LIBRA^RY 
 
 Theological Seminary 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J, 
 
 Case^ 
 Shelf, 
 Book, 
 
 m 
 
 .M:^ 
 
 Sect 
 
THE 
 
 PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS; 
 
 A STATEJIENT OP 
 
 OUR LORD'S TESTIMONY 
 
 THE MOSAIC AUTHORSHIP, HISTORIC TRUTH, AND 
 DIVINE AUTHORITY OF THE PENTATEUCH. 
 
 Br THE 
 
 EV. J. L.i^ORTER, 
 
 A.M. 
 
 PROFESSOR OF BrBUCAL CIlITrCISM. ASSEMBLY S COLLEGE, BELFAST. 
 
 LONDON: 
 T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW; 
 
 EDINBURGH: AND NEW YORK. 
 
 ilDCCCLXlV. 
 
PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 HE following chapters formed part of a 
 course of lectures prepared for my 
 students during last college term. They 
 were first delivered in the Class-room, and after- 
 wards, to very large audiences, in May Street 
 Church, Belfast. 
 
 My principal object in writing was to defend the 
 integrity and establish the unity of the Bible — to 
 prove that Christ came " not to destroy the law, but 
 to fulfil." And I now trust that this little work 
 may serve to show that no man can consistently 
 or logically believe Christ, and yet reject the 
 Pentateuch. 
 
 Brandon Towers, Belfast, 
 October ISGi. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 rage 
 Attempts to separate the Old Testament from the Xew opposed to the teaching 
 of Christ— The names given to the Pentateuch In the New Testament— Facts 
 in the Mosaic history mentioned in the Xew Testament— The Pentateuch the 
 basis of Christianity — Colenso's position untenable ... ... ... .„ 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 OBJKCTIOKS ANSWERED. 
 
 First Objection. — 0«r Lord's testimony is given in ignorance. 
 
 'J'lie objection stated by Colenso— Luke ii. 52 examined — What meant by Christ 
 "increasing in wisdom?" — His age when this was said — The objection irre- 
 levant—Mark xiii. 32 examined— Proofs that Christ's teaching was infallible ... 16 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 objections answered. 
 
 Second Objection.— CTirisi adopted popular errors. 
 
 Dr. Davidson reviewed— The objection questions Christ's honesty — Ills char- 
 acter vindicated ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ol 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 objections answered. 
 
 Third Objection.— Owr Lord onhj refers to some parts of the Pentateuch. 
 
 The meaning of "the Law" shown from the Old Testament ; the Samaritans; 
 
 the Apocrypha; Philo; and Josephus. 
 Its m.eaning in the New Testament 
 Proof that Christ refers to the whole Pentateuch ... ... ... ... 39 
 
Vill ^ CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 TESTISrONY OF OUR LORD. 
 
 FinsT. — 7'o the Mosaic Authorship of the Pentateuch. 
 
 Second. — To the Ilisloric Truth of the Pentateuch. 
 
 Pags 
 Our Lord's views contrasted with those of modern sceptics— He authenticates 
 the narratives of the Creation, the Fall, Cain, the Deluge, Sodom, .Abraham, 
 Isaac, Jacob, Moses, the Exodus, &c. ... ... ... ... ... •... 51 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TKSTIMONT OF ODIi LORD. ' 
 
 TiirnD.— Tb the Divine Authority of the , Pentateuch. 
 
 1. He cites the Pentateuch as authoritative ... ... ... ... ... 65 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 TESTIMONY OF OUE LORD. 
 
 2. lie cites the Pentateuch as prophetical— All propliccy from God— The Types 
 prophetical. 
 
 (1.) Direct prophecies of Christ in the Pentateuch. 
 
 (2.) Typical persons. 
 
 (3.) Typical rites. ' 
 
 (4.) Typical events 73 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 TESTIJIONT OF OUR LORD. 
 
 ". He calls the Pentateuch " the Word of God." 
 
 4. lie afiftrms that every jiart of the Pentateuch contains Eternal Truth. 
 The Unity of tke Bible— Conclusion 
 
THE 
 
 PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 Ueccnt attempts to separate the OUT Testament from the Xew— Opposed to the teacli- 
 in}; of our Lord— Names given to the Pentateuch in tlic New Testament— Facts i i 
 tlie Mosaic liistory mentioned by the New Testament writers— The Pentateuch the 
 basis ?f Christianity— Colenso's position untenable 
 
 ||T has been frequently affiiTned of late by a 
 certain class of theologians that '' Chris- 
 tianity has not made itself responsible for 
 the genuineness, the authenticity, or the moral or 
 reliidous teachino-s of the Old Testament, — that our 
 reliofion is no more ansArerable for the contents of a 
 series of Jewish writings, such as the Pentateuch, 
 than it is for all that is related in the ecclesiastical 
 history of Eusebius." 
 
 An attempt is thus made to separate Christianity, 
 — and by Christianity is meant, of course, the religion 
 established by Christ, and developed in the Gospels, — 
 
10 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 to separate it from what is thought to be an insur- 
 mountable difficulty. It is assumed or believed that 
 the records of creation and the deluo'e, as well as a 
 number of statements incidentally made in the Pen- 
 tateuch, are directly opposed to facts investigated and 
 establislied by modern science. It is further assumed 
 or believed that the narratives of the Fall and the 
 Exodus are unhistoric. Consequently it is supposed 
 that, if we can separate the Pentateuch altogether 
 from the New Testament, — if we can release the 
 latter from the responsibility of sanctioning or adopt- 
 ing the historic details given in the former, — we free 
 Christianity from a most embarrassing, and indeed 
 otherwise insuperable, objection. 
 
 I cannot adopt this plan. And here, at the out- 
 set, I desire to state my honest conviction that I am 
 not withheld from adopting it, as might possibly be 
 insinuated, by the restraints of education, or of creed. 
 Stroncr as these restraints are, and ouo-ht to be, on 
 every right-minded man, yet, did truth require it, — - 
 truth fully ascertained and honestly apprehended, — 
 I would not hesitate for a single moment to break 
 through one or another, or all such restraints. I 
 have studied the subject in all its phases. I have 
 read the best works, English, German, and French, 
 that bear upon it, directly or indirectly ; and now I 
 affirm, as the result, that a conscientious regard to 
 truth compels me to reject any such plan as that 
 stated above. 
 
THE QUESTION AT ISSUE STATED. 11 
 
 On. a question of this kind we must be guided by 
 tlie evidence before us, — by the statements made in 
 the documents submitted to us, and not by any pre- 
 judices, or opinions, or philosophical theories of our 
 own. It is the connection of the two books — the 
 Gospels and the Pentateuch — that I am now con- 
 sidering. I am not advancing any independent argu- 
 ment for the truth of the one or of the other. My 
 object is to show what the New Testament writers 
 say of the Pentateuch. Do they or do they not 
 adopt it as an authentic history ? Does our Lord, 
 as represented by the Evangelists, or does He not, 
 ascribe the Pentateuch to Moses as author ? Does 
 He, or does He not, quote and refer to its words as of 
 Divine authority ? These, all must admit, are ques- 
 tions of fact, and not of opinion or philosophical 
 speculation. In settling them we have simply to 
 refer to the lano-uao-e of the New Testament, and 
 honestly to interpret its meaning. If its statements 
 are clear, and decisive, and full, as I hold them to 
 be, then a regard to truth and logical consistency 
 will compel us to abide by them, or else to cast awa}'- 
 the New Testapient altogether as unworthy of credit. 
 
 It must be well known to every thoughtful reader 
 of the New Testament that our Lord and His inspired 
 Apostles frequently quote the Avords and sentiments 
 of the several books of the Pentateuch ; and that 
 they still more frequently mention or allude to the 
 historic events recorded in those books. It must also 
 
12 . THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 be well known to the attentive reader of the Bible 
 that the New Testament writers often quote from the 
 Pentateuch as the work of Moses ; and they mention 
 those events which Moses records as facts which, 
 occurred in past ages of the world. 
 
 The Pentateuch is mentioned by the New Testa- 
 ment writers under various names and titles, with 
 which the critic must make himself familiar. It is 
 called The Laiv (Matt. v. 17 ; xii. 5 ; xxii. 36 ; Luke 
 xvi. 16 ; John x. 34 ; xv. 25 ; Acts vii. 53, &c.) ; 
 The Law of Moses (Luke ii. 22-24 ; John i. 17, 45 ; 
 vii. 19, 23 ; viii. 5 ; Acts xiii. 39 ; xv. 5 ; xxviii. 
 23 ; Heb. x. 28) ; The Law of the Lord "(Luke ii. 
 24, 39) ; Moses (Luke xvi. 31 ; xxiv. 27 ; John v. 
 45 ; Acts vi. 11 ; xv. 21 ; xxi. 21 ; 2 Cor. iii. 15) ; 
 Booh of Moses (Mark xii, 26; compare 2 Chron. xxv. 
 4 ; xxxv. 12 ; Ezra vi. 18 ; Nehi xiii. 1) ; Booh of 
 the Laiu (Gal. iii. 10; compare Neh. viii. 1, 8; ix. 3; 
 2 Chron. xvii. 9 ; 2 Kings xxii. 8 ; Josh. xxiv. 26 ; 
 viii. 3] ; i. 8) ; — and all these names and titles, as I 
 shall afterwards show, were as definite and as fully 
 understood in the time of our Lord as the name Pen- 
 tateuch is now. 
 
 And besides, the New Testament writers mention 
 not a few events merel}^ in that ancient history, but 
 all the leading events from the beginning of Genesis 
 to the end of Deuteronomy. It may be well in this 
 place to give a summar}^ of the more important of 
 these, that the basis of our argument may be before 
 
FACTS IN MOSAIC HISTORY MENTIONED IW N. T. 13 
 
 the reader's mind at the outset. It will be observed 
 that the events enumerated include all those ao-ainst 
 which the arguments and charges of the Bishop of 
 Natal, the Oxford Essapsts, and others of the same 
 school, have been mainly directed. Most earnestly, 
 therefore, would I entreat the reader's attention to 
 the following events, and to the New Testament pas- 
 sages in which they are mentioned : — Creation (Heb. 
 xi. 8 ; John i. 3 ; Col. i. ] 6 ; 2 Cor. iv. 6) ; The unity 
 of the human race (Matt. xix. 4 ; Acts xvii. 24-27 ; 
 1 Tim. ii. 13); The Temptation (John viii 44: 2 Cor. 
 xi. 3) ; The Fall (Rom. v. 12-19 ; 1 Tim. ii. 14) ; 
 The murder of Abel (Matt, xxiii. 35 ; Heb. xi. 4 ; 
 1 John iii. 1 2) ; The translation of Enoch (Heb. xi. 
 5, 6 ; Jude 14, 15); The Deluge (Matt. xxiv. 38, 39; 
 Luke xvii. 26-30 ; Heb. xi. 7 ; I Pet. iii. 20 ; 2 Pet. 
 ii. 5) ; The call of Ahraharii (Acts vii. 2, seq.) ; God's 
 covenant tvith him (Rom. iv. 3-13); Melchizedec 
 (Heb. vii. 1 ; v. 6, 10, &c.) ; The destruction of Sodom 
 (Matt. X. 15 ; Luke xvii. 29 ; 2 Pet. ii. 6) ; The stm-y 
 of Isaac (Heb. xi. 9, 17; James ii. 21) ; Of Jacob and 
 Esau (Heb. xi. 20 ; Matt. viii. 1 1 ; John iv. 6, 12) ; 
 The story of Joseph (Acts vii. 9, 14 ; Heb. xi. 21, 22); 
 The descent into Egypt (Acts vii. 9, seq.); The birth, 
 training, and mission of Moses (Mark xii. 26, Luke 
 XX. 37; Acts vii. 20-37; Heb. xi. 23, 24); The 
 Passover and its miraculous details (John xix. 36 ; 
 1 Cor. V. 7; Eph. i. 14, 15; 1 Pet. i. 19); The 
 Exodus (Acts vii. 35, seq.; Heb. iii. 16 ; xi. 27, 28); 
 
14 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 The passage of the Bed Sea (Acts vii. 86 ; Heb. xi. 
 29) ; The giving of the Laiu on Sinai (Gal. iv. 24 ; 
 2 Cor. iii. 7, 1 5 ; Heb. xii. 1 8) ; The Manna (John 
 _vi. 31, 58 ; Heb. ix. 4 ; Rev. ii. 17) ; The water from 
 the roch (1 Cor. x. 4) ; The brazen serpent (John iii. 
 14) ; The forty years' ivandering (Acts vii. 42) ; 
 Joshuas appointment as Moses' successor (Acts vii. 
 45). 
 
 These events, be it remarked, begin with the begin- 
 ning of Genesis, and run through the whole Penta- 
 teuch, to the verj close of Deuteronomy ; and all 
 these, with many others, are distinctly mentioned in 
 the New Testament. They are woven up with its 
 grand system of doctrine. The religion of the New 
 Testament is actually based upon their historic reality. 
 Take away the basis, and the superstructure must 
 necessarily fall to ruin. The Pentateuch is the basis ; 
 the Gospels, or, in other words, Christianity, is the 
 superstructure. Our Lord and his apostles are thus 
 committed — I say it with all reverence — to the- 
 authenticity and historic reality of the whole Mosaic 
 narrative. It is impossible for any thoughtful man 
 to believe in the divine mission of our Lord, or in the 
 inspiration of the Apostles, or in the divine authority 
 of the New Testament, or in Christianity itself, if he 
 does not at the same time believe in the authenticity 
 and divine authority of the Pentateuch. 
 
 If men will be sceptics, therefore, let them at least 
 be logical in their scepticism. My main purpose is 
 
THE PENTATEUCH THE BASIS OF CHRISTIANITY, 15 
 
 to show tliat it is impossible for any man consistently 
 or logically to receive Christianity and to reject the 
 Pentateuch. If Christianity be the religion of God, 
 the Pentateuch must be the Word of God. Conse- 
 quently^ the position taken up by the Bishop of Natal 
 and others — if indeed they understand their position, 
 or if they hold any position at all as Christians — is 
 altogether untenable. I think it right that the 
 Church and the world should be made fully aware of 
 this plain and palpable fact. 
 
IG THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 
 
 First OBJECTiOiS'. — Our Lord's testimony is given in ignorance. 
 
 Blasphemous character of objection— The objection stated by Colenso— Luke ii. 52 
 examined— AVhat meant by Jesus "increasing in wisdom?"— Not inconsistent 
 with His possessing divine wisdom— Our Lord's age when this was said of Him— 
 The objection irrelevant — Mark xiii. 32 explained. 
 
 Direct proofs that our Lord's teaching was infallible— He claims infallibility— His 
 claims shown to be valid. 
 
 Befoke proceeding to develop our Lord^s tesfcimonjr 
 to the Pentateuch, I must meet three prelimmary 
 objections which have been brought against it, and 
 which, if sound, would invalidate m}^ whole argument 
 The competency of our Lord's testimony has been 
 questioned ; His honesty as a witness has been ques- 
 tioned ; and the hearing of His testimony on the whole 
 five hoolcs has been questioned. If these objections, 
 or any of them, be valid, the testimony is worthless ; 
 it would be mere waste of time to adduce it. I wish 
 the reader to observe that the objections profess to 
 be founded either upon the direct statements of the 
 Evangelists, or upon philosophical deductions from 
 them. I shall examine these statements and deduc- 
 tions. I shall endeavour to explain the true mean- 
 ing of the language employed by the sacred writers ; 
 
OBJECTIO^^S TO CHRIST S TESTlMOKY. 17 
 
 and I shall show that onr Lord was a competent 
 witness, and an honest witness ; and that His testi- 
 mony applies to the whole Pentateuch. 
 
 I. It is objected that, when our Lord ascribed, the 
 Pentateuch to Moses as author, and when He appeared 
 by His quotations to confirm the authenticity of its 
 history, arul the divine authority of its teachings, He 
 did. so in ignorance. 
 
