 
Charles I. ; but finding him fail of success, he turned 
it to the defence of Cromwell, and made a merit of 
Ihis fact to the usurper, as Hobbes himself unblush- 
ingly declared to Lord Clarendon."* Need I describe 
Voltaire '^ — prince of scoffers, as Hume was prince of 

* Dwight on Infidel Philosophy. 



\ 






FRUITS OF CHRISTIANlTt. 43i) 

sooptics — ^in childhood, initiated into infidelity ; in boy- 
hood, famous for daring blasphemy ; in manhood, dis- 
tinguished for a malignant, violent temper, for cold- 
blooded disruptions of all the ties nnd decencies of the 
family circle, for the ridicule of whatever was affect' 
iug, and the violation of whatever was confidential. 
Ever increasing in duplicity and hypocritioaJ man- 
ageraent with age and practice, those whom his wit 
attracted and his buffoonery amused, were either dis- 
gusted or polluted by his loathsome vices. Lies and 
oaths in their support, were nothing to his maw. 
Those whom he openly called his friends, he took 
pains secretly to calumniate ; flattering them to their 
faces, ridicudng and reviling them behind their backs. 
Years only added stiffness to the disgusting features 
of his impiety, coldness to his dark malignity, and 
fury to his impetuous temper. Throughout life he 
was given up " to work all uncleanness with greedi- 
ness." Such was the witty Voltaire, who, in the 
midst of his levity, had feeling and seriousness enough 
i to wish he had never been born. 

What shall we say of J. J. Rousseau ? A thief 
and liar and debauched profligate by his own " Con- 
fession." Educated a Protestant, he turned Papist 
for "subsistence;" and afterwards professed Protes- 
tantism again at Greneva, that he might enjoy the 
rights of citizenship, while all the while he was a foul- 
mouthed infidel. He began life as an apprentice. 
Having robbed his master and others, he fled and 
became a footman ; in which capacity, having again 
acted the thief, he tried to swear the crime on a maid- 

37 



434 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

servant, who lost her place by his villany. Stealing 
he never abandoned, however abandoned himself. 
Late ir life he said, ** I have been a rogue, and am 
sc still for trifles which I had rather take than ask 
for." Of his intercourse with vile women ; how he 
took advantage of the hospitality of friends to ruin 
the character of those who received him kindly ; how 
he coldly committed, one by one, the offspring of his 
base connections to the charity of the public, that he 
might be spared their trouble and have room for more; 
how utterly devoid he was of all natural affection, 
as well as all decency, my lecture is too modest to 
relate. To use his own language, guilty without 
remorse^ he soon became so without measure. Such 
was the man whom infidels have delighted to honor- 
The friends of Christ have reason to thank him for 
saying, " I cannot believe the gospel." " For what 
communion hath light with darkness? And what 
concord hath Christ with Belial ?" 

Nothing but the circulation attempted of late to 
be given to the scurrilous writings of Paine, induces 
me to descend low enough amidst " the offscouring 
of all things," to speak of the life of that miserable 
man. His first wife is said to have died by ill usage. 
His second was rendered so miserable by neglect and 
unkindness, that they separated by mutual agree* 
ment. His third companion^ not liis wife, was the 
victim of his seduction while he lived upon the hos- 
pitality of her husband. Holding a place in the excise 
of England, he was dismissed for irregularity ; re* 
stored, and dismissed again for fraud without recovery 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 435 

Unable to get employment where he was known, he 
came to this country, commenced politician, and pre- 
tended to some faith in Christianity. Congress gave 
him an office, from which, being soon found guilty 
of a breach of trust, he resigned in disgrace.* The 

* He resigned his office to escape being expelled from it. 
The author is much indebted to the Hon. William Jay for the 
following valuable extract from a document found among the 
papers of his father, the Hon. John Jay. The document was 
written while Mr. Jay was minister to Spain, about the year 
1780, and was an introduction to an intended history of his 
Spanish negotiations. The annexed extract would make a val- 
aable page in a history of Paine. 

'^ It is proper to observe that Mr. Deane, in consequence of 
his recall, returned to America in 1778 ; and that on his arrival 
Congress went into an inquiry into his conduct. Mr. Deane 
published a paper in the Philadelphia Gazette, containing stric- 
tures on the delays of Congress respecting his affairs, and heavy 
accusations against Mr. Arthur Lee, to whose machinations ho 
attributed the conduct of Congress towards him. This publica- 
tion caused a ferment throughout America, and very great heats 
in Congress. The public, papers teemed with publications for 
and against Mr. Deane and Mr. Lee. Among the writers for the 
latter was a Thomas Paine, an Englishman, who had been a hack- 
ney writer in London, and on his arrival in America was employ- 
ed by Aikin in compiling and correcting papers for his magazine. 
In this capacity his attachment to the American cause became 
suspected. He struck out several passages in papers composed 
by Dr. Witherspoon, as being too free. He afterwards became 
attached to some leading men who were most zealous for Amer- 
ican independence. He published a pamphlet on that subject, 
called Common Sense, and obtained much credit with the peopie 
for it. He wsus afterwards made Secretary to the Committee for 
Foreign Affairs; and when General Washington was retreating 
before the enemy in Jersey, and the minds of many were filled 
with apprehensions, he was again so suspected, as that Con- 
gress became uneasy lest the committee's papers in his cus- 
lody should fall into the enemy'f hands, and took their measurea 



436 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

French revolution allured him to France. Habits ot 
intoxication made him a disagreeable inmate in the 
house of the American minister, where out of com- 
passion he had been received as a guest. During ar 

accordingly The success at Trenton gave things a new aspect, 
and neyr courage to Paine. 

'* On the present occasion, his zeal for his employers carried 
him too far. The official papers had brought him acquainted 
with the state of American affairs at Versailles, and in his paper 
of the 2d of January he very imprudently inserted the follow- 
ing paragraph: 'If Mr. Deane, or any other gentleman will 
procure an order from Congress to inspect an account in my 
office, or any of Mr. Deane's friends in Congress will take the 
trouble of coming themselves, I wilf give him or them my 
attendance, and show them in a handwriting which Mr. Deane 
is well acquainted with, that the supplies he so pompously 
plumes himself upon, were promised and engaged, and that as 
a presentj before he even arrived in France,' etc. 

"The minister of France, Mr. Gerard, being aware of the 
consequences which would result from these assertions, and 
feeling very sensibly how much the honor of France waa 
wounded by a supposition of her having given gratuitous aid to 
America, contrary to her assurances to Britain, did on the oth 
of January, 1779, present a memorial to Congress referring to 
this publication, denying the assertions they contained, and 
representing the propriety of their being disowned by Congress. 
The day following, the memorial was considered, and various 
debates not proper to be specified here, ensued. Paine ai d the 
printer were ordered to attend at the bar of the House. The 
former confessed himself the author, and the latter the publisher^ 
of the paper in question. Many motions were made, debated, 
and rejected, before the House adopted the resolutions which 
finally took place. The subject was interesting to the public 
to the House, and particularly to the friends of the parties in 
diSeionce, as well as Mr. Paine's patrons, and, as is always the 
case on such occasioDS, more warmth .than prudence took place. 
The majority, however, were of opinion that Paine had pros* 
tituted his office to party purposes, and therefore ought to b« 



FEtJITS OF CHRTSTIANITY. 437 

this time, his life was a compound of ingratitude and 
perfidy, of hypocrisy and avarice, of lewdness and 
adultery. In June, 1809, the poor creature died in 
this country. The lady in whose house he lived re- 
lates that " he was daily drunk, and in his few mo- 
ments of soberness was always quarrelling with her, 
and disturbing the peace of the family." At that time 
"he was deliberately and disgustingly filthy." He had 
an old black woman for his servant, as drunken as her 
master. He accused her of stealing his rum; she 
retaliated by accusing him of being an old drunkard. 
They would lie on the same floor, sprawling and 
swearing and threatening to fight, but too intoxicated 
to engage in battle. He removed afterwards to vari- 
ous families, continuing his habits, and paying for 
his board only when compelled. In his drunken fits, 
he was accustomed to talk about the immortality of 
the soul.* Probably much of his book against the 
inspiration of the Scriptures was inspired by his cups. 
Such was the author of "the Age of Reason;" such 
the apostle of mob-infidelity. Unhappy man ! Nei- 
ther he, nor Rousseau, nor Voltaire is dead, except 
in the flesh. Their immortal souls are thinking as 
actively at least as ever. "We and they will stand, 
on the same great day, before the bar of God. How 
awful, in reference to such despisers and scoffers, is 
that description, "Behold, he cometh with clouds; 

discharged. This did not long remain a secret to him. and lo 
avoid that disgrace he resigned." 

P. S. Mr. Jay was a member of Congress at the time of thi 
above occurrences. 

* Oheetham's Life of Paine. 



438 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

and every eye shall see him, and ihey alao whiob 
pierced him." 

3. We proceed to speak, in the last place, of the 
fruits of Christianity, as displaced in tlhe deaths of 
its genuine disciples, in contrast with tlnyse- con* 
nected with infidelity. 

There is no question to which the testiixu>ay of 
the death-bed is so legitimately applioahle, as that 
between Inddelity and Christianity ; not only because 
the hour of death is specially to be relied on, as an 
hour of dispassionate and conscientious judgment, 
but particularly because it is one of the precious 
promises of the gospel, that true believers shall find 
the sting of death taken away, and experience rich con- 
solation and support when heart and flesh are failing. 
Infidelity, also, has published her promises in relation 
to the trial of death, and her disciples are not a little 
disposed to boast how confidently and fearlessly they 
could meet the king of terrors. Let us consult expe- 
rience on this head. 

Have Christians experienced the fulfilment, of the 
promises on which they trusted ? Have infidels made 
good their boasts ? With regard to Christians, it is 
a most impressive fact that such a thing has never 
been known as any one being sorry, in the hour of 
death, that he had embraced the gospel of Christ. 
We have often seen and heard of persons who had 
spent their days in the careless neglect of religion, 
most bitterly lamenting, when they found themselves 
near to eternity, that they had not been devoted 
Christians. It is invariably the case that genuine 



FRUITS QF CHRISTIANIXT. 43(> 

Christianssv when, they look back on their lives from 
the verge of the grave, are sorry that all their days 
had not been spent in a much more zealous ooDseera* 
tion to the service of Christ. Professors of religion 
are not unfrequently unhappy, when they come to die, 
not because they are or have been Christians, but 
only because they see reason to fear that they have 
not been real Christians. This unhappiness arises 
from the consciousness of being too much like those 
who reject the gospel — too little under the influence 
of its Spirit — ^too much under the influence of a prac- 
tical unbelief. And they seek consolation, not by 
endeavoring to banish the gospel iroia their minds, 
but by pressing to the feet of Jesus and seeking to 
have their hearts filled by his Spirit. But among all 
that ever named the name of Jesus, from the death 
of the martyred Stephen to the present hour, the mill- 
ions upon millions of Christians who have died under 
ail manner of tortures, and in all manner of circum- 
stances calculated to try the strength of their faith, 
not a philosopher or peasant, not a noble or a beggar, 
not a man, woman, or child, was ever known to repent 
that his preparation to die was that of the faith of 
GhrisL 

On the contrary, it has* been the invariable eflect 
of the religion of Christ, that those who in the day& 
of health, were evidently devoted to its spirit and 
riuties, when death approached have been enabled to 
await the. event with an. humble, submissive, and 
cheerful mind, keeping a confident eye ** unto Jesus," 
as the finisher as well as author of their faith. The] 



440 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

have felt it to be their most precious, their tinspeak' 
able consolation that they had been persuaded to be 
Christians. Nothing did they look back to with such 
thankfulness as, that instead of having lived in in« 
difference or infidelity, they had lived a life of faith 
upon the Son of God. They have felt that however 
solemn, and to the flesh painful was death, to thera 
it was not gloomy nor appaUing, nor any thing to be 
lamented, but only a short valley in the way to their 
everlasting and blissful rest with God on high. The 
most timid by nature have stepped down without fear 
or doubt, believing in Jesus, and walking by faith. 
The affectionate parent has found such an accession of 
strength in the moment of separation from a beloved 
and helpless family, as to be enabled cheerfully to take 
the last look and leave his fatherless children with 
God. The young man in the prime and promise of 
his years, with every thing that earth could give to 
make life desirable, has had the prospect of a bettei 
inheritance presented to his mind with such assurance, 
that he had a strong desire ^' to depart, and be with 
Christ." The nearer Christians have come to eter- 
nity, and the sharper the trial of their faith, the 
nearer have they drawn to Christ, the more closely 
have they embraced his cross, the more necessary 
has seamed his death for their sins, the more precious 
and full of glory the whole plan of redemption. Such 
is an average testimony in point of consolation fur- 
nished by the death-beds of the disciples of Christ, 
when disease or the suddenness of departure has not 
prevented them from all testimony whatever. 



FRUITS OP CHRISTlAHlTr. 441 

But in innumerable instances the facts are much 
more positive. It is frequently the case that dying 
Christians, as they draw near to eternity, seem to 
catch the song and share the bliss of heaven. Their 
faith not only delivers them from gloom and fear, but 
fells them with joy and triumph. They are not only 
supported, but exalted ; unspeakably happier in the 
agonies of death, than ever they were in the vigor of 
health. As the body sinks, the spirit rises in strength 
of faith and confidence of approaching glory. A 
smile of joy plays upon the death-struck counte- 
nance. The tenderest affection and the most benevo- 
lent interest for all around them, with earnest prayer 
that sinners may come to Jesus, and that his gospel 
may be embraced in all the world, occupy their latest 
moments. They die, thanking God who giveth them 
the victory through Jesus Christ. 

This is no picture of imagination. It is drawn 
from facts which the lecturer has frequently had the 
privilege of witnessing — facts such as have been often 
repeated in the observation of all whose duty has led 
them often to visit and converse with the dying on 
the subject of religion — facts of which the domestic 
history of the gospel in all ages is full, and of which 
no effrontery can attempt a denial. Paul, in the 
near view of a painful death, exclaimed, << I am now 
ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is 
at liand. I have fought a good fight,. I have finished 
my course, I have kept the £edth ; henceforth there 
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which 
the Lord, the righteous Judge, sh^U give me at that 



442 tt'JLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

day ; and not to me only, but unto all them also that 
love his appearing."* Polycarp, when they would 
have nailed him to the stake, said, ** Let me remain 
as I am ; for He who giveth me strength to sustain 
the fire, will enable me also, without your securing 
me with nails, to remain unmoved in the fire." 
Then being bound for a burnt-offering, he exclaimed, 
" Father, I bless thee that thou hast counted me 
worthy of this day and this hour to receive my por- 
tion in the cup of Christ." Bilney, putting his finger 
into the flame of a candle on the night before he was 
burned, repeated that promise, *'When thou walkest 
through the fire, it shall not burn thee ;" and said, 
** I constantly believe that howsoever the stubble of 
this body shall be wasted by it, yet my soul shall be 
purged thereby — a pain for the time, whereon, not- 
withstanding, followeth joy unspeakable." Hooper, 
going to the stake, being addressed by a papist in 
the language of condolence, answered, *' Be sorry for 
thyself, and lament thine own wickedness ; for 1 am 
well, I thank God, and death to me for Christ's sake 
is welcome." Bishop Bedell, apprehending a speedy 
dissolution, assembled his family, and with many 
other words, declared, "Knowing that I must shortl}- 
put off this my tabernacle, I know also that I have 
d building of God, a house not made with hands, 
eternal in the heavens. Therefore, to me to live is 
Christ, and to die is gain ; which increases my de- 
sire even now to depart and be with Christ, which is 
far better. I ascend to my Father and your Father 

• 2 Tim. 4 : e-8. 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 443 

to ray God and your God, through the all-sufEoient 
merit? of Jesus Christ my Redeemer, who ever Uvea 
to make intercession for me." Fletcher's continual 
exclamation while dying was, " God is love ; God is 
love." He panted for words to express what he felt 
in the utterance of that precious truth. Finley, in 
the act of departing, used such language as this: 
"A Christian's death is the best part of his exist- 
ence." *' Blessed be God, eternal rest is at hand." 
"The Lord hath given me the victory. I exult j 
I triumph. Now I know that it is impossible that 
faith should not triumph over earth and hell." 
" Lord Jesus, into thy hands I commit my spirit ; I 
do it with confidence ; I do it with full assurance, 
I know that thou wilt keep that which I have com- 
mitted to thee."* Said the dying Payson, " While 
my body is thus tortured, the soul is perfectly, per- ' 
fectly happy and peaceful, more than I can possibly 
express to you. I lie here and feel these convulsions 
extending higher and higher, without the least un- 
easiness ; but my soul is filled with joy unspeakable. 
I seem to swim in a flood of glory which God pours 
down upon me. And I know, I know that my happi- 
ness is but begun. I cannot doubt that it will last 
for ever." And what shall I say more? For the 
time would fail to tell of Latimei and Ridley and 
Hooker, of Romaine and Newton and Scott, of Swartz 
and Buchanan and Martyn, of Oberlin and Rich- 
mond, of Evarts and Cornelius, leaders in the faith 

* See '^ Deaths of* Hume and Finley Compared," by Dr 
Mason, in the tract No. 190, of the American Tract Society. 



