THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 a'39 
 
 Hme 
 
 c-op.a 
 
 % 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates 
 
 # 
 
 https://archive.org/details/evidencesofchris00hopk_0 
 
EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITY 
 
 LECTURES 
 
 BEFORE 
 
 THE LOWELL INSTITUTE, 
 
 JANUARY, 1844. 
 
 REVISED AS A TEXT BOOK. 
 
 BY 
 
 MARK HOPKINS, D.D. 
 
 PRESIDENT OF WILLIAMS COLLEGE. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 T. R. MARVIN & SON, 42 CONGRESS ST. 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 SHELDON AND COMPANY. 
 
 1867 . 
 
 f 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by 
 MARK HOPKINS, 
 
 In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 ELECTROTTPED AT THE 
 BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. 
 
 * 
 

 d 
 
 rP) 
 
 r 
 
 r 
 
 s 
 
 H77e. 
 
 iS. 
 
 The following Lectures, published seventeen years 
 since, having been extensively used as a text book, are 
 now revised, with the hope of adapting them more fully 
 to that end. In doing this, the arguments have been 
 separated from each other, and captions have been given 
 to the paragraphs. Changes have also been made in 
 arrangement, a few things have been omitted, and some 
 additions have been made. Neither these, nor the rea- 
 sons for them, need be specified. The general form and 
 substance of the Lectures have been retained, but, as 
 now presented, it is hoped that the arguments will be 
 both more readily apprehended and more easily remem- 
 bered. 
 
 The Lectures were originally written on the invita- 
 tion of John A. Lowell, Esq., to deliver them before 
 the Lowell Institute ; and my sense of his kindness and 
 courtesy were expressed in connection with their former 
 publication. That expression I desire to renew, and 
 to add that the same kindness and courtesy have been 
 still further illustrated in connection with the present 
 edition. 
 
 MARK HOPKINS. 
 
 AVilliams College, September, 1S63. 
 
 
 644763 
 
PEEFACE 
 
 TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 The following Lectures are published as they were de- 
 livered. Perhaps nothing would be gained, on the whole, 
 by recasting them ; but they must be expected to have the 
 defects incident to compositions prepared under the pressure 
 of other duties, and required to be completed within a lim- 
 ited time. 
 
 When I entered upon the subject, I supposed it had been 
 exhausted ; but on looking at it more nearly, I was led to see 
 that Christianity has such relations to nature and to man, 
 ' that the evidence resulting from a comparison of it with 
 them may be almost said to be exhaustless. To the evidence 
 from this source I have given greater prominence than is 
 common, both because it has been comparatively neglected, 
 and because I judged it better adapted than the historical 
 proof to interest a promiscuous audience. It was with refer- 
 ence to both these points, that, in the arrangement and 
 grouping of these Lectures, I have departed from the ordi- 
 nary course ; and if they shall be found in any degree pecul- 
 iarly adapted to the present state of the public mind, I think 
 it will be from the prominence given to the Internal Evi- 
 dence, while, at the same time, the chief topics of argument 
 are presented within a moderate space. 
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 5 
 
 The method of proof of which I have just spoken has one 
 disadvantage which I found embarrassing. If Christianity is 
 compared with nature or with man, it must be assumed that 
 it is some specific thing; and hence there will be danger, 
 either of being so general and indefinite as to be without 
 interest, or of getting upon controversial ground. Each of 
 these extremes it was my wish to avoid. That I succeeded 
 in doing this perfectly, I cannot suppose. Probably it would 
 be impossible for any one to do so in the judgment of all. 
 My wish was to present the argument. This I could not do 
 without indicating my sentiments on some of the lead- 
 ing doctrines of Christianity up to a certain point; and 
 if any think that I went too far, I can only say that it was 
 difficult to know where to stop, and that, if I had given the 
 argument precisely as it lay in my own mind, I should have 
 gone much farther. It is from the adaptation of Christianity 
 as providing an atonement, and consequently a divine Re- 
 deemer, to the condition and wants of man, that the chief 
 force of such works as that of Erskine, and “ The Philosophy 
 of the Plan of Salvation,” is derived ; and I should be unwill- 
 ing to have it supposed that I presented any thing which I 
 regarded as a complete system of the Evidences of Christian- 
 ity, from which that argument was excluded. 
 
 But if, in some of its aspects, the evidence for Christianity 
 may be said to be exhaustless, it may also be said that several 
 of the leading topics of argument have probably been pre- 
 sented as ably as they ever will be. Those topics I thought 
 it my duty to present, and in doing so I had no wish to sac- 
 rifice force to originality, and did not hesitate to avail my- 
 self freely of such labors of others as were within my reach. 
 If I had had time to do.this more fully, no doubt the Lec- 
 tures would have been improve’d. 
 
6 
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 For much recurrence to original authorities in the histori- 
 cal part, I had not time. The quotations in that part are 
 generally taken from Paley or Horne, or from some source 
 equally common. Those quotations, however, are of unques- 
 tioned authority ; they are to the point, and perhaps nothing 
 could have more usefully occupied the same space. 
 
 The importance of the object intended to be accomplished 
 by the founder of the Lowell Institute, in this course of Lec- 
 tures, cannot be over-estimated. Let there be in the minds 
 of the people generally a settled and rational conviction of 
 the truth of Christianity, such as a fair presentation of the 
 evidence could not fail to produce, and there will be the best 
 and the only true foundation laid for a rational piety, and for 
 the practice of every social and civil virtue. That these 
 Lectures were useful, to some extent, when they were deliv- 
 ered, in producing such a conviction, I had the great satisfac- 
 tion of knowing ; and I now commit them to the blessing of 
 God, with the hoj^e, though there are so many and so able 
 treatises on this subject already before the public, that they 
 will have a degree of usefulness that will justify their publi- 
 cation. 
 
 Williams College, April, 1846. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 PAQB 
 
 Object of the Course. — Responsibility of Men for their Opinions. 
 
 — Revelation provable. — This shown from a Comparison of 
 Mathematical and Moral Evidence, and from an Analysis 
 of the Argument of Hume. ’ 13 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 Preliminary Observations. — Revelation probable :* First, from 
 the Nature of the Case ; secondly, from Facts. — Probability 
 of Mii'acles, aside from their Effect in sustaining any particular 
 Revelation. — Connection between the Miracle and the Doc- 
 trine. — The Christian Religion, or none. , . , , 39 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 Internal and External Evidence, — Vagueness of the Division 
 between them, — Reasons for considering the Internal Evi- 
 dences first. — Argument first : From Analogy 68 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 Argument second : Coincidence of Christianity with Natural 
 Religion. — Argument third : Its Adaptation to the Conscience 
 as a perceiving Power. — Peculiar Difficulties in the Way of 
 establishing and maintaining a perfect Standard. — Argument 
 fourth : If the Nlorality is perfect, the Religion must be true. 97 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 Argument fifth: Christianity adapted to Man. — Division first: 
 
 Its Quickening and Guiding Power. — Its Adaptation to the 
 Intellect, the Affections, the Imagination, the Conscience, and 
 the Will 125 
 
8 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Argument fifth, continued : Division second : Christianity as a ‘ 
 Restraining Power. — Argument sixth: The Experimental 
 
 Evidence of Christianity Argument seventh: Its Fitness 
 
 and Tendency to become universal. — Argument eighth: It 
 has always been in the World. 155 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 Argument ninth : Christianity could not have been originated by 
 Man 183 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 Argument tenth : The Condition, Character, and Claims of Christ. 210 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 The External Evidence. — General Grounds on which this is to 
 be put. — Argument eleventh : Authenticity and Integrity of 
 the Writings of the New Testament 238 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 Argument twelfth : Credibility of the Books of the New Testa- 
 ment 269 
 
 LECTURE XI. 
 
 Argument thirteenth: Prophecy. — Nature of this Evidence. 
 
 — The General Object of Prophecy. — The Fulfillment of 
 Prophecy 299 
 
 LECTURE XII. 
 
 Objections. — Argument fourteenth : The Propagation of Chris- 
 tianity. — Argument fifteenth : Its Effects and Tendencies. — 
 Summary and Conclusion 328 
 
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 LECTUEE I. 
 
 OBJECT OF THE COURSE, — KESPONSIBILITY OF MEN FOR THEIR 
 OPINIONS. — REVELATION PROVABLE. — THIS SHOWN FROM A 
 COMPARISON OF MATHEMATICAL AND MORAL EVIDENCE, AND 
 FROM AN ANALYSIS OF THE ARGUMENT OF HUME. 
 
 In entering upon this course of lectures, there is one 
 impression against which I wish to guard at the outset. 
 It is, that I come here to defend Christianity, as if its 
 truth were a matter of doubt. Not so. I come, not 
 to dispute, but to exhibit truth ; to do my part in a 
 great work, which must be done for every generation, 
 by showing them, so that they shall see for themselves, 
 the grounds on which their belief in the Christian 
 religion rests. I come to stand at the door of the 
 temple of Truth, and ask you to go in with me, and 
 see for yourselves the foundation and the shafts of those 
 pillars upon which its dome is reared. I ask you, in 
 the words of one of old, to walk with me about our 
 Zion, and go round about her, to tell the towers there- 
 of, to mark well her bulwarks, to consider her palaces, 
 that ye may tell it to the generation following.* 
 
 Persons to he benefited. — In doing this, I shall hope 
 to be useful to three classes of persons. 
 
 First Class. — To the first belong those who have 
 received Christianity by acquiescence ; who have, per- 
 
 2 
 
 * Psalm xlviii. 12, 13. 
 
 (13) 
 
14 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 haps, never questioned its truth, hut who have never 
 examined its evidence. This class is large, — it is to 
 he feared increasingly so, — and it does not seem to 
 me that the position of mind in which they are placed, 
 and its consequences, are sufficiently regarded. 
 
 The claims of the Christian religion present them- 
 selves to those who enter upon life in a Christian coun- 
 try, in an attitude entirely different from that in which 
 they were presented at their first announcement, when 
 they made such rapid progress, and when their domin- 
 ion over the mind of man was so efficient."'^ Then, no 
 man was horn a Christian. If he became one, it was 
 in opposition to the prejudices of education, to ties of 
 kindred, to motives of interest, and often at the sacri- 
 fice of reputation and of life. This no man would do 
 except on the ground of the strongest reasons, per- 
 ceived and assented to hy his own mind. Christianity 
 was an aggressive and an uncompromising religion. It 
 attacked every other form of religion, whether Jewish 
 or pagan, and sought to destroy it. It ” turned the 
 world upside down ” wherever it came ; and the first 
 question which any man would naturally ask was, 
 ^'What are its claims? What are the reasons why 
 I should receive it ? ” And these claims and reasons 
 would he examined with all the attention that could he 
 produced hy the stimulus of novelty, and hy the deep- 
 est personal interest. 
 
 Now, however, all this is changed. ^len are horn 
 nominally Christians. The truth of the religion is taken 
 for granted ; nothing leads them to question it, nothing 
 to examine it. In this position the mind may open 
 itself to the reception of the religion from a perception 
 of its intrinsic excellence, and its adaptation to the deep 
 wants of man ; hut the prohahility is that douhts will 
 arise. The occasions of these are ahundant on every 
 
 * See Whately’s Logic, Appendix, p. 325. 
 
DOUBTS. 
 
 15 
 
 hand — the strange state in which the world is ; the 
 ninnher of sects ; the conduct of Christians ; a com- 
 panion that ridicules religion ; an infidel book. One 
 objection or doubt makes way for another. The objec- 
 tions come first, and, ere the individual is aware, his 
 respect for religion, and his confidence in it, are under- 
 mined. Especially will this be so if a young man 
 travels much, and sees different forms of religion. He 
 will see the Hindoo bowing before his idol, the Turk 
 praying toward Mecca, the Papist kneeling before his 
 saint, and the Protestant attending his church ; and, as 
 each seems equally sincere, and equally certain he is 
 right, he will acquire, iilscnsibly perhaps, a general 
 impression that all religions are equally true, or — which 
 is much the same thing — that they are equally false, and 
 any exclusive attachment to the Christian religion will 
 be regarded as bigotry. The religion itself will come 
 to be disliked as a restraint, and despised as a form. 
 It is chiefly from this class that the ranks of fanaticism, 
 on the one hand, and of infidelity, on the other, are 
 filled ; and it will often depend on constitutional tem- 
 perament, or accidental temptation, whether such a one 
 shall become a fiinatic or an infidel. 
 
 At this point, there is doubtless a fault both in Chris- 
 tian parents and in Christian ministers. Where there 
 is a proper course of training, this class can never be- 
 come numerous ; but it is numerous in all our congre- 
 gations now. Needless doubts are not to be awakened, 
 but it is no honor to the Christian religion to receive it 
 by prescription. It is no fault to have those question- 
 ings, that desire for insight, — call them doubts if you 
 will, — Avhich always spring up in strong minds, and 
 which will not be quieted till the ground and evidence 
 of those things which they receive are distinctly seen. 
 Are there such among my hearers ? Them I hope to 
 benefit. I hope to do for them what Luke did for the 
 
16 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CIimSTIANITY. 
 
 most excellent Theopliiliis — to show them the ”cer- 
 tainty^^ of those things in which they have been in- 
 structad ; to refer them, as he does again the same 
 person in the Acts, to those ” infallible proofs ” on which 
 the religion rests. 
 
 Second Class. — To the second class whom I hope to 
 benefit belong those who have gradually passed from 
 the preceding class into doubt and infidelity. For such, 
 I think, there is hope. They are not unwilling to see 
 evidence. Their position has led them to look at objec- 
 tions first, and they have, perhaps, never had time or 
 opportunity to look at the emliodied evidence for Chris- 
 tianity. They have fallen into infidelity from associa- 
 tion, from vanity, from fashion ; they have not found 
 in it the satisfiiction they expected, and they are willing 
 to review the ground, or rather to look candidly, for 
 the first time, at the evidences for this religion. 
 
 Exceptions. — Besides this class of infidels, there are, 
 however, two others, whom I have very little hope of 
 benefiting. One is of those who are made so by their 
 passions, and are under the control of appetite, or am- 
 bition, or avarice, or revenge. As these were not made 
 infidels by argument, argument will not be* likely to 
 reclaim them. '^They never think of religion but with 
 a feeling of enmity, and never speak of it but in the 
 language of sneer or abuse.” Another class is of those 
 who have been well characterized as ” a cold, specula- 
 tive, subtle set of skeptics, who attack first principles 
 and confound their readers or hearers with paradoxes.” 
 Apparently influenced l:)y vanity, they adopt principles 
 which would render all argument impossilde or nu- 
 gatory, and which would lead to fundamental and 
 universal skepticism. This class seems not to be as 
 numerous or as dangerous at present as at some former 
 times. 
 
 * Alexander’s Evidences, p. 9. 
 
CERTAINTY AND ITS EFFECTS. 
 
 17 
 
 Third Class. — The third class whom I hope to ben- 
 efit consists of Christians themselves. 
 
 Certainty and Effideumj . — It is one of the condi- 
 tions of Christian character and efficiency, that, on some 
 ground, there should be such a conviction of the truth 
 of Christianity as to form a basis of action and of self- 
 sacrifice, which, if it should be required, would be 
 carried even to martyrdom. The grounds of such a 
 conviction cannot be too well examined. There is no 
 man, who finds himself called to act upon any convic- 
 tion, who does not feel his self-respect increased, and 
 his peace of mind enhanced, and his strength for action 
 augmented, when he has a clear perception of the ground 
 of the conviction upon which ho acts. And even though 
 he may once have seen the Christian evidences in all 
 their force, and been astonished at the mass of proof, 
 and have been perfectly convinced, yet, after a time, 
 these impressions fade away, and it is good for him to 
 have them renewed. It is as when one has looked at 
 the Falls of Niagara, and stood upon the tower, and 
 gone round upon Table rock, and been rowed in the 
 little boat up toward the great fall, and had his mind 
 filled with the scene, but has again been occupied in th^* 
 business of life till the impression has become indistinct 
 on his mind. He would then gladly return, and have 
 it renewed and deepened. . 
 
 This feeling of certainty seems to have been one of 
 the elements of the vigorous piety of ancient times. 
 They believed ; therefore they spoke. They knew 
 whom they believed ; therefore they were ready to be 
 offered. They spoke of "certainty,” of "infallible 
 proofs,” of being "eye-witnesses,” of the "more sure 
 word of prophecy.” Their tread was not that of men 
 who Avere feeling their Avay in the twilight of doubtful 
 evidence, but that of men who saAV every thing in the 
 light of clear and perfect vision. 
 
 2 * 
 
18 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 I would not, indeed, limit the amount of knowledge 
 and conviction with which piety may exist. If it can 
 spring up in the twilight, and grow where doubts over- 
 shadow it, and where it never feels the direct rays of 
 truth, we ought to rejoice ; but, at the same time, we 
 ought to know that the growth will be feeble, and that 
 the plant must be despoiled of the beauty and fragrance 
 which it will have when it grows as in the light of the 
 open day. To produce this feeling of certainty in one 
 already a Christian, was the avowed object for which 
 the Gospel of Luke was written ; and it is this feeling, 
 containing the elements both of peace and of strength, 
 that I hope to produce and to deepen in the minds of 
 Christians. 
 
 Cooperation needed. — But if I am to be useful to 
 either of these classes, it must be with their own co- 
 operation. The principle involved in this assertion, in 
 reference to all moral truth, and, indeed, to all truth the 
 acquisition of which requires attention, is as obvious to 
 philosophy and common sense as it is plainly announced 
 in the Bible. Nothing is more common, in reference 
 to their present, as well as their future interests, than 
 for men to "have eyes and see not.” 
 
 Objection — Belief necessary , — Here, hoAvever, I am 
 met by the objection that the belief of a man is not 
 within his own power, but that he is compelled to 
 believe according to certain* laws of evidence. This 
 objection I do not apprehend to be of very wide influ- 
 ence ; but I have met with a few me^i of intelligence 
 who have held to it, and it has been sustained by some 
 names of high authority. I am therefore bound to 
 notice it. 
 
 In this case, as in most others of a similar kind, the 
 objection involves a partial truth, from which its plausi- 
 bility is derived. It is true, within certain limitations, 
 and under certain conditions, and with respect to cer- 
 
BELIEF AND THE WILL. 
 
 19 
 
 tain kinds of truth, that we are not voliintaiy in our 
 belief ; but then these conditions and limitations are 
 such as entirely to sever from this truth any conse- 
 quence that we are not perfectly ready to admit. 
 
 AVe admit that belief is in no case directly dependent 
 on the will ; that in some cases it is entirely independ- 
 ent of it ; but he must be exceedingly bigoted, or un- 
 observant of what passes around him, who should 
 affirm that the will has no influence. The influence of 
 the will here is analogous to its influence in many other 
 cases. It is as great as it is over the objects Avhich we 
 see. It does not depend upon the will of any man, 
 if he turns his eyes in a particular direction, whether 
 he shall see a tree there. If the tree be there, he must 
 see it, and is compelled to believe in its existence ; but 
 it was entirely within his power not to turn his eyes in 
 that direction, and thus to remain unconvinced, on the 
 highest of all evidence, of the existence of the tree, and 
 unimpressed by its beauty and proportion. It is not 
 by his will directly that man has any control over his 
 thoughts. It is not by willing a thought into the mind 
 that he can call it there ; and yet we all know that 
 through attention and habits of association the sub- 
 jects of our thoughts are, to a great extent, directed 
 by the will. 
 
 It is precisely so in respect to belief ; and he who 
 denies this, denies the value of candor, and the influ- 
 ence of party spirit, and prejudice, and interest, on the 
 mind. So great.is this influence, however, that a keen 
 o1)server of human nature, and one who will not be 
 suspected of leaning unduly to the doctrine I now ad- 
 vocate, has supposed it to extend even to our belief of 
 mathematical truth. "Men,” sa^^s Hobbes, "appeal 
 from custom to reason, and from reason to custom, as 
 it serves their turn, receding from custom when their 
 interest requires it, and setting themselves against 
 
20 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CimiSTLVNITY. 
 
 reason as oft as reason is against them ; which is the 
 cause that the doctrine of right and wrong is perpetu- 
 ally disputed ])oth by the pen and the sword ; whereas 
 the doctrine of lines and figures is not so, because men 
 care not, in that subject, what is truth, as it is a thing 
 that crosses no man’s am])ition, or profit, or lust. For, 
 I doid)t not, if it liad licen a thing contrary to any man’s 
 right of dominion, or to the interest of men that have 
 dominion, that the three angles of a triangle should ])e 
 equal to two angles of a square, that doctrine should 
 have been, if not disputed, yet by the burning of all 
 books of geometry suppressed, as far as he whom it 
 concerned was able.” ” This,” says Ilallam, from whose 
 work I make the quotation, ” does not exaggerate the 
 pertinacity of mankind in resisting the evidence of truth 
 when it thwarts the interests or passions of any partic- 
 ular sect or community.” * Let a man who hears the 
 forty-seventh proposition of Euclid anpounced for the 
 first time, trace the steps of the demonstration, and he 
 Qniist believe it to ]ie true ; Init let him know that, as 
 soon as he does perceive the evidence of that proposi- 
 tion so as to ])elicve it on that ground, he shall lose his 
 right eye, and he will never trace the evidence, or come 
 to that belief which results from the force of the only 
 proper evidence. You may tell him it is true, but he 
 will reply that he does not know, he does not see it to 
 be so. 
 
 So fill’, then, from finding in this law of belief — the 
 law l)y which it is necessitated on condi-tion of a certain 
 amount of evidence perceived by the mind — an ex- 
 cuse for any who do not receive the evidenee of the 
 Christian religion, it is in this very law that I find the 
 ground of their condemnation. Certainly, if God has 
 provided evidence as convincing as that for the forty- 
 seventh of Euclid, so that all men have to do is to 
 
 * Literature of Europe, vol. iii. 
 
CAKDOR ALONE NEEDED. 
 
 21 
 
 examine it with candor, then they must he without ex- 
 cuse if they do not believe. This, I suppose, God has 
 done. He asks no one to believe except on the ground 
 of evidence, and such evidence as ought to command 
 assent. Let a man examine this evidence with entire 
 candor, laying aside all regard for consequences or re- 
 sults, simply according to the laws of evidence, and 
 then, if he is not convinced, I believe God will, so far 
 forth, acquit him in the great day of account. But if 
 God has given men such evidence that a fair, and full, 
 and perfectly candid examination is all that is needed 
 to necessitate belief, then, if men do not believe, it 
 wdll be in this very law that we shall find the ground 
 of their condemnation. The difficulty will not lie in 
 their md^ital constitution as related to evidence, nor in 
 the want of evidence, but in that moral condition, that 
 state of the heart, or the will, which prevented a proper 
 examination. ” There seems,” says Butler, ” no possible 
 reason to be given why we may not be in a state of 
 moral probation with regard to the exercise of our un- 
 derstanding upon the suljject of religion, as we are with 
 regard to our behavior in common affairs. The former 
 is a thing as much within our power and choice as the 
 latter.” 
 
 W/ie?i truth has a fair chance , — And here, I re- 
 mark incidentally, we see what it is for truth to have 
 a fair chance. There are' many Avho think it has this 
 when it is left free to combat error without the inter- 
 vention of external force ; and they seem to suppose it 
 will, of necessity, prevail. But the fact is, that the 
 truth almost never has a fair chance with such a being 
 as man, when the reception of it involves self-denial, 
 or the recognition of duties to which he is indisposed. 
 Let ” the mists that steam up before the intellect from 
 a corrupt heart be dispersed,” and truths, before ob- 
 scure, shine out as the noonday. Before the mind of 
 
22 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHPwISTIANITY. 
 
 one with the intellect of a man, but with the purity and 
 unselfishness of an angel, the evidence of such a sys- 
 tem as the gospel woidd have a fair chance. 
 
 Is it true, then, that, if a perfectly candid attention 
 be given to its evidences, a certainty of the truth of 
 Christianity will be produced in the mind at this late 
 day, and in these ends of the earth? I say. Yes ; and 
 I say it in full view of the kind of evidence by which 
 Christianity is supported, and wlfith, by some, is sup- 
 posed incapable of producing certainty. Let us look 
 at this point. 
 
 The hind of evidence — j^robcible and mathematical 
 evidence comj^ared. — What, then, is the hind of evi- 
 dence by which Christianity is supported ? And here I 
 am ready to say, it is moral evidence, as opposed to 
 mathematical, and what is called probable evidence, as 
 opposed to demonstrative. Is, then, mathematical evi- 
 dence a better ground of certainty than moral evidence ? 
 On this point, and also respecting the subjects to which 
 mathematical evidence can properly be applied, there is 
 a wrong impression extensively prevalent, not only in 
 the community at large, but among educated men. 
 Figures, it is said, can not lie ; and there seems to be an 
 impression that where they are used, the result must 
 be certain. But when a surveyor measures the sides 
 and angles of a field, and ascertains the contents by 
 calculation, is he certain he has the exact contents of 
 that field? He may be so if no mistake has licen 
 made in measuring the sides and angles. But of that 
 he never can be ceidain ; or, if he is, it can not be liy 
 mathematical evidence. His accuracy will depend upon 
 the perfection of his instruments, of which he never 
 can ])e cei-tain. So it will be found in all cases of what 
 are called mixed mathematics. There arc elements 
 entering into the result that do not depend on mathe- 
 matical evidence, and therefore the evidence for that 
 
SPHERE OF :\E4THEIvIATICAE EVIDENCE. 
 
 23 
 
 result is not demonstrative. Even in those results 
 in which the greatest confidence is felt, and in which 
 there seems to be, and perhaps is, an entire coincidence 
 with fact, the certainty that is felt does not result from 
 mathematical evidence. No man, who understands the 
 nature of the evidence on which he proceeds, would 
 say he had demonstrated that there would be an eclipse 
 next year. His expectation of it would depend, not on 
 mathematical evidenoe, but upon his belief in the sta- 
 bility of the laws of nature. And even in accordance 
 with those laws, it is not impossible that some new 
 comet may come in athwart the orbit of the earth or 
 the moon, and disturb their relative position. ^ 
 Facts can not be demonstrated. — But, says the ob- 
 jector, I speak of mathematics, and of the certainty 
 of its evidence. I say, then, with regard to pure 
 mathematics, that it has no application to facts. No 
 fact can be demonstrated. Nothing Avhatever, no asser- 
 tion about any thing that ever did exist, or ever can 
 exist, can be demonstrated, that is, proved by evidence 
 purely mathematical. This will be assented to by all 
 who understand the, nature of mathematical evidence, 
 and it can be easily shown. It can be demonstrated 
 that the two acute angles in every right-angled triangle 
 are equal to the -right angle ; but can this be demon- 
 strated of any actually existing triangle ? Draw what 
 you call a right-angled triangle, and can you demon- 
 strate it about that? No. You can not demonstrate 
 that your given triangle is right-angled. Whether it is 
 or not Avill depend upon the perfection of your instru- 
 ments and the perfection of the senses. Accordingly, 
 demonstration never asserts, and never can assert, of 
 any triangle, that it is right-angled ; but its language 
 is. Let it be a right-angled triangle, suppose it to be, 
 and then the two acute angles will be equal to that right 
 angle. It asserts nothing whatever about any thing 
 
24 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 that actually exists, but only the connection between a 
 certain supposition and a certain conclusion.* What- 
 ever certainty we have, therefore, about any thing that 
 actually exists, or has existed, or can exist, is derived, 
 not from mathematical, but from what is called moral 
 or probable evidence. 
 
 What, then, shall we say of the reasonableness, or 
 rather of the folly, of those who ask for mathematical 
 evidence to prove the truth of the Christian religion, 
 Avlien that evidence can not be applied to prove any one 
 fact whatever? 
 
 I ^.vould by no means disparage mathematics. I ac- 
 knowledge its extensive utility and application. I am 
 surprised at that skill in the construction of instru- 
 ments by which truths demonstrated concerning sup- 
 posed lines and figures can be so correctly and generally 
 applied to the purposes of practical life. I look with 
 Avonder upon that structure of the universe, by Avhich 
 truths demonstrated concerning these same abstract 
 propositions are found to apply Avith so much exactness 
 to its forms, and forces, and movements ; but still, I 
 Avould have this science keep Avithin its OAvn sphere, and 
 not arrogate to itself a certainty Avhich does not belong 
 to it in virtue of its oaaui authority, and Avhich operates 
 practically to throAV distrust upon our conclusions in 
 other departments. 
 
 Either, then, there is certainty on other ground than 
 mathematical evidence, or there is no certainty concern- 
 ing any fact or existing thing Avhatever, and there Avill 
 be no stopping short of that absolute skepticism 
 Avhich denies the authority of the human faculties, and 
 doubts of every thing, and finally doubts Avhether it 
 doubts. 
 
 Grounds of certainty. — If, then, such certainty 
 may be attained, our next inquiry Avill be. What are 
 
 * Stewart’s Elements, vol. ii. chap, ii, sec. 3. 
 
GEOUNDS OF CEETAINTY. 
 
 25 
 
 the grounds of it? And of these there are no less 
 than six. 
 
 First : Consciousness. — The first ground of certainty 
 is consciousness. By this we are informed of what is 
 passing within our own minds. We are certain that 
 we think and feel. 
 
 Second: Beason. — The second is that which is now 
 commonly called reason in man, or by some the reason, 
 by which he perceives directly, intuitively, necessarily, 
 and believes, with a conviction from which he can not 
 free himself, certain fundamental truths, upon which all 
 other truths, and all reasoning, properly so called, or 
 deduction, are conditioned. It is by this that we be- 
 lieve in our own existence and personal identity, and 
 in the maxim that every event must have an adequate 
 cause. This belongs equally to all men, and, within its 
 own province, its authority is perfect. No authority 
 can be higher, no certainty more full and absolute, than 
 that which it gives. No man can believe any thing with 
 a certainty greater than that with which he believes in 
 his own existence ; and, if we may suppose such a case, 
 he who should doubt of his own existence, would, in 
 that single doubt, necessarily involve the doubt of every 
 thing else. 
 
 Third: the Senses , — The third ground of certainty 
 is the evidence of the senses. I do not deny that the 
 senses may deceive us — that they sometimes do ; but 
 I affirm that generally the evidence of the senses is the 
 ground of entire certainty to the mass of mankind. To 
 them " seeing is believing,” and they can conceive of 
 no greater certainty than that which results from this 
 evidence. Whatever doubt some may attempt to cast 
 over this subject, it is obvious that no event whatever — 
 not the flowing of water toward its source — can be a 
 greater violation of the laws of nature, more in opposi- 
 tion to its ordinary sequences, than would be a decep- 
 3 
 
26 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 tion upon the senses of men with respect to certain 
 things and under certain circumstances. It would be 
 as great a miracle to make three millions, or one mil- 
 lion, of people believe that they went out and gathered 
 manna — that they saw, and felt, and tasted it — when 
 they really did not, as it would if water should flow 
 back toward its source, or should divide and stand up 
 in heaps. 
 
 , Fourth : Memory. — The fourth ground of • certainty 
 is the evidence of memory. Without entire confidence 
 in this, no testimony could be taken in a court of jus- 
 tice, no criminal could be convicted. IWien its testi- 
 mony is perfectly clear and distinct, it leaves no doubt 
 on the mind. 
 
 Fifth : Testimony . — The fifth ground of certainty is 
 testimony. With respect to this, I w^ould say substan- 
 tially the same that I have said of the senses. No 
 doubt, as has been said by Hume, and as every body 
 knows, testimony sometimes deceives us ; but it has 
 not been enough insisted on, that testimony may be 
 given by such men, and so many, and under such cir- 
 cumstances, as to form a ground of certainty as valid 
 as any other can possibly be. I do not now say that 
 the testimony for the Christian religion is of this char- 
 acter ; but I say, if it is not, the difficulty lies, not in 
 the kind of evidence, as distinguished from mathemati- 
 cal, but in the degree of it in this particular case. 
 
 Sixth: Feasoning . — The sixth ground of certainty 
 is reasoning. That this is so in mathematics, all will 
 admit. On other subjects, the certainty may be equally 
 full and absolute. When Eobinson Crusoe saw the 
 track of a man’s foot upon the shore of his island, he 
 was as certain there had been a man there as if he had 
 seen him. It was reasoning ; it was inferring, from a 
 fact which he knew by sensation, another fact which he 
 did not thus know ; but how perfectly conclusive ! The 
 
GROUNDS OF CERTAINTY. 
 
 27 
 
 skeptic never lived who would have doidited it. This 
 kind of evidence is capable of every degree of proba- 
 bility, from the slightest shade of it upward. It often 
 requires that a large number of circumstances should 
 be taken into the account, and, in many cases, does not 
 amount to positive proof. In many others, however, 
 it does ; and the circumstance on which I wish to fix 
 attention is, that it may be the ground of a belief as 
 fixed and certain as any other. 
 
 These, then, are the grounds of certainty, and each 
 has its peculiar province. Of these, each of the first 
 three — consciousness, reason, and the senses — is en- 
 tirely competent within its own sphere, and, indeed, 
 scarcely admits of collateral support. Not so the last 
 three. The evidence of memory, of testimony, and 
 of reasoning, may mutually assist and confirm each 
 other. It is upon the last two, the evidence of testi- 
 mony and of reasoning, that we rely for the support 
 of what are called the external proofs of Christianity ; 
 and if one of these is capable of producing certainty," 
 much more, if certainty admitted of degrees, would 
 they both when conspiring together. 
 
 A habit of doubt — credulity and shejoticism equally 
 weah. — I have dwelt on this subject because it seems 
 to me that many persons indulge themselves in a sickly 
 and effeminate habit of doubt on all sulijects without 
 the pale of mathematics and physics, and more es- 
 pecially on the subject of religion. So much has 
 been said, there are so many opinions and so much 
 doubt respecting different points of the religion itself, 
 that this feeling of doubt has been transferred to the- 
 evidence by which the religion is sustained. I wish, 
 therefore, to have it distinctly felt that the kind of evi- 
 dence by which Christianity is sustained is capable of 
 producing certainty, and I claim that the evidences are 
 such that, when fully and fairly examined, they will 
 
28 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHPJSTEVNITY. 
 
 produce it. They amount to what is meant by a moral 
 demonstration. There are many subjects on which, 
 from want of evidence, or because they are beyond the 
 reach of our faculties, it is wise, and the mark of a 
 strong mind, to doubt ; and there are also subjects on 
 which it is equally the mark of a weak mind to doubt, 
 and of a strong one to give a full assent. The day, 
 I trust, has gone by when a habit of doubt and of 
 skepticism is to be regarded as a mark of superior 
 intellect. 
 
 Possible conflict of reasoning and testimony — the 
 argument of Hume. — But, though testimony and rea- 
 soning may produce the certainty of mathematical 
 demonstration in some circumstances, yet is it not pos- 
 sible that one of these sources of evidence may so come 
 in conflict with the other as to leave the mind in entire 
 suspense ? Is it not possible that an amount of testi- 
 mony which, when we look at it by itself, seems per- 
 fectly conclusive, may yet be opposed by an argument 
 which, when taken by itself, seems perfectly conclusive, 
 and thus the mind be left in a state of hopeless per- 
 plexity? This may be conceived; and, putting the 
 testimony for Christianity in the most favorable light, 
 it is precisely the condition in which it is claimed, ]:>y 
 Hume and his followers, that the mind of a reasonable 
 person must be thrown, by his argument on miracles. 
 Shall I, then, go on to state and answer that argument? 
 I am not unwilling to do so ; because it will, I pre- 
 sume, be expected ; and because it is still the custom 
 of those who defend Christianity to do so, just as itAvas 
 the custom of British ships to fire a gun on passing the 
 port of Copenhagen, long after its poAver had been' 
 prostrated, and its influence had ceased to be felt. 
 
 According to Hume, ” Experience is our only guide 
 in reasoning concerning matters of fact.” Our belief 
 of any fact from the report of eye Avitnesses is derAed 
 
HIBIE’S AEGIBIENT. 
 
 29 
 
 from no other principle than experience ; that is, our 
 observation of the veracity of human testimony. Now, 
 if the fact attested partakes of the marvelous, if it is such 
 as has seldom fallen under our ol)servation, here is a con- 
 test of two opposite experiences, of which the one de- 
 stroys the other as fir as its force goes, and the superior 
 can only operate on the mind by the force which remains. 
 ” But,” says Hume, "in order to increase the proba- 
 bility against the testimony of witnesses, let us suppose 
 that the fact which they affirm, instead of being only 
 marvelous, is really miraculous ; and suppose, also, that 
 the testimony, considered apart and in itself, amounts 
 to an entire proof; in that case there is proof against 
 proof, of which the strongest must prevail, but still 
 with a diminution of its force in proportion to that of 
 its antagonist. A miracle is a violation of the laws of 
 nature ; and as a firm and unalterable experience has 
 established these laws, the proof against a miracle, from 
 the very nature of the fact, is as entire as any argu- 
 ment from experience can possibly be imagined.” 
 
 Again, Hume says, "It is experience only which gives 
 authority to human testimony ; and it is the same expe- 
 rience which assures us of the laws of nature. When, 
 therefore, these two kinds of experience are contrary, 
 we have nothing to do but to subtract the one from the 
 other, and embrace an opinion either on one side or the 
 other, with that assurance which arises from the re- 
 mainder. But, according to the principle here explained, 
 this subtraction, with regard to all popular religions, 
 amounts to an entire annihilation ; and therefore we 
 may establish it as a maxim, that no human testimony 
 can have such force as to prove a miracle, and make it' 
 a just foundation for any such system of religion.” 
 
 The claim — no roomfor.it on the ground of Theism. 
 — The claim here is, not that we are to be cautious, as 
 doubtless we are, in regard to all evidence for prodigies- 
 3 * 
 
30 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTL\NITY. 
 
 and miracles, but that the latter hold such a relation to 
 the grounds of our belief that they can not be proved 
 by human testimony. Let the question, however, be 
 argued, as Hume claims to argue it, on the ground of 
 theism, and let it be fairly stated, and it would seem 
 impossible that there should be any difficulty respecting 
 it. Do we believe in the existence of a personal God, 
 intelligent and free ? — not a God who is a part of nature, 
 or a mere personification of the powers of nature, but 
 one who is as distinct from nature as the builder of the 
 house is from the house? Do we believe, with our best 
 philosophers, either that the laws of nature are only 
 the stated mode in which God operates ; or that all 
 nature, with all its laws, is perfectly under his control? 
 Then we can find no difficulty in believing that such a 
 God may, at any time when the good of his creatures 
 requires it, change the mode of his operation, and sus- 
 pend those laws. Would Hume accept this statement 
 of the question? If so, the dispute is at an end; for 
 this relation of God to nature involves the possi])ility 
 both of a miracle and of its proof. It is incompatible 
 with this relation, that experience should ever attain 
 that character of absolute and necessary uniformity, in 
 virtue of which alone its evidence can be set in oppo- 
 sition to that of testimony. If he would not accept 
 this statement, he is an atheist or a pantheist ; and we 
 are not yet prepared to argue the question of miracles, 
 for that can not be argued till it is fully conceded that 
 a personal God exists. 
 
 Tico spheres and movements — the mind adapted to 
 hoth. — The above seems to me a sufficient answer to the 
 arcfument of Hume. Our minds are constituted with 
 reference to our position under both the natural and 
 the moral government of God. But Hume does not 
 take the moral government of God into his account at 
 all. This is his great mistake. It is like the mistake 
 
A DOUBLE MOVEMENT. 
 
 31 
 
 of the astronomer v lio sliould carefully notice the recur- 
 ring movements of the planets around their primary, 
 hut should fail to notice that mightier movement by 
 vliich, as we are told, the planets and suns are all borne 
 onward toward some unknown point in infinite space. 
 Experience may enable him to determine and to calcu- 
 late the movements of the first order ; but if he would 
 know that of the second, he must inquire of Him who 
 carries it forward. The moral government of God is 
 a movement in a line onward toward some a'rand con- 
 summation, in which the principles, indeed, are ever 
 the same, but the developments are always new, — in 
 which, therefore, no experience of the past can indicate 
 Avith certainty Avdiat ncAV openings of truth, Avhat ne^^^ 
 manifestations of goodness, Avhat new phases of the 
 moral heavens may appear. To this movement, the 
 circular and uniform one, in Avhich alone experience is 
 possible, is entirely subordinate ; and it accords Avith our 
 natural expectations and grounds of belief that the less 
 important should be flexible to the demands of that 
 AA'hich is more so. It is on this double movement, and 
 the subordination of the loAver, that the high harmonies 
 of 'the universe depend. The constitution of onr nature 
 is adapted to both movements separately, and as related ; 
 and that nature is true to itself and to its position Avhen 
 men readily accept evidence for miraculous events. To 
 render such events fully credible, Ave only need to 
 shoAV that they are demanded by great moral interests. 
 The presumption of uniformity is then balanced by that 
 of interposition, and the full weight of testimony comes 
 in Avithout a counterpoise. It is thus that there is 
 provision for both the scientific and the supernatural 
 element ; and the system that Avould exclude either is 
 narroAv and inadequate. 
 
 The difficulty Avith the most of those Avho have op- 
 posed Hume has been, that they have pemiitted him, 
 
32 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY, 
 
 while arguing the question ostensibly on the ground of 
 theism, to involve positions that are really atheistic. 
 They have permitted him to give, surreptitiously, to 
 the mere laws of nature a sacrcdness and a permanence 
 which put them in the place of God. If we grant to 
 Ilume that the laws of nature are absolutely uniform, 
 we preclude, of course, all proof for a miracle. This 
 is really, though not avowedly, the essential premise 
 by which he attempts to show that a miracle can not be 
 proved by testimony; and whoever grants him this, 
 grants the very point in dispute. The laAvs of nature, 
 when once it is conceded that they are invariable, are of 
 equal authority ; and it is in vain to attempt to inval- 
 idate the authority of one by bringing against it that of 
 another, by whatever amount of induction it may have 
 been established. 
 
 Pieply of Dr. Chalmers . — This does not seem to 
 have been perceived by Dr. Chalmers in his very elab- 
 orate attempt to refute the argument of Hume. lie 
 grants that the laws of nature are uniform, and says 
 that there are laws of testimony that are a part of the 
 laws of nature, as uniform as any other, and that there 
 are certain kinds of testimony in regard to wdiich the 
 uniform experience is, that they do not deceive us ; and 
 then he goes on to show, with great power, how the force 
 of testimony may be accumulated so as to overbalance 
 any improbability whatever. I admit fully all that he 
 says on the force of testimony. But let its force be 
 ever so great, if it were a fact that no testimony was 
 ever known to deceive us, yet even then, if we admit 
 the premise of Hume as he would have it understood, 
 we only balance uniform experience against uniform 
 experience, and thus produce the very case of perplexity 
 spoken of by him. Chalmers saw with great clearness 
 the overwhelming force of testimony as proof. He 
 says, in opposition to Campbell and others, that our 
 
TESTIMONY AJSD EXPERIENCE. 
 
 33 
 
 belief in testimony is foimclecl solely in experience, nncl 
 that there are certain kinds of testimony of which we 
 have imiform experience that they do not deceive ns. 
 Blit he failed to see that no uniform experience of the 
 truth of testimony could prove a fact that had been 
 already admitted to be contrary to " a finu and unal- 
 terable experience.” "A linn and unalterable experi- 
 ence ” “of the truth of testimony, can never prove a fact 
 which can be fairly shown to be contrary to another 
 *'lirm and unalterable experience.” 
 
 The argument of Hume is not avowedly against the 
 possibility of miracles, though, as he must, if he would 
 not beg the question, he constantly insinuates, and 
 implies in his definitions, that they are impossible. The 
 avowed argaiment is against the possibility of the proof 
 of miracles by testimony. 
 
 Testimony and experience not m conflict. — But if w^e 
 allow the possibility of a miracle, the authority of testi- 
 mony and of experience can not be fairly set against each 
 other, because one is positive and the other negative. 
 Experience can not prove a negative. It can not tes- 
 tify that a miracle has not taken place. That is the 
 point in question, and to prove it, would require the 
 positive testimony of every human being who has lived 
 from the beoanninR' of time. Had Hume been asked 
 why he lielieved the course of nature to bo alisolutcly 
 uniform, he must have answered that he believed it on 
 the ground of experience. And then, if asked how he 
 knew what that experience had lieen, he must have 
 replied, by testimony, for there is no other possible 
 way. And thus it would appear that, while he seems 
 to oppose the evidence of experience to that of testi- 
 mony, he is only opposing the evidence of testimony to 
 that of testimony. And what would the testimony on 
 the side of Hume amount to in such a case? Wh}', 
 absolutely nothing, because it is, as has been said, 
 
34 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHllISTIANITY. 
 
 negative. Let a tliousand men swear, in a court of jus- 
 tice, that they did not see a murder committed, and it 
 will not diminish in the least the force of the testimony 
 of one man who shears that he did see it, unless the 
 thousand pretend to have been on the spot, and to have 
 had opportunity to witness it. In this case, the expe- 
 rience of the thousand men would be properly said to 
 be contrary to that of the one. But in no such* sense 
 can experience be said to be contrary to the testimony 
 for miracles. If any number of men, if the whole 
 race, — with the exception of those who had an oppor- 
 tunity to see, and who did see, a miracle, — should tes- 
 tify that they did not see it, that would not invalidate, in 
 the least, the testimony of those who did see it. We 
 should judge of that testimony on its own proper 
 merits. 
 
 Z.X.K4 y Thus stands the argument, if, with Hume, we place 
 our belief in the uniformity of nature on the ground of 
 experience. But is this really the ground of that belief? 
 I think not. Nor can I a£?ree with Stewart and other 
 metaphysicians, who place” the expectation of the con- 
 tinued uniformity of the laws of nature ” among what 
 they call the fundamental laws of belief, which Ave be- 
 lieve in necessarily, and Avithout reference to experience. 
 This is not the place for the full discussion of this point. 
 I merely observe that, so far is this from being to the 
 mind a hiAv of belief, to the exclusion of supernatural 
 agency, that narrations of such agency have been re- 
 ceived in all ages upon the slightest evidence ; and 
 that, if this AA^ere the laA\% then no man ought to beheA^e, 
 or could believe, in the •resurrection of the dead, ora 
 future judgment, or in the destruction or change of the 
 present order of nature in any Avay AAdiatever. The 
 difficulty lies in an incautious and narroAv statement of 
 the true hiAV. The true hiAV of belief is, that the same 
 
PARTICULAR F^O^LACIES. 
 
 35 
 
 causes will, in the same circumstances, produce the 
 same efiects. This is the law; and when applied to 
 the permanence or uniformity of the course of nature, 
 it will stand thus : The present course of nature will 
 he uniform and permanent, unless other causes than 
 those now in operation shall intervene to interrupt or 
 destroy it. The probability of the inteiwention of such 
 causes is a point on which every man must decide for 
 himself. To me it seems probable — to you, perhaps, 
 improbable ; but there is nothing in the nature of the 
 case to prevent it from being proved, like any other 
 hict. 
 
 Having thus put this question upon its true basis, it 
 will be necessary to say very little of the particular 
 fallacies and consequences connected with the argument 
 of Hume. I will simply add, that, — - 
 
 Hume's argument is a practical absurdity . — 1. Ac- 
 cording to Hume, the very hxct that renders a miracle 
 possible, must render the proof of it impossible. With- 
 out a settled uniformity, a miracle could not be con- 
 ceived ; with it, according to him, it can not be proved. 
 To suppose that the mind can be placed in such a 
 relation as this to any possible truth, is a practical 
 absurdity. 
 
 Would contradict the senses. — 2. The argument of 
 Hume proceeds on a principle which would make it 
 unreasonable to believe a miracle on the testimony of 
 the senses. There is precisely the same reason for 
 opposing the evidence of experience to that of the 
 senses, as for opposing it to that of testimony. If the 
 argument would overthrow a ” full proof ” from testi- 
 mony, the senses, standing as they do in the same rela- 
 tion to experience, could give nothing more. 
 
 Begs the question. — 3. Hume begs the question. 
 The only way in which a miracle can be a violation of 
 
36 
 
 EyiDEXCES OF CHRISTIAXITY. 
 
 the course of nature, or contrary to experience, is, that 
 it never happened, and was never observed; for if it 
 had happened, and had been observed, then it would 
 constitute a part of universal experience. But to say 
 that a "violation,” or, more properly, a suspension of 
 the laws of nature never happened, because those laws 
 are uniform, and to define a miracle as something 
 " that has never been observed in any age or country,” 
 is taking for granted the very point in dispute. It is 
 as ])ald and barefaced a begging of the question as can 
 well be imagined. "But,” says Hume, "it is a miracle 
 that a dead man should come to life, because that has 
 never happened in any age or country. There must 
 therefore be a uniform experience against every mi- 
 raculous event ; otherwise the event would not merit 
 that appellation.” Is this reasoning? 
 
 He uses " experienced^ in two senses. — 4. Hume uses 
 the term experience in two senses. Personal experience 
 is the knoAvledge we have acquired by our oAvn senses. 
 General experience is that knoAvledge of facts Avhich 
 has been acquired by the race. If, therefore, Hume 
 says a miracle is contrary to his personal experience, 
 that proves nothing ; but if he says it is opposed to 
 universal experience, that, as has already been said, is 
 begging the question. 
 
 tiimply opj)oses testimony to testimony. — 5. He 
 opposes the evidence of experience to that of testi- 
 jnony, evidently Avith the intention of opposing to 
 testimony the high authdrity that belongs to personal 
 experience ; Avhereas, in the sense in Avdiich he must use 
 the term " experience,” — since, as has been said, Ave can 
 knoAv Avhat general experience is only by testimony, — 
 he is only opposing testimony to testimony. 
 
 Henounced hy Hume. — And, finally, Hume has him- 
 self renounced the principle of his OAvn argument. He 
 
ADMISSIONS BY HUME. 
 
 37 
 
 seems to have had a perception of some of the absurd 
 consequences to which it must lead, and therefore adds, 
 ” I beg the limitations here may be remarked when I 
 say, that a miracle can never be proved so as to be the 
 foundation of a system of religion. For I own that 
 otherwise there may possibly be miracles, or violations 
 of the usual course of nature, of such a kind as to 
 admit of proof from human testimony.” This single 
 admission destroys at once the whole force of his argu- 
 ment. As an example, he says, ” Suppose all authors, 
 in all languages, agree that from the 1st of January, 
 1600, there was a total darkness over the whole earth for 
 eight days ; suppose that the tradition of this extoor- 
 dinary event is still strong and lively among the people ; 
 that all travelers who return from foreign countries 
 bring us accounts of the same tradition, without the least 
 variation or contradiction ; it is evident that our present 
 philosophers, instead of doubting the fact, ought to 
 receive it as certain.” ''But,” he adds, with reference, 
 however, to another example, " should this miracle be 
 ascribed to any new system of religion, men in all ages 
 have been so imposed upon by ridiculous stories of that 
 kind, that the very circumstance would be full proof of 
 a cheat, and sufficient, with all men of sense, not only 
 to make them reject the fact, but to reject it without 
 further examination.” On the consistency and candor 
 of this passage I make no comment. As showing a 
 tendency of our nature, the argument is just the re- 
 verse. Who, after reading this, can ffiil to feel that 
 Hume was guilty of a heartless, if not a malignant 
 trifling with the best interests of his fellow-men ? 
 
 Summary. — Thus, after mentioning the classes of 
 persons whom I shall hope to benefit, I have endeavored 
 to show, first, that you, my hearers, are responsible 
 for the manner in which you use your understandings, 
 and for the opinions you form on this great subject. 
 4 
 
38 EVIDEXCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 And, secondly, that there is nothing in the nature or 
 kind of evidence by which Christianity is sustained, 
 nor in any conflict of the evidence of experience and 
 of testimony, to prevent us from attaining that certainty 
 upon which we may rest as upon the rock, and which 
 shall constitute, if not "the assurance of faith,” yet the 
 assurance of understanding. 
 
LECTUEE II. 
 
 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. — REVELATION PROBABLE: FIRST, 
 FROM THE NATURE OF THE CASE; SECONDLY, FROM FACTS.— 
 PROBABILITY OF MIRACLES, ASIDE FROM THEIR EFFECT IN 
 SUSTAINING ANY PARTICULAR REVELATION. — CONNECTION 
 BETWEEN THE MIRACLE AND THE DOCTRINE. — THE CHRISTIAN 
 RELIGION, OR NONE. 
 
 The Christian religion admits of certain proof ; and 
 to show this was one object of the last lecture. But, 
 in searching for that proof, we may proceed in two dif- 
 ferent methods. We may either try the facts in ques- 
 tion by the laws of evidence, precisely as we would any 
 other facts ; or we may judge beforehand of their prob- 
 ability or improbability. In the first case, we should 
 allow nothing for what we might suppose previous prob- 
 ability or improbability, nothing for the nature of the 
 facts as miraculous or common. We should hold our- 
 selves in the position of an impartial jury, bound to de- 
 cide solely according to the evidence. This course alone 
 is in accordance with the spirit of the inductive philoso- 
 phy, which decides nothing on the ground of previous 
 hy[Dothesis, but yields itself entirely to the guidance of 
 facts properly authenticated, and refuses no conclusion 
 which the existence of those facts necessarily involves. 
 Let those wdio are to judge of Christianity approach it 
 in this spirit, and we are content. 
 
 Need of the ipliiloso])liic spirit . — And surely, if this 
 spirit was demanded when the processes of nature only 
 were in question, — and the whole history of human 
 
 ( 39 ) 
 
40 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CIIEISTIAXITY. 
 
 conjecture there is but tlie history of weakness and 
 folly, so that science made no progress till facts estab- 
 lished by proper evidence were received without refer- 
 ence to hypothesis, — much more must this same spirit 
 be demanded when the procedure of God in his moral 
 government is concerned. On such a subject, nothing 
 can be more contrary to that wise caution which adheres 
 to facts, and balances evidence, and keeps the mind open 
 to conviction, than to come to a decision under the 
 influence of a prejudication of the case on the ground 
 of any antecedent improbability. 
 
 (^Spirit of the age — tendency to reaction, — But, 
 unphilosophical as such a course plainly is, it springs 
 directly from the spirit of the age. The human mind, 
 in its constant oscillations between the extremes of 
 credulity and skepticism, is now ranging somewhere on 
 the side of skepticism. There was a time, both before 
 and after the revival of letters, when a belief in fre- 
 quent supernatural agency was common. But when 
 many things, supposed to be owing to supernatural 
 influence, were referred, by the light of science, to nat- 
 ural causes, and a large class of superstitions was thus 
 expelled, then men passed to the other extreme, and it 
 became weak and superstitious to believe even in the 
 possibility of any other causes than those that were nat- 
 lyal. It was the progress of this feeling toward the 
 utmost limits of skepticism, that was called by many 
 the progress of light in the world ; and it was taken 
 advantage of, and urged on, by skeptics, in every possi- 
 ble way. But a general tendency of the human mind 
 is never altogether deceptive. It is the indication of 
 some great truth. This is so with the tendency of man, 
 admitted even by Hume, to believe in supernatural 
 agency. And when the reaction is over, and men set- 
 tle down in the light of a large experience, it will be 
 readily conceded, I doubt not, that, while the gen- 
 
GROUND OF PROBABILITY. 
 
 41 
 
 eral course of nature is uniform, so as to lay a foun- 
 dation for experience, and give it value, there is also 
 something in the system to meet our tendency to 
 believe in that which is supernatural ; that there are 
 powers, higher than those of nature, connected with 
 the natural and moral administration of the universe, 
 that may interfere for the welfare of man. 
 
 Facts to rest on evidence. — But, however* this may 
 be hereafter, it is not so now. The legitimate force 
 of the evidence for Christianity is constantly neutral- 
 ized by assertions, purely hypothetical, of the improb- 
 ability of the facts. Now, we admit of no such im- 
 probability. We hold that no man has a right to con- 
 struct a metaphysical balance in which he shall place 
 an h^^iothesis of his own as a counterpoise for one 
 particle of valid evidence. To do it, is to go back into 
 the dark ages. It is to apply, in religion, maxims long 
 since discarded in physics. It is, therefore, out of a 
 regard to the exigencies of the time, and not because 
 I think it essential to the Christian argument, that I 
 proceed to adduce some considerations to show the 
 antecedent probability of a revelation from God. 
 
 Propahility — how judged of. — To judge of the 
 ^probability of any event, we must know something of 
 its causes, or of the intentions of the agent who may 
 produce it. If we know nothing of these, we have no 
 right to say, of any event, that it is probable or im- 
 probable. If we know all the causes that are at work, 
 or all the intentions of the agents employed, we can 
 foretell with certainty what will take place. It is ob- 
 vious, therefore, that an event which may seem highly 
 probable to one man, or, perhaps, nearly certain, may 
 seem to another altogether improbable. So sensible, 
 however, are most persons of their ignorance of the 
 causes, and agents, and purposes, that may exist in this 
 complex and wonderful universe, that it requires but a 
 
 4 * 
 
42 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 slight amount of evidence to substantiate events of 
 which we should have said, beforehand, that the chances 
 against them were as a million to one. Especially is 
 this the case when the actions of a free agent are con- 
 cerned, and when we are but slightly acquainted with 
 his character and purposes. 
 
 But this is precisely the case before us. The question 
 is, whether it was probable, beforehand, that God 
 would give a revelation to man. Of this we can judge 
 only as we are acquainted with the character of God, 
 and the emergency requiring his special interposition. 
 That he could give such a revelation, and confirm it by 
 miracles, every theist must admit ; and the simple ques- 
 tion is, whether, as a free Agent and a moral Governor, 
 (for I acknowledge no man as a theist who does not 
 admit these two characters of God,) he would think it 
 best to give a revelation. 
 
 Objection. — I know it is said, by some, that this is 
 ground on which we ought not to tread. God, they 
 say, is an infinite Being, and the complexity of his 
 plans, and the range of his operations, must be so 
 great that it would be presumption in creatures like us, 
 creatures of a day, dwelling in this remote corner of 
 the universe, to judge what would, or would not, be 
 probable under his government. Far better might the 
 little child, yet learning its alphabet, judge of the prob- 
 abilities respecting the purposes and actions of the 
 Government of these United States. 
 
 Wlicit follows 9 — That this is sometimes said sin- 
 cerely I am not disposed to deny ; but there is often 
 connected with it a fallacy which is by no means harm- 
 less. Admit, then, the justice of it all ; and what will 
 follow ? An argument against the probability of a rev- 
 elation? Certainly not. It will simply follow that we 
 can not tell whether a revelation would be 2^Tol)able or 
 improbable ; and then a candid man will judge of the 
 
IXCOXSISTENCY OF OBJECTORS. 
 
 43 
 
 eviclence for a revelation just as he would of that for 
 any other event. And this is all we desire. Let no 
 antecedent improbability be assumed, and we are will- 
 ing to go at onee to the evidence and the facts. 
 
 Objectors do that to tchich they object. — But is this 
 tlie state of mind of those who speak of man as thus 
 ignorant? Is it their object to produce such a state of 
 mind? I think not, but rather to bring doubt and 
 uncertainty over the whole subject. It is assumed that 
 we are ignorant of the purposes of God, and then, from 
 that ignorance, tlie ^^?^probability of a revelation is 
 argued. But it seems to be forgotten that we need 
 previous knowledge, to judge of the improbability, no 
 less than of the probability, of events ; and while these 
 persons shrink back with a pious horror from the pre- 
 sumption of judging what God might or might not do, 
 they covertly assume a knowledge of his purposes, or 
 at least of what he probably will not do in a given case. 
 IVe say, that whoever affirms it is improba])le that God 
 would give a revelation, assumes, in proportion to his 
 confidence, a knowledge of the previous plans and pur- 
 poses of God ; and then Ave ask him Avhere he obtained 
 that knowledge. God has not told him so, for that 
 Avould l)e a revelation. He can not knoAv it from expe- 
 rience, for the case stands by itself. We have no ex- 
 perience of Avhat God does Avith his creatures, if such 
 there are, similarly situated in other Avorlds. The uni- 
 form course of nature can be no objection, for the very 
 question at issue is, Avdiether that course shall be sus- 
 pended. It is admitted that God can do it with perfect 
 case ; and hoAV can such a man knoAV that the exigencies 
 of his moral government may not require it ? 
 
 ISfot wholly ignorant. — I am, hoAvever, far from 
 assenting to AAdiat is thus said of our ignoranee on this 
 subject. If Ave use the term "beforehand” in the 
 strictest and highest sense, perhaps it Avould be pre- 
 
44 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITT. 
 
 sumption in us to judge what God would do. But, in 
 all our arguments respecting Christianity, we take for 
 granted the great truths of natural religion. We have 
 some knowledge of God, and of his providential deal- 
 ings with the race ; and it is not presumption in us to 
 say whether it would be in accordance with that char- 
 acter, so far as knowm, and analogous with his dealings 
 in other respects, if he should give to man a revelation. 
 This is the true question. Is there any thing in what 
 we know positively of the character of God, in connec- 
 tion with the condition of man, that would render it 
 probable or improbable that he would give a revelation ? 
 
 Probability of a revelation — God a father. — And 
 why should he not ? I know not why it should be con- 
 sidered so straime a thin^: that God should make a rev- 
 elation to man. If I mistake not, it would have been 
 much stranger if he had not. It may be strange that 
 he should have created the world at all, or put such a 
 being as man upon it ; but if we believe that God made 
 him with a rational and a religious nature — a child — 
 capal)le of communion with him, and of finding in him 
 only, the highest source of happiness and means of moral 
 perfection, — then it would be exceedingly strange if 
 God should not reveal himself to him. Shall not a 
 ' father speak to his own child ? 
 
 Communion iviih God needed — not a strange thing . — 
 It is demonstrable, on the principles of reason, that, if 
 man had continued in a state of innocence, the high- 
 est progress, and expansion, and felicity of his nature 
 could not have been attained except by communion with 
 God. Man becomes assimilated to that with which he 
 voluntarily holds communion. And since God is the 
 fountain of all excellence, why should he not communi- 
 cate himself to an innocent creature whom he had made 
 with faculties to know, and love, and enjoy him? In 
 the original and highest sense of the word, a state of 
 
re\t:lation not steange. 
 
 45 
 
 nature is a state of direct intercourse with God. Ac- 
 cordingly, the Bible, instead of regarding it, as infidels, 
 and, I must say, many divines, do, as a strange thing 
 that God should hold communion with men, speaks of 
 it as a matter of course ; and the traditions of all 
 nations have connected with an age of innocence the 
 frequent intercourse of man with the gods. There 
 is nothing, either in the nature of the case or in the 
 instincts of humanity, to give rise to that strangeness 
 with which infidels have invested a revelation from 
 God ; but the reverse. It is strange that man is at all. 
 It is strange that God is. In one sense, every thing is 
 strange, and equally so. But supposing God to be, 
 and to make such a creature as man, it is not strange that 
 he should make a revelation to him. Indeed, to sup- 
 pose God to make man a being capable of religion, 
 requiring it in order to the development of the highest 
 part of his nature, and then not to communicate with 
 him, as a father, in those revelations which alone could 
 perfect that nature, would be a reproach upon God, and 
 a contradiction. 
 
 Nor, even in a state of innocence, would the revela- 
 tion of God in his works have been sufficient, since in 
 them he reveals chiefly his natural attributes, and not 
 that holiness and perfection of moral character from 
 which the great obligations, and interests, and duties, 
 and the high delights of his service, are derived. Even 
 now we sometimes find a man groping about this rigid 
 framework of general laws, and exclaiming, ” O that I 
 knew where I might find him ! that I might come even 
 to his seat ! ” and how much less would man in a state 
 of innocence have been satisfied without direct commu- 
 nion with God ! The highest and most natural concep- 
 tion of the universe is that which makes God the Father 
 of his rational and spiritual creatures, which constitutes 
 tliem a family, and which implies communication be- 
 
46 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 tween him and them as personal beings, he making 
 known his will and character, and they obeying and 
 adoring him. 
 
 Effects of sin — ground of hope, — If, indeed, an 
 innocent being should sin, we could not say beforehand 
 what would be done. We should naturally expect that 
 justice would have its course. But, looking at the race 
 as it is, evidently favored by God to some extent, vis- 
 ited by his rain and sunsliine and by fruitful seasons, 
 we should have as much reason to think, from the 
 nature and position of man, that there would be such 
 a thing as true religion on the earth, as that there would 
 be such a thing as true science upon the earth. For 
 that man has a moral and a religious nature is as evident 
 as that he has an intellectual nature. Wherever he is 
 found he makes the distinction between right and wrong, 
 and worships some superior being. If there have been 
 a few who have professed themselves atheists, and we 
 were to give them that credit for entire sincerity wdiich 
 many facts would lead us to withhold, this wmuld no 
 more prove that man has not a religious nature, than 
 the fact that a few men have overcome the social in- 
 stinct, and withdrawn from society, proves that he has 
 not a social nature. 
 
 Religious nature central. — Nor are these principles, 
 which thus lead man to anticipate future retribution, 
 and to recognize superior powers, merely secondary, or 
 subordinate to others. They are peculiarly those by 
 which man is distinguished from the brute. They are 
 those, as shown by all history, in connection wdth the 
 cultivation and full development of which, all the other 
 powers of man reach their highest perfection ; in con- 
 nection with the perversion and debasement of which, 
 all the other powers are ill regulated and dwarfed. So 
 effective, indeed, has the influence of these principles 
 been felt to be, that all former governments have sought 
 
RELIGION INERADICABLE. 
 
 47 
 
 tlieir aid, and have endeavored to associate the power 
 of religion Avith that of the temporal arm. It has been 
 from these principles, rather than from any others, that 
 motives to high resolve, and long endurance, and vol- 
 untary poverty, and a martyr’s sufferings, have been 
 draAvn. Eemove from the history of the past all those 
 actions which have either sprung directly from the 
 religious nature of man, or been modified by it, and you 
 have the history of another Avorld and of another race. 
 
 Ineradicable . — I knoAV the manifestations of this 
 principle have been exceedingly various, and sometimes 
 as AA^himsical and debasing as can Avell be conceived. 
 There is no absurdity Avhich men have not received, no 
 austerity Avhich they liaA^e not practiced, no earthly 
 good, and no natural affection, AA^hich they have not 
 sacrificed, in the name of religion ; and the very variety 
 and absurdity of religious rites, with the sincerity of 
 men in them all, has been made, and still is, a capital 
 arocument of infidels to shoAV that there is nothinof in 
 any religion. But it has been AA^ell replied, that ” the 
 more strange the contradictions, and the more ludicrous 
 the ceremonies, to AA^ich the pride of human reason has 
 been reconciled, the stronger is our evidence that reli- 
 gion has a foundation in the nature of man.” ^ Indeed, 
 no fact can be better established, both by philosophy 
 and by history, than that mankind are so constituted 
 that they must have some religion. Man has a religious 
 nature, AAdiich is a fundamental and elementary constit- 
 uent of his being. This nature aauII manifest itself. 
 Let the true religion be removed, and a false one aagU 
 come in its place. This is a truth, the clear perception 
 of AAdiich by the public mind I deem of great impor- 
 tance ; for if society is to make progress, it must be 
 b}^ cultiA^ating the faculties that belong to human nature, 
 and not by attempting to eradicate them ; and hence all 
 
 * Stewart. 
 
48 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHKISTEVNITY. 
 
 indiscriminate attacks upon religion, as such, must 
 retard that progress. 
 
 Its right exercise jpossihle. — Man, then, has a reli- 
 gious nature ; and what purpose could a wise and good 
 Being have, in sustaining the race, which would not 
 involve the right exercise of this nature, in view of its 
 appropriate objects? And to suppose that God has 
 furnished man wntli no such object to draw that nature 
 out, is like supposing that he would create the eye with- 
 out light or the ear without sound, or that he would 
 place man, as an intellectual being, in a world of such 
 disorder that no arrangement or classification, and con- 
 sequently no science, would be possible. The whole 
 analogy of God’s works, and of his dealings with men, 
 shows that, if man has a religious nature, we might 
 expect to find the right exercise of that nature possible, 
 and that there would be such a thing as true religion in 
 the world. 
 
 Only through a revelation. — But if a rational being, 
 capable of religion, had lost the moral image, and con- 
 sequently the true knowledge of God, and it should be 
 the object of God to restore him, it could be done in 
 no other way than by a direct revelation. This is 
 obvious from two reasons. First, there would be some 
 things which it would be indispensable for such a being 
 to know, and which he could not know except by a 
 direct communication. They are of such a kind that 
 nature can have no voice, no utterance, no whisjjer, 
 respecting them. Such would be an answer to the 
 inquiry, whether God would pardon sin at all, and, if 
 so, upon what conditions. And, secondly, it is not 
 j)ossible that a sinful being should be restored to God, 
 to purity, and love, except by some nieanifestation to 
 him of the purity and love of God such as nature does 
 not give. So far as we can see, there must be brought 
 into operation that great principle of moral assimilation 
 
THE TEIAL jNJLiDE. 
 
 49 
 
 mentioned by the apostle when he says, ”We all, 
 beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, are 
 changed into the same image, from glory to glory.” 
 If, then, it was probable that God would do any thing 
 to restore a race of transgressors, to himself, it was in 
 the same degree probable that he would give a revela- 
 tion different from any that nature can possibly give. 
 So far as we can see, it would be impossible for him to 
 do it in any other way. ^ 
 
 Shown by exi^erience . — And what we might thus 
 infer, from the nature of the case, is amply confirmed 
 by an appeal to facts. An impartial survey of the con- 
 dition of those portions of the earth that have been 
 without the light of revelation, shows conclusively 
 that the reformation of man wns hopeless without it. 
 A full and fair experiment has been made. It has ex- 
 tended through thousands of years, and ample time has 
 been given to test every principle, to follow out every 
 tendency to its results, to call forth every inherent 
 energy of man. It has been made in every climate , under 
 every form of governihent, in all circumstances of bar- 
 barism and refinement, by individuals who, for intel- 
 lectual endowments, have been the pride of the race, 
 and by nations who have made the greatest advance- 
 ment in literature, in science, and in the arts. What 
 unassisted man has done, therefore, to disperse the 
 religious darkness, and to remedy the moral maladies 
 of the world, may be regarded as a fair exemplification 
 of what he would do. 
 
 To show that the race has been, and would continue 
 to be, hopelessly benighted and degraded without a 
 revelation, has been the chief object of those who have 
 attempted to show its probability. This they have 
 done with much erudition and research, and this ground 
 is so familiar that I shall not go over it at large, but 
 5 
 
50 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 content myself with a brief statement of some of the 
 more important points. 
 
 Knoivledge of the divine unity lost. — And, first, the 
 great doctrine of the divine unity has been practically 
 lost without a revelation. Every where the mass of 
 men have been worshipers of natural objeets, or of the 
 powers of nature personified, or of idols, or of deified 
 men ; and if a few philosophers have seen the folly of 
 this, and really held to the divine unity, it was rather 
 to ridicule and despise, than to benefit, the multitude. 
 It does not appear, however, that they held to the doc- 
 trine except as a matter of speculation, or that they had 
 any habit of worshiping the one infinite God, or taught 
 that he ought to be worshiped. What must have been 
 the praetical blindness and uncertainty, on this cardinal 
 point, of that philosopher, who, among his last requests, 
 could ask a friend not to forget to sacrifice a cock for 
 him to Esculapius? And yet this did Socrates. What 
 must have been the state of the publie mind among the 
 most enlightened people on earth, and in the Augustan 
 age, who eould ereet a statue to a woman infamous for 
 her profligacy, with the following inscription, making 
 her no less a deity than Providence itself? "The 
 Senate of the Areopagus, and the Senate of the Five 
 Hundred, to the goddess Julia Augusta Providenee ! ” 
 
 Of the holiness of God . — I remark, secondly, that 
 the heathen nations have been entirely destitute of the 
 knowledge of God, as a holy God, as having a perfect 
 moral character, and as exercising a moral government, 
 the principles of which reach the thoughts of the heart. 
 Whether there were data for the knowledge of this in 
 nature, perhaps we need not decide ; but, Avithout this 
 knowledge of God, it is evident there can be no pure 
 and spiritual religion. Generally, the moral character 
 
RELIGION AND MORALITY. 
 