 This plea is enough to startle every Christian 
 mind. The bare mention of it may well send a thrill 
 of horror through the heart of the faithful and reve- 
 rential disciple of Jesus. It will be thought that 
 none but the avowed infidel, or at least the avowed 
 Socinian, would dare to make a statement so dis- 
 honourin'T to our Blessed Lord. It is with minofled 
 feelings of sorrow and of shame I am obliged to 
 state that this is the plea put forward by more than 
 one distinguished and influential minister of an Evan- 
 gelical Church. It is not for me in this place to 
 dwell upon the glaring inconsistency, the absolute 
 and palpable dishonesty, of men who continue to 
 hold office in a Church, to receive its revenues, and 
 who yet publicly endeavour to overthrow its funda- 
 mental doctrines. It is for me, however, to refute 
 their arguments and expose their sophistries, as God 
 may give me ability. I shall bring against them no 
 railing accusation ; but calmly, logically, and, I trust, 
 convincingly, — so far at least as regards the thought- 
 
 2 
 
18 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 ful, unprejudiced Christian public, — I shall meet 
 their destructive criticisms. 
 
 To avoid even the semblance of misrepresentation, 
 I shall state the objection in the words of Br. Colenso: 
 — ** It is perfectly consistent with the most entire 
 and sincere belief in our Lord's divinity to hold, as 
 many do, that, when He vouchsafed to become a * Son 
 of man," He took our nature fully, and voluntarily 
 entered into all the conditions of humanity, and, 
 among others, into that which makes our growth in 
 all ordinary knowledge gradual and limited. We 
 are expressly told, in Luke ii. 52,^ that 'Jesus in- 
 creased in ivisdom ' as well as in ' stature.' It is 
 not supposed that, in His human nature. He was 
 acquainted, more than any educated Jew of the age, 
 with the mysteries of all modern sciences ; nor, with 
 St. Luke's expressions before us, can it be seriously 
 maintained that, as an infant or young child, He 
 possessed a knowledge, surpassing that of the most 
 pious and learned adults of His nation, upon the sub- 
 ject of the authorship and age of the different por- 
 tions of the Pentateuch. At what period, then, of 
 His life upon earth is it to be supposed that He had 
 granted to Him, as the Son of man, supernaturally, 
 full and accurate information on these points, so that 
 He should be expected to speak about the Pentateuch 
 in ot-her terms than any other devout Jew of that 
 day would have employed ? Why should it be 
 thought that He would speak -with certain divine 
 
COLENSO'S OBJECTION. 1ft 
 
 knowledge in this matter more than upon othei? 
 matters of ordinarj^ science or history 1" ^ 
 
 The meaning of all this appears to be, that, when 
 our Lord spoke of the Pentatench in such a way as 
 to show that He fully believed in its Mosaic author- 
 ship and divine authority, He spoke in ignorance. 
 He "Was not a Biblical critic. His testimony can 
 hav^ no more weight or authority on a critical ques- 
 tion than that of any learned Jew of His age. What 
 is the proof which is adduced in support of this bold 
 theory ? The proof to be valid must be scriptural. 
 None other can be accepted, — no human hypothesis, 
 no forced interpretation ; but a plain and full declara- 
 tion of one or other of the sacred writers. 
 
 One passage, and only one, is adduced in evidence. 
 It is Luke ii. 52, "And Jesus increased in wisdom 
 and stature, and in favour with God and man." 
 In order to understand the meaning of this pas- 
 sage, as far as it may be possible for man to under- 
 stand it, we must carefully consider the connection 
 in which it occurs ; and in order to understand its 
 bearing upon the question now at issue, we must as 
 carefully consider the period of our Lord's life to 
 which it refers. 
 
 With the exception of one remarkable incident, 
 the Word of God is silent regarding the youth and 
 early manhood of Jesus. That incident, however^ 
 
 1 The Pentuteuch, Part I., Int. p. xxxi. ; compare Part IL, Int p. 
 XV. ; Part III., p. xxxii. seq. Davidson, Introduction to the Old Teatanienty 
 i. p. 124. 
 
20 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 and a statement made hy Luke in connection witli 
 it, throw mucli light upon the declaration that 
 " Jesus increased in wisdom/' In a previous part 
 of this chapter (Luke ii. 40) it is said, " The child 
 grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled tuith %vis- 
 doTii." ^ To illustrate this last clause a story is 
 told, — the only story of Jesus' boyhood. Wiien 
 twelve 3^ears old His parents took Him to Jerusalem 
 to the feast. Returning, as was customary, with a 
 large caravan, the boy was missed. Search was 
 made for Him, first " among kinsfolk and acquaint- 
 ance " (ver. 44), then in Jerusalem. He was at 
 length found in the Temple, in the midst of the 
 Jewish rabbins, whose whole studies were directed 
 to the Mosaic Law. He heard their expositions, and 
 He appears to have detected their erroneous interpre- 
 tations, and by such questions as an earnest, thought- 
 ful disciple would ask, He brought out the truth. 
 
 ^ Tr\T]pov/jL€vou (ro(f>Las. I am aware that Aliord lias translated these 
 words '■'becoming filled with wisdom," which weakens their force. This, 
 however, I consider an unwarrantable stretch of interpretation ; a":id Alford 
 himself appears to admit, that he has been led to it by an attempt to re- 
 concile the statement Avith that in verse 52, irpoiKoirTev aocplq,. But 
 ir\r]poviievov is a participle, and a participle is an attribute expressing the 
 action of the verb as already belonging to the object. Consequently 
 '■'■being filled," and not ^'becoming filled," is the proper translation of the 
 pres. part. pass, of TrXrjpdu. Such is the meaning given to it by the best 
 interpreters of all ages. Jerome renders it plenus sapientia; and his note 
 upon the passage is important, " Hoc hominum natura non recipit, ut 
 ante duodecim annos sapientia compleatur. Aliud est partem habere 
 sapientiae, aliud sapientia esse comphtnm'''' {Opera vii. 262 ; ed. Migne). 
 Luther translates it voller wcisTieit ; Lightfoot, implehaUir sapientia. The 
 whole tenor of Old Testament prophecy and New Testament histcry re- 
 garding Christ tends to confirm this interpretation. See Isa. xi. 2. 3 ; 
 ix. 6 ; John i. 14 ; iii. 34 ; 1 Cor. i. 30. 
 
Christ's infinite wisdom proved. 21 
 
 These questions drew upon Him the attention of the 
 whole of that learned assembly, and " all that heard 
 Him ivere astonished at His understanding and His 
 answers." This verse fully sustains the interpreta- 
 tion of verse 40 given above. Christ's wdsdom ex- 
 cited the amazement even of tlie learned rabbins. 
 The wisdom of His Godhead so displayed itself at 
 that time through His human intellect, that all were 
 astonished at it. Here is proof that even in early 
 boyhood — at the age of twelve — Jesus possessed a 
 knowledge surpassing that of the most learned men 
 of His nation. And it is just at the close of this 
 narrative that we find it said of Him, " He increased 
 in wisdom." 
 
 I call attention to another incident in this inter- 
 esting story. Our Lord's Mother, with something 
 of reproachful tenderness, asked Him, " Son, wh}^ hast 
 thou thus dealt with us ? Behold, thy father and I 
 have sought thee sorrowing." Observe His reply, 
 " How is it that ye sought me ? Wist ye not that 
 I must be about my Fathers business?" The boy 
 was already fully conscious of His divine mission. 
 He was fully conscious, too, of His divine parentage. 
 And it was that consciousness — that knowledge of 
 His nature and of His work — that led Him to seek 
 out, and in the spirit of a thoughtful disciple, to 
 correct and instruct the rabbins in the Temple. Does 
 not this manifest the presence of a greater than 
 ordinary — a greater than human wisdom ? 
 
22 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 We have now a key, I believe, to the meaning of 
 the words, "Jesus increased in wisdom." Our Lord 
 possessed a true human nature — a human body and 
 a human mind. He possessed also a divine nature 
 — infinite in wisdom and in power. His body grew 
 like other bodies. The faculties of His mind expanded 
 like those of other children. And just in proportion 
 as these mental faculties were developed did the 
 divine wisdom manifest itself in them and shine 
 through them. The human mind of Jesus was 
 always filled ivlth nvisdom to the utmost extent of 
 its capacity. Hence the statement of Luke is true, 
 " And the child grew, filled with wisdom." As the 
 mental powers expanded, they were able to appre- 
 hend and exhibit more and more of the infinite wis- 
 dom of the indwellino^ Godhead. From a human 
 point of view, therefore, Jesus increased in wisdom. 
 There was this great and essential difference, how- 
 ever, between Him and mere men ; men get their 
 knowledge from without— from parents, schools, 
 masters ; Jesus got His from tuithin—'Re drew it 
 direct from His divine nature, which is the fountain 
 of all knowledge.^ Hence it follows as a necessary 
 conclusion, that whiatever statement He made, what- 
 ever doctrine He set forth, at this, or any period of 
 His life, from the dawn of infancy to manhood, must 
 have been literally and absolutely true. It was an 
 
 * His name was *' Wisdom" (Prov. viii.) He was " The Wisdom of 
 God" (1 Cor. i. 24). In Him ^' are hid all the treasures of Wisdom" 
 (Col. ii. 3). 
 
now OUR LORD INCREASED IN AVISDOM. 23 
 
 eraanation of the divine, omniscisnt, infallible mind, 
 revealed through the medium of the human intellect. 
 That Christ's human intellect did not at once grasp 
 all the wisdom of His divine nature is true ; it is also 
 true that His human intellect did not in childhood, 
 or boyhood, or even in early manhood, proceed to 
 set forth those mysteries of redeeming grace revealed 
 in the Gospels ; but this does not, in the slightest de- 
 gree, affect the truth of anj'thing which the human in- 
 tellect, at any period, may have grasped, or may have 
 proclaimed. To argue that because our Lord's human 
 knowledge was limited, therefore what He did state 
 was inaccurate, is manifestly illogical. Consequently, 
 the ground taken up by Dr. Colenso is untenable. 
 
 But, further ; observe at what period of our 
 Lord s life it is said of Him He " increased in wis- 
 dom." " He was twelve years old " (Luke ii. 42-52). 
 His body was then increasing in stature, and the 
 powers of His mind were expanding, and thus grasp- 
 ing and exhibiting more and more of the infinite 
 wisdom that lay within. This is the full meaning 
 of the Evangelist's words, " Jesus increased in wis- 
 dom as well as in stature." ^ It was not at this 
 time, however. He entered on His work as the Great 
 Teacher. It was not until the age of tJdrty (Luke 
 iii. 23), when the human nature, mind as well as 
 body, had attained to perfect development, — when 
 
 ^ Observe the force of the Greek Trpo^KOTrrev ao<pig. /cat ijXiKiq, ; the^one 
 referring to the human mind, the other to the human body (Luke ii. 52). 
 
24 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 His mental faculties, fully trained and fully taught, 
 were fitted for settinof forth those sublime truths 
 which He came from heaven to reveal, and the revela- 
 tion of which brought to light life and immortality. 
 It was not the will of the Eternal that all the 
 mysteries of the Divine Councils should be revealed 
 to man. It was not necessar}^ The finite mind 
 could not fully comprehend them all. Only such 
 truths were intended to be revealed, and luere re- 
 revealed, as were necessary to the salvation of man. 
 Such of these truths as were revealed directly through 
 Christ, were revealed through His human intellect ; 
 and whatsoever was revealed- through it was ab- 
 solutely and necessarily true, as proceeding from the 
 divine nature.-^ But it appears that the human 
 mind of Jesus, while able perfectly and infallibly to 
 set forth every truth communicated to it, was not 
 of itself omniscient. Hence the remarkable declara- 
 tion of our Lord, " Of that day and hour knoweth 
 no one, no, not the angels which are in heaven, 
 neither the Son, hut the Father ;" ^ — a declaration 
 which has been so fatally misrepresented and mis- 
 understood by many critics.^ But in whatever 
 
 ^ Heb. i. 1-3 ; John iii. 34; vii. 16, 17. 2 Mark xiii. 32. 
 
 8 Colenso, Pentateuch, Part III. Pref. p. xxxv. Even Alford, in his 
 notes on this passage, and the parallel in Matt. xxiv. 36, has somewhat 
 overestimated the force of the statement by an apparent failure to distin- 
 guish between the Divine and Human natures of our Lord. His remarks 
 leave the impression that Christ'^s Divinity became limited in its attributes 
 by its junction with humanity. This is impossible. The attributes of 
 His Divine nature were always the same. But the development of the 
 Divine Wisdom to, and through, His human mind was limited. 
 
OUR LORD S TESTIMONY INFALLIBLE. 25 
 
 way this statement may be interpretated, it can have 
 no bearing on tlie question now at issue. If I con- 
 fess my ignorance upon a particular subject, would 
 any man be justified in inferring therefrom, that ray 
 testimony upon any other subject could not be de- 
 pended upon ? Our Lord says that the precise date 
 of a certain future event was not known to Him ; 
 would it be loo-ical to conclude from this, that when 
 He explicitly testifies to the authorship and divine 
 authority of the Pentateuch, His testimony cannot be 
 depended upon ? 
 
 That our Lord possessed fulness of knowledge 
 on every point necessary to man's salvation, and 
 that He spoke with infallible accuracy on every 
 subject on which He spoke at all, is plainly 
 and emphatically asserted by the Evangelists. 
 Matthew tells us that when He was baptized, " The 
 heavens were opened unto Him, and he saw the 
 Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting 
 upon Him." ^ And this, as Alford remarks, " wa^ 
 not a sudden and temporary descent of the Spirit, 
 but a permanent, though special, anointing of the 
 Saviour for His holy ofiice." To put the fact beyond 
 dispute, the Apostle John adds, " And it (the Spirit) 
 abode upon Him." ^ And at that time, when the 
 Divine Son was perfectly equipped for His great work, 
 when He was just about to set forth publicly on His 
 mission of mercy, the voice of the Divine Father pro- 
 
 ^ Matt. iii. IG. ^ John i. 32 ; Kal ^/.(.ecvev eV avrov. 
 
26 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 claimed to the astonished disciples the divine ap- 
 proval of both Mission and Messenger ; " Tlds is my 
 beloved Son, in whom I am ivell iileased. " -^ 
 
 Eeferring to the same glorious fact Luke testifies, 
 "Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from 
 Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilder- 
 ness." ^ He was now perfect, phj^sically and men- 
 tally. His human faculties were able to set forth 
 with infallible accuracy the fulness of divine wisdom 
 within. John the Baptist, referring to the same 
 event, says, " He whom God hath sent speaketh tJie 
 ivovds of God ; for God giveth not the Spirit by 
 measure unto Him." ^ The Apostle John also de- 
 clares, "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among 
 us, and we saw His glor}^, the glory as of the only 
 Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.'' ^ 
 
 With statements before us so plain, so full, so 
 comprehensive as these, can we possibly, can we for 
 a single moment doubt that, whatever view may be 
 entertained of the boyhood of Christ, when He entered 
 on His public ministry as the Great Teacher of mankind 
 and Founder of Christianit3^, the plenitude of Divine 
 Wisdom was developed with infallible accuracy 
 through His human mind. And as if to put an end 
 to controversy — as if to silence all cavillers, and to 
 make the fact of Christ's absolute and infallible ac- 
 curacy on all points, great and small, concerning 
 which He spoke, clear as language could make any- 
 
 » JMatt. iii. 17. ' Luke iv. 1. 3 Jolm iii. 34. •* John i. 14. 
 
CHRIST CLAIMS INFALLIBILITY. 27 
 
 thing, He Himself says, " He that .... receiveth not 
 my words hath one that judgeth him : the word 
 that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the 
 last day. For I have not spoken of myself; hut 
 the Father ivhich sent nie, He gave me a command- 
 ment, what I should say, and what I should speah 
 And I know that his commandment is life everlast- 
 ing. Whatsoever I speak therefore, even as tlte 
 Father said unto me, so I speahJ''^ Can we, after 
 such an emphatic declaration as this, fail to believe 
 in Christ's competency as a witness, if we believe in 
 His truthfulness ? 
 
 Back through all ages past, away into the coun- 
 cils of eternity, the Lord Jesus was able to look, and 
 He was able to bring forth and reveal every hidden 
 truth necessary to enlighten the darkened mind of 
 man, and to make him wise nnto salvation. And 
 His omniscient eye took in all things, present, 
 visible and invisible — the thoughts that lay hid 
 beneath the cloak of the hypocrite, the fallacies that 
 were embodied in the plausible sophistries of the 
 rabbins, the delusions which sin had infused into the 
 hearts of men — the wondrous fulness and perfection 
 also of that Law which He Himself had of old re- 
 vealed ; and the sublime mysteries of redeeming 
 love ; — all of these lay open to His view, and were 
 unfolded to His people. And more ; — He drew 
 aside the veil which shrouds futurity, and far, far 
 1 Jolin xii. 48-60. 
 