444 H-ILYAINE'B ETIDENCE8 

" of whom the world was not worthy." But should 
we go into the more retired walks of Christian life, 
and consult liie annals of every village church, and 
gather out the examples of holy patience in suffer- 
ing, and sublime faith and deep humility, and joy 
unspeakable in dying, which the eye of Grod has seen 
among the poor of this world in every age since the 
death of Christ, what a cloud of witnesses would 
compass us about, uniting their joyful testimony to 
Jesus as '' the resurrection and the life" — ^to the gos- 
pel, as in all its promises faithful and ^' worthy of all 
acceptation."* 

* A beautiful exhibition of the effects of the gospel is found 
in the narrative of the loss of the Kent, East Indiaman, in 
1825. The account is given by Major McGregor, who was not 
rendered the less capable of calmly observing the events he hao 
recorded, or of firmly bearing- his part in the dangers of that 
awful crisis, in consequence cf having his soul kept in peace by 
the precious hopes of a disciple of Christ. 

While the ship was burniiig below, and the magazine waf 
every moment expected to blow up, and not a soul out of more 
than six hundred had a thought but of perishing either by fire 
or the tempest ] while some were standing in silent resignation, 
or stupid insensibility, and others were given up to the most 
frantic despair; while "some on their knees were earnestly 
imploring with significant gesticulations, and in noisy supplica- 
tions, the mercy of Him whose arm, they exclaimed, was at 
length outstretched to smite them;" and others had sullenly 
seated themselves directly over the magazine, that by means of 
tlie expected explosion a speedier termination might be put to 
their sufferings ; " several of the soldiers' wives and children, 
who had fied for temporary shelter into the after-cabins on the 
upper decks, were engaged in prayer, and in reading the Scrip* 
tures with the ladies, some of whom were enabled, with wonder- 
ful self-possession, to offer to others those spiritual consolations 
which a firm and intelligent trust in the Redeemer of the world 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 446 

Now let us turn to infidelity. What confirmation 
has resulted from the death-beds of infidels, to the 
truth of their faith, and its ability to support and 
comfort the souls of its dying disciples? Ah, the 
change is like being translated from the beauty and 
fi:agrance and joyful promise of spring, into the cold- 
ness and barrenness and gloominess of winter. 

Has infidelity ever exhibited a solitary example 
of that high and delightful consolation, that trium- 
phant, unspeakable joy on the brink of the grave, of 
which Christianity can cite innumerable instances? 
It seems almost ridiculous to be at pains enough to 
answer such a question. Infidelity has no doctrine, 
no promise, out of which such a delightful frwiie of 
mind could grow. Infidels feel themselves so infinitely 
removed from it, that it seems to them, in the di3- 
tance, as something incomprehensible, or visionary, or 
fanatical. But are there not examples of such per- 
sons dying without fear ? Unquestionably there are : 
but how few of them have any application to thn 

appeared at this awful hour to impart to their own breasts. 
The dignified deportment of two young ladies in particular 
formed a specimen of natui^l strength of mind, finely modified 
by Christian feeling, that failed not to attract the notice and 
admiration of every one who had an opportunity of witnessing 
it. One young gentleman having calmly asked my opinion of 
the state of the ship, I told him that I thought we should be pre- 
pared to sleep that night in eternity ; and I shall never forget 
the peculiar fervor with which he replied, as he pressed my hand 
in his, * My heart is filled with the peace of God J* '' Comment 
would only mar such a beautiful testimony to the blessedness 
of a gospel faith. " Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace 
whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee.** 
Isa. 26 : 3. 

38 



^46 M ILYAINE'S EYIDEKGES. 

present argament The great majority of them have 
been cases in wluoh the lethargy or delirium occa- 
sioned by disease prevented the patient from being 
sensible of his condition ; or his death succeeded ^ 
immediately after the symptoms ol his danger, as to 
allow no time for the consideration of his eternal 
interests ; or his friends took care that he should bo 
kept in ignorance of the fieital character of his dis- 
order until it was too late for any thing but insensi* 
bility and dissolution; or else the unhaf^y infidel, 
Buspicious of his stead&stness when the trial should 
arrive, surrounded himself with such companions as 
would guard his bedside from the approach of any 
minister of better consolations, and keep his mind 
amused with trifles and his pride stimulated with the 
ambition of holding out to the last. Undoubtedly 
tiiere have been cases to which none of these specifi.- 
cations are applicable — €ases of infidels who, in quiet- 
nes8| with their intellects in sound and wakeful 
exercise, and with a knowledge of their nearness to 
eternity, have died without the manifestation of 
alarm. But this has nothing to do with our point. 
We could speak of multitudes who believed Chris- 
tianity, and had no idea that they were prepared to 
meet their G-od, but nevertheless died without alarm. 
The question is, does infidelity sustain and comfort 
its disciples in the hoUr of death ? It can hardly be 
necessary to assert, that whatever calmness any of 
them may have manifesiked, had no manner of con- 
nection with their infidel principles. They might 
have had the same as well without infidelity as with 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 447 

it They did not pretend to draw strength and peaoo 
from its barren breasts. What was called in their 
case resignation^ was not the offspring of their prin 
oiples as infidels, but of their doom as mortals. The^ 
had to die, and there was no use in complaining , 
this is about the amount of all their consolation. 
Most gladly would they have entreated to live, could 
they have supposed that entreaty would have suc- 
ceeded. Death has never been regarded by such 
men, except as a necessary evil in every respect, 
only io be submitted to because irrevocably appointed. 
Such is the very best account we can give of the tes- 
timony of the death-beds of infidels. It is 4reary, 
desolate, cold. It whispers something that should 
go to the heart of a sceptic. Its dismal negativeness 
is positive condemnation. Where, in all this region of 
emptiness, is the sweet serenity, the cheerful resigna- 
tion, the positive pleasure and happiness in prospect of 
death, which so generally attend the dying Christian ? 
Where is your parallel in a single infidel, to the joy- 
ful welcome which death has received in a million 
cases at the lips of the followers of Christ, when they 
have felt themselves almost at home, and in view of 
heaven have longed to depart and be with Christ ? 

No case of a dying unbeliever has been made so 
much of, by way of a set-oiF to the testimony of 
Christians, as that of David Hume. The evident 
object of Adam Smith, the narrator, is to put up his 
friend for a comparison with believers. G ibbon fiays, 
" He died the death of a philosopher." Nothing can 
be more affected, more evidently contrived for Ftage 



449 M'lIVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

effect, or, even on infidel principles, more disgracefol 
to such a mind as Hume's, than the manner of his 
death according to the account given by his friend. 
He knew his end was near. Whether he was to bo 
annihilated, or to be for ever happy or for ever miser- 
able, was a question involved on his own principles 
in impenetrable darkness. It was the tremendous 
question to be then decided. Reason and decency 
demanded that it should be seriously contemplated. 
How does he await the approach of eternity ? Said 
Chesterfield, an infidel also, ^'When one does see 
death near, let the best or the worst people say what 
they please, it is a serious consideration." Does 
Hume treat it as a serious consideration? He is 
diverting himself. With what ? With preparing his 
essay in defence of suicide for a new edition, reading 
books of anmsement, and sometimes with a game at 
cards. He is diverting himself again. With what 
next ? With talking silly stuff about Charon and his 
boat and the river Styx. Such are a philosopher's 
diversions, where commoti-sense teaches other people 
to be at least grave and thoughtful. But why divert 
himself? Why turn off his mind from death ? What 
the need of his writings and his cards, and his books 
of amusement, and his trifling conversation ? Was he 
afraid to let his mind settle down quietly and alone 
to the contemplation of all that was at stake in the 
crisis before him ? Whatever the explanation of his 
levity, it was ill-timed, out of taste, badly got up; 
an affected piece of over-acting, intended for posthu* 
mous fame, to sav the best of it. He died "as a foo 



FRUITS OF GU&ISTIAKIXlr. 449 

d^eth." Take his own views, as tims expressed at 
the eod of his Nataral History of Religion ; ^' The 
eomfoftable views exhibited by the belief of futurity 
are ravishing and delightful. But how quickly tbe^ 
vanish on the appear auce of it9 terrors^ which koop a 
niore firm and durable possession of the human mind. 
The whole is a riddle, an enigma, an inexplicable 
9)y$tery. Poubt, uncertainty, suspense of judgment, 
appear the only result of our most ax^urate scrutiny 
concerning this subject'' In his own estimation, 
then, ftdurity has its terrors. Doubt, inexplicable 
mystery, hung over his £ature d^tiny. Whether he 
was not to be a child of hell for ever, his most accu- 
rate scrutiny could only suspend his judgment In 
this tremendous suspense he plays cards, as it were, 
on his coffin-lid ; jests about ridiculous fables as he 
steps down to the momentous uncertainties, but eter- 
nal realities, of the future. If a finger had been about 
to receive its sentence whether to be amputated or not, 
he would at the least have been more grave. How 
far such a death-bed scene is honorable to phijiosophy 
or infiddity^, or fit to be compared with that of mill- 
ions of Christians, I need not say. But this is die 
fqiirest aspect of the matter on the side of infidelity.* 

* There is reascm to believe, that however uaconeemed 
Hume may have seemed in the presence of his infidoL friend*, 
there w«» times when, being idiyerjlied neither by oompanions, 
nor calls, nor his works, apr books of amufieniAni, bat left to 
himself^ and the oontemplatioa of eternity, he was .any thing 
bat composed and satisfied. 

The following aceount was published many years ago ia 
Edinburgh, where he died. It is not luwwn to have been ever 
contradicted. " About the end of 1776, a few months after the 



4oO M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

We said, the case could not be mentioned of any 
one having regretted, on his death-bed, that he had 
lived a Christian. We now say, that cases innumer- 
able have occurred of persons bitterly lamenting, 

historian's death, a respectable looking woman, dressed in black, 
came into the Haddington stage-coach, while passing through 
Edinburgh. The conversation among the passengers, which 
had been interrupted for a few minutes, was speedily resumed, 
which the lady soon found to be regarding the state of mind 
persons were in at the prospect of death. An appeal was made, 
in defence of infidelity, to the death of Hume, as not only 
happy and tranquil, but mingled even with gayety and humor. 
To this the lady said, * Sir, this is all you know about it ; I 
could tell you another tale.' ^ Madam,' replied the gentleman, 
^ I presume I have as good information as you can have on this 
subject, and I believe that what I have asserted regarding Mr. 
Hume has never been called in question.' The lady continued, 
* Sir, I was Mr. Hume's housekeeper for many years, and was 
with him in his last moments ; and the mourning I now wear 
was a present from his relatives for my attention to him on his 
death-bed ; and happy would I have been if I could have borne 
my testimony to the mistaken opinion that has gone abroad of 
his peaceful and composed end. I have, sir, never till this hour 
opened my mouth on this subject, but I think it a pity the world 
should be kept in the dark on so interesting a topic. It is true, 
sir, that when Mr. Hume's friends were with him he was cheer- 
ful, and seemed quite unconcerned about his approaching fate ; 
nay, frequently spoke of it to them in a jocular and playful 
way; but when he was alone, the scene was very different : he 
was any thing but composed ; his mental agitation was so great 
at times as to occasion his whole bed. to shake. He would not 
allow the candles to be put out during the night, nor would he 
be left alone for a minute. I had always to ring the bell for 
one of the servants to be in the room, before he would allow me to 
leave it. He struggled hard to appear composed, even befoire me. 
But to one who attended his bedside for so many days and nights, 
and witnessed his disturbed sleeps and still more disturbed wak- 
ings—who frequently heard his involuntary breathings of re- 
morse and frightful startings, it was no difficult matter to deter- 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 451 

^hen dying, that they had lived in infidelity. Every- 
where such instances have occurred. They are tec 
notorious to need citation. The boldest unbelievers 
have furnished the most numerous examples. They 
have felt every foundation removed when hearfc and 
flesh began to fail. What they had boasted in life, 
they found a miserable comforter in death. The 
Earl of Rochester, a scholar and a blasphemer, as 

mine that all was not right within. This continued and increased 
until he became insensible. I hope in God I shall never witness 
a similar scene.' " Christian Observer, vol. 31, p. 665. 

There is internal evidence of truth, attached to the above. 
Hume had no opinions with regard to God, or the future, except 
that all was doubtful. Whether there was a God, a future 
state, a hell, or annihilation, he did not profess to know. The 
future had its terrors, he acknowledged. To him they were 
terrors of darkness and uncertainty. He spoke of 'Hho calm, 
though obscure regions of philosophy." He called the whole 
question as to man's future destiny, ^* a riddle, a7i enigma, an 
inexplicable mystery?^ All he could arrive at was, ^^ doubt, vn- 
certainty, suspense of judgment, ^^ In this state of mind,- nothing 
could have been more forced or unnatural than the levity de- 
scribed by Smith. That was his stage-dress. If a man lay a 
hundred pounds upon a game, he is anxious till the uncertainly 
as to its fate be removed. But Hume knew that his all, for 
EVER, was at stake, and that he was unconcerned, unanxions, 
when not diverted, is incredible. On the other hand, the account 
presented above is exactly what nature and reason would expect 
from the state of mind in which the philosopher described him- 
self, as to all that awaited him. Not to be penetrated with 
anxiety of the most painful kind, when a few hours were to 
decide whether he was to be annihilated, or to be carried to the 
judgment-seat of God, and find all that he had ridiculed in the 
gospel true, and be condemned to eternal misery — a destiny 
which, on his own principles, was as likely as any thing else- 
could only be accounted for on the supposition that disease; or 
friends, diverted his attention from the decision approaching. 



452 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCE13. 

deep in vice as in infidelity, when he approached the 
end of life, became a thorough penitent, and to one 
of his former companions said, from his death-bed| 
'^ remember, that you contemn God no longer. He 
is an avenging God, and will visit you for your sins ; 
and will, I hope, in mercy touch your conscience, 
sooner or later, as he has done mine. You and I have 
been friends and sinners together a great while. We 
have been all mistaken in our conceits and opinions ; 
our persuasions have been false and groundless; there- 
fore I pray God grant you repentance." To those 
who had been drawn into sin by his example and 
encouragement, he said, " I warn them no more to 
make a mock of sin, or contemn the pure and excel- 
lent religion of my ever blessed Redeemer, through 
whose merits alone, I, one of the greatest of sinners, 
do yet hope for mercy and forgiveness." 

Hobbes could never bear to talk of death. His 
mind was haunted with tormenting reflections. If 
his candle went out in the night, while he was in bed, 
he was in misery. As lie descended to the grave, he 
said, ^^ he was about to take a leap in the dark." 

Struenzee, prime minister of Denmark, and Brandt 
the companion of his disgrace and imprisonment, had 
boHi been poisoned by the writings and society ol 
Voltaire; and both, in prospect of death, renounced 
infidelity with detestation, and embraced the gospe 
as all their hope. 