 51 
 
 of God has heeii conceived of by transferring to him 
 the moral character, the affections, the passions, and 
 even the lusts, of men. 'No religion based on such a 
 conception of the object of worship can benefit man. 
 He must become debased under its influence. 
 
 jSejoaration of religion and morality. — But, thirdly, 
 this ignorance of the moral character of God has led, 
 as it naturally must, to the introduction of forms of 
 worship that can not be acceptable to him, and to that 
 separation of religion from morality which has been so 
 universal, and, in most instances, so entire, among 
 heathen nations. What Bishop Heber said of the 
 Hindoos may, with some modifications, be said of all 
 heathen nations : ” The good qualities that are among 
 them are in no instance, that I am aware of, connected 
 with, or arising out of, their religion, since it is in no 
 instance to good deeds, or virtuous habits of life, that 
 the future rewards in which they believe are proposed. 
 Accordingly,” he says, "I really have never met with a 
 race of men whose standard of morality is so low, — 
 who feel so little apparent shame in being detected in a 
 falsehood, or so little interest in the sufierings of a 
 neighbor not being of their own caste or family, — 
 whose ordinary and familiar conversation is so licen- 
 tious, or, in the wilder and more lawless districts, who 
 shed blood with so little repugnance.” The tendency 
 to this separation of religion and morals is strong every 
 where, and nothing can be more destructive both of 
 true religion and of morality, or more fatal to every 
 interest of man. Let men think to please God by gifts, 
 by forms, by bodily sufferings, without regard to justice, 
 and l)enevolence, and purity, and all the foundations 
 of individual happiness and social order must be out 
 of course. And how much more must this be the 
 case, Avhen the character of the object worshiped is such 
 
52 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 as to excite and to encourage every form of iniquity, 
 and when, as is often the case, unnatural cruelty, and 
 drunkenness, and o])scenity, instead of being forJiidden, 
 become a part of the religious rites ! ” When the light 
 
 that is in men becomes darkness, how great is that 
 darkness ! ” This is a point of the greatest moment, 
 since no false religion ever did, or ever can, teach, and 
 adequately sanction, any thing like a perfect system of 
 morality ; and since morality, unsustained by religion, 
 can never furnish an adequate basis of either individual 
 or general progress. 
 
 Immortality , — I remark, fourthly, that without rev- 
 elation, men have had very obscure and doubtful no- 
 tions respecting the immortality of the soul, and, so far 
 as this fundamental doctrine has been received, it has 
 been made use of rather to control men in their conduct 
 here, than to fit them for another state. A great part 
 of the philosophers regarded this belief as a vulgar 
 prejudice, and those who received it held it as doubtful. 
 Even Cicero, who had carefully studied the arguments 
 of Socrates, and added others of his own, says, "Which 
 of these is true, God alone knows ; and which is most 
 probable, a very great question.” And very many, too, 
 who held the doctrine, held it in such connection as to 
 destroy its practical influence for good. Some held it 
 in connection with the doctrine of fate or necessity ; 
 some, as Plato, in connection with the doctrine of the 
 transmigration of souls ; and some, like the present 
 Hindoos just noticed, severed all connection between 
 the moral character here and the state of the soul here- 
 after. As a practical doctrine, therefore, "life and 
 immortality were brought to light by the gospel.” This 
 alone has revealed it, with such authority and certainty, 
 and in such connections, as to give it all its efficiency 
 as a motive of action. Nothing can be more beautiful 
 
THE PARDON OF SIN. 
 
 53 
 
 or philosophical than the manner in which Christianity 
 extends the same moral laws and essential conditions 
 of happiness over the present and the future life, so 
 that the life of heaven is made to be nothing but the 
 brightening and expansion of the life that is commenced 
 here. In this respect, the coming in of Christianity 
 was like the coming in of the Newtonian system ; for 
 as that shows, contrary to the doctrine of the ancients, 
 that the same laws apply to things earthly and to things 
 heavenly, to the floating particle of dust and to the 
 planet in its orbit, so Christianity introduces unity and 
 simplicity into the moral system, and shows that the 
 humblest child, that is a moral agent, and the highest 
 archangel, are subject to the same moral law. 
 
 In these four points, — the unity of God, his moral 
 character, the kind of worship that would be acceptal^le 
 to him, and the immortality of the soul, — it maybe 
 thought that the materials of knowledge were within 
 the reach of man. But if this is true for any, it is not 
 for the mass of men. The elements of the highest 
 mathematical truths are within the reach of all, and 
 those truths may be said to be discoverable ; but we 
 have no reason to think they ever would or could have 
 been discovered by the great mass of men. 
 
 Truths not suggested by nature — pardon of sin. — 
 But there is, as already suggested, another class of 
 truths, some of them fundamental and indispensable to 
 be known, which are not, and could not be, suggested 
 by nature. Such, particularly, first, is the truth that 
 God can pardon sin on any terms. If there is any one 
 primary doctrine of natural religion, it is, that God 
 is just. This was so strongly felt by Socrates that he 
 doubted whether God could pardon sin. To a sinner, 
 as man is, it was indispensable that this fact should be 
 known before any rational system of religion could be 
 5 * 
 
54 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 framed, and, though some things in nature might lead 
 to the hope that a remedy would be found for moral 
 evil, as for so many others, yet these are too obscure 
 to produce any practical results, and there seems every 
 reason to believe that the general conviction that has 
 prevailed on this sul:)ject has originated in revelation. 
 
 Conditions unknown — repentance insufficient. — 
 But, secondly, if we were assured that God would 
 pardon sin, it would be impossible for us to know on 
 what conditions. Nothing can be more contrary to the 
 history of all the past, than what is asserted by some 
 modern deists, especially by Lord Herbert, that it is a 
 dictate of natural reason that God will pardon sin on 
 repentance. If it had been asserted that it is a dictate 
 of natural reason that penance, and costly sacrifices, 
 and self-torture, w^ere the conditions of pardon, there 
 would have been much in history to support it. But 
 the deist may be challenged to show any heathen creed 
 in which this was an article, or to bring forward any 
 devotee of any other religion than the Christian, who 
 holds to that doctrine now. Having the light of the 
 Bible, we see distinctly that God can not properly par- 
 don the guilty without repentance as a condition, mean- 
 ing by repentance a thorough reformation, not only of 
 the life, but of the principles of conduct, — of the 
 motives and secret feelings of the heart. But who ever 
 heard of such a repentance as this, as an article in the 
 creed of other religions? And who, I may ask, ever 
 heard of a deist as exercising such a repentance and 
 continuing a deist ? Instances are adduced, under other 
 systems, of great natural goodness, in which it is sup- 
 posed that no repentance was needed ; but I know of 
 none in which it has been supposed that a really vicious 
 and abandoned man has repented in the high and only 
 true sense of that term, except in connection with the 
 motives of the gospel. Bepentance, even as a condition 
 
DIVIXE AID UXCEDwTAIX. 
 
 55 
 
 of pardon, is peculiar to the gospel system ; and as an 
 historical fact, it is produced ouly by gospel motives. 
 The truth is, deists have borrowed this partial truth 
 from the Bible, and then used it to show that we do not 
 need the very book from which they borrowed it. The 
 question of the method or possibility of pardon, by a 
 perfectly just God, involves the highest problem of 
 moral government ; and there is no analogy of the oper- 
 ation of human laws, and certainly nothing which we 
 see of the inflexibility and severity with which the nat- 
 ural laws of God are administered, which could lead us 
 to believe in the efficacy of repentance alone for the 
 pardon of moral transgressions. 
 
 Divine, assistance uncertain . — And thirdly, if man 
 should endeavor to reclaim himself from the dominion 
 of vice, he can not know whether God will regard him 
 with favor, and Avill assist him, or Avhether he shall be 
 left to struggle with the current by his own unassisted 
 efibrts. Grace, flivor, the great doctrine of divine aid 
 to the sinful and the tempted, so sustaining to the weak- 
 ness, and so consoling to the wretchedness, of man, 
 coming directly from God as a personal Being, it was 
 impossible that nature should give any intimation of it. 
 It is God’s own hand stretched out to guide and sustain 
 his benighted and feeble creatures. 
 
 Origin and end unknown. — Again, without revela- 
 tion man could know nothing of the origin or end of 
 the present state of things. Nearly all the ancient phi- 
 losophers believed that matter Avas eternal ; but of its 
 forms, as indicating intelligence, and of the races of 
 animals and of man, they could give no satisflictory 
 account. And it is obvious, that a course of nature 
 established, if it is ever to terminate, can, of itself, 
 give no indication of that termination, either in respect 
 to time or mode. Such knoAvledge Avould be highly 
 satisfactory to man, and Avould alone enable him to 
 
56 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 direct his course in accordance with the purposes 
 of God. 
 
 The result. — IS^ow, when we consider the passions 
 of men, the collisions of interest, the obtrusiveness of 
 the objects of sense, the pressure of animal wants, the 
 vices of society, and the shortness of life, who can 
 believe, with this obscurity hanging over some points, 
 and this total darkness resting upon others, that one in 
 a million would sit down calmly to solve these great 
 questions respecting God and his government, and 
 human destiny ? Who can believe that any speculative 
 and problematical solution of one or all of them could 
 introduce a religion that would effectually control the 
 passions, and predominate over the senses, of men? 
 No ; it is exceedingly clear that, if any thing was to 
 be done to enlighten man, it must be by a voice from 
 heaven — a voice that should speak with "authority, 
 and not as the scribes.” 
 
 Moral ignorance and degradation. — And if mankind 
 were thus benighted without revelation, it will follow, 
 of course, that they were degraded. Moral darkness, 
 voluntarily incurred, necessarily involves practical wick- 
 edness. Without an authoritative standard of morals, 
 like the law of God, without a general system of moral 
 instruction, without the motives drawn from the moral 
 government of God and a future retribution, with a 
 religion whose doctrines and rites were often at war 
 wnth the dictates of the moral nature, we can not won- 
 der at the tendency to deterioration that was every 
 where manifest, nor at the general prevalence of false- 
 hood, and cruelty, and nameless licentiousness. If 
 some public and social virtues were cultivated, it was 
 chiefly during certain periods of the rise of states, in 
 the earlier and less corrupt stages of society, and never 
 in connection with the worship of a spiritual and holy 
 God, or with the cultivation of purity of heart and of 
 
PRESSING NEED OF REVELATION. 57 
 
 life. Philosophy enabled its votaries rather to see and 
 discourse about difficulties than to remove them. It 
 did not even reform the lives of the philosophers them- 
 selves, and made no attempts either to instruct or 
 reform the mass of the people. Quintilian says of the 
 philosophers of his time, ” The most notorious vices 
 are screened under that name ; and they do not labor 
 to maintain the character of philosophers by virtue and 
 study, but conceal the most vicious lives under an aus- 
 tere look and a singularity of dress.” And when this 
 could be said of the philosophers, we might believe, 
 of the mass of the people, on less authority than that 
 of inspiration, that they were ” filled with all unright- 
 eousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, mali- 
 ciousness ; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malig- 
 nity ; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, 
 proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient 
 to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, 
 without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful.” 
 
 The extremity. — Here, then, we have a case the most 
 melancholy of which we can conceive, in which the 
 noblest faculties of a creature of God, those through 
 which his highest perfection and happiness should be 
 attained, have become the means of sinking him into 
 the lowest forms of immorality, and of filtlly, and cruel, 
 and costly, and hideous superstition. The true God, 
 the only object corresponding to the religious nature 
 of man, being withdrawn, the fficulties of man are not 
 annihilated ; he can not throw off his nature ; he must 
 have some religion ; and superstition, and enthusiasm, 
 and fanaticism’ come in, and every form of inicpiity is 
 perpetrated in the name of God, and the religious 
 nature is used as an engine to crush human lil^erty and 
 rivet the bonds of oppression. There is nothing that 
 can adequately represent this dreadful mental and moral 
 
 * Rom. i. 29-31. 
 
58 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTI.INITY, 
 
 perversion but those forms of bodily disease in which 
 the processes of life, that ought to build up a beautiful 
 and perfect body, go on only to stimulate the activity 
 of the fatal leprosy, only to minister to deformity, and 
 make it more hideous. Here, then, the question is 
 brought to an issue. In such a state of things, when it 
 is obvious that nothing but a voice from heaven can 
 bring deliverance, will that voice be uttered? Surely, 
 if a case can occur in which, from the benevolence of 
 God, we might hope for a special interposition, this is 
 that case. On the question of such an interposition 
 hung the destiny of the race ; and to one who could 
 bring his mind to the high conception of the possibility 
 of mercy in God, it could not appear improbable that 
 that interposition would be vouchsafed. 
 
 < Hev elation probable . — From what has been said, it 
 appears that, if we regard man as in a state of inno- 
 cence, we should naturally expect God would hold 
 communications with him ; that, if we regard him as 
 guilty, and having lost the knowledge and moral image 
 of God, such a communication would be absolutely 
 necessary, if man was to be restored. We have, there- 
 fore, the same antecedent probability of a revelation as 
 we have that God would interpose at all in behalf of 
 the guilty, or that there would be any true religion 
 upon earth. This prol)ability, moreover, is strength- 
 ened by the general expectation of the race, shown by 
 the readiness with which they have received accounts 
 of trtipposcd revelations, and hy the natural tendency 
 of, man to crave aid directly from God. 
 
 - Jf a revelation, then miraeles. — But, whatever prob- 
 ability there was that there wxiuld be a revelation, the 
 same was there that there would be miracles ; because 
 miracles, so far as Ave can see, are the only means by 
 Avhich it Avould be possible for God to authenticate a 
 communication to man. It is true, he might make a 
 
NECESSITY OF MIRACLES. 
 
 59 
 
 special revelation to each individual, and certify him 
 that it was a revelation, hut that would not be analo- 
 gous to his mode of proceeding in other things ; and 
 if his purpose was to make knoAvn his will to certain 
 individuals, to be by them communicated to the rest of 
 the race, it would seem impossible that they should 
 exhibit any other seal of their commission than mira- 
 cles. This is the simple, natural, majestic seal which 
 we should expect God would affix to a communication 
 from himself ; and when this seal is presented by men 
 whose lives and works correspond with what we might 
 expect from messengers of God, it is felt to be de- 
 cisive. 
 
 But though miracles are thus just as probable as a 
 revelation, even though we should not choose to say 
 that revelation itself is a miracle, and though the chief 
 object of them is to give authority to a revelation, yet, 
 as the main objections against revelation are made 
 against it as miraculous, I wish to adduce here an addi- 
 tional consideration or two to show the probability that 
 miracles would occur in a system like ours. 
 
 First effect of miracles. — The first consideration will 
 be found in the effect miracles would have in producing 
 a conviction of the being of a personal God. This is 
 of the utmost importance. Let us suppose there had 
 been no miracle, nor any supposition of one, as far 
 back as history goes ; that the uniform course of nature 
 had moved on without any supposed intervention of a 
 superior personal Power ; that, in the language of the 
 scoffer, all things had continued as they were from the 
 beginning of the creation ; that no ffood had swept the 
 earth, and no law had been given in the midst of thun- 
 derings and earthquakes, and no messenger from above, 
 whose form was "like the Son of God,” had walked 
 with good men in the fire, and no other indications of 
 a righteous administration and of future retribution had 
 
60 
 
 EVIDENCES or CHEISTLINITY. 
 
 appeared than arc connected with those unswerving 
 laws that bring all things alike to all, — and who can 
 estimate the tendency to practical, if not to speculative 
 atheism, of such a state of things? It may even be 
 questioned whether the common argument from con- 
 trivance, for the being of a personal God, when that 
 stands alone, and is connected with such a uniform 
 course of things, would be valid. If this rigid order 
 could once be infringed for a good and manifest reason, 
 it would obviously change the whole face of the argu- 
 ment, Could we once see gravitation suspended when 
 the good man is thrown by his persecutors from the top 
 of the rock, — could we see a chariot and horses of fire 
 descend and deliver the righteous from the universal 
 law of death, — could we see the sun stand still in 
 heaven that the wicked might be overthrown, — then 
 should we be assured of the existence of a personal 
 Power, with a distinct will, whose agents and ministers 
 these laws were. Such attestations of his being we 
 might expect God would give, not merely to confirm a 
 particular revelation, but with reference to this feeling 
 of indefiniteness, of generality, of a want of person- 
 ality in the supreme Power, which the operation of 
 general laws, necessarily confounding all moral distinc- 
 tions, has a tendency to produce. 
 
 Second effect, — The second collateral effect of mira- 
 cles which I would adduce is, that they show that the 
 laws of nature are subordinate to the higher laws of 
 God’s moral kingdom, and are controlled and suspended 
 with reference to that. This supposes, of course, that 
 the miracles are neither capricious nor frivolous, but 
 are so wrought as to show this truth. The man, who 
 has not yet seen that the moral government of God is 
 that with reference to which the universe is constructed 
 and sustained, is as far from the true system of God’s 
 administration as he would be from the true system of 
 
NATURE ANT> BIOR^VL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 61 
 
 astronomy who should place the earth in the centre. 
 This sentiment is involved in those extraordinary words 
 of Christ, "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, 
 than one tittle of the law to fail,” and might, indeed, 
 be inferred from the nature of the case. What man of 
 honor regards property at all, when his moral character 
 is concerned ? What wise man does not sacrifice prop- 
 cidy for the true good of rational and intelligent beings ? 
 So, if God has a moral character, and a moral govern- 
 ment, then what we call nature and its laws, must hold 
 the same relation to him that property does to the moral 
 character of man. The power and wisdom of God 
 may be seen in nature ; but his justice, and truth, and 
 mercy, in which his highest glory consists, can be seen 
 only in his dealings with his moral creatures. If- a law 
 of nature were destroyed, it could be reestablished ; if 
 a system of suns and planets were annihilated, another 
 might be produced in its room; if heaven and earth 
 -were to pass away, they might be created again ; but if 
 the brightness of the moral character of God should be 
 tarnished, that character would be lost forever. This 
 distinction between mere nature and moral government 
 is fundamental ; and nothing could have a greater ten- 
 dency to wake men up to a perception of it than to see 
 God, as he moves on to the accomplishment of his 
 moral purposes, setting aside those laws of nature 
 which we had supposed were established like the ever- 
 lasting hills — than to see the whole of visible nature, 
 with all its laws, standing ready to pay its obeisance to 
 the true embassadors of his moral kingdom. How else 
 could God express to us the true relations to each other 
 of his natural and moral government ? 
 
 If, then, miracles were necessary to give authority to 
 revelation, to give a practical impression of the exist- 
 ence of a personal God, and to indicate the true posi- 
 tion of his moral govermnent, who will say, on the 
 6 
 
62 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTE\J^ITY. 
 
 supposition that he has a moral goverimient, that they 
 are improbable ? 
 
 Import of a miracle. — There has, indeed, been a 
 question raised, — and it is one of so much importance 
 that it may be well to notice it here, — how far we are 
 bound to receive any doctrine or command that may be 
 confirmed by a miracle. But this depends on the fur- 
 ther question, whether a miracle can be VTOught by any 
 being but God. If God, and God only, can work a 
 miracle, then we are bound, both by reason and con- 
 science, to believe every thing short of a known ab- 
 surdity, and to do every thing short of essential wick- 
 edness, taught or commanded with that sanction. By 
 essential wickedness, I do not mean any outward act, 
 but positive malignity. To suppose God to command 
 this, would be a contradiction, since he could not do it 
 and be God. When God told Abraham to sacrifice his 
 son Isaac, he was to do it though it might seem to con- 
 tradict the dictates of natural affection, and what, with- 
 out the command, would have been the dictates of con- 
 science, and to be in direct opposition to the promises 
 of God himself ; and in doing it he honored God, and 
 acted in accordance with the dictates of natural religion, 
 and of the reason that God had given him. Not to be- 
 lieve and obey the direct word of God, would lead at 
 once to absurdity and contradiction. It would involve 
 the charge of falsehood and tyranny against God. But 
 Ihe moment you charge God with falsehood, there is an 
 end to all ground of faith in any thing. If I can not 
 believe God, I can not believe the faculties that come 
 from God. By charging Him who gave me my moral 
 nature with being false, I involve the probability that 
 all the notices and indications of that nature are false, 
 and all its distinctions baseless. Nothing could then 
 •save me from universal skepticism. Certainly natural 
 religion, and reason itself, if it would not lose from 
 
A MIRACLE BY GOD OJsTLY. 
 
 63 
 
 under it the very ground on which it stands, would lead 
 me to this. When God speaks, it is sufficient. His 
 reason is the infinite reason, his authority is absolute 
 authority, and nothing more dreadful, or more opposed 
 to our most intimate convictions, could possibly occur 
 than would be involved in disbelieAdng and disobeying 
 him. Nor can I doubt that it is in the power of God 
 so to authenticate his word to the soul of man as thus 
 to set it in opposition to the utterances and promptings 
 of every natural faculty ; nor that it is only, as in the 
 case of Abraham, when such an opposition occurs, that 
 the most implicit confidence in God, and the highest 
 grandeur of faith, can be seen. 
 
 Miracles real and pretended. — If, then, we suppose 
 that God only can perform a miracle, its authority will 
 be absolute. But may there not be a suspension or a 
 reversal of the laws of nature caused by other beings 
 than God? May not some malignant agent do that 
 which, if it is not, must appear to us to be a real 
 miracle ? This is a question which I can not answer. 
 It may be so. I know not what intermediate powers 
 and agencies there may be Jbetween the infinite God 
 and man. I know not but there, niay be created beings 
 of such might that one of them could seize upon the 
 earth, and hurl it from its orliit, or control its elements ; 
 nor do I know what range God may give to the agency 
 of such, or of any other intermediate beings. I do 
 not myself believe that any being ]:>ut God can work a 
 real miracle. Miracles are his great seal. This may 
 be counterfeited ; but if he should suffer it to be 
 stolen, I see no possible way in Avhich he could authen- 
 ticate a communication to his creatures. A real mira- 
 cle is to be distinguished from those feats and appear- 
 ances which may be produced liy sleight of hand, and 
 by collusion when once a religion is established ; and 
 also from any effects of merely natural agents, however 
 
G4 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 occult, under the control of science, hut working ac- 
 cording to their own laws. These, especially if science 
 and deception are combined, and in an age of popular 
 ignorance, may go very fiir ; probably far enough to 
 account for every thing in the Bible, seemingly miracu- 
 lous, which we should not be willing to attribute to 
 God. They may account for appearances and coinci- 
 dences which, to the ignorant, must have seemed like 
 miracles, and for extraordinary cures of a certain class, 
 wdiile the principle of life remained ; but they can not 
 account for a reversal of a law of nature, as when an 
 ax is made to swim, or the shadow to go back on the 
 dial ; nor for an operation where the j)owers of nature 
 have nothing to work upon, as when one really dead is 
 raised to life. However, something like that of which 
 I have spoken above is implied in the Bible, and pro- 
 vision is made for the state of mind which it must 
 induce. This speaks of "signs and lying wonders.” It 
 was said to the Israelites of old, " If there arise among 
 you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee 
 a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to 
 pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying. Let us go 
 after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us 
 serve them ; thou shalt not hearken unto the words of 
 that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams ; for the Lord 
 your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the 
 Lord your God with all your heart and with all your 
 soul.” 
 
 Faith and reason. — I would say, then, that an ap- 
 parent miracle, performed l)y a creature of God, would 
 not authorize me to receive what seemed to me to be 
 contradictory to my natural faculties ; and the voice of 
 God himself would lay me under obligation to do this 
 simply because the highest reason demands faith in him 
 as an essential condition of faith in those faculties. It 
 is, indeed, a contradiction to say that a man can believe 
 
CHEISTIAN MIRACLES. 
 
 65 
 
 what he knows to be an absurdity, or can be under ob- 
 ligation to do what is wrong ; and, in general, I would 
 say that no man is under obligation to believe what it 
 is not more reasonable for him to believe than to dis- 
 believe ; but it may be reasonable to believe, on the 
 authority of God, that that is not an absurdity which 
 might otherwise seem to be so, and that the command 
 of God would make certain outward actions right for 
 us, which would otherwise not be so. If God should 
 wish to make a communication to an individual that 
 would seem in opposition to the dictates of his nat- 
 ural fiiculties, we might expect that he would, as in the 
 case of Abraham, speak himself, and cause it to be 
 known that the voice was certainly his ; but when a 
 creature of God appears as his messenger, then his 
 character and the object of his mission must correspond 
 with what we have a right to expect of a messenger 
 from God ; and no prodigy, no apparent miracle, ought 
 to be received as a sufficient sanction for that which, 
 Avithout such sanction, Avould appear to be either absurd 
 or vicious. / 
 
 JSfo ])ractical difficulty. — But, however we may 
 decide this question on the supposition of a conflict 
 betAveen the message confirmed by a miracle, and the 
 intellectual, or the moral nature of man, there is no 
 practical difficulty on this point Avhen Ave speak of 
 the Christian miracles. These are all Avorthy of God. 
 They Avere wrought by men of pure and benevolent 
 lives, and for the avoAved purpose of confirming a mes- 
 sage of the highest importance to man, and in entire 
 conformity to his nature. And such miracles, Avrought 
 by such men, are, as I have said, the seal which 
 Ave should naturally expect God would affix to their 
 message. They are an adequate seal, and every 
 fair-minded man responds to the sentiment uttered by 
 6 * 
 
66 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Nicodemus, "No man can do these miraeles that thou 
 doest, except God be with him.” 
 
 The Christian religion or none. — I will simply say, 
 in closing this lecture, that whatever i^robability there 
 is that God has given a revelation at all, there is the 
 same that Christianity is that revelation. We have now 
 come to that point in the history of the world, in which 
 the question among all well-informed men must be 
 between the truth of Christianity and no religion. JSTo 
 man, surely, would advocate any form of idolatry or 
 of polytheism, and there remain only the religion of 
 Mohammed, and Deism, to be compared with Chris- 
 tianity. But I need not spend time in comparing, or 
 rather contrasting, the religion of Mohammed, unsus- 
 tained by miracles or by prophecies, propagated by the 
 sword, encouraging fatalism, and pride, and intolerance, 
 sanctioning polygamy, offering a sensual heaven, — a 
 religion w^hose force is already spent, which has no sym- 
 pathy or congruity with the enlarged views and onward 
 movements of these days, and which is fast passing 
 into a hopeless imbecility, — with the pure, and humble, 
 and beneficent religion of Christ, heralded by prophecy, 
 sealed by miracles, and now, after eighteen hundred 
 years, going forth, with all its pristine vigor, to bless 
 the nations. 
 
 Of Deism it may be doubted whether it should be 
 called a religion. It has never had a priesthood, nor a 
 creed, nor any book professing to contain the truths it 
 teaches, nor a temple, nor, with the exception of a 
 short period during the French revolution, an assembly 
 for worship. If w^e mean, then, by religion, any such 
 acknowledgment of God as recognizes our social nature, 
 and binds mankind in one brotherhood of equality, 
 wdiile it presents them together before the throne of a 
 common Father, Deism is not a religion. Those Avho 
 profess to teach it have no agreement in their doctrines. 
 
CHRISTIA^'ITY THE ONLY HOPE. 
 
 67 
 
 and the doctrines themselves are, several of them, bor- 
 rowed from Christianity, and then inculcated as the 
 teachings of reason. 
 
 No ; there is nothing on the face of the earth that 
 can, for a moment, bear a comparison with Christian- 
 ity as a religion for man. Upon this the hope of the 
 race hangs. From the very first, it took its position, ^ 
 as the pillar of fire, to lead the race onward. The ^ 
 patriarchal, and Jewish, and Christian dispensations, all ^ 
 finding their identity in the true import of sacrifices, 
 and in the inculcation of righteousness, have been one 
 religion. The intelligence and power of the race are 4 
 with those who have embraced it; and now, if this, 
 instead of proving indeed a pillar of fire from God, 
 should be found but a delusive meteor, then nothinir 
 will be left to the race but to go back to a darkness that 
 may be felt, and to a worse than Egyptian bondage. 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL EVIDENCE.— VAGUENESS OF THE 
 
 DIVISION BETWEEN THEM.— REASONS FOR CONSIDERING 
 
 THE INTERNAL EVIDENCES FIRST. — ARGUMENT FIRST: FROM 
 [ ANALOGY. 
 
 In my first lecture, I attempted to show that, if God 
 has given a revelation, we may certainly know it ; and 
 in the second, that there is no such antecedent improb- 
 ability against a revelation, as to justify us in requiring 
 proof different from that which we require for other 
 events. There are laws of evidence according to which 
 we judge in other cases, and I only ask that these same 
 laws may be applied here. 
 
 If these points are established, we are ready to in- 
 quire whether God has in fiict given a revelation. 
 
 On coming into life, we find Christianity existing, 
 and claiming to be such a revelation. We wish to sat- 
 isfy ourselves of the validity of that claim. How shall 
 we proceed? The evidence by which its claims are sus- 
 tained is commonly divided into two kinds, the exter- 
 nal and the internal. This division is simple, and of 
 long standing ; but by it heads of evidence are classed 
 together, having so little affinity for each other, and, in 
 regard to some of them, it is so difficult to see on what 
 IDrinciple they are classed under one rather than the 
 other, that its utility may be doubted. Thus the evi- 
 dences from testimony, from prophecy, from the mode 
 
 in which the gospel was propagated, and from its 
 
 ( 68 ) 
 
INTERNAL EVIDENCE. 
 
 69 
 
 effects, — topics resembling each other scarcely at all, 
 — are classed under the head of the external evidences ; 
 while the various marks of honesty found in the New 
 Testament, the agreement of the parts with each other, 
 its peculiar doctrines, its pure morality, its representa- 
 tion of the character of Christ, its analogy to nature, its 
 adaptation to the situation and wants of man, — topics 
 still more diverse, — are classed under its internal evi- 
 dences. 
 
 Chciimers and Wilson , — I notice the vagueness of 
 this arrangement, because these two classes of evidence 
 have often been opposed to each other, and the superi- 
 ority of one over the other contended for ; and because 
 great and good’ men, as Chalmers formerly, have in 
 some instances regarded it as presumptuous to study 
 the internal evidences at all, as if it would be a sitting 
 in judgment beforehand on the kind of revelation God 
 ought to give ; and others, as Wilson, have thought it 
 arrogance to study the internal evidences first, as if the 
 capacity to judge of a revelation after it was given im- 
 plied an amount of knowledge that would preclude the 
 necessity of any revelation at all. 
 
 Internal evidences — their study not jyresumjytuous , — 
 But of which of the internal evidences mentioned above 
 can it be said to be presumptuous for man to judge 
 without reference to external testimony ? Certainly not 
 of those natural and incidental evidences of truth spread 
 every where over the pages of the New Testament ; 
 nor of the agreement of the several books with each 
 other ; nor of the morality of the gospel ; nor of its 
 tendency to promote human happiness in this life ; and 
 if there be some of the doctrines, of the probability of 
 which we could not judge beforehand, that is no reason 
 why we should be excluded from an immediate and free 
 range in every other part of this held. Tl^ere is what 
 has been called, by Yerplanck, a critical, as well as a 
 
70 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 moral internal evidence. Of the first we are competent 
 to judge, and, in determining the question of our com- 
 petency to judge of the second, we are not to overlook 
 a distinction made by the same able writer. It is that 
 " between the poAver of discovering truth, and that of 
 examining and deciding upon it Avhen offered to our 
 judgment.” ”In matters of human science,” he goes 
 on to say, ”to Iioay fcAV is the one given, and hoAv com- 
 mon is the other ! Look at that vast mass of mathe- 
 matical invention and demonstration Avhich has been 
 carried on by gifted minds, in every age, in continued 
 progress, from the days of the learned priesthood of 
 ancient Egypt to those of the discoA^eries of La Place 
 and La Grange. Who is there of the mathematicians 
 of this generation Avho could be selected as capable of 
 alone discoA^ering all this prolonged and continuous 
 chain of demonstration ? If left to their OAvn unaided 
 researches, hoAV far Avould the original and inventive 
 genius of a NcAvton or a Pascal liaA^e carried them? 
 Yet Ave knoAV that all this body of science, this magnifi- 
 cent accumulation of the patient labors of so many in- 
 tellects, maybe examined and rigorously scrutinized in 
 every step, and finally completely mastered and famil- 
 iarized to the understanding, in a feAV years’ study, by 
 a student aaLo, trusting solely to his OAvn mind, could 
 never have advanced beyond the simple elements of 
 geometry. 
 
 "This reasoning may be applied, either directly or 
 ])y fair analogy, to cA^ery part of our knoAvledge of the 
 hiAVS of nature and of mind ; and it therefore seems to 
 be neither presumptuous nor unphilosophical, but, on 
 the contrary, in strict accordance AAdth the soundest 
 reasoning, to maintain that though ' the AAmrld by Avis- 
 doni kncAv not God,’ yet, so far forth as he reA^eals him- 
 self to men, and calls upon them to recciAm and ol)ey 
 that rcA^ealcd Avill, he has given to them faculties, by 
 
TO JUDGE OF EEVELATIOX NOT PEESUAIPTUOUS. 71 
 
 no means compelling, but yet enabling them to under- 
 stand his revelation ; to perceive its truth, excellence, 
 and beauty ; and to become sensible of their own want 
 of its instruction, as well as to estimate tliat extrinsic 
 human testimony by which it may be supported or 
 attended.” 
 
 Certainly, there are many things in which we per- 
 ceive a fitness and an excellence, when they are made 
 known, of which we should never, of ourselves, have 
 formed any conception. Thus the Newtonian system 
 comes before the eye of the mind as a great mountain 
 does before that of the body, and we see at once that 
 it is worthy of God. No timid disclaimer of our right 
 to judge of the works of God can prevent this effect. 
 Its simplicity, and beauty, and majesty, speak with a 
 voice more pleasing, and scarcely less satisfactory, than 
 that of mathematical demonstration. I will not say 
 how much of this perceived excellence, or whether any, 
 must belong to a revelation which we are under obliga- 
 tion to receive. Certainly, that of the Jews had to 
 them far less of this than ours to us. But I will say 
 that it is the natural impulse of the mind to examine 
 any thing claiming to be a revelation by such tests ; and 
 if it is done in a proper spirit, and with those limita- 
 tions which good sense must always put to human 
 inquiries, it is neither presumptuous nor dangerous. It 
 is not judging beforehand of what God ought to do ; it 
 is judging of what it is claimed that he has done ; and 
 the same spirit that would prevent us from doing this 
 would debar us from any study of final causes in the 
 works of God. If the gospel is to act upon character, 
 it must be received with an intelligent perception of its 
 adaptation to our wants, and of its excellence. The 
 message, not less than the minister of God, might be 
 
 Verplanck’s Evidences of Eevealed Keligion. 
 
72 
 
 EVIDEXCES OF CHRISTIANITT. 
 
 expected to commend itself ” to every man’s conscience 
 in the sight of God.” 
 
 r Standards and tests in the mind, — I would not claim 
 for reason a place which does not belong to it. So far 
 as the Christian religion rests on facts, it must rest on 
 historical evidence ; but so far as it is a system of truth 
 and of motives intended to bear on human character 
 and well-being, it must be judged of by that reason and 
 conscience which God has given us. There are in the 
 mind, as God made it, standards and tests which must 
 ultimately be applied to it. Men may be uncandid or 
 irreverent in applying these tests, and so they may be 
 in examining historical proof ; and I have no more fear 
 in one case than in the other. In arguing for, or against 
 such a system as Christianity, we of course take for 
 granted the being and perfections of God; we have 
 a previous knowledge of his works, of his providence, 
 of the difference between right and wrong, and of the 
 beings for whom the system is intended. Let, now, a 
 candid man find in the system nothing absurd or im- 
 moral, but many things that seem to him strange, and 
 little accordant with what he would have expected, and 
 he will be still in doubt. He will make due allowance 
 for the imperfection of his knowledge, and the limita- 
 tion of his hiculties, and he will hold his mind open to 
 the full force of historical proof. But let him be shown 
 a system which, though he could not have discovered 
 it, he can see, when discovered, to be worthy of a God 
 of infinite wisdom and goodness, — let him find it con- 
 gruous with all he knows of him from his works, coin- 
 cident Avith natural religion, so far as that goes, con- 
 taining a perfect morality, harmonizing Avith the highest 
 sentiments of man, and adapted to his AAuints as a Aveak 
 and guilty being, — and ho may find in all this a ground 
 of rational coiiAdction that such a system must have 
 come from God, and so, that those facts AALich are 
 
CH-\NGE IX ARR.IXGEMEXT. 
 
 73 
 
 inseparably connected, with it must be true. The histor- 
 ical testimony may then be to him much as the testi- 
 mony of the woman of Samaria was to her countrymen 
 after they had seen and heard the Saviour for them- 
 selves. And this is the natural course when any system 
 on any subject is presented to us. We inquire what it 
 is, and how far it agrees with our previous knowledge ; 
 we come up to it, and examine it, and then, if neces- 
 sary, we investigate the history of its origin. 
 
 This jproof logical, — Kor is this proof from internal 
 evidence, as some seem to suppose, merely the result 
 of feeling. If God has given us a religion which we 
 are to receive in the exercise of our reason, and which 
 is to act on us through our affections and in harmony 
 with our natural faculties, I can not conceive that there 
 should not be found in it such congruities and adapta- 
 tions to man, — such a fitness to promote his individual 
 and social well-being, — as to show that it came from 
 Him who made man ; and the proof arising from a per- 
 ception of this congruity is as purely intellectual, as 
 strictly argumentative, as that from historical evidence. 
 In such a case, we do not believe the religion to be 
 true because we feel it to be so, but because we see in 
 it a divine wisdom, and the adaptation of means to an 
 end. 
 
 Arrangement hitherto — reasons for a change. — It 
 has been some feeling of the kind, mentioned above as 
 manifested by Chalmers and Wilson, that has deter- 
 mined the arrangement of every treatise I know of, 
 published either iii England or this country, in which 
 the external and internal evidences are considered to- 
 gether. The external are treated of first, are regarded 
 as settling the question, and then the internal are 
 brought in as confirmatory. Certainly, I thmk the his- 
 torical evidence conclusive, and it is indispensable, be- 
 cause the. Christian religion is not a mere set of dogmas, 
 7 
 
74 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CIIEISTLiNITY. 
 
 or of speculative opinions, but has its foundation in 
 facts. It is, indeed, a manifestation of principles, but 
 not by verbal statement and injunction merely ; those 
 principles are imbodied in acts, and it is only as thus 
 imbodied that they have their effective power. That 
 Jesus Christ lived, and was crucified, and rose from the 
 dead, are facts as necessary to the Christian religion as 
 the foundation to a building ; and no one but a German 
 neologist could possibly think otherwise. But if the 
 external evidences are thus indispensable and conclu- 
 sive, so also are the internal. What would have been 
 the effect and force of Christ’s miracles, without his 
 spotless and transcendent character? If I am to say 
 which would most deeply impress me with the fact that 
 he was from God, the testimony respecting his miracles, 
 or the exhibition of such a character, I think I should 
 say the latter ; and I think myself as well qualified to 
 judge in the one case as in the other; and, as I have 
 said, I think this is the evidence which now first pre- 
 sents itself. 
 
 At first, when the religion was every where called 
 in question, when miracles were wrought to sustain it, 
 before it had had time to show fully its adaptation to 
 the wants of the individual man and of society, it was 
 natural to refer first to miracles and to testimony for 
 its divine authority ; but now, when the religion is 
 established, it is quite as natural to pass, without any 
 particular attention to the historical evidence, to the 
 consideration of the religion itself, its suitableness to 
 what we know of God, and to our own wants. It is, 
 in fact, in this way that most men who embrace Chris- 
 tianity are led to do it, and I do not think it either 
 ” presumptuous or unphilosophical ” to follow, in pre- 
 senting the evidence, the course which has been followed 
 by most Christians in attaining that ground of faith on 
 which they now rest. 
 
CIirJSTIAXITY ITSELF TO BE EXA3IIXED. 
 
 75 
 
 Let us, then, instead of going first through a long 
 lino of historical testimony, come directly to the Chris- 
 tian religion itself. Let us examine it, with candor 
 indeed, but with perfect freedom. Let us compare it 
 with, and test it by, whatever we know of God or his 
 works, or of man. It courts such an examination. It 
 is because it is not thus examined, that it is so little 
 regarded. We know that any system that comes from 
 God must be worthy of him ; that it must be in har- 
 mony with all his other works and with all other truth ; 
 that the ends proposed by it must lie good, and that it 
 must be adapted in the best manner to accomplish 
 those ends. We know, I say, that such a system must 
 really he all this ; and, in proportion to our knowledge, 
 we shall see it to be so. If we can not understand it 
 fully, as indeed, if it be what it claims to be, we ought 
 not to expect to do, we may yet know in part. We 
 live in an age of light. The religion has been long in 
 the world, and has come in contact with God’s natural 
 providence, and with human institutions, at many points. 
 It was intended to act upon us ; and, if it be really 
 from God, it would be strange if we could not find 
 upon it some impression of his hand. ^ 
 
 ARGUjMENT I. 
 
 ANALOGY. 
 
 General statement . — We say, then, first, that we 
 find evidence of the divine origin of the Christian reli- 
 gion in its analogy to the works and natural govern- 
 ment of God. There is a harmony of adaptation, and 
 also of analogy. The key is adapted to the lock ; the 
 fin of the fish is analoo'ous to the winsf of the bird. 
 Christianity, as I hope to show, is adapted to man ; it 
 is analogous to the other manifestations which God has 
 made of himself. 
 
 The works of God are divided into different depart- 
 
76 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 ments, each of which has its laws, which are in some 
 sense independent of the others ; yet there is such a 
 correspondence manifest between them, that we rec- 
 ognize them, at once, as having proceeded from the 
 same hand. Scientific research impresses upon ns the 
 conviction that God is one, and that he is uniform and 
 consistent in all his works ; and leads us to expect, if 
 he should introduce a new dispensation, that there 
 would be, between it and those which had preceded it, 
 an analogy similar to that which had been found to 
 exist between the other departments. > Now, we affirm 
 that the gospel contains that code of laws which God 
 has given for the regulation of the moral and spiritual 
 department of his creation in this world, and that 
 there is between it and the other works of God the 
 analogy and correspondence which were to have been 
 expected. 
 
 The Bible coincident loith nature, — 1. I observe, 
 that the Bible is coincident with nature, as now known, 
 in its teachings respecting the natural attributes of 
 God. The New Testament seldom dwells upon the 
 natural attributes of God ; but when it does to any 
 extent, as in the ascription of Paul, "To the King 
 eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God,” it 
 plainly recognizes and adopts the doctrines of the Old, 
 and they may, therefore, for this purpose, be fairly 
 taken together. Let us go l)ack, then, to those ancient 
 prophets. If we exclude the idea of revelation, nothing 
 can be more surprising than the ideas of God expressed 
 by them. These ideas, of themselves, are sufficient to 
 give the stamp of divinity to their writings. Sur- 
 rounded by polytheists, they proclaimed his unity. 
 Living in a period of great ignorance in regard to phys- 
 ical science, they ascribed to God absolute eternity, 
 and that unchangeableness which is essential to a perfect 
 Being, and they represented all his natural attributes 
 
NATURE AND THE BIBLE. 
 
 77 
 
 as. infinite. Accordingly, it is when these attributes 
 are their theme, that their poetry rises to its unparal- 
 leled sublimity. ”Who,” says Isaiah, "hath measured 
 the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out 
 heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of 
 the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in 
 scales and the hills in a balance ? ” Even now, when 
 science has brought her report from the depths of infi- 
 nite space, and told us of the suns and systems that 
 glow and circle there, how can we better express our 
 emotions than to adopt his language, and say, "Lift up 
 your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these 
 things, that bringeth out their host by number : He 
 calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might, 
 for that he is strong in power ; not one faileth.” And 
 when science has turned her glass in another direction, 
 and discovered in the teeming drop wonders scarcely 
 less than those in the heavens ; when she has analyzed 
 matter; when she has disentangled the rays of light, 
 and shown the colors of which its white web is woven , 
 when the amazing structure of vegetable and animal 
 bodies is laid open ; what can we say of Him who 
 worketh all this, but that he is "wonderful in counsel, 
 and excellent in working ” ! ” There is no searching of 
 
 his understanding.” And when, again, we can look 
 back over near three thousand years more, in which the 
 earth has rolled on its appointed way, and the mighty 
 energies by which all things are moved have been sus- 
 tained, what can we do but to ask, "Hast thou not 
 known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, 
 the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth 
 not, neither is weary?” With them we find no ten- 
 dency, as among the ancient philosophers, to ascribe 
 eternity to matter ; they every where speak of it as cre- 
 ated ; nor, with the pantheists, to identify matter with 
 God ; nor, with the idolater, to be affected with its 
 7 * 
 
78 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTLVNITY. 
 
 magnitude, or forms, or order, or brightness, or what- 
 ever may strike the senses. But, with them, all matter 
 is perfectly subordinate and paltry when compared with 
 God. They represent him as sustaining it for a time 
 in its present order, and then as folding up these visible 
 heavens as a vesture is folded, and laying them aside. 
 Nothing could more perfectly express the ’absolute in- 
 finity of the natural attributes of God, or the entire 
 separation and disparity between him and every thing 
 that is called the universe, or its complete subjection 
 to his wdll. 
 
 Now, that men, undistinguished from others around 
 them by learning, in an age of prevalent polytheism 
 and idolatry, and of great ignorance of physical science, 
 should adopt such doctrines respecting the natural attri- 
 butes of God, as to require no modihcation when sci- 
 ence has been revolutionized and expanded as it were 
 into a new universe, does seem to me no slight evidence 
 that they were inspired by that God whose attributes 
 they set forth. 
 
 g — - Perfection of natural and moral laiv . — 2. I observe, 
 that there is an analogy between the laws of nature, as 
 discovered by induction, and the moral laws contained 
 in the New Testament, not only as implying the same 
 natural attributes in God, but as they are carried out to 
 the same perfection. It is the great and sublime char- 
 acteristic of natural law, especially of the law of grav- 
 itation, that, while it controls so perfectly such vast 
 masses, and at such amazing distances, it yet also con- 
 trols equally the minutest particle that floats in the sun- 
 beam ; and that, however wildly that particle may be 
 driven, — wherever it may float in the infinity of 
 space, — it never, for one moment, escapes the cogni- 
 zance and supervision of this law. It never can. This 
 implies a minuteness and perfection of natural govern- 
 ment, of which science, as known in the time of Christ, 
 
NATURAL AND 3I0R*VL LAW TERFECT. 
 
 79 
 
 could have given no intimation. But now, how natural 
 does it seem that the same God, who, in the universal 
 control of his natural law, no more neglects the minu- 
 test particle than the largest planet, should also, in his 
 moral law, take cognizance of every idle word, and of 
 the thoughts and intents of the heart ! Yes ; I find, in 
 the particle of dust, shown by the greatest expounder 
 of God’s natural law to be constantly regarded by him, 
 and in the idle word declared by Christ to come under 
 the notice and condemnation of his moral law, — I find, 
 in the minuteness and completeness of the government 
 of matter, as revealed by modern science, and even 
 shown to the eye by the microscope, and in that inter- 
 pretation of the moral law which makes it spiritual, 
 causing it to reach every thought and intent of the 
 heart, — a conception of the same absolute perfection 
 of government, both in the natural and moral world ; 
 and I find the same infinite natural attributes implied 
 as the sole conditions on which such a government in 
 either of these departments can be carried on. 
 
 This idea of the absolute universality and perfection 
 of government in any department — the only one, how- 
 ever, Avorthy of a perfect God — is not an idea, espe- 
 cially in its moral applications, Avhich I should think 
 likely to have originated Avith man. In the depart- 
 ment of nature Ave knoAV that he did not originate or 
 suspect it till it Avas forced on his observation. And 
 hoAv comes it to pass that this absolute perfection of 
 moral government, this notice of the particle of dust 
 there, this judgment of every idle Avord, of every secret 
 thing, of the minutest moral act of the most inconsid- 
 erable moral being that ever lived, should have been 
 discovered and announced thousands of years before its 
 more obvious counterpart in the natural Avorld Avas even 
 suspected ? 
 
 And here I can not but notice, though I Avill not put 
 
80 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 it under a separate head, how coincident all that sci- 
 ence has discovered is with the Scripture doctrine of 
 the universal and particular providential government 
 of God. We all know how slow men have been to 
 receive this ; and yet it would seem that no theist, with 
 a clear perception of the mode in which natural law 
 operates, could doidit it. Does God control constantly 
 immense masses of matter through natural law? Hoav? 
 Why, by causing the law to operate, not upon the 
 mass as a whole, but upon every individual paidicle 
 composing that mass ; that is, he governs the vast 
 throusrh his government of the minute. And if he does 
 this in matter, who will deny the probability of a prov- 
 idential care, proceeding on precisely the same prin- 
 ciples, which numliers the hairs of our heads, and 
 watches the fall of the sparrow? Shall God care for 
 the less and not for the greater ? ” If he so clothe the 
 
 grass of the field, shall he not much more clothe you, 
 6 ye of little faith ? ” 
 
 Kind and limit of hnoivledge. — 3. I observe, that 
 there is an analogy, both in their kind and in their 
 limit, between the knowledge communicated by nature 
 and that liy Christianity. Nature is full and explicit in 
 her communication of necessary practical facts, but is 
 at no pains to explain the reasons and methods of those 
 facts. She gives us the air to breathe, and we are in- 
 vigorated ; but she does not teach us that it is composed 
 of oxygen and nitrogen, and that our vigor comes from 
 the oxygen alone. ' She gives us the light, and we see ; 
 but how long did the world stand before she whispered 
 to any one that that light was composed of the seven 
 primary colors ? She instructs us in the uses of fire ; 
 but she does not teach us how the process of combus- 
 tion is carried on. Men have boiled water equally well 
 from the beginning ; but it was left to this age, and to 
 Faraday, to discover that flame is the product of elec- 
 
IvXOWLEBGE IMPARTED PRACTICAL. 
 
 81 
 
 trical agency. Slie teaches us the facts ; she enahles 
 us to go through the practical processes ; and then she 
 leaves us to find our way as we best may through the 
 philosophy of those facts. 
 
 And so it is with the knowledge communicated by 
 Christianity. There is not a great practical fact which 
 a moral being can ask to know, concerning which it 
 does not speak with perfect distinctness. The fact of a 
 full and a perfect accountability, and of a future retri- 
 bution, — the fact of immortality, of the resurrection 
 of the dead, of a particular providence, of the freedom 
 of man, of his dependence upon God, and of the mercy 
 of God to returning penitents, — each of these is made 
 known with entire fullness and explicitness ; but very 
 little is said respecting the philosophy of these facts, 
 or the mode in which they may be reconciled to each 
 other. The Bible gives the information that is needed, 
 and there it stops. It communicates practical, and 
 never speculative knowledge as such. 
 
 Xow, when we consider that Christianity solves, in 
 its own way, all the great questions relating to human 
 destiny, it must be regarded as remarkable, that, in 
 communicating this information, it should thus stop 
 precisely where nature stops. When we consider, how 
 strong the tendency must have been to unaided human 
 nature to gratify and excite man by particular descrip- 
 tions of other worlds and of things unseen, so naturally 
 to ])e expected from a messenger from those worlds ; 
 when we consider how strong a hold the fanatic and 
 the impostor gain upon the imagination of their follow- 
 ers by such means , and that, without miracles and 
 without evidence, this is, indeed, the chief hold they 
 can have upon them ; and when we oliserve the course 
 taken at this point by all others Avho have pretended 
 to revelation, we shall not estimate this argument 
 lightly. 
 
82 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Christianitij and other systems , — How different the 
 course of Christ and his apostles, in this respect, from 
 that of the writers of the Shasters, and of ^lohainmed ! 
 When Christ and his apostles speak of a future world 
 of reward and of punishment, it -is, indeed, in such 
 terms as to produce a strong moral impression, but it 
 is still with a severe and cautious reserve. Those terms 
 are general. There is no dwelling upon particulars, as 
 if for the purpose of gratifying curiosity, or giving a 
 loose rein to the imagination. They speak of "the' 
 kingdom of heaven,” of " everlasting life,” of "a crown 
 of glory that fadetli not away,” of " life and immortal- 
 ity,” of "many mansions,” and a "Father’s house;” 
 but then they say, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
 neither have entered into the heart of man, the things 
 which God hath prepared for them that love him.” So, 
 on the other hand, they speak of "the fire that never 
 shall be quenched,” " where their worm dieth not, and 
 the fire is not quenched ; ” of the "everlasting fire, pre- 
 pared for the devil and his angels ; ” of " everlasting 
 destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from 
 the glory of his power ; ” of " the blackness of darkness 
 forever ; ” but they descend into no minute descriptions. 
 Not ^so Mohammed. Speaking of heaven, he says, 
 "There are they who shall approach near unto God. 
 They shall dwell in gardens of delight. Youths, which 
 shall continue in their bloom forever, shall go round 
 about to attend them with goblets and beakers, and a 
 cup of flowing wunc, — their heads shall not ache by 
 drinking the same, neither shall their reason be dis- 
 turbed ; and with fruits of the roots which they shall 
 choose, and the flesh of birds of the kind which they 
 shall desire. And there shall accompany them fair 
 damsels, having large black eyes resembling pearls 
 hidden in their shells, as a reward for that which they 
 
MOH A3IMEDAXISM . 
 
 83 
 
 have wrought.”* *'But as for the sincere seiwants of 
 God, they shall have a ceifaiii provision in paradise, 
 namely, delicious fruits ; and they shall be honored ; 
 they shall be placed in gardens of pleasure, leaning on 
 couches, opposite to one another ; a cup shall be earned 
 round unto them, filled from a limpid fountain, for the 
 delight of those who drink, — it shall not oppress their 
 understanding, neither shall they be inebriated there- 
 with. And near them shall lie the virgins of paradise, 
 refraining their looks from beholding any besides their 
 spouses, having large black eyes, and resembling the 
 •eggs of an ostrich covered with feathers from the 
 dust.” -j- So, also, speaking of the world of punish- 
 ment, he says, Those who believe not have gamients 
 of fire fitted to them ; boiling water shall be poured on 
 their heads ; their bowels shall be dissolved thereby, 
 and also their skin; and they shall be beaten with 
 maces of iron. So often as they shall endeavor to get 
 out of hell because of the anguish of their torments, 
 they shall be dragged back into the same, and their 
 tormentors shall say, ^ Taste ye the pains of burning.’ ” J 
 ” It shall be said unto them. Go ye into the punishment 
 which ye denied as a falsehood : go ye into the smoke of 
 hell, which shall arise in three volumes, and shall not 
 shade you from the heat, neither shall it be of service 
 against the flame ; but it shall cast forth sparks as big as 
 towers, resembling yellow camels in color.” § We can 
 now see that the stem refusal on the pai*t of Clirist and 
 his disciples to lift the vail and show us the invisible 
 world was not only analogous to the course of nature, 
 but that it was the only course compatible with good 
 sense and sound philosophy. But why have these men, 
 of all those who have made pretensions to inspiration, 
 
 * Koran, chap. Ivi. Sale’s edition, 
 t Koran, chap, xxxvii 
 
 X Koran, chap. xxii. 
 
 § Koran, chap, xxvii. 
 
84 
 
 EVIDENCES OE CIIRISTLVNITY. 
 
 thus kept upon that difficult line vhich so commends 
 itself to the sober judgment of the thinking part of 
 mankind ? 
 
 Christianity and nature — relation to the infinite and 
 mysterious. — And not less striking is the analogy 
 between the limits of that knowledge which is obtained 
 from nature and that which is obtained from the Bible ; 
 or, to express my thought more exactly, between the 
 mode in which what is made known in both cases, runs 
 out into an infinite unknown. However long, and in 
 whatever department the student of nature may labor, 
 he finds himself no nearer the completion of his knowl- 
 edge ; and, as he passes on, he is ready to exclaim, 
 with Burke, ”What subject is there that does not 
 branch out into infinity ! ” Even when most successful, 
 he compares himself to a "child picking up pebbles 
 upon the beach, while the great ocean of truth is still 
 lieforc him.” The intellectual vision of one man may 
 extend further than that of another ; he may have a 
 wider horizon ; but to both alike the sky closes down 
 upon the mountains, and what is known stretches off 
 into the infinity that is unknown. Nature places us in 
 the midst of infinity. She intimates a probalile con- 
 nection between our planet and the myriads of worlds 
 which float in space ; she suggests, l)y analogy, the 
 pro])a])ility of a moral and intellectual system corre- 
 sponding in extent to the greatness of the physical 
 universe ; she awakens our curiosity respecting the 
 forms and modes of being of those who dwell in the 
 stellar worlds ; but she gives us no means of gratifying 
 our curiosity. The language of nature to man is, 'You 
 are a pupil, upon one form, in the great school of God’s 
 discipline. You are permitted to conjecture that there 
 are other and higher forms, but to know nothing of 
 what is taught there. Your business is to learn the 
 lessons which are taught here, and be content, though 
 
CIirJSTLNJN^ITY AND NATUEE ]\IYSTEEIOUS . 
 
 85 
 
 you can not but see that all known truth has relations 
 with much more that is unknown.’ And just so it is 
 with the Bible. It does not present us with a defined 
 system of truth, squared by the scientific rule and com- 
 pass, which the human mind can master and eompre- 
 hend. Its truths take hold on the eternity that is past, 
 and stretch on into that which is to come. Does nature 
 lead us into deep mysteries ? So does the Bible. Does 
 she leave us there, to wonder and adore? So does the 
 Bible. lYe claim mysteries as a part of Christianity. 
 lYe say that a religion coming from the God of nature 
 could not be without them. We are nothing moved 
 by the sneer of the infidel when he asks, ” What kind 
 of a revelation is the revelation of a mystery?” We 
 say to him that it is the revelation of a fact, all the 
 modes and relations of which are not known, or which 
 may seem to conflict with something already knovm ; 
 and that, in the revelation of portions of an infinite 
 scheme to a finite mind, facts thus related would be 
 naturally expected. Is no revelation of any value but 
 that which is clear, full, and distinct? What kind of a 
 revelation is that which nature makes of the starry 
 heavens — dim, remote, obscure, suggesting a thousand 
 questions, and answering none? And yet even this is 
 of infinite value to man. And thus it is that the Bible 
 takes it for granted that there are other orders of intel- 
 ligent beings, angels and archangels, principalities and 
 powers, heavenly hosts innumerable — just such an 
 intellectual and moral system as we might suppose from 
 our present knowledge of the works of God ; but no 
 particulars are given ; it merely shows them as the night 
 shows the stars, and, like nature, it leaves us standing 
 in the midst of infinity, with a thousand questions unan- 
 swered. Now, I can not help thinking, if the Bible had 
 been made by man, that it would either have been a 
 system perfectly defined, with the clearness, and at the 
 8 
 
86 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CIIEISTLVNITY. 
 
 same time, the shallowness, of the human intellect; or 
 it would have been wild, and extravagant, and vague ; 
 or it would have pretended to lay open minutely the 
 secrets of distant and future worlds. 
 
 Temjj^ev of mind required. — 4. I obseiwe, that there 
 is an analogy or correspondence between the works of 
 God and the Bible, such as we had a right to expect, 
 if both came from him, because a similar temper and 
 attitude of mind is required for the successful study of 
 both. The identity of that spirit, which Christ inculcates 
 as the essential prerequisite to the proper understanding 
 and reception of the great truths Avhich he taught, with 
 the true philosophic spirit, was first noticed by Bacon. 
 He says, in very remarkable words, ”The kingdom of 
 man, which was founded on the sciences, can not be en- 
 tered otherwise than the kingdom of God , that is, in the 
 condition of a little child.” The meaning and the truth 
 of this will be manifest from a moment’s attention to 
 the history of science. So long as man attempted to 
 theorize, and to sit in judgment upon God, to determine 
 what he ought to have done, instead of taking the atti- 
 tude of a learner before the book of nature, nothing 
 can exceed the puerilities and absurdities into which he 
 fell. But the moment he laid aside the pride of theory, 
 and took the humble attitude of a learner and observer, 
 an interpreter of nature, science began to advance. 
 IMan talked of rearing the temple of science, as if it 
 were to be constructed by him. But, as far as there is 
 any temple, it has stood, as it now stands, in its impos- 
 ing majesty, since the creation of the works of God ; 
 and all that man can do is to unvail that temple, and 
 show its fiiir proportions. The true philosopher does 
 not think of rearing any thing of his own. He feels 
 that he is a learner, and a learner only at the feet of 
 nature. He represses entirely the imagination, however 
 beautiful and enticing may be the theories which it 
 
NEED OF HUMILITY. 
 
 87 
 
 would form; rejects all prejudice and preconceived 
 opinion; and follows fearlessly wherever observation, 
 and experiment, and facts, may lead him. 
 
 Is it said that there have been great philosophers 
 who have been infidels, and have not had this spirit? 
 I answer, no. There have been second-rate philoso- 
 phers, who have distinguished themselves by following 
 out the discoveries of greater men ; but all the great 
 discoverers, those whose minds have sympathized most 
 intensely with nature, have been distinguished for this 
 spirit.* 
 
 But that this spirit and temper are required by the 
 gospel in order to a knowledge of that, it is hardly 
 necessary to show. There we find the original requi- 
 sition to become as a little child. It requires every 
 imagination to be brought down, and every high thing 
 that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God ; and 
 that every thought should be brought into captivity to 
 the obedience of Christ. No progress can be made 
 in religion, or in science, till the pride which exalts 
 itself to judge over God, and to decide what he ought 
 to have done, is repressed, and till the man takes his 
 place as a learner at the feet of Jesus, as the philoso- 
 pher takes his place at the feet of nature. So coinci- 
 dent is the spirit of true religion and of true philosophy ; 
 so perfectly did our Saviour express the true spirit of 
 both eighteen hundred years ago. Wonderful indeed 
 is it that, when the great expounder of method in 
 natural science would express the true spirit of the true 
 method, he shoidd find no fitter words than those used 
 by Christ, before the inductive philosophy was dreamed 
 of, to express the proper method of study in a higher 
 department of the kingdom and government of God. 
 If, then, nature and revelation are thus similarly related 
 to the human mind, they must be analogous to each other. 
 
 * Soe Whewell’s Bridgewater Treatise, 
 
88 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 0% Ilode and results of teaching . — In close connection 
 vitli this head, I observe that, so far as nature teaches 
 natural religion and moral truth, there is an analogy 
 between both the mode and the results of her tcachiinr 
 and those of Christianity. Nothing can be more evi- 
 dent than that the condition in which God intended 
 man should be placed, in this world, is that of a pro- 
 bation, in which there should be no overwhelming force, 
 or preponderance of motives, on either side ; in which 
 a wrong choice should be possible, and a right one often 
 difficult. No other supposition accords with the limited 
 knowledge of man, or with the mixed and balanced 
 motives in the midst of which he must often act. 
 Accordingly, while the moral and religious teachings 
 of nature are real and valid, and he that has ears to 
 hear may hear, they are yet never obtrusive. The 
 voice of those teachings is a still, small voice, easily 
 drowned by the roar of passion or by the din of the 
 world, but sweet and powerful in the ear of those who 
 are willing to listen. Accordingly, nothing is easier, 
 or more common, than for men ” to quench the light of 
 natural virtue by a course of profligacy, and to acquire 
 contempt for all goodness 1)y familiarity with vice.” 
 This is the method in which nature teaches moral and 
 religious truth, lifting up always the same quiet voice, 
 whether men will hear or whether they will forl^ear ; 
 and these are the results. Christianity keeps to the 
 principle of that method, nor are the results different 
 in kind. Whether we consider the evidence for its 
 divine origin, or the moral truths which it inculcates, 
 we find that, while it has such evidence as to be satis- 
 factory to those who will attend to it, yet that it does 
 not force that evidence upon the attention of any. 
 Here the voice is indeed a louder voice, and he that 
 hath ears may hear ; but it does not compel the atten- 
 tion of men. Accordingly, as we find men disregarding 
 
THEIR TEACHINGS UNOBTRUSIVE. 
 
 89 
 
 the teachings of natural conscience, and the general 
 maxims of virtue, so also do we find them remaining 
 in ignorance, and consequent contempt, of God’s reve- 
 lation. 
 
 I know that this feature of revelation has been made 
 an objection against it. It has been said that, if God 
 had given a revelation, he would have accompanied it 
 with evidence that must have forced conviction upon 
 every mind — that he would have written it upon the 
 heavens ; l)ut the objector does not consider that, in 
 that case, this would have been no longer a place of 
 probation, and the revelation of the gospel not at all in 
 keeping with the revelation of nature. Are the great 
 truths. of natural religion written upon the heavens? 
 Are the common maxims of temperance, and integrity, 
 and benevolence, forced upon the attention of all? 
 Instead, therefore, of finding, in the unobtrusive nature 
 of the evidence and claims of Christianity, an argument 
 against it, I find, in these very circumstances, an argu- 
 ment that it is from that God who has caused the light 
 of natural religion, and even the light of science, to 
 exist in the world under precisely the same conditioii 
 
 A system of means, — 5. I observe, that Christianity'’ 
 is in harmony with the works of God, because it is a 
 s^'stem of means. ^ It is asked, by some, if God wishes 
 the holiness of men, why he does not make them holy 
 at once ; and that he should take a long course of 
 means, to accomplish his wish, is objected to as deroga- 
 tory both to his power and to his wisdom. But, surely, 
 I need not say that all nature is a system of means — ' 
 that the end to be accomplished never is accomplished 
 without the means, and that those means often require 
 the lapse of ages before this end is obtained. No doubt 
 God could create a tree at once in its full perfection ; 
 but, instead of this, he causes it to germinate from a 
 
 * Butler’s Analogy, part 2, chap. 4. 
 8 * 
 
90 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIilNITY. 
 
 little seed, and makes his sun shine upon it, and waters 
 it with showers, and sii1)jects it to the vicissitudes of 
 the seasons, (during portions of which it seems to 
 make no progress,) till, af length, it towers toward 
 heaven, and defies the storms of ages. So the kingdom 
 of heaven in the soul is like a grain of n^ustard-seed, 
 which is indeed the least of all seeds ; hut God causes 
 it to spring up, and shines upon it with the light of his 
 countenance, and waters it with the dews of his orace, 
 till it becomes a plant bearing fruit in the garden of 
 God. And yet those who believe that nature is of 
 God, object to the gospel because of the very circum- 
 stances in which it harmonizes with his other works. 
 
 And here I mention a ground of misapprehension 
 which is common to nature and to Christianity. A 
 system of means implies the gradual development of a 
 plan, and of course the plan must present veiy different 
 aspects to those who view it in its different stages. 
 There are some processes in nature that could not have 
 been understood in the first ages of the world. Thus 
 the periods and motions of some of the heavenly bodies 
 were so obscure and complicated, that it required the 
 observation and study of near six thousand years to 
 understand and reduce them to system ; and the eye of 
 the philosopher who scanned those bodies before such 
 observations could be made, must have remained unsat- 
 isfied and perplexed. He saw the light of the bodies, 
 and walked in it ; but he could not understand the 
 philosophy and harmony of their motions. So it is 
 with Christianity. While it gives freely the practical 
 light which is necessary to our guidance, men have 
 been very differently situated in regard to their oppor- 
 tunities of judging of its philosophy. Respecting this 
 they have judged, and still judge, very differently, and 
 probably none of them, in all points, correctly. They 
 are not yet in the right position. Place a man in the 
 
BOTH SYSTEMS REMEDIAL. 
 
 91 
 
 sun, and he will he an. astronomer at once. His posi- 
 tion Avill enable him to see the motions of the planets 
 just as they are. And Christianity speaks of just such 
 a point, in relation to itself and the moral government 
 of God, where every man will hereafter l)e placed. It 
 speaks of a 'Alay of the restitution of all things.” In 
 the mean time, those who refuse to be governed by the 
 practical light of Christianity, because they can not 
 understand certain points of its philosophy, pursue the 
 same course as those philosophers who lived before the 
 time of Newton would have done, if they had shut 
 their eyes upon the light of the moon because they 
 could not understand its motions. ^ 
 
 A remedial system. — 6. I observe, that Christianity 
 is analogous to the system of nature because it is a 
 remedial system."^ AYhen the body is diseased, when 
 a limb is broken, when gangrene commences, nature 
 does not certainly leave the man to perish. She has 
 provided a remedial system ; and if the proper reme- 
 dies are applied in season, the man may be restored. 
 Now, what this remedial system is in the course of 
 nature, Christianity is in the moral government of God. 
 It comes to us in the same way, not as to the whole, 
 but as to the sick, and offers us assistance upon similar 
 conditions. The man who is sick must have sufficient 
 faith in the remedy to give it a fair trial, and so must he 
 vdio would be benefited by Christianity. The remedial 
 system of nature often requires the suffering of great 
 present pain, that greater future pain may be avoided ; 
 and Christianity requires self-denials and sacrifices 
 which are so difficult, that they are compared to the 
 cutting off of a right hand, and the plucking out of a 
 right eye. The remedial systeni of nature does not 
 free the sick man at once from all the painful conse- 
 quences of his disease. He suffers, and, it may be. 
 
 * Butler, part 2, chap. 3. 
 
92 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 lingers long under it, in spite of the best remedies. So 
 he who receives Christianity does not escape at once all 
 the painful consequences of sin. He suffers and dies 
 on account of it ; but the remedy is sovereign, and 
 through it he shall finally be delivered from sin alto- 
 gether, and restored to perfect moral soundness. Na- 
 ture makes no distinctions. The pains which she 
 inflicts are as severe, and the remedies which she offers 
 are as bitter, to one as to another. Christianity, also, 
 is entirely impartial. All who receive it must receive 
 it on the same humbling terms, and upon all who will 
 not receive it, it denounces the same fearful punishment. 
 Under this head, therefore, we And a very close analogy 
 between the mode of administration in nature and that 
 which is revealed by Christianity. 
 
 A mediatorial system. — 7. I observe, that Chris- 
 tianity is analogous to the system of nature because it 
 is a mediatorial system. In mentioning this, I do not 
 intend to enter upon any controverted ground, for all 
 admit that, through the sufferings and death of Christ, 
 voluntarily undergone, we receive at least great tem- 
 poral benefits ; and what I contend for is, that, whether 
 we confine his interposition and mediation to this low 
 sense, or suppose it the sole ground of pardon, still 
 the principle, as one of mediation, is not changed, and 
 is in accordance with what constantly passes under our 
 notice in the natural government of God. " The world,” 
 says Butler, ”is a constitution, or system, whose parts 
 have a mutual reference to each other ; and there is a 
 scheme of things gradually carrying on, called the 
 course of nature, to the carrying on of which God has 
 appointed us in various ways to contribute. And when, 
 in the daily course of natural providence, it is appointed 
 that innocent people should suffer for the faults of the 
 guilty, this is liable to the very same objection as the 
 instance we are now considering. The infinitely greater 
 
AXALOGY CONCLUDED. 
 
 93 
 
 importance of that appointment of Christianity, which 
 is objected against, does not hinder, hut it may he, as 
 it plainly is, an appointment of the very same kind 
 as that which the world atfords us daily examples of.” 
 "Men, hy their follies, run themselves into extreme 
 distress and difficulties, which would he ahsolutely fatal 
 to them were it not for the interposition and assistance 
 of others. God commands, hy the law of nature, that 
 we afford them this assistance, in many cases where we 
 can not do it without very great pains, and lal)or, and 
 suffering to ourselves. And we see in what variety of 
 ways one person’s sufferings contribute to the relief of 
 another, and how this follows from the constitution and 
 laws of nature which come under our notice ; and, being 
 familiarized to it, men are not shocked with it. So 
 that the reason of their insisting upon objections of the 
 foregoing kind against the satisfaction of Christ, is, 
 either that they do not consider God’s settled and uni- 
 form appointments as his appointments at all, or else they 
 forget that vicarious punishment is an appointment of 
 every day’s experience.” As therefore evils, and great 
 evils, and such as we could not of ourselves avoid, are 
 so often averted from us, in the providence of God, l)y 
 the interposition of our fellow-creatures, so it is in 
 perfect harmony with that providence to suppose that 
 greater evils, otherwise unavoidable, might be averted 
 by the interposition of the Son of God. 
 
 In these, and other particulars which might be men- 
 tioned, we find an analogy between Christianity and 
 nature, such as to show that they came from the same 
 hand. Here is a test — its general correspondence and 
 harmony with the works of God and with the natural 
 and providential government of God — which no false 
 system can stand. And more especially rcmarluiblc is it 
 that Christianity can sustain this test, Avhen ^ve consider 
 it in contrast with that to which it was subjected at its 
 
'94 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 first aiipearance in the world. With the presentation 
 of this contrast I shall close this lecture. 
 