28 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 onward down the stream of time, away into the 
 depths of the eternal future, Jesus looked, and de- 
 lineated in prophetic outline, on the page of Revela- 
 tion, all that affects, or can affect, the destiny of our 
 race and the welfare of His Church. Every word 
 Jesus spoke, whether it concerned the past, tlie pre- 
 sent, or the future, was " the Word of God." Every 
 sentiment He uttered, every particle of information 
 He communicated, whether it concerned doctrine or 
 criticism, history or philosophy, was necessarily and 
 infallibly true. Consequently, the testimony which 
 He bore to the Authorship and Divine Authority of 
 the Pentateuch must be admitted by every logical 
 mind to be true — in fact to be the very testimony 
 of God Himself. Admit this, and you admit the 
 truth and inspiration of the Pentateuch ; — deny it, 
 and you thereby virtually deny the whole Revela- 
 tion of Heaven. 
 
 And further, our blessed Lord claims infallibility 
 on all points; and all His words and acts prove that 
 His claim was valid. " A II things" He says, " are de- 
 livered unto me of my Father; and no man knoweth 
 the Son but the Father ; neither knoweth any man 
 the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the 
 Son will reveal Him."^ Observe the expression 
 '' all things'" {iravTo), and its connection with the 
 preceding words, " I thank thee, Father, Lord of 
 heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things 
 
 1 Matt. xi. 27 ; compf.re Luke x. 22. 
 
PROOFS OF CHRIST S INFALLIBILITY. 29 
 
 from the ivise and jprudent, and hast revealed them 
 unto hahes." ^ " All things" — all wisdom, all power, 
 all domiDion, are given by the Eternal Father to the 
 God-man Christ. " And no man knoweth the Son" 
 —the mystery of His person, the nature of His office, 
 the depth of His love, the plenitude of His power ; 
 the Father alone knoweth these. '' Neither knoweth 
 any man the Father save the Son'' — the glories of 
 His attributes, the riches of His mercy — these the Son 
 alone, in the infinitude of His wisdom, can appre- 
 hend; and these He alone, " who is the brightness of 
 His glory, and the express image of His person," can 
 reveal to mankind. 
 
 Consider also Christ's words and His teachings. 
 Kead His noble Sermon on the Mount, in which the 
 eternal principles of religion and morality are 
 sketched with equal completeness and power. Study 
 every sentence, every plirase, every thought, for in- 
 finite wisdom shines through them all. And it is 
 in this very sermon we find one of His strongest 
 testimonies to the divine authority of the Penta- 
 teuch.^ Bead the narrative of the Temptation, when 
 in the wilderness, as man's Representative, Christ 
 battled with man's enslaver. Do we not see in the 
 wa}^ in which Satan's subtle arguments are refuted, 
 his sophistry exposed, and his influence overthrown, 
 a palpable impress of Divine Wisdom? And every 
 text which Jesus there quotes, and which so per- 
 
 1 Matt. xi. 25. 2 Matt. v. 17, 18 ; see below. 
 
30 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 fectly confounds the tempter, is taken from the 
 Pentateuch. ^ For any man, in the face of such clear 
 and convincing testimony, to afhrm that oar Lord 
 knew no more of the authorship, the history, or the 
 authority of the Pentateuch than any educated Jew 
 of the period, shows either a want of intellect to 
 apprehend the force of an argument, or a want of 
 honesty to admit it. 
 
 ^ Compare Matt. iv. 4 with Deut. viii. 3 ; Matt. iv. 7 with Deut. vi. 16; 
 Matt. iv. 10 with Deut. vi. 1.3, x. 20. 
 
DR. DAVIDSONS STATEMENTS JIEVIEWED 31 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 
 
 Second Objectiox. — Christ oAopted ijoimlar errors. 
 
 Dr. Davidson's arpnment reviewed — Sliown to be inconsistent — His objection 
 questions Christ's L on esty— Direct proofs of His honesty in denouncing all error, 
 and teaching truth. 
 
 TI. The second objection to the validity of our 
 Lord's testimony is as follows : — It is said that 
 when He spoke of " the authority oftheLaiv" and of 
 " the ivrifings of Moses/' He merely used popular 
 language, and for His oiun purposes sanctioned or 
 adopted popular fallacies. He did not come to 
 teach criticism in fact, and consequently he adopted 
 the critical canons of the Jews, whether right or 
 wrong, true or false. -^ 
 
 It seems to me that Dr. Davidson deals with this 
 point both unfairly and illogically. The Bishop of 
 Natal makes special mention of him as one of the 
 most advanced of modern critics, and his daring- 
 theories are lauded by some of our leading literary 
 journals. I think it right, therefore, briefly to 
 
 ^ Colenso, Pentateuch, Part I., Preface, p. xxxi. 5 Davidson, Intro- 
 duction to the Old Testament, i., p. 126. 
 
32 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 review his latest effusions. Dr. Davidson's argu- 
 ment has not even the merit of being consistent. 
 He admits that our Lord and His Apostles were 
 ''teachers of truth;'' that "they did not come into 
 the world to foster vulgar errors, and support them 
 by their authority;" and then he asks, ''Was it a 
 fostering of vulgar error, or supporting it by their 
 authority, to abstain from shoiuing the Jews that 
 Moses did not write the whole Pentateuch? Did 
 they allow themselves to be imposed on by prevail- 
 ing ignorance becanse they ivere silent on the Mosaic 
 authorship of the first five books of the Bible !"^ 
 But was our Lord silent, or were the Apostles silent 
 on this point ? Dr. Davidson himself shows on the 
 preceding page that they were not; that, on the 
 contrary, both our Lord and His Apostles affirmed 
 plainly and repeatedly that Moses was tlie author 
 of the Pentateuch. Speaking of the phrase, " the 
 Book of Moses," which occurs in Mark xii. 26, he 
 says, " It must be confessed that the natural explana- 
 tion is' 'the book ivritten by Moses/ " ^ The italics 
 are his own. Then again, in a succeeding paragraph, 
 he thus writes: — "In some things both (our Lord 
 and His Apostles) adopted a AA'ise accommodation to 
 popular views. They did not in matters of moment; 
 but with such unimportant points of criticism as the 
 authorship of the Pentateuch they did not interfere. 
 The fact that they were teachers of truth did not 
 
 ^ Davidson, Introduction to the Old Testament, i.. ji. 12C. 2 p. 125. 
 
DAVIDSON S CONTRADICTIONS. 33 
 
 lead them to meddle with and correct all questions, 
 but only those of iniiportant doctrine." -^ 
 
 Now I ask any thoughtful man, is such a mode 
 of reasoning consistent or logical ? In one page it 
 is affirmed that our Lord was a teacher of truth ; in 
 the next, that He did not think it necessary to teach 
 truth when no important doctrine was involved ! 
 In one sentence it is affirmed that our Lord did not 
 foster error or support it by His authority; in the 
 next, that He adopted a wise accommodation to 
 popular views ! In one place Dr. Davidson quotes 
 some twenty passages from the Xew Testament, in 
 which the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch is 
 either directly affirmed or plainly implied ; in another 
 he declares that the New Testament writers "were 
 silent on the Mosaic authorship of the first five books 
 of the Bible ! " ^ In one passage he says, " Our 
 Saviour had the Spirit without 'measure, and knew 
 all things ; " in another, " It should be observed that 
 historical and critical questions could only belong to 
 the sphere of His human culture — a culture stamped 
 with the characteristics of His age and country. . . . 
 Considering, therefore, the human limitations to 
 which the Son of God was subjected on earth, we 
 are not irreverent in supposing that He shared the 
 common views of the Jews in His day in regard to 
 points ethically or doctrinally unimportant ! " ^ 
 
 These statements all occur within the compass of 
 
 1 p. 127. 2 Pp, 124-126. 3 Pp. 127, 128. 
 3 
 
34 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 four pages. I do not wish to be severe. I do not 
 desire to say a singles word calculated to give offence. 
 But really when a man attempts to assume the place 
 of a leader in the high walks of Biblical criticism, he 
 should see that his reasoning is consistent. To 
 throw a number of crude and contradictory state- 
 ments together, and through them to assail the 
 divine authority of the Bible, will not satisfy 
 scholars. Even massive learning, and vast research 
 over the whole field of German authorship, will avail 
 nothing if it be not applied by sound logical argu- 
 ment. In these days of free thought and independent 
 investigation students will not blindly follow any 
 leader. They will test every assertion. They will 
 examine every argument. They will insist on logical 
 proof ere they admit any new theory or reject any 
 old doctrine. It is only just and right that they 
 should do so. " Prove all things ; hold fast that 
 which is good," is the apostolic maxim. Let it be 
 the maxim of every Biblical critic. 
 
 The former objection virtually denied our Lord's 
 divinity. This calls in question His honesty. That 
 the objection really amounts to a charge of dishonesty 
 is easily proved. Our Lord came from heaven to 
 earth as the Great Teacher of man. He publicly 
 declared Himself to be " the Way, and the Truth, and 
 the Life." ^ If, therefore, He taught anything, or if 
 by His words and allusions He appeared to others to 
 
 ^ John xiv. G. 
 
OUR LORDS CHARACTER. 35 
 
 sanction anything, or if even by His silence He gave 
 consent to anything which He knew to be false, 
 which He knew to be a popular error, He was un- 
 faithful as a guide and dishonest as a teacher. No 
 conscientious man will deny this. Consequently, 
 we must either admit His testimony to the Penta- 
 teuch to be infallibty true, and that book to be what 
 I shall show He represents it to be — a revelation 
 from God; or we must abandon the New Testament 
 altogether as a safe and infallible guide, seeing its 
 Author stands convicted of unfaithfulness and dis- 
 honesty. 
 
 Let us now examine the character of Jesus as de- 
 lineated by the Evangelists, and the events of His 
 life as recorded in the Gospels, that we may see 
 whether there be a single feature in that character, 
 or a single incident in His whole life, tending to 
 sanction any such theory as that on which this ob- 
 jection is founded. If our Lord adopted " a wise 
 accommodation to popular views,'' as Dr. Davidson 
 affirms, there must be some evidence of it, and that 
 evidence will appear in the sacred narrative. If He 
 drew a Jesuitical distinction between errors which 
 involve important doctrines, and errors which do not, 
 we shall be able to detect it in His teachings, or in 
 His ethical system. 
 
 And here again I call attention to Christ's Sermon 
 on the Mount. Let the thoughtful student read each 
 sentence, study each phrase, weigh each sentiment. 
 
36 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 imd then let him sny, Is it, or is it not, from be- 
 ginning to end, the most complete and the most suc- 
 cessful exposure and refutation of popular views and 
 fallacies the world ever heard ? Delusions which 
 clouded the Jewish mind are there dissipated by the 
 light of divine truth. False interpretations which 
 erring man had engrafted on God's Law are there 
 torn away. Those refuges of lies and hypocrisy 
 which the evil heart of unbelief had formed to hide 
 itself in are there fully and fearlessly exposed. There 
 is no pandering to error great or small. There is no 
 accommodation to popular views; on the contrary, 
 there is a withering condemnation of every view 
 which is not in strict accordance with eternal truth. 
 
 Read again Christ's exposure of the popular views, 
 rites, and ceremonies of the Scribes and Pharisees. 
 Read His terrible denunciations of the whole body of 
 tlie Jewish rulers, because of those popular errors 
 which they maintained and propagated.-^ Read the 
 story of His summary acts in the Temple, when, even 
 by an exercise of phj^sical force, He drove from its 
 sacred precincts those who had dared to introduce 
 popular errors into the sanctuary.^ Read, in a word, 
 the whole of Christ's life — His teachings, warnings, 
 threatenings, and actions — and you will see that 
 everything like accommodation, or compromise, or 
 deception, was opposed alike to the heavenly purity 
 of His principles, and the perfect honesty of His 
 
 ^ Matt, xxiii. 13-29 ; Luke vi. 24-26, xi. 42-52. 2 John ii. 14-16. 
 
CHRIST THE TRUTH. 
 
 character. His whole life ^Yas one grand and 
 triumphant effort to vindicate, to develop, and to 
 establish the infallible truth of God. It was a 
 glorious embodiment of truth. It was more ; it was 
 a public, solemn, noble protest against falsehood and 
 error of every kind, and in every degree. 
 
 There is one passage which occurs in the closing 
 scene of our Lord's life as given by the Apostle John, 
 to which I would most earnestly call the attention 
 of thoughtM students. The words of the passage 
 are the words of Jesus Himself When standing 
 before Pilate's judgment seat, and solemnly questioned 
 regarding His rainistiy, His doctrine, and His pur- 
 poses, He thus replied : — " To this end 'was I horn, 
 and for this cause came I into Ihe vjorld, that I 
 should hear ivitness unto the truth. Every one that 
 is of the truth heareth my voiced ^ 
 
 O for the power cf the Divine Spirit to waft these 
 blessed words from pole to pole ; to carry them with 
 enlightening and convincing efficacy into the schools 
 of a false philosophy, into the recesses of those noble 
 minds which have been darkened by the mists of 
 scepticism, or deceived by the delusions of daring 
 speculation! O that the Saviour Himself would now 
 arise in the fulness of His divine power, and cause 
 His voice — the voice of His Gospel, to be heard in the 
 Church and in the world, that Truth might obtain 
 a complete and final victor}- ! 
 
 ^ John xviii. 37. 
 
38 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 With all earnestness and affection would I press 
 upon my readers the necessity, in these times, of a 
 full contemplation of Christ's nature and character. 
 All our faith is centred in Him. All our hopes for 
 time and for eternity depend upon Him. And well 
 may we bless God that it is so. Despite the bitter 
 assaults of open foes, and the traitorous insinuations 
 of professed friends, we can still believe in Him, 
 rejoice in Him, and glory in Him as " the Way, the 
 Truth, and the Life." 
 
CHRIST REFERRED TO THE WHOLE PENTATEUCH. 39 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 
 
 Third Objection. — Oicr Lord only refers to some parts of the 
 Pentateuch. 
 
 The meaning of the term ^'^ Law," shown from the Old Testament; the Samaritans; 
 
 the Apocrj'pha; Philo; andJosephus. 
 Meaning of the term as used in the New Testament. 
 Evidence that our Lord's testimony applies to the whole Pentateuch. 
 
 III. The third objection brought against our Lord's 
 testimony to the Divine Authority of the Pentateuch 
 is as follows, — It is admitted that our Lord speaks 
 of " Moses" " the ivritings of Moses" '' the Law of 
 Moses" the authority of " the Law" and the fulfil- 
 ling of the Law; hut it is ajffirnied that such words 
 and phrases, if understood in their most literal 
 sense, only apply to certain parts of the Pentateuch, 
 not to the ivhole hook as we now possess it} 
 
 This objection I shall now examine, and it need 
 not detain us long. Every scholar wiU admit — 
 every candid and thoughtful man must admit, that, 
 as our Lord's object was to set forth truth in a clear 
 and intelligible form, He attached to such names and 
 
 ^ Colenso, Pentateuch, Part. I. Preface, p. xxx.; Davidson, Introduction 
 to the Old Testament, i. p. 125. 
 
40 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 terms as He made use of their ordinary meaning ; 
 and further, that He only made use of such names 
 and terms as were commonly understood. The 
 question then comes to this ; In what way were the 
 terms "the Law," ''the Law of Moses," ''the writings 
 of Moses," fee, understood in the time of our Lord ? 
 
 It is well known that in the time of our Lord 
 the Jews had the Pentateuch in its entirety as we 
 have it this day. It is also well known that the 
 names by which it was then called were " the Law," 
 " the Law of Moses," " the Book of Moses/' and often 
 simply " Moses ;" and that each of these names was 
 as definite, and as fully understood by the people of 
 Palestine, as the name Pentateuch is now by the 
 people of England. As this is an important fact 
 I shall state the leading evidences on which it 
 rests. 
 