Shall I lead you to the horrible spectacle of Vol- 
taire in the arms of death, and expecting in a few 
moments to stand at the bar of God. He has jus» 



FRUITS OF CHRISTIANITY. 45b 

returned from a feast of applause in the theatre, to be 
laid on a bed of death in the agonies of an upbraiding 
conscience. The physician enters. "Doctor," said 
the apostle of infidelity, with the utmost consterna- 
tion^ '*I am abandoned by God and man. I will 
give you hajf of what I am worth, if you will give 
me six months' life." The physician told him he 
could not live six weeks, '* Then," said he, " I shall 
go to hell." His companions in guilt, D'Alembert, 
Diderot, and Marmontel, hasten to keep up his cour- 
age, but meet nothing but reproach and horror. In 
spite of the guard of infidels about him, he sends for 
the Abbe Gautier to come as soon as possible. In 
his presence and that of other witnesses, he signs a 
recantation of infidelity, and professes to die in the 
church. It is sent to the rector of St. Sulpice and 
the archbishop of Paris for approval. The Abbe 
Gautier returns with it, but cannot enter. Every 
avenue to the dying infidel is defended by those who 
had shared in his conspiracy against Christianity. 
They want to hide his terrors and their own shame. 
Now it is that D'Alembert, Diderot, and about twenty 
others of like character who beset his apartment, 
never approach him but to hear their condemnation. 
"Retire!" he often exclaims with execrations; "it is 
you that have brought me to my present state. Be- 
gone! I could have done without you all, but you 
could not exist without me. And what a wretxshed 
glory have you produced me !" Then his conspiracy 
comes before him, and alternately supplicating and 
blaspheming, he complains that he is abandoned by 



454 U ILYAINE'S KYIPHNCES. 

God and man, and often cries out, '*0 Christ! Je- 
sus Christ !" He is looking on Him whom he pieroed. 
He is drinking the cup of trembling, the foretaste of 
the second death. The Mareschal de Richelieu flies 
from the scene, declaring it "too terrible to be sus- 
tained." The physicians, thunderstruck, retire, de- 
claring " the death of the impious man to be terrible 
indeed." One of them pronounces that "the furies 
of Orestes could give but a faint idea of those of 
Voltaire."* 

We shall close these awful soenes with a few 
glances at the dying Paine. Once it was his boast, 
that during a dangerous illness he thought with new 
satisfaction of having written the Age of Reason, and 
found by experiment that his principles were suffi- 
cient to sustain him in expectation of death. It was 
an empty boast. Let us see him when really dying. 
He would not be left alone night or day. If he 
could not see that some one was with him, he would 
scream till a person appeared. A fen^ale attendant 
more than once found him in the attitude of prayei 
Having asked her what she thought of his Age of 

* " The nurse who attended him being, many years after- 
wards, requested to wait on a sick Protestant gentleman, refused 
till she was assured he wns not a philosopher ; declaring, if he 
were, she would on no account incur the danger of witnessing 
Bucli a scene as she had heen compelled to do at the death of 
M. Voltaire. I received this account,'' adds the Right Rev. 
Daniel Wilson, '' from the son of the gentleman to whose dying'' 
bed the woman was invited, by a letter now in my possession.' 

The above account is abridged from the " History of Jaco- 
binism," by the Abbe Baruel, and has been' denied by no one of 
the many witnesses to th'* death of VQltaire. 



FRUITS Ot CHRISTIAKITY. 45i 

Reason ) and being answered, that from a conviction 
of its evil tendency she had burnt it, he wished all 
its readers had been as wise, and added, ^'If ever the 
devil had an agent on earth, I have been one." An 
infidel visitor said to him, "You have lived like a 
man, I hope you will die like one." He turned bo 
others in the room and said, " You see what miser- 
able comforters I have." The woman whom he had 
enticed from her husband, lamented to a neighbor her 
sad condition. ^' F(mp this man," she said, " I have 
given up my family and friends, my property and my 
religion ; judge then of my distress, when he tells me 
that the principles lie has taught me will not bear 
me out." Well might she be distressed when she 
heard his exclamations. " He would call out, during 
his paroxysms of distress, without intermission, ' 
Lord, help me ; God help me ; Jesus Christ help me ; 
Lord, help me ;' repeating the same expressions with- 
out any the least variation, in a tone of voice that 
would alarm Hie house."* 

Ami now, what need be said in conclusion ? You 
have seen the fruit of tibe trees. One produces cor*, 
ruption, the other holiness of life. One roots up, the 
other nourishes and cherishes whatever is good around 
it. The spread of infidelity is that of vice and dis^ 
order and all confusion. The spread of Christianity 
is that of purity, peace, and all the virtues of the 
social state. The more thoroughly an individual 
embraces infidelity, the more entirely does he become 
the slave of sin. The more perfectly he embraces 

* Cheetham's Life of Paine. 



456 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCJiS. 

the gospel, the more perfectly does he become the 
example of whatever is lovely and of good report. 
No infidel ever rose higher than the chill composare 
of a Stoic's firmness, in the trial of death. Multitudes 
and the chief of infidels have, in that honest hour, 
abandoned their sentiments with horror. On the 
other hand, no Christian ever regretted, when dying, 
that he had believed the gospel; all have only wished 
they had followed it more diligently; and in cases 
innumerable, disciples of Christ have risen to the 
most triumphant emotions of joy and praise, and the 
most exulting assurance of eternal life and glory, in 
the very act of departing for eternity. 

Is a tree known by its firuits? Then which oi 
these is the tree of life? Which looks like truth? 
Which is to be cut down, and cast into the everlast- 
ing burning? 

The whole argument of this and the preceding 
lecture may be well concluded with an applicable and 
true saying of Hume. Being asked by a friend, to 
whom he used to refer his essays previously to publi- 
cation, whether he thought that if his opinions were 
universally prevalent, mankind would not be rendered 
more unhappy than they were ; and whether he did 
not suppose that the curb of religion was necessary 
to human nature: "The objections," answered he, 
** are not without weight, but error never can pro- 
duce GOOD.'* Such is precisely the text of this and 
the preceding lecture. '*Do men gather grapes of 
thorns, or figs of thistles?" " The tree is known by 
its fruits," said the Saviour. "Error never can pro- 



FRUITS OF CHRISTlAlTlTy. 457 

duoe good," said the man who denied him. By this 
let the comparative merits of Christianity and infidel- 
ity stand or fall. 

How imperative, then, is the exhortation to all pro- 
fessors of the religion of Jesus, " Let your light shine 
before men." *'Be careful to maintain good works." 
" Let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel 
of Christ." To you is committed the honor of Christian- 
ity among the unbelieving and disobedient. Its most 
legible and universally imposing evidences are found 
in the living epistles of those who, under the influ- 
ence of its saving truth, are seen devotedly " follow- 
ing after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, 
meekness ;" ** using the world as not abusing it ;" look- 
ing for death as not fearing it; cheerful in all duty 
while they remain on earth; happy when the time 
comes for them to depart out of it unto the Father. 
Ah, if all that are numbered among Christians were 
thus radiant in the beauty of holiness, how soon 
would the whole earth be filled with the praise of the 
Lord ! Then indeed would the church put on strength. 
Then would the Gentiles come to her light, and kings 
to the brightness of her rising : all they that despise 
her should bow themselves down at the soles of her 
feet; and they should call her, " The city of the Lord; 
the Zion of the holy One of Israel."* 

■ Isaiah, ch. 60. 



39 



468 X'ILVAINE'8 EVIDBNCEft. 



LECTURE XII. 

BUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT, AND APPLICATION TO 

OBJECTIONS. 

In the course of the preceding lectures, I have 
beeuL enabled by a kind Providence to spread before 
you a comprehensive view of the external evidences 
of Christianity. Although one whole division of our 
forces, and one of no secondary consequence, has not 
been brought into the field, and of that which has 
Ign employed several important subdivisions have 
been ihgld in the background for want of room to 
display thenlpenraglJjbkitrust, has been done to give 
you an impressive idea of^wJilU^© strength of the 
cause must be, when all the iraJBense variety of 
auxiliaries composing its host are arrStfg^d together 
under command of a mind capable of ust^g them to^- \ 
the best advantage. It would stand like tra|J»«^i^® 
squares of British infantry at Waterloo, to w 
boasting enemy rode up again and again, in the lid 
confidence of sweeping them before the impetuoiry 
of their charge. But '* their onset and reception \e, 
that of a furious ocean pouring itself against a cllUp- 
of insulated rocks."* ^ 

Before relinquishing our course, it is important to 
take a brief retrospect of the ground we have been 

• Scott's Napoleon. 

i 



en 



SUllliARt ANl; OBJECTIONS. 45d 

ovor, that we may gather into united and oobperating 
force the several lines of argument which as yet have 
teen employed only in theit separate efficiency. 

After having divided the whole field of evidence 
into the two general departments of esdtemal and 
internal, and separated the former, as that to which 
our Course would be confined) we proceeded to lay the 
foundation of all our subsequent reasonings by mak- 
ing good the AUTHENTICITY OP THR BOOKS OP THE NeW 

Testament, and the credibility op the history con- 
tained therein. In reference to the question of authen- 
ticity, we instituted an inquiry whether there is suf- 
ficient evidence that the several scriptures composing 
the New Testament were written by the men whose 
names they bear, the original apostles and disciples 
of Christ. For an answer to this, we pursued pre- 
cisely the same method as in determining the authen- 
ticity of any other writings. The evidence required 
in such investigations was shown to be so unaffected 
by time, that whether a book be ascribed to the 
Christian era, or to five centuries earlier or later, ^ 
similar description of proof would possess a similar 
to conclusiveness. That for the authenticity of the 
heihooks of the New Testament was presented undeV the 
{ee^bllowing heads: They are quoted or alluded to by 
^ series of writers extending in unbroken succession 
iTom the present to the apostolic age. In the earliest 
writers of this series, as well as the later, they are 
treated with peculiar respect, as possessing an author- 
ity belonging to no other books, and as conclusive in 
all questions of religion ; they were collected at a very 



i 



460 M^ILVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

early period into a distinct volume; were publicly 
read and expounded in the assemblies of the primi- 
tive Christians; commentaries were written upon 
them; harmonies were formed out of them; different 
copies were carefully compared, and versions were 
made into different languages, in the first centuries of 
Christianity. Hence, it appeared that the agreement 
of the ancient church, as to what were the authentic 
books of the New Testament, was complete, and was 
no more imperfect among the various sects of heretics 
than among the orthodox fathers. None of these sev- 
eral heads of evidence attach to any of those spurious 
writings commonly called apocryphal scriptures, while 
the marks of the spuriousness of these can be asserted 
with regard to none of those which are esteemed as 
authentic. In confirmation of the mass of testimony 
adduced in support of these propositions, we exhibited 
a most important collection of proofs from the writ- 
ings of the early adversaries of Christianity. The 
style and language of the New Testament were spoken 
of, as in perfect agreement with the local and other 
circumstances of its reputed writers; as in perfect 
harmony with their known character, and with the 
age and country in which they lived; and such as 
3ould not have been produced in any age subsequent 
to theirs. In conclusion of the whole argument, we 
endeavored to show that such was the necessity of 
detection in case of a forgery, during the primitive 
centuries, that had the books in question been deficient 
in the evidence of apostolic origin, nothing less than 
a miracle could account for their earlv and universal 



SUMMARY AND OBJECTIONS. 46J 

currency. The whole train of evidence ooncluded 
with this result; that to suppose the New Testam^il 
unauthentic or even (questionable in this particular, 
is to resign the authenticity of every other book of the 
least antiquity; yea, and to deny the sufficiency o^ 
human testimony, in its most conclusive form, to 
establish the authenticity of any such work. Having 
come to thid, it seemed no presumption to proceed, in 
our subsequent lectures, as if the question of .authen« 
ticity were answered in the affirmative with entire 
s£itiSifaction. 

But in connection with the apostolic origin, it 
was important t6 look into the integrity of the New 
Testament scriptures, for the purpose of ascertaining 
to what extent they have been preserved without 
mutilation or corruption. That they have undergone 
no material alteration since they were first published, 
was inferred from the perfect impossibility of such a 
change; from obvious agreement among the existing 
manuscripts of the New Testament; and from the 
harnriony of our present text with the numerous quo- 
tations in the works of early Christian writers, as 
well as with those ancient translations which are still 
extant. 

But in laying the foundation of our subsequent 
argument^ another question remained : Is the history 
containod in these authentic Writings credible? In 
answer to this, we assumed that the credibility of the 
gospel history is to be ascertained precisely like that 
of any other history. It appeared that, in questions 
of this kind, the two gtoat joints to be proved are, 

:9- 



462 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES 

a competency ofknowledge^ and trustworthy honesty ^ 
on the part of the historian: Did he know enough to 
write a true aocount, and was he too honest to write 
any other account than such as he believed to be true ? 
These points established, the credibility of any history 
is settled. The first was easily determined by the 
consideration that the amount of knowledge required 
for tihie writing of the gospel history was by no means 
great; that the narrative is extremely simple and 
unambitious; and that those who penned it were per- 
sonal companions of Christ, and eye-witnesses of al- 
most all they related. In reference to the second point 
to be made out, we took the position that there is 
abundant evidence that the writers of the gospel his- 
tory were too honest to relate any thing but what 
they believed to be truth. Taking* the history as 
written by St. John for a specimen, we discovered a 
strong internal evidence of the honesty of the writer 
in the fact, that it is in a high degree circumstantial ; 
and another in the incidental characteristic of the 
writer, that he takes no pains to convince us of his 
honesty, and makes no parade about it as if it were 
possible to be suspected ; and another in the circum- 
stance, that while he could not have been ignorant 
that he was relating many extraordinary and wonder- 
ful events, he betrays no appearance of wonder in 
liimself, nor any expectation of wonder from his read- 
ers, thus evincing that he was conscious of narrating 
events of universal notoriety. In addition to these 
striking imprints of honesty, we perceived another in 
the minute accuracy which distinguishes all the alln 



SUMMARY AND OBJECTIONS. 463 

sioiis of this narrative to the manners, customs, opin- 
ions, politioal events, and circumstances of the times. 

Having thus exhibited satisfactory evidence of 
th3 honesty of one of the writers of the gospel narra- 
tive, we produced seven other writers, each entirely 
independent of the rest, and possessing all the inter- 
nal marks of honesty discovered in St. John ; all con- 
curring in their statements so entirely that no con- 
tradiction can he detected, and yet with so much 
incidental variety, that the suspicion of a concerted 
scheme for mutual support is as unreasonable as if 
they had lived in different centuries. The fact that 
they were heartily interested in the gospel — ^that they 
so firmly believed what they wrote, as to have lived 
in zealous devotion to Christ, even to the sacrifice of 
life, was shown to be the strongest confirmation, in- 
stead of the least abridgment, of their united testi- 
mony. In their cooperating evidence, we have a proof 
of the honesty of each writer, and of the credibility 
of the whole body of facts contained in their pages, 
such as no history of any individual of the world can 
equal. Such a thing as four histories of any ancient 
series of events^ written by persons contemporaneous 
with the subject, and handed down to us, is found 
only in the case before us. When it is considered 
that the authors were not only contemporaries, but 
companions of the personage whose history is given, 
their mutual support and internal evidences of hon- 
esty afford a body of proof which, were their narra- 
tives untrue, would be morally impossible. 

Here we might have left the question of credibiU 



464 H'lLYAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

Uy, But Vre proceeded to show, that to suppose 
these writers to have published what they did Aot 
believe, is to suppose that they acted not only with- 
out any cmioeivable motive, but in direct opposition 
to all ttie motives by which the minds of men aiv 
ever influenced. And finally, it was made to appeat 
that the gospel history has in its support not only all 
ihd testimony that could fairly have been expected 
from its enemieis-^all of them yielding at least the 
evidence of silence^ wheuj had they been able, they 
would liteuredly have published a demal----but much 
stronger testimony than could fairly have been ex- 
pected {torn enemies, since several of their most hos- 
tile writera positively acknowledge all the facts that 
are necessary to establish the divine authority of 
Jedus But this was not out highest reach of testi- 
mony. We found a great cloud of witnesses to the 
truth of this history in the multitudes converted to 
the gospel under the preaching of the apostle^ — wit- 
nesses who have this peculiar excellence, that from 
having once been enemies, they became devoted 
friends by the mere force of their conviction of the 
facts in question. The whole argument for credibil- 
ity was finished by showing, from the very nature 
and eircumstiemces of the history, that had it not been 
true, its currency for a single year would have been 
quite as miraculous, and more unaccountable, tiian 
any thing related therein. 

Having thus cleared our way to the New Testa* 
ment, by ascertaining the authenticity of its booka 
and the credibility of its history, We were prepared to 



SUMMARY AND OBJECTIOMS. 40d 

open the volume and investigate its contents. It pro- 
fesses to contain a revelation from God, communicated 
to mankind by the Lord Jesus and his apostles, as 
invested with a divine commission for this very pur- 
pose. We asked for their credentials. They referred 
us to their miraculous works. The appeal was con- 
fessedly fair. Miracles perfectly proved, are perfect 
evidence of divine attestation. But before proceeding 
to a direct investigation of the testimony in favor of 
the miracles of the gospel, we found it necessary, on 
account of the desperate efforts which enemies of 
Christianity have made to escape this argument, to 
illustrate the following preliminary truths ; that there 
is nothing unreasonable or improbable in the idea of 
a miracle in proof of divine revelation ; that the mir- 
acles wrought for this purpose in the first century can 
be rendered credible to us of the nineteenth, by no 
other evidence than that of testimony ; that such evi- 
dence is perfectly sufficient to prove a miracle ; that 
the testimony to the gospel miracles has suffered no 
diminution of force by increase of age ; and that we, 
who are restricted to such means of conviction, are 
situated, in regard to our state of probation and moral 
discipline, more consistently than if we had been 
present when the miracles were wrought, and could 
have proved their reality by the test of our senses. 