 The earl 1/ and later test contrasted — Christianity 
 and Judaism. — Christianit}", at its commencement, 
 recosrnized the Jewish reliii'ion as from God : and it 
 was a ground of its rejection hy the Jews, that it 
 destroyed their law or ritual. Hence it became neces- 
 sary — and this was the main object of the apostle in 
 the Epistle to the Hebrews — to show that it Avas in 
 perfect harmony Avith the JeAvish religion Avdien rightly 
 understood, and Avas, indeed, necessary to its comple- 
 tion. Hid the JeAA^s insist that Christianity had no 
 priesthood ? The apostle affirms that it had such a high 
 priest as became us, ” Avho is holy, harmless, undeliled, 
 separate from sinners, and made higher than the 
 henA'-ens.” Hid the Jcaa^s affirm that Christianity had 
 no tabernacle ? The apostle asserts that 'Christ Avas the 
 minister ”of the true tabernacle, Avhichthe Lord pitched, 
 and not man ; ” that he had ” not entered into the holy 
 places made Avith hands, Avhich are the figures of the 
 true, blit into heaA^en itself.” Was it objected that 
 Christianity had no altar and no sacrifice ? The apostle 
 affirms that " noAv, once in the end of the AA'orld, Christ 
 had appeared to put aivay sin liy the sacrifice of him- 
 self.” Thus did the apostle shoAV that the JcaatsIi 
 religion, having dropped its SAATiddling-clothes of rites 
 and ceremonies, Avas identical in spirit AAdth Christianity. 
 The same correspondence AA^as either attempted to bo 
 shoAAui, or taken for granted, by all the Ncav Testament 
 Avriters. But Aidien Ave remember that Christianity is a 
 purely sjiiritiial religion, encumbered by no forms, and 
 that the JcaatsIi Avas apparently the most technical and 
 artificial of all systems ; Avhen Ave remember that there 
 Avas not only to be preseiwed a correspondence Avith the 
 types and ceremonies, but also that there aatis to be the 
 fulfillment of many prophecies, Ave may see the impos- 
 
THE TESTS SUSTAINED. 
 
 95 
 
 sibility that any human aii; should constmct a system 
 so identical in its principles, and yet so diverse in its 
 manifestations. Nor, indeed, could there have been 
 any motive to induce such an attempt ; for, besides its 
 inherent difficulty, Christianity so far dropped all the 
 peculiarities of the Jews as to forfeit every hope of 
 benefit from their strong exclusive feelings, while at 
 the same time it came before other nations subject to 
 all the odium which it could not fail to excite as based 
 on the Jewish religion. We accordingly find that, in 
 point of fiict, it was equally opposed by Jews and 
 Gentiles. But such was the system — exclusive, typi- 
 cal, ceremonial, external, magnificent, addressed to the 
 senses — between which and Christianity, simple, uni- 
 versal, without form or pomp, it was necessary to show 
 a correspondence ; and this the apostle Paul, and the 
 New Testament writers generally, did show. 
 
 Christianity and nature — extent and grandeur . — 
 Hoav different the test to which Christianity is now put ! 
 The works of God are acknowledged to be from him, 
 and, as now understood, how simple in their laws, how 
 complex in their relations, how infinite in their extent ! 
 And can the same system, which so perfectly corre- 
 sponded with the narrow system of the Jews, correspond 
 equally with the infinite and unrestricted system and 
 relations of God’s works ? Is it possible that the reli- 
 gion once embosomed in the ceremonies of an ignorant 
 and barbarous people, which received its expansion and 
 completion in an age of the greatest ignorance in regard 
 to physical science, should yet harmonize, -in its disclo- 
 sures respecting God and his government, with those 
 enlarged conceptions of his nature and kingdom which 
 we now possess ? Could Newton step from the study 
 of the heavens to the study of the Bible, and feel that 
 he made no descent? It is even so. The God whom 
 the Bible discloses, and the moral system winch it 
 
96 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CIIEISTIANITY. 
 
 reveals, lose nothing when compared with the extent 
 of nature, or with the simplicity and majesty of her 
 laws ; they s’eem rather worthy to be enthroned upon, 
 and to preside over, such an amazing domain. The 
 material universe, if not infinite, is indefinite in extent. 
 We see in the misty spot which, in a serene evening, 
 scarce discolors the deep blue of the sky, a distant 
 milky way, like that which encircles our heavens, and 
 in a small projection of which our sun is situated. We 
 see such milky ways strown in profusion over the 
 licavens, each containing more suns than we can num- 
 ber, and all these, with their subordinate systems, we 
 see bound together by a law as efficient as it is simple 
 and unchangeable. ” They stand up together . . . not one 
 faileth ! ” But long before this system was discovered, 
 there was made known, in the Bible, a moral system in 
 entire correspondence with it. We see at the head of 
 it, and presiding in high authority over the whole, one 
 infinite and ” only wise God,” " the King eternal, im- 
 mortal, invisible.” Of the systems above us, angelic 
 and seraphic, we know little ; but we see one law, 
 simple, efficient, and comprehensive as that of gravita- 
 tion, — the law of love, — extending its sway over the 
 whole of God’s dominions, living where he lives, em- 
 bracing every moral movement in its universal author- 
 ity, and producing the same harmony, where it is 
 obeyed, as we observe in the movements of nature. 
 We find here none of the puerilities which dwarf every 
 other system. The sanctions of the law, the moral 
 attributes revealed, the destinies involved, the prospects 
 opened up, — all take hold on infinity, and are in 
 perfect keeping with the solemn emotions excited by 
 dwelling upon the illimitable works of God. ”Deep 
 calleth unto deep.” 
 
 V 
 
LECTURE IV. 
 
 ARGUMENT SECOND : COINCIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY WITH NAT- 
 URAL RELIGION. — ARGUMENT THIRD; ITS ADAPTATION TO 
 THE CONSCIENCE AS A PERCEIVING POWER. — PECULIAR DIF- 
 FICULTIES IN THE WAY OF ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING 
 A PERFECT STANDARD.— ARGUMENT FOURTH: IF THE MO- 
 RALITY IS PERFECT, THE RELIGION MUST BE TRUE. 
 
 If, as was attempted in the last lecture, a distinct 
 analogy can be shown between Christianity and the 
 constitution of nature, it will afford a strong presump- 
 tion that they both came from the same hand. But if 
 such an analogy can not be shown, it will not be con- 
 clusive against Christianity, because there is such a 
 disparity between the material and the spiritual worlds, 
 and the laws by which they must be governed, that a 
 revelation concerning one might be possible, which yet 
 should not seem to be analogous to the other. 
 
 ARGUMENT 
 
 COINCIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY WITH NATURAL RELIGION. 
 
 Not so, however, with the argument which I next 
 adduce, which is drawn from the coincidence of Chris- 
 tianity with natural religion. Truth is one. If God 
 has made a revelation in one mode, it must coincide 
 with what he has revealed in another. If, therefore, 
 it can be shown that Christianity does not coincide with 
 the well-authenticated teachings of natural reli£:ion, it 
 
 9 
 
 ( 97 ) 
 
98 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 will be conclusive against it. Mature is from God. 
 Her teachings are from him, and I should regard it as 
 settling the question against any thing claiming to be a 
 divine revelation, if it could be shown to contradict 
 those teachings. If, on the other hand, it can be shown 
 that Christianity coincides perfectly with natural reli- 
 gion, and indeed teaches the only perfect system of it 
 ever known, it will furnish a strong argument in its 
 favor, especially when we consider how the religion 
 originated. 
 
 Natural religion defined . — By natural religion, I 
 mean that knowledge of God and of duty which may 
 be acquired by man without a revelation. So far as 
 this phrase is made to imply, as it sometimes is, that 
 revealed religion is not natural, it is olqectionable ; for 
 I conceive that the original and natural state of man 
 was one of direct communication with God, and even 
 noAV, that revelation is, in the highest sense, natural. 
 It ought to be used simply to contradistinguish the 
 knowledge, which man might gain from nature, from 
 that which revelation alone teaches. Of natural reli- 
 gion the ideas of many are exceedingly indefinite ; but 
 that the definition now given is the true one is obvious, 
 because it is the only one that can give it any fixed and 
 definite meaning. It can not mean what men have 
 actually learned from nature, for this has varied at 
 different times. We should be doing injustice to the 
 teachings of nature if we were to call that knowledge 
 of God and of duty, which has been attained by the 
 most enlightened heathen, the Avhole of natural religion. 
 We mean, by revealed religion, not the partial and 
 perverted views of any sect, but that system Avhich God 
 has actually revealed in the Bible, and which the dili- 
 gent and candid can discover to be there. And so we 
 mean, by natural religion, not what indolent, and biased, 
 and selfish men have discovered, but that which nature 
 
TEACIIIXGS OF NATURAL RELIGION. 
 
 99 
 
 actually teaches, and which a diligent and candid man 
 could discover in the best exercise of his powers. 
 
 Teachings — lioio made Jcnoivn . — If this, then, be 
 natural religion, how are its teachings made known? 
 Its mode of teaching concerning God, and concerning 
 duty, is not the same. Its teachings concerning God 
 and his attributes are made known chiefly by reasoning 
 from effects to their cause. In addition to this, it is 
 supposed by some that all men have certain intuitive 
 and necessary convictions concerning the being of a 
 God. .But, however this may be, I think that the being 
 of a God, and the perfection of most of his natural attri- 
 butes, might be inferred from nature as now known. 
 That nature and Christianity agree in their teachings 
 concerning these attributes, I have already shown ; 
 concerning the moral attributes of God, it is more diffi- 
 cidt to say what nature does teach. Certain it is that 
 man has never so learned them, from her light alone, 
 as to lay the foundation for any rational system of reli- 
 gious morality ; or so as to free the best minds from 
 great and distressing uncertainty. 
 
 Her mode of teaching duty is l^y the tendencies and 
 results of different actions, and courses of action. We 
 can not doubt — at least natural religion does not per- 
 mit itself to doubt — that the object of God, in the 
 constitution of things, and in the relations established 
 by him, is the good of man. If, therefore, we see any 
 course of conduct tending to, and resulting in, the 
 good of man, individually and socially, we infer that it 
 is accordins: to the will of God. If we see a course of 
 conduct tending to, and resulting in, the unhappiness 
 of the individual and of society, we infer that it is 
 contrary to his will. It is in this way, solely, by the 
 tendencies and results of actions, that natural religion 
 teaches us our duty. 
 
 JVot adajgted to the common mind, — But it must be 
 
100 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 conceded that this mode of teaching, by relations, and 
 tendencies, and results, is not well adapted to the com- 
 mon mind. Even to comprehend these relations and 
 tendencies fully, much more to trace them out origin- 
 ally, requires a philosophic mind of the highest order. 
 In some cases, indeed, the tendency of actions, or 
 courses of action, is obvious, and the will of God, 
 when we believe in his being and perfections, is thus 
 as clearly indicated as it would be by a voice from 
 heaven ; but in others, nothing can be more complex 
 or difficult of determination even after an experience 
 somewhat extended. After all their experience, men 
 are still divided on the tendencies and results of a 
 protective tariff, which w^e should think it would be 
 perfectly easy to test to the satisfaction of all ; but so 
 varied are the interests involved, and so complex are 
 the causes at work, that men seem now no nearer an 
 agreement respecting them than ever. And if this is 
 so on a subject to which attention is stimulated by 
 immediate interest, and which appeals to interest alone, 
 how much more must it be so with those courses of 
 action in which moral tendencies and results, so obscure 
 and tardy, are to be considered, and in which the strong 
 natural feelings of the heart are at work to bias the 
 judgment? Accordingly, though the teachings of 
 nature have been open to all, and have influenced all 
 to some extent, yet it has been only among the enlight- 
 ened few, and at favored periods, that a system of 
 natural religion could be said to exist at all, or that its 
 teachings have exerted any considerable influence. Nor, 
 when we consider hoAv complex are the tendencies of 
 actions, and how remote are often their completed 
 results, — how plausible are some courses of action, 
 which yet experience shoAvs to be injurious, — A\dien 
 Ave consider the eagerness of passion, the blinding 
 poAver of selfishness, hoAV opposed some of the virtues 
 
NATURAL RELIGION INSUFFICIENT. 
 
 101 
 
 are to the strongest feelings of men, and how evil prac- 
 tices, when once adopted, perpetuate themselves and , 
 become fixed by custom and association in the commu- 
 nity, can we wonder that nothing like a perfect system 
 of natural religion was ever discovered by man. 
 
 Teaching by inference, too, without any immediate 
 sanction to the laws she could establish, and without 
 any certain knowledge of a future retribution, there 
 was very little in the voice of natural religion to arrest 
 the attention of man. Accordingly, we find that her 
 teachings were overlooked and disregarded by the great 
 mass of men. They have been entirely drowned and 
 superseded by systems ,of idolatry, and superstition, 
 and fanaticism." Far, very for, therefore, have even the 
 wisest heathen been from listening to all the voices 
 uttered by nature, ffom reading ail the lessons of wis- 
 dom and virtue inscribed on her pages. 
 
 It is, indeed, often difficult to know precisely how 
 much we ought to attribute to natural religion. It 
 seems certain that there was a primitive revelation 
 communicating the idea of sacrifices, and modifying the 
 religious and moral views of after times ; rays of light 
 from the Jewish and Christian revelations may have 
 been more widely dispersed than we suppose, and many 
 things, when once made knovm, so commend themselves 
 to reason as to cause it to be felt that they might have 
 been discovered. Hence deists have claimed several 
 principles as discovered by reason, as the pardon of 
 sin on repentance, which are unquestionably due to 
 revelation alone. But whatever natural reliction mialit 
 teach, we do know that it can not teach facts, but 
 only laws and tendencies. However complete, there- 
 fore, we may suppose it, it never could have taught 
 those great facts which lie at the foundation of a system 
 of mercy ; but precisely how much of duty it might 
 have taught, we can not say. We know, also, that the 
 9 ^ 
 
102 
 
 EVroEJs^CES OF CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 whole of the system never was reasoned out, nor is 
 there the least reason to suppose it ever would have 
 been. 
 
 The thing to he done, — Now, if a system purporting 
 to come from heaven, comprises incidentally and natu- 
 rally a perfect system of natural religion, gathering up 
 all the obscure voices that nature utters, tracing out the 
 indistinct lines which she has written ; if its precepts 
 are often in opposition to the common judgment and to 
 the strong feelings of men, and yet, when tested by 
 tendencies and results, are universally found to be 
 sustained by these sanctions of natural religion ; if it 
 originated among a people who had manifested no ten- 
 dency to philosophical studies, and from men without 
 education, then we may well inquire, ” Whence had 
 these men this wisdom ? ” The more we consider the 
 extreme difficultv of tracinsf out these tendencies, the 
 minute and comprehensive knowledge both of man and 
 of* . nature which it must require to do it perfectly, 
 together with the blinding influence of selfishness and 
 passion in such inquiries, the more highly shall we esti- 
 mate the marvelous sagacity that could gather up and 
 imbody every utterance and law of nature as declared 
 by results. 
 
 Christianity has done it. — But this Christianity has 
 actually done. Here we feel that we stand on firm 
 ground. At this point, we challenge the scrutiny of 
 the infidel. We defy him to point out a single duty 
 even whispered by nature, which is not also inculcated 
 in the New Testament ; we defy him to point out a 
 single precept of Christianity, a single course of action 
 inculcated by it, which does not, in proportion as it is 
 followed, receive the sanction of natural religion as 
 declared by beneficial consequences. In fact, moral 
 philosophy, and political economy, and the science of 
 politics, the sciences which teach men the rules of 
 
EXPERIENCE ECHOES CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 103 
 
 well-being, whether as indiviclnals or as communities, 
 are, so far as they are soimd, but experience and the 
 structure of organized nature echoing back the teach- 
 ings of Christianity. What principle of Christian ethics 
 does ilioral philosophy now presume to call in question ? 
 What are the general principles of political economy, 
 but an imperfect application, to the intercourse of 
 ^trading communities, of those rules of good neighbor- 
 hood, and of that spirit of kindness, which Christianity 
 inculcates ? What is the larger paid of political science 
 but a laborious and imperfect mode of realizing those 
 results in society which would flow spontaneously from 
 the universal prevalence of Christian morals and of a 
 Christian spirit? Does Christianity command us to be 
 temperate ? Science, some eighteen hundred years after- 
 wards, discovers that temperance alone is in accordance 
 with what it calls the natural^^laws ; and political econ- 
 omy reckons up the loss of labor and of wealth resulting 
 from intemperance ; and then, after an untold amount 
 of suffering, what do they do but echo back the injunc- 
 tion, "Add to knowledge temperance.” Does the Bible 
 command men to do no work on the seventh day, and to 
 let their cattle rest ? It is now beginning to be discov- 
 ered that this is in accordance Avith an organic hiAv, and 
 that, thus doing, both men and animals Avill be more 
 healthy, and Avill do more Avork.^ And so, in regard to 
 every course that Avould lead men to unhappiness, 
 Christianity has stood from the first at the entrance of 
 the paths, and uttered its Warning cry. The nations 
 have not heard it, but have rushed by, and rushed on, 
 till they have reaped the fruit of their own devices in 
 the corruption of morals, in the confusion of society 
 through oppression and misrule ; and then philosophy 
 has condescended to discover these evils, and, if it has 
 done any thing for the permanent relief of society, it 
 has brought it back to the letter or spirit of the gospel. ' 
 
104 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 The stern teacliings of experience are making it mani- 
 fest, — and they will continue to do it more and more, 
 — that the Bible is God’s statute-book for the regulation 
 of his moral creatures, and that the laws of the Bible 
 can no more be violated with impunity than the natural 
 laws of God. 
 
 ^ The system completed, — If Christianity had con- 
 tained all the teachings of natural religion known at 
 that day, had gathered up all that the great and wise 
 men of all previous time had reasoned out, and had 
 made some additions of its own, it would have been 
 most extraordinary, and would have required for its 
 production the greatest philosopher of the age. But 
 while it adopted many things that were then taught, 
 and rejected nothing that was good, it completed the 
 system for all ages, leaving nothing for philosophy to 
 do but to apply and verify its principles. And in doing 
 this, it promulgated many things that were entirely 
 contrary to all the tastes and all the teachings both of 
 the Jews and of the Gentiles. Several of the funda- 
 mental principles of Christian morality — such as, if 
 adopted, would change the face of society — were ori- 
 ginal Avith Christ, at least in their practical enforcement, 
 and Avere so opposed to every thing taught among the 
 JeAA^s, that it aatis AAnth great difficulty and sloAAuiess that 
 the disciples themselves AA^ere made to understand them, 
 or to conceive the possibility of their adoption. Such, 
 for example, AA^ere its condemnation of AA^ar, and private 
 retaliation, and of j^olygamy, and of divorce except for 
 a single cause ; such its inculcation of purity of heart, 
 of meekness and humility, of the loA^e of enemies, and 
 of uni\"ersal benevolence. Such AA^as its estimation of 
 the poor as standing on the same level of immortality 
 AA’ith the rich ; such its principle of self-denial for the 
 good of others, its supreme regard to the AAnll of God, 
 and its regard for the interests of the soul rather than 
 
A NEW AND PERFECT SYSTEM. 
 
 105 
 
 those of the bodyo So that Christ did not merely 
 make some improvements, such as a great genius might 
 he supposed to do ; nor did he, as Linnoeus in botany, 
 discover a new method or system, which gave him a 
 clew to vast stores of new knowledge ; but, standing 
 precisely where other men had stood, with no education, 
 with no knowledge of Greek or Roman literature in the 
 ordinary way, he adopted all that was good in the prev- 
 alent systems, but still introduced so much that was 
 ncAV, that the system, as a Avhole, Avas not only perfect, 
 but Avas a ncAV and an original system. The adoption 
 of it Avas opposed by every selfish principle, and seemed 
 to require, and often did require, the renunciation of 
 life itself. But the system Avas original in its motives 
 as AA'ell as in its principles. ManyAA^ere led to adopt it, 
 and noAv Ave see that it is through these principles, and 
 these alone, that indhdduals and society can be made 
 happy, and Ave boAv Avith humble reverence before that 
 AAUsdom by AAdiich they Avere promulgated. Let these 
 principles be adopted and carried out, and aa^c have an 
 entirely difierent Avorld from that AAdiich could exist on 
 any others — a Avorld from AAdiich the chief causes of 
 unhappiness are removed. 
 
 And is it possible that any human sagacity could have 
 adopted so much that Avas iicav, and yet have excluded 
 every thing that AA^as injurious, or excessive, or unbal- 
 anced? "With such an agent as man,” says Bishop 
 Sumner, " and in a condition so complicated as that of 
 liunian society, it is no less dangerous than difficult to 
 introduce iicav modes of conduct and iicav principles of 
 action. AVhat extensive and unforeseen results have 
 sometimes proceeded from a single statute, like that 
 which provides for the support of the poor in England ; 
 a single institution, like the trial by jury ; a single 
 admission, like that of the supremacy of the Roman 
 pontiff; a single principle, as Luther’s appeal to the 
 
106 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHIIISTI.^NITY. 
 
 Bible ! And yet, here is a new system, involving 
 all the relations of human society, the results of which 
 are invariably confirmed by those of experience. 
 
 The only possible objection to the morality of Chris- 
 tianity is, that it is too perfect ; that, though it may fit 
 men for heaven, it will sulyect those Avho adopt it to 
 injury and depredation here. But, Avhatever injury 
 may be done in this Avay is the result, not of Christi- 
 anity, but of a system of Avickedness AAdiich it forbids ; 
 and surely it ought not to be made responsible for 'the 
 results of disobeying its precepts. It claims to be a 
 imiA^ersal system. Let it be universally obeyed, and 
 the objection vanishes. 
 
 ARGUMENT III. 
 
 CHRISTIANITY TESTED BY THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 But there is another test to AAdiich the morality of 
 Christianity may lie brought ; it may be tested, not only 
 by its tendencies, but by the conscience of man. The 
 utility of an action is one thing, its rightness is another. 
 The understanding judges of the utility, the conscience 
 of the rightness, of actions. That the conscience is 
 not an infallible test in all cases, must be conceded. It 
 is liable to be both blunted and peiwerted. Still, Avith 
 the light Ave noAv liaA^e, it is not difficult to determine, 
 respecting any system, Aidiether it does commend itself 
 to the conscience of the race. Let it stand before men 
 from age to age, so as to come in contact AAuth the 
 conscience, — and the more intimately, the more the 
 conscience is developed, — and if it is found to teach 
 that system, and those rules of conduct, in favor of 
 Avhich the conscience giA^es its verdict as founded in the 
 eternal rules of right, then either it must have come 
 from God, or it must be precisely such a system as God 
 Avould reveal, — for, plainly, he AA^ould reA^eal no other. 
 
 * Sumner’s Evidences, chap. 8. 
 
COXSCIEXCE SATISFIED. 
 
 107 
 
 Does, then, Christianity, whether we consider it as a 
 system of doctrines or of morals, fully meet the demands 
 of the conscience as a discriminating power? We say, 
 Yes. We say that there is not a single principle of 
 moral government, not a single course of action, not a 
 temper of mind, approved by it, which an enlight- 
 ened conscience does not also approve as right, and 
 suitable to the relations in which man is placed. This, 
 so far as the morality of Christianity is concerned, I 
 may safely say, because it is conceded by infidels. 
 There is no candid and well-informed man who does 
 not now concede that the morality of Christianity, 
 whether tested by tendencies or by conscience, is per- 
 fect ; that, if it were fully carried out, it would promote 
 happiness in all the relations of life, and that it is the 
 only system that can do so to the same extent. 
 
 Task difficult. — But, in meeting this test, Chris- 
 tianity has had a task to perform, the difficulty of which 
 is seldom appreciated. It was necessary that it should 
 do four things, neither of which has ever been done by 
 any other system. 
 
 Perfect standard^ and jperfect application. — And, 
 first, it was necessary, not only that it should assume a 
 standard absolutely perfect, — Avhich, hoAvever far from 
 any thing that man has ever done, Avould be compara- 
 tively easy, — but that it should apply a perfect hiAV to 
 those complex and infinitely diversified cases Avhich 
 arise Avhen laAv is violated. A perfect moral government 
 of perfect beings must require a perfect laAV. If Chris- 
 tianity is to meet the demands of the conscience that 
 has once recognized such a laAV, it must utter no precept 
 opposed to it — nothing opposed to the highest standard 
 of which Ave are capable of conceiving. So long as a 
 j)erfect state remained, the simple laAV of perfection 
 Avould be the only precept required, and it Avould be 
 comparatively easy to obey it. The substance of the 
 
108 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTL4NITY. 
 
 perfect law of God is the love of God and of our 
 neighbor ; and where this law is perfectly obseiwed, 
 nothing can occur to provoke ill-will. Hence there is 
 in heaven no precept that, when they are smitten on the 
 one cheek, they shall turn the other also. But Chris- 
 tianity lays down a multitude of precepts intended to 
 regulate, in the spirit of a perfect rule, the intercourse 
 of beings inclined to inflict upon each other injury and 
 depredation. Does it, then, in order to meet the 
 apparent exigencies of the case, to conciliate to itself 
 human prejudice or passion, ever, in any of these sub- 
 ordinate precepts, depart from its high requisitions, or 
 al)ate any thing from the integrity of its original and 
 fundamental principle? We know the opposition it 
 encountered, and that the true ground of that opposi- 
 tion was the high standard it assumed. If it had been 
 of the world, the world Avould have loved its own. 
 There was, then, the strongest temptation, if not to 
 Christ himself, j^et to those who succeeded him, to dilute 
 this original principle, and soften down their require- 
 ments, lest they should incur the charge of inculcating 
 an impracticable morality. Have they done this ? In 
 no case have they done it. There are no Jesuitical 
 exceptions or reservations. Not only was Christ con- 
 sistent with himself in his minor precepts, but the 
 apostles were in every instance true to their trust, and 
 no stronger proof could be given, not only of integrity, 
 but of wisdom. Nothing but the most perfect integrity 
 could have adhered to the law in all its breadth, and 
 nothing but a divine wisdom could have accommodated 
 it to the very peculiar circumstances of man in this 
 world. The minor precepts of Christianity are all 
 consistent with its fundamental and its perfect law. 
 
 Treatment of the injurious. — And here I may remark 
 that not only does Christianity sustain the authority of 
 a perfect law, but, in the line of conduct it lays down 
 
NEW DUTIES. 
 
 109 
 
 toward tlie injurious, it has adopted the very prineiple 
 which, according to the laws of mental operation dis- 
 covered in later times, must tend in the greatest possible 
 degree to diminish injury. It is a Avell-ascertained fact, 
 that the most powerful mode of inculcating and exciting 
 any quality, or temper, is the distinct and vivid mani- 
 festation of that temper. The manifestation of anger 
 toward another excites anger in him ; and the manifes- 
 tation of a meek and forgiving spirit has a tendency 
 to disarm hostility, and does all that can be done to 
 prevent ill-feeling. If, therefore, a man were to inquire 
 hoAV, according to principles of mental philosophy alone, 
 he could do most to banish the malignant and selfish 
 liassions from the earth, and make it like heaven, he 
 Avould be obliged to adopt the very course prescribed 
 by the Ncav Testament. 
 
 New revelations and duties, — But, secondly, Chris- 
 tianity, as I have already shoAvn, agrees Avith nature, 
 so far as that goes, in its teachings concerning the 
 natural attributes of God, and concerning morality ; 
 but it reveals some things concerning God peculiar to 
 itself ; and it imposes upon man some iieAV duties. 
 The question, then, is, Avhether the additional revela- 
 tions concerning God are in keeping Avith those of 
 nature, and AAdiether they satisfy the demands of the 
 conscience for a perfect Being, in the moral attributes 
 AAfiiich they reveal ; and, also, Avhether the duties it 
 imposes are agreeable to reason and conscience. So 
 far as Christianity coincides Avith nature, I take it for 
 granted that it satisfies the demands of the conscience. 
 Does it do this equally Avhen it passes on beyond nature 
 to those independent and fuller rcA^elations Avhich it 
 makes of God and of duty, so that the transition from 
 the one to the other is only as that from the dim 
 tAvilight to the full blaze of day? We knoAv something 
 of God from nature, just as Ave knoAV something of the 
 10 
 
110 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTLVNITY. 
 
 heavens from the naked eye. Are, then, the revela- 
 tions of Christianity respecting him in keeping Avith 
 those of nature, only more imposing and magnificent, 
 just as the revelations of the telescope concerning the 
 heavens are in keeping Avith those of the naked eye, 
 AA'hile they so far transcend them ? 
 
 We are so accustomed to contemplate God as invested 
 Avith all those paternal and perfect moral attributes AAdtli 
 Avhich Christianity clothes him, — to see him in that 
 amazing attitude of holy sovereignty and paternal good- 
 ness in Avhich it represents him, — that this perfect 
 combination of moral attributes, this completeness of 
 moral character, in the Sovereign of the universe, such 
 that Ave should as soon think of adding to infinite space 
 as of adding any thing to its perfection, seems as a 
 matter of course, and Ave do not remember hoAv difficult 
 it must have been to carry out the fragmentary revela- 
 tion of nature to its absolute completeness, and to 
 combine Avith those tremendous natural attributes, shad- 
 OAA^ed forth in the agencies of nature, the benignity 
 and mercy, the justice and compassion, that form the 
 character of our Father in heaven. We forget that 
 Nature has her terrific and fearful aspects, her barren 
 Avastes, her regions of AAuld disorder, her lightning and 
 thunder, her tornadoes and earthquakes, and her breath 
 of pestilence, as Avell as her glad voices, and her quiet 
 sunshine that rests like a smile on the face of creation, 
 and her Avaving harvests, — and that it is by her terrific 
 aspects that men are most impressed, and that hence 
 they have been led to form gloomy ideas of God, and 
 not unfrequently to impersonate the principle of eAul 
 into a sovereign divinity Avhose AAU’ath they AA^ere chiefly 
 desirous of propitiating. We forget the distressing 
 perplexity in Avhich the greatest and best men of 
 antiquity Avere respecting the moral attributes of God, 
 and' the important fact that they never so conceived of 
 
THE GOD OF THE BIBLE PERFECT. 
 
 Ill 
 
 1dm as to mahe the love of God a duty. All this, I say, 
 seem to forget, and to- think it was a matter of 
 course that Christianity should thus carry out, into all 
 conceivable perfection, the dim revelations of nature 
 concerning God. This indeed it does with such ease, 
 so incidentally, so little with the pride or in the forms 
 of philosophic disquisition, that we scarcely give it 
 credit for what it does, though all this but renders it 
 the more remarkalile. It is related of a palace built 
 by genii, that all the treasures of a great monarch were 
 inadequate to complete one of the windows purposely 
 left unfinished. And when I see how fragmentary the 
 structure of religious knowledge was left by nature, — 
 when I see how inadequate all the labors of man had 
 proved for its completion, — and when I look at the 
 glorious and completed dome reared by Christianity, I 
 can not but feel that other than human hands have been 
 employed in the structure. The first and fundamental 
 condition of a perfect religion — of one which can do 
 all for the moral powers that can be done for them — 
 is a perfect character in the olqect of worship. The 
 mind is naturally assimilated to the object which it 
 contemplates with delight, and especially which it wor- 
 ships ; and it is demonstral}le, on principles of reason, 
 that, unless the character of the God of Christianity is 
 al)solutcly perfect, then that character not only will not 
 meet the demands of the conscience, but can never do 
 for man, in the elevation and perfection of his character, 
 all that could be done for him. But, the more we 
 dwell on it, the more we shall see that the character of 
 the God of the Bible is alisolutely perfect, and there- 
 fore, either the God of Christianity is the true God, or 
 there can be no l)eing who shall be God to us — none 
 who shall meet that conception of absolute perfection 
 which Ave form in our minds, and feel that we must 
 transfer to him. , 
 
112 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 New duties not arbitrary. — Of tlie new duties 
 demanded by Christianity, it may be said that they are 
 in no case arbitrary and capricious, but are exactly 
 those which grow out of the new relations in which we 
 are placed by Christianity, and which the conscience 
 can not but approve the moment these relations are 
 perceived. Thus, if God has shown us new evidence 
 of love through Christianity, then are we under new 
 obligations of gratitude to him. If Christ has signally 
 interposed in our behalf, then we are under obligations 
 to him in proportion to what he has done for us. If we 
 are intrusted by Christianity with good tidings of great 
 joy, then we are under obligation to publish them to 
 all people. 
 
 Thus, whether we consider the additional revelation 
 of Christianity respecting God or duty, we find that 
 it perfectly meets the demands of an enlightened 
 conscience. 
 
 Lenity and laio. — But, thirdly, in neither of the 
 particidars just mentioned do we find the most difficult 
 task which Christianity had to perform, if it would meet 
 the demands of conscience. Its professed o1)ject was 
 to introduce a system of lenity. And was it possible 
 it should do this, and still cause that perfect law, which, 
 if it meet the demands of the conscience, it must sus- 
 tain, to appear as strict and binding as if no such 
 system had been introduced? This it must do if it 
 meets the demands of the conscience ; for, when once 
 that has obtained the conception of absolute moral 
 perfection, nothing can satisfy it Avhich would weaken 
 the obligation of that. Here is a fundamental difficulty. 
 Whatever Christianity may profess, does not lenity, in 
 the nature of the case, tend to weaken the sanctions of 
 law, and to deduct from its binding force ? Is it pos- 
 sible to conceive of a lawgiver who remits the just 
 penalty of crime, and, at the same time, manifests the 
 
A DIFFICULT PROBLEINI. 
 
 113 
 
 same abhorrence of it, and the same anxiety to guard 
 asrainst its commission, as he would have done if he had 
 caused the penalty to be executed? All good men 
 agree in the essential principle, that the full authority 
 of God’s law must be sustained. But how can this be 
 done while pardon is granted? This is a difficulty 
 which if Christianity has not removed, it is not because 
 it has not perceived it, and made the attempt. ” That 
 he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth 
 in Jesus,” is declared by the apostle to be the great 
 object of all that had been done by God in introducing 
 the Christian revelation. This is the very centre and 
 soul of Christianity ; and, if it has not accomplished 
 this, then has it failed of the very end proposed by 
 itself. This is a question which is not stated even, in 
 any false religion, because that all-importapt conception 
 of the holiness of God, out of which it grows, has not 
 been sufficiently distinct to produce it. If men have 
 offered sacrifices, and submitted to torture, it has been 
 under the impression that God might be moved like an 
 earthly monarch, and never under the idea of him as 
 having an impartial and inflexible adherence to rectitude, 
 or with the purpose of bringing forgiveness within the 
 range of any great principle. But this question a 
 religion that would deal fairly with an enlightened mind 
 must meet. This problem it must solve. Standing 
 where I do, it would not become me to state the method 
 in which I suppose Christianity has solved this problem. 
 I intend to enter upon no disputed doctrines. I take it 
 for granted that all Christians suppose the mercy of 
 God to be entirely compatible with his perfect holiness. 
 Let individuals adopt what views they choose in respect 
 to the method in which this is accomplished. I wish 
 solely to draw attention to the’ difficulty of the problem, 
 to the fact that this difficulty was fully understood by the 
 original writers on Christianity, and that they profess 
 10 * 
 
114 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHraSTI.^"ITr. 
 
 to have solved it. If they have done this, then how 
 divine the wisdom which could so perfectly meet the 
 demands of the most enlightened conscience hy sustain- 
 ing law, and at the same time provide for the wants of 
 the guilty ! Problems so high, human systems do not 
 attempt to solve ; wisdom so divine as must be involved 
 in the solution of this, they do not manifest. 
 
 Justice and the disorders of the world. — There is one 
 thing more which it behooved Christianity to do, if it 
 would meet the demands of conscience as a discrimi- 
 nating power. It was, to satisfy our natural sense of 
 justice with reference to the disorders of this present 
 world. These disorders, in the height to which they 
 have risen, have always presented a great moral enigma 
 to those who have reasoned concerning the providence 
 and moral government of God. This was strongly felt 
 and strongly stated as long ago as the time of Job. 
 ^'Some,” says he, "remove the landmarks; they vio- 
 lently take away flocks, and feed thereof. They drive 
 away the ass of the fatherless. They take the widow’s 
 ox for a pledge. They cause the naked to lodge without 
 clothing, that they have no covering in the cold. They 
 pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge 
 of the poor. Men groan from out of the city, and the 
 soul of the wounded crieth out : yet God layeth not 
 folly to them.” " Wherefore do the wicked live, become 
 old, yea, are mighty in power? Their seed is estab- 
 lished in their sight with them, and their offspring 
 before their eyes. They spend their days in wealth, 
 and in a moment go down to the grave.” " The earth,” 
 says he, "is given into the hand of the wicked; he 
 covereth* the faces of the judges thereof; if not,” — as 
 much as to say, this must be allowed whether we can 
 reconcile it to the righteous government of God or 
 iiot, — "if not, where and who is he?” Thus was this 
 wise and good man perplexed before the light of Chris- 
 
SEEMING MORAL DISORDER. RELIEF. 
 
 115 
 
 tiaiiity. The Psalmist found no relief under the same 
 difficulty until he went to the sanctuary of God, and 
 there saw the end of the wicked. Solomon, too, says, 
 ” ^Moreover I saAV under the sun the place of judgment, 
 that wickedness was there ; and the place of righteous- 
 ness, that iniquity was there. I said in mine heart,” — 
 then he said, when he saw this, as furnishing the only 
 solution of the difficulty, — ” God shall judge the right- 
 eous and the wicked.” Nor does the picture assume a 
 brighter hue as we come down the ages. History is 
 full of multiplied, and aggravated, and unredressed 
 wrongs, inflicted hy man upon man. Look at the slave- 
 trade. Look at slavery as it exists now. Look at the 
 peasantry of Europe. Look at Poland. Or, if we' 
 turn from the contemplation of open and high-handed 
 violence, to consider the triumphs of injustice ; the 
 success of fraud ; the spoliations and heartless atrocities 
 which are effected under the forms of law ; the wrongs, 
 and cruelties, and petty tyrannies, that are exercised in 
 families, and imbitter the lives of thousands, our diffi- 
 culties will not be diminished. Surely, to a thoughtful 
 man, without revelation, this world must present a most 
 perplexing and discouraging spectacle. He must see 
 tliat there are injuries for which there is no redress 
 upon earth, questions unsettled for which there is no 
 adjudication here; and, while he has no satisflictory 
 evidence that a time of adjudication will ever come, he 
 must feel that a violence is done to his moral nature if 
 these questions are to be cut short by death, and left 
 unsettled forever. To this state of perplexity, so natural 
 and so universal, Christianity furnishes complete relief. 
 It gives us the most positive assurance that these ques- 
 tions shall be carried up to an impartial tribunal. It 
 makes knoAvn to us the Judge and the rules of the 
 proceedings of that great ” day of the restitution of all 
 things ; ” — yes, 'Hhe restitution of all things.” When 
 
116 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTLVNITY. 
 
 it is known that this is to he, then the perplexed and 
 agonized heart is set at rest. Then, and not till then, 
 there is felt' to be a congriiity between the cours’e of 
 events, as they shall ultimately terminate, and our 
 moral frame and the demands of the conscience are 
 fully met. 
 
 Uempitulation. — What I would say, then, is, that 
 Christianity commends itself to a conscience fully en- 
 lightened, not only in its morality, but by uniformly 
 adhering to a perfect standard of rectitude, and under 
 circumstances which, to mere human wisdom, Avould 
 seem to be incompatible with it. Man is capable of 
 forming the idea of moral perfection ; and, having once 
 formed it, his moral nature requires that a religion 
 claiming to come from God should neither command 
 nor reveal any thing incompatible with that idea. The 
 necessity of meeting this requisition, whether man is 
 regarded as possessed of discriminating powers simply, 
 or as a beinof to be elevated and assimilated to some- 
 
 O 
 
 thing higher and better than himself, Christianity, and 
 that alone, has fully perceived; and it will be seen that 
 it was this very necessity which created the difficulty in 
 each of the cases that I have stated. In the first case, 
 it was necessary that precepts should be laid down 
 which should be compatilile both with a perfect law, 
 and with the state of things in this world, so that the 
 conduct required should be neither wrong nor imprac- 
 ticable. Who but Christ and his followers has ever 
 done this? Who else has ever attempted it without 
 conceding much to human Aveakness and frailty? In 
 the second case, the difficulty lay in carrying out the 
 moral character of God, to the perfection required by 
 the conscience, from the imperfect and often seem- 
 ingly contradictory revelations of nature. In the third 
 case, it consisted in reconciling a system of lenity Avith 
 the claims of this same perfect standard; and, in the 
 
MORxVLITY INCIDEXT.UL. 
 
 117 
 
 fourth case, in revealing a method by which, in the 
 administration of God, the disorders of this world are 
 reconciled with the present existence and ultimate 
 triumph of a perfect law. In each of these cases, there- 
 fore, the principle is the same. That there must be a 
 perfect standard established and maintained, both in the 
 character and law of God, is settled. That is taken 
 for granted ; and the difficulty lay in reconciling other 
 things with that, which apparently only a divine wisdom 
 could have reconciled. 
 
 To my mind, the argument from these cases is of 
 great weight. But, leaving them aside, I lay my linger 
 upon the morality of Christianity, whether tested by 
 consequences or by the conscience, and I claim that it 
 is perfect — ” that the virtues inculcated in the gospel 
 are the only virtues which we can imagine a heavenly 
 teacher to inculcate.” Is, then, this claim allowed? It 
 has been allowed by infidels, and I feel confident it must 
 be by every candid man. But if so, who does not see 
 tliat a perfect system of duty must come from God ? 
 Who does not see the absurdity of supposing that it 
 should be originated in connection with a system of 
 falsehood and imposture? 
 
 Morality not the primary object. — And this morality 
 is the more remarkable, because the great and primary 
 object of Christianity is not to regulate the relations 
 of earthly society, or to provide for the welfare of man 
 in this life. It is to bring ” life and immortality to 
 light,” and to prepare men for that immortality. In its 
 spirit, we must indeed suppose this morality to belong 
 to the heavenly state ; but in many of the forms of its 
 manifestation, it is but the earthly garment of Chris- 
 tianity — but as the mantle of the ascending prophet, 
 which fell from him when he was translated. Great, 
 then, as is the work, and the blessing of a perfect 
 system of morality, it is only incidental ; it is only as 
 
118 
 
 EYIDEXCES OF CIIPJSTEiXITY. 
 
 a l)rancli from the main stem of that species of the 
 palm-tree Avell known in India, which still passes on 
 upward, and produces its fruit from a single magnificent 
 blossom at the top. This morality is an infinite bless- 
 ing; it is the fruit of Christianity; but it is borne, as 
 it were, only by its lower branches, while it is the great 
 doctrine of salvation, of ” life and immortality brought 
 to light,” that expands at its top, and sheds its fra- 
 grance over the nations. 
 
 Men, then, may say what they please of the power of 
 the human mind to make discoveries in moral science ; 
 but to me it seems that to suppose a system like this, 
 thus perfectly coinciding with all the teachings of nat- 
 ural religion and with the requisitions of conscience, to 
 have originated with peasants and fishermen of Galilee, 
 requires nothing less than the capacious credulity of an 
 infidel. 
 
 AE GUM EXT IV. 
 
 A PERFECT MORALITY CAN NOT BE FROM A FALSE RELIGION. 
 
 The morality of Christianity, as tested both by nat- 
 ural religion and by the conscience, being thus perfect, 
 the question arises whether it is inscparal)ly connected 
 with the religion; and if so, whether it is possible that 
 a perfect morality should come from a false religion. 
 
 Separation of morality and religion. — That a system 
 of morality and of religion shoidd coexist, and yet not 
 be necessarily connected, is very conceival)le. The 
 morality may be correct, as was much of that taught 
 by Cicero, in his book De OfficHs, and yet the religion 
 with which it is associated may l)c entirely false. The 
 precepts may have no connection with the facts, or 
 doctrines, or rites of the religion. This has been the 
 case with ail false religions. There has been no ten- 
 dency in the doctrines or facts of the religion to form 
 men to the precepts of moral virtue. The morality has 
 often been better than the religion, and might be easily 
 
TRUE MORALITY FR03I GOD. 
 
 119 
 
 separated from it. And if this lias been so with other 
 religions, ivhy may it not be so with Christianity? 
 
 Concession of infidels. — This question I am bound 
 to notice, because infidels have not been backward in 
 conceding to the morality of Christianity all that we 
 ask. They speak in terms of high eulogy of the Ser- 
 mon on the Mount ; they eagerly claim whatever they 
 can of its peculiar doctrines as the teachings of nature, 
 and seem to perceive no difficulty even in admitting 
 that the morality is perfect, and yet rejecting the reli- 
 gion. 
 
 But that the two are inseparable, and must be re- 
 ceived or rejected as one whole, appears, — 
 
 True moTcdity must he from God. — First, because 
 we can not otherwise account for the morality. It 
 seems to me, as I have already attempted to show, that 
 man could not have originated such a system of morals. 
 When I stand between two cliffs rent asunder by a con- 
 vulsion of nature, I do not need to be told that that 
 passage was not opened by a human arm. MTien I see 
 the boAV spanning the heavens, I do not need to be told 
 that no human hand has bended it. So, when I com- 
 pare such a system with the intellectual and moral 
 power, not merely of unlettered fishermen, but of man, 
 and especially with all the attempts he has actually 
 made, I feel that there is an utter disparity between 
 them. I feel that the morality must have come in con- 
 nection with the religion of which it forms a part. 
 
 An attempt to deceive incredible. — But, secondly, it 
 is incredible and contradictory, contrary to all the 
 known laws of mind, to suppose that men whose moral 
 discrimination and susceptibilities were so acute — who 
 could originate a system so pure, so elevated, so utterly 
 opposed to all falsehood — should, without reason or 
 motive that we can see, deliberately attempt to deceive 
 mankind concerning their highest interests. If they 
 
120 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTEVNITY. 
 
 had a system of morality to communicate, why did they 
 not, like honest men, communicate it as an abstract 
 system, unencumbered with doctrines which were, and 
 which they must have foreseen would be, to the Jews a 
 stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness ? Why 
 did they connect with it a narrative of facts which, if 
 false, might have been easily disproved? How much 
 more safe and dignified to have delivered the system in 
 its abstract form, after the manner of the philosophers ! 
 The combination of folly and wickedness, which such 
 a course would involve, with those high qualities, 
 both of the intellect and of the heart, in which alone 
 such a system could have originated, seems to me im- 
 possible. 
 
 Tlte morality grows out of the facts and doctrines. — 
 Once more, thirdly, the peculiar morality of Christian- 
 ity can not be separated from it, because it so grows 
 out of its facts and doctrines, and so derives its power 
 from them. It does not lie in the religion, as the gem 
 does ill the rock, but is an organized part of one vital 
 whole. It is as the hands and the feet to the heart and 
 the brain. And surely nothing but a divine wisdom 
 could cause all the great doctrines and facts of such 
 a religion to bear, either in the way of instruction or 
 motive, upon the formation of a right moral character. 
 How difficult — I may say how impossible — that a 
 writer of fiction should introduce an extraordinary per- 
 son, like Christ, possessed of high supernatural powers, 
 and yet not attribute to him one wild or fanciful adven- 
 ture, such as we find in every account of heathen gods ; 
 not one capricious, or selfish, or uiiAVorthy exertion of 
 his miraculous poAvers ; but that he should make all the 
 exertions of those 25owers, and all the events of his 
 life, such that they bear jioAverfully as motives on the 
 jiractice of a then unheard-of and ^^erfect morality ! 
 
 j^ew motives. — As I have already said, there are 
 
KEW RELATIONS FROIM CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 121 
 
 many new duties growing out of the new relations in 
 which Ave are placed by the facts of Christianity ; but 
 not to these only, to every duty, those facts furnish new 
 and poAverful motives, Avithout A\diich the system, as a 
 practical AAdiole, has no poAver. Certainly, it is from 
 the character of God as revealed by Christianity, and 
 from the neAV relations assumed by him toAvard us, that 
 the most effective motives are draAvn for the perform- 
 ance of many of our duties toAvard our felloAV-men. 
 The paternal relation of God to man, as a practical 
 doctrine, is made knoAvn only by Christianity. It is 
 true — Avhat Avas said by Madame De Stael — that, if 
 Christ had simply taught men to say, ”Our Father,” 
 hcAvould have been the greatest benefactor of the race. 
 If the heathen had some notion of the beneficence of 
 the supreme poAver, from the operation of general hiAvs, 
 yet there Avas a difference heaven-Avide betAveen that 
 and all that is involved in the doctrine of a particular 
 providence and of paternal regard and supervision. 
 Yet hoAV effectively does Christ himself use this doc- 
 trine, and those high moral qualities revealed in con- 
 nection Avith it, to enforce practical duty ! Does he 
 command us to love our enemies, and bless them that 
 curse us ? It is that Ave may be the children of our 
 Father Avhich is in heaven, aaFo ”maketh his sun to rise 
 on the evil and on the good.” Does he teach us the 
 duty of forgiveness ? It is because God forgives us. 
 If the master forgives the debt of ten thousand talents, 
 the servant should forgive his felloAA^-servant the debt 
 of a hundred pence. Does he teach that the pure in 
 heart are blessed? It is because "they shall see God.” 
 Does he teach the duty of letting our light shine? It 
 is that Ave may glorify our Father which is in heaven. 
 Would an apostle teach men the duty of mutual love? 
 ''Herein,” says he, "is love; not that AA^e loved God, 
 but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propi- 
 ll 
 
122 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 tiation for oiir sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we 
 ought also to love one another.” And in the same way 
 are the character and acts of Christ referred to. Would 
 Peter teach us to bear injuries patiently? He tells us 
 of Him ” who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; 
 when he suffered, he threatened not ; but committed 
 himself to Him that judgeth righteously.” Would Paul 
 teach us loAvliness of mind, and to esteem others better 
 than ourselves, what is his argument? He says, ” Let 
 this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus ; 
 who, being in the form of God, thought it not rob- 
 bery to be equal with God, but made himself of no 
 reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant.” 
 Indeed, the more we examine this point, the more we 
 shall be surprised to see how almost exclusively the 
 motives to Christian morality are drawn from the Chris- 
 tian religion, and how its doctrines, and facts, and 
 motives, and precepts, all coalesce and become indisso- 
 lubly united in one harmonious and perfect whole. 
 
 The morality j^voves the religion . — The morality 
 and the religion being thus blended as one whole, the 
 inquiry arises, whether it is possible that such a moral- 
 ity should either originate in, or be thus incorporated 
 with, a false religion. 
 
 A common faculty for both. — There are those, I 
 know, who say that the foundations of morality in man 
 are different from those of religion ; and I am not dis- 
 posed to deny that certain ficulties are called into high 
 activity in religion, which are excited slightly, if at all, 
 in the duties of morality. Still, so far as duty is con- 
 cerned, which is the whole of morality, and wliich is 
 the central and indispensable part of any true religion, 
 they both appeal to the same conscience, and to that 
 alone. Depending thus upon a common faculty, a true 
 religion and a true morality must have an essential 
 unity. 
 
F.\XSE EELIGIOXS AND MORALITY. 
 
 123 
 
 A perfect religion involves a perfect morality. — That 
 a perfect religion must comprise a perfect morality, is 
 certain, because a perfect religion must incliidc every 
 religions duty ; and Ave are under obligation to perform 
 our duty to our felloAV-creatures, not simply from our 
 relations to them, but because the performance of that 
 duty is the Avill of God. Hence every moral duty is, 
 and must be, also binding as a religious duty ; and 
 hence no man can be truly religious further than he is 
 moral. 
 
 Perfect morality impossible from a false religion. — 
 But a true religion, carried out, Avould thus certainly 
 bear as its fruit a perfect morality. Is it possible that 
 a false religion should bear the same fruit ? Then truth 
 Avould be no better than error ; the true God no better 
 than an idol. Then a corrupt tree might bring forth 
 good fruit ; ” a clean thing might come out of an un- 
 clean.” The question is not simply to Avhat extent a 
 true morality and a false religion may coexist, but 
 whether such a morality can be the necessary outgroAvth 
 and fruit of such a religion. That it can be, is opposed 
 to our primary and intuitive convictions. 
 
 It is not conceivable that a perfect system of moral 
 duty should coalesce and harmonize Avith the religious 
 duty taught by a system of falsehood, such as the 
 Christian system must be, if it did not come from God. 
 But in the Christian system, the moral and religious 
 duties do thus coalesce, and form a part of one inde- 
 pendent AAdiole. The religious moralit}^ of the Bible, if 
 I may call it so, — that A\diich relates to God, — is quite 
 as extraordinary as that A\diich relates to man ; it is 
 quite as far elevated aboA^e that of any other system ; 
 and these, aaIicii united and intcrAvoven as they arc in 
 the Bible, form one Avholc, perfect and complete. Be- 
 sides, a perfect system of morality could not be laid 
 doAAui, even in an abstract, or tabidar form, in connec- 
 
124 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CIIPtlSTIANITY. 
 
 tion with a false religion ; because many of our duties 
 to our fellow-men, as well as the motives by which they 
 are enforced, arise out of our relations to them as the 
 children of a common parent, and a knowledge of these 
 relations can come only from a true religion. 
 
 Conclusion, — Our conclusion then is, that if the 
 morality is what we claim it to be, the religion must be 
 true ; and infidels must either — as they can not — deny 
 that the morality is perfect, or accept the religion. 
 Christianity is no heterogeneous mass, promiscuously 
 thrown together. It is one, an organic whole, and 
 must be accepted or rejected as such. From the nature 
 of the case, therefore, Ave might expect — Avhat all 
 experience sIioaa^s has happened — that any attempt to 
 separate this morality from this religion, and ^^et give 
 it poAver, AA^ould be like the attempt to separate the 
 branch from the parent stock, and yet cause it to live. 
 We might expect, if aa^c AA^ere ever to see a perfect 
 morality coming up from the AAulderness of this AAmrld, 
 that she AA-ould come, not Avalking alone, but, ” leaning 
 upon her Beloved.” i 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 ARGUMENT FIFTH: CHRISTIANITY ADAPTED TO MAN. — DIVISION 
 FIRST,* ITS QUICKI:NTNG and GUIDING POWER.— ITS ADAP- 
 TATION TO THE INTELLECT, THE AFFECTIONS, THE IMAGI- 
 NATION, THE CONSCIENCE, AND THE WILL. 
 
 Christianity is analogous to nature ; it coincides 
 with natural religion : it meets the demands of the 
 conscience as a discriminating power; and, as embo- 
 soming a perfect morality, it must be from God. 
 
 We next inquire after its adaptation to man. What 
 are its capacities to quicken and guide those leading 
 faculties in the right action of which his perfection and 
 happiness must consist. Those faculties are the Intel- 
 lect, the Aficetions, the Imagination, the Conscience, 
 and the Will. 
 
 Chrisiianity and the intellect. — Information and 
 reflection. — By the adaptation of Christianity to the 
 intellect, I mean its tendency to give it clearness and 
 fcftrength. I mean by it just what is meant when it is 
 said that nature is adapted to the intellect. The intel- 
 lect is enlarged and strengthened by the exercise of its 
 powers on suitable subjects. This exercise can be 
 induced in only two ways — by furnishing it with 
 information^ or by leading it to study and reflection; 
 and whichever of these we regard, we need not fear to 
 compare Christianity with nature as adapted to enlarge 
 and strenglhen the intellectual powers. 
 
 11 ^ 
 
 ( 125 ) 
 
126 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHPJSTE\:NITY. 
 
 Information. — And, first, of information. If we 
 consider the Christian revelation, as we fairly may in 
 this connection, as it recognizes, includes, and presup- 
 poses the Old Testament, there is no hook that can 
 compare with it for the variety and importance of the 
 information it gives ; nor can it be exceeded by nature 
 itself. From this, and from this alone, do we knoAV 
 any thing of the origin of the world and of the human 
 race ; of the introduction of natural and moral evil ; 
 of the history of men before the deluge ; of the deluge 
 itself, as connected with the race of man ; of the early 
 settlement and dispersions of the race ; of the history 
 of the Jews ; and of the history of the early rise and 
 progress of Christianity. Without the Bible, an im- 
 penetrable curtain would be dropped between us and 
 the whole history of the race further back than the 
 Greeks, or certainly the Egyptians ; and who does not 
 feel that the letting down of such a curtain would act 
 upon the mind, not simply by the amount of informa- 
 tion it would withdraw, but Avith the effect of a chill 
 and a paralysis, from the necessity of that information 
 to give completeness to knoA\dedge as an organized 
 Avhole ? It Avoiild be like taking the hook out of the 
 beam on A\diich the Avhole chain hangs. And, again, 
 Avhat information gained from nature can be more 
 interesting than that Avdiich the Bible gives concerning 
 God as a Father, concerning his universal providence, 
 our aceoimtability, a resurrection from the dead, the 
 second coming of Christ, and an eternal life? AVho 
 would substitute the mists of conjecture for this mighty 
 baekground, piled up by revelation along the horizon 
 of the future? 
 
 Philoso2)hic sjnrit required. — But — to say nothing 
 of information,' as it is not from that that the mind gains 
 its chief efficiency — I infer that Christianity is adapted 
 
CIIKISTIANITY AND TRUTH. 
 
 127 
 
 to the intellect, 1. From the fact of the identity of 
 its spirit Avith that of true philosophy. Of this I have 
 already spoken. 
 
 Indiredhj favorable. — 2. Christianity is indirectly 
 fiivorable to the intellect by bringing men out from 
 under the dominion of sensuality, and of those Ioav 
 Auces by AAdiich it is checked and dAA^arfed in its groAAdh. 
 The temperance and sobriety of life AAdiich it enjoins 
 are essential, as conditions, to the full expansion and 
 poAA^er of the intellect. 
 
 Its estimate of truth. — 3. That Christianity is favor- 
 able to the intellect, is obvious from the place Avhich it 
 assigjis to truth. Truth, in this system, lies at the 
 foundation of every thing. , It is contradistinguished 
 from every other system, pretending to come from God, 
 by this. Christ said that he came into the Avorld to 
 bear Avitness of the truth. He prayed that God Avould 
 sanctify men, but it Avas through the truth. It seems 
 to have been the object of Christ to place his disciples 
 in a position in Avhich they could intelligently, as Avell 
 as affectionately, yield themselves to him, and to the 
 goA^ernment of God. IIoav remarkable ure his Avords ! 
 "Henceforth,” says he, "I call you not servants; for 
 the servant knoAveth not Avhat his lord doeth ; but I 
 have called you friends ; for all things that I have heard 
 of my Father I have made knoA\m unto you.” Christ 
 is spoken of as a light to lighten the Gentiles. The 
 object of Paul AA^as to turn men from darkness to light, 
 as AA^ell as from the poAver of Satan unto God. He 
 spoke the Avords of truth as Avell as of soberness. If 
 he AATis strongly moved by the conduct of a church, it 
 AA^as because it did not obey the truth. Does the beloved 
 disciple exhort the elect lady not to receive some into 
 her house? It is those aaFo do not teach the truth. 
 Light in the understanding is scarcely less an object. 
 
128 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 ■with Christianity, than purity in the affections. Its 
 whole scope and tendency is to magnify the importance 
 of truth. The enemies of Christianity can not point 
 out any thing, either in its letter or spirit, which would 
 restrict knowledge or cramp the intellect. We are, 
 indeed, required to have faith ; hut we are also required 
 to "add to faith knowledge.” We are to adopt no 
 conviction on the ground of any blind impulse ; we 
 are always to be able to give a reason of the hope that 
 is in us. We glory in Christianity, as a religion of 
 light not less than a religion of love. 
 
 Freedom of ojnnion required. — 4. Christianity is 
 favorable to the intellect, because, wherever it exists in 
 its purity, there must be freedom of opinion, and this 
 is one great condition of vigorous intellect. Recog- 
 nizing truth as the great instrument of moral power 
 and of moral changes in the soul, making no account 
 of any forms, or external conduct not springing from 
 conviction, Christianity claims truth as the right of the 
 human soul. What was the fundamental principle of 
 the Reformation, but the right of the people to the truth, 
 and the whole truth — access for themselves to its foun- 
 tain-head in the Bilde ? And whence did that principle 
 spring, but from the Bible itself, from that Bible found 
 and read by Luther? It is to the very book he abuses 
 that the infidel owes that freedom by which he is per- 
 mitted to abuse it ; for where, except where the Bible 
 has influence, do you find opinion free? The fact is, 
 that Christianity gives to God and truth a supremacy 
 in the mind which unfits man for becoming either the 
 dupe or the tool of designing men ; and hence, chiefly, 
 their attempts to corrupt it, and to take it from the 
 people. 
 
 Adaqoted as nature is. — 5. But I have intimated 
 that Christianity is adapted to the intellect in the same 
 way that nature is. I wish to show this. How is it, 
 
NATURE AND CHRISTIANITY MODE OF TEACHING. 129 
 
 then, that nature improves the mind? Evidently only 
 as it contains thought. Mind can not commune with 
 chaotic matter, but only with mind ; and therefore the 
 study of nature can improve the intellect only as we 
 gain from it the thought of its Author. It would seem 
 to be plain that nothing, whether a book, or a machine, 
 or a work of art, or of nature, can be a profitable object 
 of study, except for the thought it contains ; and that 
 when the whole of that thought is grasped l)y the mind, 
 there can be no longer any improvement in the study of 
 that ol^ject. And nature seems to be so constructed, 
 in almost all her departments, (perhaps for the very 
 purpose of training the intellect,) as to render it diffi- 
 cult to discover the controlling thought according to 
 which they were constructed. On the surface, all seems 
 confused and irregular ; but as we penetrate deeper, 
 perhaps by long processes of observation and induc- 
 tion, we find a principle of order and harmony running 
 through all. What more confused, apparently, than 
 the motions and appearances of the heavenly bodies ? 
 See, now, the ancient astronomer studying these ap- 
 pearances. How does he grope in the dark ! How 
 fanciful and inadequate are his hypotheses ! Plainly, 
 he is but groping after the true idea or thought of the 
 system, as it lay in the mind of God. Give him this 
 carried out into its details, and he has the science of 
 astronomy completed. It has nothing more to say to 
 him. So the heavens are constructed ; so they move. 
 Xot less confused to the eye of man, for ages, was the 
 vegetable creation ; but at length, running like a line 
 of light through all its species and genera, the true 
 principle of classification was found. So it was in 
 chemistry ; so in geology, if, indeed, the true thought 
 there be yet found. 
 
 It would appear, then, that nature is adapted to the 
 intellect of man only, first, as it contains the thought 
 
130 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTI.INITY. 
 
 of God; and, secondly, as it is so constructed as to 
 stimulate and task the powers of the intellect in the 
 attainment of that thought. Now, I have no right to 
 assume, here, that the Bible contains the true thought 
 of God ; but I do say that its thoughts are not less 
 grand and exciting than those of nature, and that there 
 is between its construction and that of nature a singular 
 analogy, as adapted to the intellect. There is the same 
 apparent want of order and adjustment, and the same 
 deep harmony, running through the whole. An indi- 
 vidual truth, revealed in one age for a particular pur- 
 pose, and, by itself, adapted to the use of man, lies 
 imbedded here, and another there. By comparison, it 
 is seen that they may come together, as bone to its 
 fellow-bone, till, at length, the mammoth framework 
 of a complete organization stands before us. Does the 
 Bible contain a system of theology? Yes, a complete 
 system ; but it contains it as the heavens contain the 
 system of astronomy. Its truths lie there in no logical 
 order. They appear at first like a map of the apparent 
 motions of the planets, whose paths seem to cross each 
 other ill all directions; but you have only to find the 
 true centre, and the orbs of truth take their places, 
 and circle around it like the stars of heaven. And I 
 venture to say that the efibrts of thought, the struggles 
 of intellect, that have been called forth for the adjust- 
 ment of this system, have done more for the human 
 mind than its efibrts in any other science. Its questions 
 have stirred, not the minds of philosophers alone, but 
 every meditative human soul. Does the Bible contain 
 a system of ethics? Yes ; but it is as the eailh contains 
 a system of geology ; and long might the eye of the 
 listless or unscientific reader rest upon its pages with- 
 out discovering that the s^^stem Avas there, — just as 
 men trod the earth for near six thousand years Avithout 
 discovering that its surface Avas a regular structure, Avith 
 
TWO CLASSES OF QUESTIONS. 
 
 131 
 
 its strata aiTangccl in an assignable order. And after 
 we have reason to suppose there is a system, whether 
 in nature or the Bible, we often find facts that seem to 
 contradict each other, that can be reconciled only by 
 the most patient attention ; perhaps, in the present 
 state of our knowledge, can not be reconciled at all. 
 IIow strong, then, is the argument, drawn from this 
 structure of the Bible, that it did not originate in the 
 mind of man ! The mind loves unity ; it seeks to sys- 
 tematize every thing. It is in finished systems that 
 great minds produce their works, never leaving truths, 
 seemingly incompatible, lying side by side, and- requir- 
 ing or expecting us to adopt them both. But so does 
 the Bible, and so does nature. Our conclusion, there- 
 fore, is that, if nature is adapted to the mind of man, 
 so, and on the same principle, is the Bible. 
 
 A higher kind of knowledge given, — 6. Once more, 
 Christianity is adapted to the intellect because it puts 
 it in possession of a higher kind of knowledge than 
 nature can give. It solves questions of a different 
 order, and those, too, which man, as an intellectual 
 being, most needs to have solved. There are plainly 
 two classes of questions Avhich we may ask concerning 
 the works of God ; and concerning one of these, phi- 
 losophy is profoundly silent. One class respects the 
 relation of the different parts of a constituted whole 
 to each other and to that whole. The other respects 
 the ultimate design of the whole itself. In the pres- 
 ent state of science, questions of the first class can 
 generally be answered with a good degree of satisfiic- 
 tion. Man existing, the philosopher ean tell the number 
 of bones, and muscles, and blood-vessels, and nerves, 
 in his body, and the uses of all these. He may, per- 
 haps, tell how the stomach digests, and the heart beats, 
 and the glands secrete ; but of the great purpose for 
 which man himself was made, he can know nothing. 
 
132 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CIIEISTEVNITY. 
 
 But this knowledge Christianity gives. It attributes 
 to God a purpose Avorthy of him ; one that satisfies the 
 intellect and the heart ; and the knoAvdedge of this 
 must modify our vicAvs of all history, and of the AAdiole 
 drama of human life. It gives ns a ncAv stand-pointy 
 from Avhich Ave see every thing in different relations and 
 proportions. IVe had seen the river, before, on AAdiich 
 AA^e AA^ere sailing ; noAV Ave see the ocean. Entirely dif- 
 ferent must be the relation of man to God, both as an 
 intellectual and a practical being, Avhen he knoAA^s his 
 plans and can intelligently cooperate A\dth him. He 
 noAv comes, in the language of our Saviour, into the 
 relation of a friend. Surely no one can think lightly 
 of the inhiience of this on the intellect ! 
 
 Testimony of facts, — From the arguments noAV 
 stated, AA^e infer that Christianity is adapted to the 
 intellect ; and these arguments are confirmed by fact. 
 Xo book, not nature itself, has ever AAad^ed up intel- 
 lectual activity like the Bible. On the battle-field of 
 truth, it has CA^er been around this that the conflict has 
 raged. What book besides ever caused the AAuating of 
 so many other books? Take from the libraries of 
 Christendom all those AAdiich have sprung, I AAdll not 
 say indirectly, but directly from it, — those AAudtten to 
 oppose, or defend, or elucidate it, — and hoAV AAmuld 
 they be, diminished ! The very multitude of infidel 
 books is a AAdtness to the poAA^er Avith AAdiich the Bible 
 stimulates the intellect. Why do aa^c not see the same 
 amount of active intellect coming up, and dashing and 
 roaring around the Koran? And the result of this 
 activity is such as aa^c might anticipate. The general 
 intellectual, as Avell as moral superiority of Christian 
 nations, and that, too, in proportion as they liaA^e had 
 a pure Christianity, stands out in too broad a sunlight 
 to be questioned or obscured. Wherever the Avord of 
 ,God has really entered, it has given light — light to 
 
CIIRISTLiXITY AXD THE PIIYSiaiL SCIENCES. 133 
 
 individuals, light to communities. It has favored liter- 
 ature ; and by means of it alone has society been 
 brought up to that point at which it has been able to 
 construct the apparatus of physical science, and to carry 
 its investigations to the point which they have now 
 reached. The instruments of a well-furnished astro- 
 nomical observatory presuppose accumulations of wealth, 
 and the existence of a class of arts, and of men, that 
 could be the product only of Christian civilization. 
 Accordingly, we find, whatever may be said of litera- 
 ture, that physical science, except in Christian countries, 
 has, after a time, either become stationaiy, or begun to 
 recede ; and there is no reason for supposing that the 
 path of indefinite progress which now lies before it, 
 could have been opened except in connection with 
 Christianity. Individual men who reject Christianity, 
 and yet live within the general sphere of its influence, 
 may distinguish themselves in science ; they have done 
 so ; but it has been on grounds and conditions furnished 
 by that very religion which they have rejected. Chris- 
 tianity furnishes no new faculties, no direct power to 
 the intellect, but a general coi^' ion of society favorable 
 to its cultivation ; and it is nH to be wondered at, if, 
 in such a state of things, iMn who seek intellectual 
 distinction solely, rejecting^^ie moral restraints of 
 Christianity, should distinguish themselves by intel- 
 lectual efibrt. 
 
 Objection . — But if there is this adaptation of Chris- 
 tianity to the intellect, ought not those who are truly 
 Christians to distinguish themselves above others in 
 literature and science ? This does not follow. Up to 
 a certain point, Christianity in the heart will certainly 
 give clearness and strength to the intellect ; and cases 
 are not wanting in which the intellectual powers have 
 been surprisingly roused through the action of the 
 moral nature, and of the aflfections, awakened by the 
 12 
 
134 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTEiNITY. 
 
 religion of Christ. But when wo consider that the 
 change produced by Christianity is a moral change ; 
 that the objects it presents are moral objects ; that it 
 presents this world as needing not so much to be 
 enlightened in the more abstract sciences, or to be 
 delighted with the refinements of literature, as to be 
 rescued from moral pollution, and to be won back to 
 God ; — perhaps we ought not to be surprised if it has 
 caused many to be absorbed in labors of an entirely 
 different kind, who would otherwise have trodden the 
 highest walks of science. 
 
 Distinguished piety not unfavorable to intellectual cul- 
 tivation . — And here, precisely at this point, I think 
 we may see how an impression has been originated in 
 the minds of some that distinguished piety is even 
 unfavorable to the highest cultivation of the sciences 
 and arts and to refinement of taste. If this were so, — 
 as it is not, — it would prove nothing against Chris- 
 tianity ; nor would it invalidate at all the position I 
 have taken, that it is hivorable to the intellect. There 
 are things more important than science, or literature, 
 or taste. Nor is it in these that the true and the highest 
 dignity of man consists.’^' Perhaps Paul, if he had not 
 been a Christian, might Wave shone as a philosopher. 
 He did not become less H|Dhilosopher by being a Chris- 
 tian ; but the energies of his mind were given neither 
 to philosophy nor to literature, but to something fiir 
 higher. In a noble forgetfulness of self, he strove to 
 turn men ” from darkness to light, and from the power 
 of Satan unto God.” And so, now, many of the finest 
 spirits of our race are diverted from science by the 
 practical calls and self-denying duties arising from the 
 spiritual wants of the world. But does this dwarf the 
 intellect ? Far from it. It leads it to grapple practi- 
 cally with questions higher than those of science, though 
 it may be not so as to gain the admiration of men ; 
 
THE BIBLE AND POPULAR LITERATURE. 
 
 135 
 
 and hence we often find in a humble Christian a breadth 
 of mind which we should look for in vain in many 
 professed votaries of literature. Can that dwarf the 
 intellect which shows it realities more grand than those 
 of science ; which, with a full comprehension of the 
 nature, and processes, and ends of science and of litera- 
 ture, yet gives them their rightful, though subordinate 
 place? Never; even though it should sometimes lead 
 to the general feeling expressed by one who said that 
 he would attend to his more immediate duties here, 
 and study the science of astronomy on his way up to 
 heaven. No ; men may do what they please in dissem- 
 inating school libraries, and scattering abroad cheap 
 publications ; but, for energy and balance, I would 
 rather have the intellect formed by the Bible alone, — 
 by grappling with its mighty questions, by communing 
 with its high mysteries, by tracing its narratives, by 
 listening to its matchless eloquence and poetry, — than 
 to have that formed by all the light and popular litera- 
 ture, and by all the scientific tracts, in existence ; and 
 if these efibrts should practically exclude the Bible, and 
 prevent a general and familiar acquaintance ’with it on 
 the part of the young, instead of being a blessing, they 
 would bring only disaster. 
 