 In Deut. xxxi. 24, just before the narrative of 
 Moses' death, we read this statement and charge ; — 
 " And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end 
 of writing the words of this Laiu in a Book, until 
 they were finished, that Moses commanded the 
 Levites, which bare tjhe Ark of the Covenant of the 
 Lord, saying, Take this Book of the Laiv, and put it 
 in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord 
 your God, that it may be there for a witness against 
 thee." Here is the " Book of the Law" written and 
 completed by Moses, handed over to the care of the 
 priests, to be deposited and preserved in the Ark of 
 
MEANING OF THE TERM ' LAW." 41 
 
 the Covenant — a place at once the most sacred and 
 most secure. 
 
 A careful examination and comparison of numerous 
 passages in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuter- 
 onomy, prove that this '' Book of the Law" embraced 
 the whole Pentateuch, with the exception of the con- 
 cluding chapter, which appears to have been added 
 by Joshua immediately after the death of Moses. 
 
 An outline of Israelitish histor}^ from the death of 
 Moses to the close of the Old Testament canon, is 
 given in the Bible. During the whole of that period, 
 embracing about a thousand years, " the Book of the 
 Law" was known to the Jews, was universally 
 received and honoured by them as the word of God, 
 and universally designated " the Law," " the Law of 
 Moses," or "the Law of the Lord." I shall only 
 quote a very few passages in proof It is unnecessary 
 to do more. Any thoughtful man, by simply reading 
 over the Books of the Bible, will see that the exist- 
 ence of " the Book of the Law," its Mosaic author- 
 ship, and its Divine authority are everywhere taken 
 for granted. 
 
 In Joshua i. 7, 8, we read that the Lord charged 
 Joshua, immediately after the death of Moses, in 
 these words : " Be thou strong and very courageous, 
 that thou may est observe to do according to all the 
 Law tvhich Moses my servant commanded thee : 
 turn not from it to the right hand or the Ifeft, that 
 thou ma3'est prosper whithersoever thou goest. This 
 
42 THE PEXTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS, 
 
 Book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth ; 
 but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that 
 thou mayest observe to do according to all that is 
 written therein : for then thou shalt make thy way 
 prosperous, and then thou shalt have success." Here 
 the existence of " the Book of the Law" is acknow- 
 ledged, its Mosaic authorship is affirmed, and its 
 Divine authority is solemnly enforced. In connection 
 with this passage I direct the reader's attention to 
 the following texts: — Josh. viii. 31-35; xxiii. 6; 
 xxiv. 26 ; Judges ii. 12-15. 
 
 And when king David was dying "he charged 
 Solomon his son, saying ; . . . . keep the charge of 
 the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his 
 statutes, and h-is commandments, and his judgments, 
 and his testimonies, as it is vjvitten in the Law of 
 Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou 
 doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself " Thus, 
 at the most prosperous period of Jewish history, the 
 authorship and authorit}^ of "the Law" are affirmed 
 almost in the same language which was addressed by 
 the Lord himself to Joshua four centuries earlier. 
 And the student will find in the following passages 
 further evidence given by inspired writers who 
 flourished during the existence of the independent 
 Jewish monarchy; 2 Kings x. 31; xxii. 8-11 ; 
 1 Chron. xvi. 1 4, seq. ; 2 Chron. xvii. 9 ; xxxi. 4 ; 
 xxxiv. 14, 15. 
 
 The prophet Daniel too, when away among the 
 
" THE LAW KNOWN TO ALL THE JEWS. 43 
 
 captives by the rivers of Babylon, saw the terrible 
 calamities which had come upon his people and his 
 father-land, and thus accounts for them in words of 
 prayer to God : " Yea, all Israel have transgressed 
 thy LaiL\ even by departing, that they might not 
 obey thy voice ; therefore the curse is poured upon 
 us, and the oath that is written in the Law of Moses 
 the servant of God, because we have sinned against 
 him/'^ Daniel testifies that "the Law" was well 
 known to his nation, that Moses was its author, and 
 that transgressing it was sinning against God. With 
 this the student may compare the testimony of 
 Isaiah v. 24, and xxx. 9 ; and of Amos ii. 4. And 
 when the Israelites had returned from captivity, and 
 were again settled in Palestine, Nehemiah tells us, 
 that they " all gathered themselves together as one 
 man into the street that was before the water gate ; 
 and they spake unto Ezra the scribe, to bring the 
 Book of the Law of Moses, ivhich the Lord had com- 
 manded to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the 
 Latu before the congregation, . . . and he read therein 
 . . , . from the morning until mid-day, . . . and the 
 ears of all the people were attentive unto the Book 
 of the Law. . . . Also day by day, fro'm the first day 
 unto the last day, he read in the Book of the Lavj of 
 God. And they ke])t the fesist seven day s.''^ Additional 
 evidence to the same effect is given by Nehemiah in 
 chapters ix. 3 ; xiii. 1 ; and by Ezra in chapter vii. 10. 
 
 1 Dan. ix. 11. 2 Xeh. viii. 1, 2, 3, 18. 
 
44 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 Thus we find the " Book of the Law " well known 
 to the Jews during the whole period of their history 
 from Moses to Ezra. It is evident that the entire 
 nation was perfectly familiar with its name and its 
 object. When that name was mentioned every 
 Israelite understood what book was referred to; and 
 every Israelite who, in making a quotation, or enforc- 
 ing a statute, or illustrating a moral, mentioned the 
 name Ha-Torah, " the Law," must have referred to 
 the Pentateuch, or else must have been guilty of a 
 wilful attempt to deceive. The history of the Old 
 Testament proves that the name Torah was as 
 definite, and as well known, in those times as the 
 name Pentateuch is now. 
 
 We can trace the history of " the Book of the Law ' 
 down to the days of our Lord. During the four 
 centuries which intervened between the close of the 
 Old Testament canon and the birth of Christ the 
 Samaritans lived in a state of open hostility" to the 
 Jews. They had no dealings with them. And 
 during that period they possessed the Pentateuch, 
 they honoured it as the Word of God, and like the 
 Jews they called it Ha-Torah. They have it to 
 this day, I have seen it in their synagogue at Nabulus, 
 they give it the same name, and it is substantial^ 
 and almost verbally identical with our own, and with 
 that of the Jews. Here then is direct evidence that 
 the Pentateuch has been handed down to us unchanged 
 at least from the time of Ezra, and that it has retained 
 
" THE LAW," '■ THE PROPHETS," AND " THE PSALMS." 45 
 
 its ancient name. I may here mention a fact which 
 probably may be unknown to some of my readers, 
 but which is of considerable importance in the pre- 
 sent controversy. Among the Jews in all ages the 
 Pentateuch formed one hook. It was written con- 
 tinuously on one parchment roll. The Samaritan 
 Pentateuch is written in the same way. And both 
 Jews and Samaritans did, and do, call that book 
 Ha-Torah. The division into five appears to have 
 been unknown to the early Jews. It was probably 
 made by Alexandrine critics in the third century 
 before Christ; and the name Pentateuch, ''five-fold 
 book," was then first given to the Torali. 
 
 In the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus, written 
 about two centuries before Christ, Moses is represented 
 as the author of the whole Law.^ In the Introduc- 
 tion to that book, written B.C. 130, a threefold 
 division of the Old Testament is mentioned ; namely 
 ''The Law," "The Prophets," and "The Other Books."^ 
 It is plain from the writer's words that this threefold 
 division was then well known to the Jews. In 
 quoting from, or referring to, the Sacred Scriptures, 
 the Jews of after ages generally adopted it. The 
 name " Law" was then as definite as the name 
 " Gospels " is now. 
 
 Our next witness is Philo, a celebrated Jewish 
 
 * See Ecclus. chapters xliv.-xlvi. 
 
 2 The orifrinal words are as follows ; 6 trdinrns fxov 'Itjctovs iirl TfXeiov 
 cavrbv hovs ets re ttjv toO p6/j.ov Kal tQv irporpr}TQv kui rCiv SlWwv irarpiwv 
 ^L^Xiuiv avdyvtoaiv. 
 
46 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 philosopher of Alexandria, who lived in the early 
 part of the first century and was thus a contemporary 
 of our Lord. He mentions the same three-fold divi- 
 sion of the Old Testament ; but what the son of 
 Sirach calls "The Other Books," he calls '' Hymns/' ^ 
 In his Life of Moses he gives us a summary of the 
 writings of the great Lawgiver, from which we learn 
 that these writings, according to the general belief of 
 the Jews, embraced the whole of the first division of 
 the Sacred Scriptures, that is, " The Law," or our 
 Pentateuch. 
 
 But the most important testimony to the divisions 
 and contents of the Old Testament Scriptures is that 
 borne by Josephus, the Jewish historian, who lived 
 in the time of our Lord and his Apostles. In his 
 work against Apion, after mentioning the number of 
 books contained in the Bible, and after affirming that 
 by the Jewish nation they were all "justly accredited 
 as divine;'' he states that they were arranged in 
 three great divisions, "the Law," "the Prophets," and 
 *' the Hymns.'' Of " the Law " he says that it con- 
 tains five books which belong to Moses {kol tovtwv 
 Trevre fxkv ccttl to. Mcoucrecog), "and which contain 
 both the laws and the history of the generations of 
 men until his death." ^ Philo may be regarded as 
 the representative of the Jews in Egypt, and Josephus 
 of those in Palestine. They were both contemporaries 
 
 ^ vfivoi, Philo, Vita Contemplativa, Ojgfp. ii. 475, ed. Mangey. 
 2 Lib. i. 8. 
 
MEANING OF " THE LAw" IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, 47 
 
 of our Lord ; they both state as a fact, universally 
 known to their nation, this threefold division of the 
 Sacred Scriptures into " Law," " Prophets," and 
 "Hymns;" and they affirm that the Law comprised 
 five books which were written by Moses, and which 
 were of divine authority. 
 
 Thus we learn the current, universal opinion of 
 the Jews regarding the Pentateuch in the time of oui- 
 Lord ; and thus too we learn the names by which it 
 was known and distinguished among them. They 
 were the very same names which we find applied to 
 it in the Old Testament', namely, " The Law," " the 
 Law of Moses," or " the Book of Moses." 
 
 We are now prepared for an intelligent and satis- 
 factory examination of our Lord's testimony to the 
 Pentateuch as given in the Gospels. We are prepared 
 to decide by a fair criticism of the language He 
 employs, and the names He makes use of, whether 
 He referred to the whole Pentateuch, or only to 
 portions of it. 
 
 In Luke xxiv. 44, it is recorded that our Lord 
 addressed the two disciples at Emmaus in these 
 words ; " These are the words which I spake unto 
 you, w^iile I was yet with you, that all things must 
 be fulfilled, which were written in the Law of Moses, 
 and the Prophets, and the Psalms concerning me;" 
 and the Evangelist adds, " Then opened He their 
 understandings that they might understand the 
 Scriptures." Here our Lord mentions that very 
 
48 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 threefold division of the Old Testament which we 
 know was so familiar to the Jews, — the Law, the 
 Prophets, and the Psalms; and the accompanying 
 remark of Luke shows that these three divisions 
 made up the whole Scriptures. Can any scholar — 
 could any thoughtful man now doubt what Christ 
 here meant by "the Law of Moses?" To the disciples 
 the name was familiar. They must have understood 
 by it the whole Pentateuch. And, unless our Lord 
 was guilty of deliberate deception, He must have 
 meant by it the whole Pentateuch. 
 
 So again, when Christ said, " Think not that I 
 am come to destroy the Law, or the Prophets : I am 
 not come to destroy but to fulfil. For verily I say 
 unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one 
 tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be 
 fulfilled."^ When He said, "The Law, and the 
 Prop)hets were until John .... and it is easier for 
 heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the Law 
 to fail."^ When he said, "Did not Moses give you 
 the Law?"^ — When Christ uttered these sayings, 
 could there have been a shadow of doubt on the 
 minds of those whom He addressed, that He meant 
 the whole Pentateuch ? And again, when He made 
 this statement to His Jewish audience, " Have ye 
 not read in the Booh of Moses, how in the bush God 
 spake unto him ?"* did they not believe, and did He 
 
 1 Matt. V. 17, 18. 2 Luke xvi. 16, 17. 
 
 3 John vii. 19. ^ :\iark xii. 26. 
 
Christ's testimony to the law, 49 
 
 not intend that they should believe, that " tlie Book 
 of Moses" meant the whole Pentateuch ? And when 
 St. Luke, narrating the story of Christ's conversation 
 with the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, says 
 of Him that, " beginning at Moses, and all the pro- 
 phets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures 
 the things concerning Himself,"^ did he not use the 
 word Moses as the proper, and the universally under- 
 stood, name of the " Pentateuch " or " Law " ? Our 
 Lord's object in all His discourses was to instruct 
 mankind. He set truth before their minds plainly 
 and fully. He laboured to overcome their prejudices, 
 to remove their false opinions, to dissipate all doubt 
 and error. In order to effect this it was necessary 
 there should be no ambiguity in His language, and 
 that all the names and terms He employed should 
 be used in their normal or ordinary signification. 
 Such being the case, I cannot imagine how our Lord 
 could possibly have borne more explicit testimony 
 to the whole Pentateuch than He has done in the 
 passages above cited. And for any man to affirm, 
 in the face of such testimony — testimony clear, full, 
 and overwhelming — that His words can only apply 
 to certain parts of the Pentateuch, shows, in my 
 opinion, either a remarkable dulness of the logical 
 faculty, or a sad perversion of the moral faculty. 
 
 I have now done with the preliminary objections. 
 I think I have examined them fully and fairly ; and 
 
 ^ Luke xxiv. 27. 
 4 
 
50 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 I think every thoughtful, unprejudiced reader Avill 
 admit that I have satisfactorily proved them to be 
 invalid. I have taken the New Testament as the 
 standard of appeal. I have endeavoured to interpret 
 its language according to the sound principles of 
 hermeneutics ; and if its decisions can be trusted my 
 conclusions are sound. I have shown that our Lord 
 was a competent witness, for He was infinite in 
 wisdom. I have shown that He was an honest 
 witness, for He spoke the very words of the God of 
 truth. And I have shown, from the names and 
 terms He employed, that His testimony must be 
 understood as applying to the whole Pentateuch. 
 
AUTHORSHIP OF THE PENTATEUCH. 51 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 TESTIMOXY OF OUR LORD. 
 
 First.— 7b the Mosaic Authorship of the Pentateuch, 
 
 Proofs adduced ftom Jfatt. viii. 4, xix. 7; Mark xii. 2G ; John vii. 19. 
 
 Second. — To the Historic Truth of the Pentateuch. 
 
 The views of modern sceptics opposed to those of our Lord— Our Lord's testimony 
 examined — He authenticates the Creation; the Fall; the story of Cain; the 
 Deluge; the destruction of Sodom; the history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; 
 of Moses; the Exodus; the Manna; the Brazen Sei-pent. 
 
 The way is now prepared for a satisfactory con- 
 sideration of the testimony which our Lord actually 
 bears to the Pentateuch. We must take His own 
 words, as recorded by the Evangelists, and endeavour 
 to interpret their meaning, and estimate their bearing. 
 For the sake of order I shall arrange them under 
 three heads : — 
 
 I. Our Lord's testimony to the Mosciic author- 
 ship of the Pentateuch. 
 
 II. His testimony to the historic truth of the 
 Pentateuch. 
 
 III. His testimony to the divine authomty of the 
 Pentateuch. 
 
52 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 My objenfc is to prove from the evidence of our 
 Lord Himself, that the Pentateuch was written by 
 Moses ; that it contains a true history ; and that it 
 is the Word of God. 
 
 I do not intend to cite all the passages that miglit 
 be gathered from the Gospels, bearing upon these 
 important questions. To cite them all, and to de- 
 velop the argument fully, would require more time 
 and space than I can now command. Besides, I do 
 not think it necessary. The passages I shall quote 
 are amply sufficient for my purpose ; and the 
 thoughtful student can easily discover others for 
 himself 
 
 I. The testimony of our Lord to the Mosaic author- 
 ship of the Pentateuch. 
 
 In Matt. viii. 4, we read that our Lord said to 
 the leper whom He had cleansed : " Go thy way, 
 show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that 
 Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them." 
 Observe here that the ceremonies and offerings con- 
 nected with the cleansing of lepers are not merely 
 acknowledged, but positively affirmed, by Christ to 
 have been commanded by Moses. Our Lord does 
 not allude to a popular opinion ; He makes an 
 express statement that Moses was the writer of 
 certain laws and ordinances to be observed by lepers. 
 These are recorded in Leviticus xiv. ; and turning to 
 that chapter, we find that the laws are introduced 
 
PROOFS OF MOSAIC AUTHORSHIP. 53 
 
 1)3^ these words, ''And the Lord spake unto Moses, 
 saying." The whole passage forms part of a con- 
 tinuous narrative, naanifestly the work of one author; 
 that author, according to repeated declarations in 
 the narrative itself, was Moses.^ The whole narrative 
 forms part of that book which the Jews have in all 
 ages called '' the Law," and which they ascribed to 
 Moses as author ; and now our Lord, by the reference 
 above quoted, manifestly confirms and adopts the 
 Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. 
 