From these important propositions, we proceeded 
to the testimony in regard to the miracles of thb 
GOSPEL. Here we might have stood upon the equita- 
ble assumption, that in having established the truth 
of the narratives, we had proved also the reality ol 



466 M'lLVAIKE'S EVIDENCES. 

the miracled of the New Testametii; inasmuch m 
mimculoas events are ito essentially interwoven with 
many of them, that to question the latter is necessarily 
an impeachment of the former. But as our object 
was not merely proof, but Variety and fulness of proof, 
we proceeded to the fact that the religion of the Bible, 
having been established by direct appeal to miracle 
in evidence of the divine authority of its te^ch^s, 
stands alone in this respect among the various relig- 
ions of mankind ; tifter which we laid out the mate- 
rials of our argument under the following propositions. 
Supposing the Wonderful works ascribed to our Lord 
to have really occurred, they cannot be ascribed to 
second causes, but must have been genuine miracles 
They were of such a nature as admitted of their being 
brought at once to the test of the senses. They were 
performed, for the most part, in the most public man- 
ner. They were exceedingly numerous, and of great 
variety. The success in every case was instanta- 
neous and Complete. There is no evidence of such a 
thing as an attempt on the part of Christ or his apos- 
tles to perform a miracle in which they were accused 
of a failuife. For seventy years, the miraculous gifts 
in question continued to be exercised, and to be sub- 
mitted to the inspection of mankind. During all this 
time, it is a matter of certainty that they undetwent 
fche most rigid examination from those who had ever} 
opportunity and every disposition to detect imposition 
Every advantage was afforded the adversary by thoii 
* being published and appealed to immediately afteri 
and in the very places where they ooourred. The 



SUMMARY AND OBJEOTIOJTS. 467 

persons who performed them were of all men the 
least qualified and the least likely either to attempt a 
series of counterfeit miraoles, or to succeed in passing 
them upon the Jewish and heathen world. Notwith- 
standing ail that was done to break the eonstanoy and 
extort the confessions pf those early Christians who 
were eye-witnesses of the deeds of Jeaus and his apos- 
tles, none were ever known to aqknowledge they had 
been deceived, or had found any thing but truth in 
the miracles by which they were led to embrace the 
gospel. The benevolent character and holy effects of 
the miracles, the humble, self-denying, unambitious 
spirit of those who performed them, are irreconcilable 
with the supposition of any thing selfish or deceitful. 
That they were genuine, and to the people of* that 
century undeniable, we have the plainest and strong- 
est confession from the primitive adversaries of Christ 
and his cause. But confessions unspeakably stronger 
are found in the history of great multitudes in Judea 
and every country of heathenism, who beheld in the 
miracles such incontrovertible certainty as induced 
them to lay aside the bitterest enmity to the gospel, 
and make the most painful sacrifices of which human 
nature is capable, for the sake of embracing the ser- 
vice of Jesus. If with all this evidence ther^ is not 
reason to rely implicitly upon the reaUty pf the gos- 
pel miracles, we are driven to believe in the most 
unaccountable violations of the laws of nature, cf 
truth, and of common-sense, as necessary to account 
for the singular events connected with their perform- 
ance, and for their universal acknowledgment in the 



468 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

era of their first publication. Henoe, it was concluded 
that the credentials of Jesus and his apostles were 
given from 4ieaven; and consequently, that the New 
Testament, as an authentic record of what they de- 
livered, is the book of the revelation of Grod. 

Here, with perfect safety, might the cause have 
been considered as determined. But unwilling to 
content ourselves with once establishing the divine 
authority of the gospel, the argument was commenced 
anew,- substituting prophecy for miracle as the source 
of evidence. Considerations were stated which ren- 
der the argument from prophecy specially valuable; 
such as the continual increase of its strength, and the 
important characteristic of many predictions, that 
their fulfilment, being a matter of present existence, 
is evidence before our eyes, addressed to our senses. 
Before proceeding to the proof of fulfilment, the fact 
that all other religions but that of the Bible have 
shrunk from such dangerous ground as the publica- 
tion of prophecy in the establishment of their preten- 
sions, and yet, that however certain of exposure in 
case of imposition, prophecy is everywhere appealed 
to arid rested upon in the Bible, was treated as a 
strong presumptive argument that in the Bible is 
found what no false religion can possess— something 
to warrant it in venturing where divine omniscience 
alone is able to tread — inspiration of God, We 
then glanced at the immense extent and vast embrace 
and wonderful minuteness which characterize "the 
scheme of scripture prophecy, the many ages in- 
cluded, the variety of agents employed, the nuraeron« 



SUMMARY AND OBJECTIONS. 469 

particulars predicted, and the harmony of all the 
details. The undeniable faot was asserted, that be- 
tween the least prediction of ihe Bible and any event 
of history, there is not the smallest evidence of con- 
tradiction. We then demanded whether it wero 
credible that imposture would ever have dared to 
commit its cause to a venture which could terminate 
successfully only by suoh a hopeless series of mirai»u- 
lous coincidences. 

With all this presumptive evidence on our side, 
we took up a brief selection of important prophecies, 
and showed their minute and wonderful fulfilment 
from sources of testimony to which there could be no 
exception. Your attention was specially directed to 
a great variety of predictions, by different writers and 
in all ages of Bible history, all centring in Jesus, 
and determining the time and circumstances of his 
advent, the character of his life, the particulars ol 
his sufferings and death; foretelling his resurrection, 
and the increase of his kingdom. After having thus 
showed the fulfilment of prophecies of which Jesus 
was the subject, we proceeded to others of which Jesus 
was the author. 

In the destruction of Jerusalem^ and its subse- 
quent history, we had, prepared to our hands by the 
writings of unbelievers, a most impressive accom- 
plishment of a series of predictions on the part of our 
Lord, in which the utmost plainness of meaning la 
united with singular minuteness oi detail. The 
agreement between the predictions and the events 
idmitted of no denial. The supposition of chance 

40 



470 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES 

was ihe only explanation to which unbelief could 
flee. But it was stated, on the authority of strict 
arithmetical calculation, that according to the prin- 
ciples employed in the computation of what are called 
chances, the probability against the occurrence, at the 
predicted time, of all the particulars embraced in tha 
prophecies of which we had spoken, exceeded the 
power of numbers to express, even without the con- 
sideration of the providence of One who hateth ini- 
quity, and especially when it is practised under pre- 
tence of his authoritv. The conclusion was inevi- 
table, that the Eible, in thus containing so many 
genuine prophecies scattered through its several books, 
contains a revelation from God, and exhibits satis- 
factory evidences of divine authority; and that Jesus 
Christ, being in his character and ofiice as the Sav- 
iour of sinners, the great theme of this system of 
prophecy, and being himself endued with the spirit of 
prophecy, was, and is to come, no other than what 
he claimed to bo considered, the Son of God, the 
Redeemer of men. King of kings, and Lord of lords. 

Here, again, we might have rested our cause. But 
unwilling to withhold the interesting evidence re- 
maining, we commenced the main question anew, 
and set out to prove the divine origin from the his- 
tory of IHE PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY. The difH- 

oulties in the way of its extensive progress were man- 
ifest from considering that the enterprise of propagate 
ing a new religion, to the exclusion of every other, 
was perfectly novel, and universally offensive; that 
the whole character of the gospel, as a system of doo. 



SUMMARY AND OBJECTIONS. 471 

trine and a rale of life, erected a barrier against its 
progress, which to human force would have proved 
insurmountable; that it necessarily arrayed against 
itself all the influence of every priesthood, all the 
powers of every government, all the prejudices, hab- 
its, and passions of every people, and all the pride, 
wit, and influence of every school of philosophy in the 
world. Add to this, that the character of the age was 
peculiarly adapted to increase the difficulties above- 
mentioned, and to put the truth of such a religion as 
that of the gospel to the very closest and strongest 
trial. The agents intrusted with the propagation of 
Christianity were of all men the most unfitted for their 
work, on the supposition that it was one of imposture. 
They set up their banner when every thing visible on 
their side only tended to inspire them with despair, 
and every thing on the side of their enemies was 
considered as triumphant. The mode they adopted 
was directly calculated, on human principles, to in- 
crease and multiply all their difficulties. They were 
encountered everywhere by the fiercest persecution 
that the malignant ingenuity of enemies could invent, 
and the principalities and powers of the earth could 
execute. In spite of all these enormous combinations 
of resistance, such was the rapid and mighty progress 
of the gospel, that in thirty years the Roman empire 
was everywhere pervaded with its infiuence, and even 
haughty Rome could yield a great multitude as her 
first-fruits for the fires of persecution. The conver- 
sions which ensued in such numbers, were changes 
not merely of opinion, but of heart and life ; they in« 



472 M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

solved individuals of all classes of mind, of learning, 
of rank, and of opulence. Nothing in any degrt^ 
corresponding to tliis work had ever been known be 
fore, or has ever been witnessed since; even though 
efforts have frequently been made, in circumstances 
and with means much more advantageous than theirs, 
on the supposition that the apostles were not specially 
favored of God. All these particulars combined 
demonstrate, that in the labors of the apostles, none 
but "God gave the increase," because none but God 
could give such increase. They present a miracle as 
unquestionable as if, at the bidding of man, a rock 
should become a fountain of water. 

Thus, a third time did we finish our proof. Here 
again might the argument have been safely terminated. 
But the FRUITS OF Christianity presented a source of 
additional evidence too important to be omitted. We 
began, in this department, with the effects of Chris- ] 

tianity on society in general. We surveyed the 
moral condition of mankind when the gospel era com- 
menced. The most polished, literary, and admired 
nations of the ancient world were selected, as at least 
favcwable specimens of all others. Their personal, 
domestic, and social virtues were placed in compari- 
son witJi those of civilized nations of the present ago, 
and especially with those which Christian influence 
has most thoroughly pervaded. The contrast was j 

exceedingly impressive. The moral improvements 
effected in society have been immense and inesti- | 

mable. We found nothing in the philosophy, or the 
leligion, or the fluctuations, or any other ingredient ol 



SUMMARY AND OBJECTIONS. 473 

the heathen or infidel world, to effect such a change. 
No heathen nation left to itself has ever reformed. 
The history of the world demonstrates that the whole 
work must be charged to Christianity. And the his- 
tory of Christian effort among heathen nations of the 
present age, demonstrates that Christianity was capa- 
ble, and ever will be capable of accomplishing such 
blessed results. 

From the fruits of Christianity on society in gen- 
eral, we turned to those exhibited in the character 
and happiness of its genuine disciples. Undeniable 
and innumerable transformations in moral character 
and habits were pointed out, which are utterly in- 
capable of explanation but on the supposition of a 
divine power accompanying the gospel. A compari- 
son was drawn between the lives of genuine dis- 
ciples of Christ, and those for which unbelievers are 
notorious. Another was instituted between the death- 
bed scenes and testimonies of real Christians, and 
such as have been witnessed in connection with infi- 
delity. It appeared, that with a few exceptions, indi- 
viduals are the slaves of sin in proportion as they are 
devoted to infidelity ; while it was equally evident, 
that without any exception, they become servants of 
righteousness in proportion as their hearts are sur- 
rendered to the influence of the gospel. It appeared 
that while no unbeliever, under the trial of death, ever 
advanced beyond the negative and comfortless com- 
posure of a Stoic, and multitudes, and the very chief 
of their profession, have in that extremity abandoned 
their sentiments with horror ; it was never heard, on 

40- 



474 MULVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

the other hand, that a Christian regretted in hi9 
death having believed and obeyed tiie gospel^ -while 
innjamerable disciples of that blessed faith, in the 
very act of dissolution, have risen to the most tri« 
umphant assurance of eternal life and glory. Such 
are the legitimate fruits of the gospel of Christ. 

On the wise principle, therefore, that " a corrupt 
tree cannot bring forth good fruit," we must pro- 
nounce Christianity good ; and since no religion can 
be good without being true, or as Hume expressed it, 
"error never can produce good," we must ccuclude 
that i^r assertion of divine authority is worthy of all 
acceptation. Thus terminated the argument of the 
last lecture. 

And now, while the retrospect we have been 
taking is fresh in your memories, consider, 

1. The plainness and simplicity which charac-^ 
t^rize the evidences of Christianity. To understand 
the meaning and appreciate the force of any or all of 
them, so far as is necessary to a clear, intelligent, 
and impressive conviction of the divine inspiratim of 
the Scriptures, and the divine nature and mission of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, is a work to which the mind 
of any thoughtful individual of ordinary informati(»i 
iscompetent Willingness to read, readLss to learn, 
humility to submit to conviction, and an ordinary 
knowledge of the meaning of words, are the only 
requisites for a satisfactory investigation of the whole 
argument. How different in this respect is the gos- 
pel of Christ from all the speculating and metaphysi- 
oal systems of infidel philosophy. What would plain 



SUMMARY AND OBJECTIONS. 475 

common-sense people do, did their understanding of 
the grounds of faith and duly depend upon such dark 
questions, as the sufficiency of the light of nature, 
the origin of evil, the metaphysical relations of cause 
and effect, the foundation of virtue, the elements of 
accountability, the freedom of the will, etc. ? — ques^ 
tions which must be settled in our own minds, and 
by our own reason, bWore we can consistently em- 
brace any other religion than that of revelation, but 
about which all the philosophy on earth, if it reject 
the Scriptures, may speculate to the end of time, 
without arriving at sufficient certainty to satisfy a 
single conscience. The gospel requires no abstract 
theories to explain its way of salvation, its principles 
of obligation, or its rule of duty. It simply presents 
the evidence that Jesus Christ, the 8on and the sent 
of God, eame into the world to teach aiid to save 
sinners, and then to every sinner publishes this plain 
direction: what Jesus in his word has taught, be- 
lieve ; what he has there commanded, follow ; in his 
merits alone put your trust for peace with God, and 
through his righteousness thou shalt be saved. 

2. Consider the great variety and accumuldtton 
of the evidences of Christianity. In the lectures to 
which you have listened, were presented no less than 
four independent and complete methods of proof, each 
of which is amply sufficient to bear the whole weight 
of the gospel. The argument from miracles is con- 
clusive without the argument from prophecy. The 
latter is in no wuse dependent upon the former, or any 
other evidence. The argument from the propagation 



-. I 



476 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

is complete in itself, and so is that from the frails of 
Christianity. Bat ander each of these general heads 
i^hat a boundless variety of auxiliary evidences might 
have been adduced. Every single miracle, every 
fulfilled prophecy, a thousand separate facts in the 
spread of the gospel, and innumerable examples of 
its holy fruits in the hearts and lives of believers, 
would have furnished us with so many effulgent 
centres, from all of which rays of brilliant evidence 
are continually meeting and harmonizing in a shining 
testimony to Jesus as the resurrection and the life. 

But remember that one whole division, out of the 
two which embrace the great field of Christian evi- 
dence, has been left untouched. We have found an 
astonishing variety and accumulation of proof; and 
yet the whole department of internal evtoence, that 
which arises from the search of the New Testament 
itself — ^its spirit, manner, dress, and beauty, the 
simplicity of its character, the benevolence of its 
temper, its power over the conscience, the suitable- 
ness of its contents to the wants of man, the ex- 
cellence of its doctrines, the purity and elevation of 
its morals, the character and conduct of Jesus, and 
the happy tendency of all his instructions : this im- 
mense field of diversified evidence, secondary to none 
in its influence upon the mind, and superior to all in 
its direct appeal to the heart, we have not so much 
as entered. Could we but see all the separate 
streams united in one ; could we measure at once 
the force of that majestic tide which collects its 
innumerable tributaries from all ages and all nations 



SUMMARY AND OBJECTIONS. 477 

and all hearts ; could we appreciate its strength by 
an accurate estimate of all the obstructions with 
which earth and hell, *' the prince of the power of 
the air," and " the rulers of the darkness of this 
world," have endeavored to resist its course — the 
mountains of difficulty which in every century it 
has rent asunder or rolled away to clear its course — 
we should wonder, indeed, at what divine goodness 
has done to make us believers, and at what human 
obduracy has been able to withstand for the purpose 
of continuing in unbelief. 

But this astonishing flood of evidence is per- 
petually increasing. Every additional benefit which 
Christianity bestows upon any portion of mankind, 
every additional conversion of a sinner to God, every 
holy life that is added to the shining ranks of the 
followers of Christ, every new triumph of Christian 
faith over the trials of life and the terrors of death, 
every increase in the fulfilment of prophecy, every 
advance in the conquest of the gospel over the dark- 
ness of paganism, every new year of victory over all 
the resistance of pretended friends and unfaithful 
professors, of internal divisions and infidel enmity, is 
a new stream to swell the many waters which one 
day, like the deluge of old, will drown unbeUef in its 
last refuge, and make all nations and kindreds know 
how precious, as an ark of safety, is He who '^ came 
into the world to save sinners." 