 The Bible adapted to all. — Before leaving this sub- 
 ject, perhaps I ought to advert to the manner in Avhich 
 the teachings of the Bible are given, as a book adapted 
 to the instruction of all classes, and of all ages. This, 
 though a minor point, is one of great interest. In this 
 respect, again, the Bible is like nature, and is indeed a 
 most wonderful book. What a problem it would be to 
 prepare a book now, which should be equally adapted 
 to the young and to the old, to the learned and to the 
 unlearned ! Man could not do it. But such a book is 
 the Bible. It has a simplicity, a majesty, a beauty, a 
 variety, which fit it for all ; and, as the eye of the child 
 
136 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CIIEISTIANITY. 
 
 can see something in nature to please and instruct it, 
 ■while the philosopher can see more, and yet not all, — 
 so does the youngest and most ignorant person, who 
 can read its pages, find, in the Bible, narratives, para- 
 bles, brief sayings, just suited to his comprehension ; 
 while the profoundest theologian, or the greatest phi- 
 losopher, can never feel that he has sounded all its 
 depths. And here we may perhaps see one great 
 reason why the revelation of God was written by so 
 many difterent persons, at difierent times, and with 
 such difierent habits of thought and of feeling. It was 
 because it was intended to be a book for the instruction 
 of the race, and this it could not be if it Avere Avritteii 
 in any one style, or Avere stamped Avith the peculiarities 
 of any one human mind. In order to this, it must 
 embrace narratives, poetry, proverbs, parables, letters, 
 profound reasoning, — Avhich, Avhile they all harmonized 
 in doctrine and in spirit, should yet be as diversified 
 as the hills and valleys of the green earth ; should yet 
 refract the pure light of inspiration in colors to catch 
 and fix every eye. Wonderful book ! If some of its 
 parts seem to us less interesting, let us remember that 
 nature too has many departments, and that it AA^as made 
 for all ; and the more Ave study it in this point of vieAV, 
 the more ready shall we be to join A\dth the apostle in 
 saying, that ” all scripture is given by inspiration of 
 God.” 
 
 We say, then, that Christianity is adapted to the 
 intellect, because its spirit coincides Avith that of true 
 philosophy ; because it removes the incubus of sensu- 
 ality and loAV vice ; because of the place it gives to 
 truth ; because it demands free inquiry ; because its 
 mighty truths and systems are brought lieforo the mind 
 in the same Avay as the truths and systems of nature ; 
 because it solves higher problems than nature can ; 
 and because it is so communicated as to be adapted to 
 every mind. 
 
THE ^VTFECTIOXS. 
 
 137 
 
 Christianity adapted to the affections. — But, if 
 Christianity is adapted to the intellect, as a religion 
 of light, it is not less adapted to the affections, as a 
 religion of love. The affections are that part of our 
 being from which we are most susceptible of enjoyment 
 and of suffering. They are the source of all disinter- 
 ested action, of all cheerful and happy obedience. 
 They are, to the other faculties of man, what the light 
 is to the body of the sun, what its leaves and blossoms 
 are to the tree ; and the system in which they are not 
 regarded, and put in their proper place, can not be 
 from God. 
 
 Affections — hoio elicited. — The affections, as we all 
 know, are not under the immediate control of the will ; 
 that is, we can not love any object we choose, simply 
 by willing to love it. We may act toward an unworthy 
 being — a tyrant, for example — as if we loved him; 
 but, unless we see in him qualities really excellent 
 and lovely, it is impossible we should love him. The 
 natural affections, so far as they are instinctive, have 
 their own laws. Laying them, then, aside, the first 
 condition on which it is possible for us to love a moral 
 being, as such, is a perception of some excellence in 
 his character. If we are rightly constituted, we shall 
 love him on the perception of such excellence, whether 
 he has any particular relation to us or not. But the 
 whole strength of our affections can be elicited only 
 when goodness is manifested toward us individually. 
 That which should call forth our strongest affections 
 would evidently be a being of perfect moral excellence, 
 putting forth effort and sacrifice on our behalf. To be 
 adapted to the affections, then, any system must first 
 recognize and encourage them ; and, secondly, it must 
 present suitable objects to call them forth. 
 
 /Siqpyort in tricds. — I observe, then, first, that Chris- 
 tianity is adapted to the affections, because it encourages 
 12 * 
 
138 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 and supports them in the relations and trials of the 
 present life. And here, perhaps, I ought to mention 
 that the domestic constitution, which Christianity, and 
 that alone, enjoins and maintains in its purity, is funda- 
 mental to a pure and healthful state of the natural and 
 social affections. It is impossible there should be, 
 under any other system or conditions, the same conjugal, 
 and parental, and filial affection as there will be when 
 the domestic constitution, as enjoined by Christianity, 
 is strictly regarded. Here we see the far-reaching 
 wisdom of Christ in casting up an inclosure, the mate- 
 rials of which we now see were provided in the nature 
 of things, which should be to the affections as a walled 
 garden, where their tendrils and blossoms might put 
 forth secure from any intruder. Accordingly, who can 
 estimate the blessings of peace, and purity, and hallowed 
 affection, which have been enjoyed through this consti- 
 tution, and which are noAV enjoyed around ten thousand 
 firesides in every Christian land? But, besides this, 
 Christianity encourages directly the natural affections 
 of kindred and of friendship ; it never condemns grief 
 as a Aveakness ; and it affords the most effectual conso- 
 lation AAdien these relations are sundered by death. In 
 this respect, it is contrasted not only Avith the selfish 
 Epicureanism and sensual indulgences by AAdiich the 
 heathen became ” Avithout natural affection,” but espe- 
 cially AAuth the proud spirit of Stoicism — a spirit far 
 from having become extinct AAuth the sect. Stoicism 
 would fain elevate human nature, but it really dismem- 
 bers it. It AA^as an attempt to destroy that Avhich they 
 kneAV not hoAv to regulate. To do this, they Avere 
 obliged to deny their OAvn nature, and to affect insensi- 
 bility, AAdien it Avas impossible that man should not feel. 
 It AA^as, indeed, a hard task Avhich this system imposed, 
 — to feel the cold hand of death grasping those AA^arni 
 affections Avhich are so deeply rooted in the heart, and 
 
CHRISTIANITY NOT STOICAL. 
 
 139 
 
 withering them np, and tearing them away, and yet 
 shed no tear. They were driven to this because they 
 could find no consolation in death. They knew not 
 the rod, or Him who appointed it ; but assumed an 
 attitude of sullen defiance, and steeled themselves as 
 well as they were able against the bolts of what they 
 deemed a stern necessity. This system, indeed, was 
 not favorable to the growth of the natural aftections at 
 all ; and many Avho adhered to it refused to suffer them 
 to expand, or to enter into any intimate alliances. But 
 Christianity neither destroys those afiections in which 
 we find the beauty and the fragrance of existence, nor 
 does it nourish those Avhich must bleed, without furnish- 
 ins: a balm to heal the wound. It is induls^ent to our 
 weakness, and never sneers at the natural expression 
 of sorrow. ” Jesus wept.” Surely, if we except our 
 own death-bed, there is no place where we so much need 
 support as at the death-bed of a friend, a wife, a child ; 
 and the religion or the system, the Stoicism or the 
 Skepticism, which fails us there, is good for nothing. 
 How desolate often the condition of those 
 
 Who “to the grave have followed those they love, 
 
 And on th’ inexorable threshold stand ; 
 
 / With cherished names its speechless calm reprove, 
 
 And stretch into th’ abyss their ungrasped hand ” ! 
 
 But just here it is that Christianity comes in with its 
 strong supports. This it does, 1. By the sympathy 
 which it provides ; for it not only supposes those who 
 are afiiicted to weep, but it commands others to weep 
 with them. 2. By teaching us that our afilictions are 
 brought upon us, not by a IJind fate, but by a wise and 
 kind Parent. 3. By the blessed hopes which it enables 
 us to cherish. We sorrow not as those who have no 
 hope; ”for, if we believe that Jesus died and rose 
 again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God 
 
140 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIx^NITY. 
 
 bring with him.” 4. And by encouraging and enabling 
 us to fix our afiections upon a higher and better object. 
 So long as we have something to love, the heart is not 
 desolate. Christianity furnishes us with an object that 
 can not fail us. It suffers the afiections to shoot out 
 their tendrils here upon the earth as vigorously as they 
 may; but it trains them up, and trains them up, till 
 it fixes them around the base of the eternal throne. 
 Then, if these lower tendrils are severed, they do not 
 fall to the dust to be trampled on, and wither, and 
 decay, till our hearts die within us ; they fix themselves 
 the more firmly to their all-sufficient and never-failing 
 support. It is easy to see that all these circumstances 
 must make the valley of affiiction far less dark than it 
 once was. To the true Christian there is light all the 
 way through it, there is light at the end of it. 
 
 Thus Christianity aims at no heights of Stoicism. It 
 neither uproots nor dwarfs the afiections, on the one 
 hand, nor does it, on the other, leave them to the wild 
 and aimless paroxysms of a hopeless sorrow ; but it 
 encourages their growth, and, in afiliction, gives them 
 the support which they need. 
 
 Presents an adequate object . — And this leads me to 
 observe, secondly, that Christianity is adapted to the 
 afiections because it presents them with an object, upon 
 which they can rest, that is infinite, perfect, and un- 
 changeable. Here we find the transcendent excellence 
 of this religion, in that it presents God as the object of 
 our afiections ; and I know of nothing in it more amaz- 
 ing than the union that it presents, in God, of those 
 infinite natural attributes which raise in the mind the 
 highest possible emotions of awe and sublimity, — and 
 of those holy moral attributes which cause the angels 
 to vail their faces, — with the pity, and condescension, 
 and love, which Christianity represents him as mani- 
 festing toward the guilty creatures of a day. Here 
 
GOD AN OBJECT OF LOVE. 
 
 141 
 
 was a difficult point. Beforehand, I should have thought 
 it impossible that the infinite and holy God should so 
 reveal himself, to a creature so insignificant and guilty 
 as man, as to lead him to have confidence in him, and 
 to look up and say, ” My Father ! ” Yet so does Chris- 
 tianity reveal God. It is a revelation adapted, not to 
 angels, hut to just such a being as man, guilty, and 
 having the distrust that guilt naturally engenders, yet 
 seeking assurance that a God so holy, and so dreadful, 
 and so infinitely exalted above him, could yet love him 
 and be the object of his love. Certainly it abates 
 nothing of the infinite majesty or purity of God. It 
 enthrones him with the full investment of every high 
 and holy attribute, and yet nothing can exceed the 
 expressions of tenderness and compassion with which 
 he seeks to win the confidence of his creatures. He 
 is represented as having an unspeakable affection for 
 the race of man ; as watching over all in his universal 
 providence ; as the Father of the fatherless, and the 
 widoAv’s God and Judge ; as strengthening men upon 
 the bed of languishing, and making all their bed in 
 their sickness ; as hearing the groanings of the prisoner 
 and the cry of the poor and needy, Avhen they seek 
 water and there is none, and their tongue faileth for 
 thirst ; as the God that hears the faintest Avhisper of 
 true prayer ; as the God upon Avhom Ave may cast all 
 our cares, because he careth for us ; the God Avho com- 
 forteth those that are cast doAvn ; Avho shall Avipe aAvay 
 all tears from all faces ; Avho is more ready to give to 
 man the Holy Spirit (the greatest of all gifts) than 
 earthly parents are to give good gifts to their children ; 
 Avho so loA^ed the Avorld that he gave his only-begotten 
 Son, that Avhosoever belie veth on him should not perish, 
 but have eternal life. If such expressions, and such a 
 pledge, do not satisfy men of the love of God, and lead 
 them to him, nothing can. Well might the apostle say, 
 
142 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CIIEISTI.VNITY. 
 
 ^'Ile that spared not his own Son, hut delivered him up 
 for ns all, how shall he not with him also freely give us 
 all things ! ” Well might he invite men to ” come boldly 
 unto the throne of grace,” that they may ” obtain mercy 
 and find grace to help in time of need.” Nothing can 
 be more tender or winning, more calculated to secure 
 the confidence of men, more unspeakably touching and 
 aftccting, than the mode in which God is revealed to us 
 in the gospel of his Son. 
 
 Holiness and happiness provided for. — But, in thus 
 offering himself as the object of affection to man, we 
 can not fail to see that God has made provision, in the 
 very nature of things, both for his holiness and his 
 happiness. It is impossible that we should truly love 
 Him, vuthout being conformed and assimilated to his 
 character. The moment the first throb of affection is 
 felt, that process must begin, spoken of by the apostle, 
 where he says, ” We all, beholding as in a glass the 
 glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image 
 from glory to glory, even as l)y the Spirit of the Lord.” 
 And when this process is once commenced, through the 
 operation of the great principle that we become morally 
 conformed to that which we contemplate with delight, 
 it Avill go on to its consummation. Nor,* if we can 
 contemplate them separately, is provision less made in 
 this way for happiness than for holiness — since the 
 happiness derived from the affections must arise from 
 their exercise, and since the highest conceivable happi- 
 ness would arise from the perfect love of such a being 
 as God. It is in this way only that God can l)ecome 
 the portion of the soul ; and thus he may become its 
 infinite and only adequate portion. Let the aflections 
 rest upon a perfect being, and happiness, so far as it 
 can 1)0 derived from them, will be complete ; but 
 when their object is not only perfect, but infinite and 
 unchangeable, then is there provision both for perfect 
 
LOVE PECULIAR TO CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 143 
 
 happiness, and for its perpetuity and augmentation 
 forever. 
 
 God must he presented as an object of love. — Here, 
 then, we find a mark which must belong to a religion 
 from God. From our present knowledge of the facul- 
 ties of man, and of their relations to each other, and 
 of the conditions on which alone they can be improved 
 and perfected, we see that a religion which is to elevate 
 man, and make him either holy or happy, must present 
 God as the object of love, and provide for the assimi- 
 lation of the character of man to his character. 
 
 N'o other religion does this. — But wdiat of this love 
 do we find provided for, or possible, out of Christianity? 
 Absolutely nothing. The love of God never entered 
 as an element into any heathen religion ; nor, with their 
 conceptions of God, was it possible it should. The 
 aflcctions, as already stated, are drawn forth by moral 
 excellence, especially when manifested in our behalf. 
 Was it possible, then, on either of these grounds, that 
 the Jupiter, or Pluto, or Bacchus, of old, should be 
 loved? Were their moral characters even reputable? 
 Did they ever make disinterested sacrifices for the good 
 of men ? Is it possible that the present Hindoos should 
 love, on either of these grounds, any being or thing 
 that is presented for their worship ? According to the 
 very constitution of our minds, it is impossible. The 
 objects of worship are neither in themselves, nor in 
 their relations to man, adapted to draAV out the affec- 
 tions. Again, is it possible that the affections should 
 be strongly moved by the God of the deist, who mani- 
 fests himself only through general laws that bring all 
 things alike to all, who never speaks to his creatures, 
 or makes himself known as the hearer of prayer ? I 
 think not. Who ever heard of a devout deist ? "WIio 
 ever heard of one who was willing to spend his life 
 in missionary labor for the good of others ? It is not 
 
144 
 
 EYIDEXCES OF CIIEISTLVXITY. 
 
 according to the constitution of the mind that such a 
 system should awaken the aifectiohs. And what is 
 true of these systems is true of every false system. 
 All such systems leave the heart cold, and, accord- 
 exert very little genuine transforming power 
 over the life. 
 
 Love made the governing principle. — And this, 
 again, leads me to observe, thirdly, that Christianity is 
 adapted to the affections, from the place it assigns to 
 love as the governing principle of action. Moral order 
 requires obedience to God. But what is that obedience 
 which can honor God and make him who renders it 
 happy? Plainly, it is not a selfish, external obedience, 
 wdiicli would be wicked ; not an obedience from fear, — 
 for all ” fear hath torment ; ” but it can be only an 
 intelligent and an affectionate obedience. Such an obe- 
 dience would honor God, and make him who rendered 
 it happy. There is in it no element of degradation or 
 slavish subjection. On the contrary, as the whole 
 intellect, and conscience, and heart, conspire together 
 in such an act, performed with reference to the will of 
 such a Being, it must elevate the mind. It is the only 
 possible manner in which we can conceive a rational 
 creature to act so as to honor Trod, and make himself 
 happy ; and, therefore, that system of religion which is 
 so constructed, with reference to the human mind, as 
 to produce intelligent and affectionate obedience in the 
 highest degree, must be the true religion ; and no other 
 is possible. Now, we certainly can see that no heathen 
 system can produce such obedience, and that the Chris- 
 tian system is adapted to produce it in the highest 
 possible degree. 
 
 ItH representation of a future state. — But I observe, 
 once more, that Christianity is adapted to the affections 
 from its representations of a future state. It does 
 not, like Ilindooism, or Pantheism, represent man as 
 
THE IMAGINATION. 
 
 145 
 
 absorbed into the Deity, nor, like Mobammedanism, as 
 engrossed in sensuality ; but it represents heaven as a 
 social state of pure and holy affection. It does not, 
 indeed, tell us that we shall recognize there our earthly 
 kindred, though it leaves us no ground to doubt this ; 
 but it tells us of a Father’s house, and of the one family 
 of the good who shall be gathered there, and to whom 
 we shall be united in nearer bonds than those of earth. 
 What possible representation could be better adapted 
 to a beins: endowed with affections ? — the one infinite 
 Father and Eedeemer of his creatures, and the united 
 family of all the good ! 
 
 The imagination. — We next proceed to the imagi- 
 nation. And I observe that Christianity is no less 
 adapted to this than to the conscience, the intellect, or 
 the affections. The imagination is a source of enjoy- 
 ment, a spring of activity, and an efficient agent in 
 molding the character; and any system may be said 
 to be adapted to it which is calculated to give it the 
 highest and purest enjoyment, and so to direct the 
 activity which it excites as to mold the character into 
 the finest form. 
 
 As a source of enjoyment. — Looking at the imagi- 
 nation simply as a source of enjoyment, that system 
 will be best adapted to it which contains the most 
 elements of beauty and sublimity, and which leaves 
 for their combination the widest range. And in this 
 respect, certainly nothing can exceed Christianity. There 
 are no conceivable scenes of grandeur equal to those 
 connected with the general judgment and the final con- 
 flagration of this world ; no scenes of beauty like those 
 connected with the new Jerusalem — with the abodes 
 and the employments of those who shall be sons and 
 heirs of God, and to Avhom the whole creation will be 
 given, so far as it may be subservient to their enjoy- 
 13 
 
146 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTEVNITY. 
 
 ment. And if the present scene is filled up with so 
 much of beauty and sublimity, what imagination can 
 conceive of the splendors of that world whose external 
 decorations shall correspond with its spiritual glory? 
 Let no one say, then, that Christianity would repress 
 the imagination ; or that God did not intend that 
 imagination, and poetry, and the exertion of every 
 faculty which brings wdth it what is beautiful and pleas- 
 ing, should be connected with it. He did intend it; 
 he has made provision for it, and that not in this life 
 only. There will be poetry in hefiven ; its numbers 
 wdll measure the anthems that swell there. There will 
 be imagination there. This is no impertinent fiiculty, 
 given, as some seem to suppose, only to be chided and 
 repressed. No ; its wing, however strong, will always 
 find room enough in the illimitable universe and the 
 unfathomed, perfections of God. 
 
 promoting to activity. — But it is chiefly of the 
 imagination as prom23ting to activity that I would 
 speak. ”The faculty of imagination,”, says Stewai-t, 
 ”is the great spring of human activity, and the'j^i’in- 
 cipal source of human improvement. As it delights 
 in presenting to the mind scenes and characters more 
 perfect than those which we are acquainted with, it 
 prevents us from ever being completely satisfied wdth 
 our present condition or with our past attainments, and 
 engages us continually in the pursuit of some untried 
 enjoyment, or of some ideal excellence.” Again he 
 says, ” Tired and disgusted with this world of imper- 
 fection, we delight to escape to another of the poet’s 
 creation, where the charms of nature wear an eternal 
 bloom, and where sources of enjoyment are opened to 
 us suited to the vast capacities of the human mind. 
 On this natural love of poetical fiction Lord Bacon 
 has founded a very ingenious argument for the soul’s 
 immortality ; and, indeed, one of the most important 
 
IMAGINATION AND EE.VLITY. 
 
 147 
 
 purposes to which it is subservient is to elevate the 
 mind above the pursuits of our present condition, and 
 to direct the views to higher objects.” * 
 
 With this representation of the office and importance 
 of this faculty I agree in the main ; but, instead of a 
 world of the poet’s creation for it to range in, I would 
 have one of God’s creation. Certainly we can, by 
 means of this faculty, form to ourselves models of 
 individual excellence, and of Avhat we may conceive to 
 ,be a perfect state of things, which shall essentially 
 guide our activity and affect our character and influence. 
 But here, no less than in the intellect, does all experi- 
 ence show that we need to find the thought of God as 
 a model and guide to this formative power. Left to 
 itself, how many false standards of character has it set 
 up ! How many Utopian schemes has it originated ! 
 How little has it ever conceived of individual excel- 
 lence, or of an ultimate and perfect state of things, 
 worthy of God or having a tendency to exalt man ! 
 Witness the heathen gods and representations of 
 heaven ; the classic fables ; the speculations of Plato, 
 even, respecting a future state ; the Hindoo mythology, 
 and transmigration ; and the Mohammedan paradise. 
 These are to that future, and to that heaven which God 
 has revealed, what the conjectures and systems of 
 ancient astronomers were to the true system of the 
 physical heavens. Not more do the heavens of true 
 science exceed those imagined by man, — not more 
 does the actual Milky Way, composed of a stratum of 
 suns lying rank above rank, exceed that conception of 
 it from which its name is derived, — than the glory of 
 the millennial day, and the purity and grandeur of the 
 Christian heaven, exceed any future ever imagined by 
 man, and adopted as the basis of a religion invented 
 by him. In both cases, in the moral no less than in the 
 
 * Elements, vol. i. chap. 7. 
 
148 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 physical heavens, we need to have given ns the outline 
 as sketched by God, and then it is the noblest work of 
 the imagination to fill it up. 
 
 Ideal excellence. — Christianity alone furnisher the 
 model of a perfect manhood, and the true elements of 
 social perfection ; it alone furnishes to the imagination 
 a representation of a perfect state on earth ; and it 
 unfolds the gates of a heaven, at whose entrance it can 
 only stand and exclaim, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear 
 heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the 
 things which God hath prepared for them that love 
 him ! ” It is therefore perfectly adapted to the imagi- 
 iiation, so far as that is a faculty which leads to activity 
 by setting before us ideal excellence which we may 
 attempt to realize in actual life. 
 
 How attained . — Before leaving this point, I may 
 just say that Christianity does not, like systems of 
 philosophy, present us with an ideal excellence without 
 showing us how to attain it. The obedience of its 
 precepts would realize the excellence it portrays ; and 
 it is a remarkable fact that thus, and thus only, can 
 there be brought out, into the bold relief of actual life, 
 the visions of those ancient prophets whose imagina- 
 tions were fired by these scenes of grandeur and of 
 beauty. 
 
 The conscience. — The excellence above spoken of 
 could be realized only by obedience, under the guid- 
 ance of an enlightened conscience. Is, then, Chris- 
 tianity adapted to cpiicken and exalt the action of the 
 conscience ? 
 
 Force of the argument. — This is a point of the first 
 importance ; for if it can be shown that the moral powers 
 are quickened and perfected in proportion as the mind 
 comes under the action of any system, that system 
 must be from God. That a false system should tend 
 to perfect the conscience in its discriminating, and 
 
THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 149 
 
 impulsive, and rewarding, and punishing power, would 
 he not only impossible, but suicidal. It would purge 
 the eye to a quicker perception of its own deformities, 
 and nerve the arm for its own overthrow. Other sys- 
 tems act upon men through prescription, through awe 
 and reverence, through hope and fear, and not by com- 
 mending themselves, as righteous, to every man’s con- 
 science, in the sight of God. 
 
 Provides a perfect standard. — But Christianity pro- 
 vides for quickening the conscience, first, by the perfect 
 standard which it sets up. This is found in the char- 
 acter and law of God. In training the conscience, 
 nothinof can countervail the absence of a right standard. 
 In every community, the tendency is to try actions by 
 the public sentiment, the usages and customs of that 
 community. These will vary according to the supposed 
 interests of each ; and in the use of such tests, con- 
 science must remain in abeyance, and become dwarfed. 
 It can be trained and perfected only by a full activity, 
 in the light of a perfect law ; and this is furnished by 
 Christianity. 
 
 Doctrine of responsibility. — Secondly, Christianity 
 is adapted to the conscience by its doctrine of respon- 
 sibility. Than this, nothing can be more entire. As 
 was said in the second lecture, the moral law, which 
 Christianity imbosoms, is as universal and pervading 
 as that of gravitation. Under it there can be no con- 
 cealment, or evasion ; for it reveals a future judgment, 
 and an omniscient and righteous Judge. This must 
 tend to a careful scrutiny of all moral acts, and so to 
 the full activity and perfection of the conscience. 
 
 Sanctions and pardon. — Thirdly, Christianity is 
 adapted to the conscience, on the one hand by the 
 force of its sanctions, and on the other by its provision 
 for pardon. These are brought together as equally 
 manifesting that which is the central element of Chris- 
 13 * 
 
150 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTEiNITY. 
 
 tianity, and the source of its power over the moral 
 nature. This is its intense regard for the moral quality 
 of action. This being the centre and life of the sys- 
 tem, it can not fail to give life. 
 
 Only needs to he ajjplied. — It is thus that Chris- 
 tianity does all that we can conceive any system should 
 do, to quicken and to perfect the powers of moral per- 
 ception and of action. The adjustments of the system 
 are made ; they are perfect ; it only needs to be ap- 
 plied. Accordingly, we find that an efficient and an 
 enlightened conscience exists just in proportion to the 
 prevalence of pure Christianity ; and we must see that 
 its full influence would banish moral evil as the sun 
 disperses the darkness. It is by the light and strength 
 drawn from Christianity itself that we are able to apply 
 many of those tests Avhich we now apply in judging of 
 it ; and the more fully we are under its influence, the 
 more competent shall we be to apply such tests, and 
 the more convincing will be the evidence derived from 
 their application. 
 
 The ivill. — Two modes of adaptation. — It now only 
 remains to speak of Christianity as adapted to the will. 
 A system may be adapted to the will of man by flatter- 
 ing his pride, by taking advantage of his weaknesses, 
 by indulging his corruptions ; and in this sense false 
 systems have been adapted to it with great skill. But, 
 properly speaking, a system is adapted to the will of a 
 rational and moral beinsr when it is so constructed that 
 it must necessarily control the will in proportion as 
 reason and conscience prevail. This is a point of high 
 importanee, because, the will being that in man which 
 is personal and executive, nothing is effected till this is 
 reached ; and the system which can not legitimately 
 control this may have every other adaptation, and yet 
 be good for nothing. 
 
THE WILL. 
 
 151 
 
 Provides for pardon and aid, — I observe, then, 
 first, that Christianity is adapted to the will because it 
 provides for the pardon of sin, and for divine aid in’ 
 the great struggle in which it calls upon us to engage. 
 I remarked, when speaking of the intellect, that Chris- 
 tianity Avas adapted to it because it relieved it from the 
 incubus of vice. It is much in the same Avay that it 
 acts here in reference to the will. The Avili of man 
 never acts Avhen the attainment of his object is abso- 
 lutely hopeless ; and a sense of pardoned sin, and a 
 hope of divine aid, if not immediate motives, yet come 
 in as conditions on Avhich alone the Avill can be brought 
 up to the great struggle of the Christian Avarfare. With- 
 out these, a mind truly enlightened Avould rest under a 
 discouragement that Avould forever paralyze effort. 
 
 Adapted to the affections. — I observe, secondly, that 
 Christianity is ada]?ted to the Avill because it is adapted 
 to the affections. I do not, as some have done, regard 
 the Avill and the affections as the same. They are, hoAV- 
 ever, intimately connected ; and the affections being, 
 as I have said, the only source of disinterested action 
 and of happy moral obedience, it is evident that, just 
 in proportion as any system takes a strong hold of 
 them, it must be adapted to move the Avill. It is not 
 enough to knoAV our duty, and to Avish to do it simply 
 as duty. We need to have it associated Avith the im- 
 pulses of the affections, Avith that love of God, and of 
 man, implanted in the heart, Avhich are the first and the 
 second great moral precepts of Christianity, and AA^hich, 
 AA^here they reign, must induce a happy obedience. 
 
 Because of its sanctions . — I observe, thirdly, that 
 Christianity is adapted to the Avill from the grandeur 
 of those interests Avhich it presents, and from its 
 amazing sanctions. Here it is unrivaled. Here every 
 thing takes hold on infinity and eternity. Here the 
 greatness of man as a spiritual and an immortal being 
 
152 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 assumes its proper place, and throws into the shade all 
 the motives and the interests of time. Its language is, 
 '' What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole 
 world, and lose his own soul ; or what shall a man give 
 in exchange for his soul ? ” It makes the will of God 
 our rule ; it places us under his omniscient eye ; it 
 points us forward to the tribunal of an omnipotent Judge, 
 to a sentence of unmixed justice, and a reward of match- 
 less grace. Nothing can be more alluring, on the one 
 hand, or more terrific, on the other, than its descrip- 
 tions of the consequences of human conduct. It speaks 
 of ” eternal life ; ” of being the " sons and heirs of 
 God ; ” of a ” crown of life ; ” of ” an inheritance incor- 
 ruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away.” 
 It speaks, also, of ” the blackness of darkness forever ; ” 
 of "the worm that dieth not, and the fire that is not 
 quenched.” Laying aside, then, the affections, and look- 
 ing solely at the direct motives of duty and of interest 
 wdiich it presents, surely no other system can be so adapt- 
 ed to move the will as this, when it is really believed. 
 
 Teachings not abstract . — I observe, finally, that 
 Christianity is adapted to the will, and to the whole 
 emotive nature of man, because its teachings respect- 
 ing the character of God and human duty are not by 
 general and abstract propositions, but by facts, and by 
 manifestations in action. At this point Christianity is 
 strongly contrasted with natural religion, and Avith 
 every thing that tends towards pantheism. "It is 
 indeed,” says Erskine, "a striking, and yet an undoubt- 
 ed fact, that Ave are comparatively little affected Avith 
 abstract truths in morality.” "A single definite and 
 intelligible action gives a vividness and a power to the 
 idea of that moral character Avhich it exhibits, beyond 
 what could be conveyed by a multitude of abstract 
 descriptions. Thus the abstract ideas of patriotism 
 and integrity make but an uninteresting appearance 
 
THE WILL AXD ABSTRACT PRINCIPLES. 
 
 153 
 
 when contrasted i\’ith the high spectacle of heroic 
 worth which was exhibited in the conduct of E-eguliis, 
 when, in the senate of his country, he raised his soli- 
 tary voice against those humbling propositions of 
 Carthage, which, if acquiesced in, would have restored 
 him to liberty, and which for that single reason had 
 almost gained an acquiescence ; and then, unsubdued 
 alike by the frantic entreaties of his family, the weep- 
 ing solicitations of the admiring citizens, and the 
 appalling terrors of his threatened fate, he returned to 
 Africa, rather than violate his duty to Rome and the 
 sacredness of truth.” ” In the same way, the abstract 
 views of the divine character, drawn from the observa- 
 tion of nature, are, in general, rather visions of the 
 intellect than efficient moral principles in the heart and 
 conduct; and, however true they may be, are uninter- 
 esting and unexciting when compared with the vivid 
 exhibition of them in a history of definite and intelli- 
 gible action. To assist our weakness, therefore, and 
 to accommodate his instructions to the principles of 
 our nature, God has been pleased to present us a most 
 interesting series of actions, in which his moral char- 
 acter, as far as we are concerned, is fully and perspic- 
 uously embodied.” 
 
 So great is this difference, as ideas are presented in 
 different modes, that an idea or a principle may be 
 apparently received, and approved, in its abstract 
 form, which shall not be recognized as the same when 
 it takes the form of action. ” A corrupt politician, for 
 instance, can specidate on and applaud the abstract 
 idea of integrity ; but when this a])stract idea takes the 
 form of a man and a course of action, it ceases to be 
 that harmless and welcome visitor it used to be, and 
 draws on itself the decided enmity of its former appar- 
 ent friend.” ” In the same way, many men will admit 
 the abstract idea of a God of infinite holiness and good- 
 
154 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 ness, and will even take delight in exercising their 
 reason or their taste in speculating on the subject of 
 his being and attributes ; yet these same persons will 
 shrink with dislike and alarm from the living energy 
 which this abstract idea assumes in the Bible.” The 
 great object of Erskine is to show, first, that there is 
 this difference between ideas thus presented ; and, 
 secondly, that God has made in action such mani- 
 festations of himself as must, if they are believed, 
 bring the character into conformity with his. Whatever 
 we ma}^ think of the second proposition, there can be 
 no doubt of the principle involved in the first ; nor of 
 the fact that the emotive nature of man is addressed, in 
 accordance with it, both in the Old Testament and in 
 the New. All that series of mighty acts which God 
 performed in behalf of the Israelites — the deliverance 
 from Egypt, the giving of the law, the passage through 
 the wilderness and through Jordan — could not but 
 affect their hearts and wills infinitely more than they 
 could have been by any description of God, or by any 
 mere precepts. Probably it was better adapted than 
 any thing else could have been to give that people cor- 
 rect ideas of God, and to lead them to a full and joyful 
 obedience of his commandments. And so the erreat 
 ffict of the New Testament, that "God so loved the 
 world, that he gave his only-begotten Son,” and the 
 example of our Saviour, " who loved us and gave himself 
 for us,” have ever been among its most powerful and 
 constraining motives. They have, in ffict, been those 
 without which no others would have been of any avail. 
 
 Whether, then, Ave consider its offers of pardon and 
 of aid ; its connection with the affections ; the power 
 of its direct motives ; or its mode of appeal by facts 
 and manifestations in action, — we see that Christianity 
 is perfectly adapted to the will of man. 
 
 * Internal Evidence. 
 
LECTUEE VI. 
 
 ARGUMENT FIFTH, CONTINUED. DIVISION SECOND : CHRISTIAN- 
 ITY AS A RESTRAINING POWER. — ARGUMENT SIXTH; THE 
 EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. — ARGUMENT 
 , SEVENTH : ITS FITNESS AND TENDENCY TO BECOME UNIVER- 
 SAL. — ARGUMENT EIGHTH; IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN IN THE 
 WORLD. 
 
 Man is a complex being. He has been called the 
 microcosm, or little world, because, while he has a 
 distinctive nature of his own, he is a partaker and rep- 
 resentative of every thing in the inferior creation. In 
 him are united the material and the spiritual, the ani- 
 mal and the rational. He has instincts, propensities, 
 desires, passions, by which he is allied to the animals ; 
 he has also reason, conscience, free-will, by which he is 
 allied to higher intelligences and to God. Hence the 
 ends he is capable of choosing, and the principles by 
 which he may be actuated, are very various. Body and 
 soul, reason and passion, conscience and desire, often 
 seem to be, and are, opposing forces, and man is left 
 
 “ In doubt to act or rest, 
 
 In doubt to deem himself a god or beast, 
 
 In doubt his soul or body to prefer.” 
 
 ”The intestine war of reason against the passions,” 
 says Pascal, "has given rise, among those who wish for 
 peace, to the formation of two different sects. Tho 
 
 ( 155 ) 
 
156 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 one wished to renounce the passions, and be as gods; 
 the other to renounce reason, and become l)easts.” 
 
 N/ Excitement ^ guidance^ restraint — difficultg of. — 
 With this wide range of faculties, and consequent variety 
 of impulses and motives, in the individual, and especially 
 when we consider the variety of his social relations, 
 we may well say that, if any problem was beyond 
 human skill, it was the choice of ends, and the arrange- 
 ment of means and motives, — the contrivance of a 
 system of excitement, and guidance, and restraint, — 
 which should harmonize these jarring elements, and 
 cause every wheel in the vast machinery of human 
 society to move freely and without interference. Ac- 
 cordingly, whether we look at the faculties excited, or 
 at the ends to which they have been directed, or at the 
 restraints imposed, we find in all human systems a great 
 Avant of adaptation to the nature of man. Excitement^ 
 guidance., restraint., — these are Avhat man needs; and 
 a system Avhich should so combine them as to lead him, 
 in its legitimate influence, to his true perfection and 
 end, Avould be adapted to his Avhole nature. I have 
 already spoken of the poAver of Christianity to excite 
 and to guide some of the principal fiiculties. I noAV 
 proceed to make some observations upon it as a re- 
 straining poAver. 
 
 Efo natural jgrincijfe to he eradicated. — There is no 
 natural principle of action Avhich requires to be eradi- 
 cated, but there are many Avhich require to be directed, 
 subordinated, and restrained. There are principles of 
 our nature, Avhich conduce only to our Avell-being Avhen 
 acting Avithin prescribed limits, Avhich become the source 
 of vice and AVfetchedness Avhen those limits are over- 
 stepped. But* to put the check upon each particular 
 Avheel, precisely at the point at Avhich its motion Avould 
 become too rapid for the movement of the Avhole, re- 
 quires a skill beyond that of man. 
 
LIMITS OF LESTKAIXT. 
 
 157 
 
 The cq^petlies — too much or too little restraint . — To 
 fix, for example, the limits within whieh, for the best 
 interests of the individual and of soeiety, the appetites 
 should be restrained, requires a knowledge of the human 
 frame, and of the relations of soeiety, which no philos- 
 opher, unenlightened by the Bible, has ever shown. I 
 need not say how essential it is to the well-being of any 
 community that these limits should be rightly fixed. 
 If there is too much restraint, society becomes secretly, 
 and often hopelessly, corrupt ; to other sins the guilt 
 of hypocrisy is added, and sanctimonious licentious- 
 ness — the most odious of all its forms — becomes 
 common. If there is too little restraint, vice walks 
 abroad with an unblushing front, and glories in its 
 shame. The state of the ancient heathen world is 
 described by the apostle in the first of Romans. The 
 accuracy of that description is remarkably confirmed 
 by testimony from heathen writers, and, according to 
 the testimony of all impartial travelers, that chapter is 
 true, to the letter, of the heathen of the present day. 
 The tendency of human nature to sensuality, in some 
 form, is so strong that no false religion has ever dared 
 to lay its hand upon it, in all its forms. Mohammed, 
 it is well kijown, did not interfere essentially with the 
 customs of his country in this respect ; and, in fact, all 
 his rcAvards and motives to religious activity were based 
 on an appeal to the sensitive, and not to the rational 
 and spiritual part of man. In instances not a few, the 
 grossest sensuality has been made a part of religion ; 
 and, in almost all cases, the voluptuary has been suffered 
 to remain undisturbed, or has been led to commute, by 
 offerings, for indulgence in vice. 
 
 Ascetic tendency . — Those, on the other hand, who 
 have recognized the higher nature of man, and have 
 felt that there was something noble in the subjugation 
 of the animal part of the frame, have been excessive. 
 14 
 
158 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIAXITY. 
 
 Instencl of regulating the appetites, they have attempted 
 to exterminate them ; and the mass of their follow- 
 ers have been ambitious, corrupt, and hypocritical. 
 ”^^’othing,” says Isaac Taylor, "has been more constant 
 in the history of the human mind, wherever the religious 
 emotions have gained a supremacy over the sensual and 
 sordid passions, than the breaking out of the ascetic 
 temper, in some of its forms ; and most often in that 
 which disguises virtue, now as a spectre, now as a 
 maniac, noAV as a mendicant, now as a slave, but never 
 as the bright daughter of heaven.” 
 
 Sensuality and self-torture. — But not only have men 
 framed systems of religion which allowed of sensual- 
 ity, — not only have they attempted to subdue the 
 animal nature altogether, — they have also ingrafted 
 sensuality upon self-torture. There is in man a sense 
 of guilt ; and, connected with this, the idea has been 
 almost universal that suffering, or personal sacrifice, 
 had, in some way, an efficacy to make atonement for it. 
 Hence the costly offerings of heathen nations to their 
 gods ; hence their bloody rites, the offering up of 
 human victims, and even of their own children. But 
 when once the principle was established that personal 
 suffering could do away sin, then a door was opened 
 for license to sin ; and hence the monstrous, and ap- 
 parently inconsistent spectacle, so often witnessed, of 
 sensuality walking hand in hand with self-torture. 
 
 The Christian method . — In opposition to these cor- 
 ruptions and distortions, how simple, how clearly in 
 accordance with the oriofinal institutions and the evident 
 
 O 
 
 intentions of God, are the principles of Christianity ! 
 Christ assumed no sanctity in indifferent things, such 
 as that by which the Pharisees sought to distinguish 
 themselves. He swept away, without hesitation or 
 compromise, the rabbinical superstitions and slavish 
 
 * Lectures on Spiritual Christianity. 
 
TIIE CHRISTIAN 3IETII0D. 
 
 159 
 
 exactions wliicli had been ingrafted on the Jewish law. 
 He came ” eating and drinking.” He declared that that 
 which entereth into a man doth not defile him. He 
 sanctioned marriage, and gave it an honor and a sacred- 
 ness little known before, .by declaring it an institution 
 of divine origin, which was appointed in the beginning. 
 ”The superiority of the soul to the l)ody was the very 
 IDiirport of his doctrine ; and yet he did not waste the 
 body by any austerities ! The duty of self-denial he 
 perpetually enforced ; and yet he practiced no factitious 
 mortifications ! This teacher, not of abstinence, but of 
 virtue, — this reprover, not of enjoyment, but of vice, — 
 himself went in and out, among the social amenities 
 of ordinary life, with so unsolicitous a freedom as to 
 give color to the malice of hypocrisy in pointing the 
 finger at him, saying, 'Behold a gluttonous man and 
 a wine-bibber ; a friend of publicans and sinners ! ’ ” 
 But, while he did this, he did not yield at all to the 
 prejudices and vices of the age, but forbade all impu- 
 rity, even in thought. The teaching and course of the 
 apostles was marked by the same wisdom. Paul asserts, 
 in relation to meats, that every creature of God is good, 
 and to be received with thanksgiving ; and sa}'s of mar- 
 riage, that it is honorable in all ; while, at the same 
 time, he ranks drunkenness, and gluttony, and impurity, 
 among those sins which will exclude a man from the 
 kingdom of heaven. He was a preacher of temperance, 
 as well as of righteousness and of a judgment to come, 
 and insisted upon that temperance in all things. 
 
 Malevolent and selfish 2'x^^sdons. — Nor are the prohi- 
 bitions and restraints of Christianity laid with less 
 discrimination upon the maleAmlent and selfish passions, 
 — as anger, malice, envy, revenge, of the first; and 
 vanity, pride, and ambition, of the second. These, 
 with the exception of anger, it absolutely prohibits ; 
 
 * Lectures on Spiritual Christianity. 
 
160 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CIIEISTIANITY. 
 
 and it prohibits that, so fiir as it is malevolent. It 
 distinguishes between the holy indignation which must 
 be excited by wickedness, and any mere personal feel- 
 ing, or desire to inflict pain for its own sake ; and hence 
 it speaks of Christ as looking on men "with anger, 
 beinsr sieved for the hardness of their hearts,” and it 
 commands us to " be angry and sin not.” 
 
 To he jproJdbited . — Of the propriety of an absolute 
 prohibition of the malevolent feelings, probably few 
 at this day will doubt. They are dissocial, and are 
 destructive alike of the happiness of him who indulges 
 them and of those against whom they are indulged. It 
 is impossible that a man, in whose breast they bear 
 sway, should be happy ; and, so flir as their influence 
 extends to others, they produce unhappiness of course. 
 We can not conceive of them as entering heaven, which 
 would no longer be heaven if they were there, nor of 
 their having a place in a perfect society on eaidh. 
 
 - Nor, if we analyze them fairly,' can there be more 
 room to doubt the propriety of prohibiting what I have 
 called the selfish passions — as vanity, pride, and ambi- 
 tion. Vanity, notwithstanding the commendation of it 
 by Hume as a virtue, will be condemned by all as 
 weak, if not wicked ; and if we regard pride and 
 ambition as the love of superiority for its own sake, 
 and of ruling over others, we must see that they are 
 both selfish and mischievous. By confounding pride 
 with true dignity, and ambition with the love of excel- 
 lence, some have been led to suppose that these were 
 necessary elements in an efficient and elevated character. 
 But Christianity fully recognizes the distinction between 
 these cpialities ; and while it asserts, flir beyond any 
 other system, the true dignity of man, — while it sets 
 before him the pursuit of an excellence, and the objects 
 of an ambition, which must call forth every energy, 
 though their attainment implies no inferiority on the 
 
DESIRE OF PROPERTY. 
 
 161 
 
 part of others, — it prohibits, and, by its doctrines and 
 very structure, eradicates every selfish element of what 
 are usually called pride and ambition. It is, indeed, a 
 great distinction and glory of Christianity, that its 
 objects of pursuit and its sources of enjoyment are like 
 the sunlight and the air, which are free to all ; and that 
 the highest attainments of one have no tendency to 
 diminish the happiness of others. 
 
 The desire of property . — I mention another strong 
 principle of action — the desire of property, Avhich 
 Christianity regulates wisely. Recognizing the inade- 
 quacy of property to meet the wants of a spiritual 
 being, it prohibits covetousness as idolatry, and exhorts 
 the rich not to trust in uncertain riches, but in the 
 living God. At the same time it forbids indolence, 
 requiring industry and frugality ; and when, by means 
 of these, or by any other means, property is acquired, 
 it commands us to do good, to be "ready to distribute, 
 willing to communicate.” He that stole is to steal no 
 more, but is to labor, working with his hands, that he 
 may have to give to him that needeth. Thus would 
 Christianity transform every lazy, thievish pest of soci- 
 ety into an industrious, useful, and liberal man. It is 
 also worthy of remark how careful Christianity is to 
 guard its ministers against the love of money, and how 
 entirely free it is, as ^ve find it in the New Testament, 
 from holding out any inducement to the people to build 
 up rich and pompous religious establishments. Its 
 ministers are to take the oversight of the flock, not for 
 filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. In instructing both 
 Timothy and Titus whom to ordain, Paul mentions the 
 love of " filthy lucre ” as a disqualification. And while 
 such a motive on the part of the minister is prohibited, 
 and would be contrary to the entire spirit of Chris- 
 tianity, it never speaks of the giving of money to him 
 peculiarly meritorious. It provides for his support, 
 14 ^ 
 
162 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHKISTIANITY. 
 
 and makes provision for that, simply, a common duty. 
 Its exhortations would all lead men to works of general 
 beneficence, — to give to him that needeth, wdioever he 
 may be, — and would thus cause money to become a 
 means of spiritual culture to him who has it, as well as 
 of blessing to him to whom it is given. 
 
 Three remaiTs, — Prohibitions on the source of acts. — 
 I need not speak further of the particular things which 
 Christianity prohibits and regulates. Eespecting them 
 all, three remarks, of much importance, are to be made. 
 The first is, that these prohibitions are laid, not upon 
 the outward act, but, in all cases, upon the spirit or 
 temper from which outward acts spring. Nothing can 
 be more evident than that Christianity legislates for 
 man as a spiritual being, and the subject of a kingdom 
 in which every secret thought is known, and every 
 malicious, and covetous, and impure desire is a crime. 
 This has often been mentioned as a proof of the wis- 
 dom and superiority of the Christian system of morals, 
 because the only possible way of regulating the external 
 act is to regulate the spirit. But, however wise and 
 necessary this might be in a system of morals, it was 
 not adopted by Christianity as a system of morals, but 
 because it recognizes man as a member of a spiritual 
 kingdom, in wliich volition itself is action, and char- 
 acter itself, and not its outward manifestation, is the 
 object of legislation. It is far enough from striking at 
 the principle of wickedness because this is necessary to 
 restrain the outward act ; but because it deals with 
 realities, and not with appearances, and is at w^ar with 
 wickedness itself, which has no existence in act as 
 distinguished from its principle. 
 
 A. religion of principles. — The second remark, inti- 
 mately connected with the first, is, that Christianity, 
 considered as prohibitory, is not a religion of mere 
 precepts, but of principles. "The New Testament,” 
 
NO MERE PROHIBITION. 
 
 163 
 
 says Taylor, ” contains vital principles ; not always 
 defined ; but which, as they are evolved one after 
 another, and are successively brought to bear upon the 
 opinions and manners of Christianized nations, do 
 actually remove from them those flagrant evils which 
 had accumulated in the course of time, and which, so 
 long as they are prevalent, abate very much the reli- 
 jrious sensibilities even of those who are- the most 
 conscientious.” He says, further, "that the New Tes- 
 tament, considered as embodying a system of morals 
 for the world, — a system which is slowly to develop 
 itself, until the human family has been led by it into 
 the path of peace and purity, — effects this great pur- 
 pose, not by prohibiting, in so many words, tlie evils it 
 is at length to abolish, but by putting in movement 
 unobtrusive influences, which nothing, in the end, shall 
 be able to withstand.” * It is thus that Christianity has 
 wrought the revolution in favor of woman ; that it abol- 
 ished the ancient games and gladiatorial contests ; that 
 it has mitigated the horrors of war; that it has, over a 
 large portion of the earth, abolished slavery, and that 
 it is noAv hastening to bring it to a full end. This 
 peculiarity of Christianity gives it a power of expansion, 
 and of adaptation to all circumstances, which fits it for 
 man as mail. 
 
 Prohibits only as it excites and guides , — The third 
 remark is, that Christianity is a system of prohiliition 
 and restraint only as it is a system of excitement and 
 guidanc^. Plainly, there are two kinds of self-denial : 
 the one from fear — formal, slavish, barren; the other 
 from love — blessing the spirit, and strengthening it in 
 virtue. So far as Christianity requires self-denial, it is 
 uniformly and only of this latter kind. It does not call 
 men off from the world, that they may sit sullenly by 
 and envy others the pleasures which they can not share. 
 
 * Lectures on Spiritual Christianity. 
 
164 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY, 
 
 If it calls them at all, it calls them to somethino: higher, 
 purer, nobler, happier. Its self-denial is that of a son 
 who is laboring for the support and comfort of a mother ; 
 of a mother who denies herself that she may educate a 
 son ; of a soldier who is marching on to do battle for 
 liberty ; of a racer who is speeding to the goal. It is 
 the self-denial of the great Howard, traversing Europe, 
 and diving into dungeons to "take the gauge of human 
 misery,” with his heart too much interested in this 
 service to spend much time even to look at the mas- 
 terpieces of art. And who will say that he did not 
 lind a satisfaction higher, and more consonant to his 
 nature, than any work of art could have given? Chris- 
 tianity excludes man from no enjoyment that is com- 
 patible with his highest good. It can not, indeed, 
 reconcile incompatibilities. It can not make a man a 
 soldier on duty, and let him be at the same time 
 enjoying himself by his fireside ; it can not make him 
 a racer, and at the same time permit him to sit dovii 
 at his ease by the side of the course. It does call 
 men to be soldiers, but it is in the army of the Captain 
 of their salvation ; it does make them racers, but it 
 sets before them an immortal crown. Utterly do they 
 misapprehend the religion of Christ who regard it as 
 gloomy and austere — as a system of formal prohibi- 
 tions and restraints. No ; its self-denial is from love. 
 It is a system of prohibition and restraint only as it is 
 a S3"stem of excitement and guidance. Let Christians 
 be fully inspired with the great positive ideas and 
 motives of their religion, and it is impossible there 
 should be in their deportment any thing austere, or 
 sanctimonious, or gloomy, more than there was in the 
 deportment of Christ and of his apostles. It is only 
 under the influence of self-denial from love that the 
 hiR'hest character can be formed. 
 
 Balance of motives. — Nor, in speaking of Christianity 
 
CURISTI^i?^ MAXIIOOD. 
 
 165 
 
 as a system of excitement and restraint, ought we to 
 omit its wonderful balance of motives, and the manner 
 in which every weak point is guarded. Of particular 
 instances of this I have spoken incidentally ; but the 
 system is full of them. Thus, in the case recently 
 mentioned, while a selfish pride is guarded against and 
 destroyed, the true dignity of man is secured ; wdiile 
 the ambition of superiority and comparison is repressed, 
 the ambition of excellence is cherished ; while the 
 deepest reverence toward God is demanded, it is made 
 compatible with an affectionate and filial confidence ; 
 while humility, that virtue so peculiarly Christian, is 
 promoted, there is no approach toward meanness or 
 servility. It is "sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;” it 
 requires active beneficence, yet represses all self-gratu- 
 lation ; it insists strongly on the duties of piety and of 
 devotedness to God, but it excludes mysticism and 
 monachism, by insisting equally upon our duties to 
 man ; it inculcates universal benevolence, but weakens 
 no tie of family or of country. 
 
 Christian manhood and Christian society, — If, then, 
 there is this adaptation of Christianity to man ; if it is 
 adapted to his conscience, his intellect, his affections, 
 his imagination, his will, — exciting and guiding them 
 aright ; if it represses only evil, and that at its source ; 
 if its motives are wonderfully ])alanced, so that the 
 character produced by them would be one of great love- 
 liness and symmetry, — then it Avill follow that it must 
 carry the individual to the highest state of perfection, 
 not simply as a Christian, but as a man.. There are, 
 indeed, manly traits which are not distinctively Chris- 
 tian ; but no man can become a Christian without 
 becoming a better man, or can improve as a Christian 
 without improving in manhood, and the ideal of true 
 manhood will find its completion only in the perfection 
 of the Christian character. And what is thus true of 
 
166 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 tlie individual must, for that very reason, be true of 
 the community. If we may suppose Christianity to 
 have done its work upon all the individuals of a com- 
 inunity, they would be like the stones and the beams 
 prepared by the vmrkmen of Solomon in the mountains, 
 and would be ready to go up into the magnificent temple 
 of a perfect society, without the sound of the ax or 
 the hammer. And, moreover, the same process Avhich 
 would perfect individuals as such, and at the same time 
 fit them to coalesce in an harmonious society here, would, 
 of course, fit them for that perfect state of society 
 which is represented as existing in heaven. In this 
 respect, Christianity commends itself to our reason. 
 It does not, like other religions, care for rites, and 
 forms, and ceremonies, except as they bear upon char- 
 acter. It lays down no arbitrary rules, to the observ- 
 ance of which it offers a reward in the form or on the 
 principle of wages, but it goes to form a definite 
 character ; and Ave can see that the character it forms is 
 precisely such as must be a preparation for the heaven 
 which it promises. It speaks of a holy heaven, and its 
 great object is to make men holy here that they may be 
 fit to enter there. This is its great object; but, in 
 doing this, it Avould bring the individual man, consid- 
 ered as an inhabitant of the earth, to the highest 
 perfection, and Avould adjust, in the best possible 
 manner, the relations of society. 
 
 Would accomj)lish all that can he accomplished, — 
 This is a point upon Avhich I insist that Ave are competent 
 to judge. It is a Autal point to all Avho Avould do any 
 thing to adAuince society beyond its present state. Tre 
 know something of man ; and Ave certainly can tell 
 Avhat AAmiiid be the effects upon the indiAudual, and 
 upon society, if the hiAv laid doAvn in the Bible — the 
 great hiAv of hwe — Avere universally obeyed, and if the 
 principles there insisted on Avere universally regarded. 
 
EXPEPJMEXTAL EVIDENCE. 
 
 167 
 
 •\Ve know what the representation of heaven is, as 
 made in the Bible, and we certainly can tell whether the 
 following of Christ would be a natural and necessary 
 preparation for such a state. My object has been to 
 compare Christianity with the nature of man ; to observe 
 their adjustments to each other, and to see what that 
 nature would become, if yielded wholly to its influence. 
 And if, imperfectly as this has been done, I yet find 
 that the powers of the individual man come forth, in 
 their true strength and proportion, only under its influ- 
 ence ; if I find that there can be no perfect state of 
 society except in accordance with its laws ; if I see that 
 it woidd fit man for a heaven of purity and love, involv- 
 ing the highest activity and fullest expansion of every 
 power, — then I am prepared to say that, if this religion 
 bo not from God, it must yet be true ; and that, if God 
 should reveal a religion, it coidd neither propose nor 
 accomplish any thing higher or better. 
 
 V 
 
 ARGUMENT VI. 
 
 THE EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 I have now brought to a conclusion the argument 
 from a comparison of Christianity with the constitution 
 of man. There is another, usually termed the experi- 
 mental evidence of Christianity, which is intimately 
 connected with this ; for, if this religion is indeed 
 adapted to act thus fully and powerfully upon the mind, 
 it can not but be that he who yields himself to its 
 influence, will find, growing out of that very influence, 
 a deeply-wrought conviction of its wisdom, and of its 
 adaptation to his nature and wants. Of the validity of 
 this argument there have been various opinions. Some 
 have objected to it altogether, as fanatical ; while others 
 have supposed that it might be valid for the Christian 
 himself, but neither ought to be, nor could be, any 
 ground of conviction for another. What, then, is the 
 
168 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTEiNITY. 
 
 nature of this argument? What ought to be its force, 
 first, upon the minds of Christians, and, secondly, upon 
 the minds of others? An answer to these inquiries 
 would exhaust the subject. 
 
 Nature of the argument, — What, then, is the nature 
 of this argument, and the consequent force which it 
 ought to have upon the mind of the Christian himself? 
 The Christian contends that he has a knowledge of 
 Christianity, and a conviction of its truth, which he did 
 not acquire by reasoning, and which, therefore, reason- 
 ing can not, and ought not, to shake. Can he have 
 such a knowledge and conviction in a rational way ? By 
 confounding reasoning with reason, many have been 
 led to suppose that we could have no rational conviction 
 of any thing which we could not prove by reasoning. 
 Than this no mistake could be greater ; for a very large 
 part of our knowledge is neither acquired by reasoning 
 nor dependent on it. This is so with all the intuitions 
 of reason, and with all the knowledge acquired by 
 sensation and by experience. The very condition of 
 knowledge at all is a direct power of perception ; and 
 where this does not exist, there can be no reasoning. 
 Thus, no one can know what it is to live, Init by living ; 
 what it is to see, but by seeing ; what it is to feel, but 
 by feeling ; nor, in general, can any one know what it 
 is to he any thing, but by becoming that thing. Direct 
 knowledge, thus gained, is the condition of all reason- 
 ing, and it is not within the proper province of reasoning 
 to call it in question. The knowledge is not gained by 
 reasoning, but it is in the highest degree rational to 
 admit it and act upon it. The question is, whether 
 there is a knowledge of Christianity which is obtained 
 in this way ; whether, in order to be a Christian, a man 
 is simply to believe something, or whether he is to 
 become something. 
 
 Essential to the system , — And here I observe that, 
 
EXPERIENCE THE TEST OF REMEDIES. 
 
 169 
 
 if Christianity be true, there must be such a knowledge. 
 It claims to be, not a mere system of rites and forms, 
 nor a system of philosophical belief, but a life; and, 
 if so, that life can be known only by living it; if so, 
 there must be gained, by living it, immediate percep- 
 tions and experimental knowledge, such as we gain by 
 living our natural life. Without these it would be 
 merely a form, or a creed in the understanding, or an 
 external rule — something dead and formal ; and not as 
 ”a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” 
 Without these, it is impossible that the words of Christ 
 should be spirit and life.” "f" 
 
 Moral and ]^liysieal maladies. — The analogy is often 
 drawn in this respect, and, so far as I can see, properly, 
 between Christianity, as a remedy for the moral mala- 
 dies of man, and remedies for bodily disease. It is 
 plain that he who takes a remedy for bodily disease 
 may have an evidence and conviction of its efficacy 
 entirely independent of any testimony or reasoning, 
 and more convincing than either or both of these could 
 give. He may try the remedy in such a variety of 
 forms, may so watch the symptoms as he takes or omits 
 it, that he can have no more doubt of its effect than he 
 has of the rising and setting of the sun. Here is some- 
 thing which comes within the province of consciousness 
 and of direct knowledge, and it is in vain that you 
 attempt to destroy a conviction thus produced. You 
 may tell him that he is not sick, and never was ; that 
 the dose was minute, or the medicine inert, and 
 therefore could not have done him any good ; but he 
 may have had experience of such a kind that it would 
 be practically irrational, and the height of folly, for 
 him to lay aside his medicine on the ground of any 
 reasoning, or previous estimate of probabilities. And 
 so, when the mind is awakened to the realities of its 
 'spiritual condition, if, as the conscience is quickened 
 15 
 
170 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTLINITY. 
 
 and tlie moral eye is purged, it is perceived that there 
 is a wonderful correspondence hetAveen the discoveries 
 which a man makes concerning himself and the delinea- 
 tions of the heart Avhich he finds in the Bible ; if this 
 correspondence is the same in kind Avith that AAdiich he 
 finds in the Avritings of those Avho have best described 
 human character, but is more perfect ; if it is such that 
 an uncultivated man, to Avhom the Bible becomes a ncAV 
 book, may Avell say, as one recently did say, ” I see 
 noAV that a man’s history may be Avritten before he Avas 
 born ; ” if he finds in himself Avants, hunge rings and 
 thirstings of spirit, for AA^hich Christianity, and nothing 
 else, makes provision, and feels that that provision is 
 precisely adapted to his Avants ; if he finds himself 
 engaged in a conflict for AAdiich Christianity furnishes 
 the only appropriate armor ; if he obtains ansAvers to 
 prayer, and finds grace to help in time of need, so that 
 his evil tendencies are overcome and his virtues are 
 strengthened, — then it Avould be no more rational for 
 him to doubt the truth of the Christian religion than 
 to doubt the testimony of his senses. Of such corre- 
 spondences betAveen his heart and the Bible, of such 
 Avants and their supplies, of such helps and of such 
 conquests, Ave might naturally suppose the Christian 
 would have an experimental knoAvledge, if Christianity 
 be true ; and I venture to say that no religion could 
 do for man Avhat Christianity proposes to do Avithout 
 furnishing to those under its influence this kind of 
 evidence. 
 
 Christianity promises it, — And not only might we 
 rationally expect such a ground of conviction, but 
 Christianity itself, understanding its OAvn nature and 
 the grounds on Avhich it Avould be believed in, promises 
 to give it to all AAdio Avill put themselves in a position 
 to avail themselves of it. ”If any man,” says Christ, 
 ”Avill do his Avill, he shall knoAV of the doctrine.” 
 
Tins EVIDENCE OPEN TO ALL. 
 
 171 
 
 He,” says John, that believetli on the Son of God, 
 hath the witness in himself.” ”The Spirit itself,” says 
 Paul, "beareth witness with our spirit that we are the 
 children of God.” This evidence Christianity regards 
 as indispensable. It counts itself to have done nothing 
 till this is given. Till then, it is like the physician 
 who stands by the bedside and exhibits the evidences 
 of his skill, but accomplishes nothing, if the patient so 
 dislikes the remedy that he prefers to suffer the pain, 
 and risk the consequences of the disease, rather than 
 to take that remedy. Here, indeed, is the great point 
 of difficulty. It is not so much that men are not spec- 
 ulatively convinced of the truth of Christianity, as that 
 they defer applying it to themselves, and thus fail of 
 the highest of all possible grounds of conviction — that 
 of experience. 
 
 Possessed by all Christians . — And as this evidence 
 might be anticipated from the nature of the case, and 
 is promised in the Scriptures, so we find it possessed 
 by all true Christians, though in a degree by no means 
 proportioned to their learning or talents, but to the 
 sincerity of their faith and the fullness of their obe- 
 dience. Hence, unlike those species of evidence Avhich 
 require learning, it is open to all, and forms, for Chris- 
 tians of every age and of every variety of attainment, 
 a ground of conviction, which they do not perhaps state 
 as an argument, but which is rational, and satisfactory 
 to all. To the philosopher it is satisfactory, because 
 he can trace it up to its principles, and can feel that, in 
 resting on it, he is resting on precisely the same kind 
 of evidence which commands assent in all other cases 
 of consciousness ; and it is not less satisfactory to the 
 unlettered man through that healthy assent, unaccom- 
 panied l)y any reflex act of the mind, by which we gain 
 all our primary knowledge. "^lerely literary men,” 
 says Wilson, taking the thought from Yerplanck, "are 
 
172 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 slow to admit that vulgar minds can have any rational 
 perception of truths involving great and high contem- 
 plation. They overlook the distinction between the 
 nice analysis of principles, the accurate statement of 
 dehnitions, logical inferences, and the solution of diffi- 
 culties, and the structure of our oivn thoughts and thejAay 
 of the affections. They discern not between the theory 
 of metaphysical science and the first truths and rational 
 instincts which arc implanted in the breasts of all, and 
 which prepare them to see the glory of the gospel, to 
 feel its influence, and to argue from both for the divinity 
 of Christianity. The one is an elevating employment 
 of the intellect ; the other, the germs and seeds of all 
 intellectual and moral knowledge, which lie dormant 
 till they are called forth by occasions, and then burst 
 forth into life and power.”* 
 
 ^ Ground of martyrdom. — And this evidence, being 
 thus universal, shows us the true reason of that hold 
 which Christianity has upon the minds of men, and of 
 the place which it holds in the earth as a leavening and 
 extending power. It is through this that the weak are 
 made strong and the timid brave ; that persons of every 
 description have become martyrs, equally in the first 
 
 ’ freshness and power of the religion, and near the seat 
 of its origin, and, in these last days, in the remote 
 island, and among the semi-barbarous people, of Mada- 
 gascar. I know it is said that all religions can claim 
 their martyrs, and that for a man to die for his religion 
 only shows that he is sincere, and not at all the truth 
 of the religion. But it seems to me that the Christian 
 religion is peculiar in this respect, on the ground we 
 arc now considering, and that its martyrdoms do show 
 something more. As between Christian sects, martyr- 
 dom can, indeed, show nothing concerning the truth of 
 particular tenets ; and it may be doubted whether other 
 
 * Wilson’s Evidences. 
 
CHRISTIANITY AND MARTYRDOM. 
 
 173 
 
 religions have had their martyrs, in the strict sense of 
 that Avord. In confirmation of Avhat other religion can 
 it he shoAvn that any considerable number of persons 
 have laid doAvn their lives solely from their belief in the 
 religion, unconnected with ambition, or the revolution 
 of parties? I know of none. What other religion 
 could go to the Island of Madagascar, and, not only 
 Avithout any temptation of honor or gain, but in oppo- 
 sition to every motive of this kind, and to the entreaties 
 of friends, could induce persons to change their religion, 
 and then lead them, solely for the sake of the neAV 
 religion, to Avander al)out destitute, afflicted, tormented, 
 and finally to lay doAvn their lives ? And here avc see 
 only the operation of^the same principle that led per- 
 sons of all descriptions, under the Roman emperors, 
 to submit to the loss of all, and to martyrdom. Such 
 martyrs, — the most enlightened philosophers and schol- 
 ars, multitudes of the common people, Avomen, and even 
 children, evidently upheld by the same convictions, — 
 I contend, are peculiar to the Christian religion. The 
 history of the AAmrld can shoAV nothing like them ; and 
 AAdioever Avill consider them candidly, must confess that 
 they shoAV, not merely the sincerity of those Avho suf- 
 fered, but the adaptation of the religion to take a deep 
 hold of the human mind, and its poAver to produce 
 conviction, in the manner of Avhich I am noAV speaking. 
 In this poAver AA^e rejoice. We point it out to the 
 infidel. We say to him that, as long as this poAver 
 remains, his Avuirfare against Christianity must l)e in vain. 
 We tell him that he may argue, may ridicule, may scoff ; 
 Jnay think, Avith the mild Pliny, that ” such inveterate 
 obstinacy ought to be punished ; ” and he may persecute 
 and kill ; — but that he can never cause the true Chris- 
 tian to yield his faith, or prevent the Avorking of those 
 secret but mighty affinities by Avdiich he becomes more 
 attached to it than to kindred, or Avealth, or life. 
 
174 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITr. 
 
 Satisfactory to Christians. — If, then, this evidence 
 is of a nature so unexceptionable ; if. it is promised in 
 the Scriptures ; if we find such evidence of it in the 
 lives of Christians, — we may well conclude that it 
 must be, to them., a rational and satisfactory ground of 
 conviction that the religion is true. 
 
 Should he to others . — Hut the unbeliever may say, 
 This may be all very well for the Christian himself, but 
 it can be no evidence to me. Let us see, then, whether 
 it would be no evidence to 'a candid man ; whether an 
 attempt is not made in this, as in so many other cases, 
 to judge of religion in a way and by a standard differ- 
 ent from those adopted in other things. To me it 
 seems that the simple question is, whether this kind of 
 evidence is good for the Christian himself; for if it is, 
 then the candid inquirer is as much bound to take- his 
 testimony as he is to take that of a man who has been 
 sick, respecting a remedy that has cured him. If a 
 large number of persons, whose testimony would be 
 received on any other subject, should say that they had 
 been cured of a fever by a particidar remedy, there is 
 no man who would say that their testimony was of no 
 account in making iq) his mind respecting that remedy, 
 though he had not himself had the experience upon 
 which the testimony was founded. If it is said that the 
 evidence to the Christian himself is not well founded, 
 and is fanatical, very well. Let that point be fairly 
 settled. But if it be a good argument for him, then we 
 ask that his testimony should be received on this subject 
 as it would be on any other. The testimony is that of 
 many witnesses ; and I am persuaded that a fair exami- 
 nation of facts, and a careful induction, after the manner 
 of Bacon, would settle forever the validity of this argu- 
 ment, and the proper force of this testimony. Every 
 circumstance conspires to give it force. It is only from 
 its truth that we can account for its surprising uniformit}^, 
 
IDENTITY OF CIiraSTIAN EXPEDIENCE. 
 
 175 
 
 I may say identity, in eveiy age, in every country, and | 
 Avhen given by persons of every variety of talent and of j 
 mental culture. Compare the statements given, respect- I 
 ing the power of the gospel, by Jonathan Edwards, by ^ 
 a converted Greenlander, a Sandwich Islander, and a 
 Hottentot, and you Avill find in them all a sul)stantial 
 identity. They have all repented, and believed, and 
 loved, and obeyed, and rejoiced ; they all speak of 
 similar conflicts, and of similar supports. And their 
 statements respecting these things have the more force, 
 because they are not given as testimony, but seem 
 rather like notes, varying, indeed, in fullness and power, 
 which may yet be recognized as coming from a similar 
 instrument touched by a single hand. If I might allude 
 here to the comparison, by Christ, of the Spirit to the 
 wind, I should say that in every climate, and under all 
 circumstances, that divine Agent calls forth the same 
 sweet notes whenever he touches the ^Eolian harp of a 
 soul reneAved. And this uniform testimony does not 
 come as a naked expression of mere feeling; it is 
 accompanied Avith a change of life, and AAuth fruits meet 
 for repentance, shoAving a permanent change of princi- 
 ple. This testimony, too, is giA^en under circumstances 
 best fitted to .secure truth — given in affliction, in pov- 
 erty, on the bed of death. Hoav many, hoAv A^ery many, 
 have testified in their final hour to the sustaining poAA^er 
 of the gospel ! And Avas there ever one, did any body 
 ever hear of one, Avho repented, at that hour, of having 
 been a Christian? Why not, then, receive this testi- 
 mony? Will you make your OAvn exp.erience the 
 standard of AAdiat you Avill believe? Then Ave invite 
 you to become a Christian, and gain this experience. 
 Will you be like the man aaAio did not believe in the 
 existence of Jupiter’s moons, and yet refused to look 
 through the telescope of Galileo for fear he should see 
 them? Put the eye of faith to the gospel, and if you 
 
176 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTLVNITY. 
 
 do not see new moral heavens, I have nothing more to 
 say. Will you refuse to believe that there is an echo 
 at a particular spot, to believe that the lowest sound 
 can be conveyed around the circuit of a whispering 
 gallery, and yet refuse to put your ear at the proper 
 point to test these facts? Put your ear to the gospel, 
 and if you do not hear voices gathered from three 
 worlds, I have nothing more to say. Will you refuse 
 to believe that the colors of the rainbow are to be seen 
 in a drop of water, and yet not put your eye at the 
 angle at which alone they can be seen? Or, if you 
 think there is nothing analogous to this in moral mat- 
 ters, — as there undoubtedly i is, — will you hear men 
 speaking of the high enjoyment they derive from view- 
 ing works of art, and think them deluded and fanatical 
 till your taste is so cultivated that you may have the 
 same enjoyment ? Surely, nothing can be more unrea- 
 sonable than for men to make their OAvn experience, in 
 such cases, a standard of belief, and yet refuse the 
 only conditions on which experience can be had. 
 
 Conclusion. — I have thus endeavored to show, first, 
 that there is in Christianity a self-evidencing power, 
 and that the experimental knoAvledge of a Christian is 
 to him a valid ground of belief ; and, secondly, that a 
 fair-minded man will receive his testimony respecting 
 that knoAvledge as he would respecting the colors in a 
 drop, or the echo at a particular point, or the pleasures 
 of taste, or any other experience which he had not 
 himself been in a position to gain. 
 
 augujMent VII. ^ 
 
 FITNESS AND TENDENCY OF CHRISTIANITY TO BECOME UNIVERSAL. 
 
 There is one argument more, intimately connected 
 with the adaptation of Christianity to the constitu- 
 tion of man, to which I now proceed. A fitness and 
 
OBJECT OF CIirJSTIANITY.- 
 
 177 
 
 tendency to become universal must be disceniible in a 
 religion coming from God, and claiming to be given 
 for the race ; and if there is the adaptation for which I 
 have contended, then Christianity must have this fitness 
 and tendency. 
 