 On another occasion, when a discussion arose 
 regarding the law of divorce, the Pharisees asked 
 Jesus, '' Why did Moses then command to give 
 a writing of divorcement, and to pnt her away?"^ 
 The law of divorce here mentioned is laid down in 
 Deut. xxiv. 1-4, a passage occurring in the very 
 centre of a book evidently the production of one 
 author. The Pharisees state the Jewish belief that 
 Moses was the author ; and our Lord sanctions and 
 adopts that belief when He S3i,ys, " Moses, because of 
 the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put awa^^ 
 your Avives."^ 
 
 Our Lord makes a still more explicit statement 
 in Mark xii. 26, when exposing the false dogma of 
 the Sadducees regarding the resurrection : " And as 
 touching the dead that they rise ; have ye not read 
 
 1 See chapters xiii. 1; xii. i ; xi. 1; viii. 1 ; iv. 1 ; i. 1 ; xv. 1 ; xvi. 1; 
 xvii. 1; xviii. 1, &c. ; and compare with Exod. xvii. 14; xx. 19; xxiv. 7; 
 Deut. xvii. 18; xxxi. 24-26 &c. 
 
 2 Matt. xix. 7. 3 Matt xix. 8. 
 
54 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 in tlce hook of Moses, how in tlie bush God spake 
 unto him?" What is meant here by " the book of 
 Moses ?" Is it not the book luritten hy Moses ? 
 And what book was that ? Unquestionably the 
 whole Pentateuch. It, and it alone, was the Book 
 of Moses known to the Jews and referred to b}^ 
 Christ. But lest it should be said that this was the 
 common name of the book, the mention of which 
 could not be considered as sanctioning popular belief, 
 we have in Luke's narrative a statement of our Lord, 
 which shows His belief regarding the authorship of 
 the book : " Now, that the dead are raised, even 
 Moses showed at the bush, ivhen he calleth," Szc} The 
 quotation is taken from Exod. iii., which contains 
 the account of the miracle of the burning bush, and 
 the rod changed into a serpent, and Moses' com- 
 hiission to deliver Israel from Egypt. 
 
 On another occasion, while arouino: with the Jews, 
 and endeavouring to prove to them the unreasonable- 
 ness of their unbelief, our Lord exclaims, *' Did not 
 Moses give you the Laiu ? and yet none of you 
 keepeth the Law." ^ " The Law " (6 vojmog), is un- 
 questionably a proper name, equivalent to the Hebrew 
 Torah, that is. The Pentateuch. Christ's question is 
 equivalent to a direct affirmation that Moses gave 
 the Pentateuch, — that he was its author, in fact. 
 
 Could any evidence be clearer or fuller than this? 
 If Moses did not write the Law, — if he was not 
 
 1 Luke XX. 37. 2 John vii. 19. 
 
THE PENTATEUCH A TRUE HISTORY. OJ 
 
 the author of the Pentateuch, — can Christ's words 
 be true ? If we do not believe in the Mosaic author- 
 ship of the Pentateuch, it is impossible for us 
 logically or consistently to believe in the divin-e 
 mission of Christ. Consequently, if the Mosaic 
 authorship of the Pentateuch be denied, the divine 
 authority of the New Testament must at the same 
 time be denied ; for as surely as grace and truth 
 came by Jesus Christ, so surely did the Law come 
 by Moses.^ 
 
 II. The testimony of our Lord to the historic truth 
 of the Fentatevcli.. 
 
 It is affirmed that the narratives of the Creation, 
 the Deluge, the Confusion of Tongues, the Dispersion 
 of the human family, and numerous others given in 
 the Pentateuch, are opposed to the ascertained facts 
 of science, or t-o historic probability, and consequent^ 
 cannot be true. It is not my object now to meet 
 these scientific objections ; but I affirm that not a 
 single fact of science fully ascertained has ever yet 
 been proved to be in opposition to a single statement 
 of Scripture rightly interpreted. I cannot here 
 enter on the question of the probability or improba- 
 bility, the consistency or inconsistency^ of any part 
 of the Mosaic naiTative. I have discussed it else- 
 where ; and I now simply affirm that the charges of 
 improbability and inconsistency have not been proven. 
 
 1 John i. 17. 
 
56 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 My present purpose is to show that the Lord Jesus, 
 the Creator and Governor of the world, the infinifcel}' 
 wise and holy God, positively and repeatedly asserts 
 the truth of those narratives which some modern 
 theologians venture to deny. 
 
 It has also been stated that the accounts given in 
 the Pentateuch of the Temptation, the Fall, the Call 
 of Abraham, the Destruction of Sodom, the Smitten 
 Rock, the Manna in the Desert, and many others, 
 are myths or fables. I shall prove that, whatever 
 opinion modern scepticism may form regarding them, 
 our Lord acknowledged them to be historic facts. I 
 shall give His own words : — 
 
 We read in Mark x. 2-12, that when the Pharisees 
 questioned our Lord concerning the law of divorce, 
 He said, "What did Moses command you?" They 
 replied, "Moses suffered to write a bill of divorce- 
 ment, and to put her away." Jesus answered, " For 
 the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this pre- 
 cept ; hut from the beginning of the creation God 
 made them Tuale and female ; for this cause shall a 
 man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his 
 wife .... What therefore God hath joined together, 
 let not man put asunder." Here observe that the 
 authority of " Moses," or of the Pentateuch, on a 
 question of law, is recognized by Christ as para- 
 mount. But I call the especial attention of my 
 readers to Christ's mention of creation, and of the 
 fact, recorded in the beginning of Genesis, and evi- 
 
CHRIST AUTHENTICATES THE CREATION. 57 
 
 dently referred to here, that at the first God made 
 man male and female. The words of the parallel 
 passage in Matt. xix. 4 are most important. " Have 
 ye not read'' says Christ, " that He which made them 
 at the beginning made them male and female, and 
 said, For this cause shall a man leave father and 
 mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain 
 shall be one flesh?" " Have ye not read ? " Where? 
 In the first and second chapters of Genesis, containing 
 that very narrative of Creation, the truth of which 
 philosophic theologians now deny. Our Lord here 
 distinctly mentions the account of Creation given in 
 the Pentateuch, as a historical fact. Nay more : 
 He grounds His argument for the indissoluble nature 
 of the marriage bond on the literal truth of that 
 account, — "For this cause," — because God at the 
 first made them male and female, " shall a man leave 
 father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and 
 they twain shall be one flesh." The force of the 
 argument consists in the original unity of male and 
 female in Adam before Eve was formed. The woman 
 was made from the man, and therefore when one man 
 and one woman are united in marriage, they become 
 one flesh, because woman was at first taken out of 
 man.-^ If we deny the historic truth of the narrative 
 in Genesis, our Lord's argument falls to the ground. 
 What more satisfactory testimony could Jesus bear to 
 the historic truth of the first part of the Pentateuch \ 
 
 1 See Alford on Matt. xix. 4-6. 
 
58 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 In John viii. 44<, our Lord authenticates the narra- 
 tive of the Teniptation and Fall, when He says oi 
 Satan, " He ivas a 7)iurderer from the beginning, 
 and abode not in the truth, for there is no truth in 
 hira. When he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his 
 own ; for he is a liar, and the father of it." Adam 
 and Eve were the first whom Satan murdered ; and 
 the murder of Abel was a direct result of his tempta- 
 tion. Satan, too, was the father of liars, for he 
 uttered the first lie ; and all liars are his offspring. 
 
 Again : our Lord authenticated the story of Cain 
 when He said, " From the blood of Abel unto the 
 blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar 
 and the temple : verily, I say unto you, It shall be 
 required of this generation."^ The blood of Abel is 
 mentioned as that firist shed by human hand. He 
 authenticated the historic truth of the Deluge, when 
 He argued, ''As the days of Koe tvere, so shall also 
 the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the 
 days that were before the flood, they were eating and 
 drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the 
 day that Noe entered into the arh, and knew not 
 until the flood came, and took them all away: so 
 shall also the coming of the Son of man be."^ If 
 we deny the historic reality of the Deluge and all its 
 details as given in the Pentateuch, can we believe 
 the truthfulness of Christ, or the reality of the great 
 Christian doctrine, Christ's second advent? So, 
 ^ Luke xi. 51. 2 >jatt. xxiv. 37-39. 
 
DETAILS Ot MOSAIC HISTORY AUTHENTICATED. 59 
 
 ao-ain, our Lord authenticated the narrative of the 
 miraculous destruction of Sodom and the cities of the 
 plain, when he said, " Likewise also as it was in the 
 days of Lot ; they did eat, they drank, they bought, 
 they sold, they planted, they builded ; hut the same 
 day thcit Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and 
 brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 
 Even thus shall it he in the day when the Son of 
 Tiian is revealed."^ Could any testimony be more 
 explicit than this to the reality of those events? And 
 our Lord's memorable warning — " Remember Lot's 
 tvife" — shows how He received as fact every minute 
 particular of the narrative. 
 
 Our Lord also authenticated the whole history of 
 Abraham by such references to it as the following: 
 " Think not to say, We have Abraham to our father," 
 «S^c. ;^ " This day is salvation come to this house, for- 
 asmuch as he also is a son of Abraham ;^ "If ye 
 were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of 
 Abraham ;"* "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see 
 my day: and he saw it, and was glad/'^ He 
 authenticated the story of Isaac by his mention of 
 him in Matt. viii. 11 and Luke xiii. 28. He authen- 
 ticated the story of Jacob, during His remarkable 
 interview with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's 
 Well.^ He authenticated the narrative of Moses' 
 interview with Jehovah at the "burning bush" on 
 
 1 Luke xvir. 28-30. 2 Matt, iii, 9. - Luke xis.. 9. 
 
 ^ John viii. 39. ^ John viii. oO. ^ John iv. 5-16. 
 
60 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 Horeb, and of his Divine mission to liberate the 
 Israelites, when He said to the Sadducees, " Have ye 
 not read in the Book of Moses, hoiv in the hush God 
 spake unto himV^ He authenticated the narrative 
 of the miraculous destruction of the first-born in 
 Egypt, of the salvation of the Israelites, and of the 
 Exodus, when, before His betrayal, he said to His 
 disciples, " With desire I have desired to eat this 
 passovev with you before I suffer; for I say unto 
 you, I will not any more eat thereof, tintil it be ful- 
 filled in the Idngdowu of God''^ — " until it," the Pass- 
 over, " be fulfilled in the Jcingdom of God" — that is, 
 in the eternal festival of his liberated and glorified 
 Church in heaven, of which the earthly Passover was 
 a type. Observe here the connection between the 
 typical rites of the Pentateuch and the spiritual 
 realities of the Gospel. If the types were fables, 
 can we believe in the antetypes ? He authenticated 
 the narrative of the whole journey of the Israelites 
 through the wilderness, with all its miraculous* 
 details, when He said to the Jews, " Your fathers 
 did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead, I 
 am the living bread ivhich came down from heaven. 
 .... This is that bread which came down from 
 heaven : not as your fatliers dAd eat manna, and 
 are dead ; he that eateth of this bread shall live for 
 ever."^ Here, again, the real type and the real 
 
 1 Mark xii. 26 ; Luke xx. 37. 2 Luke xxii. 15, 16. 
 
 2 Juhn vi. 49-51. 58. 
 
CHRIST AUTHENTICATES THE WHOLE PENTATEUCH. 61 
 
 antetype are placed side b}' side. If we deny the 
 reality of the manna, we can put no faith in the 
 reality of the glorious Christian doctrine that Christ 
 is "the Bread of Life." Finally, our Lord authenti- 
 cated the story of the Brazen Serpent, with its mira- 
 culous cures and its spiritual significancy, when He 
 declared, " As Moses lifted up the serpent in the 
 tvilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted 
 up"^ This is a wonderful statement. I shall have 
 occasion hereafter to consider the depth of meaning 
 it contains. Meanwhile, let me ask the reader's 
 attention to the structure of the sentence. ''As 
 (KaOio^) Moses lifted up, .... eveii so (ourm) must 
 (Set) the Son of man be lifted up." The reality of 
 the one event is as firmly established as the reality 
 of the other. 
 
 Thus all the great events recorded in the Penta- 
 teuch, from the beginning of Genesis to the end of 
 Deuteronomy — from the creation down to the close 
 of the wilderness journey — are mentioned by our 
 Lord, and authenticated as facts by Him. And 
 these are the very narratives which some modern 
 theologians, who still profess to be believers in Jesus, 
 affirm to be in part myths and legends, and in part 
 tissues of absurdities and contradictions I This is 
 their view; but their Master's is different. By our 
 Lord, Gospel doctrines are indissolubly linked to 
 Mosaic history. Back to creation's joyous morn the 
 
 ^ John iii. 14. 
 
62 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 blessed Saviour looked, and united to the primeval 
 works of His own hand those eternal truths which 
 He set forth in the Gospel. Along the stream of 
 ancient story His omniscient eye ran, singling out 
 each great event originally destined to illustrate the 
 glorious attributes of the Divine Father, or won- 
 drously to prefigure and typify the redeeming love 
 and labour of the Divine Son. He shows that not 
 one event, not one fact mentioned in the Pentateuch, 
 occurred or was recorded in vain. Brought about 
 by Divine Providence, their stories written by Divine 
 inspiration, they were all typical as well as real, 
 prophetic as well as historic — decreed in the councils 
 of eternity to shadow forth greater events in the 
 far distant future. Our Lord not only attests 
 their reality — He weaves them all up in His grand 
 scheme of doctrine ; thus uniting type with ante- 
 type, and shadow with substance ; — so blending, in 
 fact, the Law and the Gospel, the history in the 
 Pentateuch and the doctrines of Chistianity, that witli 
 all the force of an irresistible logic we may now 
 triumphantly say to every man, " If you believe 
 not Moses' writings, how can you believe Christ's 
 words ?" 
 
 From these testimonies and teachings of our Lord, 
 the proud votaries of science and the attached stu- 
 dents of the world's philosophy may well learn an 
 important and solemn lesson. They call themselves 
 Christians, they profess belief in Christ's Divine 
 
TENDENCY OF MODERN INFIDELITY. 63 
 
 mission ; and yet they venture to stigmatize as myth 
 and fable what He authenticates as facts. No con- 
 trast could be greater than that between the flippant 
 and destructive criticisms of the Pentateuch made by 
 some Christian men, and even Christian ministers, in 
 our day, and the confident and reverential allusions 
 made to that book by Christ their Lord and Master. 
 It is, unfortunately, too true, as Dr. Chalmers said 
 years ago, that there now exists a superficial philo- 
 sophy, which has thrown around itself a halo of most 
 captivating brilliancy, which spurns Bible history 
 and Bible doctrine together, which has infused the 
 very spirit of Antichrist into some of the great 
 literary establishments of our land, and w4iich is 
 now making a daring efibrt to infuse it into the 
 Church itself. But I would have all thoughtful men 
 to know and to believe that this is not, that it can- 
 not be, that cautious, solid, profound philosophy, 
 which has done so much to elevate the human mind 
 and to ennoble the present age. The only ennobling 
 philosophy is a Christian philosophy; the only solid 
 and safe basis for philosophy is the Word of God. 
 Give me the philosophy which leads me, with child- 
 like docility, to receive God's teaching regarding His 
 own workings and His own works. Give me the 
 philosophy which does not leave me to the vague- 
 ness of human speculation or to the wildness of 
 human fancy regarding the origin of evil, but which 
 tells me the whole sad mvsterv in the storv of the 
 
64 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 Fall. Give me the philosophy which does not leave 
 me in painful uncertainty as to the reality and the 
 mode of God's providence over His people, and of 
 His rule in His Church ; but which exhibits them 
 in gracious development in the lives of the patriarchs 
 and in the history of the Exodus. Give me the 
 philosophy which teaches me, as the Pentateuch 
 teaches, to look direct from creation's works to crea- 
 tion's God ; which teaches me to hear His' voice in 
 the song of birds ; to feel His love in the breath of 
 spring ; to see His goodness in every bursting bud, 
 in every spreading leaf, in every opening flower. 
 Give me the philosophy which teaches me to discover 
 fresh manifestations of God's wisdom in the changing 
 aspects of nature — in sunshine and shower, in cold 
 and heat, in winter and summer. Give me that 
 philosophy which teaches me, as the Pentateuch 
 teaches, when I see the splendour of the noon-day 
 sun, or when, in the gloom of night, I look on the 
 glories of the starry sky, in mingled joy and faith to 
 exclaim — 
 
 " What though in solemn silence all 
 Move round this dark terrestrial ball 1 
 What though no real voice nor sound 
 Amidst their radiant orbs be found ? 
 In reason's ear they all rejoice, 
 And utter forth a glorious voice ; 
 For ever singing as they shine, 
 " The hand that made us is Divine." 
 