But who can ask for additional evidence ? Did 
not the question affect the darling idols of the heart ; 
were it one of property, or of science, or of human 



478 JC'ILVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

life ; were it some new medicine to heal the maladies 
of the body, that laid before us this immense mass of 
credentials from all generations ; or were it a scheme 
for the acquisition of earthly gain, that came to us 
accompanied with such voluminous evidence of its 
unfailing truth and wisdom, no man of common 
sense could hesitate a moment to give it his unquali- 
fied belief. All men are continually committing their 
dearest interests to evidence unspeakably inferior. We 
intrust our lives to the care of physicians, of whose 
skill and wisdom and carefulness and honesty we 
have no assurance comparable to our proof of Jesus, 
as the only physician to save our souls, and as that 
all-sufficient One in whose hands none can perish. 
We believe, without a question, in all the great 
events of history ; and yet their evidence is so incon- 
siderable in comparison with the proof of the gospel, 
that if you take away as unestablished the great 
pillars of the argument of Christianity, you pro- 
nounce the whole foundation of historical knowledge 
unestablished ; yea, you rob mankind of the whole 
fruit of human testimony, and write terra incognita 
over almost the whole map of the generations and 
things of the universe. 

3. How impressive to the mind of every human 
being should the evidence of Christianity appear. 
If he take up any system of faith which men have 
ever attempted to substitute for the gospel, and com- 
pare its evidences, how immediately is it confounded 
by the contrast. If he attempt to set aside any one 
of the great proofe on which the noble fabric of Chris*' 



SUMMARY AND OBJECTIOHa. 479 

tianity is supported, how immediately are his efforts 
defeated and his weapons broken? He may invent 
difficulties, but the arguments of the gospel he 
cann3t answer. What then is the condition of the 
inquirer ? The religion of Christ thus solemnly and 
impressively attested, declares him a sinner before a 
just and holy God, condemned under sentence of the 
divine law to eternal retribution and woe. It tells 
him, that except he repent he must perish ; except 
he believe in and follow Jesus, as his master and 
only hope, he cannot be delivered from condemna- 
tion. It declares, on the other hand, that if he repent 
and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, he shall be 
saved ; the sting of death will be taken away ; an 
inheritance will be given him ** that is incorruptible 
and undefiled, and that fadeth not away." All this 
comes to him under the sanction of evidences innu- 
merable, for none of which hath a refutation ever 
been invented. History informs him that the best 
and wisest men of all ages have considered those 
evidences incontrovertible. Immense multitudes as- 
sure him, that in embracing the gospel they have 
experienced the truth of its promises, and realized 
the holy and happy influence of its doctrines. The 
probability, to say the very least, must seem im- 
mense even to a sceptic, tiiat should he reject Chris- 
tianity, he would reject the truth of God and incur 
eternal ruin. While, on the other hand, the certainty 
is evident, that should he embrace it, not only would 
he suffer no loss in case it should prove untrue, but 
he would gain many precious consolations in this 



480 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

life, of which infidelity is entirely barren. In these 
circumstances, how serious is the crisis when he is 
making the choice whether to be an infidel or a 
Cthristian. Does he decide for infidelity? he can 
gain nothing ; he certainly loses much ; and if the 
gospel be true, he loses all for ever. Does he decide 
for Christianity ? he can lose nothing ; he certainly 
gains a great deal ; and if even then infidelity should 
prove to be true, he has nothing to regret but that 
truth and happiness should be so directly at war. 

Then what a step does he take, who, notwith- 
standing all the evidences of the religion of Jesus, 
determines upon its denial! What solemnity and 
carefulness of investigation, what candor and impar- 
tiality of judgment, what jealousy over one's own 
inclinations and prejudices, what long and patient 
consideration, what earnest prayer for divine guid- 
ance and help should precede such a decision. One 
would suppose that at least the maturest knowledge, 
and the coolest temperament, and the most sober 
hours, would be waited for before coming to a point 
on which such tremendous consequences are sus- 
pended. What then is our amazement to see the 
stupid ignorance, or the senseless levity, or the lazy 
thoughtlessness, or the intemperate enmity, with 
which this momentous decision is almost always 
made! How many become infidels, not only with- 
out candid investigation, but without any serious 
thinking — without so much as an inquiry — without 
even a decent sobriety of mind. To such persons, I 
know not a more alarming occupation than that of 



SUMMARY AND OBJECTIONS. 481 

reading a well-ordered exhibition of the evidences of 
Christianity. 

Have the evidences of the Christian religion been 
ever answered ? Infidels have attacked Christianity ; 
)mt any thing may be attacked. They have slan- 
lored her doctrines, ridiculed her word, reviled her 
precepts, hated her holiness, and influenced many to 
go and do likewise ; but neither hatred, nor reviling, 
nor ridicule, nor slander is the test of truth. Have 
infidels ever resorted to the one only fair and honest 
mode of meeting, face to face, the whole array of 
testimony which Christianity advances, and endeav- 
oring coolly to prove, as a matter of historical evi- 
dence, that the authenticity of the New Testament 
and the credibility of its history are not sustained ; 
that the miracles of Jesus have not been supported 
with adequate testimony; that the prophecies of the 
Scriptures have met their attestation in no accurate 
histories ; that Christianity was propagated by human 
force alone, and its fruits are those of a corrupt and 
deceitful tree ? I answer. No. There is no such effort 
in the books of infidelity. I read of speculations, op- 
posed to our facts; insinuations, in answer to our 
testimonies ; sneers, in reply to our solemn reason* 
ings ; assertions, where we demanded arguments ; 
levity and presumption, where an advocate of truth 
would have been serious and humble. But I know 
)f no such thing as a book of infidelity in any sense 
sorresponding in the nature, or grounds, or spirit ol 
ite reasoning, with such arguments for Christianity 
as those of Paley, or Lardner, or Gregory, or Wilson, 



|j%»^-nr<>5. 



41. 



482 M'lLVAlNE'S EVIDENCES. 

and ^ thousand others, to which no man ever daiod 
to attempt an answer. Infidelity, like an insect on 
the pillar of some stupendous temple, that can see no 
further than the microscopic irregularities of the pol- 
ished xnarhle beneath its feet, may busy itself iq 
hunting for little specks in the surface of the stately 
^ifice of Christianity, but has no such eye, and 
takes no such elevated stand, as would enfible it to 
survey the whole plan, aud judge of its pretensions 
by the mutual adaptation of its parts, the harniony 
and grandeur of its proportions. 

4. But there is » most important feature in all 
the evidence we have been considering, to which J 
now direct your special attention. It is strictly phif- 
osophicaL By this I mean, that the process by 
which we have arrived at the truth of Christianity i^ 
precisely similar to that by which the astronomei^ 
arrives at the most certain truths of the celestial 
bodies, or the chemist determines the most Amda- 
mental doctrines of his important sojenca The grand 
characteristic of the philosophy that Bacon illustrated 
and Newton so nobly supplied, and to which all sci- 
ence is so deeply indebted, is, that it discards specu- 
lation, places no dependence upon theory, demands 
fact for every thing, and in every thing submits im- 
plicitly to the decision of fact, no matter how incom- 
prehensible, or how opposed by^all the specul^tiojos 
of the world. This is called inductive philosophy, in 
dfetinotion from that of theory and conjecture. It 
collects its facts by personal experiments and obser- 
vation, or by the testimony of those whose experj. 



SUMMARY AND OBJECTIONS. 483 

nients and observations, and whose fidelity in record- 
ing thonij are worthy of reliance. From these it 
makes its careful inductions, and determines the 
laws of science, with a degree of plain, unpresuming 
authority to which every enlightened mind feels it 
ought to bow. The great principle of all Newton's 
Principia, and thAt on which he set the ladder tha*. 
raised him to the stars, was this simple axiom : ^^ What- 
ever is collected from this induction otight to be re- 
ceived, notwithstanding any conjectural hypothesis to 
the contrary, till such time as it shall be contradicted 
or limited by farther observations." But why is not 
this self-evident truth as fahdamental in religion as 
in astronomy ? If Reid and SteWart have been per- 
mitted, with universal consent and approbation, to 
apply the simple principles of induction to the phi- 
losophy of the mind, on what possible ground can they 
be excluded from the philosophy of tiie soul — ^the 
religion of the heart? We beg as a favor, what is 
also demanded as a tight, that Christianity may be 
tried by the sti'ictest application of these principles. 
You are called upon for no greater effort of credulity, 
no more implicit reliance on testimony, in order to 
receive the whole system of Christianity as a divine 
revelation, than you ate obliged daily to exercise in 
believing those innumerable facts in natural science 
which you have not the opportunity of testing by 
your own experiments. In regard to these, you sim« 
ply ask. What is the statement ? Is it accurate ? Is 
it honest ? However it may contradict your previcus 
ideas, or seem at variance with previous phenomenal 



484 M'lLVAINES EVIDENCES. 

or even with well-established laws, you only investi* 
gate the testimony with the more carefulness. This 
confirmed, you receive the facts, and instead of squar- 
ing them by any of your old theories or speculation*, 
you proceed to measure the latter by their line, with 
as much submission as if every mystery involved in 
them were perfectly explained. Only behave thus 
reasonably in the investigation of the great question 
we have been considering. Apply to it the measur- 
ing rod of sound philosophy. Let every speculation 
as to its truth be blotted out. Let all conjectural 
hypotheses, for and against it, be set aside. Let the 
infidel and the Christian sit together in the chairs of 
Bacon and Newton, and with that stern rejection of 
mere theory and that lowly deference to fact which 
so eminently distinguished those venerable patriarchs 
of modern science, let the New Testament be brought 
to the bar. It professes to be the authentic and cred- 
ible record of the life and doctrine of Christ. In it, 
Christ professes to have been sent of God Let the 
question be put^ — ^not, is this^ religion consistent with 
our notions of what man wanted, and God might 
have been expected to reveal? not, does it contain 
any thing strange, or mysterious, or apparently con- 
tradictory to what we have been accustomed to be- 
lieve? but let it be a plain question of inductive 
philosophy. Is Christianity supported by a compe- 
tent number of well-certified facts ? Is there so much 
credible testimony that we are warranted in deter- 
mining that the New Testament is authentic ; that 
its history is true; that Jesus did work miracles; 



SUMHAEY AND OBJECTIONS. 4&d 

diat his prophecies have been fulfilled; that uo hu- 
man power, unaided by that of God, can account foi 
the propagation of his gospel; that no corrupt impos- 
tnr3 could ever produoe the fruit with which its influ« 
enco has blessed mankind ? If there be*, tihen all trcio 
philosophy says, ^* Christianity ought to be believed, 
notwiihstanding any conjeictural hypothesis to the 
contrary." Only confine yourselves to tiiis mode oi 
investigation, and submit yourselves to this simple 
law of evidence, and like Newtouj you nwiy mount a 
ladder set on a rock and reaching to the Iright hand 
of the throne of G-od. Tro6eed on any other principle, 
and, like the heavenly vortexes and the immense 
currents of ethereal matter in the philosophy of Des 
Cartes, it can only lead you into inextricable confu- 
sion. But if you adopt the true principles, what be- 
comes of the writings of infidels ? They fall amidst 
the rubHsh of vain speculations and ingenious absurd- 
ities and scholastio trifling of the dark ages, when to 
get wealth by the hypothesis of a philosopher's stone, 
instead' off ihe homely, experimental realities of dili- 
gence and common-sense, was the gi'eat effort of scien- 
tific ambition. Infidelity is all speculaticni. Iteduce 
it to a residuum of inductive reasoning, and you bring 
it to nothingness. Strip it of its several envelopes of 
ingenious hypol^sis and bold assertion and scoff- 
ing declamaticm, and you find nothing left but a man 
of straw^ — an ugly shape to keep the hungry from 
ihe bread of life^ — whioh you need only approach to 
discover that it is made of rags, and stuffed with 

rottenness^ 

41* 



486 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

The argument for the divine authority of the gofr 
pel is all oomposed of statements of undeniable facts^ 
and ol direct inferences legitimately drawn from 
them. I defy the ingenuity of the keenest critic to 
take up the course of reasoning to which you have 
listened, and point out a single theory or speculation, 
any thing depended on for proof, but plain statements 
of facts, established as perfectly and bearing as 
directly upon the point in question, as any of the 
observations of Newton's telescope or of Davy's cru- 
cible. Not a word have we said as to what might be 
supposed or conjectured, what is likely or unlikely, 
what might have been expected or the contrary, but 
have simply inquired, what is historically true. Let 
our opponents do likewise. Whether any thing in 
Christianity appears to them probable or improbable > 
consistent or inconsistent, agreeable to what they 
should have expected, or the contrary, wise and good, 
or ridiculous and useless, is perfectly irrelevant. We 
can by no means consent to make their judgments 
the standard in such matters. Infidels are thought 
to entertain very absurd and inconsistent ideas of 
absurdity and inconsistency, and of what should be 
esteemed as both good and wise. We ask them to 
descend from their flights of fancy and speculation, 
and condescend, in matters of religion, to do what, 
in those of science, public opinion would force them 
to, or laugh them out of countenance: to sit down 
to the plain investigation, on principles of common 
evidence, of the facts which support Christianity, de- 
termined to believe what may be collected therefromi 



SCJMMARY AND OBJECTIONS. 487 

notwithstanding any of their conjectural hypotheses 
to the contrary. Such was once the honest demand 
of astronomy and chemistry upon all the tribes ol 
theorists and conjecturalists, in those departments 
of science. It is but a short time since our present 
fundamental doctrines on those subjects were op- 
posed by philosophers whose speculations they rooted 
up, precisely as the great doctrines of the gospel are 
still opposed by infidels whose lives they condemn. 
By and by it became irresistibly evident that there 
is no way to science but by the slow and humble 
path of experiment, obtained either by personal ob- 
servation or by the credible testimony of others. As 
soon as men of scientific minds shall learn to be con- 
sistent with their own principles, and to reason phil- 
osophically, as well when a law of religion as when a 
law of nature is concerned, then the contradiction will 
no longer appear of a philosopher loving to investigate 
the works of God, but rejecting his word.* 

In truth, the evidence of Christianity rests upon 
a basis which cannot be condemned without the 
downfall of many of the most important works ol 
science. The main facts and reasonings of chemistry 
are considered undeniable, because experimental. But 
who feels it necessary to make ail the experiments, 
or to see them made, before he will beUeve ? Many 
of the most important he receives, and must receive, 
upon the testimony of others. Thus it is also in 

* On the application of the inductive philosophy to the evi- 
dences of Christianity, see chapters 8 and 9 of Chalmers' Evi- 
dences. 



486 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

ttstronoraical calculations. Seldom are the facts ob< 
tained from our own observations. Many of them 
we believe because they are reported by credible 
witnesses. We come to a certain result, by mean? 
of a number taken from a table of calculations made 
to our hands, with as much assurance, and base our 
I'easonings upon it as confidently, as if we had ob- 
tained all the elements by our own labor ; and yet 
the very corner-stone of our computation is a mere 
matter of testimony. On such reliance are eclipses 
predicted, and nautical observations founded; and 
yet a man of science who should evince any scepti- 
cism with regard to conclusions thus ascertained, 
would render himself no less an object of ridicule 
than if he should cavil about the sun's rising to- 
morrow. What is a page of logarithms but a page 
of assertions, the whole value of which is the faith of 
testimony ; and yet upon such data the most mo- 
mentous calculations in the exact sciences are based 
without a question. 

Pure mathematics arie considered as involving 
complete demonstrations. Mathematical reasoning is 
regarded as the very perfection of certainty. And 
3 et, in many of its most important operations, ele- 
ments, on which the whole chain depends, aro 
assumed on a basis not a particle more sure, to say 
the least, than that on which our belief of th6 Cliris- 
iian miracles is founded. " Who would scruple, in a 
gerimetrical investigation, to adopt as a link in the 
chain a theorem of ApoUonius or of Archimedes, 
although he might not have leisure at the moment 



SUMMARY AND OBJECTIONS. 489 

to satisfy himself by an actual examination of their 
demonstrations, that they had been guilty of no paral- 
ogism, either of accident or design, in the course of 
their reasonings?"* And yet a result, however im- 
portant, arising from such an investigation, none 
would suspect. A philosopher would rest his life 
upon its certainty. But have w^e assurance of the 
accuracy and honesty of such men, to whose testi- 
mony we thus implicitly yield, whether they be 
mathematicians or chemists, or astronomers, com- 
parable in any degree to our assurance of the com- 
petent knowledge and immovable honesty of those 
original witnesses of the works of Jesus, who have 
borne such devoted testimony to his miracles ? Did 
ApoUonius, or Archimedes, or any philosophers of 
later times, seal their honesty with their blood ? Did 
they suffer the loss of all things in maintenance of 
their doctrines ? Were they willing to be accounted 
as fools for the sake of their testimony ? Did Gali- 
leb brave the torture of the inquisition, sooner than 
deny his astronomical discoveries? We do not re- 
quire such extreme evidence of integrity even in the 
greatest questions of scientific testimony. It were 
folly to expect it. We are satisfied with a far in- 
ferior degree of assurance. And yet such, in ten 
thousands of instances, is the evidence by which we 
know the honestv of those from whom comes our 
testimony to the great facts of the gospel history. 
They did suffer the loss of all things ; they did endu ro 
ID be treated as the ofTsoouring of all things ; they 
• Stewart's Philosophy, b. 2, p. 178. 



lUd IC'IljVAINE'S EVIDEKGES. 

did give themselves to the rack and flame and wild 
beasts for the testimony of Jesus. 