 What it is not — its object as related to human insti- 
 tutions. — The fitness, however, of Christianity to 
 become universal, arises as much from what it is not 
 as from what it is, and can be fully appreciated only 
 by looking at the relation of its object to all human 
 institutions. That object is a moral object, with no 
 taint of any thing earthly about it ; and, in pursuing 
 it, Christianity keeps itself entirely aloof from all polit- 
 ical and local questions. It regards man solely as a 
 moral and spiritual being, under the government of 
 God ; and its object, distinctly announced from the 
 first, is to save men from the consequences of trans- 
 gression under that government. ” Ilis name shall bo 
 called Jesus,” said the angel, "for he . shall save his 
 people their sins ;'^ — not from the Roman yoke — ■ 
 not primarily from any earthly evil — but from their 
 sins. Upon this one object Christianity steadily keeps 
 its eye. The Son of man came "to seek and to save 
 that Avhich was lost.” It is simply a system of salvation 
 from sin, and its consequences under the government 
 of God ; and whatever may be his age, or language, or 
 country, or the form of government under which ho 
 lives, it is equally adapted to every child of Adam who 
 is led to ask the question, "What must I do to be 
 saved?” It comes with pardon and hope to every one 
 who feels the guilt of sin, or who is subject to bondage 
 through fear of death. There are certain great moral 
 interests which are common to the race, — certain 
 chords in the human heart which vibrate whenever 
 the}' are struck ; and it is remarkable that Christianity 
 concerns itself only with those interests, and strikes 
 
178 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 only those chords. It has to do with individuals as 
 guilty under the government of God, without respect 
 to their earthly relations ; and hence it has the power 
 to enter in as a new element, and to pervade and en- 
 lighten every form of society, as the sunlight enters 
 into and pervades the body of the atmosphere. Hence, 
 ’ in its original diffusion, regarding man simply as man, 
 it swept as freely as the breeze of heaven past all terri- 
 torial and national limits. All other religions are 
 adapted to particular climates ; are upheld, like that 
 of the Jews, by association with particular places ; but, 
 since Christ has entered into the true tabernacle above, 
 incense and a pure offering may go up from every place. 
 All other religions are connected with the government, 
 and we have no evidence that without such connection 
 they could be sustained. But ” Christianity, as a spir- 
 itual system, is always superior to every visible insti- 
 tution.” Some systems and institutions may oppose 
 .greater obstacles to its progress than others ; but none 
 can become Christianity, nor can they do any thing for 
 it except to give it free scope to do its own work upon 
 individual character. It is not monarchy, it is not 
 democracy, it is not Episcopacy, it is not Congregation- 
 alism ; it is something which may pervade and bless 
 society where any of those exist, and which may be 
 withdraAvn and leave either of these standing as an 
 organization through which human passion and corrup- 
 tion shall work out their own unmixed and unmitigated 
 effects. PIcnee, too, Christianity attacks no visible 
 institutions as such. It goes to the slave, and tells 
 him he is the Lord’s freedman ; it goes to the master, 
 and tells him he is Christ’s servant. It tells both master 
 and slave that they are brethren. It goes to the king, 
 and tells him he is the sul)jcct of a higher power ; it 
 goes to the subject, and tells him he may become a 
 king and priest to God. It raises all men to the level 
 
MODE OF WORKING. 
 
 179 
 
 of a, common immortality ; it depresses them all to the 
 level of a common sinfulness and exposure ; it subjects 
 all to a common accountability ; it offers to all a com- 
 mon saivation ; it proposes to all a law of perfect equity 
 and a principle of universal love ; and then it leaves 
 these principles and motives to work their own effect 
 — assured that, in proportion as they act, they must 
 change the nature, if not the name, of all visible insti- 
 tutions opposed to its spirit. It is capable of taking 
 human organizations, as culture took the peach when it 
 was dwarfed and its fruit was poisonous, and of caus- 
 ing other juices and vital fluids to circulate through the 
 pores of those same organizations, and far other fruit 
 to hang upon their branches. It understands perfectly 
 that no change of form is of any permanent value with- 
 out a change of spirit ; and seeks (and oh that men 
 would learn this lesson !) a change of fonn only 
 through a change of spirit. Hence it works like leaven, 
 that passes on from particle to particle, and finds no 
 limit till the whole lump is leavened. Hence, too, I 
 may remark here, Christianity is the most fomiidable 
 of all foes to tyrants and to every form of oppression. 
 Ko walls, or fortifications, or armed legions, can keep 
 it out, and no weapon can smite it. Working silently 
 upon the consciences of men, it is impossible to say 
 where it is, or to what extent, and the opposer knows 
 not where to strike. The very executioner chosen by 
 persecution offers himself to die with the martyr ; and 
 when it is supposed that the two witnesses are dead, 
 and there is great rejoicing, they suddenly rise and 
 stand upon their feet. 
 
 Positive adaptations. — But the fitness of Christianity 
 to become universal does not result from any proper- 
 ties merely negative, nor from the possibility of its 
 becoming so ; but from all those adaptations by which 
 it appears that it contains the moral laws of God, and 
 
180 
 
 EVIDE^XES OF CIIEISTIAXITY. 
 
 lays down the only conditions of individual and social 
 well-being. Of some of these adaptations I have 
 spoken; and, for my present purpose, it can not be 
 necessary that I should speak further, because, what- 
 ever men may think of the divine origin of Christianity, 
 — however fur they may be from yielding practically 
 to its claims, — they almost universally concede that its 
 tendency is good, and that society is improved just so 
 far as it prevails. This is conceded by philosophers, 
 and politicians, and men of the world; and, with the 
 exception of a few of the lowest and most bigoted of 
 them, by infidels themselves. They can not deny its 
 tendency to promote industry, and honesty, and tem- 
 perance, and peace, and good order. And, if this is 
 so, then Christianity has a positive fitness to become 
 universal in the same way that any truth or practical 
 knowledge has ; and, if there is ever to be any thing 
 like universal order, it must take its place as a part 
 of it. 
 
 If fitness^ then tendency. — But, if there is this 
 ness in Christianity to l)ecome universal, then it must 
 have a tendency to become so, or else there is neither a 
 tentlency to progress, nor a law of progress, for man. 
 The whole of our hope here rests on the belief that 
 there is inwrought into the constitution of things a 
 tendency by which those things that have a fitness to 
 promote happiness shall gradually remove obstacles, 
 and become universal. That the Saviour intended his 
 religion should become universal is plain, because he 
 left it in charge to his disciples to preach it to every 
 creature. That a real apprehension of its truths, and 
 of their value to the race, would lead a benevolent 
 mind to wish to communicate them, is equally idain ; 
 and hence we say that, from the command of Christ, 
 and from the , very nature of Christian truth and of 
 Christian motives, Christians themselves ciiii never rest 
 
TENDENCY TO TREVAIL. 
 
 181 
 
 till they have carried this gospel over the earth. But 
 we say, further than this, that Christianity has the same 
 tendency to i^revail that reason has to prevail over 
 brute force, or that virtue has to prevail over vice, or 
 truth over error, — the same tendency that correct doc- 
 trines respecting peace, or justice, or political economy, 
 have to prevail over those that are false. Man is 
 capable of scientific insight, and he seeks to be happy. 
 There arc certain moral laws of God, as fixed and 
 unchangeable as any physical laws, in accordance with 
 which alone he can be so. Those laws, we say, are a 
 part of Christianity, and that all true progress in society 
 must be a progress toward the realization and estab- 
 lishment of those laws. We say that every step in the 
 progress of moral and political science shows that, when 
 these shall be complete, they will be seen to be only the 
 scientific expression of the precepts and laws of Chris- 
 tianity. Hence there is the same tendency to univer- 
 sality in Christianity, — not as a mode of salvation, but 
 in its earthly aspects, — that there is to any advancement 
 and progress in morals, or in politics, or in political 
 economy. The true laws of these, and of human, hap- 
 l^iness as depending on them, will be found to be iden- 
 tical with the spirit of 'Christianity, and they can never 
 be practically applied except as that spirit prevails. 
 
 Conclusion . — Thus we see a preparation made, in 
 the adaptation of Christianity to the nature and wants 
 of man as man ; in the command of Christ ; in the na- 
 ture of Christian love and of Christian motives ; and in 
 the identity of Christianity, in some of its aspects, with 
 moral and political science, for that final and universal 
 triumph predicted by the prophets and waited for by 
 the church ; and through these, in connection with that 
 divine aid which is promised and has never been with- 
 held, we think it rational to expect, not only that it 
 will be perpetuated till the end of time, but that 'Hhe 
 16 
 
182 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 mountain of the Lord’s house will be established in the 
 top of the mountains, and that all nations will flow 
 unto it.” 
 
 ARGUMENT VIII. 
 
 CHRISTIANITY HAS ALWAYS BEEN IN THE WORLD. 
 
 Having thus spoken of the continuance of Christian- 
 ity till the end of time, I will close this lecture by 
 observing that, in substance, if not in form, it has con- 
 tinued from the beginning. That it should have been 
 always in the world, is mentioned by Pascal as the 
 mark of a religion from God. It is a mark which we 
 might expect would belong to the true religion, and 
 this mark Christianity, and that alone, has. The pa- 
 triarchal, the Jewish, and the Christian dispensations, 
 are evidently but the unfolding of one general plan. 
 In the first we see the folded bud ; in the second, the 
 expanded leaf ; in the third, the blossom and the fruit. 
 And now, how sublime the idea of a religion thus com- 
 mencing in the earliest dawn of time ; holding on its 
 way through all the revolutions of kingdoms and the 
 vicissitudes of the race ; receiving new forms, but always 
 identical in spirit ; and, finally, expanding and embra- 
 cing in one great brotherhood the whole family of man ! 
 Who can doubt that such a religion was from God ? 
 
LECTUKE VII. 
 
 ARGUMENT NINTH : CHRISTIANITY COULD NOT HAVE BEEN ORI- 
 GINATED BY MAN. 
 
 If we could possibly be called on to argue the ques- 
 tion whether the ocean was made by God, or whether 
 it was an artificial salt lake, made by man, we should 
 show, on the one hand, that it was worthy of God, and 
 that it corresponded with his other works ; and, on the 
 other, that it was impossible it should have been made 
 by man. Every fact respecting its vastness and depth 
 would show that it was worthy of God, and every rela- 
 tion that could be pointed out between that and the 
 other works of God would be an argument to show 
 that they were fashioned by the same hand. Probably 
 no one could see the sun evaporating its waters, the 
 atmosphere bearing them up in clouds, the clouds pour- 
 ing them down upon the waiting tribes of vegetation, 
 the springs welling them up for the service of animals 
 and of man, without being convinced that He who made 
 the sun, and the air, and the grass, and the animals, 
 and man, made also the ocean. Such relations of 
 mutual dependence could exist only in the dififerent 
 departments of the works of one Being. 
 
 Method of the argument, — Hitherto, I have endeav- 
 ored to show that Christianity was worthy of God, and 
 that it so corresponds with his other works, that He 
 
 ( 183 ) 
 
184 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 ■who made nature, and the mind, must have been the 
 author of Christianity. I now proceed to show that it 
 could not have been produced by man. It may, per- 
 haps, amount to the same thing, whether I attempt to 
 show that Christianity must have come from God, or 
 could not have come from man ; but as the terms of 
 comparison are different, it will lead to a presenta- 
 tion of the subject in an entirely different point 
 of view. 
 
 Ueason for continuing it. — I continue to pursue this 
 method of proof, bringing Christianity, in different 
 relations, alongside of the human mind, because it is 
 perfectly within the reach of every person of good 
 sense, whether learned or unlearned. We know the 
 capacities of the human mind, and we are capable of 
 forming, within certain limits, a judgment, respecting 
 what it can or can not do, upon which we may rely. 
 The powers of the mind are limited no 1-ess than those 
 of the body; and as we can judge what man can do, in 
 given circumstances, by his physical strength, and, in 
 some cases, be sure we are right, so we can judge what 
 he can do intellectually and morally, in given circum- 
 stances, and, in some cases, be sure we are right. The 
 question, then, is, whether it is possible that the human 
 mind should have originated the Christian system, 
 under the circumstances in which it was placed. Had 
 unassisted man the capacity to originate such a system? 
 Was there any motive to lead him to labor for its estab- 
 lishment? Upon this point I have already incidentally 
 touched, but it requires further attention. 
 
 Christianity to he accounted for. — And here I 
 observe, that the question concerning the origin of 
 Christianity can not be disposed of by a general refer- 
 ence to the facility with which mankind are deluded, 
 and the frequency of impostures in the world. This may 
 
CHEISTIAISTITY AND THE GULF-STREAM. 
 
 185 
 
 do when speaking of the origin of local and temporary 
 movements, but not when we approach the deepest and 
 mightiest movement that has appeared on the earth. 
 It is admitted that delusions are not uncommon ; that 
 fanaticism, and enthusiasm, and interest, and fraud, 
 and, possibly, all these combined, may go a great way; 
 but is it possible that any thing thus originated should 
 overturn systems the most deeply seated, and receive 
 the homage of the highest intellect and of the most 
 extensive learning the world has ever seen, and gain 
 vigor by opposition, and survive, for eighteen hundred 
 years, every change in the forms of society, and, at the 
 end of that time, stand at the head of those influences 
 which arc leading mankind on to a higher destiny? 
 For such a religion, or delusion, or movement, to arise, 
 is not an every-day occurrence. It is altogether unpre- 
 cedented in the history of the race ; and to put aside 
 the question of its origin by telling us that mankind are 
 easily deceived, is much the same as it would be to put 
 aside the question about the origin of the Gulf Stream 
 by telling us that water is an element very easily moved 
 in different directions.. Certainly, water is a fluctuating 
 and unstable element ; but to say this, is not to account 
 for a broad current in mid ocean that has been uniform 
 since time began ; nor is it any account of a uniform 
 current of thought and feeling, setting in one direction 
 for eighteen hundred years, to say that the human mind 
 is fluctuating and unstable ; that man has been often 
 deceived ; and that there have been great extravagances 
 in belief. The origin of such a movement is to be 
 investigated, and not to be shrouded in mist. The New 
 Testament gives a full and satisfactory account of it ; 
 and it behooves those who do not receive that account, 
 to substitute some other that shall, at least, be plausi- 
 ble. This they have failed to do. 
 
 Five causes of Gibbon . — Perhaps no one was more 
 
 . 16 *. 
 
18G 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHKISTIANITY. 
 
 competent to do this, or has been more successful, than 
 Gibbon ; and yet the five causes which he assigns for 
 the spread of Christianity — namely, ” the zeal of 
 Christians,” ” their doctrine of a future life,” "the mi- 
 raculous poAvers ascribed to the primitive church,” 
 
 their pure and austere morals,” and "their union” — 
 are obviously effects of that very religion of Avhich they 
 are assigned as the cause. 
 
 Must be from God. — To me, when I look at this 
 religion, taking its point of departure from the earliest 
 period in the history of the race ; when I see it anal- 
 ogous to nature; Avhen I see it comprising all that 
 natural religion teaches, and introducing a ncAv system 
 in entire harmony Avith it, but Avhich could not have 
 been deduced from it ; Avhen I see it commending itself 
 to the conscience of man, containing a perfect code of 
 morals, meeting all his moral AA^ants, and imbosoming 
 the only true principles of economical and political 
 science ; AAdien I sec in it the best possilffe system of 
 excitement and restraint for all the fiiculties ; AAdien I see 
 hoAv simple it is in its principle, and yet in hoAV many 
 thousand Avays it mingles in Avith human affairs, and 
 modifies them for good, so that it is adapted to become 
 universal ; Avhen I see it giving an account of the ter- 
 mination of all things, Avorthy of God and consistent 
 with reason ; — to me, AAdien I look at all these things, 
 it no more seems possible that the system of Christian- 
 ity should have been originated or sustained by man, 
 than it docs that the ocean should have been made by 
 him. These considerations, hoAvever, have been ad- 
 duced to elucid.ate that phase of the argument by Avhich 
 it Avas intended to sIioav that the religion must have 
 come from God ; and I shall not further aj^ply them 
 here except as — 
 
 - Cci rdinalj)oints tciken for granted. — I observe, that 
 the more Ave examine the state of opinions among the 
 
END PROrOSED BY CHRISTLiJ^ITY. 
 
 187 
 
 »Tcws, or among the surrounding nations, at the time 
 Christianity arose, the greater will be oiir surprise that 
 it should be what it is, respecting almost all those car- 
 dinal points which it does not so much reveal as take 
 for granted. Such are the unity and spirituality of 
 God, his holy character, the spirituality of his worship, 
 his paternal relation to us, the doctrine of a resurrec- 
 tion and of human accountability. The most of these 
 doctrines are not so much systematically taught, as 
 implied, in Christianity ; and they are not only consist- 
 ent with reason, but are essential as conditions to the 
 end which Christianity proposes to itself. ^ ^ 
 
 End impossible to an enthusiast. — And this leads 
 me to observe, that the end proposed by Christianity, 
 distinctly announced from the first, and perseveringly 
 adhered to, was one Avhich could not have been adopted 
 either by an enthusiast or an impostor. In the very first 
 annunciation of the gospel, it Avas said l^y the angel, 
 Thou shalt call his name Jesus ; for he shall save his 
 people from their sins.” Christ himself said that he 
 came ”to seek and to saA^e that Avhich Av^as lost” — 
 "that the Avorld through him might bo saved.” Peter 
 calls upon men to " repent, and be baptized in the name 
 of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and, again, 
 to "repent and bo converted, that their sins may be 
 blotted out.” Nothing can be plainer than that the 
 great end of Christianity is to deliver men from the 
 poAA^er and the consequenees of sin under the government 
 of God. With the light Avhich Ave noAV have, Ave can 
 see that the object of a religion from God must be to 
 correct the state of the heart ; but this object could 
 never have been adopted by enthusiasm. It is not of 
 a character to aAvaken enthusiasm, for it implies a recog- 
 nition of guilt, and, moreover, it involves a clear per- 
 ception of the deepest and most fundamental truth on 
 Avhich the reformation of the Avorld depends. Before 
 
188 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CIimSTIANITY. 
 
 the miseries of the world can he removed, their cause 
 must be known; and this shows an insight into the 
 cause of human wretchedness such as we find nowhere 
 else. Men are unhappy, perhaps wretched, and they 
 impute it to fate, to others, to the want of wealth or 
 of external advantages, or to the constitution of society ; 
 but Christianity takes it for granted that sin, moral 
 guilt, is the true cause, the cause of all the other 
 causes, of the unhappiness of man; and that, in saving 
 him from this, it saves him from every thing that a 
 rational being has to fear. And is not this so ? Does 
 not man bring upon himself, by his sins, the greater 
 j)art of the evils which he suffers ? Eemove war, and 
 the fear of it ; remove dishonesty of every kind ; re- 
 move indolence, and intemperance, and licentiousness, 
 and envy, and detraction, and revenge, and pride, and 
 a selfish ambition, — and let the virtues opposite to 
 these reign ; remove, also, those apprehensions and 
 terrors of conscience, and that fear of death, which 
 come in consequence of sin, — and this world would 
 become comparatively a paradise. Christianity, then, 
 strikes at the true cause of all the miseries of man. 
 Instead of endeavoring to check or control particular 
 streams of evil, it goes at once to the fountain whence 
 all those streams flow, and would seal that up forever. 
 To my mind, nothing can be clearer than that moral 
 evil is the true cause of the miseries of the world ; but 
 can this deep, and sober, and philosophical view of the 
 cause of human misery, and an attempt to remove it, 
 be the product of enthusiasm? Of all feelings, a con- 
 sciousness of guilt is that which most represses enthu- 
 siasm. An enthusiast, therefore, could not come to 
 those only who would acknowledge themselves guilty, 
 and call them to the unwelcome duty of repentance, 
 and of renouncing cherished indulgences and habits. 
 He could not say, ” They that are whole need not a 
 
END IMPOSSIBLE TO AN IMPOSTOR. 
 
 189 
 
 physician, hut they that are sick ; ” ” I am not come to 
 call the righteous, hut sinners, to repentance.” 
 
 Or an impostor . — But if such an object could not 
 have been selected by an enthusiast, much less could it 
 have been by an impostor. An impostor must have a 
 personal and selfish motive ; but suppose this object 
 gained, of what advantage would it be to him? Is it 
 not a contradiction to suppose an impostor to call upon 
 men to repent of all sin, when, in the very act of thus 
 calling upon them, ho is guilty of one of the blackest 
 sins of Avhich man is capable? And, further, an impos- 
 tor estimates the chances of success. But let any man 
 look at the state of things when Christ appeared, and 
 see what chance there could have been, in the eye of 
 an impostor, that such an object should succeed. The 
 great doctrines which lie at the foundation of repent- 
 ance were but very imperfectly known. Superstition 
 and formality had almost entirely excluded the spirit 
 of any true religion, whether natural or revealed. Sin, 
 as such, was not disliked or dejilored ; and if in any 
 case it should be, the Jews had a mode for its removal, 
 as they supposed, divinely constituted, and with which 
 they Avere satisfied ; Avhilc the Gentiles Avere attached to 
 their oaaui religions, and hated and despised the Jcavs. 
 Noav, in such a state of things, for an imp)Ostor — a 
 young man Avithout learning, or Avealth, or influential 
 friends ; a Jcav, Avho AA^ould naturally have shared in 
 the prejudices and national feelings of his countrymen 
 — to arise and call upon men to repent of sin in gen- 
 eral, and believe in him ; at the same time proposing 
 no definite scheme, either political or ecclesiastical ; 
 directing the energies of his folloAA^ers to nothing that 
 could gratify their ambition, or love of gain or pleas- 
 ure, on earth ; and proposing reAvards, hereafter, that 
 can be enjoyed only as men are morally good, — and 
 yet to moke such an impression upon the AA^orld as to 
 
190 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 overturn systems that had stood for ages, — does seem 
 to me far more improbable than any miracle recorded 
 in the Bible. The disparity between the means em- 
 ployed and the effect to be produced would not be 
 greater, if a single, unaided man should attempt to 
 unseat Mount Atlas, and lift it from its bed. In mak- 
 ing it its ol)ject to remove guilt, and to rectify the state 
 of the heart before God, Christianity stands alone ; and 
 we can now see that this is the only ultimate object 
 which a religion from God could propose. To my 
 mind, therefore, the simple choice of this object, 
 requiring such breadth and accuracy of view, so im- 
 possible to have been chosen by enthusiasm or impos- 
 ture, taken in connection with the movement produced 
 by Christianity, is a sufficient proof that it originated 
 with God, and was accompanied by a divine power. 
 
 Ah ada])tcition to prejudices. — But perhaps the suc- 
 cess in carrying forward this object may be accounted 
 for by a skillful adaptation of some features of the 
 S3^stem to the prejudices, or wants, or habits of thought, 
 of the age. Did Christ, then, adapt his system to the 
 prejudices and expectations of the Jews? So far from 
 this, nothing could have been more strongly opposed 
 to all the habits of thought and long-cherished associ- 
 ations both of Jews and of Gentiles. This point has 
 been most ably presented by Bishop Sumner, of whose 
 lal)ors I shall avail myself in the particulars I shall 
 adduce respecting it. 
 
 Appealed to no sect . — The Jcavs were divided into 
 three great sects — the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and 
 Essenes. The sentiments and modes of thought of the 
 first two arc sufficiently known. The Essenes were a 
 comparatively small sect, professing a community of 
 goods and the most austere celibacy. Among these 
 sects were found the great and infiuential men of The 
 
CHRISTLiNITY AND THE JEWISH SYSTEM. 191 
 
 nation ; but neither of these did Christ endeavor in 
 the least to propitiate ; he attacked them all equally. 
 With the general tone of thought, and laxity of morals, 
 of the Sadducees, his whole system was in direct con- 
 flict ; and we all know how terrible were his denuncia- 
 tions of the Pharisees and scribes, as hypocrites and 
 formalists, and as having put false glosses upon the 
 law of God. The spirit of sect is among the most 
 bitter and formidable that can be aroused ; but, instead 
 of taking adA^antage of this, or of commending himself 
 to any party, Christ armed every influence that could 
 be draAvn from such sources against himself. 
 
 Opposed the ivhole Jewish system, — But, though the 
 JcAvs Avere divided into sects, there were many points 
 Avhich they held in common as Jcavs, and Avhich Avere 
 to them the ground of a strong and exclusive national , 
 feeling. If Ave can suppose it possible that Christ him- 
 self should have risen superior to all the prejudices and 
 associations of his nation, yet, if Ave look at him either 
 as an enthusiast or an impostor, Ave can not suppose he 
 would have gone counter to every feeling that Avas 
 strongly and distinctively JeAvish ; much less can Ave 
 suppose he Avould have attempted to bring to an end a 
 system Avhich he himself, in common with all his coim- 
 trymen, acknoAvledged to be from God, and to the rites 
 of Avhich he conformed. Yet so did Christ. 
 
 Jewish notions of the Messiah. — Hence I observe, 
 that, while Christ claimed to be the Messiah expected 
 by the Jcavs, his Avhole appearance, and character, and 
 object, Avere totally opposed to all their interpretations 
 of prophecy, and Avishes, and long-cherished anticipa- 
 tions. In the language of Sumner, ” They looked for 
 a conqueror, a temporal king, and had been accustomed 
 to interpret in this sense all the prophecies Avhich fore- 
 told his coming. The Jews Avere at the time suffering 
 under a foreign yoke, Avhich they bore Avith great unea- 
 
192 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 siness and impatience. And whether we suppose Jesus 
 to have been an impostor or enthusiast, this is the 
 character which he would naturally assume. If he 
 were an enthusiast, his mind would have been filled 
 with the popular belief, and his imagination fired with 
 the national ideas of victory and glory. If he were an 
 Impostor, the general expectation would coincide with 
 the only motive to which his conduct can be attributed 
 — ambition and the desire of personal aggrandizement. 
 How, then, can we explain his rejecting, from the first, 
 and throughout his whole career, all the advantage 
 which he might have derived from the previous expec- 
 tation of the people, and even his turning it against 
 himself and his cause? Why should he, as a Jew, 
 have interpreted the prophetic Scriptures differently 
 * from all other Jews? Why should he, as an impostor, 
 have deprived himself of all personal benefit from his 
 design ? ” * 
 
 Set aside the ceremonial law. — Again: "No feeling 
 could be stronger, or better founded, than the venera- 
 tion of the Jews for the Mosaic law. The account of 
 its origin which had come down to them from their 
 ancestors ; its singularity ; the effect that singularity 
 had produced in establishing a wide separation between 
 themselves and other nations ; above all , the important 
 results which they expected from obeying it, as entitling 
 them to the favor and protection of God; all these 
 circumstances united to render that attachment to their 
 national law, which is common among every people, 
 inconceivably strong in the case of the Jews.” Yet 
 Christ said to these same Jews, "The law and the 
 prophets were until John.” Himself acknowledging its 
 divine origin, he yet abrogated the ceremonial law, and 
 put new interpretations upon the moral law. Of the 
 distinction between these he had the most accurate 
 
 ♦ Sumner’s Evidences, chap. ii. 
 
EXCLUSIVENESS DESTEOYED, 
 
 193 
 
 perception ; for, while lie struck clown the one, clcclar- 
 ing that the hour had come in which men need no longer 
 worship at Jerusalem, hut that every where the true 
 worshipers should worship the Father in spirit and in 
 truth, he yet dechlred that heaven and earth should pass 
 away sooner than one jot or tittle of the moral law 
 should fiil. But though he retained the law as the 
 moral code of the universe, he yet abrogated it so far 
 as it applied exclusively to the Jews, and in all those 
 respects in which it was chiefly valued by them. 
 
 Destroyed exclusiveness. — Further : ” It Avas a favor- 
 ite belief among the Jcavs, confirmed by the Avhole 
 course of their history, that their nation enjoyed the 
 exclusive regard and protection of the true God. But 
 the first principle of the Christian religion tended to 
 dislodge the Jcavs from these high pretensions, and to 
 admit all other nations, indiscriminately, Avithin the 
 pale of God’s church.” 
 
 Jerusalem, the temple. — And, once more : ”The city 
 of Jerusalem Avas universally believed to be secure 
 under the especial care of God, as being the scat of 
 the only true religion, and its temple consecrated to 
 his peculiar service by divine institution and ancient 
 usage. Yet Christ and his disciples declared that total 
 destruction Avas quickly approaching both the temple 
 and the city.” 
 
 Neither Jews nor Gentiles conciliated. — Thus Christ 
 not only armed against himself the spirit of sect, but 
 also that peculiar national feeling Avhich Avas stronger 
 among the Jcavs than among any other people. But 
 Avhile he did this, and Avhile it Avas declared, from the 
 first, that he should be a light to lighten the Gentiles, 
 he himself never Avent among the Gentiles, but declared 
 that he Avas not sent but to the lost sheep of the house 
 of Israel. All this, Ave may safely say, neither an 
 enthusiast nor an impostor could have done. 
 
 17 
 
194 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CIIKISTI.iNITr. 
 
 Essential to a universal religion, — But, while the 
 origin of Christianity is so anomalous and inexplicable 
 on the supposition that the agents were actuated by 
 merely human motives, every thing becomes perfectly 
 consistent and reasonable the moment we suppose they 
 were the agents of God to introduce a new and universal 
 religion. If such a religion was to be introduced, the 
 whole Jewish economy must of necessity have been 
 removed. But was a Jewish peasant, unlettered and 
 untraveled, going up with his countrymen every year 
 to Jerusalem, the person to see this? Was he to have 
 the inconceivable arrogance to assume to himself the 
 authority to remove that dispensation, at the same time 
 that he admitted it to be from God ? 
 
 If an imjpostor, Christ not the author of Christianity. 
 — I proceed to another point : Extraordinary as was 
 the character of Christ, and unaccountable as was his 
 conduct while he was alive, yet, if we suppose him to 
 have been either an enthusiast or an impostor, there 
 must have been some one among his disciples, after 
 his death, whose character and conduct were still more 
 extraordinary and unaccountable ; for it is to be remem- 
 bered that, on this supposition, Christ can not, with any 
 propriety, be said to be the originator of the system 
 which bears his name. This is a point not sufficiently 
 noticed, if indeed it has been noticed at all. 
 
 It will not be denied that the resurrection of Christ 
 lies at the foundation of the system. It did so in the 
 mind of Paul when he wrote to the Corinthians that, 
 if Christ were not raised, their faith was vain; and 
 it has been regarded as fundamental by Christians ever 
 since. Did Christ, then, or did he not, know the place 
 which his death, and the story of his resurrection, were 
 'to have in the Christian system? If we suppose him 
 to have been any thing except what he claimed to be^ 
 
AUTHOR OF CHRISTIANITY — WHO? 
 
 195 
 
 he could not have known this. Without the gift of 
 prophecy, he could not have known that the Roman 
 governor would sentence him to death. Besides, it is 
 absurd to suppose that any enthusiast or impostor could 
 frame a scheme of which his own death on the cross, 
 and a story of his resurrection, to be started and sub- 
 stantiated by others, should form a necessary part. 
 His death must, then, on the supposition on which we 
 are arguing, have been unexpected, both to himself and 
 to his followers. His schemes, whatever they were, 
 must have perished with him ; for of the Christian 
 system as contained in the New Testament, involving 
 his own death and resurrection, he could by no possi- 
 bility have had any conception. This system did not 
 become possible till after his death. Previous to that, 
 the very foundation of it had no existence, nor could 
 it even have had if his death had not been public ; for, 
 otherwise, his death would not have been certain, and 
 the story of the resurrection would have excited no 
 attention. 
 
 Who, then, was that man, the true author of Chris- 
 tianity, of quick and original thought, who, in that 
 moment when the Jews supposed they had triumphed, 
 when the plans of Christ himself, whatever they were, 
 had failed, saw, from the very fact of the crucifixion, 
 that a story of a resurrection might be framed, and 
 be so connected with the former life and instructions 
 of Christ, and with the Jewish Scriptures, as to form 
 the basis of a new religion? Who was this master- 
 spirit, — for the unity of the system shows that it must 
 have been the product of one mind, — who was so 
 prompt in combining the fearful fiict of his master’s 
 execution, and the strange story of the resurrection, 
 with his former life and teachings, so as to make one 
 connected whole ? Who rallied the dispersed and dis- 
 heartened disciples, opened to them his plan of deception, 
 
196 
 
 EYIDEXCES OF CHEISTE\XITY. 
 
 assigned to each his part, and induced them to stand 
 tirm by the cause even unto death ? Certainly, if Christ 
 Y\as not what he claimed to be, there was some one con- 
 cerned, in the origin of the Christian system, who was 
 a greater and more extraordinary person than he, and 
 the true author of that system is unknown, 
 e" Scheme impossible, — But here let me ask, supposing 
 such a scheme to have been originated, whether any 
 person of common sense could possibly have hoped for 
 its success ; whether any but madmen could have been 
 persuaded to engage in it. For what was the scheme? 
 It was nothing less than to persuade all mankind to 
 receive one as a Saviour, and to believe in him as the 
 final Judge of the world, who, they themselves acknowl- 
 edged, had been put to death by crucifixion between 
 two thieves. And, in order to realize fully what this 
 undertaking was, we must further, first, remember hoAV 
 alien from all the habits of thousfht amonsr the Gentiles 
 
 O O 
 
 and among most of the Jews, how utterly improbable, 
 the story of a resurrection must have been ; and, sec- 
 ondly, we must divest ourselves of all the associations 
 which we have gathered around the cross, and, going 
 back to that period, must furnish our minds with those 
 which were then prevalent. We must remember that 
 the cross was not only an instrument of public execu- 
 tion peculiarly dreadful, but also peculiarly ignominious ; 
 that it was unlawful to put a Roman citizen to death in 
 this way ; and that it was a punishment reserved only 
 to slaves, and persons of the lowest description. 
 
 And, now, with these facts before us, I ask whether 
 the idea of the resurrection of a jDerson thus put to 
 death, and of his exaltation to l)e the Saviour of men 
 and the Judge of the whole earth, occurring to a per- 
 son without any manifestation of miraculous power, 
 is in accordance with the laws of human thought; 
 whether an attempt to make mankind believe such a 
 
CREDULITY OF INFIDELS. 
 
 197 
 
 story, and to cause them — the very Jews who had 
 just crucified him, the Gentiles who held all Jews in 
 contempt, and would more especially despise and abhor 
 a crucified Jew — whether the attempt to cause them 
 to forsake their own religions, and to acknowledge 
 such a Saviour and Judge, is compatible with what 
 we know of the laws of human action. Can we con- 
 ceive of any enthusiast so utterly wild, of any impostor 
 so utterly foolish, as to suppose he could make such 
 a story and such a proposition the basis of a religion 
 which should overthrow all others, and become uni- 
 versal? Can we conceive, not only that such an 
 attempt should be made, but that it should succeed? 
 The man who can believe this, can believe any thing. 
 What an astonishing contrast between such a point of 
 departure of the Christian religion, and that moment 
 when a Koman emperor turned his expiring eyes to 
 heaven, and said, ”0 Galilean, thou hast concjuered ! ” 
 And here, again, what is so entirely unaccountable 
 if we exclude divine agency, is perfectly accounted 
 for the moment we allow that these men were what 
 they claimed to be, and were endowed with power 
 from on high. — ^ 
 
 Conduct of the disciples, — I might pursue this train 
 of thought at great length, applying it to the conduct 
 of the disciples individually and as a body, and partic- 
 ularly to the conversion and subsequent course of the 
 apostle Paul. I think it can be shown, on the supposi- 
 tion of imposture or enthusiasm, — and no other is 
 possible without admitting the truth of the religion, — - 
 that the conduct of these men was as contrary to known 
 and established laws of human action as any miracle 
 can be to the laws of nature. 
 
 Jewish and Christian system — would not have been 
 connected. — But I proceed to observe that no enthu- 
 siast or impostor either would or could have effected 
 
 17 * 
 
198 
 
 EYIDEXCES OF CHRISTEVNITY. 
 
 that peculiar connection, doctrinal, tj^^ical, and prophet- 
 ical, which exists between the Jewish and the Christian 
 religion. This no man would have done. For while, 
 as I have just shown, they rejected so much, and such 
 parts, of the system as would excite to the utmost the 
 hostility of the Jews, they yet declared it to be identical 
 in spirit with the Jewish religion, and thus presented 
 themselves at a great disadvantage before the Gentiles. 
 Accordingly, we find the Koman magistrates speaking 
 in the most contemptuous manner of the whole thing, 
 as being a question of Jewish superstition. Thus 
 Festiis, giving an account of Paul’s case to Agrippa, 
 said, ” Against whom, when the accusers stood up, 
 they brought none accusation of such things as I sup- 
 posed, but had certain questions against him of their 
 own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, 
 whom Paul affirmed to be alive.” So, also, when 
 Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, and the Jews brought 
 Paul before him, and he was almut to defend himself, 
 Gallio said unto the eTews, ”If it were a matter of 
 wong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would 
 that I should bear with you ; ])ut if it be a question 
 of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; 
 for I will be no judge of such matters. And he drave 
 them from the judgment seat. Then all the Greeks 
 took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and 
 beat him before’ the judgment seat. And Gallio cared 
 for none of those things.” This feeling was perfectly 
 natural, and the author or authors of Christianity must 
 have known it would bo excited if such a connection 
 was retained between the new religion and that of the 
 Jews. The course pursued, therefore, was apparently 
 the most impolitic that could have been adopted, 
 whether -the feelings of the Jews or of the Gentiles 
 were regarded. 
 
 Could not have been. — But this is not the point of 
 
mrOSSIBILITY OF BIPOSTURE. 
 
 199 
 
 the greatest difficulty. No impostor, or enthusiast, 
 could have adopted such a course, if he would. For, 
 first, no human wisdom could have taken the Jewish 
 system, complicated as it was, and have drawn the line 
 with a judgment so unerring between those things 
 which ought to be rejected and those which might be 
 retained ; between those things which would, and those 
 which would not, harmonize with the new system. 
 And, secondly, that a system depending so much upon 
 facts over which the authors of it had no control, such 
 as the place of Christ’s birth, and the time and manner 
 of his death — a system that had never before been 
 thought of, or provided for — a system springing up at 
 a particular juncture from enthusiasm or imposture, — 
 should have so many correspondences with a system 
 originated thousands of years before, that the attempt 
 should be universally made to convert the Jews by 
 reasoning out of their own Scriptures, showing that 
 ”so it was Avritten,” — and that such a book as the 
 Epistle to the IlebreAvs could be Avritten, — is, to my 
 mind, inconceivable. Nor is it less inconceivable — Avhat 
 I have spoken of in a former lecture — that man should 
 invent a system Avhich Avould permit its advocates to 
 pass from the JeAvish synagogue, Avhere their AAdiole 
 argument had been based on the Old Testament Scrip- 
 tures, into a company of Athenian philosophers, and, 
 AAuth the same confidence, and freedom, and poAver, 
 argue Avith them from the book of nature, and the 
 moral constitution and Avants of man. Nothinsr can be 
 
 O 
 
 more striking than the contrast betAveen Paul’s speech 
 on Mars Hill and that recorded in the thirteenth of 
 Acts, in a JcAvish synagogue at Antioch, or even that 
 before Agrippa, in Avhich he made the appeal, ”Kmg 
 Agrippa, believest thou the prophets ? ” 
 
 On the Avhole, then, laying aside those analogies 
 and adaptations by Avhich it is shoAvn that Christianity 
 
200 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIxVNITY. 
 
 must have come from God, and taking only the par- 
 ticulars adduced in this lecture, have we not reason 
 to conclude that it could not have been originated by 
 man? 
 
 The boohs . — I have thus far spoken chiefly of the 
 system of Christianity. I shall devote the remainder 
 of this lecture to the consideration of some points of 
 evidence drawn from the books in which its records and 
 doctrines are contained — confining myself, however, to 
 such as must be judged of in the same way as those 
 which we have been considering. These books open to 
 us a field of such evidence as every man of good sense 
 and candor can judge of, scarcely less extensive and 
 rich than the system itself ; but to this my time will 
 permit me but briefly to refer. 
 
 I observe, then, in accordance with the general scope 
 of this lecture, that no impostor, or enthusiast, either 
 would, or could, have written the books of the New 
 Testament. 
 
 Ko motive for a forgery. — And, first, no such person 
 would have written them ; for they are of such a char- 
 acter that it is impossil)le to assign a motive for a 
 forgery. The motive could not have been gain. For 
 what is the relation of these books to Christianity? 
 Plainly, they presuppose its existence. To -suppose 
 that the books themselves, coming out as a mere bald, 
 naked fiction, could have been received by both Jews 
 and Gentiles, and have worked a revolution in society, 
 and that, too, in an age when printing was unknown, 
 and the number and influence of books were compar- 
 atively small, is absurd. Christianity must, then, have 
 sprung up, and spread more or less extensively, and 
 then the books must have been written ' to give an 
 account of its origin and progress. If, then, gain had 
 been the object, it was necessary to write an account 
 
MOTIVE NOT F.01E OE TOWER. 
 
 201 
 
 that could not he discredited. No forgery could have 
 escaped both neglect and contempt. 
 
 Not fame . — Nor could the motive have been hime. 
 No one, from reading the Gospel of Matthew, would 
 suspect who the author was. lie speaks of himself 
 very little, and mentions that he belonged to a class 
 who were despised and hated by the Jews. Would 
 any man, could any man, compose the Sermon on the 
 INIount — a production, for its beauty, and majestic 
 simplicity, and morality, uncqualed since the world 
 stood — for fame, and then ascribe it to a fictitious 
 person, or one whom he knew to be an impostor? 
 
 Nor power. — Nor could his motive have been power 
 or influence. No book was ever more unskillfully con- 
 structed for such a purpose. It had no connection with 
 politics or parties, nor does it contain any thing to 
 give distinction or influence to its author. What, then, 
 could have induced a man capable of surpassing, as a 
 moralist and as a deep thinker, all the philosophers of 
 antiquity, to conceal himself entirely behind an impos- 
 tor? How could he have induced the world to mistake 
 that impostor for himself? 
 
 The Epistles . — And what is thus true of the Gos- 
 pels, and of the Acts, is equally true of the Epistles. 
 Indeed, there are some circumstances which would seem 
 to render a forgery of these peculiarly improbable. If 
 I were to select the last form in which a forgery would 
 be likely to come before the world, it would be this. 
 These are extraordinary productions, and it is incon- 
 ceivable that any man should introduce them into the 
 world by the fiction of addressing them to a church, 
 and should connect such admirable sentiments with the 
 details of their peculiar difficulties, and Avith salutations 
 addressed to many persons by name. Let any man read 
 the last chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, (wdiich 
 is almost entirely made up of greetings and saluta- 
 
202 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 tions,) and ask himself if it is possible that any man, 
 writing a letter for the purpose of deception, could have 
 written it. Observe his particularity. Not only does 
 Paul himself salute many persons, but Timotheus, his 
 work-fellow, is joined with him, and Lucius, and Jason, 
 and Sosipater, his kinsman, and Tertius, who wrote the 
 Epistle, and Gaius, his host, and Erastus, the chamber- 
 lain of the city, and Quartus, a brother. 
 
 If, however, it should be said that there were for- 
 geries afterward, I reply, that all great originals, all 
 genuine articles of great value, present temptations to 
 imitation and forgery, but there is no such temptation 
 to forge the original work. No instance of such a 
 forgery can be adduced. 
 
 Could not have been forged. — The strong point here, 
 however, is, that no enthusiast or impostor could have 
 forged these books. This is manifest from the marks 
 of honesty which they bear upon their face. It is with 
 books as with men. Without stating to ourselves the 
 ground of it, we all form a judgment of the character 
 of men from their appearance. There is in some men 
 an appearance of openness, and candor, and fairness, 
 in all they do and say, which can hardly be mistaken. 
 There is often something in the appearance and modes 
 of statement of a witness on the stand, there arc cer- 
 tain undefinable but very appreciable marks of honesty 
 or of dishonesty, which will and ought to go very far, 
 with one who has been accustomed to observe men 
 under such circumstances, in fixing the character of his 
 testimony. Now, this 'is remarkably the case with the 
 writings of the New Testament. We can not read a 
 chapter without feeling that we arc dealing with real- 
 ities. The writers show no consciousness of any possi- 
 bility that their statements should be doubted. They 
 have the air of persons who state thiiigs perfectly Avell 
 known. They express no wonder ; they do not seem 
 
NAREATIVES MINUTE. 
 
 203 
 
 to expect that their statements, extraorclinaiy as they 
 are, Avill excite any; they enter into no explanations, 
 attempt to remove or evade no difficulties ; they speak 
 freely of their own faults and weaknesses ; they flatter 
 no one ; they express no malice toward any. There is 
 no ambition of fine writing, no special pleading, no 
 attempt to conceal circumstances apparently unfavorable 
 — as the agony of Christ in the garden, so liable to be 
 imputed to weakness ; the fact that he was forsaken of 
 God on the cross, that Peter denied him, and that the 
 disciples forsook him and fled. Their narratives are 
 minute, circumstantial, graphic, giving the names of 
 persons and the time and the place of events. At every 
 step they lay themselves open to detection if their ac- 
 counts are, I will not say fabrications, but false in any 
 respect. Do they give us the Sermon on the Mount? 
 They tell us that multitudes heard it. Do they give an 
 account of the resurrection of Lazarus ? They give the 
 place and the family, and state its efi’ects upon different 
 classes of persons. Do they speak of the Koman gov- 
 ernor, or of the high priest? They mention his name. 
 There is the Sea of Galilee, and Capernaum, and Jeru- 
 salem, and the temple with its goodly stones. There 
 are the Jewish feasts, and their sects, and traditions. 
 Every thing is thoroughly Jewish, and still there is the 
 publican and the Koman soldier. All these seem to 
 stand before us with the distinctness of life — not by 
 the force of rhetorical painting, but by the simple nar- 
 ration of truth. V 
 
 I^umhey' of the booJcs — disa^epancies. — The chief 
 difficulty, however, in fabricating these books, would 
 not have been in giving them singly an air of truth, 
 however striking and life-like, but in constructing so 
 many of them Avith such numerous and incidental marks 
 of correspondence as to negative entirely the supposi- 
 tion of imposture. And here it ought to be observed, 
 
204 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 that the number of books is itself a strong reason for 
 supposing that there was no imposture. An imposture 
 would naturally have appeared in one well-considered 
 and well-guarded account. So have all impostures of 
 the kind appeared. The Koran was wholly written by 
 one man. So was the Mormon Bible. But here we 
 have twenty-seven books, or letters, written by eight 
 different men, each implying the truth of most of the 
 others, and, as they stand, giving an opportunity for 
 comparison, and for what the lawyers would call cross- 
 questioning, which must have proved fatal to any fabri- 
 cation, and to which imposture was never known to 
 su])ject itself. We have four independent histories of 
 Christ. Between these there are a few apparent dis- 
 crepancies respecting minor points, such as will always 
 occur when independent witnesses state their own 
 impressions respecting a series of events. These lie 
 for the most part on the surface, are such as might have 
 been easily avoided, and such as imposture certainly 
 would have avoided. They show that the witnesses 
 were independent, that there was no collusion between 
 them ; while the points of agreement are so many, and 
 of such a character, as can be accounted for only on 
 the supposition of truth. 
 
 Conscious security of truth. — Of the advantages thus 
 furnished, the opposers of Christianity have eagerly 
 availed themselves ; but they are careful not to state, 
 if, indeed, they reflect, that the very fact that these 
 advantages are thus gratuitously furnished shows the 
 conscious security of truth, and affords the strongest 
 possible presumption that nothing can be made of them. 
 The discrepancies are few in number, and may be rec- 
 onciled ; while the coincidences, evidently undesigned, 
 between the four Gospels, and between the Gospels and 
 the Acts, are so numerous as to have been collected, 
 by Mr. Blunt, into a volume. 
 
UNDESIGNED COINCIDENCES. 
 
 205 
 
 The Acts^ and the Epistles of Paul. — But, as if to 
 furnish the best possible oppoi-tuiiity for this species 
 of proof, we have the history of the apostle Paul stated 
 fully and circumstantially in the Acts ; and then we 
 have thirteen letters of the same apostle, purporting to 
 have been written during the period covered by the 
 history. If, therefore, the history and the letters are 
 both genuine, we should expect to find the same gen- 
 eral character ascribed to the apostle in the history that 
 is indicated by his letters ; we should expect to find in 
 tlie letters numerous minute and undesigned references, 
 such as could not be counterfeited, to the facts stated 
 in the history. And all this we do find. The character 
 of Paul was strongly marked, and no one can doubt 
 whether the Epistles ascribed to him were written by 
 such a man as he is described in the history to have 
 been. How dilferent are the characters of Paul, of 
 Peter, and of John ! and yet how perfectly do the 
 writings ascribed to each correspond with his character ! 
 If the history had given us an account of a person like 
 John, and then these letters had been ascribed to him, 
 how differently would our evidence have stood ! 
 
 Hovm Paulinoe. — But the argument from the coin- 
 cidences between the different Epistles, and between 
 tlie Epistles and the Acts, has been presented in a full 
 and masterly manner by Paley, in his Iloree Paulinoe, a 
 book to which, so far as I know, infidels have judged 
 it wise not to attempt an answer. In this argument, 
 Paley docs not notice those coincidences which are 
 direct and striking, and which might have been fabri- 
 cated ; but those which are evidently undesigned, which 
 are remote and circuitous, and so woven into the web 
 that the supposition of art or imposture is impossible. 
 This argument is best illustrated by examples. Thus 
 we find, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, the fol- 
 lowing passage : ” Even unto this present hour we both 
 18 
 
206 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, 
 and have no certain dwelling-place ; and labor, work- 
 ing with our own hands.” We are expressly told, in 
 the history, that at Corinth St. Paul labored with his 
 own hands: "He found Aquila and Priscilla; and, 
 because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, 
 and wrought ; for by their occupation they were tent- 
 makers.” But, in the text before us, he is made to say 
 that he labored "even unto this present hour,” that is, 
 to the time of writing the Epistle, at Ephesus. Now, 
 in the narration of St. Paul’s transactions at Ephesus, 
 delivered in the nineteenth chapter of the Acts, nothing 
 is said of his working with his own hands but in the 
 twentieth chapter we read that, upon his return from 
 Greece, he sent for the elders of the church at Ephesus 
 to meet him at Miletus ; and in the discourse which he 
 there addressed to them we find the following: : "I 
 have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel ; yea, 
 ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered 
 unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.” 
 That manual labor, therefore, which he had exercised 
 at Corinth, he continued at Ephesus ; and not only 
 so, but continued it during that particular residence at 
 Ephesus, near the conclusion of which this Epistle was 
 written ; so that he might, with the strictest truth, say, 
 at the time of writing the Epistle, " even imto this 
 present hour, we labor, working with our own hands.” 
 " The correspondency is sufficient, then, as to the unde- 
 signedness of it. It is manifest to my judgment that, 
 if the history in this article had been taken from the 
 Epistle, this circumstance, if it appeared at all, would 
 have appeared in its place — that is, in the direct ac- 
 count of St. Paul’s transactions at Ephesus. Nor is it 
 likely, on the other hand, that a circumstance which 
 is not extant in the history of St. Paul at Ephesus 
 should have been made the subject of a factitious 
 
UNDESIGNED COINCIDENCES. 
 
 207 
 
 allusion in an Epistle purporting to be 'UTitten by him 
 from that place ; not to mention that the allusion itself, 
 especially as to time, is too oblique and general to 
 answer any purpose of forgery whatever. 
 
 Again we find, in the Second Epistle to the Thessa- 
 lonians, iii. 8, "Neither did we eat any man’s bread for 
 naught ; but wrought with labor, night and day, that 
 we might not be chargeable to any of you ; not because 
 we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample 
 unto you to follow us.” Here, again, his conduct — 
 and, what is much more precise, the end which he had 
 in view by it — is the very same which the history 
 attributes to him in this discourse to the elders of 
 the church at Ephesus ; for, after saying, " Yea, ye 
 yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto 
 my necessities, and to them that were with me,” he 
 adds, "I have show^ed you all things, how that, so labor- 
 ing, ye ought to sujpjport the weak.'''* " The sentiment in 
 
 the Epistle and in the speech is, in both parts of it, so 
 much alike, and yet the w^ords which convey it show 
 so little of imitation, or even of resemblance, that the 
 agreement can not well be explained without supposing 
 the speech and the letter to have really proceeded from 
 the same person.” 
 
 Do w^e find Paul saying abruptly, and without ex- 
 planation, to Timothy, "Let not a widow be taken into 
 the number under threescore years old”? We also 
 find, from the Acts, that provision w^as made,* from the 
 first, for the indigent widows wdio belonged to the 
 Christian church. Does he say to Timothy that from 
 a child he had known the Holy Scriptures ? The Acts 
 tells us that his mother was a Jewess. Do we hear him 
 exhorting the Corinthians not to despise Timothy ? We 
 hear him saying to Timothy himself, "Let no man 
 despise thy youth ; ” and again, " Flee also youthful 
 lusts.” Does Paul, in the Epistle to Timothy, refer 
 
i08 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CIIEISTIANITT. 
 
 particularly to the afflictions which came unto him at 
 Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra? We find from the 
 history, in the most indirect way imaginable, that Tim- 
 othy must have lived in one of those cities, and have 
 been converted at the time of those persecutions. Does 
 Paul, in the Epistle to the Komans, ask their prayers 
 that he might be delivered from them that did not 
 believe, in- Judea? We hear him saying, in the Acts, 
 with reference to the same journey, ” And now, behold, 
 I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing 
 the things that shall befall me there ; save that the 
 Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds 
 and afflictions abide me.” Do we hear him, in the 
 Epistle to the Romans, commending to them Phoebe, a 
 servant of the church at Cenchrea? We find, from the 
 history, that Paul had been at Cenchrea, only from the 
 following passage : ” Having shorn his head in Cen- 
 
 chrea, for he had a vow.” Of such coincidences Paley 
 has pointed out, perhaps, a hundred, and he has by no 
 means exhausted the subject.* 
 
 And not only do we find Epistles directed to churches, 
 — the last species of composition that an original im- 
 jiostor, whether we suppose that the church did or did 
 not exist at the time, could have thought of fabricating, 
 — but we have, in more than one instance, two letters 
 addressed to the same church, the last having all that 
 reference to the first that we should expect. We find 
 it also directed that the letter to one church should be 
 read in another ; we find it implied that one of the 
 churches had written to the apostle, and his letter is 
 partly in reply to theirs ; we find such points discussed 
 as would naturally have arisen in societies constituted 
 as Christian churches must then have been ; and, finally, 
 we find a strength of ^Dersonal feeling, a depth of 
 tenderness and interest,^ promptness in bestowing 
 
 * Horae Pauliuae, passim. 
 
STBOIART. 
 
 209 
 
 dcsGi’vcd censure, a tone of authority, and a fullness of 
 commendation, which could have sprung only from the 
 transactions of actual life. Am I not, then, even from 
 this view of their internal evidence, so briefly and 
 imperfectly presented, justified in the assertion that 
 no impostor either would, or could, have fabricated 
 these books? 
 
 Conclusion, — And now, whether we look at the 
 relations which Christianity must have sustained either 
 to the Jews or to the Gentiles ; at the course pursued 
 either by Christ himself or by the apostles ; at the con- 
 nection between the Christian and the J ewish system ; 
 or at the impossibility of fabricating the books of the 
 New Testament, — I think we may reasonably con- 
 clude that this religion, and these books, did not 
 originate with man. 
 
 18 * 
 
LECTUKE VIII. 
 
 ARGUMENT TENTH: THE CONDITION, CHARACTER, AND CLAIMS 
 OF CHRIST. 
 
 Thus far, we have attended to the system of Chris- 
 tianity, to its marvelous adaptations, and to the 
 impossibility that it should have come from man. We 
 now turn from the system to its Author. Who was the 
 author of this system? What were his condition, his 
 claims, and his character? We have already seen that 
 the object he proposed, and the system he taught, are 
 worthy of God, and correspond jierfcctly with the 
 nature of man. But, were his condition in life, the 
 claims he preferred, and the character he sustained, 
 such as we can now see ought to have belonged to one 
 who claimed the spiritual headship of the race ? Is it 
 possible that he should have been an impostor ? Do we 
 not find, meeting in him alone, so many things that are 
 extraordinary, as to forbid that supposition? These 
 questions it will be the object of the present lecture to 
 answer. 
 
 Basis of the argument, — And if there is any subject 
 to which we can apply, not only the tests of logic, but 
 the decisions of intuitive reason, and of all the higher 
 instincts of our common humanity, it is the condition 
 in life, and teachings, and proposed object, and char- 
 acter, of one who presents himself with the claims put 
 
 forth by Jesus Christ. We have an intuitive insight 
 
 ( 210 ) 
 
CHRIST CLAIMS AFFECTION. 
 
 211 
 
 into character. We have, in the history of the world, 
 largo experience of it in all its combinations. We are 
 all capable, when our moral nature is quickened, of 
 judging whether the character of one who claims the 
 homage both of the understanding and of the heart is 
 in accordance with such a claim. ”I know men,” said 
 Napoleon Bonaparte, " and I tell you that Jesus Christ 
 was not a man.” AVe also know men, and, presented 
 as Christ is to us by the evangelists, not by description 
 or eulogy, but standing before us in his actions and 
 discourses, so that he seems to live and to speak, we 
 feel that we can judge whether he bore the true insignia 
 of his office or the marks of an impostor. If his claim 
 had been to any thing else, it would be different. A 
 claim to property, or to external homage, or to belief 
 in a particular case, may be sulistantiated by external 
 testimony ; but when any being claims that I should 
 believe a thing because he says it, — when he claims an 
 affection from me greater than that which I owe to 
 father, or mother, or brothers, or sisters, or wife, or 
 children, — I not only do not, but I can not, and I ought 
 not to, yield this confidence and affection on the ground 
 of any external testimony. There must be presented 
 an object of moral affection which shall commend itself 
 as worthy, to my immediate perception, before I can 
 do this. AYe can not yield our affections except to 
 perceived excellence ; and, since no man becomes a 
 Christian who does not make Christ himself an object 
 of affection, it is plain that his character, as well as his 
 teaching, is a point of primary importance. ^ 
 
 Christianity unique. — Character of Christ central. — 
 And here, again, as in every thing else, Christianity 
 stands by itself. If other systems are, to some extent, 
 vulnerable through the character of their authors, no 
 other presents its very heart to be thus pierced. In 
 an abstract system of philosophy, we do not inquire 
 
212 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 what the character of its author was. The truth of 
 the system of Plato, or of Adam Smith, or of Jeremy 
 Beiitham, does not depend on the question whether 
 they were good or bad men ; but if it could be showm 
 that Christ was a bad man, — nay, if we were simply 
 to withdraw his character and acts, — the whole system 
 would collapse at once. His character stands as the 
 central orb of the system, and without it there Avould 
 be no effectual light and no heat. This arises from two 
 causes. The first is the very striking peculiarity, — 
 which, in considering the evidences, has not been enough 
 noticed, — that the Author of Christianity claims, not 
 merely belief, but affection. What would have been 
 thought of Socrates, or Plato, if they had not merely 
 taught mankind, but if they and their disciples had 
 set up a claim that they should be loved by the whole 
 human race with an affection exceeding that of kin- 
 dred? This affection Christ claimed, and his disciples 
 claimed it for him. Paul says, ”If any man love not 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be:^iathema, mar^ 
 natha,” making the mere absence of the love a crime. 
 But if he is to be thus loved by all men, he must first 
 place himself in the relation to them of a personal 
 benehictor, and then, by the very laws of affection, he 
 must present a character which ought to call forth their 
 love. The second cause why the character of Christ is 
 so essential is, that in the moral and spiritual world 
 power is manifested, and movement is effected, only by 
 action. A moral system must, indeed, like any thing 
 else, be the object of the intellect; bi^ no abstract 
 system of moral truth, no precepts merely enunciated, 
 but not embodied and manifested in actual life, could 
 ever have been the means of moral life to the world. 
 Men need, not only truth, but life — the truth and life 
 embodied. They need a leader, some one to go before 
 them as the Captain of their salvation, whose voice they 
 
LOTOY CONDITION OF CUEIST. 
 
 213 
 
 can hear saying, "Follow me.” While, therefore, in 
 all other s^'stems, the character of the founder is of 
 little importance, it is vital here. But no one can fail 
 to see the infinite difficulty and hazard of introducing 
 such an element as this into any system of imposture. 
 It opens a point of attack against which no such system 
 could ever rear an efiectual barrier. 
 
 Condition in life . — Let us, then, first, as was pro- 
 posed, look at the condition in life of the Author of 
 Christianity, and at the suitableness of that condition 
 to one who was to be the teacher and spiritual deliverer 
 of man. And here I need hardly say that our Saviour 
 was in humble circumstances, and was entirely without 
 j)roperty. This fact we find indicated l)y himself in the 
 simplest and most affecting manner. He did not speak 
 of it in the language of repining and complaint, nor yet 
 of stoical indifference and contempt of wealth, but in 
 the language of kindness, and to prevent disappoint- 
 ment in one who proposed to follow him, without 
 understanding the true nature of his kingdom. He 
 had l)ecome celebrated, both as having the power to 
 work miracles and as a great teacher. Multitudes fol- 
 lowed him ; and a certain man, no doubt with some 
 hope of worldly gain, said unto him, "Lord, I will follow 
 thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto 
 him. Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests ; 
 l)ut the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” 
 The beasts of the field and the fowls of heaven had 
 places of rest and shelter ; but the greatest benefactor 
 of men, when he came to dwell among them, had noth- 
 ing that he could call his own. He had no legal title 
 to any thing, no control over any thing which men call 
 
 * The argument from this topic is so similar to what is said respecting it hy the 
 author of the “ Philosophy of tlic Plan of Salvation,” that I think it proper to say, 
 that it was copied almost literally from an unpublished discourse, delivered before 
 the jiublication of that work. 
 
214 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 property. And not only was lie poor after he com- 
 menced his ministry, but from his early days. His 
 parents had no such wealth and consideration as would 
 procure them a place in an inn in Bethlehem when there 
 was a crowd, and accordingly he was cradled in a 
 manger. He was early driven into a strange country ; 
 and Avhen he returned, his parents, through fear, turned 
 aside and dwelt in a place where there was neither 
 wealth nor refinement, and which had connected ivith 
 it no elevating associations. He ivas called a Nazarene 
 by way of reproach, and it was asked, "Can any good 
 thing come out of Nazareth?” So poor were Joseph 
 and Mary, that they do not seem to have been able to 
 give their children any particular advantages of educa- 
 tion ; for it is said that, when Christ taught, the Jews 
 marveled, saying, "How knoweth this man letters, 
 having never learned ? ” He chose for his companions 
 poor and unlettered men ; and as he went from place 
 to place, he was supported — shall I say by charity? 
 Yes ; but there are two kinds of charity. He was not 
 supported by that kind of charity Avliich is drawn forth 
 in view of distress, and accompanied with pity; but, 
 wherever he went, there were those who received him 
 in the spirit of his mission, to whom his words ivere 
 gracious words, and who esteemed it an honor and a 
 privilege to minister to him of their substance. Sup- 
 port flowing from such a source, which was but a simple 
 reflection of the spirit which he himself manifested, he 
 was willing to receive, and did receive, and never seems 
 to have had any other. 
 
 Fltnef^s of — to exclude wvonrj motives. — Such was 
 the condition in life of the Author of Christianity, and 
 it was fit and important that it should be so ; first, to 
 show that his kingdom was not of this Avorld, and 
 to prevent any from attaching themselves to it from 
 worldly motive: - "^here is a kingdom of matter, gov- 
 
FITNESS OF Christ’s condition. 
 
 215 
 
 erned by gravitation and the laws of affinity ; there is 
 a kingdom of sense and of sensitive good, governed by 
 desire and by fear ; and there is a moral and spiritual 
 kingdom. In this kingdom the government is by 
 rational motives, by a perception of right and of wrong, 
 and by moral love. The motives by wdiich a man is 
 led to become a subject of this kingdom can have noth- 
 ing to do with any thing material. The moment any 
 consideration of wealth or of power comes in, to induce 
 any one to enter into its visible inclosure, its very 
 nature becomes changed. It was of infinite importance 
 tliat this point should be guarded ; and in no way could 
 tliis have been done so effectually as by the humble 
 condition, the entire separation, on the part of the 
 Author of Christianity, from all connection with wealth 
 or with power. Perhaps such a separation was even 
 required by consistency, in one who said that his king- 
 dom was not of this Avorld. , 
 
 For personal dignity. — Secondly, such a condition 
 was necessary to the personal dignity of Clirist as the 
 head of a spiritual kingdom, and to the highest evidence 
 of the reality of such a kingdom. If Christ was what 
 he claimed to be, he could not receive title-deeds from 
 men. He came out from God on a great mission, as 
 the embassador of an infinite and an eternal kingdom ; 
 and it would not only have interfered with that mission 
 in its spirit, but would have debased and degraded it 
 beyond expression, if he had shown any regard for 
 wealth, or had had any thing to do with the petty strifes 
 of men for temporary power. Moreover, it could not 
 otherwise have appeared that his true kingdom could 
 stand by itself, and that it needed none of those attrac- 
 tions and supports at which alone men are accustomed 
 to look. If Christ had possessed either wealth or 
 power, I should feel that I was conducting this argu- 
 ment at an immense disadvantage. 
 
216 
 
 EYIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 To give wealth and power their place. — Thirdly, such 
 a condition Avas necessary, not only that he might show 
 his own estimate of wealth and power, hut that he 
 might lead his followers to a right view, and a right 
 spirit, concerning them, and concerning the distinctions 
 which they bring. They are external to the spirit. 
 They have nothing to do Avith that state of it in A\diich 
 character consists, and on Avhich its true dignity and 
 happiness must depend. Christ came to prepare men 
 for a kingdom Avhere neither property nor Avealth exists 
 as an clement of enjoyment, but Avhere all things Avill 
 be as the air and the sunlight ; and Avhere, if intellectual 
 and moral beings differ, it will be only as one star differs 
 from another star in glory. It is impossible, therefore, 
 that any one Avho truly sympathizes Avith the spirit of 
 Christ should have that selfish and idolatrous attachment 
 to them Avhich has been the cause of so much disorder 
 and unhappiness among men. 
 
 To shoio the dignity of man. — And, once more : this 
 condition of Christ Avas requisite to shoAV the true Avorth 
 and dignity of man as man. In a Avorld Avhere respect 
 for man as an immortal being, in the image of God, had 
 so far given place to respect for Avealth and rank, it A\ns 
 of the first importance that a spiritual teacher shoidd 
 himself stand in the simple grandeur of a true and 
 perfect manliood. By doing this, Christ furnished to 
 the poor in all ages, many of Avhom Avere to be his 
 disciples, a model, and a ground of selt-respect ; and he 
 made it impossible that there should not be, Avherever 
 the spirit of his religion prevails, a true respect for 
 every human being. With that estimate of man, or, if 
 you please, of men, Avhich ministers to the pride of 
 talent, or of Avealth, or of poAver, he had no sympathy. 
 He looked at man as a spirit, at all men as standing 
 upon the same level of immortality ; and his teachings, 
 his labors, and his sufferings, Avere equally for all. 
 
CL.\JMS OF CHRIST. 
 
 217 
 
 AMio can see the humble walks of life thus trodden, 
 and not feel that the race is one brotherhood, and not 
 be ready to give the hand of felloAvship, of sympathy, 
 and of aid, to every one whom Christ thus represented, 
 and for whom he thus cared ? 
 
 Strange, then, and offensive as it was at the first, as 
 it always has been to many, it must yet be admitted 
 that, if Christ was to be a spiritual deliverer, to eradi- 
 cate pride and selfishness, and to unite all men in one 
 brotherhood, it was essential that he should appear in 
 the very circumstances and condition of life in which 
 he did appear. 
 
 Claims of Christ. — We next inquire what were the 
 claims of this man, — so humble iii his condition ; so 
 lowly ; so destitute of learning, of wealth, of influen- 
 tial friends ; whose public ministry but little exceeded 
 three years, and was terminated by crucifixion. In 
 general, he claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God, 
 and the Saviour of men. As I wish to avoid hero all 
 disputed points, I shall not move the great question 
 whether he claimed to be a truly divine person, or to 
 be " the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the 
 world,” in the sense of making an atonement, but shall 
 observe, — 
 
 1 . That he claimed to be a perfect teacher ; 
 
 2. To set a perfect example; to be the model man 
 of the race ; 
 
 3. To be a perfectly sinless being ; 
 
 4. That all men should love and obey him ; 
 
 5. To work miracles as no other man ever did ; 
 
 6. That in him the prophecies of the Old Testament 
 were fulfilled ; 
 
 7 . That he would himself rise from the dead ; 
 
 8. To be the final judge of the world. 
 
 Such were his claims — claims till then unprece- 
 
 19 
 
218 
 
 EVIDENCES or CHEISTIANITV. 
 
 dented, unheard of, undreamed of, by the wildest and 
 most extravagant imagination. 
 
 Character of Christ. — Let us next see, so far as we 
 have the means of determining, how he sustained these 
 claims. In doing this, we shall, of necessity, as was 
 proposed, consider his character. 
 
 Nothing local or temporary . — And here, before say- 
 ing any thing under the particular heads specified, I 
 shall enrich this lecture with three general remarks from 
 one whose eloquent voice will long echo in the public 
 halls of this city. ”We are immediately struck,” says 
 Dr. Channing, in his Dudleian lecture, "with this pecu- 
 liarity in the Author of Christianity, — that whilst all 
 other men are formed in a measure liy the spirit of the 
 age, we can discover in Jesus no impression of the 
 period in which he lived. We know, with considerable 
 accuracy, the state of society, the modes of thinking, 
 the hopes and expectations of the country in which 
 Jesus was born and grew up ; and he is as free from 
 them as if he had lived in another world, or with every 
 sense shut on the objects around him. His character 
 has in it nothing local or temporary. It can be explained 
 by nothing around him. His history shows him to us a 
 solitary being, living for purposes which none Imt him- 
 self comprehended, and enjoying not so much as the 
 sympathy of a single mind. His apostles, his chosen 
 companions, brought to him the spirit of the age ; and 
 nothing shows its strength more strikingly than the 
 slowness with which it yielded, in these honest men, 
 to the instructions of Jesus.” 
 
 Vastness of views. — Again : " One striking peculiar- 
 ity in Jesus is the extent and vastness of his views. 
 Whilst all around him looked for a Messiah to liberate 
 God’s ancient people, — whilst, to every other Jew, 
 Judea was the exclusive object of pride and hope, — 
 
CHRIST AS A TEACHER. 
 
 219 
 
 Jesus came, declaring himself to he the deliverer and 
 light of the world ; and in his whole teaching and life 
 you see a consciousness, which never forsakes him, of 
 a relation to the Avhole human race. This idea of bless- 
 ing mankind, of spreading a universal religion, was the 
 most magnificent which had ever entered man’s mind. 
 All previous religions had been given to particular 
 nations. No conqueror, legislator, philosopher, in the 
 extravagance of ambition, had ever dreamed of subject- 
 ins: all nations to a common faith.” 
 
 Confidence . — Once more : he says, can not but 
 add another striking circumstance in Jesus ; and that is, 
 the calm confidence with which he always looked for- 
 ward to the accomplishment of his design. He fully 
 knew the strength of the passions and powers which 
 were arrayed against him, and was perfectly aware that 
 his life was to be shortened by violence ; yet not a word 
 escapes him implying a dou1)t of the ultimate triumphs 
 of his religion. * * * This entire and patient relin- 
 quishment of immediate success, this ever-present per- 
 suasion that he was to perish before his religion would 
 advance, and this calm, unshaken anticipation of distant 
 and unbounded triumphs, are remarkable traits, throwing 
 a tender and solemn grandeur over our Lord, and wholly 
 inexplicable by human principles, or by the circum- 
 stances in which he was placed ! ” 
 
 Christ a 'perfect teacher. — The 'matter of his teaching. 
 — I now proceed to observe, 1. That, under that gen- 
 eral claim to which these remarks apply, Christ claimed 
 to be a perfect teacher — to be not only a light, but the 
 light of the world. And who can point out any defect 
 in his teaching, cither in respect to matter or to manner? 
 As a teacher of religion, he set before us, in the matter 
 of his teaching, the paternal and the holy character of 
 God, and taught us to love him, and to worship him in 
 
220 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 spirit and in truth. It is evidently impossible that ^ye 
 should have a higher conception of God in any of his 
 attributes, or of his worship, than he communicated. 
 Ai the same character, he taught us the great doctrines 
 of a perfect human accountability, of the immortality 
 of the soul, of the resurrection of the dead, and of the 
 final reward of the righteous and punishment of the 
 wicked. As a teacher of morality, he introduced a 
 system, the great characteristics of which are, (1.) That 
 it establishes a perfect standard. (2.) That it takes 
 cognizance of the heart. (3.) That it forbids all the 
 malevolent and dissocial passions. • (4.) That it for- 
 bids all merely selfish passions, as vanity and pride. 
 (5.) That it forbids all impure passions. (6.) That 
 it includes all its positive duties under the two great 
 requisitions of love to God and love to man, which all 
 moralists now agree is the sum of human duty. If we 
 look at man as a practical being, what point is there on 
 which Christ did not shed light enough to lead him, if 
 he will but follow his instructions, fo his true happi- 
 ness, whether in this world or the world to come? 
 