DIVINE AUTHORITY OF THE PENTATEUCH. 65 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TESTIMONY OF OUR LORD. 
 
 Third. — To the Divine Authority of the Pentateuch. 
 
 Vast importance of this point. 
 Testimony an-anged nnder four heads. 
 
 I. The Pentateuch Cited as Authoritative. 
 
 The argument stated. 
 
 Proofs from Matt. xii. 2 ; Mark x. 2 ; Luke x. 25 :— from the Story of the Temptation, 
 the Sermon on the Mount, the Parable of Dives and Lazarus. 
 
 Ill The testimony of our Lord to the Divine 
 Authority of the Pentateuch. 
 
 I have come to the crowning part of the subject. 
 My object now is to show that Christ's testimony, 
 given in the Gospels, establishes the Divine authority 
 of the Pentateuch ; or, in other words, that the Pen- 
 tateuch is proved to be the Word of God by the 
 statements of the Son of God. If I succeed in this, 
 the process of proof is complete. Admit the pre- 
 miss, that the New Testament is of Divine autho- 
 rity, and the conclusion is inevitable — the Pentateuch 
 is of Divine authority. Keject the Pentateuch, and 
 you thereby necessarily reject the New Testament 
 
 And here let me state that I feel, and feel most 
 deeply, the solemn and momentous consequences of 
 
 5 
 
6G THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 the view I adopt. I stake my faith in the New 
 Testament — in a Divine Revelation, in fact, on a 
 logical proposition. I wish it to be understood, 
 however, that I have not adopted this view rashly. 
 I have given to it much thought, much research, 
 and much prayer. I have considered it, I believe, in all 
 its bearings. I have endeavoured to divest myself of 
 every species of prejudice — to put away from my 
 mind everything that would tend to give it a bias 
 either to one side or another. And after all, I feel 
 assured that my view is a right one, and that it is 
 the only right one. I am convinced that we must 
 believe the whole Bibte, or we can logically believe 
 none of it. We must admit that it is all the Word 
 of God, or we cannot consistently say that a single 
 book of it is the Word of God. There is a unity 
 pervading the whole, which no human power can 
 destroy, without at the same time destroying every- 
 thing that is valuable in the book itself It w^ill be 
 seen, too, that the subject now under discussion is 
 not one of those minor matters on which Christians 
 can agree to differ, leaving them in abeyance. It 
 lies at the basis of Christianity, It involves the 
 tirst principles of Divine truth. If we abandon the 
 Pentateuch, our faith is vain. 
 
 In reviewing our Lord's testimony to the Divine 
 authority of the Pentateuch, I shall arrange it under 
 four heads : 1 . I shall show that He cites the Pen- 
 tateuch as authoritative on matters of faith and duty; 
 
CHRIST S TESTIMONY ARRANGED. 67 
 
 2. That He quotes and alludes bo it as containing a 
 series of prophecies ; 3. That He calls it '* The Word 
 of God ;" 4. That He affirms every jot and tittle oi' 
 it to contain eternal truth. 
 
 1 . Our Lord cites the Pentateuch as authoritative 
 on matters of faith and duty. 
 
 When in a court of law any point is being argued, 
 and when we hear the advocates on both sides appeal- 
 ing to some act or statute — each party labouring to 
 prove that his case is in accordance with such act 
 or statute, and that the opposite case is at variance 
 with it — we conclude that the act or statute so 
 appealed to is authoritative. Or again : when we 
 hear a judge on the bench deciding any point of law, 
 and referring to a certain treatise as guiding him by 
 its statements to that decision, we conclude that the 
 treatise so referred to is of unquestionable authority. 
 Or again : when a controverted question is being- 
 discussed by two theologians, and when both appeal 
 to one book — each endeavouring to prove that his 
 views agree with the statements of that book, and 
 that his opponent's differ from it — we know that 
 both regard that book as a standard authority. 
 
 Let us applj^ this to the question now under con- 
 sideration. If we find our Lord, and the Jewish 
 rabbins, arguing upon doctrinal and moral questions, 
 and both appealing to the teachings and statements 
 of one common book ; must we not conclude that 
 both regarded that book as authoritative ? And if 
 
68 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE OOSPELS. 
 
 we find our Lord, as a judge, solemnly deciding ques- 
 tions of Divine Law subniitfced to Hira; and quoting or 
 referring to a book as the standard in accordance with 
 which His decisions are given ; are we not forced to 
 admit that the book so quoted or referred to He be- 
 lieved to be of Divine authority ? No man, I think, 
 can question these principles. Such then being the 
 case, nothing can possibly be clearer than that both 
 our Lord and the Jews believed and acknowledged 
 the Pentateuch to be of standard authority on all 
 matters of faith and duty. In proof I submit the 
 following passages :— - 
 
 In Matt. xii. 2, we read that the Pharisees accused 
 Christ's disciples of breaking the Sabbath-day, by 
 plucking ears of corn to satisfy their hunger. How 
 did our Lord meet this grave charge ? He appealed 
 at once to the Pentateuch. " Have ye not read in 
 the Law, how that on the Sabbath-days the priests 
 in the temple profane the Sabbath and are blame- 
 less ? " And let it be observed that the Law here 
 appealed to is not the Ten Commandments. It is 
 laid down fully in Num. xxviii. 9-19. The priests 
 were commanded to offer double offerings on the 
 Sabbath, and to place hot shewbread. Here, then, 
 we have the decision of the Law, that is, of the 
 Pentateuch, appealed to by our Lord as the standard 
 authority on a great question of morality. The his- 
 toric reality and Divine authority of what is written 
 there form the basis of our Lord's argument. 
 
THE PENTATEUCH CITED AS AUTHORITATIVE. 69 
 
 Again, we read in Mark x. 2, that the Pharisees 
 came to Jesus to ask His opinion regarding the law 
 of divorce, — " Is it lawful for a man to put away his 
 wife for every cause ?"^ He was then placed in the 
 position of a judge; and how did He decide ? " He 
 answered and said unto them, What did Moses com- 
 mand you ?" He appealed at once to the writings 
 of Moses, that is, the Pentateuch. This book was 
 His standard of law, as it was theirs. All that it 
 was necessary for Him to do was to explain to them 
 its real and full meaning. He did so. He showed 
 them that because male and female were originally 
 united, by implication, in Adam, therefore when one 
 man and one woman were united by marriage they 
 became one flesh. He sums up with this most em- 
 phatic and important declaration, " What therefore 
 God hath joined together, let not man i3ut asunder."'^ 
 And by this declaration He affirms that the decision 
 of the Pentateuch on this subject is absolute and ir- 
 revocable, because it is the decision of God Him- 
 self.2 
 
 At the 17th verse of the same chapter we are 
 told that a certain ruler ^ came running, and kneel- 
 ing at Jesus' feet asked Him, " Good Master, what 
 shall I do that I may inherit eternal life V Could 
 any position be more solemn than that in which our 
 
 ^ Compare Matt, xix. 3-12. 2 Matt. xix. 6. 
 
 3 Alford's notes on Matt. xix. 3-12 are deserving of careful perusal. 
 
 4 Compare the parallel passages in Matt. xix. 16-30, and Luke xviii. 
 18-30. 
 
70 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 Lord was then put ? Could any responsibility be 
 greater than that laid upon Him, and from which 
 He did not attempt to shrink ? And what reply 
 did He give to this momentous question ? " Jesus 
 said unto him, . . . Thou knowest the command- 
 ments ;'' and then He repeated them to him sub- 
 stantially as given in the Pentateuch. Here again 
 the Pentateuch is appealed to by our Lord as con- 
 taining the rule of human duty. 
 
 On another occasion a lawyer came to Jesus, and 
 asked Him, '' Blaster, ivhat shall I do to inherit 
 eternal life .?" Christ's reply was still the same, 
 " He said unto him. What is written in the Laiv ? 
 Hotv readest thou?" He directed him at once to 
 the Pentateuch as the supreme authority, and when 
 the lawyer lepeated the commandments therein re- 
 corded, Jesus said, " Thou hast answered right ; this 
 do and thou shalt live." ^ Here our Lord not only 
 proves that the Pentateuch was the standard authority' 
 on all points of human duty, but that it was tlien 
 the Divine guide to life and immortality. 
 
 When our Lord was tempted by Satan in the 
 wilderness, what were the spiritual weapons He 
 wielded, and with which He vanquished man's en- 
 slaver ? They were three texts quoted from the 
 Pentateuch.2 When in His Sermon on the Mount 
 He set before the multitudes the whole principles of 
 
 1 Luke X. 25-28. 
 
 3 Matt. iv. 4, with Deut. viii. 3; Matt. iv. 7. with Deut. vi. 16; Matt. 
 -. 10, with Deut vi. 13. 
 
THE PENTATEUCH THE DIVINE GUIDE. 71 
 
 CbrLstian morality, and the whole sum of Christian 
 duty, what was the text which He selected for ex- 
 position ? It was the law of Moses contained in the 
 Pentateuch.-^ AVhen in the remarkable parable of 
 the " rich man and Lazarus," our Lord showed the 
 Jews that they had a sufficient guide on all points of 
 faith and duty, He declared that guide to be " Ifoses 
 (that is, the Pentateuch) and the Prophets ;" and to 
 put the fact of their sufficiency beyond all doubt or 
 question. He added, " If they hear not Moses and the 
 Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one 
 rose from the dead/' ^ Could there possibly be more 
 direct and emphatic testimony to the Divine autho- 
 rity of the Pentateuch, and to the sufficiency, at that 
 period, of the Old Testament Scriptures for the salva- 
 tion of the Jews, than that furnished in this passage 
 by the Son of God? In His Sermon on the Mount 
 our Saviour makes another statement equally clear 
 and convincing, " Therefore all things whatsoever ye 
 would that men should do to you, do ye even so to 
 them ; FOR this is the Lavj and the Prophets.'' ^ 
 This is the sum and substance of all that is written 
 in the Old Testament concerning the duty which 
 man owes his fellow man ; and therefore this is all 
 that the Gospel, or the God of the Gospel, can re- 
 quire. 
 
 And now I confidently ask every thoughtful 
 reader, Is it not clear as language can make it, that 
 
 ^ Matt. V. 17, 48 seq. a Luke xvi. 14-31. 3 Matt. vii. 12. 
 
72 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 our Lord quoted the Pentateuch as the supreme and 
 Divine authority on all points of faith and dutj^ ? 
 Does He not declare its decisions to be final, be- 
 cause they are Divine ? And if so, are we not war- 
 ranted in saying to every man who rejects the 
 Pentateuch — who denies its historic truthfulness or 
 Divine authority, '' If you believe not Moses' writ- 
 ings, how can you believe Christ's words ?" 
 
THE PENTATEUCH PKOPHETICAL. 73 
 
 CHAPTER yil. 
 
 TESTEVIONY OF OUR LORD. 
 
 2. The Pentateuch cited ccs Prophetical. 
 
 All Prophecy from God. 
 Proofs from John v. 39-45 ; viii. 56. 
 
 The Types Prophetical—TJie brazen Serpent ; the Manna ; the Deluge. 
 Matt. V. 17, 18 explained. 
 (1.) Prophecies of Christ in the Pentateuch. 
 
 (2.) Typical Personages— All the Great Personages mentioned in the Penta- 
 teuch Types. 
 (3.) Typical Rites— Patriarchal, Mosaic. 
 (4.) Typical Events. 
 
 2. Out Lord quotes ^and alludes to the Pentateuch 
 as containing a series of jwophecies. 
 
 The Spirit of prophecy must be the Spirit of God. 
 Establish the reality of any prediction, and you 
 thereby establish the fact that the words of that 
 prediction are the words of God. I refer, of course, 
 to such predictions as are obviously beyond the pro- 
 vince of logical deduction, or mere inferential fore- 
 sight or sagacity. No eye but the eye of the 
 Omniscient can look into futurity. No wisdom but 
 the wisdom of God, and no power but the power of 
 God, can so guide and govern nature and providence 
 as that certain predicted events shall take place at a 
 fixed time and in a prescribed manner. Conse- 
 
74 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 quently, if I can show that our Lord quotes and 
 refere to the Pentateuch as containing a series of 
 prophecies, I thereby prove that He received it a^ 
 the Word of God, and that, if He is true, it is of 
 Divine authority. 
 
 We read in John v. 39 and 45—47, that when 
 our Lord charged the Jews with unbelief, He proved 
 to them that their unbelief was inexcusable, because 
 satisfactory evidences of His Divine mission were be- 
 fore them, — " Search the Scriptures ; for in them ye 
 think ye have eternal life ; and they are they which 
 testify of me." It is their grand office and object 
 to bear testimony to Christ. So the Greek declares.^ 
 Is it asked what part of Sacred Scripture is here 
 s]^)ecially referred to ? Christ replies,^ *' There is one 
 that accuseth you," — accuse th you of unbelief, " even 
 Moses" that is, the Pentateuch, " in whom ye trust. 
 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed 
 me : for he torote of me." Moses wrote of Christ. 
 His words were therefore prophetic, and consequently 
 they were the words of God. Christ Himself virtu- 
 ally declares them to be such. It is a matter of no 
 moment, so far as my argument is concerned, to 
 what particular prophecy, or prophecies, our Lord 
 here alludes. The statement is clear and emphatic ; 
 and the very generality of the reference rather adds 
 to than detracts from its force. 
 
 When our Lord, on another occasion, was setting 
 
 ^ Kal iKCipai elaiv ai fxapTvpovaai irepl ifiov. ^ John v. 45. 
 
HOW ABRAHAM SAW CHRIST S DAY. i 5 
 
 before the Jews the proofs of His Divine mission, He 
 said, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, 
 and he saw it, and teas glad.'' ^ The Jews knew 
 that Abraham by faith had seen Christ's day. The 
 prophetic promises upon which the patriarch's faith 
 was based are recorded in the Pentateuch. When 
 the Lord said to him, on three different occasions, 
 ''In thee shall all the families of the earth be 
 blessed," ^ Abraham knew that the words were pro- 
 phetic, and when Moses wrote them he wrote by the 
 Spirit of prophecy. The words are not only in them- 
 selves prophetic, but they are mixed up wdth a long- 
 series of other prophecies. Consequently, when our 
 Lord referred to them, He authenticated their prophetic 
 character, and at the same time the prophetic charac- 
 ter and Divine authority of the book containing them.^ 
 In addition to the direct prophecies to which our 
 
 ijohn viii. 56. I cannot agree with Maldonatus' interpretation 
 of this verse ; he thus explains it, " Cum dicit vidit, baud dubium 
 quin eo modo vidisse dicat, quo videre dixerat tantopere concupivisse. 
 Non autem concupiverat sola videre fide ... . quia fide jam Christi 
 diem videbat ... - vidit ergo diem Christi re ipsa, quemadmodum et 
 ille et patres omnes videre concupiverant, &c," ii. 710. Alford, whose 
 view is substantially the same, appears, in my opinion, to mistake the 
 meaning. He translates riyaWidaaTo iVa tdrj, "rejoiced, that he should 
 see;" that is, that he should be present as a witness. The particle iva 
 indicates the issue of an act or thought ; and the construction I'm tdr) fol- 
 lowing TjyaWtdaaTo qualifies the meaning of that verb, which is usually 
 construed with 6ti ; consequently the true meaning of the passage appears 
 to be, " ^ greatly desired that he viight see ... . and he saw ;" — not with 
 the eye of sense, not in his paradisiacal state of bliss ; but with the eye o/ 
 aith, fully realizing the glorious fact in the vividness of prophetic vision. 
 This view is borne out by a comparison of the passage with Gal. iii. 16 ; 
 Heb. xi. 8-13 ; 1 Pet. i. 10-12 ; Gen. xxviii. 18. 
 