I mentioned, in the announcement of this lecture, 
that besides a summary of the whole previous course, 
it would contain an application of the argument to 
the principal objections brought forward by infidels. 
This, in substance has been exhibited. We know of 
no objection of any importance, whic^ is not put to 
silence and buried by an appeal from what men 
think to what men have done — from speculation to 
testimony — from the ideas of objectors to the fa^ts 
of witnesses. The simple application of the great 
principle of inductive philosophy, that whatever is 
collected by observation ought to be received^ any 
hypothesis to the contrary notwithstanding ^ is the 
smooth white stone in the sling of David, before 
which no champion of the Philistines, however gigan- 
tic in intellect or learning, or in the boast of either, 
can stand. I am now speaking of the chief objec* 
tions. I have nothing to do with the ignorant rib- 
aldry of such an antagonist as Paine. To this man 
the purity of the gospel was its chief deformity ; and 
it>s stern contradiction of his disgusting vices, its 
most irreconcilable inconsistency. He studied the 
Bible to defame it, and scraped the common sewers 
of infidelity for its very lowest and filthiest objeo^ 
tloHs : and then, without honesty even to advert to 
the thousand answers each had received in its day> 
served them up with his own dressing of strong as- 
sertion and acrid ridicule, and advertised them to tlie 
world as his own and as. unanswerable. Such mat» 



SUMMAEY AJNi> OBJECTIONS. 491 

ters we must leave to the writings of those who have 
had stomaoh to handle them. In the answer of 
Bishop Watson, you may see how entirely boasting 
is their strength. They need but the light to make 
all their show of argument fade* away. Their best 
answer is found in the profligate life and despairing 
death of the poor miserable man himself 

The mysteriousness of certain things in Christi- 
anity is urged as a strong reason for the rejection of 
its divine authority. Many will not believe the doc- 
trine of the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, his incar- 
nation, his atoning sacrifice, his resurrection from the 
dead, his intercession in heaven, the influences of the 
Holy Spirit ypon the hearts of men, and our new 
creation unto holiness by his converting power, not 
to speak of many other of the deep things of God, 
because they are mysteries. Mysteries they are un- 
questionably, and were intended to be so regarded. 
So far as we have need to understand them, they are 
as intelligible as the plain truth that man is the union 
of body and spirit. So far as w^ are not concerned 
to understand them, they are s^s mysterious as the 
nature of the union between body and spirit in man, 
but not more sp. Religion must have mysteries. 
^* Religion without its mysteries is a temple without 
its G-pd." 

Whither shal} we flee to get beyond the region of 
things incomprehensible ? They beset us behind and 
before. If from revealed religion we go to natural, 
they are there. The most essential doctrine of all 
religion, the existence of God. is mystery to the 



492 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

uttermost. What explanation can be given of his 
self-existence ? His presence in all parts of the uni- 
verse at once ? How he inhabits eternity, having no 
relation to time — and immensity, having no relation 
to space ? If from natural religion we go to atheism, 
they are there also. He who denies the existence of 
Grod, plunges at once into the most confounding of 
all mysteries. What in Scripture is more incompre- 
hensible, than that this world had no Maker; that 
all its examples of wise and deep design had no De- 
signer ? Will you go from thence to the experimen- 
tal certainties of natural philosophy ? Mysteries are 
there also. Explain the attraction of gravitation, the 
nature of electricity, the elastic power of steam, the 
secrets of evaporation. What is vegetable, or ani- 
mal, or spiritual life? In mechanics, we arrive at 
the utmost certainty respecting the relations of force, 
matter, time, motion, space ; while with the things 
themselves we have not the least acquaintance. They 
are mysteries as unsearchable to us as the deepest 
things of revealed religion. How force is communi- 
cated from one body to another, is no more intelligible 
than how the influences of the Holy Spirit are com- 
municated to man. Matter, in its changes, is as 
incomprehensible as grace in its operations. " There 
are questions, doubts, perplexities, disputes, diver- 
sities of opinions, about the one as well as about the 
other. Ought we not, therefore, by a parity of rea- 
soning, to conclude that there may be several true 
and highly useful propositions about the latter as 
well as about the former ? Nay, I will venture to gc 



SUMMARY AND OBJECTIONS. 493 

further, and affirm," says a devoted teacher of soi- 
enoe, " that the preponderance of the argument is in 
favor of the propositions of the theologian. For while 
force, time, motion, etc., are avowedly constituent 
parts of a demonstrable science, and ought therefore 
to be presented in a full blaze of light, the obscure 
parts proposed in the Scriptures for our assent are 
avowedly mysterious. They are not exhibited to be 
perfectly understood, but to be believed. They can- 
not be understood without ceasing to be what they 
are. Obscurities, however, are felt as incumbrances 
to any system of philosophy; while mysteries are 
ornaments of the Christian system, and tests of the 
humility and faith of its votaries. So that if the 
rejecters of incomprehensibilities acted consistently 
with their own principles, they would rather throw 
aside all philosophical theories in which obscurities 
are found and exist as defects^ than the system of 
revealed religion, in which they enter as essential 
parts of that ^mystery of godliness' in which the 
apostles gloried."* 

If from natural philosophy we ascend to the 
higher branches of pure mathematics^ the regions of 
unmixed light and certainty, where naught is toler- 
ated but strict demonstration, even there will mys- 
tery find us and its right hand will hold us. 

Explain the demonstrated fact that "there are 
curves which approach continually to some fixed 
right line without the possibility of ever meeting it ;" 
that " a space infinite in one sense, may, by its rota. 

* Gregory's Letters. 

4^ 



4d4 M'lLYAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

tion, generate a solid oi finite capacity;" that "a 
variable space shall be continually augmenting, and 
yet never become equal to a certain finite quantity." 

These are depths which the mathematician can 
solve no better than Christians can explain the great 
mysteries of redemption. But they do not hinder 
him. He can use, as the elements of his calculation, 
doctrines thus incomprehensible without feeling any 
diminution in the certainty of the result. Why may 
not a Christian, with equal reason, include among 
the articles of his belief doctrines no more incom- 
prehensible, without embarrassing his assurance 
of the duties and consolations which result from 
them? 

If mysteries be valid objections to that which 
speaks of Grod and his relations to man, why are 
they not at least as formidable in all those branches 
of human knowledge in which created and finite sub« 
jects alone are involved ? But they are not treated 
as objections by the mathematician or the philoso- 
pher. The former asks no question but, simply, 
what is demonstrated? the latter, what is proved^ 
either by eocperiment or by testimony? If phe- 
nomena be well attested, he does not wait to under- 
stand their cause, or mode, or effects; he does not 
suspend belief till he has harmonized their peculi- 
arities with a favorite hypothesis, or with previous 
observations. He sets them down among the truths 
of *!)cience, and believes: taking for granted that 
though he may not understand them, there is One 
that does ; and though he slionld never discover the 



• SUMMARY AND OBJECTIONS. 493 

theory by which such eyents are shown to be in 
agreement with all others, there is still a harmony 
which pervades ^' all things in heaven and earth, and 
under the earth." 

Such is the application of inductive philosophy to 
the mysteries of nature. Let the mysteries of reve- 
lation be treated with equal justice, and instead of 
employing them as objections to its truth, you will 
acknowledge them as essential to its nature and por- 
tions of its glory.* 

But there are many who object to Christianity, 
not only because they cannot understand the nature. 
but because they cannot see the reason^ of certain 
things contained in or connected with it. For exam- 
ple, it is well known that God is gracious and mer- 
ciful, and desireth not the death of a sinner, and that- 
he has all power to save whom he will ; and yet it is 
revealed that without the sacrifice of Christ, and 
without conversion and faith, the sinner cannot be 
saved. Why, it is asked, Ihis circuitous method, this 
expense of suffering, when a word from the Almighty 
would save the world ? An intelligent Christian could 
give many answers to this question ; but what if he 
had none ? Would the way of salvation, as revealed 
in the gospel, be in any degree less credible ? Shall 
we refuse to believe the ways of God till he has laid 
all his reasons before us? Why not as well deny his 
works on the same indefensible ground ? Why be- 
lieve that a sick man cannot recover without a tedious 

* See an admirable article on Mysteries in Religion, in 
GreRory's Letters, vol. 1. 



496 K'lLYAINE'S EYIBENCEB. 

course of medioine ? God can raise him with a word 
Why cultivate the ground, and seek the mediating 
office of the sun for the raising and ripening of your 
grain? God can load your fields with harvests with- 
out such a circuitous process. Why his power is not 
exerted immediately for these purposes, you can no 
more explain than why a sinner cannot be saved but 
by faith in the sacrifice of Christ. Your belief in the 
importance of intermediate steps depends as little 
upon the reasons of the divine appointments in one 
case as in the other. 

Again, you read that the gospel is of inestimable 
importance to the happiness of man, a wonderful 
exhibition of divine grace to sinners, and yet there 
are hundreds of millions who have never heard of it; 
and it is asked, Why, since God is infinitely good 
and merciful, as well as mighty, has not such an 
immeasurable blessing been communicated to all man- 
kind ? Tliis question is often put as a strong objec- 
tion to the divine origin of the gospel, Wefe it 
taught in the Scriptures that those who had never had 
the gospel will be judged by its light and privileges 
the objection would have force. But there is no such 
doctrine. The objection is reasonable only so far as 
(here is reason in a creature's requiring the Creator 
to explain his ways, and admit him to his councils^ 
before he will believe them. Does a philosopher stand 
on such grounds ? Does he doubt the immense differ- 
ence between the gifts and blessings, the privileges 
and improvements, of a native of England and those of 
a savage of Eamtschatka, because he knows not foi 



SUltMAET AND OBJECTIONS. 497 

what reason it was so ordained ? Does he deny that 
the former are inestimable, because not universal? 
Will one refuse to believe that he has a mine of gold 
in his field, or that the gold is worth his seeking, be* 
caase all men are not equally favored? Shall a hus< 
bandman despise the genial rain upon his grass be- 
cause his neighbor's fleece is dry ? If God has not 
seen fit to reveal the reasons for which he has distrib- 
uted the gifts of nature, of providence, or of grace 
with an unequal hand, I find nothing to complain of 
I can still believe that those gifts are from above, and 
are excellent, and distributed under the guidance of 
infinite wisdom. 

That there are no difficulties connected with the 
Scriptures, and with the doctrines of revealed relig- 
ion, it would be saying too much for the intelligence, 
education, and study of the general reader, to assert. 
Until all shall be candid, studious, patient, and hum- 
ble, some will find many difficulties ia Christianity. 
If a child, instead of beginning arithmetic in the ele- 
ments, should dive at once into the midst of a calcu- 
lation of algebraic roots and powers, he would scarcely 
escape being stifled with difficulties. Thus, how 
ever, do most objectors to Christianity endeavor to 
af^reciate its doctrines. Instead of learning first the 
first principles, they plunge without ceremony amidst 
the deepest mysteries of the gospel. It is well said, 
■* Objections against a thing fairly proved are of no 
weight. The proof rests upon our knowledge, and 
the objections upon our ignorance. It is true that 
moral demonstrations and religious doctrines may be 

42* 



498 IIULVAINE'S EVID1.NCES. 

attacked in a very ingenious and plausible manneri 
because they involve questions on which our igno- 
rance is greater than our knowledge ; but still, our 
knowledge is knowledge, or in other words, certainty 
is certainty. In mathematical reasoning, our know- 
ledge is greater than our ignorance. When you have 
proved that the three angles of every triangle are 
equal to two right angles, there is an end of doubt, 
because there are no materials for ignorance to work 
up into phantasms; but your knowledge is really 
-10 more certain than your knowledge on any other 
subject." 

If it be a valid objection to religion, that to some 
minds it presents difficulties which cannot be solved, 
then there is no department of human knowledge 
that may not be legitimately condemned. What is 
more certain than the existence of a material uni- 
verse? or of the necessary connection of cause and 
effect? But even in these, wise heads have succeeded 
in discovering difficulties which it would puzzle much 
more sensible people to remove by a process of reason- 
ing. That matter is infinitely divisible, is assumed 
in science as fundamentally certain. That the doc- 
trine, however, involves very great difficulties, is pal- 
pable to all common-sense ; inasmuch as, to suppose 
a foot measure divided into an infinite number zi 
parts requiring an infinite number of portions of time 
to pass over them, and yet to be passed over in a 
moment, is to make a moment infinite, in other 
words, eternal ; for although it should be said that 
the portions of time would be infinitely small, still 



SUMMARY AND OBJECTIONS 499 

they would be portions of time, and an infinite num- 
ber of any portions of time must make an infinite 
duration. Who will pretend that in this there is no 
room for perplexity and doubt? In the mean time, 
the operations of soience, in which the infinite divis- 
ibility of matter is assumed, proceed with as much 
confidence as if there were no difiioulty connected 
with it.* 

Much is said of the certainty of mathematical dem- 
onstrations, but if difficulties that cannot be solved 
are sufficient objections, even here also must sentence 
of condemnation be pronounced. It might be shown 
how trifling are even the definitions, of geometry, the 
most exact of all the mathematical sciences. Its 
definitions might be alleged, upon no inconsiderable 
grounds, to be nonsensical and ridiculous; its de- 
mands or postulates, plainly impracticable ; its axi- 
oms or self-evident propositions, controvertible, and 
controverted indeed even by themselves. But why 
are not these things objected to the truth of mathe- 
matics ? What is there in the religion of Jesus more 
encumbered with difficulties? 

Were the dispositions of the human heart and the 
idols of a sinner's devotion as much opposed by the 
demonstrations of mathematics as by the doctrines of 

* "The divisibility, in infinitum^ of any finite extension, 
involves us, whether we grant or deny it, in consequences im- 
possible to be explicated, or made in our apprehensions con- 
elstent; consequences that carry greater difficulty, and more 
apparent absurdity, than any thing that can follow from the 
nolion of an immaterial substance." Locke on Human Under- 
standing. 



500 K'lLYAINE'S EYIDEKCES. 

Christianity, it would be just as difficult to oonvinoa 
men of the truth of the former as of the latter. The 
folly of speaking of a something that has length with* 
out ^breadth ; of a point that has no parts ; of lines 
for erer approaching and never meeting ; the futility 
of basing a certain demonstration upon elements sc 
unintelligible and impossible, would be trumpeted to 
the ends of the world. The wicked might no more 
believe a proposition of geometry, than they will now 
a doctrme of redemption. The scoffer might find as 
much to ridicule in Newton's Prinoipia as in Paul's 
epistles.* 

But we do injustice to the good cause in which 
we are engaged by standing exclusively on the de- 
fensive. InfideUty has too long been indulged with 
the privilege of attack* It is the stratagem of weak- 
ness, to put on a bold front and make a desperate 
assault. Any arm can strike, but not every breast 
can repel a blow. It is high time infidelity were 
accused and brought to the bar. What proof of a 
single feature of doctrine or of moral principle can it 
produce, after having rejected such evidence as that 
of Christianity ? What satisfactory argument for the 
obligation of any thing connected with natural relig- 
ion, what reason for believing in a future state, what 
proof even of the existence of God, can be offered as 
worthy of reliance, without a shameful inconsistency, 
by men who, in the immense power of evidence sus- 

• See an interesting piece of reasoning, apropos to the above, 
in ono of the tracts of the American Tract Society, entitled ' ^j 

" Conversation with a Young Traveller," No. 203. 



SUMMARY AND OBJECTIONS. 601 

taining the divine authority of the gospel, can find 
nothing to convince them ? 

We have shown that the argument for Christian- 
ity is strictly philosophical, because entirely experi- 
mental. It might easily be shown that every system 
of infidelity, so far as it pretends to any religious 
doctrine or precept, is wholly destitute of all claim to 
such a character. What a catalogue of theoretical 
assertions, and unsustained conjectures, and positive 
contradictions, and gross absurdities, and inexplicable 
difficulties, might be drawn up against the most 
rational of the infidel systems ! The Deist professes 
to believe that the light of nature is sufficient for 
human guidance in all matters of moral obligation; 
and yet he believes, that notwithstanding such all- 
sufficiency, some among those who have attempted to 
follow it have contended for the immortality of the 
soul, and others have denied it; some have maintained 
that God created all things, others that matter is as 
much iirom eternity as himself; some, that he gov- 
erns and will judge the world, others that he does not 
concern himself about it; some, that God should be 
worshipped, others that all worship is weak super- 
stition ; some, that virtue is virtuous and vice viciouS; 
others that there is no distinction in principle between 
them, that sin is but a matter of custom and opinion, 
and that the indulgence of the lowest passions is no 
more to be blamed than the thirst of a fever or the 
drowsiness of a lethargy. 