 The manney'. — Nor was the manner of his teachino: 
 less extraordinary. He taught them as one having 
 authority, and not as the scribes, or as the philosophers 
 who ran into subtile distinctions, and deduced every 
 thing from the nature of things. In opposition to all 
 the learning, and authority, and prejudices of his age 
 and nation, he simply said, "Yerily I say unto you.” 
 He spoke with the calmness, and dignity, and decision, 
 of one who bore credentials that challenged entire def- 
 erence. But, if his manner was authoritative, it was 
 also gentle and condescending ; if it was dignified, it 
 was also kind ; if it was calm, it was also earnest. 
 While his instructions were the most elevated that were 
 ever uttered, they were uttered with such phdnness, 
 were so clothed in parables, and illustrated by common 
 
THE MODEL MAN. 
 
 221 
 
 objects, that they were also the most intelligible. 
 Nothing can exceed, nothing ever equaled, in depth 
 and Aveight, some of his discourses and parables ; and 
 yet they are simple and beautiful, "are adapted to 
 the habits of thinking of the poor, are opened and 
 expanded to their capacities, separated from points of 
 difficulty and abstraction, and presented only in the 
 aspect Avhich regarded their duty and hopes.” * The 
 most exalted intellect can not exhaust his instructions, 
 and yet they are adapted to the feeldest. " Never man 
 spake like this man.” No teacher ever so combined 
 authority and condescension, dignity and gentleness, 
 zeal and discretion, sublimity and plainness, Aveight of 
 matter and a facility of comprehension by all. 
 
 Christ a perfect example and model. — 2. But if the 
 claim to be a perfect teacher Avas so high, far higher 
 Avas that to set a perfect example, and to stand before 
 the AA^orld as the model man. 
 
 The need of this. — In every practical science, a per- 
 fect system of instruction must include both precept 
 and example, t If God Avas to institute a perfect system 
 for the instruction and elevation of man, both as a spec- 
 ulative and a practical being, it Avas necessary that he 
 should not only give him perfect precepts, but that he 
 should cause a perfect example to be set before him. 
 The constitution of man requires this. He is, and 
 must be, more affected by example than by precept. 
 EA'en in the exact sciences, Avhen a rule is given, though 
 it really covers every possible case, it is yet necessary 
 to give examples to shoAV practically its application. 
 Much more must this be needed in the ever-varying 
 adjustments of moral relations. A great example Avill 
 speak, though silently, yet powerfully, to the sympa- 
 thetic feelings, and Avill aid the imagination in giving 
 direction and definiteness to its ideas of perfection. 
 
 19 ^ 
 
 * Wilson. 
 
222 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Its adaptation to man. — And here we find one great 
 adaptation of the Christian system to the moral con- 
 dition and wants of man, which is not even attempted 
 in any other. It is one on which I did not dwell when 
 on the subject of adaptations, because I intended to 
 speak of it here. The Author of Christianity, in claim- 
 ing to give such an example, at least showed his knowl- 
 edge of what a perfect system required ; and if he has 
 done it, he has not only done what unassisted man could 
 not do, but what I am inclined to think he could not 
 even conceive of. It was not in the power of man to 
 form a conception of the character of Christ before 
 he appeared. It is one thing to recognize a perfect 
 character as such, when it is presented, and quite 
 another so to combine the qualities as to form such a 
 character, and to manifest it in action. It is at this 
 point that we find all the difference between the com- 
 mon power of judging of the productions of genius in 
 the fine arts, and of producing models of excellence 
 in those arts ; and I do not hesitate to say that, as a 
 work of art, a product of genius, simply., the exhibition 
 in life of a perfect model of human nature would be 
 the highest conceivable attainment. That man has 
 genius who can embody the perfection of material 
 forms in his imagination, and cause those forms to live 
 before us in the marble, on the canvas, or on the 
 printed page ; and he has higher genius still who can 
 arrange the elements of character into new yet natural 
 combinations, and cause his personages, as organized 
 and consistent wholes, to speak and act before us. In 
 all these cases, when Michael Angelo produces a statue, 
 or Allston a painting, or Milton a landscape, or Shak- 
 epeare a character, we can judge of it, though we could 
 not have made that combination. It is, indeed, the 
 great prerogative of genius to produce thoughts, and 
 forms, and characters, and I will add here actions, of 
 
GENIUS AND ACTION. 
 
 223 
 
 which other men recognize the excellence, but which 
 they could not have produced. Yes, I add actions ; for 
 if the conception and delineation of an original course 
 of action require genius, it must be equally required, 
 and ill combination, too, with high practical qualities, to 
 realize that same conception in the bolder relief of 
 actual life. The power to act thus does not always, 
 perhaps not generally, involve the pov/er of delineation, 
 but it does involve the very highest form of genius, and 
 something more ; and it is only because there is genius, 
 that expresses itself in great action, that that of delin- 
 eation has either dignity or worth 
 
 Its difficulty. — Now, as the highest effort of genius 
 in statuary would be to produce a perfect human form, 
 one of which it might Ije said that, though no form in 
 nature ever equaled it, yet that every form was perfect 
 in proportion as it approximated toward it, so it would 
 be the highest conceivable effort of genius, involving 
 its most complex elements, to present, as an organized 
 and consistent whole,- and to cause to speak and act 
 before us in all the diversified relations of life, a perfect 
 human being, — one of whom it might be said that, 
 though no other ever manifested the same excellence, 
 yet that all others were excellent in proportion as they 
 approximated toward him. Philosopher, man of genius 
 and of taste, here is a task for you. We challenge you 
 to it. Would you, could you, not merely describe in 
 general terms, but present in detail, the words and 
 actions even of a consistent and perfect piety? No. 
 You would not, and you could not. Attempts had 
 often been made to portray a model character, but it 
 does not appear that it was within the power of human 
 genius ; and when the majestic, the simple, the beauti- 
 ful, the perfect character of Christ appeared, it was 
 seen how poor those attempts had been. Certainly, 
 applying the most philosophical tests, if the evangelists 
 
224 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CUPJSTI.VNITY. 
 
 did invent this character, they manifested higher genius 
 than any other men that ever lived. But if the bare 
 representation of such a character would be so difficult, 
 who could have thought of really being such a person, 
 of expressing it in life and action ? 
 
 Of 2)hilosoj)]iical interest. — Now, the question wheth- 
 er the true model of humanity has been really thus 
 presented, is one, to my mind, not only of religious, 
 but of the deepest philosophical interest. If mankind 
 are ever to advance intelligently in excellence, they 
 must have the true model before them. There can be 
 no true progress, either of individuals or of society, 
 without this. The greatest amount of human activity, 
 hitherto, has had no tendency to advance the cause of 
 humanity, and it never can have till men adopt a right 
 model, and seek to conform themselves to that; To 
 conform ourselves to such a model we do aspire in our 
 better moments. Is there one here who has not felt 
 the stirrings within him of something that would lead 
 him to take hold on this ? Wherever there is any thing 
 truly elevated in human nature, it is this that it seeks 
 for ; it is this that, in its blindness and moral ruin, it 
 still gropes after; it is this respecting which many, 
 very many, when they have beheld the character of 
 Christ, have exclaimed, with a deeper joy than that of 
 the philosopher, ” Eureka, Eureka ! ” — I have found 
 it, I have found it ! 
 
 Part of the system. — Yes, we do claim that this 
 model was presented, as a part of the system of Chris- 
 tianity, in the character of Christ ; this deep want of 
 human nature we say that he has supplied. The more 
 we look at the character of Christ, the more we shall 
 be satisfied that there is there presented what we seek 
 — the more ready shall we be to exclaim, ”AYho is this 
 that cometh up . . . traveling in the greatness of his 
 strength ? ” .It is obviously not every part of his life 
 
PIETY OF CHRIST. 
 
 225 
 
 that was intended to be an example to man, but only 
 that in which he stood in the relations common to men, 
 in which he moved and walked as one of them. And 
 he did move and mingle freely with men of all classes 
 and of all conditions. He was placed not only in such 
 a condition in life, but in so many situations — he came 
 into collision with human passion and interest in so 
 many ways — as most fully to test his character, and 
 make him an example to all. At this example we will 
 brietl}^ look. 
 
 His piety. — I observe, then, first, that his piety was 
 most exemplary."^ On all occasions he acknowledged 
 God, and always did those things that pleased him. 
 He conformed to the ceremonial law. He expounded 
 the Scriptures, and honored them as the word of God. 
 He attended public Avorship on the Sabbath. There are 
 indications that he Avas in constant habits of devotion, 
 and on all solemn occasions he prayed. ” It is recorded 
 of him on no less than six occasions, that he gave 
 thanks to God on partaking and distributing food.” 
 AVlien he Avas baptized, he prayed. Before he chose 
 his tAvelve disciples, he Avent out into a mountain to 
 pray. When he had Avrought a great number of cures 
 publicly for the first time, he "rose up a great A\diile 
 before it Avas day, and Avent into a desert place, and 
 prayed.” When many came together to hear him, and 
 to be cured of their infirmities, he retired into desert 
 places, and prayed. AVhen he had fed five thousand 
 Avith five loaves and tAvo fishes, he dismissed the multi- 
 tudes, and Avent up into a mountain apart, to pray. On 
 one occasion, he continued all night in prayer. He 
 prayed for Peter. He prayed, if it may be called 
 prayer, at the grave of Lazarus. He prayed at the 
 close of the institution of the Lord’s supper. He 
 
 * On this whole subject, see Archbishop Xewcome’s “ Observations on our 
 Lord.” 
 
226 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 prayed in his agony. He prayed on the cross. He 
 taught his disciples to pray, and gave them that form 
 of which Palcy says that, "For a succession of solemn 
 thoughts, for fixing the attention upon a few great 
 points, for suitableness to every condition, for suffi- 
 ciency, for conciseness without obscurity, for the weight 
 and real importance of its petitions, it is without a 
 rival.” In all things he had reference to the will of 
 God, so that he could say that it was his meat to do his 
 will. The doing of God’s will perfectly was evidently 
 the great element in which he lived. And this piety 
 was a rational piety, without any tinge of mysticism, 
 or gloom, or fanaticism, or extravagance. For, — 
 
 His benevolence. — Secondly, it was equaled only 
 by his benevolence. Of this it can jiot be necessary 
 that I should adduce particular instances. His whole 
 history, in this respect, is comprised in five words — 
 "He went about doing good.” All his acts were entirely 
 unselfish. Ho never refused to relieve the distress of 
 any, but never used his miraculous powers for his own 
 benefit, or to gain applause. His benevolence was uni- 
 versal, embracing, in direct opposition to the spirit of 
 his age and nation, not only the Jews, but the Samar- 
 itans and the Gentiles. Ilis l)cnevolence rose superior 
 to injuries. He neither reviled, nor complained, nor 
 ceased from his labors and sufferings for the good of 
 men, when he was the most cruelly treated. 
 
 ComjKission — combination of oj^posite qualities. — 
 And not only was he benevolent, l)ut compassionate. 
 He had compassion on the multitude when they were 
 liungry and faint. lie wept over Jerusalem. He was 
 full of sympathy. When he saw Mary weeping, and 
 the Jews also weeping who came with her, "Jesus 
 wept.” He Avas full of gentleness and condescension, 
 taking up little children in his arms and blessing them ; 
 and yet he Avas fearless and terrible in his reproofs of 
 
BALANCE OF CIIEIST’s CIIAEACTER. 
 
 227 
 
 iniquity in high places. He ” came eating and drink- 
 ing,” and was free from all austerity ; and yet he was 
 ” pure in spirit.” He had great meekness and lowliness, 
 in union with an evident consciousness of the highest 
 dignity. He washed his disciples’ feet, at the same 
 time that he told them that he was their Lord and Mas- 
 ter. He was not elated by popularity, nor depressed 
 when his followers deserted him. He had a zeal which 
 led his friends to say he was beside himself ; and yet 
 his prudence, as shown by his answers to those who 
 would entrap him, was equal to his zeal. Nor was his 
 zeal indiscriminate ; for, while he insisted on the silent 
 worship which is in spirit and in truth, he yet gave 
 their proper place to external observances, even to the 
 tithing of mint, and he rebuked zeal in his own cause, 
 when it did not proceed from a pure motive. He was 
 keenly sensible to suffering, and yet he bore it without 
 murmuring. He was subject to his parents in early 
 life, and remembered his* mother on the cross. There 
 is no virtue which he did not exemplify, and man can 
 be placed in no situation in which his example will not 
 be applicable. 
 
 Positions to try piety and benevolence, — But, to sum 
 up what has been said of the example of Christ, it has 
 often seemed to me remarkable that he should have 
 been brought into such positions as to try, in the high- 
 est possible manner, both his piety and his benevo- 
 lence, and to lead him to give of each of these the 
 highest possible example. No doubt this was so or- 
 dered of. God. The two great principles of conduct, 
 which men need to have constantly set before them, are 
 love and submission to God, and benevolence to men. 
 And did not he manifest a perfect love and submission 
 to God, who could say, in the prospect of his dreadful 
 sufferings, and in the hour of his agony, ” Not my will, 
 but thine, be done ” ? Did not he love others as himself. 
 
228 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIxiKITY. 
 
 and exemplify his own most difficult precept of forgiv- 
 ing injuries, who prayed for his murderers on the 
 cross ? ” Behold the man ! ” 
 
 A perfect example^ and something more , — And here 
 I would observe, that I do not regard the setting of a 
 perfect example, in every thing that may strictly be 
 called a duty, as comprising every thing that should 
 belong to a perfect humanity. A perfect humanity 
 implies a sensibility, a refinement, a grace, a beauty of 
 character, which can not be said to be required by duty. 
 And all these the Saviour had in the highest degree. 
 There was no pure and exquisite emotion of human 
 nature to which he was not keenly alive ; and it is the 
 union, in him, of every thing that is tender and gentle 
 with those higher and sterner qualities, which renders 
 him a fit example, not for man only, but for woman. 
 How just and perfect must have been his perception of 
 the beauties of nature, who could say of the lilies of 
 the field, that Solomon, in aH'liis glory, was not arrayed 
 like one of these ! In all the attitudes in which Christ 
 was placed, in all the words that he uttered, there is 
 nothing unseemly, or offensive to a just taste. His 
 susceptibilities to both joy and suffering were intense. 
 He rejoiced in spirit, and his joy instantly burst forth 
 in devout thanksgiving. He was prone to compassion, 
 and repeatedly melted into tears. The innocence of 
 children engaged his affection. His heart was open to 
 impressions of friendship. "Jesus loved Martha, and 
 her sister, and Lazarus.” He had a beloved disciple. 
 AVhen he saw an amial)le young man, he loved him. 
 He was grieved at unbelief, and had a generous indig- 
 nation amiinst vice. 
 
 O 
 
 An example^ and yet the Messiah , — In all these 
 respects — in his piety, in his benevolence and other 
 virtues, in the refinement and delicacy of his character 
 — he is a suitable example for us. But, as difficult as 
 
BALANCE OF CIIARACTEK. 
 
 229 
 
 it must have been to present in action this combination 
 of human excellences, it must have been much more so 
 to combine with them those qualities, and that depoii;- 
 ment, which were appropriate to him as the Messiah 
 and Saviour of the world. Is it possible that He who 
 claimed to be greater than Solomon, to command legions 
 of angels, to raise the dead, — who spoke of himself 
 as the Son of God, and as the final Judge of the world, 
 — should so move, and speak, and act, as to sustain a 
 character compatible with these high pretensions, and yet 
 have the condescension, and gentleness, and meekness, 
 of Christ ? And yet such is the character presented by 
 the evangelists. There is no break, no incongruity. 
 Like his own seamless garment, the character is one. 
 He seems to combine, with perfect ease, these elements, 
 apparently so incompatible. This, I confess, excites 
 my astonishment. The presentation of a perfect man- 
 hood in a lowly station had been beyond the power 
 of human genius ; but when this is combined with the 
 proprieties and requisitions of a public character, and 
 an office so exalted as that of the Messiah and the 
 Judge of the world, then I have an intuitive conviction 
 that I stand in the presence of no human invention; 
 then this character presents itself to me with the gran- 
 deur and wonder that belong to the great mountains 
 and the starry heavens. 
 
 Rousseau. — Is there an infidel who hears me, and 
 who says that these impressions are made on a mind 
 predisposed to receive them, and that they are not 
 those which would legitimately be made? — let him 
 hear what one of his own prophets has said. ” I con- 
 fess,” says Rousseau,* "that the majesty of the Scrip- 
 tures astonishes me ; that the sanctity of the gospel 
 speaks to my heart. View the books of the philoso- 
 phers, — with all their pomp, what a littleness have 
 
 * Emile, as translated by Newcome. 
 20 
 
230 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIAXITY. 
 
 they when compared with this ! Is it possible that a 
 book at once so sublime and simple should be the work 
 of men ? Is it possible that he whose history it records 
 should be himself a mere man ? Is this the style of an 
 enthusiast, or of an ambitious sectary? What SAvect- 
 ness, what purity, in his manners ! what affecting 
 grace in his instructions ! what elevation in his maxims ! 
 what profound wisdom in his discourses ! Avhat presence 
 of mind, Avhat delicacy, and Avhat justness, in his re- 
 plies ! what empire over his passions ! Where is the 
 man, where is the philosopher, Avho knoAvs hoAV to act, 
 to suffer, and to die, AAuthout Aveakiicss and Avithout 
 ostentation?* . . . Where could Jesus have taken, 
 among his countrymen, that elevated and pure morality 
 of Avhich he alone furnished both the precept and the 
 example? The most lofty Avisdom Avas heard from the 
 bosom of the most furious fanaticism ; and the sim- 
 plicity of the most heroic virtues honored the vilest of 
 all people. The death of Socrates, serenely philoso- 
 lihizing Avith his friends, is the most gentle that one 
 can desire ; that of Jesus, expiring in torments, injured, 
 derided, reviled by a Avhole people, is the most horrible 
 that one can fear. When Socrates takes the poisoned 
 cup, he blesses him Avho presents it, and AAdio at the 
 same time Aveeps ; Jesus, in the midst of a horrid pun- 
 ishment, prays for his enraged executioners. Yes ; if 
 the life and death of Socrates are those of a philoso- 
 pher, the life and death of Jesus Christ are those of 
 a God.” 
 
 A perfect example and sinlessnesL — 3. According to 
 the idea of many, the claim to set a perfect example 
 involves the claim to be perfectly sinless. But, in 
 some respects, the claim to be sinless involves more 
 
 * Part of this passage is here omitted. I wish to add the following' : “What 
 prejudices, what blindness, must they have, who dare to draw a comparison 
 between the son of Sophroniscus and the son of Mary ! What distance is there 
 between the one and the other ! ” 
 
SINLESSNESS OF CHRIST. 
 
 231 
 
 than the claim to exhibit a perfect model of humanity, 
 since this exhibition respects an outward manifestation ; 
 and who can say that it may not he compatible with 
 some wrong feeling or affection? And, in some respects, 
 again, the claim to be a model man is more extensive 
 than that to be perfectly sinless. A human being 
 might be sinless, and be destitute of many of the per- 
 fections of the character of Christ. And then, again, 
 these claims look in such different directions, and re- 
 spect such entirely different objects, that there is a 
 propriety in considering them apart. The claim to 
 present a perfect manhood has respect to the wants of 
 man ; the claim to be sinless has respect to the rela- 
 tions of the individual to God, and to his fitness to be 
 a Eedeemer from sin. It must, I think, be conceded, 
 that he who would deliver others from the power of 
 sin must himself be free from its power — be entirely 
 above and ’aloof from it. While, therefore, we can 
 conceive of an 'exhibition of our nature that would 
 appear to us faultless, while we might not be certain 
 that it was sinless, yet we can not conceive of one, 
 coming as a redeemer and deliverer from sin, who had 
 himself ever swerved from moral rectitude even in 
 thought or feeling. But since the great purpose for 
 which Christ came was to ” save his people from their 
 sins,” it became necessary that he should himself be, 
 and claim to be, entirely free from sin. 
 
 Christ claimed to be sinless. — That Christ made this 
 claim, and that his disciples made it for him, there can 
 be no doubt. They made it impliedly, and they made 
 it expressly. Christ said, ” Which of you convinceth me 
 of sin ? ” — that he did always those things that pleased 
 the Father — that he was one with the Father. Peter 
 says, expressly, that he ” did no sin,” that he was ”the 
 holy one and the just ; ” and Paul says that he was 
 "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.” 
 
232 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Bearings of this claim, — But what a claim is this ! 
 
 — a claim never made by any other human being. 
 Such a claim, the most extraordinary, and the most 
 difficult to be sustained, of any that was ever set up, 
 while it is implied in the idea of a redeemer from sin, 
 must have been fatal to any impostor. Is this claim 
 .admitted, or is it denied? If it is admitted, the claims 
 of Christianity are admitted with it. If it is denied, 
 the claims of Christianity, as a religion, are denied; 
 for, as a mode of deliverance from sin, and of salva- . 
 tion, its whole value turns upon this. Men may have 
 what knowledge they please of external evidences, and 
 of mere facts, but this can never work a spiritual ren- 
 ovation. They must come to Christ, and believe in 
 him as a sinless Redeemer, or there 'can no virtue go 
 out of him for their spiritual healing. 
 
 Proof. — The proof that Christ was a sinless being 
 will be founded, first, on the same facts thtit prove his 
 perfect example. Here, too, we may properly receive 
 his own testimony, since he could not have been de- 
 ceived on this point. His perfect sinlessness is also to 
 be inferred from the effects produced by his life upon 
 his disciples ; from its effects upon the world ; and from 
 the fact that, as the mind of any individual becomes 
 more pure and elevated, he perceives a greater and 
 greater purity and elevation in the character of Christ, 
 so that, to whatever height he may attain, he still 
 perceives the majestic form of the Redeemer moving 
 before him. I leave the point by remarking, that 
 if any wish to see it fully illustrated, I would refer 
 them to an excellent essay upon it by Dr. Ullman in 
 the ” German Selections,” translated by Edwards and 
 Park. 
 
 Claims of Chi'ist to obedience . — 4. Christ also 
 claimed that all men should love and obey him. This 
 
 — the assertion of a right to a paramount and spiritual 
 
MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 
 
 233 
 
 dominion, not over one race or one age only, but over 
 all mankind, and through all coming ages — was, as I 
 have already said, entirely peculiar. It must imply a 
 claim to stand in the relation of a personal benefactor 
 to every one, and to possess such a character as ought 
 to call forth affection. After the other claims of Christ, 
 we need not be surprised at this. But what a glorious 
 kingdom of affection and love does it open before us ! 
 Here is the foundation of that kingdom of love of 
 which Napoleon spoke when he compared the kingdom 
 of Christ with his own. "Alexander, Ciusar, Charle- 
 magne, and myself,” said he, "founded empires; but 
 upon what foundations did we rest the creations of our 
 genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ alone founded his 
 empire upon love, and, at this hour, millions of men 
 would die for him. ... I die before my time, and 
 my body will be given back to the earth to become the 
 food of worms. Such is the fate of him who has been 
 called the great Napoleon. What an abyss between my 
 deep misery and the eternal kingdom of Christ, which 
 is proclaimed, loved, and adored, and which is extend- 
 ing over the whole earth ! ” 
 
 O 
 
 To luorTc miracles. — 5. Christ claimed to work mir- 
 acles. I mention this, not because he alone has made 
 this claim or has wrought miracles, but because, all the 
 circumstances considered, he stands entirely by himself 
 in this respect. I have already spoken of the character 
 of his miracles, as sufficient of itself to confirm his 
 divine mission. They were none of them wrought for 
 his personal advantage, or for display, or capriciously, 
 or to gratify curiosity. They were all benevolent and 
 worthy of God. He was peculiar, too, in the number 
 of his miracles. It is probable, from the accounts 
 given, that, on a single occasion, he wrought more 
 miracles than had been wrought by all the prophets 
 from the beginning. He was also peculiar in his manner 
 20 * 
 
234 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITT. 
 
 of working miracles. He performed them with entire 
 simplicity and facility, and generally, so far as appears, 
 by his own authority. ”He commanded the unclean 
 spirits, and they came out.” He said to the sea, 
 ” Peace, be still.” When he raised the dead, he simply 
 said, "Young man, I say unto thee. Arise.” The 
 apostles did their miracles in the name of Christ, and 
 the manner of the prophets was entirely different, giv- 
 ing no such impressions of power and majesty. 
 
 That the prophecies were fulfilled in him. — 6. Christ 
 also claimed that in him the prophecies of the Old Tes- 
 tament were fulfilled. I mention this amono^ the claims 
 which he must be acknowledged to have made, but shall 
 not dwell upon it here, because I intend to speak of it 
 more fully at another time. The claim, however, is 
 not a slight one, to stand as the sul)ject of prophecy 
 and the antitype of all the types in the old dispensation 
 from the beginning, — the claim that he was a person 
 of such importance as to have been spoken of from the 
 first by holy men, and to appeal to the Scriptures as 
 testifying of him. 
 
 That he would rise from the dead, — 7. Christ claimed 
 that he would rise from the dead. What could have 
 induced him to make so strange a claim as this ? And 
 yet, to substantiate this claim, thus pid forth, we have 
 an accumulation of evidence such as w^e have for scarcely 
 any other ancient fact. 
 
 And he the Judge of the ivorld. — 8 . Of the claim of 
 Christ to be the final Judge of the world I shall say 
 nothing, because, from the nature of the case, I have 
 no means of verifying it. The fact that he made this 
 claim, however, is all that is needed for the purpose of 
 my present argument ; and I will only observe, that it 
 is not more extraordinary than his other claims, and is 
 in perfect keeping with them. If we admit his other 
 claims, we shall of course admit this. 
 
CHRIST NOT DECEIVED. 
 
 235 
 
 Was he deceived? — Such were the condition, the 
 claims, and the character, of Jesus Christ. And now, 
 is it possible that he was either deceived or a deceiver? 
 
 as he sincere in making these claims? If he was, 
 and they are not well founded, then I ask. Could a 
 young man, poor, unlearned, brought up in an obscure 
 village, accustomed to a humble employment, make 
 such claims, and not be utterly insane? Can we con- 
 ceive of a wilder hallucination ? Is there one of all the 
 vagaries entertained by the tenants of our lunatic asy- 
 lums that is more extravagant than these? No mere 
 self-exaltation or enthusiasm, nothing short of insanity, 
 can account for such claims. I mention this the rather, 
 because I remember to have been struck by it in read- 
 ing the New Testament in my early days. When I 
 heard this man, apparently so lowly, saying that he 
 was the light of the world, — ''If any man thirst, let 
 him come unto me and drink,” — that he was one with 
 God, that all things were delivered to him by his 
 Father, that he that had seen him had seen the Father, 
 that whatsoever the disciples should ask in his name 
 he would do it, that he would rise from the dead, and 
 come in the clouds of heaven, attended by myriads of 
 angels, to judge the world, — I felt that I had evidence, 
 either that those claims were well founded, or of a 
 hopeless insanity. No wonder those who did not be- 
 lieve said of him, " He hath a devil, and is mad : why 
 hear ye him?” But then, as now, there v/as the unan- 
 swerable reply, ” These are not the words of him that 
 hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?” 
 When we look at his discourses, at their calmness, at 
 their deep insight and profound wisdom ; when we see 
 that the discoveries of all ages have only shed luster 
 upon their wisdom, and that the wisest and best portion 
 of the race now sit at his feet as their instructor ; when 
 we see the more than propriety, the self-possession, the 
 
236 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 dignity of his deportment under the most trying cir- 
 cumstances, — we feel that not a voice from heaven 
 could make it more certain that his was not a crazed, 
 or a weak, or an unbalanced intellect. This fact is 
 borne witness to by the light of its own evidence ; it 
 shines by its own brightness. 
 
 Was he a deceiver? — Did he, then, in the exercise 
 of a sound mind, put forth those claims with the inten- 
 tion to deceive others? This, as I have just intimated, 
 I hold to have been impossible. No impostor of com- 
 mon sense could have had the folly to prefer such 
 claims. But, if this consideration is conclusive, how 
 much more is that drawn from the moral character of 
 Christ ? Look at his unalFected and all-pervading piety, 
 at his universal and self-sacrificing benevolence ; look 
 at his purity and elevation above the world ; listen to 
 his prayer for his murderers on the cross ; and say, is 
 it possible that through all this he was meditating a 
 scheme of deception deeper, more extensive, involving 
 greater sacrifices and sufferings, and more ultimate 
 disappointment to human hope, than any other? Do 
 we not knoiv that this was not so ? If we could believe 
 this, would not that faith in goodness, which is the vital 
 element in the atmosphere of our moral life, be de- 
 stroyed ? And what would remain to us but the stifling, 
 and oppressive, and desolating conviction, that there 
 could be no ground of faith in any indications of good- 
 ness? We can not believe this, we will not believe it. 
 Take away, if you will, the vital element of the air, 
 disrobe the sun of his beams, but remove not from me 
 this life of my life ; leave to me the full-orbed and 
 unshorn brightness of the character of Christ, the Sun 
 of righteousness. 
 
 We have found the Messias, — It only remains that I 
 should refer to what has, indeed, been implied through- 
 out the preceding part of the lecture — that gathering 
 
THE MESSIAS FOUND. 
 
 237 
 
 about the person of Christ of so many and such ex- 
 traordinary circumstances ; that clustering upon him 
 of so many wonderful and diverse characteristics and 
 appropriate insignia of a messenger from God ; that 
 accumulation of evidences which come in, as it were, 
 from the four winds, and become as a crown of many 
 stars upon the head of the Redeemer. It is to be 
 distinctly noticed, in estimating the evidence, that it is 
 not one only of the surprising offices and characteristics 
 which have been mentioned that he sustained so per- 
 fectly, but all of them. It is the same great Teacher 
 around whose system natural religion, and the old 
 dispensation, and all human science, stand up and do 
 obeisance, as did the sheaves of Joseph’s brethren 
 around his sheaf, who also set a perfect example, and 
 stands before us as the model man. It is the same 
 person who " did no sin,” who wrought miracles, who 
 fulfilled the prophecies, who rose from the dead, around 
 whom there shines, as I shall show hereafter, such an 
 effulgence of external evidence, whose life and death 
 have been followed by such amazing effects. If we 
 were to estimate by. the doctrine of chances the proba- 
 bility that so many extraordinary circumstances, each 
 of which could be confirmed by so much evidence, 
 should meet upon a single person, the fraction express- 
 ing that probability would be infinitely small. Had 
 any one of these characteristics belonged to any other 
 individual, it would have placed him among the most 
 distinguished personages of history ; but when we see 
 them all clustering upon the lowly Jesus, the Crucified 
 One, we must say, with one of old, ” We have found 
 the Messias.” 
 
LECTURE IX. 
 
 THE EXTERNAL EVIDENCE, — GENERAL GROUNDS ON WHICH 
 THIS IS TO BE PUT. — ARGUMENT ELEVENTH : AUTHENTICI- 
 TY AND INTEGRITY OF THE WRITINGS OF THE NEW TESTA- 
 MENT. 
 
 When we came into life, we found Christianity ex- 
 isting. It w^as our business, as independent thinkers, 
 to examine it in its relations to the human constitution 
 and to human well-being. This we have done in the 
 preceding lectures ; and if the system be such as it has 
 been represented to be, then we may well feel a deep 
 interest in every thing relating to its origin and history 
 — in what have been called its extornal evidences. To 
 those evidences, then, we now turn. 
 
 Object of inquiry , facts . — In this department of the 
 evidences, the object of our inquiry is, not adaptations, 
 or doctrines, or opinions, or inferences, but simply his- 
 torical facts. 
 
 To he judged of by their oicii evidence. — Was there 
 such a person as Jesus Christ ? Was he crucified? Did 
 he rise from the dead ? These are questions which we 
 are to settle precisely as we would settle the questions 
 whether there. was such a man as Augustus Caesar, and 
 whether he became the sole ruler of the Roman empire. 
 These are no abstract questions, and we are not to let 
 any of the uncertainty which must often belong to the 
 discussion of such questions connect itself with these. 
 
 ( 238 ) 
 
HISTORiaiL EVIDENCE ESSENTIAL. 
 
 239 
 
 There is a science of evidence ; there are laws of evi- 
 dence ; and all we ask is, that those laws may he applied 
 to the facts of Christianity precisely as they are to any 
 other facts. We insist upon it that the evidence ought 
 to be judged of by itself, simply as evidence ; that no 
 man has a right first to examine the facts, and make up 
 an antecedent judgment that they are improbable, and 
 then transfer this feeling of improbability over to the 
 evidence. We hold to the principle of Butler, that, 
 to a being like man, objections against Christianity, 
 as distinguished from objections against its evidence, 
 unless, indeed, it can be shown to contain something 
 either immoral or absurd, really amount to nothing. 
 
 Facts essential. — It is, indeed, a striking peculiarity 
 of the Christian religion, that the truth of its doctrines, 
 and the power of its motives, are inseparably connected 
 with the reality of certain facts which might originally 
 be judged of by the senses, and which are now to be 
 determined by the same historical evidence as we em- 
 ploy in judging of any other facts. As fully as I have 
 entered upon the internal evidence, as satisfactory as I 
 regard the proof it furnishes, as heartily as I should 
 deprecate a merely historical religion, necessarily desti- 
 tute of any life-giving power, I would yet say, distinctly, 
 that I believe in no religion that is not supported by 
 historical proof. Unless Jesus Christ lived, and wrought 
 miracles, and was crucified, and rose from the dead, 
 Christianity is an imposture — beautiful, indeed, and 
 utterly unaccountable, but still an imposture. 
 
 Christianity peculiar in this . — Perhaps it is not 
 enough considered how much Christianity is contradis- 
 tinguished, in this respect, not only from other systems 
 of religion, but from all systems and questions of phi- 
 losophy. Christ said, ” Though ye believe not me, 
 believe the works.” So said not Mohammed. The 
 facts on which his system, as a religioiiy rests, depend 
 
240 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 solely on the testimony of one man. So says not any 
 system of philosophy. It is a totally difierent thing 
 for the philosopher to present certain doctrines for our 
 reception on the ground of his reasoning, and for the 
 witness to testify, ” That which we have heard, which 
 we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked 
 upon, and our hands have handled, — declare we unto 
 you.” Christianity is, indeed, a spiritual religion; hut 
 it is a spirituality manifesting itself through facts, 
 clothed in substantial forms. It says to the unbeliev- 
 ing, '' Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands ; 
 and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side.” 
 Ill saying this, it offers itself to be tried by a new test 
 — such a one as no other religion can stand. But the 
 Christian religion shrinks from no test. W e wish it to 
 be fully tried. We know that, like the pure gold, the 
 more it is tried, the more clearly it will be seen to be 
 <renuine. That a reli£:ion intended for the race would 
 need the kind of evidence of which I am noAV to speak, 
 is plain ; but the difficulty is immeasurably increased 
 when it is attempted to sustain an imposture by evidence 
 of this kind, freely thrown open to all. 
 
 Ground of belief in similar facts, — As, then, our 
 object is to ascertain the reality of certain alleged facts, 
 it may be well to look at the grounds on which we 
 believe other and similar facts. It has generally been 
 said, that the sole ground on which we believe facts 
 that we have not o\irselves witnessed, is that of testi- 
 mony. In some cases this is so, but in many others I 
 should think it an inadequate account of the grounds 
 of our belief. When a man finds an ancient mound at 
 the west, and in it human bones and the implements of 
 civilization, is it on the ground of testimony that he 
 believes that this continent was once inhabited by a 
 race now extinct? Or, again, if I were required to 
 prove that such a man as General Washington ever 
 
DIFFEKENT CLASSES OF FACTS. 
 
 241 
 
 existed, and performed the acts generally ascribed to 
 him, should I rest on the ground of testimony alone ? 
 
 -JPerhaps the evidence of testimony is involved in the 
 fact that his birthday is celebrated; but that fact is 
 something more than mere testimony. So, when I go 
 to the house where it is said he lived, and the tomb 
 where it is said he is buried, when I see the sword pre- 
 sented to Congress which it is said he wore, I find, in 
 the existence of the house, the tomb, the sword, an 
 evidence distinct from that of naked testimony. So, 
 again, when I look at the independence of this country, 
 and at its republican institutions, and find them ascribed 
 by universal testimony to what Washington did, and 
 when I find existing no other account of the manner in 
 which our independence was achieved, and our institu- 
 tions established, then I find, in the fact of the inde- 
 pendence of this country and the existence of its free 
 institutions, an evidence distinct from that of mere 
 testimony. Every lawyer knows the difierence betAveen 
 naked testimony and testimony thus corroborated by 
 circumstantial evidence. 
 
 Facts differently substantiated, — Here, then, we find 
 the ground of a Avide distinction betAveen the different 
 classes of facts for AA^hich Ave have evidence. They may 
 be divided into those which rest on the evidence of 
 testimony alone, and those Avhich Ave receive, not merely 
 on the direct evidence of testimony, but Avhich produced 
 permanent effects in the Avorld that are noAV manifest, 
 and AAdiich can be reasonably traced to no other causes 
 than those assigned by the testimony. And of this 
 latter kind, especially, some are so substantiated, that 
 no miracle could be more strange, or more difficult to 
 be believed, or more a violation of the uniform course 
 of our experience, than that such evidence should de- 
 ceive us. The existence and history of Washington, 
 for example, are so much involved in the present state 
 21 
 
242 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTEiNITT. 
 
 of things, the evidence for them comes from so many 
 sources, it touches so many points, that to deny them 
 would be a practical absurdity . We should think it no 
 breach of charity to say to him who questioned such 
 evidence, that he was insincere. 
 
 Those of Christianity in the strongest way. — Now, 
 it is on this general ground that the evidence for Chris- 
 tianity rests ; and we say that no man can pluck away 
 the pillars on which it rests, without bringing down the 
 whole fabric of historical evidence in ruins over his head. 
 We say that this evidence can not be invalidated without 
 introducing universal and absolute historical skepticism. 
 Christianity, with all its institutions, exists. Christen- 
 dom exists, and it is important to our argument that 
 the greatness of this fact should not be overlooked. It 
 is the great fact in the history of the world. Here is 
 a religion, received by a large portion of the human 
 race ; by that portion, too, which takes the lead in civ- 
 ilization and the arts. It confessedly supplanted other 
 religions ; it produced a revolution in the opinions and 
 habits of men, unparalleled in the history of the world. 
 It has not merely accomplished religious and moral 
 revolutions, but, incidentally, social and civil changes, so 
 as completely to transform the face of society. It came 
 to its ascendency through great opposition and persecu- 
 tions, such as no other religion ever did or could with- 
 stand ; and now it does not live by flattering the natural 
 passions of men, or by letting them alone and requiring 
 of them no sacrifices. It has not, like other religions, 
 depended for its existence and power upon its con- 
 nection with the state ; for, though it has often been 
 connected with the state, and, in some particular form, 
 upheld by it, yet it flourishes best when left to find its 
 own way, and to control the hearts of men by its own 
 proper force. 
 
 The religion to he accounted for. — Now, the existence 
 
TRADITIONS. 
 
 243 
 
 of such a religion as this, in the world, requires to he 
 accounted for. It would he absurd to suppose that, 
 in a period of high intellectual cultivation, it should 
 spring up and subvert other religions, without being 
 challenged by mankind, and having its credentials de- 
 manded, and its history known. But if the facts on 
 which the religion was based were once known, it would 
 seem in the last degree improbable that the knowledge 
 of them should perish, and the religion remain ; or, 
 what would be still more strange, not only that all 
 knowledge, oral or written, of these facts should have 
 perished, but that a false and most minute account 
 should have been substituted for the true one, and re- 
 ceived from the first. 
 
 Tradition, — Moreover, it is chiefly with facts that 
 exert an important influence on the destiny of mankind, 
 that tradition connects itself; and this, in connection 
 with institutions which enter into the faliric of society, 
 or with monuments or observances handed down by an 
 unbroken succession of persons, who have felt a deep 
 interest in the facts in question, can not fail to preserve 
 the great outlines of events as long as such observances 
 and monuments remain. If all written records were 
 blotted out from this time, and yet the independence 
 of this nation were to be preserved, and the fourth of 
 July were to continue to be annually celebrated, who 
 can suppose that, in any length of years, all trace of 
 the true origin of the day should be lost, and another, 
 enth'ely false, substituted for it? So, when we find a 
 Christian church, that has existed as a separate inde- 
 pendent body from the origin of the religion, celebrating 
 an ordinance once a week, or once a month, or once in 
 two months, in commemoration of the death of Christ, 
 if we had no other evidence for it than that of tradition, 
 the presumption would be very strong that, at least, 
 such a man as Christ lived and died, and was supposed 
 
244 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 to have conferred some distinguished benefit. And in 
 this case the evidence is peculiarly strong, because the 
 ordinance has been so frequently repeated and so 
 widely extended. No delusion, from national pride 
 or local feeling, can be suspected, because we find the 
 same tradition, and the same ordinance, in the most 
 distant and remote countries. Millions of Christians 
 now regard this rite as the most sacred one belonging 
 to- a religion for which they are ready to lay down their 
 lives ; they received it from those who were equally 
 attached to it ; and so it must have been up to the 
 point — a point perfectly well defined in history — from 
 which the tradition, and the written history, and the 
 ordinance, started together. ; 
 
 If true, all natural and plain. — The reverse, — 
 Here, then, we find Christendom, and the Christian 
 church — a body of men as distinctly organized and as 
 intimately associated as those of any state — having its 
 institutions, its traditions, and its records, all perfectly 
 harmonizing with each other. These records bear on 
 the face of them the marks of veracity ; there is noth- 
 ing known that is contradictory to them ; they contain 
 a fair and plausible account of the origin of the church. 
 Admit the account, and every difficulty is removed. 
 Kefuse to admit it, and you destroy the very founda- 
 tions of historical proof in any fiict whatever. So 
 much, indeed, are the general facts of Christianity im- 
 plied in the present state of the world, and so much 
 has it of that conviction which springs from universal 
 notoriet}', and which we can neither doubt, nor trace 
 to any particular source, that I do not hesitate to say, 
 that the olqections brought by Archbishop Whately 
 against the existence and general history of Napo- 
 leon Bonaparte are quite as plausible as any that can 
 be brought against the existence and general history 
 of Christ. 
 
TESTIMONY. 
 
 245 
 
 IVe receive other facts. — And more especially ought 
 we to receive facts thus suhstautiated, when we remem- 
 ber how fully we believe those which are established by 
 testimony alone. This, as was said in a former lecture, 
 may be tlie ground of a certainty as full and perfect as 
 any of which we can conceive. Can I doubt that there 
 is such a city as Rome, or such a person as Queen Vic- 
 toria? or that there has been such a personas Napoleon 
 Bonaparte, or George the Fourth? And yet I know 
 these facts solely by testimony. Who doubts, or can 
 doubt, that Augustus Caesar was emperor of Rome? 
 Who would fear to stake his life on the fact that such 
 a man as Alexander the Great existed? And yet no 
 trace of that fact remains in the present organizations 
 or customs of society, and the written and traditionary 
 evidence for it is as nothing compared with that of 
 Christianity. 
 
 All testimony does not deceive. — It is not, then, true 
 of every kind of testimony that it sometimes deceives 
 us. There may be testimony of such a nature as, never 
 was, and never can be, hdse ; and it was a poor fallacy 
 of Hume to attempt to transfer over to all testimony 
 that uncertainty which belongs to it only in some cases. 
 We affirm that the testimony for Christianity, taken by 
 itself, is such as could not possibly be deceptive, as 
 Avas never known to be so since the world began ; and 
 we challenge infidels to point out an instance of such 
 deception. When they do this, they may talk of 
 the unceidainty of testimony. 
 
 JSFor lose weight hy age. — I may properly refer here, 
 also, to another common fallacy respecting testimony, 
 which is based on the same principle of transferring to 
 the whole what belongs only to a part, and which has 
 had some influence. It is, that testimony loses its 
 weight by age ; that every century steals something 
 from its probability. As if testimony that was once 
 21 * 
 
246 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 true, would not always be true ; and the question' 
 whether it shall appear more or less true to the minds 
 of men, after longer or shorter periods have elapsed, is 
 one that must be determined by circumstances. Noth- 
 ing can be more untrue than the general assertion, as 
 made universally ; and, as applied to the evidences of 
 Christianity, I deny it altogether. Age itself, as such, 
 has no tendency to impair the force of testimony ; and 
 it often happens that, by the discovery of coins, or 
 ruins, or hieroglyphics, or inscriptions, or manuscripts, 
 testimony which had been doubted for ages is fully con- 
 lirmed. It is, indeed, a fact, that, from fuller research, 
 and from such discoveries, the historical testimony for 
 Christianity, instead of being diminished within the 
 last hundred years, has been greatly increased and 
 strengthened. 
 
 JSFo facts of history so well sustained. — But, valid as 
 is the evidence of testimony, we do not feel that we 
 rest upon that alone, but that the facts of Christianity 
 are sustained by every species of evidence by which it 
 is possible that any past event should be sulistantiated. 
 The great facts in history are very few — I think of 
 none — which are implied in the present state of the 
 civilized world as are those of the Christian religion. 
 It is as if the taking of Constantinople by the Turks 
 were to be confirmed by a reference to its present state. 
 Let us suppose, to illustrate this point more fully, that 
 a book purporting to be a history of the Turks, and 
 giving an account of their taking the city of Constan- 
 tinople and making it their capital, were put into the 
 hands of a man who had never heard of that people. 
 If it bore upon its face evidence of its being a true 
 histoiy, he might receive it, and this would be naked 
 testimony. But, if he should afterward travel, and find 
 this same people making a city of that name their cap- 
 ital, and find still dwelling among them the remains of 
 
AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY. 
 
 247 
 
 a subjugated people, and should find, both among Turks 
 and others, one unvarying tradition of the same events, 
 and should find, moreover, other and independent histo- 
 ries agreeing in all respects with the history he had first 
 seen, and the original letters of the commanders of the 
 army in those days, he would feel that all room for 
 donl)t Avas removed. But all this evidence, and more, 
 would he have Avho should have the Gospel of Matthew 
 and the Acts of the Apostles put into his hands, and 
 should then be made acquainted for the first time with 
 the present state of the Avorld, and Avith the other books 
 of the Ncav Testament. 
 
 ARGUMENT XI. 
 
 AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY OF THE CHRISTIAN FATHERS. 
 
 With this general statement of the nature of the 
 evidence, I proceed to consider more particularly, in 
 reference to the books- of the New Testament, the tAva 
 great questions of their authenticity and their credibil- 
 ity. The question of credibility is, of course, the great 
 question; but, in the present case, that of authenticity 
 is so intimately connected Avith this, that it can not be 
 omitted. 
 
 Authenticity, — Let us inquire, then, what evidence 
 we have that the books of the Ncav Testament Avere 
 AATitten by the persons Avhose names they bear, and at 
 the time they purport to have been Avritten. The great 
 storehouse of learning on this subject is Lardner; and 
 to him all subsequent Avriters refer, doing little more 
 than to quote and abridge him. For ordinary purposes, 
 hoAvever, such Avorks as those of Horne and Paley are 
 sufficiently full.* 
 
 Boolcs and authors . — We have the New Testament, 
 consisting of twenty-seven separate books, written by 
 eight different authors. Some of these books are formal 
 
 * It is chiefly on their authority that the quotations on the subsequent pages 
 are made. 
 
248 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHPvISTI^\Jv"ITY. 
 
 histories — one is a personal narrative — but the most 
 of them are letters addressed to associated bodies of 
 Christians. That they were written by the persons to 
 whom they are ascribed, and at the time claimed, we 
 believe, — • 
 
 Quoted and referred to from the first. — First, because 
 they are quoted and referred to by a series of writers in 
 close and uninterrupted succession, from that time till 
 the present. 
 
 Peter and Paul. — 1. We find one apostle referring 
 to the writings of another. Peter refers to the writings 
 of Paul, characterizing them, just as many do now, as 
 containing some things hard to be understood; but, 
 what is remarkable, recognizing them as of the same 
 authority with the other Scriptures. The force of this 
 incidental reference to the writings of Paul, by Peter," 
 is less felt from the fact that both writings are bound 
 up in the same volume ; but it is really as great as if 
 the Epistle of Peter were now discovered for the first 
 time. The Epistle of James, as no student of it can 
 doubt, refers to the perversion, by some, of Paul’s 
 doctrine on the subject of faith and works, as contained 
 in the Epistle to the Pomans. The supplementary 
 character of John’s Gospel implies the previous compo- 
 sition and circulation of some, at least, of the other 
 Gospels. Jude evidently refers to and quotes the Sec- 
 ond Epistle of Peter. 
 
 Apostolical Fathers. — 2. We have "writings bearing 
 the names of persons, who, because they were contem- 
 jiorary with some of the apostles, are called ” apostol- 
 ical” fathers. Eespecting the genuineness of some of 
 these writings, as those ascribed to Barnabas and Her- 
 mas, there has been much controversy. I shall refer 
 only to those universally admitted, and of which there 
 can be no reasonable doubt. We have no need of 
 inferior kinds of evidence. 
 
CLEMENT. 
 
 249 
 
 Clement, — The Epistle ascribed to Clement is an 
 epistle from "the church of God sojourning at Eome, 
 to the Church of God sojourning at Corinth.” It does 
 not contain his name, f)ut is spoken of by the ancients 
 as acknowledged by all to be his. Ireiifcus says it was 
 written by Clement, " who had seen the blessed apostles, 
 and conversed with them, who had the preaching of the 
 apostles still sounding in his ears, and their traditions 
 before his eyes.” And Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, 
 about the year 170, — that is, eighty or ninety years 
 after the Epistle was written, — bears witness that it 
 had been read in that church from ancient times. In it 
 there are quotations from, or evident allusions to, eight 
 of the books of the Ncav Testament. He expressly 
 names only PauFs First Epistle to the Corinthians, but 
 of the origin of the passages there can be no doubt. 
 Thus, "Especially,” says Clement, "remembering the 
 words of the Lord Jesus, which he spoke, teaching 
 gentleness and long-suffering ; for thus he said ; ' Be ye 
 merciful, that ye may obtain mercy; forgive, that it 
 may be forgiven unto you ; as you do, so shall it be 
 done unto you; as ye judge, so shall ye be judged; 
 as ye shoAV kindness, so shall kindness be shoAvn unto 
 you ; Avith Avhat measure ye mete, with the same it 
 shall be measured to you.’ By this command, and by 
 these rules, let us establish ourselves, that Ave may 
 always walk obediently to his holy Avords.” Can any 
 one doubt Avhere Clement found these words, or the 
 folloAAung? "Kemember the words of the Lord Jesus; 
 for he said, AYoe to that man by Avdiom offenses come : 
 it Avere better for him that a millstone should be tied 
 a])out his neck, and that he should be droAvned in the 
 sea, than that he should offend one of these little 
 ones.’”* That such passages are not referred to the 
 evangelists byname, — for all the apostolical fathers 
 
 * Epistle of Clement, in “ Apostolical Fathers.” 
 
250 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 quote in this way, — is so far from making, as has been 
 objected, against our argument, that it is one of its 
 strong confirmations. It is just thus, and only thus, 
 that we now always quote and refer to works that are 
 the most perfectly familiar, both to ourselves and to our 
 readers or hearers. It implies for the New Testament 
 Scriptures, and as nothing else could, precisely the 
 place that we claim for them. 
 
 As this. Epistle of Clement was written in the name 
 of the church at Koine, and addressed to the church at 
 Corinth, it must be regarded as expressing the judg- 
 ment of those churches. 
 
 Ignatius. — Ignatius, bishop at Antioch, suffered 
 martyrdom about the year 107. The authority of his 
 name led to its use for several interpolated or spurious 
 writings. In the few short Epistles generally acknowl- 
 edged as genuine, there are quotations from two of the 
 Gospels and four of the Epistles. He expressly names 
 that to the Ephesians. 
 
 Poly carp . — Poly carp, a companion of Ignatius, was 
 a bishop at Smyrna. Irenasus, who in his youth had 
 seen him , says , " I can tell the place in which the 
 blessed Polycarp sat and taught, and his going out and 
 coming in, and the manner of his life, and the form of 
 his person, and the discourses he made to the people, 
 and how he related his conversation with John and 
 others who had seen the Lord, both concerning his 
 miracles and his doctrine, as he had received them from 
 the eye-witnesses of the Word of life ; all which Poly- 
 carp related agreeably to the Scrip>tures.'' Of Polj^carp 
 we have one Epistle, concerning which there is no 
 reasonable doubt. In this, though short, there are 
 clear allusions to fourteen of the books of the New 
 Testament. He expressly names the Epistle to the 
 Philippians. 
 
 Papias. — Papias was a companion of Polycarp. Of 
 
THE FIRST CENTURY — HISTORICALLY BRIEF. 251 
 
 his ^yG have nothing remaining; but Eusebius quotes 
 from a work of his, in which he ascribes their respective 
 Gospels to Matthew and Mark. 
 
 M"e have thus, from persons contemporary with 
 some of the apostles, numerous quotations or plain 
 allusions to most of the books of the New Testament ; 
 and they uniformly treat them with the reverence 
 belonging to inspired books. 
 
 And here I will make a remark that needs to be 
 borne in mind in all our use of dates, in speaking of 
 the early history of Christianity. It is, that the century 
 commences with the birth of Christ, whereas the his- 
 tory of the religion does not commence till thirty-three 
 years afterward, — so that the end of the first century 
 was only sixty-seven years from the first attempt by 
 the apostles to establish the new religion. And when 
 it is remembered that the first three Gospels were pub- 
 lished, probably as soon as the year 60, or certainly be- 
 fore the destruction of Jerusalem, and that Jolm lived 
 till nearly the close of this century, it will be seen 
 that the means of verifying every thing were very 
 abundant. 
 
 Justin Martyr. — Twenty-five or thirty years after 
 Poly carp follows Justin Martyr, universally known in 
 the ancient church. He was a convert from heathen- 
 ism after he had arrived at mature age, and was distin- 
 guished as a philosopher, a Christian, and a writer. Of 
 his writings we have remaining only — two Apologies 
 for the Christians, one addressed to the Emperor Titus 
 Antoninus Pius, and the other to the Emperor Marcus 
 Antoninus, and the senate and people of Pome ; and his 
 Dialogue with Trypho the Jew. We find, however, in 
 these, thirty-five plain quotations from the Gospel of 
 Matthew alone, and, in one case, a considerable part 
 of the Sermon on the Mount, in the very words of 
 .Matthew, He either quotes, or clearly refers to, the 
 
252 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Acts of the Apostles, and nearly all the Epistles, and 
 says expressly that the Eevelation was written by John. 
 He calls the books from which he quotes, ” Memoirs 
 composed by the Apostles,” ” Memoirs composed by 
 the Apostles and their Companions,” — which descrip- 
 tion, the latter especially, exactly agrees with the titles 
 which the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles now 
 bear. This manner of reference " shows that the books 
 were perfectly notorious, and that there were no other 
 accounts of Christ then extant so received and credited 
 as to make it necessary to distinguish these from the 
 rest.” Justin also tells us, in his first Apology, that 
 the memoirs of the apostle’s, and the writings of the 
 prophets, were read and expounded in the Christian 
 assemblies for worship, which shows that the Gospels 
 were at that time well known in the world. To this 
 testimony of Justin, who sealed his belief in the Chris- 
 tian religion with his blood, there is no objection, 
 except that he does not quote the different writers by 
 name ; but skepticism itself can not suppose that books 
 w^ere read and expounded in the Christian churches so 
 generally that he should mention it in an apology to the 
 emperor, and yet that all trace and record of those 
 .books should have been lost, and that others should 
 have been fabricated, and substituted in their place. 
 We find in this author almost a complete history of 
 Christ ; and yet he mentions only two circumstances 
 wEich are not contained in our Gospels. 
 
 Tatian, — After Justin Martyr follows Tatian, a 
 disciple of his. About the year 170, he composed a 
 harmony of the Gospels, which he called ” Diatessaron,” 
 — that is, of the four, — showing that there were then 
 four, and only four, Gospels. 
 
 Pothinus. — About this time, the churches of Yienne 
 and Lyons, in France, sent a relation of the sufferings 
 - of their maidyrs to the churches of Asia and Phrygia, 
 
IREX^US. 
 
 253 
 
 and the epistle is preserved by Eusebius. Among the 
 victims was the aged bishop of Lyons, Pothinus. He 
 was ninety years old, so that his testimony would join 
 on to that of the apostles. In this we find the follow- 
 ing : ” Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the 
 
 Lord, that whosoever killeth you will think that he 
 doeth God service;” with similar references to Luke 
 and to the Acts. 
 
 Irenceus . — To Pothinus, as bishop of Lyons, suc- 
 ceeded Irenceus, who was, in his youth, a disciple of 
 Poly carp. He wrote many works, but his five books 
 asrainst heresies are all that remain. In these he has 
 shown a full acquaintance with the Scriptures both of 
 the Old and New Testament. Being only a century 
 distant from the time of the publication of the Gospels, 
 and only one step removed from the apostles, he speaks 
 of himself and his contemporaries as being able to 
 reckon up, in all the principal churches, the succession 
 of bishops from the first. He mentions the code of the 
 New Testament, as well as the Old, and calls the one, 
 as well as the other, the Oracles of God. His testimony 
 is full and explicit to all the books of the New Testa- 
 ment, except the Epistle to Philemon, the Third of 
 John, and the Epistle of Jude. And here we find, for 
 the first time, what we might now expect to find — an 
 appeal to the books as the ground of the Christian faith. 
 'AYe have not received,” says Irenseus, 'Ghe knowledge 
 of the way of our salvation by any other than those by 
 whom the gospel has been brought to us ; which gospel 
 they first preached, and afterward, by the will of God, 
 committed to writing, that it might be for time to come 
 the foundation and pillar of our faith. For, after our 
 Lord rose from the dead, and they were endued from 
 above with the power of the Holy Ghost coming down 
 upon them, they received a perfect knowledge of all 
 things. They then went forth to all the ends of the 
 22 
 
254 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 earth, declaring to men the blessing of heavenly jieace, 
 having all of them, and every one alike, the gospel of 
 God. Matthew, then, among the Jews, wrote a Gospel 
 in their own language, while Peter and Paul were 
 preaching the gospel at Pome, and founding a church 
 there. And, after their exit, Mark, also the disciple 
 and intei^oreter of Peter, delivered to us in writing the 
 things that had been preached by Peter ; and Luke, the 
 companion of Paul, put down in a book the gospel 
 preached by him. Afterward, John, the disciple of 
 the Lord, who also leaned upon his breast, he likewise 
 published a Gospel while he dwelt at Ephesus, in Asia.” 
 We could certainly wish nothing more explicit than 
 this ; and there are other passages not less so. 
 
 Clement » — After Irenseus, we come to Athenagoras, 
 about the year 180, and to Theophilus, bishop at Anti- 
 och, and to Clement of Alexandria, (A. D. 150-220,) 
 an author of note, who quotes from almost all the 
 writers of the New Testament so largely, that the cita- 
 tions would fill a considerable volume. He gives us an 
 account of the order in which the Gospels were written, 
 and then says that he received the account from presby- 
 ters of more ancient times. 
 
 TertuUian. — About the same time with Clement 
 lived Tertullian, a presbyter of the church of Carthage, 
 whose testimony is very full and explicit. After enu- 
 merating the apostolicail churches he says, ”I say, 
 then, that with them, but not with them only, which are 
 apostolical, but with all who have fellowship with them 
 in the same faith, is that Gospel of Luke received, 
 from its first publication, which we so zealously main- 
 tain.” He adds, "The same authority of the apostolical 
 churches will support the other Gospels which we have 
 from them, — I mean John’s and Matthew’s, — although 
 that likewise which Mark published may be said to be 
 Peter’s, whose interpreter Mark was.” In another place, 
 
GENER^O. AGREEMENT. 
 
 255 
 
 Tcrtullian says tliat the three other Gospels were in the 
 hands of the churches from the heginning. 
 
 'With Tertullian I close my eitations from the authors 
 of the second century, of whom it has been said with 
 truth, so numerous are their quotations from the New 
 Testament, that, if that hook had been lost, it might be 
 almost compiled anew from these citations. 
 
 Extent of assent . — And here we may remark, with 
 Paley, " the wide extent through which the reputation 
 of the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles had spread, 
 and the perfect consent, on this point, of distant and 
 independent societies. It is now only about one hun- 
 dred and fifty years since Christ was crucified ; and 
 within this period, to say nothing of the apostolical 
 fathers, w^e have Justin IMartyr of Neapolis, Theophilus 
 at Antioch, Irenseus in France, Clement in Alexandria, 
 and Tertullian at Carthage, quoting the same books of 
 historical Scriptures, and, I may say, quoting them 
 alone.” These men, too, — which is an important point, 
 — being bishops and presbyters, their testimony in- 
 volves that of large bodies of men. It gives us the 
 authority of common consent. And certainly such 
 an authority and assent, extending over thousands of 
 miles, could never have been gained to books esteemed 
 as these were, except on the best grounds. There are 
 no other books of antiquity that can be placed at all in 
 competition with them in this -respect. 
 
 It has been usual to continue citations down as far as 
 the fourth century ; but can this be necessary ? I think 
 not, especially as they now multiply upon us on every 
 side. It has also been usual, and is, perhaps, more 
 strictly logical , to trace the testimony upward ; but, 
 in the present state of this argument, that can not be 
 important. 
 
 Peculiar titles. — But I observe, secondly, not only 
 were these writings thus quoted, but, when they were, 
 
256 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTI.iNITY. 
 
 it was with peculiar titles and marks of respect. Thus 
 Theophilus, liishop of Antioch, who flourished a little 
 more than a century after the books were written, says, 
 "These things the Holy Scriptures teach us, and all 
 who were moved by the Holy Spirit, among whom 
 John says, 'In the beginning was the Word.’ ” Origen 
 (A. D. 185-254) says, "That our religion teaches us 
 to seek after wisdom, shall be shown both out of the 
 ancient Jewish Scriptures, which we also use, and out 
 of those written since Jesus, which are believed in the 
 churches to be divine.” 
 
 Head in assemhlies . — These writings, more- 
 
 over, as has already been stated, were early read in the 
 public asseml)lies of Christians. Justin Martyr, who 
 wrote only about one hundred years after the crucifix- 
 ion, giving an account of Christian worship, has this 
 remarkable passage : " The memoirs of the apostles-, or 
 the writings of the prophets, are read according as the 
 time allows, and, when the reader has ended, the presi- 
 dent makes a discourse.” This passage is of great 
 weight, because J iistin speaks here of the general usage 
 of the Christian church, and because he speaks of it as 
 a long-established custom. That by " memoirs of the 
 apostles” he means our Gospels, is evident, because he 
 tells us, in another place, that they are what are called 
 " Gospels,” and because he has made numerous quota- 
 tions from them, and from no others. 
 
 Collected into a volume . — At what time the books 
 of the New Testament were collected into a distinct 
 volume, and liccame known to the churches in that col- 
 lected form, is not certainly knoAvn ; luit there is no 
 doul)t it was very early, and that this volume was ranked 
 from the first with the Scriptures of the Old Testament. 
 Polycarp sa3's, "I trust jq are well exercised in the 
 Holy Scriptures, as in these Scriptures it is said, 'Be 
 ye angry and sin not.’” This passage, thus quoted by 
 
EVIDENCE AS WE SHOULD WISH. 
 
 257 
 
 Polycarp, shows that in his time there were Christian 
 writings distinguished as the ”Holy Scriptures.” This 
 is in perfect accordance with what we should expect 
 after the recognition, hy Peter, of the writings of Paul 
 as a part of the Scriptures. Justin Martyr, also, in 
 the ” Apology ” of which I have already spoken, (which 
 was written about thirty years after the Epistle of Poly- 
 carp,) says, ” For the apostles, in the memoirs composed 
 by them, which are called ^ Gospels,’ have thus deliv- 
 ered it, that Jesus commanded them to take bread and 
 give thanks.” 
 
 Completion of the canon . — I speak of this subject 
 because it has been said that no such book as the New 
 Testament existed before the fourth century, and be- 
 cause our evidence on this point stands just as we could 
 wish — that is, it stands just as we should suppose it 
 would from the nature of the case. Here are twenty- 
 seven separate pieces written within the space of sixty 
 years. It is not to be supposed that all these pieces 
 should be possessed at once by all the churches, or that 
 there should be at once a perfect agreement in regard 
 to them all. We should expect that copies would be 
 taken, and collections made, of those writings concern- 
 ing which there was no question, and that these would 
 be quoted and incidentally referred to, precisely as our 
 books are, till some question was raised about the intro- 
 duction of another book, or about the authority or 
 authenticity of any part of it. Then we should expect 
 to find the grounds stated on which the books were 
 received, and formal catalogues made out of such as 
 were received. If, then, by saying that there was no 
 such book as the New Testament before the fourth 
 century, it is meant that the canon, as it is called, was 
 not formally settled by a council till that time, it is 
 true ; but if it be meant, as is insinuated, that the 
 writings were then first published, no man can make 
 22 * 
 
258 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 such an assertion, except from the grossest ignorance, 
 or as a willful falsehood. 
 
 The truth is, that we have in the first century, that 
 is, within less than seventy years after the death of 
 Christ, numerous quotations, and allusions to our sacred 
 hooks, in which we have an incidental and unintentional 
 testimony, more satisfactory than any formal testimony 
 could be ; and, in these quotations and allusions, nine- 
 teen or twenty of our present hooks are recognized. 
 In the second century, we find the testimony more 
 express and full, and the quotations so numerous, that 
 a large part of the New Testament might he collected 
 from them. Of this age there are thirty-six writers 
 of whose works some part has come down to us. In 
 the third and fourth centuries, we have more than a 
 hundred authors whose works testify to the authen- 
 ticity of these hooks. During these two centuries, 
 catalogues of the authentic works were expressly drawn 
 up, harmonies were formed, versions were made into 
 many languages, and the canon was fully settled. 
 
 Eiisehiiis . — In settling the canon, we find, from 
 Eusehius, writing about the year 315, that there were 
 seven l)ooks concerning Avhich there was some hesita- 
 tion, and the grounds of the doubts are fully given.* 
 Eusehius begins his enumeration of Scriptures univer- 
 sally acknowledged in the following manner : " In the 
 first place are to he ranked the sacred four Gospels ; 
 then the hook of the Acts of the Apostles ; after that 
 are to he reckoned the Epistles of Paul ; in the next 
 place, that called the First Epistle of John, and the 
 Epistle of Peter, are to he esteemed authentic ; after 
 this is to he placed the Revelation of John, about which 
 we shall observe the different opinions at proper seasons. 
 Of the controverted, yet well known, or approved by 
 
 * lie ha8 preserved a catalogue by Origen, probably of the year 210, Avhich is 
 Bubstantially the same as his own. 
 
EVIDENCE PERFECT. 
 
 259 
 
 the most, are that ealled the Epistle of James, and that 
 of Jude, and the Second of Peter, and the Second and 
 Third of eTohn, whether written by the evangelist or 
 by another of the same name.” Concerning these last, 
 however, all doubt was gradually removed, so that, by 
 the time of Jerome and Augustine, A. D. 342-430, 
 many catalogues are given, including all our present 
 books, and none other. 
 
 While, therefore, it appears that many of the writings 
 of the New Testament were collected while some of the 
 apostles were yet living, or immediately afterward, 
 and known under the name of the Gospels and the 
 Apostles ; while the references to this volume, during 
 the second century, are almost numberless ; while no 
 doubt ever arose respecting the mass of them, — still 
 the book which we now receive was not, in all its parts, 
 formally agreed upon, in consequence of a careful exam- 
 ination of ancient testimony, till between three and four 
 hundred years after the birth' of Christ. It will be 
 remembered, however, that if every part of the New 
 Testament, concerning which there had been dispute, 
 or doubt, were blotted out, the argument for the truth 
 of Christianity would not be in the least invalidated. 
 There is, therefore, direct evidence, as perfect as the 
 nature of the case admits, that those writings on which 
 we depend for the truth of the Christian religion have 
 existed, and were received without doubt from the 
 very first. 
 
 llival parties. — So full and unexceptionable is the 
 testimony thus given by early writers, that it would 
 seem, in the absence of any thing to contradict it, or 
 to throw over it the slightest discredit, that further evi- 
 dence could not be needed. Indeed, if we were to 
 stop here, we should have a body of evidence for the 
 authenticity of these writings such as can be adduced 
 in favor of no others of equal antiquity. The writings 
 
260 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 of Cicero are quoted by Quintilian, which shows that 
 they were then extant and ascribed to him. But the 
 wmrks of Cicero excited no controversy, they gave rise 
 to no general opposition, they created no sects ; hence 
 we have no means of knowing how those works were 
 regarded by enemies, or by rival parties, appealing to 
 their authority. This, when it can be obtained, is the 
 very highest kind of evidence, and, in respect to the 
 Christian Scriptures, it is most full and satisfactory. 
 The heretical writers do, indeed, sometimes deny that 
 the apostle or writer is an infallible authority ; but they 
 never deny that the books were written by those to 
 whom they were ascribed. Thus the Cerinthians and 
 the Ebionites, who sprang up while St. John was yet 
 living, wished to retain the Mosaic law, and hence 
 rejected the Epistles of Paul, while they retained the 
 Gospel of Matthew. And Marcion, A. D. 130, who 
 rejected the Old Testament, and was excommunicated, 
 though greatly incensed, and though he speaks dispar- 
 agingly of several of the books, yet nowhere intimates 
 that they were forgeries. The same may be said of all 
 the ancient sects. 
 
 Enemies. — We have, also, the indirect testimony of 
 the enemies of Christianity — as Celsus, Porphpy, and 
 Julian. Of these, Celsus flourished only about a hun- 
 dred years after the Gospels were published, and was 
 an acute and bitter adversary ; and it seems quite im- 
 possiWe that any one of them, much more the whole, 
 should have been forged, and yet he not know or suspect 
 it. He attacks the books, he speaks of contradictions 
 and difficulties in them, but he hints no suspicion that 
 they were forged. Indeed, he claims the writings, for 
 he says, "These things, then, we have alleged to you out 
 of your own writings, not needing any other weapons.” 
 In Porphyry, born A. D. 233, (the most sensible and 
 severe adversary of Christianity that antiquity can 
 
EVIDENCE OF EVERY KIND. 
 
 . 2Q1 
 
 produce,) we find no trace of any suspicion that the 
 Christian writings were not authentic, though he pro- ' 
 nounces the prophecy of Daniel a forgery. Porphyry 
 did not even deny the truth of the Gospel history. He 
 admitted that the miracles were performed hy Christ, 
 but imputed them to magic, which he said he learned 
 in Eg 3 ^pt. Julian, commonl}^ called the Apostate, 
 flourished from A. D. 331 to 363. He quotes the four 
 Gospels and the Acts, and nowhere gives any intima- 
 tion that he suspected the whole, or any 23art of them, 
 to be forgeries. 
 
 Jincient versions and manuscripts. — Another source 
 of evidence is to be found in ancient versions and man- 
 uscripts. The Syriac version was probably made early 
 in the second century, and the first Latin versions 
 almost as early. Of course the New Testament must 
 have existed, and been received as the standard of 
 Christian truth, before those versions were made. Of 
 ancient manuscripts, containing the New Testament or 
 parts thereof, there are several thousands. About five 
 hundred of the most important have been collated with 
 great care. Many of them are of great antiquity. The 
 Codex Yaticanus is believed, on very satisfactory evi- 
 dence, to be of the fourth century, and the Codex 
 Alexandrinus, of the fifth, — perhaps both much earlier. 
 Thus these manuscripts connect with manuscripts com- 
 pared by Jerome and Eusebius, A. D. 315-420, who 
 prepared critical editions of the New Testament from 
 manuscripts then ancient. The prodigious number of 
 these manuscripts, the distant countries whence they 
 were collected, and the identity of their contents with 
 the quotations of the fathers of different ages, place the 
 New Testament incomparably above all other ancient 
 works in point of authenticity. 
 
 Is there, then, we are ready to ask, an^^kind of exter- 
 nal evidence conceivable, which is wanting to our sacred 
 books ? 
 
262 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Internal evidence. — But, strong as is the external 
 proof, it hardly equals that which is to he derived from 
 the circumstances of the case, and from internal evidence. 
 