 2 Gen. xviii. 18 ; xii. 3 ; xxii. 18. 
 
 3 Additional light is thrown upon this most important subject by the fol- 
 lowing passages : Gen. xxii. 18, with Gal. iii. 16-18, and Heb. xi. 8-13. 
 
• 76 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 Lord thus specially alludes, we find that He also 
 mentions a number of events, recorded in the Penta- 
 teuch, as typical of Himself, of His times, and of 
 His work. Thus in John iii. 14, "As Moses lifted 
 up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the 
 Son of man be lifted up." The brazen serpent was 
 a type of Christ ; declared to be so by Christ Him- 
 self So also in John vi. 49, 51, "Your fathers did 
 eat manna in the wilderness. ... 7 am the living 
 bread which came down from heaven." The manna 
 was a type of Christ, acknowledged as such by the 
 Antetype. Again, in Luke xvii. 26, our Lord says, 
 ''As it was in the days of Noe, so shaU it be also in 
 the days of the Son of Man." The awful events of 
 the Deluge are thus acknowledged by our Lord to be 
 typical of His second advent 
 
 Every type contained a prophecy. It was designed 
 to represent or foreshadow some greater event in the 
 distant future. That design implied prophetic know- 
 ledge; and the embodiment of the design in the 
 type was prophecy in act. Our Lord, therefore, in 
 explaining and authenticating these types, gives His 
 sanction and authority to the prophetic character of 
 the book containing them. It is true that modern 
 scepticism, under the name of criticism, has attempted 
 to rob these statements of Jesus of all their force 
 and significancy. It is said, for example, that He 
 merely institutes a comparison between the brazen 
 .serpent and himself; but it is impossible for any 
 
TYPES IN THE PENTATEUCH. 77 
 
 thoughtful, honest man so to interpret the passage. 
 The meaning is far deeper and fuller. The brazen 
 serpent was a type representing with remarkable 
 vividness to the eye of faith in ancient times, the 
 nature and object of Christ's death, the salvation 
 which it accomplishes, and the mode in which that 
 salvation is realized. The brazen serpent was lifted 
 up ; every one who looked on it lived ; the effect of 
 the deadly poison was immediately counteracted. 
 The Son of man must be lifted up ; every one who 
 believes on Him — looks on Him with the eye of 
 faith, shall live. The same thing is predicated of 
 the two — both are lifted up, cognate consequences 
 follow, — body-healing and soul-healing.^ 
 
 These allusions to individual prophecies, and ex- 
 planations of individual types, prepare the way for a 
 full understanding of a passage which contains the 
 most explicit and overwhelming testimony to the 
 prophetic character of the whole Pentateuch. In 
 Matthew v. 17, 18, we have these remarkable words, 
 " Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or 
 the Prophets : I am not come to destroy, hut to 
 fulfil. For verily I say unto you. Till heaven and 
 earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no luise pass 
 from the Law, till all be fulfilled." 
 
 There is a fulness of meaning and a fulness of 
 testimony in these words which I have never yet 
 seen sufficiently developed or enforced. 0ur Lord 
 
 ^ See Alford's admirable note on John iii. 14. 
 
78 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 says He came to fulfil the Law. He states a great 
 truth negatively and positively, — " I did not come 
 to put an end to (KaraXvcrai) the Law — to subvert 
 or destroy it ; my object in coming was the very 
 opposite, — I came to fill it out (irXrjpwa-ai) — so to 
 set forth its spiritual significancy, so to expand its 
 moral code, and so to embody and realize its typical 
 rites and ceremonies, that all the world might see that 
 in Me the law is fulfilled." Our Lord affirms, more- 
 over, that " one jot or one tittle shall not pass from 
 the Law, till ALL be fulfilled." Observe what minute- 
 ness of specification there is here, — " one jot or one 
 tittle.'' The "jot," or Yod, is the smallest letter in 
 the Hebrew alphabet, little more than a point or 
 dot ; and the " tittle," or keraia, is the little turn of 
 the stroke by which one Hebrew letter is distinguished 
 from another of the same form. Nothing even so 
 minute as a dot or a stroke shall pass away from the 
 Law. Observe also what comprehensiveness our Lord 
 gives to His words, — " until all be realized " (ew? 
 CLP TTOLvra yevrjrai). These words demand our special 
 attention. The all (Trdpra) in Greek is in the plural, 
 and embraces typical events, typical men, prophecies, 
 promises, rites, ceremonies, feasts, festivals ; while the 
 Greek verb (yeptjraL) involves the idea that all these 
 being typical, prophetical, or symbolic, must be 
 realized or fulfilled in the person and work of Christ 
 Must we not conclude from this wonderful declaration, 
 that the wJiole Law, that is, the whole Pentateiich, 
 
HOW CHRIST "fulfilled" THE LAW. 79 
 
 was one grand prediction — one continuous prophecy, 
 which received its fulfilment in the mission, the 
 person, and the work of our Lord ? 
 
 A careful examination of many passages in the 
 New Testament shows that this is the true, and the 
 only true interpretation of our Lord's words. I 
 think it well in this place to group together the 
 leading prophecies of Christ in the Pentateuch ; and 
 those personages, rites, ceremonies, and events which 
 the New Testament writers cite as types or symbols 
 of our Lord and His work. The reader will thus be 
 able to see at a glance how wondrously the Law wa.s 
 "filled out" in the Gospel, and how true is Christ's 
 declaration, " I came not to destroy, but to fulfil." 
 
 (1.) Direct 'prophecies of Christ. — The curse pro- 
 nounced upon the serpent in paradise; ''It shall 
 bruise thy head" (Gen. iii. 1 5 ; Gal. iv. 4 ; Kev. xii. 5). 
 The promises given to Abraham, " In thee shall all 
 the families of the eai-th be blessed " (Gen. xii. 3 ; 
 xviii. 18 ; xxii. 18 ; Matt, i, 1 ; John viii. 56 ; Acts 
 iii. 25; Gal. iii. 8). The promise renewed to Isaac, 
 '' In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be 
 blessed" (Gen. xxvi. 4; Rom. ix. 7; Gal. iv. 23-28); 
 and to Jacob (Gen. xxviii. 4, 14 ; Luke i. 68 with 
 ii. SO). The blessing given by Jacob to Judah, "The 
 sceptre shall not depart from Judah . . . until Shiloh 
 come" (Gen. xlix. 1 ; Heb. vii. 14 ; Rev. v. 5). The 
 promise given to Moses, "I will raise them up a 
 PROPHET from among their brethren, like unto thee, 
 
80 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 and will put my words in his mouth ; and he shall 
 speak unto them all that I shall command him " (Deut. 
 xviii. 1 8 ; Luke xxiv. 1 9 ; John vi. 14; Acts 
 iii. 22, 23). These were all direct predictions of 
 Christ ; acknowledged as such by the New Testa- 
 ment writers, and declared by them to be fulfilled in 
 Him. 
 
 (2.) Personages typical of Christ or His Church. 
 All the leading personages whose histories are written 
 in the Pentateuch were types of Christ and His 
 Church, designed of God to exhibit to the ancient 
 Israelites the person, offices, and work of the Messiah. 
 Adam (Rom. v. 14 ; 1 Cor. xv. 22, 45); Abel (Heb. 
 xii. 24); Enoch (Heb. xi. 5, 6; Jude 14); Noah 
 (Matt. xxiv. 37 ; Luke xvii. 26 ; 1 Pet. iii. 20 ; 
 2 Pet. ii. 5); Melchizedec (Heb. vii. 1-17); Abraham 
 (Kom. iv. 1-25; Gal. iii. 16, seq.); Sarah and Hagar 
 (Gal. iv. 22-31); Isaac (Heb. xi. 17-19); Jacob (John 
 i. 51); Joseph (Gen, xxxvii. 4 with John i. 1 1, and Luke 
 iv. 16-31; Gen. 1. 19-21 with John xvii.; Heb. 
 vii. 25); Moses (Acts iii. 20-22; Heb. iii. 2-6); 
 Aaron (Heb. ix. 7); the whole nation of Israel at 
 the Exodus (Matt. ii. 15, with Exod. v. 22, 23). All 
 those saints and heroes of olden times, whose 
 biographies run through the Pentateuch, and consti- 
 tute the grand themes of the sacred historian from 
 beginning to end, were types of Christ or His Church. 
 It is not merely in some individual acts of these 
 great personages that we see their typical character. 
 
TYPICAL PERSONS AND RITES IN THE PENTATEUCH. 81 
 
 We see it more fully in the whole tenor of their 
 lives. Their histories were so many life-pictures of 
 the Gospel ; setting before the eye of faith the 
 wondrous events of Christ's history, from His first 
 appearance as the Great Teacher till His ascension to 
 glory ; and exhibiting all the grand principles and 
 results of Christianity, — election by grace, faith, the 
 atonement, sanctification, and the eternal happiness 
 of Christ's ranspmed people in the heavenly Canaan. ^ 
 (3.) Typical Rites. — All the ordinances of the 
 patriarchal religion, and all the rites of the Mosaic 
 economy, were types or symbols of Christ and His 
 kingdom, expressly designed and ordained of Heaven 
 to prefigure the Messiah or His work of redemption. 
 The rite of Sacrifice, beginning at the Fall, embody- 
 ing the grand truth of a dying Saviour as the only 
 ground of reconciliation and peace between a guilty 
 world and a holy God (Heb. ix. 22-28). Circum- 
 cision, setting forth the necessity of separation from 
 the world, and dedication to the service of God 
 (Acts vii. 8; Kom. ii. 29; iv. 11-13; Eph. ii. 11-13). 
 The Passover, embodying perhaps a more complete 
 representation of Christ's character, sufferings, death, 
 and salvation, than any other given in Old . Testa- 
 ment times (1 Cor. v. 7; 1 Pet. i. 19; Rev. v. 12). 
 The Sin-offering (Heb. xiii. 11, 12). The Burnt- 
 offering (Num. xxviii. 3-11 ; Lev. i. 3, 4, with 
 
 ^ See this subject ably illustrated and developed in Fairbairn's 
 Typology of Scripture. 
 
 6 
 
82 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 Heb. X. 10). The Peace-offering (Lev. iii. 1 ; xxii. 21, 
 with Eph. ii. 14-16). The Bed heifer (Num. 
 xix. 2-6, with Heb. ix. 13, 14). The purification 
 of the Leper (Lev. xiv. 4-7, with Heb. ix. 13, 14). 
 The Day of Atonement (Lev. xvi., with Heb. 
 ix. 19-24). These wei* types or symbols of Christ 
 and His work, acknowledged as such by the inspired 
 writers ; and consequently they were so many pro- 
 phecies, and are so many proofs of the Divine authority 
 of the Pentateuch.^ 
 
 (4.) Typical Institutions and Events. — In the 
 Pentateuch there are many remarkable institutions 
 described, and events recorded, all of which were 
 typical or symbolical ; intended to shadow forth to 
 the primitive Church the leading principles of the 
 Gospel. For example: The Tree of Life, symbolizing 
 Christ (Gen. ii. 9, with John i. 4 ; Kev. ii. 7 ; 
 xxii. 2, 14). The Ark and the Deluge [1 Pet. 
 iii. 20, 21). Jacob's Ladder, exhibiting Christ as 
 the grand medium of communication betv^een earth 
 and heaven (Gen. xxviiL 12, with John i. 51), The 
 Egyptian Bondage, representing the natural state of 
 man, a slave of Satan (Eph. ii. 1-3 ; Kom. viii. 21 ; 
 Gal. iv. 3-5). The Deliverance by Moses, typifying 
 the greater deliverance by Christ (Heb. iii. 2). The 
 march through the ivilderness (1 Cor. x. 5, 6). 
 The smitten rock (1 Cor. x. 4), The High Priest 
 
 ^ Many other rites might have been specified, as the Feast of Trum- 
 pets, oJ£ Tabernacles, and of Pentecost ; the Sabbatic year ; the year of 
 Jubilee, «SiC. See Fairbairn's Tyi^ology. 
 
 1 
 
TYPICAL EVENTS IN THE PENTATEUCH. 83 
 
 (Heb. iv. 14, 15). The Taherimde (Heb. ix. 11), 
 The Most Holy Place (Heb. ix 24). In a word, the 
 whole Mosaic economy — its ordinances, vessels, ob- 
 servances, down to the minutest particular — was 
 typical, "a shadow of good things to come," as Paul 
 says in the Epistle to the Hebrews.^ In another 
 Epistle he tells us that the meats, drinks, holy days, 
 new moons, and Sabbaths, ''are a shadow of things 
 to come; but the body is of Christ." ^ And with no less 
 clearness does he testify to the typical character of 
 the whole facts of Israelitish history contained in the 
 Pentateuch. After referring generally to the events 
 of that history, he says, ''Now all these things 
 happened unto them for types (tvitlkws) ; and they 
 are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends 
 of the world are come."'^ 
 
 With all these direct prophecies before our eyes ; 
 with all these typical personages, rites, institutions, 
 and events ; with numerous others which the 
 thoughtful student cannot fail to discover as he reads 
 the Books of Moses, and the Apostolic comment upon 
 them in the Epistle to the Hebrews: — with all 
 these aids, we are able, I believe, fully to understand 
 that wonderful declaration of Jesus, " Verily I say 
 unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one 
 tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be 
 fulfilled." And we can see the absolute conclusive- 
 ness of the testimony which our Lord in it bears to 
 
 1 Heb. X. i. 2 Col. ii. 16, 17. 3 i Cor. x. 6, 11. 
 
84 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 the prophetic character, and cousequently the Divine 
 authority of the whole Pentateuch. The Law " was 
 a shadow of good things to come;" the substance is 
 Christ. 
 
 Some of my readers may have watched with 
 interest a little rose-bud on a chilly spring morning. 
 Tightly folded up in its rough leafy covering, it gave 
 no indication of hidden treasure, except in its swollen 
 sides, and in the tinge of delicate colouring upon its 
 tip. But the sun rose. He ascended to meridian 
 glory. He shed down his warm, life-giving beams, 
 full upon the rose-bud. It expanded like a thing of 
 life. Its rough covering was forced slowl}'' back. 
 And at length, before your admiring eyes, the bud 
 was transformed into a full-blown, blushing, beauteous 
 flower. The Law is like the rose-bud. In olden 
 times it wrapped tightly up in the rough leaves of 
 ordinances the precious treasure of salvation ; only 
 showing to the eye of faith some dim yet cheering 
 visions of the truth within. At length the Sun of 
 Righteousness arose. He shed light, and warmth, 
 and life full upon the Law, until, before the wonder- 
 ing and admiring gaze of the disciples, the Church, 
 and the world, the Law expanded into the perfection 
 and the splendour of the Gospel. 
 
THE PENTATEUCH THE WORD OF GOD. 85 
 
 CHAPTER Vlll. 
 
 TESTIMONY OF OUR LORD. 
 
 3. He calls the Pentateuch the Word of God. 
 
 Proofs— Matt. xv. 2-G; Mark vii. 5^13; Matt. xxii. 24-32. 
 
 4. He afirms that every part of the Pentateuch contains Eternal 
 Truth. 
 
 True view of " the Law "—Not destroyed, but fulfilled by the Gospel— Statement 
 
 of Dean Alford— Christ's declaration in Luke xvi. 17. 
 Tile Unity of the whole Bible. Conclusion. 
 
 3. Our Lmxl calls the Pentateuch the Wcn^d of God. 
 
 Admitting Christ to be the Son of God, infinitely 
 wise and infinitely holy, if I can show that He calls 
 the Pentateuch the Word of God, the proof of its 
 Divine authority is conclusive, the evidence is irre- 
 sistible. Such evidence is more impressive even 
 than that I have just considered, because it is simpler 
 and more direct. 
 