Some infidels deny that Jesus ever lived ; and yet 
they believe that the whole nation of the Jews, bitter 



( 



d02 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

enemies of Christianity as they have always been, 
acknowledge that they put him to death on the cross. 
Some confess that there was such a person, but accuse 
him of a most barefaced system of fraud and imi)os- 
ture ; and yet they cannot but concede that his char* 
acter was eminently pure and excellent. Others, to 
escape such a contradiction, maintain that he was a 
pure, but weak and visionary enthusiast; and yet 
they acknowledge that he composed and inculcated 
a system of morals very far superior to that of the 
wisest of the ancient philosophers. Infidels profess to 
believe that the apostles of Christ were instigated by 
mercenary considerations, and yet that they willingly 
suffered the loss of all things — ^by ambitious consid- 
erations, and yet they submitted cheerfully to all 
ignominy and shame. According to infidels, they 
were devoted to a selfish scheme of personal benefit ; 
and yet were always going about doing good, without 
the least regard to their own convenience or pleasure. 
They were gross deceivers, it is said; and yet the> 
endured all sufferings, and sacrificed their lives, in 
confirmation of their sincerity. They were weak fa- 
natics; and yet the strongest and most learned minds 
could not resist tilie power and wisdom with which 
they spoke. Infidels deny that Jesus ever wrought 
miracles ; but cannot deny that his bitterest enemies, 
who had infinitely better opportunities of judging than 
they can boast, confessed the contrary. Infidels pre- 
tend that the prophecies of the Bible were nothing 
more than guesses, and that all correspondence be- 
tween thom and subsequent history was a mere mat* 



8UM1CARY A19D OBJECTIONS. 603 

ter of chance ; and yet they cannot find, among all 
the guesses in the Bible, a single failure; nor can 
they deny that many of its guesses have succeeded in 
the minutest particulars, in spite of a proportion of 
chanoes against them too great for numbers to express. 
Infidels contend that the gospel is against all reason 
and common-sense, as well as truth; they laugh at 
the efforts of modern apostles to convert the nations 
of heathenism to the faith of Christ, as visionary and 
fruitless; nothing seems to them more impossible 
than that such an enterprise should succeed. And 
yet, according to their wisdom, when only twelve 
missionaries, with none of the education or experience, 
or human support and countenance, with none of the 
facilities for multiplying books and disseminating 
knowledge, which modern laborers possess — when 
twelve despised, persecuted Jews undertook a similar 
work, not among ignorant barbarians, but polished 
Greeks — and when, in less than forty years, their 
cause was coextensive witJh the known world — then 
the success which is so impossible now, was noth- 
ing wonderful or unaccountable: it was a mere mat- 
ter of human contrivance and enthusiastic perse- 
verance; the work of men alone, and of weak*, su- 
perstitious, credulous, simple, and deceitful menj 
though the Dnly work of the kind since the creation of 
the world. 

It were easy to proceed much further with this 
array of the contradiction and difficulties into which 
men are necessarily brought by rejecting the evidences 
of Christianity. But we have said enough to show 



504 M'ILVAINU.'S EVIDENCES 

that if infidels were put upon the defensive a little more 
frequently, they would have much less time to be 
creeping, with poisoned arrows, around the outworks 
of Christianity. Let them point out, in the belief 
of the gospel, any thing like the contradictions and 
absuidities involved in a profession of infidelity, and 
it shall be renounced as unworthy the countenance of 
a rational being. 



1VSPIBAII019 OF SGRlPIUaB 606 



LECTURE XIII. 

. INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES, AND CONCICTDINO' 

OBSERVATIONS. 

The external evidences of Christianity, as a sys- 
tem of faith divinely revealed, we consider to have 
been closed with the lecture next preceding the last. 
On that subject we shall offer no additional argument. 
But there remains one very important matter of in- 
quiry. 

Christianity and the Scriptures are essentially 
associated. Without the latter, we should not have 
received the former. But however inseparable in the 
use of their benefits, they are quite distinct in the 
proof of their infallible origin. It is one thing to 
show that the doctrines taught in the Scriptures are 
divine, and another, that the books containing those 
doctrines are divine. The former, we think, has been 
fully established. The latter has not yet been at- 
tempted. We have proved that the books of Scrip- 
ture are authentic and credible, the works of the 
authors whose names they bear, and correct narra- 
tives of such matters of fact as they profess to relate. 
But were we to stop here, we should leave the Bible 
on a level, in point of authority, with many other 
books of the Christian religion which contain the 
truth, and, so far as we can judge, contain nothing 



606 M'lLVAINES EVIDBKGKS. 

else, and yet have no pretension to any other than a 
human origm. In this case, we should have no ulti- 
mate and sure appeal for either doctrine or duty ; a 
door would be open for all manner of interference, on 
Ihe part of *' man's wisdom," for the perversion and 
oorruptidn of the truth; the most essential features 
of the gospel, on the easy plea that the apostles being 
men may sometimes have misunderstood their Master, 
would be ^cdessibld to the most ruinous sU8pio]<His of 
(»v&]:8tfttem6nt or misconception. 

'We have need not only of a divine system of re* 
ligion, but of a divine Teacher of that system. The 
latter was possessed by the apostles in the person of 
Christ, while he continued with them; and subse* 
quently in the special presence and guidance of the 
Holy Q-host, whom the SavioUr pi^imiised as a Com^ 
fort^ to lead them into all truth. In place of the 
pttvikg^ thus po^^essed, what remains to which may 
^nfid^itly be referred ev^ry question of religious 
dtfctrine ami duty, and by which our minds may be 
safely led to the wholo truth as it id in Jesus ? Are 
tl e Scripture infcdlihle? in other wordS) are they 
divine? Have they been *^ given by inspiration of 
God?^ This bring us at once to the main point of 
thd present lecture, tbb inspiaaimo!! i^ t*H& Sonip- 
TUBES — a subject which, however eminently impor 
tant^ faalB had so much done, preparatory to its con* 
lidetation, in bUr previous lectures, that it aeed not 
occ^)y at present a large portion of your time. 

The distinct propositicMi to which yoiir atteatirvn 
is called., I would express partly m the language o1 



INSPIRATIOl^ OF SCaiPTUaE. 507 

gt Peter: The Scriptures came not by the will of 
man; but holy men of God wrote as they were moved 
by the Holy Ghost ; or iu the words of St. Paul, " AH 
scripture is given by inspiration of God.^^ 

By inspiration is understood, ^^such a ooramuni- 
oa tioft by the Holy Spirit to the minds of tha sacred 
writers, of those things which could not have been 
otherwise known, and such an effectual superintendr 
oncy as to those particulars concerning which they 
might otherwise obtain information^ as sufficed abso^ 
lutely to preserve them from every degree of error in 
all things which could in the kast affect any of the 
doctrines or precepts contained in their writings, or 
mislead any person who considered them as a divine 
and infallible standard of truth and duty." 

This definition is perfectly consistent with what 
a critic would regard as a fault of style in a book of 
Scripture; or a philosopher, as scientifically inaccu- 
rate; or a rhetorician^ as a departure from the rules 
of rhetorical writing. It is entirely compatible with 
the evident fact oi^the several authors having written 
in sqoh various idioms and styles as their respective 
talents, habits, associations, or circumstances ireq^ 
dered most easy and natural; while, at the same 
time, it places all the sacred writers, however various 
their modes and minds, on the same footing of divine 
authority, and gives to all portions of the Bible an 
equal claim to be received as the oracles of God* 
Thus, oyer the just interpretation of «a0h sing^^ ver<?e, 
IS written, infallibility. 

In examining into the degree of authority to b« 



608 M'ILVAINE»S EVIDENCEB. 

attached to the Scriptures, we are favored with a very 
direct appeal. "We may go to the Scriptures them- 
selves. Having already established their credibility, 
wo have a full warrant to depend on them for a tru6 
statement of the words of the Saviour and his apos« 
ties. Having established also the fundamental doo* 
trine, that the Saviour and his apostles were divinely 
sent and attestx3d, we have a right to rely implicitly 
on their words, as truth divinely sealed and certified. 
Our way, therefore, is plain. We must search the 
Scriptures for any words of the Lord Jesus and of his 
apostles concerning the subject before us. We have 
but one question to answer: Does the New Testa- 
ment bear witness that the several books composing' 
the Bible were treated or represented by the Saviour 
or his apostles as divinely inspired? This deter- 
mined in the affirmative, the inspiration of the Scrip- 
tures is decided, until the whole argument of the pre- 
ceding lectures shall be proved inconclusive. Let us 
divide the question, and begin our inquiry with, 

I. The Old Testament scriptures. 

1. It is undeniable that the Saviour and his 
apostles regarded the Old Testament with at least as 
much reverence as did the Jews in their day. They 
reproved the latter for many errors of doctrine and of 
practice; for mutilating the Scriptures by false in* 
terpretations, and for making them of none effect 
through their traditions ; but nowhere do we read the 
least insinuation of their having censured the Jews 
for paying too much respect to the Scriptures, or for 
allowing them too much authority. On the contrary, 



IN8PIEAXI0N OF SCRipyUJlE. 609 

they evidently joined in most earnestly with the Jew* 
ish miad on this subjeet; and instead of attempting 
to unsettle, aimed direotly at increasing its habit of 
implicit submission tQ the Old Testament writings. 
But had the Jews been erroneous in that high degree 
of revereuQe with which they regarded those sacred 
books, such countenance and example on th^ part of 
our Lord and his ambassadors could not have been 
shown, consistently with the perfect truth .^ind open* 
ness which marked all their deaUngs. 

Now be it observed, that the Jews in the time of 
Christ considered the writings of the Old Testament 
as divinely inspired^ not merely in respeot to their 
doctrines, but their whole matter a^d substance. 
Josephufl says, that in his time they were universally 
believed to have been written by men '^as they 
learned them of Grod himself by inapira.tion," and 
were justly believed to be "wvine," He draws a 
wide distinction between the histories of the Jewish 
people whidi were written since the time of Artaxerxes, 
and those contained in tiie Bible, and gives as a rea- 
son why the former had not been received as having 
so much authority as the latter, that since Artaxerxes 
there had not been a aucceseion of inspired men. 
"How firmly we have given credit," he says, "to 
these books of our own nation, is evident from what 
we do; ibr during so many ages a$ have already 
passed, no one hath been so bold as either to add any 
tiling to them, to take any thing from them, or to 
make any change in them; but it is becc^ne natural 
to all Jews, immediately and from their very birth, to 

43* 



5X0 K'lLYAlNE'S EYIDEHCES. 

esteem those books to contain divine doctrines, and to 
persist in them, and if occasion he, willingly to die 
for them."* Hence, we see that Jesns and his apos- 
tles, in coinciding with, and in employing and pro> 
moting the current sentiment of the Jewish people in 
their days, mast be considered as having, really and 
in the broadest sense, espoused and confirmed the 
doctrine of the divine inspiration of the Old Testament 
scriptunss. 

2. But unanswerable as is the above attestation, 
we have a direct assertion on the part of St, Paul 
of still greater importance. Having reminded Tim- 
othy, that from a child he had known '^the holy 
Scriptures," which were able to make him wise unto 
salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, he makes 
tbis positive and conclusive declaration: ^^All Scrip- 
ture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable 
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction 
in righteousness: that the man of G-od may be per- 
fect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."^ 

Here then is the plain testimony of one whose 
knowledge and veracity we have ascertained, that 
whatever in his time was included under the name 
of "Scripture," or "holy Scriptures," was of divine 
inspiration. We have only to ask, therefore, to what 
books Paul applied that name. It was a name of 
common use in his day. Josephus and Fhilo fre- 
quently speak of "the divine Scriptures," and "the 
holy Scriptures." It is manifest, therefore, that Paul 
meant to be understood as asserting the divine in« 
* Cont. Apion, b. 1, sec. 7, 8. t 2 Tim. 3 : 15-17 



i 

.1 



INSPIRATION OF SCRlPXtJitlfi. 511 

spiration of that coUeotion of sacred books to which 
the Jews notoriously applied such names; in other 
words, the books of the Old Testament. He regard- 
ed them all as "Scripture." He declared them all 
inspired. 

Now, that under the same title we have the same 
ooUection of writings is certain, not only from the 
important fact, that on this head there is a perfect 
agreement between our Bibles and those of the whole 
Jewish nation at the present day; but also from the 
testimony of Josephus, who, although he has not 
mentioned the names of the several books considered 
as Scripture in his time, has given us their number, 
and so described them that their identity with ours 
cannot be mistaken. He takes care to speak of them 
**as of divine authority."* In addition to this, we 
have the testimony of the New Testament as to the 
canon of the Old. For besides the books of Moses, 
which the former expressly mentions as of divine au- 
thority, it also specifies almost all the other books ol 
our Old Testament as belonging, in the time of Christ, 
to the sacred canon of the Jews. Some are omitted, 
only because the mentioning of any is incidental. 
Nothing but a formal enumeration can be expected to 
be complete. That none are excepted against, is 
prool that all were received by the Lord and his 
apostles. 

Hence, we are fully warranted to believe that " all 
Scripture," in the mouth of St. Paul, meant all the 
books of the Old Testament which Jews and Chris* 

• Cont. Apion, b. 1, sec. 8. 



612 HULYAINE'S EVIDBNGBS. 

tians at present unite in receiving as divine oracles ^ 
consequently we have apostolic authority in proof that 
tliey were all ''given by inspiration of God." 

Much additional evidence to the same point might 
be added ; but with any who acknowledge the argu* 
ment of the previous lectures, and thence believe that 
whatever St. Paul assert^ as a doctrine of Chris- 
tianity is true, the above simple reasoning will be 
amply suiEcient for the divine iuspiration of the Old 
Testament. 

II. Let us proceed to the second division of our 
subject, and carry our inquiry to the books of the 
New Testament. 

1. The inspiration of the New Testament may 
be naturally and reasonably inferred from that of 
the Old, In this we argue by analogy. No reason 
can be given why those holy men of old who composed 
the books of the other Testament, should have writ- 
ten, not "by the will of man," but "as they were 
moved by the Holy Ghost," that does not apply with 
much greater force to the writers of the later volume. 
The economy of the Old Testament was to cease at 
the advent of Christ ; that of the New will endure to 
the end of the world. The former was intended 
primarily for a single nation, and adapted to a coun- 
try of narrow boundaries. The latter was fraiqed ti» 
include all nations, and is intended of God to be 
eoextensive with the globe. The law had only "a 
shadow of good things to come;" the gospel has 
" the very image of the things :" the first was a sys- 
tem of types, " which stood only in meats and drinks 



INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE. 513 

and divers washings and carnal ordinances imposed 
until the time of reformation ;" the second, the time 
of reformation being come, is a system of direct reve- 
lation; the veil has been rent in twain, so that it 
may be said, in comparison with the previous dis» 
l)ensation, that we no longer see " through a glass 
darkly, but face to face." One grand distinction oi 
the economy of the gospel is, that it is the dispensa- 
tion of the Spirit. That peculiar feature in which 
its covienant is '^ a better covenant established upon 
better promises" — "a new covenant" — is found in 
this, that it is a spiritual covenant ; its promises, 
its privileges, its duties, its parties, are all spiritual. 
Its character in this respect is seen in that stipula- 
tion of its divine Author : "I will put my laws into 
their mind, and write them in their hearts,^^ So 
much, therefore, does this " ministration of righteous- 
ness exceed in glory" all that preceded- it, that 
although there had never risen, under the Old Testa- 
ment system, a greater than John the Baptist, yet '* ho 
that is least in the kingdom of God," that is, under 
the New Testament system, " is greater than he." 