 We are little apt to consider how difficult the thing 
 to be done was. It was to make an addition, and under 
 peculiar circumstances, to the numl)er of books then 
 held sacred. These books were not confined to one 
 spot, and guarded by one set of men, and shrouded in 
 mystery. Moses and the prophets were "read in the 
 synagogues every Sabbath day.” From the synagogue 
 the early church was an outgrowth, as Christianity from 
 Judaism ; and it was composed of Jews nuidured to a 
 high reverence for their sacred books, and to great 
 scrupulousness in guarding them. For the first fifteen 
 years at least, the Old Testament Scriptures, and those 
 only, were read in the assemblies of Christians. And 
 now consider what it was for such men to receive, indi- 
 vidually, and in numerous, and largo, and independent 
 bodies, other writings, and to put them on an equality 
 with those so venerable, and held so sacred. And yet, 
 within sixty years this was done in respect to more than 
 twenty separate productions, and -^dth almost entire 
 miJinimity. It was a marvel, especially looking at the 
 origin and position in society of the early Christians, 
 that they should originate productions which the in- 
 stinctive judgments of men could tolerate by the side 
 of those, so wonderful, of the old seers, and bards, and 
 prophet-kings, even if they had not been regarded as 
 inspired; it was, perhaps, a greater marvel that they 
 should incorporate them at once with those productions, 
 as a part of their sacred books. According to every 
 law of human thought or action, this could not liave 
 been done without the most searching scrutiny. The 
 world has nothing to show like it. It was as if some 
 man, or body of men, should attempt to add a book to 
 our Bible, that should be universally received. 
 
SCRUTINY BY FRIENDS AND FOES. 
 
 263 
 
 Could not he forged, — For, if these writings are not 
 authentic, they must be forgeries ; and they are of such 
 a character, and purport to have been written under 
 such circumstances, as to render a forgery of them 
 impossible. Here, for example, are no fewer than nine 
 letters which claim to have been written to numerous 
 bodies of men, and received by them; and can any 
 man believe that such letters, often containing severe 
 reproof, could have been received and read, as we know 
 these were, by the early Christians, if they were for- 
 geries ? Come now,” says Tertullian , — born only sixty 
 years after the death of St. John, — ''come now, thou 
 who wilt exercise thy curiosity more profitably in the 
 business of thy salvation, run through the apostolical 
 churches in which the very chairs of the apostles still 
 preside, in which their authentic letters are recited, 
 
 ' sounding forth the voice and representing the counte- 
 nance of each.” Can any man suppose that letters thus 
 spoken of at that early day could be forged ? Besides, 
 when could they have been forged? Kot, certainly, 
 during the lives of the apostles, for then they would 
 have confuted them ; and, after their death, it is morally 
 impossible such letters should have been received as 
 from them by any body of Christians. 
 
 Opposed hy both heathen and Jews. — It is to be 
 added, also, that Christianity sprang up in the midst 
 of opposition, keen-sighted and relentless. It was 
 opposed by Heathenism and by Judaism, and, more- 
 over, there were always in its own bosom some who 
 were false-hearted and ready to betray it. During 
 almost three hundred years it was often the subject of 
 violent and bloody persecutions ; and, in such circum- 
 stances, it is morally impossible that twenty-seven books 
 should be forged, and imposed as authentic ‘upon both 
 friends and foes, and no one, for the first four hundred 
 years, hint a suspicion of the authenticity of the most 
 
264 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 of the books. When Celsiis reproached the Christians 
 with dissensions, in the second century, Origen admits 
 the truth of the accusation, but says, nevertheless, that 
 the four Gospels were received by the whole church 
 of God under heaven. 
 
 Language and style. — Again ; the authenticity of 
 the New Testament is confirmed by the language and 
 style in which it is written. It could have been written 
 only by men who were born Jews, and who lived be- 
 fore the destruction of Jerusalem. Every where their 
 Jewish prejudices and habits of thought appear, and 
 the references to Jerusalem and the temple, as then 
 standing, are so blended with the whole narrative, that 
 we feel it impossible it should not have been written at 
 that time. This, however, is still more obvious from 
 the peculiar language in which the New Testament is 
 written. Greek was then a kind of universal language ; 
 but the Greek spoken in Palestine was not the Greek ^ 
 of Attica. It was Hebraic Greek — that is, Greek 
 mixed with the peculiar dialect of Hel)rew then in use 
 in Palestine ; and in such Greek are the Gospels writ- 
 ten. After the destruction of Jerusalem, this peculiar 
 dialect ceased. Probably there was not a man living, 
 after the death of the apostle John, who could have 
 blended the peculiar elements of language which we 
 find in the New Testament. But, if these books were 
 written before the destruction of Jerusalem, they must 
 be authentic, because no books could have been forged 
 in the names of the apostles, while they were yet living, 
 and have been undetected. 
 
 Judgment by separate churches . — It is to be re- 
 marked, too, that the books of the New Testament 
 were received and judged of by the churches separately. 
 The Gosp'el of Matthe>v was received by the churches 
 on its own merits, and the question of its reception was 
 not embarrassed by that of any other book. So the 
 
MICHAELIS. 
 
 265 
 
 Epistle of Paul to the church at Kome was judged of 
 as authentic by that church, without any reference to 
 the Epistle to the Ephesians. If, therefore, the New 
 Testament is a forgery, it is not an instance of a single 
 successful forgery, but of twenty-seven separate ones, 
 imposed upon intelligent men whose interests were all 
 involved in detecting the fraud. If, now, we consider 
 how seldom literary forgeries are undertaken — that 
 they are, in fact, nearly or quite unprecedented, unless 
 they come out under the shadow of some great name 
 
 — that no possible motive can be assigned for the 
 forgery of such books ; — if we consider the difficulty 
 of it in any case, and the moral impossibility of it in 
 reference to books of such pretensions, and that have, 
 in fact, commanded the reverence of the civilized world, 
 
 — I think we shall feel that twenty-seven successful 
 forgeries, within the space of sixty years, is a supposi- 
 tion not to be entertained for a moment. 
 
 I^ot one mark of sj)uriousness. — Once more : the 
 reasons which render the authenticity of a work sus- 
 picious are thus laid down by Michaelis : 1. When 
 
 doubts have been entertained, from its first appearance, 
 whether it was the work of its reputed author. 2. 
 When the immediate friends of the author have denied 
 it to be his. 3. When a long series of years has 
 elapsed, after his death, in which the book was un- 
 knovm, and in which it must have been mentioned or 
 quoted, had it been in existence. 4. When the style 
 is different from his other writings, or, in case no others 
 remain, from what might be reasonably expected. 5. 
 When events are recorded which happened later than 
 the time of the pretended author. 6. When opinions 
 are advanced contradictory to those which he is known 
 to have advanced in other writings. Of these marks 
 of spuriousness, not one can be attached to a single 
 book of the New Testament. 
 
 23 
 
266 
 
 EVIDENCES or CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Contrasted with other hooTcs. — I observe, finally, 
 that this evidence is, if possible, heightened by the 
 contrast in all respects between our books and those 
 which have been regarded as spurious. The fact that 
 such books existed is sometimes made use of to create 
 the impression that they were once of nearly equal 
 authority with ours, and that there was difficulty and 
 uncertainty in making the distinction. Nothing can be 
 farther from the truth. For, 1. There is no evidence 
 that those spurious or apocryphal books existed during 
 the first century ; indeed, they all were manifestly for- 
 geries of a later age. 2. No Christian history, besides 
 our Gospels and the Acts, is quoted by any writer 
 now known within three hundred years after the birth 
 of Christ. 3. None of these apocryphal writings were 
 read in the churches. 4. None of them were ever 
 admitted to the volume of the New Testament. 5. 
 Nor do they appear in any catalogue. 6. Nor were 
 they alleged by different parties, in their controversies, 
 as of authority. 7. Nor were they the subjects of 
 commentaries, or versions, or expositions. 8. Nor 
 were they ever received by Christians of after ages, 
 but were almost universally reprobated by them. 
 
 And, now, is not this point proved ? Is it not fully 
 established that these books were written by the men 
 whose names they bear, and at the time when they 
 purport to have been written? 
 
 Integrity, — I close by a very brief reference to a 
 single i^oint more, which properly belongs here. How 
 do we know that the integrity of the books of the New 
 Testament has been preserved? I answer, first, we 
 know it from the nature of the case. Augustine, 
 in the fourth century, reasoning with a heretic, puts 
 this well. ”If any one,” says he, ” should charge you 
 with having interpolated some texts alleged by you, 
 
INTEGRITY. 
 
 267 
 
 would you not immediately answer, that it is impossible 
 for you to do such a thing in books read by all Chris- 
 tians — and that, if any such attempt had been made 
 by you, it would have been presently discerned and 
 defeated, by comparing the ancient copies? Well, then, 
 for the same reason that the Scriptures can not be cor- 
 rupted by you, they can not be corrupted by any other 
 jieople.” We know the same thing, secondly, from the 
 agreement of our books with the quotations in the 
 works of the early Christian fathers. These quotations 
 are so abundant that almost the whole of the NeAV 
 Testament might be gathered from them ; and yet, 
 except in six or seven verses, there is an agreement in 
 all material respects between those quotations and the 
 corresponding parts of our books. We know it, thirdly, 
 from the entire agreement of our books with ancient 
 versions. The old Syriac version, called Peshito, was 
 certainly in use before the close of the second century. 
 This was not known in Europe before the close of the 
 sixteenth century. It came down by a line perfectly 
 independent of that by which our Greek Testament was 
 received ; yet, when the two came to be compared, the 
 difference was altogether unimportant. Is it possible 
 that evidence should be more satisfactory ? 
 
 Various readings. — The subject of various readings 
 was at one time so presented as to alarm and disquiet 
 those not acquainted with the facts. When a person 
 hears it stated that, in the collation of the mamiscripts 
 for Griesbach’s edition of the New Testament, as many 
 as one hundred and fifty thousand various readings 
 were discovered, he is ready to suppose that every 
 thing must be in a state of uncertainty. A statement 
 of the facts relieves every difficulty. The truth is, that 
 not one in a thousand makes, any perceptible, or at 
 least important variation in the meaning; that they 
 consist almost entirely of the small and obvious mis- 
 
268 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 takes of transcribers, such as the omission or transpo- 
 sition of letters, errors in grammar, in the use of one 
 word for another of a similar meanins:, and in chanorimr 
 the position of words in a sentence. But, by all the 
 omissions, and all the additions, contained in all the 
 manuscripts, no fact, no doctrine, no duty prescribed, 
 in our authorized version, is rendered either obscure or 
 doubtful. 
 
 There was a time when the rubbish of antiquity did 
 gather around these pillars of our evidence. The keen 
 eye of the infidel saw it, and he hoped to show that 
 they rested upon rubbish alone. But, like every similar 
 attempt, at whatever point directed, a full examination 
 has served only to show how firm is the rock upon 
 which that church rests which is ” the pillar and ground 
 of the truth.” 
 
LECTUEE X. 
 
 ARGUMENT TWELFTH; CREDIBILITY OF THE BOOKS OP THE 
 NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 Our next subject, as will have been anticipated, is 
 the credibility of the books of the New Testament ; 
 and I proceed directly to the discussion. This question 
 is purely one of historical evidence ; and if there is 
 left for me very little that is new, either in the matter 
 or in the manner of presenting it, I shall yet hope for 
 attention, from the important place which this point 
 holds, and always must, in the Christian argument. 
 
 Authenticity. — And the first consideration which I 
 adduce in favor of the credibility of these books is 
 their authenticity. It was because I regarded every 
 testimony adduced, in the last lecture, to prove the 
 authenticity of the gospel histories as also a testimony 
 to their truth, that I dwelt so fully on that subject. 
 The fathers did not quote so largely from those books 
 because they were written by apostolical men, but 
 because they regarded them as true, and as having an 
 authority paramount to all others. The testimony of 
 antiquity, therefore, thus given to the authenticity of 
 these books, is equivalent to its testimony to the reality 
 of the facts which they contain. 
 
 Moreover, when men publish an account of facts 
 under their own names, especially of facts that are 
 within the immediate knowledge of the most of their 
 23 * ( 269 ) 
 
270 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 readers, and facts, too, that have excited great atten- 
 tion, they must either publish what is substantially 
 true, or willfully, and without motive, sacrifice both 
 character and reputation. There is no instance on 
 record of the publication by any one, under his own 
 name, of an account purporting to be of facts that were 
 public, and recent, and concerning which a deep inter- 
 est was felt by the community, which was not mainly 
 true. But here are four men who claim to have been 
 witnesses of most of the events which they relate, or, 
 if not, to have had a perfect knowledge of them. 
 These events must have been known, at the time the 
 books were published, to thousands of others, both 
 friends and foes, as well as to them. Nothing could 
 have prevented the instant detection of any falsehood ; 
 and yet these men published their histories at the time, 
 in the face of the world, and on the spot where the 
 transactions took place. This consideration alone ought 
 to be decisive, and in any other case it would be. 
 
 Means of Jcnoiving the facts. — But, secondly, these 
 books are credible because the authors of them had the 
 best possible means of knowing the facts which they 
 state. For the most part, they had a personal knowl- 
 edge of them. Compare our evidence, in this respect, 
 with that for other ancient events. The main facts 
 were not such as were concealed in cabinets, or in the 
 intrigues of a court, but were few, and such as all might 
 know. But of the events of the life of Alexander, wo 
 have no contemporary historian, and yet they are not 
 doubted. Of how few of the events in the histories of 
 Livy, or of Tacitus, had they personal knowledge ! 
 With how few of the men, whose lives he wrote, had 
 Plutarch personal acquaintance ! In some cases, indeed, 
 — as in the account of the Iletreat of the Ten Thousand, 
 or the Commentaries of Caesar, — we have the story of 
 a person who was present, and saw what he narrates ; 
 
NUMBER OF WITNESSES. 
 
 271 
 
 and no one can fail to feel that the credibility of those 
 accounts is greatly increased by that circumstance. In 
 these cases, however, we have but a single witness, and 
 the writers are the heroes of their own story ; and still 
 these writings are received with entire confidence. 
 And this leads me to observe, — 
 
 The number of ivitnesses. — Thirdly, that the events 
 recorded in our books . are worthy of credit from the 
 number of witnesses. To put this in its true light, let 
 us suppose that there should now be discovered, among 
 the ruins of Herculaneum, the writings of an ofiicer 
 and companion of Coesar, giving an account of the same 
 campaigns and battles. Let us suppose that there was 
 a substantial agreement, but such incidental differences 
 as to show that the writings were entirely independent 
 of each other ; then, if we had before been inclined to 
 call the whole a fiction, or to attribute any thing to the 
 ignorance, or the prejudices, or the vanity of Caesar, 
 we should feel all our doubts removed on those points 
 in which the accounts agreed. And if, after this, we 
 should still find another independent manuscript, and 
 still another, differing entirely in style and general 
 manner, and yet agreeing in regard to the facts, — if, 
 moreover, there should be found letters written in that 
 day incidentally confirming these accounts by many 
 allusions and undesigned coincidences, — we should 
 feel that historical evidence could not go farther, and 
 that skepticism would be preposterous. If events thus 
 attested are not to be believed, it will not be for want 
 of evidence. If they are not to be believed, no ancient 
 history can be ; for there is no one for which we have 
 any thing like this amount of evidence. But all this 
 evidence we have for the facts of the gospel. The 
 fact, that the four Gospels and the Acts were bound up 
 together, is not to be permitted to weaken their force 
 as separate testimonies. This is as far as historical 
 
272 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 testimony can go with respect to ordinary events ; hut 
 the facts of Christianity are of such a character that 
 even this may, and does, receive additional confirma- 
 tion. If Caesar’s wars had given rise to parties, and 
 these different parties had all appealed to these writings 
 as of undoubted authority, and if, moreover, we had, 
 at no distant day, the distinct admission of the enemies 
 of Caesar that these books were trustworthy as to mat- 
 ters of fact, then I think that we can conceive of nothing 
 that could be added ; and all this we have in favor of 
 the facts of the New Testament. If we lay aside all 
 consideration of the nature of the events, and look at 
 the evidence alone, we shall see that it has all the force 
 of which historical evidence, as such, is capable. 
 
 Difficulties and discrepancies, — It is true, as was men- 
 tioned in a former lecture, that there are difficulties and 
 apparent discrepancies in these accounts. They relate 
 chiefly to the two genealogies ; to the time of the taxing 
 mentioned by Luke ; to the two versions of the Sermon 
 on the Mount, to the time of the last supper, and to the 
 accounts of the crucifixion, and of the resurrection. 
 
 Require minute criticism . — The explanation of this 
 .class of difficulties would require a minute criticism, 
 not here in place. For this, reference may be made to 
 the Commentaries and Harmonies. It may, hoAvever, 
 be said of them in general, — 
 
 Do not affect the main features. — 1. That there are 
 none which affect the great features of the narrative. 
 
 Are mostly negative. — 2. That many of them are 
 based on mere omissions. It is said, for example, that 
 there is a discrepancy between the account by Matthew 
 and Llark of the demoniacs. Matthew says there were 
 two, while Mark mentions but one. He does not say 
 there was not another ; but one may have been less 
 prominent and fierce, and so not have been mentioned 
 by him. In the same way it is objected that John 
 
DIFFICULTIES MAY BE EXPLAINED. 273 
 
 speaks of the presence of Nicodemus at the burial of 
 Christ, while nothing is said of it by the other evange- 
 lists ; and this is called a discrepancy. 
 
 May he exjplained. — 3. Of the above-mentioned diffi- 
 culties, those connected with the accounts of the resur- 
 rection seem the most considerable ; and we may apply 
 to all of them, in substance, what is said of those in 
 particular, in a recent excellent work : ” This examina- 
 tion of the several narratives shows us how many of 
 the data are wanting which are necessary to enable us 
 to form a regular, harmonious, and complete history of 
 this eventful morning. Each of the evangelists gives us 
 some particulars which the others omit, but no one of 
 them aims to give us a full and connected account ; and 
 for us to supply the missing links in the chain, is im- 
 possible. To a superficial examination there seem many 
 discrepancies, not to say contradictions ; but a thorough 
 investigation shows that the points of real difierence 
 are very few, and that in several ways even these dif- 
 ferences may be removed. Whilst thus we can not say 
 of any order that we can frame that it is certain, we 
 can say of several that they are probable ; and if they 
 can not be proved, neither can they be disproved. 
 This is sufficient for him who finds in the moral char- 
 acter of the Gospels the highest vouchers for their 
 historic truth.” 
 
 Peculiar testimony , — But I observe, fourthly, that 
 this evidence is powerfully confirmed by the peculiar 
 testimony which was given by their authors to the truth 
 of these books. To state one of the fundamental proji- 
 ositions of Paley : ” There is satisfactory evidence that 
 many, professing to be original witnesses of the Chris- 
 tian miracles, passed their lives in labors, dangers, and 
 siilferings, voluntarily, undergone in attestation of the 
 accounts wdiich they delivered, and solely in conse- 
 
 * The Life of our Lord. By Samuel J. Andrews. 
 
274 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 qiieiice of their belief of those accounts ; and that they 
 also submitted, from the same motives, to new rules of 
 conduct.” Into the proof that they did thus labor and 
 suffer Paley enters at large. But it is so obvious that 
 men who, in that day, should attempt to propagate an 
 exclusive religion, that was entirely opposed both to 
 Judaism and heathenism, and also to the. natural pas- 
 sions and inclinations of men, would be obliged to 
 undergo labor and suffering in proportion to their sin- 
 cerity and earnestness, that it seems to me scarcely to 
 need proof. Then the idea of this is so much implied 
 in the whole narrative, and regarded as a matter of 
 course, — it is so much taken for granted in the 
 exhortations, and promises, and consolations, given to 
 the disciples by Christ himself, and in the letters of 
 the apostles, and it is so fully testified to by heathen 
 writers, — that I can not think it necessary to dwell 
 upon it. If, then, these men did labor, and sufier, and 
 finally die, in attestation of the truth of their accounts, 
 then are our books confirmed in the highest possible 
 manner, and as no other historical books ever have 
 been. 
 
 Testimony of others than the writers. — It was not, 
 however, — and here we come to one of the strongest 
 points of the Christian testimony, — it was not simply 
 those who compiled the accounts who thus gave their 
 testimony, but thousands of others ; and, though their 
 testimony is unwritten, yet it is so involved in the cir- 
 cumstances of the case, that it comes to us with no less 
 force than if they had certified, under their own hands 
 and seals, the truth of our accounts. Every Christian 
 who, in that early age, abandoned the prejudices of 
 education, and friends, and property, to become a 
 Christian, especially every one who was persecuted and 
 suffered death for the cause, gave his testimony, in the 
 most emphatic manner possible, for the truth of the 
 
EVERY CONVERT A WITNESS. 
 
 275 
 
 facts of the Gospels. Every member of a church which 
 received an Epistle of Paul, and to which it was read, 
 was a witness of its authenticity, and of the truth of 
 the facts of Christianity, which is implied in all his 
 Epistles. The great force of this unwritten testimony 
 is fully set forth by Chalmers, as also the fallacy by 
 which we are so often led to feel that heathen testimony 
 is superior in point of force to that of Christians, as if 
 the very strength of conviction which would lead a man 
 to become a Christian should not also furnish the best 
 evidence of his sincerity. It would be inconsistent that 
 a heathen should testify to the truth of the religion with- 
 out becoming a Christian, and it is surely unreasonable 
 to make the very act by which he testified, in the high- 
 est possible manner, his sincerity and consistency, a 
 reason for not receiving his testimony. This testimony 
 meets a positive cavil. It may be said that the eight 
 writers of the New Testament were actuated, in their 
 labors and sufferings, by a desire to be of reputation, 
 to be the founders of sects, or to preserve their consis- 
 tency. But no such motives can be imputed to the mass 
 of Christians in that day, each of whom did as really 
 and as impressively testify to his belief in the facts of 
 the New Testament as if he had written a book. Men 
 may have motives for being impostors, but they can 
 have none for being imposed upon, especially when the 
 imposition costs them all that men usually hold dear. 
 When, therefore, I see the apostles and their associates, 
 and especially when I see vast numbers of persons, in 
 the ordinary walks of life, preferring to relinquish any 
 thing, and to undergo any thing, rather than to deny 
 the truth of dhese facts ; when I see them led, one by 
 one, or, perhaps, numbers together, to scourging and 
 torture ; when I see them standing as martyrs, and, 
 in that act, as it were lifting up their dying hand to 
 heaven, and taking an oath of their sincerity, — then I 
 
276 
 
 EVIDENCES OF ClIEISTIANITY. 
 
 know that they believed the facts for which they died ; 
 then I think I have found the case of which Hume 
 speaks, when he says, ”We can not make use of a 
 more convincing argument ” (in proof of honesty) 
 " than to prove that the actions ascribed to any persons 
 are contrary to the course of human nature, and that 
 no human motives, in such circumstances, could ever 
 induce them to such a conduct.” 
 
 Autlioi^s neither deceivers nor deceived. — I observe, 
 fifthly, that our books are worthy of credit, because it 
 can be shown that their authors were neither deceivers 
 nor deceived ; and this is the only alternative possible 
 unless the religion is true. The alternative that, unless 
 Christ and his apostles were what they claimed to be, 
 they were either impostors or dupes, was first presented 
 by Pascal ; and since his time this whole question has 
 often been argued under it. The same thing, in fact, 
 is sometimes argued under a positive form, when it is 
 shown that the primitive witnesses were both compe- 
 tent and honest. The only questions that can be asked 
 respecting a witness are. Is he competent — that is, is 
 he well informed ? and. Is he honest ? Does he know 
 the. truth, and will he tell it? and it obviously makes 
 no difference whether we show that the apostles were 
 well informed and honest, or whether we show that 
 they were not either deeeivers or deeeived. In either 
 case, the truth of the religion is established. 
 
 deceivers. — To one branch of this alternative 
 — that which supposes the apostles to have been de- 
 ceivers — all that was said, under the last head, of 
 their labors and sufferings, will apply. It is not in 
 human nature, there is no example of it, for even one 
 man to persevere, through a long life, in undergoing 
 labors and sufferings, and finally to die, in attestation 
 of what he knew to be false ; much less can we suppose 
 that twelve men, yea, that hundreds and thousands, can 
 
NOT DECEIVERS. 
 
 277 
 
 Lave done this. The character of Christ and of his 
 apostles in other respects, and the nature of the religion 
 which he taught, forbid the supposition that they were 
 deceivers. To suppose that men, teaching a morality 
 more perfect than any other ever known, and exempli- 
 fying it in their conduct, living lives of great simplicity, 
 and self-denial, and benevolence, enforcing truth and 
 honesty by the most tremendous sanctions of a future 
 life, should, without any possible advantage to them- 
 selves, die as martyrs in attestation of what they knew 
 to be false, is practically absurd. 
 
 If so, hy conspiracy. — Moreover, if they were de- 
 ceivers, they were so by combination and conspiracy. 
 From the nature of the case this must have been so, 
 and the number acquainted with the secret could not 
 have been small. But it is morally impossible, under 
 the temptations which we know assailed them from 
 without, and in the dissensions which, by their own 
 confession, sprang up among themselves, that such a 
 combination of falsehood should have held together. 
 A readiness to deceive always implies selfishness ; and, 
 in such a company of deceivers, there would have been 
 some one to expose any iniquity if there had been any 
 to expose. I omit here, what I have very briefly no- 
 ticed in another lecture — the general air of truth and 
 sincerity in these narratives, their simplicity, their 
 candor, their particularity, their minute and life-like 
 touches. But I do say that, in the midst of all the 
 varieties of human conduct, there are some principles 
 as settled as the laws of physical nature ; and that for 
 men to combine to propagate such a story as this, and 
 to devote their lives to this object, and to die solely in 
 attestation of it, when they knew it to be false, is as 
 contrary to a fixed and uniform experience as any mir- 
 acle can be. These men, then, could not have been 
 deceivers. 
 
 24 
 
278 
 
 EVIDENCES or CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Not deceived. — But neitlier, on the other hand, could 
 they have been deceived. This is evident from the 
 nature of the facts, and from their character as indicated 
 by their writings. And here we are to keep in mind 
 the distinction between testimony to facts, and infer- 
 ences, or doctrines, or opinions. The apostles certainly 
 knew whether there was, or was not, such a person as 
 Jesus Christ; whether he called them to be his dis- 
 ciples ; whether he spoke the discourses they have 
 recorded ; whether multitudes followed him ; whether 
 he was crucified. Nor, if we consider the number and 
 character of his miracles, and the manner in which they 
 were performed, is it more possible they should have 
 been deceived respecting them. We read of their 
 bringing to him great multitudes of ” sick folk,” with 
 every variety of disease, and of his healing them all, 
 of his giving sight to the blind, to those born blind ; 
 of his raising the dead. And all this he did openly, 
 before friends and enemies. Now, that men could be 
 deceived respecting acts of this kind, repeated for 
 years, under all varieties of circumstances, capalile of 
 being tested by all the senses, — that they could, for 
 example, have failed to know that Lazarus was dead 
 when they had the evidence of it given at his tomb, or 
 that he was alive when they conversed and ate with 
 him, — is impossible. Here is nothing that can be 
 resolved into any false perception, no mere momentary 
 effect ; nor can there be any doubt whether the events, 
 if they took place, were miraculous. But not only did 
 Christ himself work miracles, — he communicated to 
 his disciples that power. They retained it long after 
 his ascension, and they could not have been deceived 
 in supposing they wrought the cures related, if they 
 did not. Either we must abandon our faith in the 
 testimony of the senses, or we must admit that events 
 thus tested really took place. No stretch of enthusiasm 
 
NOT DECEIVED. 
 
 279 
 
 could have led them to believe that they saw such things 
 if they did not see them. No enthusiasm is sufficient 
 to account for the belief of so many, that they saw the 
 Saviour after his resurrection, and conversed and ate 
 with him, and, like Thomas, could touch his hands and 
 his side. If Christ did not rise, it is equally impossible 
 to account, on the supposition that they were deceived, 
 for their belief that he did rise, and for the fact that 
 the body was not produced by the Jews. 
 
 JSfot enthusiastic or superstitious . — But if we look 
 into the writings of these men, we see no signs of su- 
 perstitious weakness, or of enthusiastic fervors. There 
 is nothing in their character, aside from their relation of 
 miraculous events, and their maintaining their testimony 
 at all hazards, that bears any marks of enthusiasm. 
 On the contrary, their writings are marked with great 
 good sense and sobriety. There are no extravagant 
 expressions, no indications of excessive emotion, no 
 high-wrought description, no praise, and no censure. 
 There is a simple statement of the facts of the life of 
 Christ, and a record of his discourses. 8uch men could 
 not have been deceived for so long a time respecting 
 such facts. 
 
 But, if they were neither deceivers nor deceived, then 
 the facts took place, and the religion is true. 
 
 Leslie's ''Short Method." — We now come to an argu- 
 ment for the credibility of the facts contained in our 
 books, which never has been answered, and never can 
 be. Infidels have repeatedly been challenged to answer 
 it, but they have never made the attempt. It is the 
 ar 2 :ument of Leslie in his ” Short Method with the 
 Deists.” This argument rests solely upon the peculiar- 
 ity of Christian evidence, already mentioned, by which 
 the truth of the religion is indissolubly connected with 
 certain matters of fiict which could originally be judged 
 of by the senses, and also upon the fact that there exist 
 
280 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 in the church certain ordinances commemorative of 
 those facts. Thus the truth of our religion seems to 
 be embodied in institutions that now exist, and in ob- 
 servances that pass before our eyes. The object of 
 Leslie is to show, from the nature of the case, — for 
 here we make very little reference to written testimo- 
 ny, — that the matters of fact stated could not have 
 been received at the time unless they were true, and 
 that the observances could never have originated except 
 in connection with the facts. In showing this, he lays 
 doivn four rules, and asserts that any matter of fact in 
 which these four rules meet must be true, and chal- 
 lenges the world to show any instance of any supposed 
 matter of fact, thus authenticated, that has ever been 
 shown to be false. 
 
 Four rules . — His four rules are these: 1.' "That 
 the matter of fact be such that men’s outward senses, 
 their eyes and ears, may be judges of it.” 2. "That 
 it be done publicly, in the face of the world.” 3. " That 
 not only public monuments be kept up in memory of 
 it, but some outward actions be performed.” 4. " That 
 such monuments, and such actions, or observances, be 
 instituted, and do commence from the time that the 
 matter of fact was done.” 
 
 The first tiuo rules. — "The first two rules make it 
 impossible for any such matter of fiict to be imposed 
 upon men at the time, because every man’s eyes, and 
 ears, and senses, would contradict it.” For example, 
 if any man should affirm that all the inhabitants of this 
 city yesterday, or last year, walked to Governor’s Isl- 
 and and returned on dry ground, while the water was 
 divided and stood in heaps on each side of them, it 
 would be impossible that he should be believed, because 
 every man, woman, and child would know better. It 
 would be one of those things respecting Avhich the un- 
 learned and the young could judge as Avell as the learned 
 
Leslie’s eules. 
 
 281 
 
 and the more experienced. Equally impossible is it 
 that the children of Israel, of that generation^ should 
 have believed that they passed through the Ked Sea, or 
 went out and gathered manna every morning, or drank 
 water from the rock, or that the law was given with the 
 terror and solemnity described in the Bible, if these 
 things did not happen. Not less impossible is it that 
 the live thousand should have believed they were fed 
 by Christ ; or that the relatives of Lazarus, and the 
 Jews who knew him, should have believed that he was 
 raised from the dead, or the parents and friends of the 
 man born blind, that he was made to see ; or that the 
 multitudes before whom he healed the lame, and the 
 sick of every description, should have believed that 
 these events took place, if they did not. These mira- 
 cles are of such a nature, that, unless they were really 
 wrought, it is impossible they should have been be- 
 lieved at the time. 
 
 "Therefore it only remains that such matter of fact 
 might be invented some time after, when the men of 
 that generation wherein the thing was said to be done 
 are all past and gone ; and the credulity of after ages 
 might be imposed upon to believe that things were done 
 in former ages which were not. 
 
 The last two rules. — "And for this the last two rules 
 secure us as much as the first two rules in the former 
 case ; for, whenever such a matter of fact came to be 
 invented, if not only monuments were said to remain 
 of it, but likewise that public actions and observances 
 were constantly used ever since the matter of fact was 
 said to be done, the deceit must be detected by no such 
 monuments appearing, and by the experience of every 
 man, woman, and child, who must know that no such 
 actions or observances were ever used by them.” " For 
 example,” continues Leslie, "suppose I should now 
 invent a story of such a thing done a thousand years 
 24 * 
 
282 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHPJSTIANITT. 
 
 ago ; I might perhaps get some to believe it ; but if I 
 say that not only such a thing was done, but that, from 
 that day to this, every man, at the age of twelve years, 
 had a joint of his little finger cut off ; and that every 
 man in the nation did want a joint of such a finger ; and 
 that this institution was said to be part of the matter 
 of fact done so many years ago, and vouched as a proof 
 and confirmation of it, and as having descended without 
 interruption, and been constantly practiced, in memory 
 of such matter of fact, all along from the time that such 
 matter of fact was done ; — I say it is impossible I 
 should be believed in such a case, because every one 
 could contradict me as to the mark of cutting off the 
 joint of the finger ; and that, being a part of my origi- 
 nal matter of fact, must demonstrate the whole to be 
 false.” 
 
 Application to hoohs of Moses, — The case here put 
 is not stronger than that either of the books of Moses, 
 or of the New Testament. For, at whatever time it 
 might have been attempted to impose the books of 
 Moses upon a subsequent age, it would have been im- 
 possible, because they contain the laws and civil and 
 ecclesiastical regulations of the Jews, which the books 
 affirm were adopted at the time of Moses, and were 
 constantly in force from that time ; and because they 
 contain an account of the institution of the passover, 
 which they assert to have been observed in consequence 
 of a particular fact. If, then, a book had been put 
 forth at a particular time, stating that the Jews had 
 obeyed certain very peculiar laws, and had a certain 
 priesthood, and had observed the passover from the 
 time of Moses, while they had never heard of these 
 laws, or of this priesthood, or of a passover, it is im- 
 possible the book should have been received. Nothing 
 could have saved such a book from scorn or utter 
 neglect. 
 
CHRISTIAN ORDINANCES. 
 
 283 
 
 To the JSTeiv Testament, — But what the Levitical law, 
 and the priesthood, and the passover, were to the Jews, 
 baptism, and the Christian ministry, and the Lord’s 
 supper, are to Christians. It is a part of the records 
 of the Gospels that these were instituted by Christ ; 
 that they were commanded by him to be continued till 
 the end of time, and were actually continued and ob- 
 served at the time when the Gospels purport to have 
 been written^ — that is, before the destruction of Jeru- 
 salem. But if these books were fictions invented after 
 the time of Christ, there would have been at that time 
 no Christian baptism, nor order of Christian ministers, 
 nor sacrament of the supper, thus derived from his 
 appointment ; and that, alone, would have demonstrated 
 the whole to be false. Our books suppose these insti- 
 tutions to exist ; they give an account of them ; and it 
 is impossible they should have been received where they 
 did not exist. It is, therefore, impossible that these 
 books should have been received at the time the facts 
 are said to have taken place, or at any subsequent time, 
 unless those facts really did take place. We now re- 
 gard the sacrament of the supper as an essential part 
 of the religion ; it was so regarded by our fathers ; nor 
 can we conceive that it should have been otherwise up 
 to the very time when the religion was founded. Thus 
 we have a visible sign and pledge of the truth of our 
 religion, handed down, independently of written testi- 
 mony, from age to age ; and the force of which, age 
 has no tendency to diminish. 
 
 Strength of the evidences. — Perhaps we do not suffi- 
 ciently dwell on the great strength which the Christian 
 evidences derive from this proof, or notice the contrast 
 it makes between the evidence for the facts of Chris- 
 tianity and those of ordinary history. Not only is it 
 impossible to point out any statement of fact, substan- 
 tiated by these four marks, that can be shown to bo 
 
284 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITV. 
 
 false, but none of the best authenticated facts of ancient 
 history have them all. The fourth of July, as observed 
 by us, may illustrate the effects of such commemorative 
 ordinances as guarding against false historical accounts. 
 For any man to have invented the New Testament after 
 the time of Christ, and to have attempted to cause it 
 to be received, would have been as if a man had writ- 
 ten an account of the Revolution, and of the celebration 
 of this day from the first, when no revolution was ever 
 heard of, and no one had ever celebrated the fourth of 
 July. Nor, when such a festival was once established, 
 would it be possible to introduce any account of its ori- 
 gin essentially different from the true one. But the 
 ease of the Christian religion is much stronger ; because 
 we have several different institutions which must have 
 sprung up at its origin ; because baptism and the Lord’s 
 supper have occurred so much more frequently ; and 
 because the latter has always been considered the chief 
 rite of a religion to which men have been more attached 
 than to liberty or to life. 
 
 Two great arguments. — Thus I have brought into 
 close juxtaposition these two great arguments. We 
 have seen that it was impossible that the apostles should 
 have been either deceivers or deceived ; and that the 
 books could not have been received, either at the time 
 they purport to have been written, or at any subsequent 
 time, if the facts recorded had not taken place. 
 
 Credible because no others . — But again: our books 
 are credible because there are no others. That such a 
 movement as Christianity must have been, involving 
 the origin of so many new institutions, and such eccle- 
 siastical and social changes, should have originated at 
 such a time, and in such a place, and that no written 
 documents should have been drawn forth by it, is in- 
 credible. And that the true account should have per- 
 ished, leaving not a vestige behind it, and that false 
 
MIRACLES PECULIAR. 
 
 285 
 
 ones, and such as these, should have been substituted, 
 is impossible. Of the origin of such institutions we 
 should expect some account. That of our books is 
 adequate and satisfactory. There is nothing contradic- 
 tory to it, for even spurious Avritings confirm the truth 
 of our books, and there is no vestige of any other. 
 
 Because of the character of the miracles. — I Avill only 
 add, in this general department of evidence, that our 
 books are credible because they contain accounts of such 
 miracles. In the second lecture, I spoke of miracles as 
 the proper and only adequate seal of a message from 
 God, and also noticed the peculiar import of those 
 words of Nicodemus, ^^We know that no man can do 
 these miracles that thou doest except God be Avith him,” 
 in Avhich it seems to be implied that the character of 
 the miracle, as Avell as the mere fact that a miracle Avas 
 wrought, may have something to do Avith the Aveight 
 and bearing of its evidence. I have recently met Avith 
 a passage, in ''The Process of Historical Proof,” by 
 Isaac Taylor, in Avhich, from a comparison of the Chris- 
 tian miracles Avith the prodigies to Avhich impostors have 
 made pretension, he asserts that they so bear the stamp 
 of divinity upon them as to stand in no need of external 
 proof. Perhaps this is too strongly stated, but the 
 thought is one deserving of attention. "Whoever,” 
 says he, "is duly informed of the state of mankind in 
 ancient times, and is aAvare of the invariable character 
 of the preternatural events or prodigies Avhich Avere 
 talked of among the Greeks, Pomans, and Asiatics, 
 (the JeAvs excepted, Avhose notions Avere derived from 
 another source,) must alloAv that the miracles recorded 
 to have been performed by Christ and his apostles differ 
 totally from all such portents and prodigies. The be- 
 neficent restorations Avhich folloAved the Avord or the 
 touch of Him Avho came, not to destroy life, but to 
 save, Avere, if the expression may be allowed, perfectly 
 
286 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHPJSTIANITY. 
 
 in the style of the Creator ; they held forth such exhi- 
 bitions of an absolute control over the material 'vvorld 
 as were most significant of the power of the doctrine 
 to restore health to the soul. If the idea of the mo- 
 rality taught by Christ was absolutely new, so likewise 
 was the idea of the miracles performed by him to 
 enforce it.” . . . 
 
 "Were there room to doubt what is the character of 
 the native imagination of enthusiasts — of fanatics — 
 of interested priests — when they have devised the 
 means of giving credit to their fraudulent usurpations 
 over the consciences of their fellows, we might read 
 the history of superstition in ancient Egypt, India, or 
 Greece ; or, if that were not enough, we might turn to 
 the history of those 'Ijdng wonders,’ upon which the 
 ministers of the Romish religion in modern times have 
 rested their pretensions.” A missionary from India 
 informs me, that the traditionary miracles of that coun- 
 try, at the present time, are generally connected with 
 stories the most whimsical and absurd ; that they were 
 wrought to establish no principle, and not unfrequently 
 for the purposes of cruelty and lust. 
 
 "The gospel miracles stand out, therefore, from the 
 uniform history of false religions, just as the gospel 
 morality stands out from the history of all other ethical 
 systems. They alone are worthy of the Creator, — 
 and that alone is worthy of the Supreme Lawgiver. 
 Instead, then, of admitting that stronger evidence is 
 necessary, to attest the extraordinary facts recorded in 
 the New Testament, than is deemed sufficient in the 
 common path of history, we assert their intrinsic in- 
 de2)endence of externed proof; and we affirm that no 
 sound and well-informed mind could fail to attribute 
 them to the Divine Agent, even though all historical 
 evidence were absent. Nothing is so reasonable as to 
 believe that the miracles and discourses of Jesus were 
 
WANT OF BELIEF NOT FROM WANT OF FROOF. 287 
 
 from God, — nothing so absurd as to suppose them to 
 have been of men.” 
 
 Summary. — Here, then, we have five authentic his- 
 tories — four, of the same events — written by four 
 difierent persons, who were themselves eye-witnesses, 
 or had the best means of knowing what they relate. 
 We have original letters, written at the time, both to 
 bodies of men and to individuals, containing a great 
 variety of indirect, and therefore of the very strongest, 
 testimony. We find the books bearing every mark of 
 honesty. We find the facts of such a nature that the 
 witnesses could not have been deceived, and we find 
 them laying down their lives to testify that they did not 
 deceive others. We find institutions now existing, and 
 rites observed, which hold such a relation to the facts 
 of Christianity, as given in the books, that the books 
 must be true. We find, moreover, no other account, 
 nor the vestige of any, of the greatest revolution the 
 world has ever known, while our accounts are in all 
 resj)ects simple, and natural, and perfectly satisfactory, 
 assigning only adequate causes for effects which we 
 know were produced ; and, finally, we find in these 
 books the only account of miracles that are worthy 
 of God. Can any man then refuse to believe facts 
 thus substantiated, and yet receive evidence for any 
 past event? Can he do it, and pretend he is not gov- 
 erned by other considerations than those of evidence? 
 
 Heathen writers. — And here I might pause ; but I 
 am to present the evidence, and there is still another 
 department on which I have not touched. All the evi- 
 dence hitherto adduced has been dra^vn from our own 
 books, or from the nature of the case. Let us now turn 
 to that which we may derive from heathen writers, and 
 from other sources. This evidence must be noticed, 
 because there are those who attach to it a peculiar 
 
288 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 value. There are those who give a weight to the tes- 
 timony of Tacitus the heathen, which they would not 
 have given to that of Tacitus the Christian. This is 
 unreasonable ; because, if Tacitus had become a Chris- 
 tian, it would, under the circumstances, have implied 
 both sincerity and more accurate knowledge. The very 
 fiict of becoming a Christian would have been, on his 
 part, as it was on the part of every converted heathen, 
 the most striking testimony he could have given of his 
 belief in the facts of Christianity. Still, there are 
 those who will not detach the idea of partisanship from 
 the belief and maintenance of any great truth, and who 
 look upon Christian testimony, as such, with suspicion. 
 While, therefore, we say that they suffer the very cir- 
 cumstance, that ought to give this evidence weight, to 
 impair its force, yet, for their sakes, as well as for its 
 intrinsic value, the evidence from other sources must 
 be given. 
 
 Time and place of origin. — And here, again, as at 
 other points, the evidence of Christianity shines with a 
 peculiar lustre. It may, indeed, almost be said that 
 our books are credible from the very time and place of 
 their origin. ” Few persons,” says the forcible writer 
 whom I last quoted, "few persons, perhaps, give due 
 attention to the relative position of the Christian his- 
 tory, which stands upon the very point of intersection 
 where three distinct lines of history meet — namely, 
 the Jewish, the Grecian, and the Koman. These three 
 bodies of ancient literature, alone, have descended, by 
 an uninterrupted channel of transmission, to modern 
 times ; and these three, by a most extraordinary com- 
 bination of circumstances, were brought together to 
 elucidate the origination of Christianity. If upon the 
 broad field of history there rests the common light of 
 day, upon that spot where a new religion was given to 
 man there shines the intensity of a concentrated bright- 
 
PLACE OF ORIGIN. 
 
 289 
 
 ness.” The Jews had their own literature ; they had 
 been formerly conquered by the Greeks, and the Greek 
 language was in common use ; they were also a Koman 
 province, and "during more than a century, in the cen- 
 tre of which stands the ministry of Christ, the affairs 
 of Syria attracted the peculiar attention of the Koman 
 government.” "No other people of antiquity can be 
 named, upon whose history and sentiments there falls 
 this tri2:)le flood of historic light ; and upon no period 
 in the history of this one people do these triple rays so 
 precisely meet as upon the moment when the voice of 
 one was heard in the wilderness of Jordan, saying, 
 'Prepare ye the way of the Lord.’”* Well, then, 
 might an apostle say, " These things were not done in a 
 corner.” The time is not run back, like that of Indian 
 legends, to obscure and fabulous ages ; nor is it in what 
 are called the dark ages of more modern times. It was 
 a civilized and an enlightened age — a classic age — an 
 age of poets, philosophers, and historians. Nor was it 
 in Mecca — a city little known or visited by the civilized 
 world, and where the people and language were homo- 
 geneous — that Christ arose. It was in Jerusalem, in 
 Western Asia, — the theatre of history from the first, 
 
 • — and from the bosom of a people with all whose rites 
 and usages we are perfectly acquainted. It was, per- 
 haps, the only place on earth in which a Roman gov- 
 ernor would have called the three languages which 
 contain the literature of ancient civilization into requi- 
 sition, to proclaim at once the accusation and the true 
 character of Christ. "And Pilate wrote a title, and 
 put it on the cross. And the writing was — Jesus of 
 Nazareth, the King of the Jews. And it was 
 written in Hebreiv, and Greeh, and Latin.'"^ 
 
 Here, then, was -a mixed population, with different 
 prejudices and interests, speaking different languages, 
 
 * Process of Historical Proof. 
 
 25 
 
290 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTLVNITY. 
 
 for tlicat clay a reading population, in a city to which 
 not only the Jews dwelling in Palestine, but those from 
 distant countries, and proselytes, came up yearly, as 
 the centre and seat of the only pure worship of God 
 on earth. And was this the place to select for the 
 production of forged writings ? or for an imposture of 
 any kind to gather a force that should carry it over the 
 earth ? 
 
 I have already spoken of the opportunity furnished 
 by the number and variety of the Christian witnesses 
 for a most searching cross-examination, and we have 
 seen how triumphantly they come out from such an 
 ordeal. And here again they are brought to a test 
 scarcely less trying. The contemporary writers, Jewish 
 and heathen, in the three languages mentioned, are 
 numerous ; and whatever, in any of them, throws light 
 on the manners, or habits, or sects, or forms of govern- 
 ment, or general condition of the inhabitants of Pales- 
 tine and the surrounding countries, will enable us to 
 put to a most decisive test those w^ho describe with any 
 minuteness important events passing upon such a scene. 
 
 The Talmud . — Of Hebrew literature, then, we have 
 the Talmud, a collection of Jewish traditions, the com- 
 pilation of which was commenced as early as the second 
 century. This speaks of Christ, and of several of the 
 disciples, by name. It speaks also of his crucifixion. 
 It admits, also, that he performed many and great mir- 
 acles, but imputes his power to his having learned the 
 right pronunciation of the inefiable name of God, which, 
 it says, he stole out of the Temple, or to the magic arts 
 which he learned in Egypt. These writings are specific 
 in their statements respecting the destruction of Jeru- 
 salem, and throw much light on the sects and customs 
 of the Jews.* 
 
 Greek writers — Josephus. — Of Greek writers, we 
 
 * See Horne. 
 
JOSEPHUS. 
 
 291 
 
 cite first Josephus, who, though he was a Jew by birth, 
 and a Koman by association and habits, yet wrote in 
 Greek. Josephus lived at the time many of these 
 events are said to have happened, and was present at the 
 destruction of Jerusalem. In him, therefore, we have 
 the most ample means of ascertaining every thing re- 
 lating to Jewish sects, and customs, and opinions, and 
 of testing the accuracy of our books respecting many 
 dates and names of persons and places. 
 
 And, on all hands, it is agreed that, so far as Jose- 
 phus goes, he confirms the accuracy of our books. 
 Every thing said in relation to the sects of the Jews, 
 and the Herods, and Pilate, and the division of prov- 
 inees, and Felix, and Drusilla, and Bernice, has just 
 that agreement with our accounts which we should ex- 
 pect in independent historians. The account given by 
 Josephus of the death of Herod is strikingly similar to 
 that of Luke. The account by Luke you will remem- 
 ber. Josephus says that Herod came into the theatre 
 early in the morning, dressed in a robe or garment made 
 wholly of silver, and that the reflection of the rays of 
 the rising sun from the silver gave him a majestic and 
 awful appearance, and that in a short time his flatterers 
 exclaimed, one from one place and another from another, 
 though not for his good, that he was a god, and they 
 entreated him to be propitious to them. He then adds, 
 "Immediately after, he was seized with pain in his 
 bowels, extremely violent, and was carried to the pal- 
 ace.” Luke gives the cause of the pain, saying he was 
 eaten of worms. Do we find in the New Testament 
 the Jews calling upon Pilate to crucify Jesus, and say- 
 ing, We have no power to put any man to death? 
 Josephus says that they had the free exercise of their 
 religion, and the power of accusing and prosecuting, 
 but not of putting any man to death. Do we find the 
 Eoman captain, when Paul was arrested, asking, "Art 
 
292 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTI.iNITY. 
 
 not thou that Egyptian, which before these clays maclest 
 an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thou- 
 sand men that were murderers ? ” We find in Josephus 
 a full account of the transaction, which happened under 
 the government of Felix, and, what is remarkable, 
 Josephus does not mention his name, but every where 
 calls him ” the Egyptian,” and ” the Eg}"ptian false 
 prophet.” Do our books speak of Pharisees, and Sad- 
 ducees, and Herodians? Josephus confirms all that is 
 said of these in the minutest particulars. Does Luke 
 speak of soldiers who went to John the Baptist, using a 
 word (^QTQaTsvo^EvoL) wliicli iiiclicates that they were then 
 under arms and marching to battle? Josephus tells us 
 that Herod was then at war with Aretas, his father- 
 in-law, and that a body of soldiers was at that very 
 time marchinor throimh the region where John was. 
 Does Luke speak of Herod as reproved by John for 
 Herodias, his brother Philip’s wdfe? Josephus tells us 
 it was on her account that Herod had sent back his 
 wife, and that the war w^as undertaken. Does Paul 
 say of Ananias, when reproached for reviling God’s 
 high priest, "I wist not, brethren, that he was the high 
 priest”? We find, from Josephus, that Ananias had 
 been deposed, and his successor murdered, and that in 
 the interim, when there really was no high priest, 
 Ananias had usurped the place. Does Luke speak of 
 a body of soldiers stationed at Caesarea, called the 
 Augustan band? Josephus says, that though that gar- 
 rison was chiefiy composed of Syrian soldiers, yet that 
 there wais a small body of Eoman soldiers stationed 
 there, called by this title, and he applies to them the 
 very Greek term used by Luke. So minute and perfect 
 are these coincidences, that -no one can resist the con- 
 viction that the writers of our books lived and acted in 
 the scenes which they relate. 
 
 But it is said that Josephus is silent respecting Christ 
 
JOSEPHUS. 
 
 293 
 
 and Christianity. This is not true, if we admit as 
 authentic either of two passages which are found in all 
 the manuscripts, and which have strong external testi- 
 mony. The first passage is this: ^Xow there was, 
 about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to 
 call him a man; for he performed many wonderful 
 works. He was a teacher of such men as received the 
 truth with pleasure. He drew over to him many of the 
 Jews, and also of the Gentiles. This was the Christ. 
 And- when Pilate, at the instigation of the principal men 
 among us, had condemned him to the cross, those who 
 had loved him from the first did not cease to adhere to 
 him. For he appeared to them alive again on the third 
 day ; the divine prophets having foretold these and ten 
 thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And 
 the tribe of Christians, so named from him, subsists to 
 this time.” * Subsequently we find the following : 
 ^'Ananias assembled the Jewish Sanhedrim, and brought 
 before it James, the brother of Jesus, who is called 
 Christ, with some others, whom he delivered over to 
 be stoned as infractors of the law.” We also find a 
 passage speaking of John the Baptist, in exact accord- 
 ance with our Gospels. The authenticity of all these 
 passages has been controverted, and there is so much 
 reason for doubt, that I do not quote them as authorita- 
 tive. If they are interpolations, then Josephus is silent 
 on the whole subject. But that silence is not from 
 ignorance. We know from Tacitus that before Jose- 
 phus wi’ote, the Koman people, for whom he wrote, had 
 seen the tortures of Christian martyrs suffering for their 
 faith in Jesus Christ, whom they regarded as a Jew, 
 and continuing himself to be a Jew, his silence becomes 
 an indirect but very strong testimony. As a Jew, he 
 could not confess the truth of the facts asserted by 
 
 * For a vindication of the genuineness of this passage, see the recent edition of 
 Horne. 
 
 25 * 
 
294 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 Christians ; but as an historian, he did not venture to 
 contradict them, and, as has been seen, in all collateral 
 matters he confirms them. But, if we suppose Jose- 
 phus silent, then it is certain, from Tacitus, that his 
 silence was not from ignorance, and, inasmuch as he 
 continued a Jew, it thus becomes an indirect testimony. 
 He could not say any thing to contradict our books ; he 
 says nothing different from them ; he confirms them in 
 all incidental points. 
 
 Demosthenes, — But, again : does Luke speak of the 
 Athenians as spending their time in hearing and telling 
 some new thing? We find Demosthenes, long before, 
 inquiring of them whether it was their sole ambition to 
 wander through the public places, each inquiring of the 
 other, '' What news ? ” Does Paul speak of the Cretans 
 as liars? We find that to ”Cretize”was a proverbial 
 expression, among the ancients, for lying. 
 
 Testimony of Pilate . — Before citing two Latin au- 
 thors, I will say a word of what may be called ” official” 
 testimony to the facts of Christianity. Its early de- 
 fenders, as Justin Martyr, in his first Apology, addressed 
 to "the emperor and senate of Borne,” and Tertullian, 
 addressing the Eoman governor of his province, appeal 
 to the official communications of Pilate to the emperor 
 Tiberius, as confirming their statements concerning 
 Christ. The confidence with which they invite an ex- 
 amination of the puldic records, and of the other sources 
 of information, — and this at a time when such an exam- 
 ination would certainly disclose the facts, — shows their 
 unhesitating faith, not only as to the truth of the Chris- 
 tian history, but also as to the al)undant evidence then 
 existing and accessible, by which it was supported. If 
 no such documents had existed, it would have been 
 mere foolhardiness thus to refer to them ; if they did 
 exist, how perfect the evidence ! 
 
 * Ilorne, to whom, and Paley, I have chiefly referred in this pnrt of the lecture. 
 
TACITUS AND PLIXY. 
 
 295 
 
 Tacitus . — But I pass to Tacitus, whose testimony 
 even Gibbon admits must be received. In connection 
 with an account of the burning of Koine, in the tenth 
 year of Nero, A. D. 64, which was imputed by Nero 
 to the Christians, he tells us that Christ was put to 
 death by Pontius Pilate, who was the procurator under 
 Tiberius, as a malefactor ; that the people^alled Chris- 
 tians derived their name from him ; that this superstition 
 arose in Judea, and spread to Kome, where at that time, 
 only about thirty years after the death of Christ, the 
 Christians were very numerous. The Avords of Tacitus, 
 in speaking of them, are, ingens multitudoT a great 
 multitude. It is obvious, also, from the account of 
 Tacitus, that the Christians Avere sul)jected to contempt 
 and the most dreadful sufferings. ” Their executions,” 
 says he, "AA^ere so contrived as to expose them to de- 
 rision and contempt. Some Avere covered over AAuth 
 the skins of wild beasts, that they might be torn to 
 pieces by dogs; some Avere crucified; Avhile others, 
 being daubed over Avith combustible materials, Avere set 
 up as lights in the night-time, and Avere thus burnt to 
 death.” This account is confirmed by Suetonius, and 
 by jMartial and JuA^enal. In his first satire, JuA^enal 
 has the folloAving allusion, AAdiich I give as translated 
 by Mr. Gifford : — 
 
 “Now dare 
 
 / To glance at Tigellinus, and you glare 
 
 In that pitched shirt in which such crowds expire, 
 
 Chained to the bloody stake, and wrapped in fire.” 
 
 This testimony of Tacitus, confirmed as it is, is per- 
 fectly conclusive respecting the time and the main facts 
 of the origin of Christianity. 
 
 Pliny. — It would here be in place to quote the whole 
 of the celebrated letter of Pliny to Trajan, and the 
 reply ; but as these are so Avell knoAvn, I Avill simply 
 give two brief passages, one respecting the character, 
 
29 G. EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 and tlie other the numbers, of the Christians. Pliny 
 was propraetor of Pontus and Bithynia, a part of Asia 
 remote from Judea, and the letter was written but a 
 little more than seventy years after the death of Christ. 
 Many were brought before him for their faith in Christ. 
 If they remained steadfast in it, refusing to offer in- 
 cense to the idols, he condemned them to death for 
 their '' ipflexible obstinacy.” Under this fear numbers 
 consented to deny Christ. Of those accused, many 
 said that they had once been Christians, ”but had aban- 
 doned that religion, some of them three years before, 
 some of them longer, and some even twenty years be- 
 fore.” *^They affirmed,” sa^^s he, — that is, those who 
 said they had once been Christians, but were not then, — 
 *^that the whole of their hiult, or error, lay in this, that 
 they were w^ont to meet together on a stated day before 
 it was light, and sing among themselves, alternately, a 
 hymn to Christ, as God, and bind themselves, by an 
 oath, not to the commission of any wickedness, but not 
 to be guilty of theft, or robbery, or adultery, never to 
 falsify their word, nor to deny a pledge committed to 
 them when called upon to return it. When these things 
 ■were performed, it was their custom to separate, and 
 then to come together again to a meal, which they ate 
 in common without any disorder.” This account seemed 
 so extraordinary to Pliny, that he applied torture to 
 two women, but discovered nothing more. 
 
 The passage in regard to numbers is — Suspending, 
 therefore, all judicial proceedings, I have recourse to 
 you for advice ; for it has appeared to me a matter 
 highly deserving consideration, especially on account 
 of the great number of persons who are in danger of 
 suffering ; for many of all ages and every rank, of both 
 sexes likewise, are accused, and will be accused. Nor 
 has the contagion of this superstition seized cities only, 
 but the lesser towns also, and the open country.” Here 
 
STREJfGTH AND VAEIETY OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 •297 
 
 we find the testimony given in our books of the progress 
 of the religion fully confirmed. Pontus and Bithynia 
 were remote provinces, and it does not appear that the 
 Christian religion had spread more rapidly there than 
 elsewhere. How strong must have been that primitive 
 evidence for Christianity which could induce these per- 
 sons, persons of good sense, in every walk of life, to 
 abandon the religion of their ancestors, and thus, in the 
 face of imperial power, to persist in their adherence to 
 one who had suffered the death of a slave ! 
 
 Other ivi'iters , — We might also refer to Celsus, and 
 Lucian, and Epictetus, and the Emperor Marcus Anto- 
 ninus, and Porphyry, — who- all throw light on the early 
 history of Christianity, and all confirm, so far as they 
 go, the accounts of our books. 
 
 Coins^ medcdsy inscrijotions. — There is a single spe- 
 cies of evidence more, that I will just mention — that 
 which is derived from ancient coins, medals, and inscrip- 
 tions. The most striking of these relate to the credi- 
 bility of the Old Testament ; still, valuable confirmation 
 to the New is not wanting, and I mention it because it 
 shows how every possible line of evidence converges 
 on this point. 
 
 Luke gives to Sergius Paulus a title belonging only 
 to a man of proconsular dignity, and it had been 
 doubted whether the governor of Cyprus had that dig- 
 nity. A coin, however, has been found struck in the 
 reign of Claudius Caesar, (the very reign in which Paul 
 visited Cyprus,) and under Proclus, who succeeded 
 Sergius Paulus, on which the very title applied by Luke 
 is given to Proclus. Luke speaks of Philippi as a col- 
 ony, and the word implies that it was a Koman colony. 
 It Avas mentioned as such by no other historian, and 
 hence the authority of Luke Avas questioned. But a 
 medal has been discoA’-ered AAdiich shoAvs that this dignity 
 
298 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 was conferred upon that city by Julius Caesar. It is 
 implied, in the nineteenth of Acts, that there was great 
 zeal at Ephesus for the worship of Diana ; and a long 
 inseription has been found there, by which it appears 
 that, at one time, a whole month was set apart to games 
 and festivals in honor of her. 
 
 There have also been found, in the catacombs at 
 Home, inscriptions which show, in a touching manner, 
 in opposition to the insinuations of Gibbon and of some 
 later writers, the cruelty of the early persecutions, and 
 the number of those who suffered martyrdom.* Much 
 evidence of this kind might be added. 
 
 Weak and obstinate skepticism. — Thus have we every 
 conceivable species of historical proof, both external 
 and internal. Thus do the very stones cry out. And, 
 my hearers, if there may be such a thing as a weak and 
 obstinate credulity, may there not also be such a thing 
 as a skepticism equally weak and obstinate ? 
 
 ♦ Wiseman’s Lectures. 
 
LECTUEE XI. 
 
 ARGUMENT THIRTEENTH PROPHECY. — NATURE OF THIS EYI« 
 PENCE.— THE GENERAL OBJECT OF PROPHECY. — THE FUL- 
 FILLMENT OF PROPHECY. 
 
 The subject of prophecy, upon which we now enter, 
 is a great subject. It involves many questions of diffi- 
 culty, and of deep and increasing interest ; and I find 
 myself embarrassed in the attempt to say any thing 
 respecting it in a single lecture. 
 
 Force of the evidence , — The term ^ prophet^ meant, 
 originally, one who spoke the words of God, not neces- 
 sarily implying that he foretold future events; but, 
 when I speak of prophecy as an evidence of revealed 
 religion, I mean by it a foretelling of future events so 
 contingent that they could not be foreseen by human 
 sagacity, and so numerous and particular that they could 
 not be produced by chance. To foretell such events, 
 and bring them to pass, is among the most striking of 
 all possible manifestations of the omniscience and om- 
 nipotence of God. " To declare a thing shall come to 
 be, long before it is in being,” says Justin Martyr, '^ and 
 then to bring about that very thing according to the 
 same declaration — this, or nothing, is the work of God.” 
 Hume was fully aware of the force of this kind of evi- 
 dence, and justly, though for an obvious reason, classed 
 prophecies with miracles, as furnishing proof of a rev- 
 
 ( 299 ) 
 
300 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTLVNITY. 
 
 elation from God. Indeed, a prophecy fulfilled before 
 our eyes is a standing miracle. Let it once be made 
 out that a religion is sustained by genuine prophecies, 
 and I see not how it is possible that evidence should be 
 more complete or satisfactory. 
 
 Peculiar to Cliristianity . — In claiming prophecy as 
 a ground of evidence, Christianity again stands entirely 
 by itself. Miracles and prophecy — those two grand 
 pillars of Christian evidence — are neither of them even 
 claimed by Mohammedanism, and are neither of them 
 the ground on which it has been attempted to introduce 
 any other religion. Impostors have pretended, and 
 still do, to work miracles in support of systems of pa- 
 ganism and of superstition already established ; and, in 
 the same Avay, juggling oracles have been uttered, which 
 seem to have resembled modern fortune-telling far more 
 than Scripture prophecy. Indeed, the contrast is not 
 greater between the Christian miracles and the ridicu- 
 lous prodigies of paganism, than it is between the 
 prophecies of the Scriptures and the heathen oracles. 
 Those oracles were given for purposes of gain, on 
 special application, to gratify curiosity, or to subserve 
 the purposes of ambition, political or military ; all the 
 circumstances under which they were given favored 
 imposture, and the responses were generally so ambig- 
 uous, that they would apply to either alternative. 
 '^Thus, when Croesus consulted the oracle at Delphi, 
 relative to his intended war against the Persians, he 
 was told that he would destroy a great empire. This 
 he naturally interpreted of his overcoming the Persians, 
 though the oracle was so framed as to admit of an oppo- 
 site meaning. Croesus made war against the Persians, 
 and was ruined, and the oracle continued to maintain 
 its credit.” * But the prophecies of the Scriptures were 
 generally uttered on no solicitation, and never for a 
 
 * Horne. 
 
EVIDEXCE Fi:03I rROniECY — CmVEACTEEISTICS. 301 
 
 sgIiIsIi end. They relate sometimes to individuals and 
 sometimes to nations, and present ns with a compre- 
 hensive viev/ of the kingdom of God in its rise and 
 progress, and of those events most intimately associated 
 with it till the end of time. They are one great and har- 
 monious system, not one of which can be shown to have 
 failed, commencing in the garden of Eden, uttered by 
 persons of the greatest variety of character, and ex- 
 tending over the space of four thousand years. A 
 system of deception like this could have been under- 
 taken from no conceivable motive, and could have been 
 executed by no human power. 
 
 Gives grandeur, — This is a species of evidence which 
 invests the Christian religion, and esj)ecially the coming 
 of Christ, with a peculiar grandeur. As his coming is 
 the great event to v/hich the Christian world must al- 
 ■ways look back, so prophecy makes it the great event 
 to which the ancient church constantly looked forward. 
 It makes him the centre of the system, the great orb 
 of moral day; and prophets and holy men of old it 
 makes but as the stars and constellations that preceded 
 and heralded the brightness of his coming. 
 
 Constantly growing. — The evidence of prophecy is 
 also constantly growing. This results, not from the 
 nature of prophecy, in itself considered, but from 
 the number and nature of those unfulfilled prophecies 
 of which there are so many, both in the Old and in the 
 New Testament. If prophecy has laid down a map of 
 time till the end, then the evidences from it must be 
 more full as the scroll of Divine Providence is unrolled, 
 and is found to correspond with this map. It has even 
 been said that this increasing evidence of prophecy was 
 intended to aet as a compensation for the decreasing 
 evidence of miracles ; but I admit of no such decrease 
 in the evidence for miracles. We may be as certain 
 that miracles were wrought as those were who saw them ; 
 
 26 
 
802 
 
 EVIDENCES OP CIirJSTIAXITr. 
 
 just as we may be as certain that Jerusalem was be- 
 sieged and taken as those were who saw it ; but, in 
 both cases, according to a common law in respect to 
 distance in space and time, the impression upon our 
 minds will be less lively than if it had been produced 
 by the evidence of the senses, or from a near proximity 
 in time or space. ^Ye might be as certain of the fact, 
 if there had been an earthquake in China, as if one had 
 swallowed up New Orleans or New ’York ; but how 
 much less lively would be our impressions in one case 
 than in the other ! It was a doctrine of Hume, that 
 belief consists in liveliness of ideas, and this doctrine 
 of a decreasing evidence for miracles seems to have 
 resulted from confounding these two. 
 
 Specially adapted to some minds. — The evidence from 
 prophecy, being thus conclusive, peculiar, grand, and 
 growing, can not be omitted; though if we look at 
 Christianity as merely requiring a logical proof, it is 
 not needed. But the minds of men are differently con- 
 stituted. Some are more struck with one species of 
 evidence, and some with another; and it seems to have 
 been the intention of God that his revelation should 
 not be without any kind of proof that could be reason- 
 ably demanded, nor without proof adapted to every 
 mind. To my mind, the argument from the internal 
 evidence is conclusive ; so is that from testimony ; and 
 here is another, perhaps not less so even now, and 
 which is destined to become overwhelming. These are 
 independent of each other. They are like separate 
 nets, which God has commanded those who would be 
 ” fishers of men” to stretch across the stream — that 
 stream which leads to the Dead Sea of infidelity — so 
 that if any evade the first, they may be taken by the 
 second ; or, if they can possibly pass the second, that 
 they may not escape the third. 
 
 Evidence not the sole or great object. — This evidence, 
 
EYIDEXCE FROM PROPHECY — INCIDENTAL. 303 
 
 SO striking and peculiar, it has generally been supposed 
 it was the object of prophecy to give. That this was 
 one object I can not doubt. It may even have been the 
 sole object of some particular prophecies, as when 
 Christ said to his disciples, respecting the treachery of 
 Judas, ” Now I have told you before it come to pass, 
 that when it is come to pass, ye might believe.” But, 
 important as this object is, it seems to me to be only 
 incidental. Prophecy seems, like the sinlessness of 
 Christ, to enter necessarily into the system — to be a 
 part, not only of the evidence of the system, but of 
 the system itself. I speak not now of this or that par- 
 ticular prophecy ; but I say that the prophetic element 
 causes the whole system to have a different relation to 
 the human mind, and makes it quite another thing as a 
 means of moral culture and discipline. It is one thing 
 for the soldier to march without any knowledge of the 
 places through which he is to pass, or of that to which 
 he is going, or of the object of the campaign ; and it 
 is quite another for him to have, not a map, perhaps, 
 but a sketch of the intended route, with the principal 
 cities through which he is to pass dotted down, and to 
 know what is intended to be the termination and the 
 final object of the campaign. It is evident that in the 
 one case a vastly wider range of s^nnpathies will be 
 called into action than in the other. In the latter case, 
 the soldiers can cooperate far more intelligently with 
 their commander-in-chief ; they will feel very differ- 
 ently as they arrive at designated points, and far higher 
 will be their enthusiasm as they approach the end of 
 their march, and the hour of the final conflict draws on. 
 And this is the relation in which God has placed us, by 
 the prophetic element in revelation, to his great plans 
 and purposes. He has provided that there shall be put 
 into the hands of every soldier a sketch of the route 
 which the church militant is to pursue in following the 
 
304 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTI.VNITT. 
 
 Captain of her salvation ; and this sketch is continued all 
 the way, till we see the bannered host passing through 
 those triumphal arches where the everlasting doors have 
 l)een lifted up for their entrance into the Jerusalem 
 above. This is not merely to gratify curiosity ; it is 
 not merely to give an evidence which becomes com- 
 pleted only when it is no longer needed ; but it is to 
 furnish objects to faith and affection, and motives to 
 effort, and to put the mind of man in that relation to 
 the great plan of God which properly belongs to those 
 whom he calls his children and his friends. 
 
 Obscurity, — Objection has been made to the obscu- 
 rity of the prophecies. This objection can not lie 
 against them as indicating the general course of events, 
 and thus accomplishing the great end for which I sup- 
 pose they were given. Nor can it lie against some of 
 the particular prophecies, for nothing can be more 
 direct and explicit. Others, however, are obscure. 
 The revelations were made by s^mibols which are sub- 
 ject to their own laws of interpretation, and the mean- 
 ing of which the prophets themselves did not always 
 understand. But it is through this very obscurity, in 
 the exact degree in which it exists, that many of these 
 prophecies furnish the highest possible evidence of their 
 genuineness. If the object had been to furnish the 
 very best evidence that certain prophecies were in- 
 spired, it could have been done only by investing them 
 with such a degree of obscurity that the events could 
 not have been certainly recognized before their fulfill- 
 ment, and yet by making them so clear that they could 
 not bo mistaken afterward. And this is precisely the 
 principle on which many of the prophecies are con- 
 structed. Looked at in this point of view, they show 
 a divine skill. If a prophecy had the plainness of a 
 narration, it might be plausibly said that it was the 
 cause of its own fulfillment. Individuals wishing it to 
 
OLD AND NEW TEST^ilVIENTS. 
 
 305 
 
 be fulfilled might accommodate themselves to the proph- 
 ecy, or, as has been done in one famous instance,* they 
 might endeavor to prevent the fulfillment. How eagerly 
 this objection would have been seized on may be seen 
 from the fact that Bolingbroke says, even now, that 
 Christ did bring on his own death willfully, that his 
 disciples might boast that the prophecies were fulfilled 
 in him. But when prophecy, while it spans, as with a 
 luminous arch, the whole canopy of time, and reveals 
 some events with perfect distinctness, yet so far shrouds 
 others as to show only their general form, while it so 
 far reveals them that they can not be mistaken when 
 they stand in the light of actual fulfillment, then we see 
 the certain signature of a divine hand ; we have the 
 very best evidence that the prophecy is from God. 
 