 When the scribes and Pharisees accused our Lord's 
 disciples of transgressing the tradition of the elders, 
 because " they wash not their hands when they eat 
 bread," He immediately replied, " Why do ye also 
 transgress the commandment of God by your tradi- 
 tion? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy 
 father and mother ; and He that curseth father or 
 mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whoso* 
 
86 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 ever shall say to his father or mother, Whatsoever of 
 mine may be useful to thee is an offering : then he 
 will not honour his father or motlier. And thus 
 have ye made the commandment of God of none 
 effect by your tradition."^ There can be no doubt 
 about the directness of this testimony. The laws or 
 commands quoted are vmtfcen in the Pentateuch, 
 and our Lord calls them " the commands of God." 
 And let it be observed that this testimon}^ is not 
 confined to the Decalogue, as some have attempted 
 to argue, for the second command quoted does not 
 belong to the Decalogue ; it is recorded in Lev. 
 XX. 9, and in Exod. xxi. 17. Observe, also, that these 
 two commands are taken from the midst of a great 
 number of a similar kind. When our Lord calls 
 them the commaiids of God, does He not authenti- 
 cate the others with them ? 
 
 The parallel passage in Mark vii. 5-13 is deserving 
 of special attention. At verse 9, Jesus says, " Full 
 well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may 
 keep your own tradition. For Moses said, Honour 
 thy father and thy mother,'' &;c. In one clause our 
 Lord charges them with neglecting "the command- 
 ment of God ;" and in the next clause, when quoting 
 that commandment, He says, " For Moses said." The 
 saying of Moses, therefore, is equivalent to the com- 
 mandment of God ; or, in other words, the " word of 
 Moses" is the " word of God." The thoughtful 
 
 ^ Matt. XV. 2-G, in the Greek. 
 
THE WORD OF MOSES IS THE WORD OF GOD. 87 
 
 reader will also observe that where Matthew has 
 (in verse 4), " For God commanded/' Mark has (in 
 verse 10), "For Moses said." Now, I ask, does not 
 our Lord here affirm the Divine authority of the Pen- 
 tateuch ? Does He not testify that its words are 
 the words of God, and that when Moses spoke, God 
 spoke by him ? 
 
 We also read in Matt. xxii. 24—32, that an im- 
 portant question, long in dispute between two great 
 parties in the Jewish Church, was submitted to our 
 Lord. It concerned the resurrectiori, which was 
 denied by the Sadducees, but maintained by the 
 Pharisees. A learned Sadducee, in stating his argu- 
 ment, thus commenced : " Master, Moses said, If a 
 man die, having no children, his brother shall many 
 his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother," &c. 
 Now, observe the words, "Moses said." After this 
 statement of the cases, Jesus at once replied, " Ye do 
 err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of 
 God." He calls the Pentateuch " the Scriptures," a 
 name which among the Jews was equivalent to the 
 Word, of God. And then, in proof of the doctrine 
 of the resurrection, He adds, " But as touching the 
 resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that luhich 
 tuas spoken unto you hy God V And he quotes a 
 passage from the third chapter of Exodus, an extract 
 from a long narrative, and an essential part of that 
 narrative. This passage the Jews believed to have 
 been written by Moses, and our Lord himself, as is 
 
88 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 evident from the parallel statement in Luke xx. 37, 
 admits it to have been written by Moses ; 3^et He 
 here affirms that it was spoken by God. The thought- 
 ful student will see that this one passage is decisive 
 regarding the Divine authority of the whole Penta- 
 teuch. The words which our Lord quotes are, as I 
 have said, an extract from a long narrative. Taken 
 apart from that narrative, they are meaningless; and 
 that narrative is itself meaningless — it must be abso- 
 lutely untrue — if we deny the reality and truth of 
 tlie w^hole history, from the call of Abraham to the 
 settlement of the Israelites in Palestine. Conse- 
 quently, our Lord in this passage virtually declares 
 the whole Pentateuch to be the Word of God. 
 
 And now, placing before him the clear and full 
 evidences given by our Lord, who declares his name 
 to be THE Truth, may we not triumphantly say to 
 every man who ventures to deny the Divine authority 
 of the Pentateuch, while he professes faith in Christ 
 and belief in the New Testament Scriptures, " If you 
 believe not Moses' writings, how can you believe 
 Christ's words?" 
 
 (4.) Our Lord affirms that every jot and tittle of 
 the Pentateuch contains eternal truth. 
 
 I have now arrived at the last division of the 
 evidence borne by Christ to the Divine authority of 
 the Pentateuch. When it is remembered how posi- 
 tive and how sweeping are the assertions of some 
 modern sceptics — when it is remembered that they 
 
THE PENTATEUCH CONTAINS ETERNAL TRUTH. 89 
 
 have arrayed geology and geography, history and 
 arithmetic, against the truth of the Pentateuch — it 
 will be admitted that the statement that " every tittle 
 of it contains eternal truth/' is a bold one. I hope 
 to prove, however, that it is not bolder than the 
 words of Jesus warrant. If I succeed, then the 
 Pentateuch and the New Testament must stand or 
 fall together. 
 
 I believe that among many Christians, and even 
 among theologians and critics, very erroneous views 
 are entertained regarding the Old Testament, and 
 more especially that part of it which is called " the 
 Law." We often hear it said that the Law was 
 annulled — that it has been finally and for ever set 
 aside by the Gospel. In one sense this is true, but 
 in another it is altogether false. If by " the Law" 
 we understand the external ordinances merely — -the 
 rites and ceremonies, the tabernacle, and altar, and 
 priests, and sacrifices, and oblations — apart from the 
 great principles of which these were the types and 
 symbols, then we are right. But if by " the Law'' 
 we mean the grand religious principles and moral 
 codes revealed to Moses, and embodied by him in 
 the Pentateuch — the doctrine of atonement by shed- 
 ding of blood, the efficacy of vicarious sacrifice, the 
 dedication of our persons and property to God, the 
 acknowledgment of God's supreme right to ourselves 
 and all we have, the efficacy of intercessory prayer, 
 the duties we owe to God and our fellows us set 
 
90 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 forth in the Ten Commandments ; — if by "the Law" 
 we mean these doctrines and codes, then to affirm 
 that the Law has been abrogated is totally false. I 
 maintain that the Law; thus understood, was never 
 abrogated. I hold it to be strictly true that Christ 
 came, not to destroy the Law, but to fulfil it. Not 
 one of its great principles, not one of its fundamental 
 doctrines, has ever been, or can ever be, abolished. 
 The saving truths set forth by Moses in the Law, 
 and those set forth by Christ in the Gospel, are 
 identical. The garb in which they are clothed is 
 different ; but change in garb can never affect the 
 individuality of the man. 
 
 In the Law we find set forth the doctrines of the 
 Fall ; human depravity ; election by grace ; the 
 atonement and intercession of Christ ; faith the root 
 of life and blessing ; adoption by grace through 
 faith ; and the principles of morality, truth, and 
 justice. In a word, every distinguishing doctrine of 
 Christianity was embodied and symbolized in the 
 Law of Moses. It is true these doctrines are set 
 forth in types, and figures, and ordinances, and cere- 
 monies. In some cases they are masked ; but the 
 mask is so transparent, especially when Gospel light is 
 shed upon it,thatwecan easily distinguish the doctrines 
 behind. When the flower opens, the bud is not de- 
 stroyed ; it is developed. And so when the Gospel was 
 unfolded, the Law was not destroyed; it was fulfilled. 
 
 This is the grand truth which the testimony of 
 
THE LAW FULFILLED IN THE GOSPEL. 91 
 
 our Lord establishes. The whole Sermon on the 
 Mount is a proof and illustration of it. Our Lord 
 there shows how the principles of Gospel morality 
 were embodied in the Pentateuch. He shows that 
 the persons whose histories are there written, the 
 ordinances which are there enjoined, and the laws 
 which are there recorded, were all intended to shadow 
 forth to God's people in ancient days the glories of 
 the Messiah's person, the results of His work, and 
 the fulness of His spiritual teachings. In one sweep- 
 ing declaration our Lord embraces the whole Pen- 
 tateuch, when he says, '' I came not to destroy the 
 Law, but to fulfil." 
 
 I shall only adduce one other passage. It is suffi- 
 cient to establish the point under consideration. 
 The passage to which I refer is as follows : " It is 
 easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle 
 of the Laiu to faiU'^ Let it be observed that the 
 word "Law" here cannot be restricted to the moral 
 law contained in the Ten Commandments. It is the 
 Torah of the Hebrews— the Pentateuch, in fact. 
 The same great truth which our Lord set forth in the 
 Sermon on the Mount, He here enunciates with still 
 deeper emphasis. The grand principles developed in 
 the Law of Moses are true, and truth is eternal. 
 Some might think, and many did and do think, that 
 because a new economy was instituted by Christ, the 
 old was therefore abolished. This is a grievous 
 
 1 Luke xvi. 17. 
 
92 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 error. The new economy was only a development of 
 the old. The Gospel preserves and perpetuates the 
 principles of the Law in all their entirety. Jesus ful- 
 filled the whole Law in its deepest meaning ; " not the 
 smallest ceremonial or national ordinance being de- 
 stroyed in its ultimate idea, while everything which the 
 Law prescribed, and of which the ancient ordinances 
 were only the symbols, was carried out to its full ideal." ^ 
 I am glad to be able to state that the interpreta- 
 tion of our Lord's words now given is substantially 
 identical with that of one of the greatest of modern 
 critics and commentators — Dean Alford. His note 
 on Matt. V. 18 is so important and so apposite, 
 that I cannot refrain from quoting it: "It is im- 
 portant to observe in these days how tlie Lord here 
 includes the Old Testament, and all its unfolding 
 of the Divine purposes regarding Himself in His 
 teaching of the citizens of the kingdom of heaven. 
 I say this, because it is always in contempt and. set- 
 ting aside of the Old Testament that rationalism has 
 begun. First, its historical truth, then its theo- 
 cratic dispensation and the types and prophecies 
 connected with it, are swept away; so that Christ 
 came to fulfil nothing, and becomes only a teacher or 
 a martyr; and thus the way is paved for a similar 
 rejection of the New Testament; — beginning with the 
 narratives of the birth and infancy, as theocratic 
 myths ; advancing to the denial of His miracles ; 
 
 ^ Meyer on Matt. v. 17. 
 
DEAN ALFOKD S TESTIMONY. 93 
 
 then attacking the truthfulness of His own sayings, 
 which are grounded on the Old Testament as a revela- 
 tion from God ; and so finally leaving us nothing in 
 the Scriptures but, as a German writer of this scliool 
 has expressed it, ' a mythology not so attractive as 
 that of Greece/ That this is the course which unbe- 
 lief has run in Germany, should be a pregnant warn- 
 ing to the decriers of the Old Testament among 
 ourselves. It should be a maxim for every expositor 
 and every student, that Scripture is a tvhole, and 
 stands or falls together." 
 
 Such was manifestly our Lord's opinion. The 
 Mosaic Law and His Gospel were one in principle; 
 the former the shadow, the latter the substance ; 
 the former the type, the latter the antetype. Hence 
 His emphatic declaration, " It is easier for heaven 
 and earth to pass, than one tittle of the Law to fail." 
 On one other occasion, and only on one, did our 
 Lord give utterance to a like sentiment. After fore- 
 telling the destruction of Jerusalem, and the terrible 
 calamities about to come upon the Jewish nation, in 
 the strongest possible terms He affirmed the truth of 
 every word He spoke, and the certainty of every 
 prediction he pronounced : " Heaven and earth shall 
 pass away, hut my words shall not pass aivay.''^ 
 Thus with the very same form of affirmation by 
 which He established the absolute certainty of His 
 own predictions. He establishes the absolute and 
 
 1 Matt. xxiv. 35. 
 
94 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 eternal truth of the Pentateuch. And I cannot but 
 think that when our Lord uttered this wondrous 
 statement, He had in view the sublime thought of 
 the Psalmist, " For ever, Lord, thy ivmxl is settled 
 in heaven;"^ and also the language of Isaiah, " Lift 
 up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the 
 earth beneath; for the heavens sJiall vanish aiuay 
 like smoke, and the earth shall tvax old like a gar- 
 ment, and they that diuell therein shall die in like 
 onanner; but ony salvation shall be for ever, and 
 TYiy righteousness shall not be abolished."^ 
 
 The earth and the heavens shall pass away. The 
 symptoms of decay in the present system of nature 
 are visible even now to the eye of the philosopher. 
 All nature is changing, and change indicates ultimate 
 dissolution. The progress may be, and is, slow ; but 
 it is not on that account less certain. The frosts of 
 each returning winter rend the solid surface of our 
 mountain ranges ; the very atmosphere corrodes their 
 hardest rocks ; and every tempest blast lifts the dis- 
 integrated particles, and scatters them far and wide. 
 The streamlets and torrents that rush down the 
 mountain sides, and the rivers that roll across the 
 plains, are gradually wearing away the earth's crust, 
 carrying it in solution in their ruddy waters, and 
 depositing it in new forms along their beds. The 
 waves that fret and foam unceasingly upon our 
 shores, are year after year making visible inroads 
 
 * Ps. cxix. 89; compare cii. 25, 26. ^ jga. li. 6; compare xl. 6-8 
 
THE LAW SHALL STAND FOR EVER. 95 
 
 upon cliff, and bank, and pebbly strand. These are 
 all in Nature's hand, in God's hand, instruments of 
 destruction. They are bearing down the dust of the 
 mouldering earth — torn alike from mountain, plain, 
 and rocky shore — and burying it away in the depths 
 of the ocean. And the heavens are not escaping the 
 desolating hand of time. They are even now waxing 
 old. God in His Word has written their doom ; 
 and it would seem that the keen eye of philosophy 
 can mark its approach. But though the earth, with 
 all that is therein, pass away ; though the sun be 
 turned into darkness ; though the stars be extin- 
 guished by the finger of their Omnipotent Creator ; 
 though universal nature be involved in one common 
 ruin — one tittle of the Law shall not fail. "The 
 grass withereth, the flower fadeth ; hut the word of 
 OUT God shall stand for ever.'' 
 
 I have now completed my argument. I have 
 shown, I trust to the satisfaction of every thoughtful 
 reader and of every logical mind, that the testimony 
 of our Lord, recorded by the Evangelists, proves that 
 the Pentateuch was written by Moses, that it is a 
 true history, and that it is the Word of God. What, 
 then, is the result ? It is this : The Divine autho- 
 rity of the Pentateuch and the Divine authority of 
 the Gospels rest upon the very same basis. If we 
 believe the one, we cannot possibly reject the other; 
 if we reject either, we must logically reject both. 
 In a word, the Bible is one — indivisible, eternal; just 
 
96 THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPELS. 
 
 as the God of the Bible is one — indivisible, eternal. 
 Satan would fondly delude us and ruin us by a vain 
 philosophy — a philosophy that would shatter the 
 Bible into fragments — that would bid us adopt what- 
 ever would seem to satisfy human reason, or rather 
 gratify human fancy, and reject the rest. But in 
 this, as in every other thing, I shall try to be a fol- 
 lower of Christ. I shall follow Him in faith, as well 
 as in practice — in theology, as well as in morality; 
 and His faith. His theology, so far as concerns the 
 Pentateuch, is contained in the solemn declaration, 
 
 " I CAME NOT TO D]i]STROY THE LAW, BUT TO FULFIL." 
 And now. Holy and Eternal Spirit of God ! Thou 
 who art the source of all light and wisdom, as well 
 as of all life and power, bow the heavens ; come 
 down; guide us thy people into all truth; defend 
 us thy servants from all delusion and from all error. 
 Make that blessed Word of thine, which Thou didst 
 in thine infinite mercy reveal to prophets and 
 apostles — which Thou hast graciously preserved 
 through so many ages — which Thou hast given in 
 its primitive purity and perfection to us — make it, 
 Eternal Spirit, now and evermore, the standard of 
 our Church, the basis of our constitution, the guide 
 of our lives, the joy of our hearts, the source of our 
 hopes, and the power of God unto the salvation of 
 our souls ! — Ameoi. 
 
DATE DUE 1 
 
 -■V 
 
 
 
 
 , j#*i*-^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 GAYLORD 
 
 
 
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