Now, is it supposable that under a dispensation 
so limited in extent and duration as that of the 
law, so carnal in its ordinances, so obscure in its 
revelations, serving only "unto the example and shad- 
ow of heavenly things," the sacred books should 
have heen given by inspiration of God ; and yet, that 
under the far better covenant of the gospel, designed 
for all mankind and to stand while the world endures — 
a dispensation so eminently distinguished for the out- 



614 MULVAINE'S EVIPENCKS. 

pouring of the Spirit* for the spiritual gifts of its 
earliest ministers, and the spiritual duties and bless- 
ings of all its members — we should be left to a stand- 
ard of truth and duty dictated only by the wisdom, 
composed only under the superintending oare of fal- 
iible men ? Surely the inspiration of the New Testa- 
ment is naturally and reasonably inferred from that 
of the Old, 

2. The same conelusion necessarily arises from 
the evident inspiration of the apostles in their 
preaching and other official actions. It was ex- 
pressly promised by the Lord, that when they should 
stand before enemies in defence of the gospel, they 
should speak by inspiration of God. In such circum- 
stances their direction was, '' Take no thought how 
or what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, 
but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in 
you." "The Holy Ghost shall teach you in that 
same hour what ye ought to say." " I will give you 
a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries 
shall not be able to gainsay nor resist."* We have 
no reason to suppose that these promises of inspira- 
tion were confined to the special circumstances re- 
ferred to in the passages above quoted. The apostles 
were to be placed in many others for which they 
would be quite as needful. Certain circumstances 
were particularly spoken of by the Lord, because in 
them the faith of his apostles would be particularly 
tried. 

But inspiration was promised by the Saviour, to 

• Mat. 10: 19, 20; Luke 12: 12; 21 : U, 



miSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE. 515 

terms of the most oomptehensive kind. A little be- 
fore his crucifixion, when the hearts of his disciples 
were greatly troubled at the assurance that he was 
soon to be taken from them, he promised to send 
them a Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who should abide 
with them for ever. This blessed person he called 
repeatedly " the Spirit of trutL" He was distinctly 
promised to the apostles as a substitute in all re- 
spects for the presence, the guidance, the instruc- 
tions of their Lord himself. The great consolation 
of such a Bubstitute consisted in his bemg to the 
apostles, invisibly, just what Jesus had been to them 
visibly ; do that they might consider themselves to 
be divinely directed and instructed under his influ- 
ence, in a manner quite as direct and infallible as if 
they had still the Master's voice to hear and his foot- 
steps to follow^ They were assured that " the Spirit 
of truth" would teach them whatever knowledge 
their duties might require. ^' He shall teach you all 
things." "He wiU lead you into all truth." Had 
they forgotten any portion of their Lord's instruc- 
tions? '^^ The Spirit of truth," said he, "shall bring 
all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have 
said unto you." " He shall take of mine^ and shall 
show it unto you." Even the knowledge of the 
future was promised to the apostles by the in^ira- 
tion of tiie Holy Ghost. ^^ He will show you things 
to come." They were diteoted to tarry in Jerusa- 
l<»ti after his death, until they should recei^ " power 
from on high." Now all these promises are positive 
proofs that the apostles were inspired in their min- 



616 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. . 

istry as soon as fheir fulfilment took place. Thus, 
when the day of Pentecost was fully come, and the 
Spirit descended upon them, "they were all filled 
with the Holy Ghost," and " began to speak as the 
Spirit gave them utterance." By this inspiration 
they were enabled to preach in all languages the 
wonderful works of God. The sermon of Peter on 
that day was spoken under this influence. By the 
same help he discerned the spirit of Ananias and 
Sapphira. Their lie was unto the Holy Ghost, inas- 
much as it was unto one whom the Holy Ghost 
inspired. Directed by the same Spirit, Peter jour- 
neyed from Joppa to the house of Corrfelius, and 
first opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. Paul, 
by inspiration, went forth on his mission from Anti- 
och to the lesser Asia; being "full of the Holy 
Ghost," he searched the conscience of Elymas the 
sorcerer, and punished his wickedness with blindness. 
When the apostles and elders and brethren were 
assembled in council about the question sent up 
from Antioch for their decision, they consulted and 
determined as they were guided by inspiration oi 
God. " It seemeth good to the Holy Ghost," was the 
solemn sanction annexed to their sentence. They 
claimed to be always received as inspired. Their 
speech and their preaching, they asserted, were " in 
demonstration of the Spirit;" "not in the words which 
man's wisdom teacheth, biit which the Holy Ghost 
teacheth." It is expressly declared by St. Peter, that 
his brethren and himself " preached the gospel with 
the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." All these 



IirSPlRATION OP SCRIPTURE. 617 

tftatements, and many others which might be ad- 
daced, abundantly confirm the position, that the 
apostles in their preaching and other official action? 
were in the highest sense inspired. 

Hence it would seem to be very naturally and 
reasonably inferred, that when they wrote for the 
permanent guidance of the churches they were in- 
(Spired also. Can it be supposed that St. Paul, in 
preaching to the Ephesians or Corinthians, spoke as 
he was moved by the Holy Ghost, and yet was 
entirely bereft of that divine aid when he sat down 
to the much more important work of composing 
epistles to those churches? "When it is considered 
how entirely all the oral communications of the apos- 
tles ceased to be remembered in a short time after 
they were uttered, except as they were recorded in 
the Scriptures, and how their written communica- 
tions to the churches have remained unmutilated 
these eighteen hundred years, and are now circulated 
in upwards of one hundred and seventy languages, 
and will continue to be the guide and treasure of the 
ohuroh to the end of the world, can it be believed 
that in these the apostles were left to their own 
fallible wisdom> though guided in the others by the 
inspiration of God ? Such an opinion would be at* 
surd in the extreme* 

It seems to 1)6 a necessary ccmohision, from tho 
above premises, i^iat the authors of the New Testa- 
ment were divinely inspired, as well when writing 
for all people and all ages, as when speaking to the 
congregation of a single synagogue. 

44 



018 M»1LVA1JNE'S EVIDENCES. 

3. If the apostles did not intend to impress the 
church with a belief that they wrote by divine in- 
spiration, they adopted the very means that were 
most likely to lead its members into a most impor- 
tant heresy. St. Paul, in an epistle to Timothy, 
which he knew would be universally circulated, pub- 
lished the broad assertion, " All Scripture is given by 
inspiration of God." Now it is worthy of note, that 
the epistle containing this declaration is generally 
supposed to have been written after all the other 
works of St. Paul, and but a short time before his 
martyrdom at Rome. At any rate it was one of his 
latest works. . The gospel of St. Matthew had been 
written and circulated at least -twenty years. Those 
by St. Mark and St. Luke were already in the pos- 
session of the churches. The same is true of the 
Acts of the Apostles. "We know of no part of the 
whole New Testament that was written subsequently 
to the uttering of the above declaration, except the 
gospel, epistles, and Revelation by St» John. 

In connection with this be it observed, that when 
the primitive Christians received an epistle or gospel 
from one of the apostles or evangelists, they regarded 
it as a portion of Holy Scripture. By this familiar 
name it was universally known, and with this high 
honor it was always treated. Precisely as the writers 
of the New Testament speak of the books of the Old 
Testament, calling them the Scriptures, do th© Chris* 
tian writers who were contemporaneous with the apoek 
ties continually quote their books. This cannot be 
questioned. Then consider the circumstances of the 



INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE. 519 

churches. They have in possession and in daily use 
a number of writings which have been sent them by 
the apostles and evangelists, the greater part of them 
by St. Paul himself. It is well known to the latter 
that those writings are universally revered and read 
as holy Scriptures. In these circumstances he de- 
clares that " all Scripture is given by inspiration of 
God." How are they to understand him? Shall 
they say, he speaks in that passage only of the 
Jewish Scriptures ? His primary reference was un- 
questionably to them. But in what sense can his 
assertion be true of all Scripture, if so large a part 
as that comprising the New Testament, and which 
was universally denominated Scripture^ came only 
" by the will of man ?" But this is not all that the 
apostles did to promote the belief of the inspiration of 
their writings. 

The Christian churches were accustomed to ap- 
peal to the Old Testament as an inspired volume. A 
large number of their members had been educated in 
the Jewish faith, and by habit, as well as reflection, 
always associated the idea of divine inspiration with 
that of a book of Scripture. Consequently, when the 
writings of the New Testament were received, when 
they came to occupy, in regard to the Christian church, 
a corresponding place to that of the Old Testament 
books in regard to the Jewish church, when they 
were honored by universal consent with the same 
title of **holy Scriptures" as was applied to the sacred 
books of the ftrmer dispensation, it was extremely 
natural that the churches should treat them precisely 



620 M»ILVAINE»S EVIDENCES. 

as thej treated the older books, and believe them 
also to have been written by inspiration of God. That 
they did thus regard them is indisputable. Clement 
bishop of Rome, a contemporary of the apostles, says, 
"Look into the holy Scriptures, which are the true 
words of the Holy Ghost. Take the epistle of the 
blessed Paul the apostle into your hands: verily he did 
by the Spirit admonish you." The primitive Chris- 
tians rejected from the canon of Scripture certain 
books, because, though true and edifying^ they were 
not inspired by the Holy Ghost. They habitually 
spoke of the New Testament, as " the word of God," 
"the voice of God," "the oracles of the Holy Ghost." 
Now, in such circumstances, how would the apos- 
tles, as men of common honesty and candor, have 
acted, in case they did not consider their writings to 
be inspired ? Knoyring the natural tendency and the 
actual state of public opinion among the churches, 
could they have been even silent on this subject? 
Must they not have warned their disciples against a 
disposition so dangerous, and a heresy so conspicuous? 
Would not the most ordinary measure of humility and 
faithfulness have impeUed. them to draw the line ot 
distinction too plainly to be mistaken, between what 
they had written by their own wisdom, and what holy 
men of old had written '• as they were moved by the 
Holy Ghost ?" What course do they pursue ? Not 
only do they allow the natural disposition of thosB 
accustomed to attach inspiration to the Scripture to 
have its way ; not only do they say nothing having 
the least tendency to correct the universal impressdon 



INSIIUATION OF SCRIPTURE. 521 

of the churches on so vital a point; but they adopt 
the very course which was calculated directly to 
confirm all their prepossessions. They introduce their 
writings in a manner of authority precisely similar 
to that of the inspired men of older times. Witness 
the beginning of the epistle to the Galatians: "Paul, 
an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus 
Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the 
dead, unto the churches of Galatia." Peter, speaking 
of the epistles of Paul as familiarly known among 
Christians, expressly numbers them among "the 
Scriptures," and puts them upon a level with " the 
other Scriptures,"* which Jews and Christians alike 
considered to have been written by inspiration. Paul 
speaks of the writings of the "apostles and prophets," 
as constituting together that good foundation on which 
Christians were built, "Jesus Christ himself being the 
chief comer-stone."* And after Peter has particularly 
included the epistles of St. Paul among the Scriptures^ 
the latter publishes his declaration, that "a// Scrip* 
ture is given by inspiration of God." 

If those holy men did not intend to promote the 
belief of the inspiration of their writings — if they 
were desirous of teaching the churches to make a 
wide distinction between their works, as merely hu- 
man and fallible, and those of Moses and the proph* 
ets, as divine and infallible, how singularly did they 
mistake the way; how exactly did they inculcate 
what they wished to contradict, and build up what 
they were bound to destroy ! 

• 2 Pet. 3:16. t Eph. 2:20. 

44* 



522 M'lLVAINE'S BVIDESaiSS. 

In >what manner the primitive (Arches nnder- 
strxxl their instructions is manifest; and on the sup* 
position that the apostles taught that their writings 
were not inspired^ it forms a singular proof of the 
great obscurity with which they must have expressed 
themselves. Justin Martyr, a contemporary with St 
John, says that "the gospels were written by men 
fu.1 of the Holy Ghost." Ireneeus, a few years later, 
declares that "the Scriptures were dietated by the 
Spirit of God, and that therefore it is wickedness t<> 
contradict them, and sacrilege to alter them." " Thb 
gospel," he says, "was first preached, and afterwards 
by the will of God committed to writing, that it 
might be for time to come the foundation and pillar 
of our faith." 

Enou]^, it is believed, has now been exhibited to 
satisfy any reasonable mind that it was the intention 
of the writers of the New Testarrient, and of their 
blessed Master, that the church should regard their 
works as having been dictated and rendered infallible 
by divine inspiration. To those who acknowledge 
liiat Christ and his apostles were ooriimissioned and 
taught of God, this is perfect evidence of the great 
doctrine at which we have been arriving. For those 
who, after ail that has been said in our preceding 
loetures, shall still refuse to aoknowlbdge the Lord 
Jesus and his apostles as divinely commissioned and 
endowed, we have no more ailment. Mu(^ addi- 
tional reasoning might be offered; but such is' the 
conclusiveness of what has been adduced, that it may 
be said wiAout presumption, if they believe not upon 



OOlfCL^UDlFa OBSEUVATIOISFS. S33 

such evidence^ "neither would they be }X)rsuaded 
though one rose from the dead*"* 

We may now conclude a course of lectures, which 
has already exteinied fietr heyond the anticipations of 
the author. Having arrived at the divine- amtherity 
t>f Christianity, and the divine inspiration of the 
iScrJptures, we have not only a religion reteahd 
from Godj but an infallible expression of its doC' 
trines and duties. We have the guide, as well as the 
way to everlasting life, both equally certain, equally 
divine. 

Let us be thufdcful for such unspeakable gifts. 
Next to the merfey of a Saviour, able and ready ** to 
save to the uttermost all that conie unto God by Him," 
is the book of the inspiration of God, whieh, a» a 
lamp to our feet and a light to our pathy conduots to 
such a Friend, and teaches. u» without mistake all 
that we must do to be savedv 

Let us consider our obligation tosttuh/ this blessed 
book with most serious attention and care. What 
can be more ungrateful, more disobedient, niore sin- 
ful in the sight of God, than the total neglect or the 
ca/reless reading of a volume which his owh Spirit 
indited for our express guidance ai!id consolatioii? 
** Search the Scriptures," is the iftjunctiori as- well of 
our reason^ as of the Lord Jesus; " Let th^ word^ of 
Christ dweUiijQ you: ricUy m ail wisdom," is a oom^ 

* For a much more extended and able view of the inspira- 
tion of the' Ney/ Testament, see Dick on the Inspiration of the 
Scriptures, and Lectures on the same by Leonard Woods, D. D., 
Audover. 



524 M'lLVAINE'S EVIDENCES. 

mand as delightful in its obediehoe, as it is authoii- 
tative in its declaration. 

Let us yield implicit submission to the decisions 
of the Scriptures. In them we read the oracles of 
God — the mind of the Spirit — infallible wisdom. As 
inspired pages, their authority is absolute. It is plain 
duty, therefore, to bring every question of truth or 
practice to their judgment; and to bow, without a 
question or a murmur, or the least reserve of mind 
or heart, to whatever they require. To proceed on 
any other principle, to bring any thoughts of ours 
into the least competition with the decision of the 
Scriptures, to submit to one portion of the Bible more 
than to another, to withhold assent to any of its doc- 
trines till we can fully perceive their necessity or 
reasonableness, or their consistency with certain no- 
tions of human wisdom,,is a practical denial of the 
divine authority of the whole volume, and deserves 
no other name than that of unbelief. 

Let us search the Scriptures daily; for they were 
made to be daily "profitable for doctrine, reproof, cor- 
rection, and instruction in righteousness." It is only 
when taken as an intimate companion and friend, 
that the Bibie throws off its reserve and appears in 
all its excellence. Then it speaks to the heart, and 
begins to develope treasures of consolation as numer- 
ous as the wants of sinners, as endless as the grace cf 
their Saviour. We can well perceive the baud of 
God in the general construction of Christianity, while 
standing without, and looking only upon its walLi 
and bulwarks; but, like the temple of Jerusalem, we 



COHGLVmVQt OBSERYAXIOVS. 625 

must enter within thia holy plaoe to ^^behold the fail 
beauty of the iaanctuary,'^ the fine gold of its work- 
manship, and the glory of Him ''who dwelleth be- 
tween the cherubim." "The secret of the Lord is 
with them that fear him; and he will show them his 
covenant." 

Let us search the Scriptures with prayer-^^^ Play- 
ing always with all prayer and supplication in the 
Spirit," that we may be "filled with the knowledge 
of his will in all wisdom and spiritual Understanding." 
The key of the ark^ in which are laid up the tables of 
testimony, is prayer. By this alone can we get into 
"the secret place of the Most High," and be taught 
of God. He \dio without prayer e^ould seek to enter 
within the veil, and obtain a view of the divine glory 
as it shines within the Scriptures, would act no less 
presumptuously than Aaron the high-priest, had he 
attempted without his brazen censer and \a» incense 
to pa£» the veil of the hpty of holies^ alid stand before 
the mercy-seat. "Hy son/' saith the Scripture, "if 
thou criest after kiu)wledge, and Mftest up thy voice" 
for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver^ and 
searchest for her as for hid treasures ; then shalt thou 
understand the fear of the Lord, and find the know- 
ledge of God." 

We began these lectures with prayer to God foi 
his Holy Spirit to guide our way and help our infirm- 
ities, that all of us might see and embrace the truth 
We recommended prayer as one of the chief means to 
be used by all who would study the evidences of 
Christianity in a right spirit. We are now lust at 