 Connection of the Old and the New Testaments. — 
 Perhaps I ought to say a word on another point. Much 
 has been said of the connection between the Old and 
 the New Testaments. To some it has seemed that the 
 Old Testament was only a dead weight, and that Chris- 
 tianity would move on triumphantly if it were once 
 fairly cut loose from this. Its morality has seemed to 
 them barbarous, and its narrations improbable. They 
 would not, perhaps, say positively that those events 
 never did take place, but they greatly doubt whether 
 they did, and they talk of "those old myths . But I 
 have no fears that the Old Testament will drag down 
 the New. I have no wish to cut Christianity loose from 
 any connection with it, but would rather draw that 
 connection closer. To me the morality of the Old 
 Testament is the morality of the ten commandments. 
 I find nothing sanctioned there which these would not 
 allow, and I wish for nothing better. To me its narra- 
 tives are facts ; and I remember that the Saviour said of 
 these books that they were they which testified of Him. 
 
 * That of Julian. 
 
 26 * 
 
306 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTElNITr. 
 
 Four jpoints to he established, — 'With these viev’s, 
 while I allow that there are difficulties connected with 
 the proper interpretation of some of the prophecies, 
 and in a few cases with the manner in which they are 
 referred to by the New Testament writers, I yet feel 
 that there is overwhelming evidence, 1. Of the fulfill- 
 ment of those prophecies which related to events that 
 occurred before the time of Christ. 2. That Christ 
 and his apostles did claim that many of the Old Testa- 
 ment prophecies were fulfilled in him. 3. That those 
 prophecies were thus fulfilled. And, 4. That not only 
 the prophets of old, but Christ and his apostles, 
 uttered prophecies which have been fulfilled since his 
 time, and which are in the process of fidfillment now. 
 
 Proj^heeies relating to events before Christ, — Let us, 
 then, look at the fulfillment of those prophecies which 
 related to events that occurred before the time of Christ. 
 Of these the number is very great, relating to the Jews, 
 and to those nations with whom they were connected. 
 Of those respecting the Jews, I shall adduce only such 
 as relate to their Babylonish captivity and return ; and 
 of these I can give but single specimens out of large 
 classes of passages. Jeremiah says, (xxxii. 28,) 
 "Therefore thus saitli the Lord, Behold, I will give 
 this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the 
 hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Baliylon, and he shall 
 take it.” This is sufficiently explicit with respect to 
 the taking of the city. He says again, (xxix. 10,) 
 "For thus saith the Lord, that after seventy years be 
 accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform 
 my good word toward you, in causing you to return to 
 this place.” Hear, now, Isaiah, a hundred and sixty 
 years before these events, calling byname and pointing 
 out the w^ork of one who was not yet. Isa. xliv. 28. 
 "That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall 
 perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, 
 
rARTICULAR rROPIIECIES. 
 
 307 
 
 Thou shalt he built; and to the Temple, Thy founda- 
 tion shall be laid.” Noav let us hear the decree of this 
 same Cyrus, made at the expiration of the seventy 
 years. Ezra i. 2, 3. ” Thus saith Cyrus, king of 
 
 Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the 
 kingdoms of the earth ; and he hath charged me to build 
 him a house in Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is 
 there among you of all his people ? his God be with 
 him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, 
 and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (he is 
 the God,) which is in Jerusalem.” History itself 
 could not be more plain or specific, and such events 
 were plainly beyond the reach of human sagacity. 
 
 The nations chiefly connected with the Jews were the 
 Ninevites, the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 
 the Edomites, the Egyptians, the Tyrians, and the 
 Babylonians ; and concerning each of these there are 
 numerous and specific prophecies. 
 
 Of Nineveh, that exceeding great city of three days 
 journey, the prophet says, (Nahum i. 9,) "What do ye 
 imagine against the 'Lord? He will make an utter end : 
 affliction shall not rise up the second time.” And says 
 another prophet, (Zeph. ii. 13, 15,) "He will make 
 Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness. This 
 is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in 
 her heart, I am, and there is none beside me : how is 
 she become a desolation ! ” Of the Moabites, and the 
 Ammonites, the prophet said, (Zeph. ii. 8, 9,) "I have 
 heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the 
 children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my 
 people, and magnified themselves against their border. 
 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God 
 of Israel, surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the chil- 
 dren of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of 
 nettles, and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation.” 
 "Moab,” says another prophet, (Jer. xlviii. 42,) "shall 
 
308 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 be destroyed from being a people.” All this respecting 
 Nineveh, and Moab, and Ammon, has been literally 
 accomplished. Of the Philistines the jDrophet says, 
 (Zeph. ii. 4,) ''Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkeloii 
 a desolation : they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon- 
 day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.” Of Edom the 
 prophecies are the more remarkable, because commen- 
 tators on the Bible were long troubled to know how to 
 dispose of them, and because their literal and exact 
 fulfillment has been known only a few years. This 
 country was once a great thoroughfare, and a mart for 
 commerce, and remained so long after the prophecies 
 were uttered. Here was Petra, that city the ruins of 
 which have recently become so celebrated. When this 
 was discovered in the midst of such utter desolation, 
 then, and not till then, was the meaning of such pas- 
 sages as the following made known. Jer. xlix. 16-18. 
 "Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of 
 thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the 
 rock, that holdest the height of the hill. Also Edom 
 shall lie a desolation : every one that goeth by it shall 
 be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof. 
 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the 
 neighbor cities thereof, saith the Lord, no man shall 
 abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.” 
 The discovery of this country and its ruins, which no 
 traveler seems to have visited for a thousand 3 ^ears, 
 was like the resurrection of one from the dead to bear 
 witness to the literal truth of the prophecies of God. 
 Concerning Egj^pt, once so mighty, it was said, (Ezek. 
 xxix. 15 ; XXX. 13,) "It shall be the basest of the king- 
 doms ; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the 
 nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no 
 more rule over the nations. And there shall be no 
 more a prince of the land of Egypt.” Upon this pas- 
 sage the whole history of Egypt is but one commentary. 
 
PARTICULAR PROPHECIES. 
 
 309 
 
 The prophecies concerning Tyre and Babylon are well 
 known. Of Tyre it was said, (Ezek. xxvi. 4, 5,) 
 ”And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and* break 
 down her towers ; I will also scrape her dust from her, 
 and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a 
 place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea.” 
 Alexander scraped the ruins from the site of the old 
 city for the purpose of filling up a passage to the new, 
 and the infidel Volney tells uS that it is now a place 
 where the fishermen spread their nets. Of "Babylon, 
 the glory of kingdoms,” it was said, (Isa. xiii. 20, 21,) 
 "It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt 
 in from generation to generation ; neither shall the 
 Arabian pitch tent there ; neither shall the shepherds 
 make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert 
 shall lie there ; and their houses shall be full of doleful 
 creatures ; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall 
 dance there.” No better description of the fate and 
 condition of Babylon could be written now. These 
 prophecies were literal, and they have been literally 
 fulfilled. At the time they were uttered there was 
 nothing to indicate the probability of such events. The 
 world had then had no experience of the transfer of the 
 seats of power and civilization. How strange that all 
 these cities and nations should have perished ! Why 
 should not the Moabites, or the Ammonites, have re- 
 mained a separate people, as well as the Jews or the 
 Ishmaelites ? The prophets of God no longer wander 
 over those regions, but he has not left himself without 
 a witness. No voice could be more eloquent than that 
 of those ruined cities and desolate kingdoms, testifying 
 how fearful a thing it is to fall under the displeasure 
 of God, and how certainly he will execute all his 
 threatenings. 
 
 Claim of Christ and his apostles . — I now proceed 
 
310 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 to show that Christ and his apostles did claim that 
 many of the Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in 
 him. This claim, it seems to me, if it could have been 
 made by language, was made. I shall cite a few pas- 
 sages, and leave you to judge. Christ says, (John v. 
 39,) "Search the Scriptures, for they are they which 
 testify of me.” John v. 46. "For had ye believed 
 Moses, ye would have believed me ; for he wrote of 
 me.” "The Son of man,” said he, (Matt. xxvi. 24,) 
 "goeth, as it is written of him.” Mark ix. 12. "It is 
 written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many 
 things.” Luke xviii. 31. "All things written by the 
 prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accom- 
 plished.” Luke xxiv. 25-27. " Then he said unto 
 
 them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the 
 prophets have spoken ! Ought not Christ to have suf- 
 fered these things, and to enter into his glory? And 
 beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, he expounded 
 unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning 
 himself.” And it was when he thus opened to them 
 the Scriptures, that their hearts burned within them. 
 Again, he said, (verses 44-46,) "All things must be 
 fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and 
 the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me. Then 
 opened he their understanding, that they might under- 
 stand the Scriptures, and said unto them. Thus it is 
 written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to 
 rise from the dead.” Could Christ have claimed that 
 he was the subject of prophecy, not only in one portion 
 of Scripture, but in all the Scriptures, more plainly 
 than he did claim it? It is obvious, from the narrative, 
 that the effect was scarcely greater of seeing him alive, 
 than was that produced by his opening to them the 
 Scriptures. 
 
 But what say the apostles ? " Paul went in unto the 
 
 Jews,” (Acts xvii. 2, 3,) "and three Sabbath days 
 
PROPHECY CLAIMED. 
 
 311 
 
 reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and 
 alleging that Christ must needs have suffered, and 
 risen again from the dead.” And the noble Bereans. 
 '' searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things 
 were so.” Again, (Acts xxviii. 23,) Paul "expounded 
 and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them 
 concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and 
 out of the prophets.” Paul declared before Agrippa 
 (Acts xxvi. 22) that he said " none other things than 
 those which the prophets and Moses did say should 
 come.” Apollos (Acts xviii. 28) " mightily convinced 
 the Jews, publicly showing, by the Scriptures, that 
 Jesus was Christ.” Peter, even in his first discourse 
 to the Gentiles, said, (Acts x. 43,) "To him give all 
 the prophets witness.” And again, (Acts iii. 18,) 
 "Those things which God before had showed by the 
 mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he 
 hath so fulfilled.” Again, (verse 24,) he says, "Yea, 
 and all the prophets from Samuel, and those that follow 
 after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold 
 of these days.” And Peter says expressly (1 Pet. i. 
 10, 11) that "the prophets have inquired and searched 
 diligently, searching what or what manner of time the 
 Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when 
 it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the 
 glory that should follow.” 
 
 To me it seems that these passages show, if any 
 thing can show it, not only that Christ and his apostles 
 claimed that the Old Testament Scriptures were ful- 
 filled in him, but that the great question, when they 
 attempted to convert the Jews, was, whether they had 
 been thus fulfilled. 
 
 Prophecies fulfilled in Christ, — Our next inquiry is, 
 whether there are prophecies in the Old Testament 
 which were thus fulfilled in Christ. 
 
312 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTLVNITY. 
 
 And here I hardly know what course to take. I 
 might propound a theory, or make general assertions, 
 and perhaps, as has too often been done, mystify the 
 subject ; but this would not be proof. Proof must be 
 drawn from a comparison of scripture with scripture. 
 Hence only can conviction arise. Will the audience 
 then permit me to present briefly, letting the Scriptures 
 speak for themselves, some corresponding passages of 
 the Old and of the New Testament on this subject? 
 It will be my intention to produce no passage which is 
 not applicable ; but, if I should, it would not invalidate 
 the general argument. The question here is not one 
 of small criticism. It is as when we stand in the light 
 of open day. We should not deny, perhaps, that there 
 might be found dark corners into which a man could 
 run and see nothing ; nor that so small an object as his 
 hand even might conceal from him the whole horizon. 
 So here, the question is not whether a man may not 
 find some dark points, or some small objection which 
 he may hold in such a position as to eclipse the glory 
 of the whole prophetic heavens ; but whether there is 
 not, for the candid mind, one broad flood of light pour- 
 ing out from the prophecies of the Old Testament, the 
 rays of which converge, as in a halo of glory, around 
 the head of the Pedeemer. We contend that there is, 
 and that this light began to shine even before our first 
 parents were expelled from Eden. 
 
 To bruise the head of the serpent. — The first intima- 
 tion we have of a Messiah was in the promise that the 
 seed of the woman should bruise the ^head of the ser- 
 pent. Gen. iii. 15. In the New Testament it is said, 
 '' God sent forth his Son, made of a woman.” Gal. iv. 
 4. And again : He became a partaker of flesh and 
 blood, that ” through death he might destroy him that 
 had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Heb. 
 ii. 14. 
 
SPECIFICATIONS. 
 
 313 
 
 To he of the seed of Abraham. — The next general 
 intimation was given to Abraham, and his family was 
 predicted. ” And in thy seed shall all the nations of 
 the earth he blessed.” Gen. xxii. 18. ”^s’ow, to Abra- 
 
 ham,” says Paul, ^'and his seed, were the promises 
 made. He saith not. And to seeds, as of many ; but 
 as of one. And to thy seed, which is Christ.” Gal. iii. 
 16. "For verily he took not on him the nature of 
 angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.” 
 Heb. ii. 16. — 
 
 Of the tribe of Judah. — He was to be of the tribe 
 of Judah. "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, 
 nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come : 
 and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” 
 Gen. xlix. 10. "For it is evident,” says Paul, "that 
 our Lord sprang out of Judah; of which tribe Moses 
 spake nothing concerning priesthood.” Heb. vii. 14. 
 
 Of the house of David. — He was to be of the house 
 of David. "And in that day there shall be a root of 
 Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people ; 
 to it shall the Gentiles seek : and his rest shall be glo- 
 rious.” Isa. xi. 10. "Behold, the days come, saith the 
 Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, 
 and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute 
 judgment and justice ; and this is his name whereby he 
 shall be called. The Loed ouk Eigiiteousness.” Jer. 
 xxiii. 5, 6. Paul says, "Concerning his Son Jesus 
 Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David 
 according to the flesh.” Eom. i. 3. 
 
 Place of birth designated. — The place of his birth 
 w^as designated. "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, 
 though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, 
 yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to 
 be Ruler in Israel ; whose goings forth have been from 
 of old, from everlasting.” Micah v. 2. "Kow,” says 
 27 
 
314 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTLVNITY. 
 
 Matthew, when Jesus was horn in Bethlehem of Ju- 
 dea.” Matt. ii. 1. 
 
 The time of hirtli. — The time was designated. It 
 was not only to he before the sceptre departed from 
 Judah, hut while the second Temple was standing. 
 ” And I will shake all nations,” says God hy Haggai, 
 and the Desire of all nations shall come : and the 
 glory of this latter house shall he greater than of the 
 former, saitli the Lord of Hosts.” Hag. ii. 7, 9. Dciniel 
 also said, '' Seventy weeks are determined upon thy 
 people and upon the holy city, to finish the transgression, 
 and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation 
 for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, 
 and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint 
 the Most Holy.” Dan. ix. 24. Accordingly we find, 
 not only from Jewish writers, hut from the most explicit 
 jiassages in Tacitus and Suetonius, that there was a 
 general expectation that an extraordinary person would 
 arise in Judea about that time. So strong was this 
 expectation among the Jews as to encourage numerous 
 false Christs to appear, and to enable them to gain fol- 
 lowers ; and so certain were they that the Temple could 
 not he destroyed before the coming of the Messiah, that 
 they refused all terms from Titus, and fought with des- 
 peration till the last. 
 
 Elias to come first . — He was to he preceded hy a 
 remarkable person resembling Elijah. "Behold, I will 
 send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before 
 me.” Mai. iii. 1. "Behold, I will send you Elijah the 
 prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful 
 day of the Lord.” Mai. iv. 5. "The voice of him that 
 crieth in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the 
 Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our 
 God.” Isa. xl. 3. "In those days came John the Bap- 
 tist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, 
 
SPECIFICATIONS. 
 
 315 
 
 Repent ye ; for the kins^dom of heaven is at hand.” 
 Matt. iii. 1, 2. 
 
 Was to icorJc miracles, — He was to work miracles. 
 ” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the 
 ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the 
 lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb 
 sing.” Isa. xxxv. 5,6. These are precisely the mira- 
 cles recorded as wrought by Christ in instances too 
 numerous to mention. 
 
 His public entry into Jerusalem. — He was to make 
 a public entry into Jerusalem, riding upon a colt the foal 
 of an ass. "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion ; shout, 
 O daughter of Jerusalem : behold, thy King cometh 
 unto thee : he is just, and having salvation ; lowly, and 
 riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” 
 Zech. ix. 9. An account of the exact fulfillment of this 
 prophecy will be found in the twenty-first chapter of 
 Matthew. 
 
 To he rejected by the Jews. — He was to be rejected 
 of his own countrymen. "And he shall be for a sanc- 
 tuary ; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of 
 offense to both the houses of Israel.” Isa. viii. 14. "He 
 hath no form nor comeliness ; and when we shall see 
 him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He 
 is despised and rejected of men ; a man of sorrows, and 
 acquainted with grief : and we hid as it ^yeve our fiices 
 from him ; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” 
 Isa. liii. 2, 3. "He came unto his own,” says John, 
 "and his own received him not.” John i. 11. And 
 again : " Though he had done so many miracles before 
 them, yet they believed not on him : that the saying of 
 Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake. 
 Lord, who hath believed our report?” — quoting the 
 first verse of the fifty-third of Isaiah, and thus claiming 
 it as spoken of the Messiah. And after quoting another 
 prophecy, the apostle says, "These things said Esaias, 
 
316 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CIIEISTIANITY. 
 
 when he saw his glory, and spake of him.” John xii. 
 37, 38, 41. 
 
 To he scourged and moclced. — He was to be scourged, 
 mocked, and spit upon. gave my back to the smi- 
 tors, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: 
 I hid not my face from shame and spitting.” Isa. 1.6. 
 "And when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to 
 be crucified.” Matt, xxvii. 26. "Then did they spit in 
 his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with 
 the palms of their hands.” Matt. xxvi. 67. 
 
 Ills hands and feet to he pierced. — His hands and his 
 feet were to be pierced. " The assembly of the wicked 
 have inclosed me ; they pierced my hands and my feet.’^ 
 Ps. xxii. 16. This is remarkable, because the punish- 
 ment of crucifixion was not known among the Jews. 
 
 To he numbered icitli transgressors. — He was to be 
 numbered with the transgressors. "And he was num- 
 bered with the transgressors ; and he bare the sin of many, 
 and made intercession for the transgressors.” Isa. liii. 12. 
 
 To he reviled on the cross. — lie was to be mocked 
 and reviled on the cross. "All they that see me laugh 
 me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the 
 head, sa 3 nng, He trusted on the Lord that he would 
 deliver him : let him deliver him, seeing he delighted 
 in him.” Ps. xxii. 7, 8. "Likewise also the chief 
 priests, mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said. 
 He saved others ; himself he can not save. — Tie trusted 
 in God; let him deliver him now., if he will have him : for 
 he said, I am the Son of God.” Matt, xxvii. 41-43. 
 
 To have gall and vinegar to drink. — He was to have 
 gall and vinegar to drink. " They gave me also gall for 
 my meat ; and in my thirst, they gave me vinegar to 
 drink.” Ps. Ixix. 21. "And when they were come 
 unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, A place of 
 a skull, theg gave him vinegar to drink, mingled ivith 
 gali:^ Matt, xxvii. 33, 34. 
 
SPECIFICATIONS. 
 
 317 
 
 Ilis garments to he parted. — His garments were to 
 be parted, and upon his vesture lots were to be cast. 
 ^'Tliey part my garments among them, and cast lots 
 upon my vesture.” Ps. xxii. 18. "Then the soldiers, 
 when they Iiad crncihed Jesus, took his garments, and 
 made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his 
 coat ; now tlie coat was without seam, woven from the 
 top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, 
 Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall 
 be : that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” John xix. 
 23, 24. 
 
 IBs death to he violent. — He was to be cut off by a 
 violent death. ”For he was cut out of the land of the 
 livdng.” Isa liii. 8. ”xlnd after threescore and two 
 weeks shall JMessiah be cut off, but not for himself.” 
 Dan. ix. 26. 
 
 Was to he pierced. — He was to be pierced. ”And 
 I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the 
 inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of 
 supplications : and they shall look upon me whom they 
 have pierced.” Zech. xii. 10. ^'But one of the soldiers 
 with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there- 
 out blood and water.” John xix. 34. 
 
 To make his grave icith the rich. — He was to make 
 liis grave with the rich. ” And he made his grave with 
 the wi<dved, and with the rich in his death.” Isa. liii. 9. 
 'AYhe:.i the even was come, there came a rich man of 
 Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus* 
 disciple. He went to Pilate, and begged the body of 
 Jesus, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had 
 lieAvn out in the rock.” Matt, xxvii. 57, 58, 60. 
 
 Was not to see corruption. — He was not to see cor- 
 ruption. "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; 
 neither Avilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corrup- 
 tion.” Ps. xvi. 10. "Men and brethren,” says Peter, 
 after citing this passage, " let me freely speak unto you 
 27 * 
 
31-8 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTI^VNITY. 
 
 of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, 
 and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore, 
 being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with 
 an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according 
 to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his 
 throne, he, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection 
 of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his 
 flesh did see corruption.” Acts ii. 29-31. 
 
 And yet there are some who say that these prophecies 
 are no prophecies, and were never claimed to be. But 
 I think it evident that Peter did not belong, as an inter- 
 preter of prophecy, to the schools of German neology. 
 
 Convergence of the passages. — These passages are 
 far from being all that might be adduced. Eespecting 
 some of them as they stand, a person without previous 
 knowledge would be led to ask the question of the 
 Ethiopian eunuch, "I pray thee, of whom speaketh the 
 prophet this ? of himself, or of some other man ? ” But 
 when we see these passages brought together; when 
 we see their wonderful convergence, so that the history 
 of Christ, from his miraculous birth — of the foretelling 
 of which I have not spoken — to his death, was only 
 their counterpart ; when we find that the Jews them- 
 selves referred most of them to the Messiah, and that 
 they are expressly claimed by Christ and his apostles, 
 the general argument becomes exceedingly strong. How 
 strong it is maybe seen by any one who will attempt to 
 apply one tenth part of these passages to any other per- 
 son that ever lived. Let him attempt to apply them to 
 Titus, of whom Josephus says that he was the extraor- 
 dinary person foretold, and see how he will succeed. 
 If we admit that these prophecies were extant before 
 the coming of Christ, — and of this we have the best 
 possible evidence, because, as was said by an ancient 
 father, the Jews, the enemies of Christianity, were the 
 lilirarians of Christians, — and if we estimate mathemat- 
 
OFFICES OF CUEIST. 
 
 319 
 
 ically, liy the doctrine of chances, the probability that 
 these circumstances would meet in one person, it would, 
 as is said by Dr. Gregory, surpass the powers of num- 
 bers to express the immense improbability of its taking 
 place. 
 
 Offices of Christ foretold , — But, striking as are these 
 passages in their application to Christ, while many of 
 them, if not applied to him, would seem to mean noth- 
 ing, they are yet far from giving the whole weight of 
 the argument ; for not only were the circumstances of 
 his life and death minutely pointed out, but his offices 
 were also described. 
 
 Was to he a jproffiiet. — He was to be a prophet, like 
 unto Moses. will raise them up a Prophet from 
 among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my 
 words in his mouth ; and he shall speak unto them all 
 that I shall command him.” Dent, xviii. 18. This is 
 expressly quoted by Peter, in the Acts, (iii. 22,) as 
 fulfilled by Christ. 
 
 A;priest. — He was to be a priest. ‘"The Lord hath 
 sworn, and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever 
 after the order of Melchisedek.” Ps. cx. 4. ” Called 
 
 of God,” says Paul, ”a high priest after the order of 
 Melchisedek.” Heb. v. 10. 
 
 A king. — He was to be a king. ”Yet have I set 
 my King upon my holy hill of Zion.” Ps. ii. 6. "Thy 
 people shall be willing in the day of thy power.” Ps. 
 cx. 3. ”All power,” says Christ, ”is given unto me in 
 heaven and in earth.” Matt, xxviii. 18. . "For he must 
 reign,” says Paul, " till he hath put all enemies under 
 his feet.” 1 Cor. xv. 25. 
 
 Kingdom of peace. — His kingdom was to be one of 
 peace. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is 
 given : and the government shall be upon his shoulder : 
 and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, 
 The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of 
 
320 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace 
 there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and 
 upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with 
 judgment and Avith justice from henceforth, even for- 
 ever.” Isa. ix. 6, 7. ” And they shall beat their swords 
 
 into ploAvshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks ; 
 nation shall not lift up a SAVord against nation, neither 
 shall they learn AA^ar anymore.” Micah iv. 3. "They 
 shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain.” 
 Isa. xi. 9. 
 
 To include the Gentiles. — His kingdom Avas also to 
 include the Gentiles. "And he said. It is a light thing 
 that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the trilies 
 of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel : I Avill 
 also gi\"e thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou 
 mayest be my sah^ation unto the end of the earth.” 
 Isa. xlix. 6. "And the Gentiles shall come to thy 
 light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. The 
 a])undanco of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the 
 forces of the Gentiles shall eome unto thee.” Isa. lx. 
 3, 5. This is especially remarkable, because there AA^as 
 nothing in the feeling of the Israelites, or in their rela- 
 tions to the nations around them, in the time of Isaiah, 
 to indicate the possiliility of a spiritual and uniA^ersal 
 kingdom, in AAliich the Gentiles should become felloAV- 
 citizens, and have erpial privileges AAutli the Jews. 
 
 Here, then, aa^c have the three great offices of prophet, 
 priest, and king, united by prophecy in one person ; 
 AA'e have a kingdom of peace, and that kingdom one 
 which AAuis to include all nations. Hoav perfectly all 
 this is fulfilled in the person and kingdom of Christ I 
 need not say ; nor Iioav entirely impossible it would be 
 to make these passages apply to any other person or 
 kingdom. 
 
 Prophecies seemingly incompatible. — And not only 
 were these three great offices united in one person, 
 
SEEMING INCOMPATIBILITY. 
 
 321 
 
 but the prophecies respecting him were so apparently 
 incompatible and contradictory that it must have seemed 
 beforehand impossible they should be fulfilled, and they 
 must have caused great perplexity in the minds of those 
 who were unwilling to receive the word of God and rest 
 on it by simple faith. Now, he was represented as a 
 triumphant conqueror, as a king sitting upon the throne 
 of David, and ruling all nations, and now he was spoken 
 of as ” despised and rejected of men,” as ” oppressed 
 and afflicted.” It was said of the Messiah, have set 
 my King upon my holy hill of Zion,” and that ” of the 
 increase of his government and peace there shall be no 
 end.” It wns also said of him, After threescore and 
 two weeks shall Messiah be cut off.” ’VYliat contradic- 
 tions, might a Jew have said, have we here ! A King 
 who is to have perpetual dominion, and is to reign till 
 he has put all enemies under his feet, and yet is to be 
 despised, and rejected, and oppressed ! A Messiah who 
 is to be slain, and yet is to reign forever ! These asser- 
 tions might, indeed, have been received separately, by 
 fiiith, as the word of God ; a reasonable Jew would 
 have so received them ; but, before the event, he could 
 not have understood and reconciled them with each 
 other ; and yet the demand made by each of these as- 
 pects of the prophecy is fully met in Christ. 
 
 Fulfilled hy enemies. — How, then, can the conclu- 
 sion be avoided, that these prophecies were given by 
 inspiration of God? Not by the supposition that they 
 were fulfilled by human contrivance, for the enemies of 
 Christ, far more than his friends, contributed to that 
 fulfillment. As was said by Paul, (Acts xiii. 27,) 
 "They that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, be- 
 cause they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the 
 prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they have 
 fulfilled them in condemning him.” It was they that 
 smote him, and hung him on a tree, and parted his 
 
322 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTL^JNITY. 
 
 garments among them, and cast lots, and pierced his 
 side. It was they vdio paid the thirty pieces of silver, 
 the goodly price at which they valued him, and who 
 bought, with the price of blood, the potter’s field. Nor 
 can this conclusion be avoided on the supposition of 
 chance ; for, as has already been said, it would surpass 
 the power of numbers to express the extreme improba- 
 bility of the fulfillment of such prophecies. 
 
 Tjjpes prophetic. — Nor is this all; for it would be 
 easy to show that the whole of the Old Testament dis- 
 pensation, the ark of the covenant, with all its arrange- 
 ments, the passover, the sacrifices, the ceremonies, the 
 priesthood, were all typical, and therefore prophetic ; 
 and that the true import and substance of all these is to 
 be found in the Christian dispensation. This, however, 
 is a great subject, and I can not enter upon it. 
 
 Prophecies hij Christ and the ajjostles. — We now 
 come to the fourth point mentioned — namely, that 
 Christ and his apostles uttered prophecies Avhich have 
 been fulfilled since their time, and which are in the 
 process of fulfillment now. Fully to illustrate this po- 
 sition, would require a lecture. I can onl}^ glance at it. 
 
 The destruction of Jerusalem. — As the prophecy of 
 Christ respecting the destruction of Jerusalem had for 
 one of its objects to warn his followers to escape from 
 that city, it was delivered in the most direct and ex- 
 plicit terms. Before the time of Christ, and during his 
 life, no false Christ arose ; there was no war, and no 
 prospect of one ; and the Temple, and Jerusalem, were 
 standing in all their strength. But he foretold that 
 false Christs should arise, and should deceive many; 
 that there should be earthquakes and famine, and fear- 
 ful sights in heaven, and wars and rumors of wars, and 
 great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning 
 of the world, nor ever should be; and that Jerusalem 
 
YERIFICATIOyo 
 
 323 
 
 should be compassed with amiies ; and that a trench 
 should be cast round about it ; and that one stone of 
 the Temple should not be left upon another ; and that 
 the Jews should be carried captive among all nations. 
 Paul also prophesied of the great apostas}^, and the 
 coming of the man of sin ; and John, in the Revelation, 
 has spoken of the course of events till the end of time. 
 
 Josephus. — To verify the prophecies of Christ re- 
 specting the destruction of Jerusalem, and the events 
 preceding it, we have a history of those times, written 
 by Josephus, an eye witness and a Jew and nothing 
 can be more striking than a comparison of the history 
 and the prophecy. Josephus gives particular accounts 
 of the false Christs and false prophets, and of their 
 deceiving many. He speaks of the distracted state of 
 those countries, corresponding to the prophecy ; of wars 
 and rumors of wars ; and says that the ” disorders of 
 all Syria were terrible. For eveiy city was divided 
 into parties armed against each other, and the safety 
 of one depended on the destruction of the other; the 
 days Avere spent in slaughter, and the nights in terrors.’’ 
 He speaks also of famines, and pestilences, and earth- 
 quakes, and especially of ” fearful sights, and great 
 signs from heaA^en.” He tells us that just before the 
 war, a star, resembling a SAVord, stood over the city, 
 and a comet that continued a Avhole year ; that " before 
 sunsetting, chariots, and troops of soldiers in their 
 armor, Avere seen running about among the clouds, and 
 surrounding cities.” He says, also, ”At the feast of 
 Pentecost, as the priests Avere going by night into the 
 inner court of the Temple, they felt a quaking, and 
 heard a great noise, and, after that, they heard the 
 sound as of a multitude, saying, ' Let us depart hence ! ’ ” 
 
 Tacitus. — Nor is Josephus alone in giving these 
 accounts. Tacitus, also, says, ” There Avere many prod- 
 igies presignifying their ruin, Avhich was not averted by 
 
824 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHPJSTLVNITY. 
 
 all the sacrifices and vows of that people. Armies were 
 seen fighting in the air with brandished weapons. A 
 fire fell upon the Temple from the clouds. The doors 
 of the Temple were suddenly opened. At the same 
 time there was a loud voice declaring that the gods were 
 removing, which was accompanied with a sound as of a 
 multitude going out. All which things were supposed, 
 by some, to portend great calamities.” He speaks, also, 
 of the fact that Jerusalem was compassed by an army 
 at the beginning of the war, and that, owing to the 
 state of parties, many of the principal men were about 
 to open the gates ; but says that the Koman general 
 recalled the soldiers from the place without having 
 received any defeat, and retired from the city, without 
 any reason in the world. He then mentions that, when 
 the Roman armies approached again, a great multitude 
 fled to the mountains. Thus a way was made for the 
 dispiples of Christ to escape, and it is not known that 
 a single one of them perished in that destruction. It 
 really seems to have prefigured the final destruction of 
 the wicked, when the righteous shall all have been gath- 
 ered from among them. 
 
 Josephus also speaks particularly of the trench and 
 wall which were made about Jerusalem by Titus. This 
 was done with great difliculty, and, except for the pur- 
 pose of a little more speedy reduction of the city, with- 
 out necessity, and was contrary to the advice of the 
 chief men of Titus. But so it was written. In respect 
 to the tril^ulation of those days, of which our Saviour 
 speaks so strongly, if the purpose of Josephus had been 
 to confirm the words of the prophecy, he could have 
 said nothing more to the point. "No other city,” says 
 he, "ever suffered such miseries nor was there ever a 
 generation more fruitful in wickedness from the begin- 
 ning of the world.” Again: "It appears to me that 
 the misfortunes of all men, from the beginning of the 
 
DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 325 
 
 world, if they be compared to those of the Jews, are 
 not so considerable. For in reality it was God who 
 condemned the whole nation, and turned every course 
 that was taken for their preservation to their destruc- 
 tion.” And again : ” The multitude of those who per- 
 ished exceeded all the destructions that man or God 
 ever brought upon the world.” The great mass of the 
 nation was gathered within the city. They were di- 
 vided into contending factions, who fought with the 
 fury of fiends against each other. Famine did its slow 
 but fearful work, so that women were known to eat 
 their own children. And while those within were thus 
 the prey of famine and of each other, those who at- 
 tempted to escape were taken by the Eoman soldiers 
 and nailed on crosses, some one way, some another, 
 as it were in jest, around the outside of the walls, till 
 so great was the number, that room was wanting for 
 crosses, and crosses for bodies. As Titus beheld the 
 dead bodies that had been thrown from the walls into 
 the valleys, ”he lifted up his hands to heaven, and 
 called God to witness that this was not his doiim.” 
 
 O 
 
 These were ” the days of vengeance ; ” and it is com- 
 puted by Josephus that upward of one million three 
 hundred thousand persons perished in the siege of 
 Jerusalem alone. And not only so, but, when the city 
 was taken, it was, contrary to the wish of Titus, de- 
 voted to utter destruction ; and the prophecy of Christ, 
 that not one stone of the Temple should be left upon 
 another, was literally fulfilled. 
 
 Other iDTojphecies, — Of the other prophecies I have 
 not time to speak ; but the J ews were carried into cap- 
 tivity among all nations, and their condition from that 
 time till now has been a standing and wonderful attes- 
 tation of the truth of the prophetic record, while their 
 present condition is an evident preparation for the ful- 
 28 
 
326 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 fillment of those still more wonderful prophecies which 
 now stand like the bow of promise overarching the 
 future. According to that expression of the prophet, 
 so wonderfully accurate, they have been sifted among 
 all nations ; yet have they, of all ancient people simi- 
 larly situated, alone preserved their identity, and now 
 seem to be preparing for that restoration which shall not 
 only be to them the fulfillment of the prophecies, but 
 shall be as life from the dead to the Gentile nations. 
 
 Summary. — Thus, whether we look at the proph- 
 ecies that related to events before the time of Christ, 
 or to those relating to him, or to those which he uttered, 
 or to the present state of the Jews, and indeed of the 
 world, as indicating a complete fulfillment of the 
 prophecies, we shall see the fullest reason to believe 
 that ” the prophecy came not in old time by the will of 
 man, but that holy men of God spake as they were 
 moved by the Holy Ghost.” 
 
 Prophecy and Christianity as counterparts. — I wfill 
 only add, as a beautiful instance of the consistency 
 of all Scripture, that the magnificent pictures of the 
 prophets, respecting a state of future blessedness on 
 earth, are just such as w’^ould be realized by the entire 
 prevalence of Christianity, and by nothing else. These 
 pictures are not drawn at random, or in general terms. 
 They are precise and definite. They represent a state 
 of peace, and purity, and love — of high social enjoy- 
 ment, and of universal prosperity. And it is only by 
 the prevalence of Christianity that such a state of things 
 can be realized. Let this become universally preva- 
 lent, not in its form only, but in its spirit, and then 
 nation would no more lift up sword against nation, 
 neither would they learn war any more ; then the wolf 
 also would dwell with the lamb, and the leopard lie 
 down with the kid ; then would the wilderness and sol- 
 
CONSUMMATION OF PROPHECY. 
 
 327 
 
 itary place be glad for them, and the desert ‘rejoiee ; 
 then, instead of the thorn would come up the fir-tree, 
 and instead of the brier would come up the myrtle-tree ; 
 then would the inhabitants of the rock sing, and shout 
 from the top of the mountains ; the people would be all 
 righteous, and inherit the land forever. 
 
LECTURE XII. 
 
 OBJECTIONS. — ARGUMENT FOURTEENTH : THE PROPAGATION OP 
 CHRISTIANITY. — ARGUMENT FIFTEENTH : ITS EFFECTS AND 
 TENDENCIES. — SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION. 
 
 Ohjections. — It has been my wish to present, in this 
 course of lectures, as I was able, the positive argument 
 for Christianity. I commenced the course with an 
 invitation to you to go with me round about our Zion, 
 and tell the towers thereof. Those towers are not yet 
 all told. To some of the most common and effective 
 topics of •argument I have yet scarcely referred, and I 
 ought, in logical order, to proceed at once to the con- 
 sideration of them. This I have thought of doing, and 
 of omitting to say any thing upon the objections against 
 Christianity. To the consideration of these I should be 
 pleased to devote at least a lecture ; for, while there are 
 objections which are unworthy of an answer, — while 
 there are persons, who maj^e theni, who would be no 
 nearer becoming Christians if their objections were all 
 removed, — there are objections, the force of which I 
 think may be removed, that weigh heavily upon some 
 who are sincerely inquiring for the truth. To every 
 such individual I would give my hand. I would make 
 any effort to relieve him. I know what it is to wade in 
 the deep waters of doubt, and the blessedness of finding 
 what seems to me to be the rock. For the sake of such 
 I would gladly dwell upon this point at length ; but as 
 
 ( 328 ) 
 
WAITING. 
 
 329 
 
 that is now out of the question, I will make a few 
 observations on the subject of objections generally, and 
 then go on with the argument. 
 
 Willingness to wait . — And here, if I may be per- 
 mitted to drop a word in a more familiar way in the ear 
 of the candid and practical inquirer, referring to my 
 own experience, I would say, that I have found great 
 benefit in being willing — a lesson which we are all slow 
 to learn — to wait. It has not unfrequently occurred 
 that I have stood in such an attitude (perhaps for 
 months or years together) to a certain objection as to 
 see no way of evading it, till, at length, light would 
 break in, and I could see with perfect distinctness that 
 there was nothing in it. Are there not many here 
 who have unexpectedly met with something which has 
 removed, in a moment, objections which have lain with 
 weight upon their minds for years ? I well remember 
 when it seemed to me that there was a direct contradic- 
 tion between Paul and James, on the subject of faith 
 and works. It seemed so to Luther, and, because he 
 could not reconcile them, and was unwilling to wait, he 
 rejected the Epistle of James, calling it a strawy Epis- 
 tle. I can now see that Paul and James, not only do 
 not contradict each other, but harmonize perfectly. I 
 have sometimes compared the path of a sincere in- 
 quirer to a road that winds among the hills. Who has 
 not seen the hills, perhaps the high mountains, closing 
 down upon such a road so as to render it apparently 
 impossible he should proceed ; and who has not been 
 surprised, when he reached the proper point to see it, 
 to find the road taking an unexpected turn, and holding 
 on its own level way. And to such a point I think 
 every sincere inquirer will come, who is wilHng to fol- 
 low the right path so far as he can find it, and to wait, 
 putting up the petition, and adopting the resolution, of 
 Elihu, '' That which I see not, teach thou me ; if I 
 28 * 
 
330 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITr. 
 
 have done iniquity, I will do no more.” I have the 
 fullest conviction, not only of the truth, but of the 
 philosophical profoundness, of that saying of our Sa- 
 viour, ”If any man will do his will, he shall know of 
 the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak 
 of myself.” 
 
 iVb objection that objections can be made. — But, leav- 
 ing this, I observe, in the first place, that we are not to 
 have our confidence in the Christian religion shaken, 
 from the mere fact that objections can be made against 
 it. There are those who seem to think that, if an ob- 
 jection can be made, some degree of uncertainty is 
 introduced at once, and that there comes to be a balance 
 of probabilities. But this is not so. When once a 
 thing is fairly proved, all objections must go for noth- 
 ing. Very plausible objections may be made to many 
 things which we yet know to be true. Thus objections 
 have been made to the existence of matter, and to the 
 truth of the evidence of the senses, which a plain man 
 would find it difficult to answer, and which yet would 
 have no weight with him whatever. We all believe 
 there is such a thing as motion, and yet there may be 
 some here who would find it difficult to answer the 
 common logical objection against it. Let me put that 
 objection. You will, I suppose, all agree that, if any 
 thing moves, it must move either where it is, or where 
 it is not. But certainly nothing can move where it is, 
 for that would not be moving at all ; and it would seem 
 quite as certain that nothing could move where it is 
 not ; and hence there is no such thing as motion. 
 ” There are objections,” says Dr. Johnson, "to a vac- 
 uu7n, and there are objections to but one of 
 
 these must be true.” But to any one who has been 
 turned aside, and is eddying round among these shoals 
 of doubt, I would recommend that masterly pamphlet, 
 by Whately, the " Historic Doubts respecting the Exist- 
 
WOELD m A STEANGE STATE. 
 
 331 
 
 ence and Acts of Napoleon Bonaparte.” I tliink it would 
 lead him to see that there may be plausible objections 
 against that concerning which there can not be the least 
 doubt. 
 
 General objections not valid. — I observe, secondly, 
 that, if we would consider the objections against Chris- 
 tianity fairly, we must distinguish those which lie against 
 Christianity, as such, from those which may be made 
 equally against any religion or scheme of belief whatever. 
 This world is in a strange state. There is a condition of 
 things very different from what we should suppose, 
 beforehand, there would be, under the government of 
 a God of infinite power, and wisdom, and goodness ; 
 and it is not uncommon for men to burden Christianity 
 with all the difiiculties that are connected with the origin 
 of evil, or the doctrine of the foreknowledge of God as 
 connected with human freedom. But these are ques- 
 tions that belong to the race, and have equally exercised 
 the mind of the Grecian philosopher, of the Persian 
 sage, and of the Christian divine. You, as a man, may 
 be as properly called on to solve any difficulties arising 
 out of such questions, as I can as a teacher of Chris- 
 tianity. Christianity had nothing to do with the origin 
 of evil. It takes for granted, what we must all admit, 
 that it exists ; it does not attempt to account for its 
 origin, but it proposes a remedy. If, then, men object 
 to Christianity, let them object to it as what it clairfi^ 
 to be. Let them show that, wh‘en fairly received and 
 fully practiced by all men, it would not be the remedy 
 which it claims to be, and their objections will be valid. 
 It is of no avail for infidels and deists to shoot arrows 
 against Christianity which may be picked up and shot 
 back with equal force against their own systems ; and 
 yet a much larger portion of the objections against 
 Christianity than is commonly supposed is of this 
 character. 
 
332 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 Distinction of Butler , — I observe, thirdly, that we 
 are to keep in mind the distinction of Butler, already 
 referred to, between objections against Christianity and 
 objections against its evidence. Of 'the evidence for 
 Christianity we are capable of judging. I insist upon it 
 that there are laws of evidence, which any man of good 
 sense can understand, according to which we judge and 
 act in other cases ; and I only ask that these same laws 
 may be applied to Christianity, as a matter of fact and 
 a ground of action, just as they would be to any thing 
 else. But of Christianity itself, as a part of an infinite 
 scheme of moral government, having relation to the 
 eternity that is past and to that which is to come, and 
 perhaps to other worlds and to other orders of being, 
 we ought as much to expect that we should find in it 
 things beyond our reach, and which would seem to us 
 strange and objectionable, as that there would be such 
 things in nature. And if, as Butler has most fully 
 shown, the objections which are made against Chris- 
 tianity are of the same kind with those which may be 
 made against nature, then those very objections are 
 turned into arguments in its favor, as they show the 
 probability that Christianity and nature came from the 
 same hand. Here is one principal source of the power 
 of Butler’s great work. It shows that all the chief 
 objections which are urged against Christianity may be 
 urged equally against the constitution and course of 
 nature, and would equally show that that was not from 
 God. If Christianity itself can be shown to be either 
 immoral or absurd, we will reject it ; but, with these 
 exceptions, objections to Christianity on the part of 
 such a being as man, as distinguished from objections 
 against its evidence, are, in the language of Butler, 
 ” frivolous.” Nor, in saying this, do we undervalue 
 reason, or refuse to give it its true place. To quote 
 Butler again ; " Let reason be kept to ; and if any part 
 
MOTIVES FOR OBJECTIONS TO CIIRISTEiNITY. 333 
 
 of the Scripture account of the redemption of the 
 world by Christ can be shown to be really contrary 
 to it, let the Scripture, in the name of God, be given 
 up ; but let not such poor creatures as we go on object- 
 ing, against an infinite scheme, that we do not see the 
 necessity and usefulness of all its parts, and call this 
 reasoning.” 
 
 Objections to every scheme. — Character of infidelity. 
 — But, fourthly, we are to observe that Christianity is 
 not the only scheme against which objections can be 
 made. From its position, its success, its uncompromis- 
 ing claims, Christianity has been met from the first by 
 every objection that ingenuity, quickened by a love of 
 pleasure and hatred of restraint, could invent; and, 
 from the constancy with which these have been plied, 
 it has been felt by many that Christianity was especially 
 liable to objections. It has hence been the habit of 
 many Christians to stand on the defensive, and infidels 
 have felt that it was their place to attack. In propor- 
 tion as any scheme has about it more that is positive, it 
 of course presents a larger surface for objections ; but 
 as far as other schemes have any thing positive about 
 them, they are equally liable to objections with Chris- 
 tianity, and have none of its evidence. And the only 
 reason that these schemes have not been as much ob- 
 jected against is, that men do not care enough about 
 
 them. If an infidel has nothing positive in his belief, 
 
 then, of course, nothing can be objected to it. But if 
 it were possible, as it is not, for any man to take such 
 a position, we should object to that. We say that it is 
 a state of mind from which no good can possibly come, 
 either to the individual or the community. It is a poor, 
 cold, heartless state, furnishing no ground for hope, no 
 elevation to character, no motive to eftbrt, that has no 
 adaptation to the wants of man even in prosperity, and 
 that must utterly fail him in those trying hours when he 
 
334 EVIDENCES OF CHPwISTIANITV. 
 
 needs such supports as religion only can give. It can 
 be made to appear, from the very laws of mind, that 
 great achievements, powerful exertions, self-denying 
 labors and sacrifices, must spring from a vigorous faith ; 
 and that, in proportion as a belief, or a religion, be- 
 comes one of negations, it must lower the pulse of 
 intellectual, and especially of moral life. Let a man, 
 however, have any thing positive in his belief, — let him 
 bring forward his own solution of the great problems 
 which must be connected in the mind of every thinking 
 man with human life and destiny, — and it would be no 
 difficult matter — a very child could do it — to start ob- 
 jections against that solution, whatever it might be, 
 which it would trouble the wisest infidel to meet. Hence 
 I have sometimes been amused at the effect, upon a noisy 
 and boastful objector, of a quiet question or two in regard 
 to his own belief. I have seen those to whom it never 
 seemed to have occurred that we were thrown into this 
 world together with certain great common difficulties, 
 and that other people could ask questions as well as 
 they. Whenever, indeed, infidelity has thus assumed 
 a positive form, it has been met and fairly driven from 
 the field ; and now, it is difficult to say what the preva- 
 lent form of it is. It has always been Ishmaelitish in 
 its habits, pitching its tent now here and now there, 
 and constantly varying its mode of attack. The infi- 
 delity of one age is not that of another, while Chris- 
 tianity remains ever the same. And so we are to 
 expect it will be while the human heart remains what it 
 is. Infidelity will exist. There is at present more of 
 it than appears. Not being reputable in its own form, 
 it conceals itself under various disguises. But the 
 infidelity that springs from the heart is not to be 
 reached by a course of lectures on the evidences of 
 Christianity. As I have already said, argument did 
 
PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY. 335 
 
 not cause, and argument will not remove it. For that, 
 we look to a higher power. 
 
 ARGUMENT XIV. 
 
 THE PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 I now proceed with the evidence. As yet I have 
 said nothing of the argument to be derived from the 
 mode and circumstances of the propagation of Chris- 
 tianity, and have only incidentally alluded to its effects 
 and tendencies. Each of these is a standing topic of 
 argument on .this subject, and, when properly presented, 
 sufficient of itself to prove the truth of the Christian 
 religion. But I shall now be able to do little more than 
 to indicate the place which these arguments hold, with- 
 out giving them their proper expansion and force. 
 These topics of argument are entirely distinct in their 
 nature, but are so connected at certain points that it is 
 difficult to treat of one, without involving considerations 
 which belong also to the other. 
 
 Propagation. — First, then, of the propagation of 
 Christianity : And in speaking of this subject, I will 
 notice, 1, the fficts; 2, the difficulties; and, 3, the 
 instrumentality. This subject has been ably treated by 
 Bishop MTlvaine, in his excellent lectures on the evi- 
 dences, and I shall avail myself of his labors in pre- 
 senting it.* 
 
 It would appear, then, that on the fiftieth day after 
 the death of Christ the apostles commenced their labors. 
 
 Beginning in Jerusalem, the very furnace of persecu- 
 tion, they first set up their banner in the midst of those 
 who had been first in the crucifixion of Jesus, and were 
 all elate with the triumph of that tragedy. No assem- 
 blage could have been more possessed of dispositions 
 perfectly at war with their message than that to which 
 they made their first address.” And what was the tenor 
 
 * Lecture IX. 
 
336 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 of the address? "Jesus of Nazareth,” said Peter, 
 " being delivered by the determinate counsel and fore- 
 knowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands 
 have crucified and slain ; whom God hath raised up. — 
 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, 
 that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have 
 crucified, both Lord and Christ.” One would have 
 supposed that the same hands that had rioted in the 
 blood of his Master would now have wreaked their 
 enmity in that of this daring, and, to all human view, 
 most impolitic apostle. But what ensued? Three 
 thousand souls were that day added to the infant 
 church. In a few days, the number was increased to 
 five thousand; and in the space of about a year and a 
 half, though the gospel was preached only in Jerusalem 
 and its vicinity, multitudes, both of men and women, 
 and a great company of the priests, were obedient to 
 the faith. Now, the converts, being driven by a fierce 
 persecution from Jerusalem, went every where preach- 
 ing the word, and in less than three years churches were 
 gathered throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, 
 and were multiplied. 
 
 About two years after this, or seven from the begin- 
 ning of the work, the gospel waS first preached to the 
 Gentiles ; and such was the success, that, before thirty 
 years had elapsed from the death of Christ, his church 
 had spread from Palestine throughout Syria; through 
 almost all the numerous districts of Lesser Asia; 
 through Greece, and the islands^ of the ^gean Sea, 
 the sea-coast of Africa, and even into Italy and Kome. 
 The number of converts in the several cities respec- 
 tively is described by the expressions, " a gveat num- 
 ber,” "great multitudes,” "much people.” What an 
 extensive impression had been made is obvious from 
 the outcry of the opposers at Thessalonica. "These 
 that have turned the world upside-down are come 
 
IsTOIBER OF CIIRISTIAXS. 
 
 337 
 
 hither also.” Demetrius, an enemy, complained of 
 Paul, ”that not alone at Ephesus, hut almost through- 
 out all Asia,” he had persuaded and turned away much 
 people. In the mean while, Jerusalem, the chief seat 
 of Jewish rancor, continued the metropolis of the gos- 
 pel, having in it many tens of thousands of believers. 
 These accounts are taken from the book of the Acts 
 of the Apostles ; but as this book is almost confined 
 to the labors of Paul and his immediate companions, 
 saying very little of the other apostles, it is very certain 
 that the view we have given of the propagation of the 
 gospel during the first thirty years is very incomplete. 
 
 In the thirtieth year after the beginning of the work, 
 the terrible persecution under Nero kindled its fires ; 
 then Christians had become so numerous at Koine, that, 
 by the testimony of Tacitus, a ” great multitude ” were 
 seized. In forty years more, we are told, in a cele- 
 brated letter from Pliny, the Koman governor of Pont us 
 and Bythinia, Christianity had long subsisted in these 
 provinces, though so remote from Judea. Many of all 
 ages and of every rank, of both sexes likewise, were 
 accused to Pliny of being Christians. What he calls 
 the contagion of this superstition (thus forcibly de- 
 scribing the irresistible and rapid progress of Christian- 
 ity) had seized not cities only, but the less towns also, 
 and the open country, so that the heathen temples 
 were almost forsaken ; ” few victims were purchased 
 for sacrifice, and a long intermission of the sacred 
 solemnities had taken place. 
 
 Justin Martyr, who wrote about thirty years after 
 Pliny, and one hundred after the gospel was first 
 preached to the Gentiles, thus describes the extent 
 of Christianity in his time : ” There is not a nation, 
 
 either Greek or barbarian, or of any other name, even 
 those who wander in tribes and live in tents, among 
 whom prayers and thanksgivings are not offered to the 
 
338 
 
 E\TDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Father and Creator of the universe by the name of the 
 ^ crucified Jesus.” 
 
 Clemens Alexandrinus, a few years after, thus writes : 
 ”The philosophers were confined to Greece, and to 
 their particular retainers ; but the doctrine of the Mas- 
 ter of Christianity did not remain in Judea, but is 
 spread throughout the whole w^orld, in every nation, 
 and village, and city, converting both whole houses and 
 separate individuals, having already brought over to the 
 truth not a few of the philosophers themselves. If the 
 Greek philosophy be prohibited, it immediately van- 
 ishes ; whereas, from the first preaching of our doc- 
 trine, kings and tyrants, governors and presidents, with 
 their whole train, and with the populace on their side, 
 have endeavored with their whole might to exterminate 
 it, yet doth it flourish more and more.” 
 
 Nothing can so well represent the mode in which this 
 extension took place as the comparison, by our Saviour, 
 of Christianity to leaven. It had an affinity for the 
 human mind, by which it passed from individual to 
 individual, as the leavening process passes from parti- 
 cle to particle , and no human power could arrest its 
 progress. Since the world stood, no change like it has 
 taken place, nor has any power existed that could have 
 produced such a change. 
 
 The difficulties. — 2. In estimating the obstacles to 
 this progress, we are to observe that the enterprise 
 of propagating a religion, as such, and especially an 
 exclusive religion-, was then entirely new. The Jewish 
 system was not adapted to universal diffusion, and the 
 zeal of the Jews was directed rather to keep other 
 nations at a distance than to bring them to an equal 
 participation of their privileges. The Gentiles knew 
 nothing of an exclusive religion, nor of a benevolent 
 religion — exclusive because it was benevolent. Hea- 
 thenism, being without a creed and without principle, 
 
CHRISTIANITY EXCLUSIVE. 
 
 339 
 
 had nothing to contend for hut the privilege of assum- 
 ing any form, worshiping any idol, practicing any 
 ritual, and pursuing any absurdity, which the craft of 
 the priesthood, or the superstitions and vices of the 
 people, might select. It never was imagined, by any 
 description of pagans, that all other forms of religion 
 were not as good for the people observing them, as 
 theirs was for them ; or that any dictate of kindness, 
 or common sense, should lead them to attempt the sub- 
 version of the gods of their neighbors, for the sake of 
 establishing their own in their stead.” This is the 
 species of charity and the ground of harmony — arising 
 from a want of the knowledge of the true religion, and 
 of its unspeakable value — which is so highly praised 
 by Gibbon and Voltaire. 
 
 But, in such a state of things, nothing could have 
 been more perfectly, new, surprising, or offensive to the 
 whole Gentile world, than the duty laid upon' the first 
 advocates of Christianity to go into all nations assert- 
 ing the exclusive claims of the gospel, denouncing the 
 validity of all other religions, and laboring to bring 
 every creature to the single faith of Christ.” And then, 
 how different the religion of the gospel, not only in its 
 relation to other religions, but in itself, from any of 
 which they had any conception! "Keligion, among 
 the Gentiles, was a creature of the state. It consisted 
 exclusively in the outward circumstances of temples, 
 and altars, and images, and priests, and sacrifices, and 
 festivals, and lustrations. It multiplied its objects of 
 worship at the pleasure of the. civil authorities; taught 
 no system of doctrine ; recognized no system of moral- 
 ity ; required nothing of the heart ; committed the life 
 of man to unlimited discretion ; and allowed any one 
 to stand perfectly well with the gods, (on the trifling 
 condition of a little show of respect for their worship,) 
 to whatever extent he indulged in the worst passions 
 
310 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 .and lowest j^Topensitics of his nature. Nothing could 
 have been more foreign to every habit of thought, in 
 the mind of a native of Greece or Rome, than the 
 Scripture doctrines of the nature and guilt of sin, of 
 repentance, conversion, faith, love, meekness, and pu- 
 rity of heart.” 
 
 Both JeiDs and heathen opposed. — The priests. — 
 In the nature of the case, such a religion "must have 
 arrayed against it all the influence of every priesthood 
 both among Jews and heathens.” With the power of 
 the priests among the Jews, and their bitterness against 
 Christianity, we are sufficiently acquainted, but are less 
 familiar with the superstitious dread in which they were 
 held, and with their power among other nations. "The 
 religion of the nations,” says Gibbon, "was not merely 
 a speculative doctrine professed in the schools or taught 
 in the temples. The innumerable duties and rites of 
 polytheism were closely interwoven with every cir- 
 cumstance of business or of pleasure, of public or of 
 private life 5 and it seemed impossible to escape the 
 observance of them without at the same time renoun- 
 cing the commerce of mankind. The important transac- 
 tions of peace and war were prepared and concluded by 
 solemn sacrifices, in which the magistrate, the senator, 
 and the soldier, were obliged to participate.” 
 
 Speaking of the priests, the same author says, " Their 
 robes of purple, chariots of state, and sumptuous enter- 
 tainments, attracted the admiration of the people; and 
 they received from the consecrated lands and public 
 revenue an ample stipend, which liberally supported the 
 splendor of the priesthood, and all the expenses of the 
 religion of the state.” It is stated, as an evidence of 
 the extent and power of the organizations with which 
 this priesthood was connected, that, sixty years after 
 Christianity had been the established religion of the 
 Roman empire, there were four hundred and twenty-four 
 
CLASSES OPPOSED TO CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 341 
 
 temples and chapels, at Kome, in which their worship 
 was celebrated. ” In connection with all this organiza- 
 tion and deep-rooted power of heathenism, consider its 
 various tribes of subordinate agents and interested allies, 
 — the diviners, augurs, and managers of oracles, with 
 all the attendants and assistants belonging to the tem- 
 ples of a countless variety of idols ; the trades whose 
 craft was sustained b}^ the patronage of image-worship, 
 such as statuary, shrine-mongers, sacrifice-sellers, in- 
 cense-merchants ; consider the great festivals and games 
 by which heathenism flattered the dispositions of the 
 people, and enlisted all classes and all countries in its 
 support, — and say, what must have been the immense 
 force in which the several priesthoods of all heathen 
 nations w^ere capable of uniting among themselves, and 
 with the priests of the Jews, in the common cause of 
 crushing a religion by whose doctrines none of them 
 could be tolerated. That with all their various contin- 
 gents they did unite, consenting in this one object, if 
 in little else, of smothering Christianity in her cradle, 
 or of drowning her in the blood of her disciples, all 
 history assures us.” 
 
 The magistrates . — And with the influence of the 
 priests was associated the power of the magistrate. 
 The true principle of toleration was entirely unknown 
 among heathen nations, and is to this day. Toler- 
 ation, in its true sense, — as distinguished from indif- 
 ference on the one hand, and from zeal, manifesting 
 itself through a wrong spirit and in a wrong direction, 
 on the other, — is not natural to man. It is a Christian 
 virtue. The heathen were ready to tolerate any thing 
 which did not interfere with the established worship of 
 the state ; but the moiiaent a religion arose which for- 
 bade its followers to unite in that, the fires of a relent- 
 less persecution were every where kindled, and the whole 
 force of the civil arm was brought to bear upon it. 
 
 29 * 
 
342 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTL4NITY. 
 
 The populace. — With this position of the priesthood 
 and of the magistracy toward Christianity, wx should 
 naturally expect the tumults and outbreaks of popular 
 passion which we find were generally excited when it 
 was first preached. Vicious, unprincipled, accustomed, 
 in many instances, to gladiatorial shows and sights of 
 blood, — it was from the populace that the more im- 
 mediate danger to the preachers of Christianity often 
 arose. 
 
 The philosophers . — Nor was Christianity less op- 
 posed to the philosophers, or less opposed by them, 
 than by other classes of the community. ” Their sects, 
 though numerous, and exceedingly various, were all 
 agreed in proudly trusting in themselves that they were 
 wise, and despising others. Their published opinions, 
 their private speculations, their personal immorality, 
 made them irreconcilable adversaries of Christianity. 
 It went up into their schools, and called their wisdom 
 foolishness, and rebuked their self-conceit. 'What Avill 
 this babbler say? He seemeth to be a setter forth of 
 stransre irods/ were the taunting words of certain of 
 the Epicureans and Stoics when they encountered St. 
 Paul. Mockery w^as the natural expression of their 
 minds when they heard of the resurrection of the dead. 
 The apostles, therefore, in attempting to propagate the 
 gospel among the Gentiles, were opposed by all the wit, 
 and learning, and sophistry, — all the pride, and jeal- 
 ousy, and malice, — of every sect of philosophers.” 
 
 General state of the ivorld. — These remarks will 
 enable us to judge whether the state of the Avorld was 
 at that time favorable to the propagation of Christian- 
 ity ; for on this point very different views seem to be 
 entertained by different persons. Of those who think 
 the state of the world was thus favorable, there are two 
 classes. Some have thought they could see the hand of 
 Hivine Providence in the arrangements and preparations 
 
STATE OF THE WOELD. 
 
 343 
 
 which they think were made for its introduction ; wdiile 
 others evidently speak of it in this way for the puipose 
 of diminishing the force of the argument usually drawn 
 from .the propagation of Christianity. To the most, 
 how^ever, it has seemed that the state of the w^orld 
 never opposed greater obstacles to the propagation of 
 such a religion. On the one hand, it is said that the 
 world was at peace, and was united under one govern- 
 ment, and that it was easy to pass from place to place, 
 and to affect a large mass, and that the force of the old 
 superstitions was expended, and that the minds of the 
 people were prepared for a new religion. On the other 
 hand, it is said that if it was an age of peace, that only 
 gave opportunity to examine the claims of the new 
 religion with the more care ; that it was an enlightened 
 age, an age of literature and refinement, of vice, of a 
 general prevalence of the Epicurean philosophy, and of 
 skepticism ; and that it was the very last period in the 
 history of the world in w^hich any thing false or feeble 
 would have been likely to succeed. This is my im- 
 pression. 
 
 For the extension of such a religion as Christianity, 
 with its indubitable evidence and mighty motives, there 
 were certainly many things most favorable ; .but if 
 Christianity had not been what it claimed to be, cer- 
 tainly the most enlightened, and civilized, and skeptical 
 age which the world had ever seen would have been the 
 most unfavorable period for its propagation. What 
 woidd the infidel have said, if, instead of springing up 
 in this age of light and refinement, Christianity had 
 first been spread among an ignorant and barbarous 
 people? But, however this point may be decided, if 
 any man thinks it could be an easy thing, under any 
 circumstances, to cause such a religion as Christianity 
 to take the place of any thing, or of nothing, in the 
 mind of any human being, so that that person, too, 
 
344 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 should become a centre of influence to extend the reli- 
 gion to others, he has only to try the experiment any 
 'where, and under the most favorable circumstances. 
 Let him take the first unconverted man he meets in the 
 streets, and try to make him an active Christian, — such 
 as tens of thousands and millions must have become on 
 the first preaching of Christianity, — and he will have 
 some conception of the difficulty of working a change 
 in the wills, and habits of thought, and object of pur- 
 suit, and whole mode of life, of people of different 
 nations, of the most various belief, of every age and 
 condition. But this did the apostles. 
 
 The instrumentality . — 3. And now, by what instru- 
 mentality did they accomplish this? On this I need 
 not dwell. Eleven men, — for it was not till after the 
 death of Christ that the great enterprise of converting 
 the world was commenced, — eleven men, without 
 learning, or wealth, or rank, or power, from the humble 
 walks of life, among a despised people, never resorting 
 to force, and having no connection with politics, by a 
 simple statement of facts, by preaching Christ and him 
 crucified, subverted the divinely-appointed institutions 
 of Judaism, and overturned the superstitions of ages 
 throughout the known world. The history of the race 
 has nothing to show that can for a moment compare 
 with this. If Mohammedanism may be compared with 
 Christianity in respect to the rapidity of its extension, 
 it is yet in entire contrast with it in all the circum- 
 stances in which it arose, and in all the means adopted 
 for its diffusion. While it confined itself to persuasion, 
 it accomplished nothing worthy of notice ; and it never 
 has been extended at all in the only method by which 
 it can be clearly shown that a true religion must be 
 extended. Its sway is perpetuated only as it holds its 
 sabre over the neck of its followers, and threatens them 
 with instant death if they turn to any other religion. 
 
AEGmiENT CONCLUDED. 
 
 345 
 
 Whether, then, we examine the nature of the case, or 
 look at it in the light of history, we must feel that the 
 propagation of such a religion, in opposition to such 
 obstacles, with such rapidity, and by such means, is a 
 moral miracle, and can be reasonably imputed only to 
 the power of truth and of God. How will the infidel 
 account for it ? Does he believe that these men were 
 weak and deluded ? Then he believes that weak and 
 deluded menyould accomplish a work requiring greater 
 moral power than any other. Does he believe they 
 were deceivers? Then he believes that these men 
 labored, and suffered, and died, to cause others to 
 believe that which they did not believe themselves 
 
 AKGUMENT XV. 
 
 EFFECTS AND TENDENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 We now proceed to the effects and tendencies of 
 Christianity. If it can be shown that this religion, 
 and this alone, has been the cause of the greatest 
 blessings that mankind have enjoyed, and that, if fully 
 received, it would carry the individual and society to 
 the highest possible state of perfection in this life, and 
 fit man for the highest conceivable state of happiness 
 hereafter, — it must be from God. And this can be 
 shown. Nor, in speaking of this subject, would I con- 
 ceal any evil that has taken place in connection with the 
 introduction of Christianity, or any iniquity that has 
 been perpetrated by those who have borne its name. 
 I only ask that men will distinguish, as every candid 
 man must, between tendencies and actual results when 
 those tendencies are perversely and wickedly thwarted ; 
 and also between names and things. v 
 
 First distinction , — The persecution by Nero — to 
 illustrate the first distinction — was an evil, and with- 
 out Christianity it would not have existed. But who 
 or what was the cause of it? Was it the inoffensive 
 
346 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Christians, simply asserting their own inherent right to 
 love the Saviour, and to worship God according to the 
 dictates of their own conscience ? or was it the wicked- 
 ness of Nero and of his creatures? When, at the 
 command of Christ, the devil went out of one who had 
 been possessed, and tore him, and left him as dead, was 
 it Christ who was the cause of this suffering? And 
 thus has it always been with Christianity, whether its 
 object has been to enjoy its own rights ^or to benefit 
 others. If evil has arisen, it has been because men 
 have persecuted Christians, and have sought to take from 
 . them the inalienable rights which God has given; or 
 because, when Christianity has attacked great and 
 deeply-seated evils, as idolatry and slavery, men have 
 clung to these with a wicked pertinacity, and the devil 
 has not been cast out of society without rending it. 
 
 Second distinction, — In regard to the second dis- 
 tinction, that between names and things, there is a very 
 general delusion which steals insensibly over the mind 
 from the application of the term ' Christian ’ to those 
 •who are in no sense governed by Christian principle. 
 If men would test the effect of a medicine, they must 
 take that, and not something else which they may choose 
 to call by that name. If they take arsenic, and call it 
 flour, the mere fact that they call it by a wrong name 
 will not prevent its poisonous effects. And so am- 
 bition, and pride, and vanity, and malice, and deceit, 
 will produce their own appropriate eflfects, in what- 
 ever form of society they may exist, and by whatever 
 name they may be called. Keeping these two dis- 
 tinctions in view, it may easily be shown that Chris- 
 tianity has really been the cause of no evil, while it has 
 conferred infinite blessings upon mankind, and only 
 waits to be fully reeeived, to introduce a state as per- 
 fect as can l)e conceived of* in connection vdth the 
 present physical constitution of things. 
 
EFFECTS OF CHRISTEVNITT. 
 
 347 
 
 Effects. — Certainly, no revolution that has ever taken 
 place in society can he compared to that which has been 
 produced by the words of Jesus Christ. Those words 
 met a want, a deep want, in the spirit of man. They 
 placed in the clear sunlight of truth a solution of those 
 profound problems and enigmas, in relation to man and 
 his destiny, about which the philosophers only disputed. 
 They more than confirmed every timid hope which the 
 wisest and best of men had cherished. 
 
 He pointed men to a Father in heaven, to the man- 
 sions of rest which he would prepare. He ” brought 
 life and immortality to light.” 
 
 He erected a perfect standard of morals, and insisted 
 upon love to God and love to man, and he stood before 
 men in the glorious light of his own perfect example. 
 
 He spoke, and that spiritual slumber of the race which 
 seemed the image of death was broken up, and a move- 
 ment commenced in the moral elements that has not 
 ceased from that day to this, and never will cease. 
 
 Those who were mourning heard his voice, and were 
 comforted ; those who were weary and heavy-laden 
 heard it, and found rest unto their souls. 
 
 It stirred up feelings, both of opposition and of love, 
 deeper than those of natural affection. It therefore set 
 the son against the father, and the father against the 
 son, and caused a man’s foes to be they of his own 
 household. 
 
 Having no affinity with any of the prevalent forms 
 of idolatry and corruption, and making no compromise 
 with them, it turned the world upside down wherever 
 it came. Before it, the heathen oracles were dumb, 
 and the fires upon their altars went out. 
 
 It acted as an invisible and secret force on society, 
 communing with men upon their beds by night, dis- 
 suading them from wickedness, seconding the voice of 
 conscience, giving both distinctness and energy to its 
 
348 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 tones, now whispering, and now speaking with a voice 
 that made the stoutest tremble, of righteousness, tem- 
 perance, and of a judgment to come. 
 
 It opened heaven, and spoke to the ear of hope. 
 
 It uncovered that world, ” where their worm dieth 
 not, and the fire is not quenched.” 
 
 It was stern in its rebukes of every sin, and encour- 
 aged every thing that was "pure, and lovely, and of 
 good report.” 
 
 Being addressed to man universally, without regard 
 to his condition or his nation, it paid little regard to 
 difierences of language, or habits, or the boundaries of 
 states. 
 
 Persecution was aroused; it kindled its fires, it 
 brought forth its wild beasts. Blood flowed like water, 
 but the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church. 
 No external force could avail against a power like this. 
 The word was spoken, and it could not be recalled. 
 The hand of God had made a new adjustment in the 
 movement of the moral world, and the hand of man 
 could not put it back. No other revolution has ever 
 been so extensive or so radical. 
 
 INIoving on directly to the accomplishment of its own 
 more immediate and higher objects, the voice of Christ 
 has incidentally caused, not only moral, but social and 
 civil revolutions. 
 
 It has banished idolatry and polytheism, with their 
 inseparable degradations, and pollutions, and cruelty. 
 Iliiman sacrifices, offered by our own ancestors, by the 
 Greeks, and Romans, and Carthaginians, and the ancient 
 worshipers of Baal and Moloch, — oflered now in the 
 islands of the Pacific, and in India, and in Africa, — 
 cease at once where Christianity comes. It was before 
 its light had visited this continent, that seventy thou- 
 sand human beings were sacrificed at the consecration of 
 a single temple.* 
 
 * Prescott’s Mexico. 
 
EFFECTS OF CHEISTIANITT. 
 
 349 
 
 It has banished the ancient games, in which men slew 
 each other, and were exposed to the fury of wild beasts, 
 for the amusement of the people. 
 
 It has banished slavery, once so prevalent, from 
 Europe, and from a large portion of this continent. 
 
 To a great extent it has put an end to the exposure 
 of infants. 
 
 It has elevated woman, and given her the place in 
 society which God designed she should occupy. 
 
 By putting an end to polygamy, and to frequent 
 divorces, it has provided for the cultivation of the 
 domestic and natural affections, for the proper training 
 of children, and for all the unspeakable blessings con- 
 nected with the purity and peace, and mutual love and 
 confidence, of Christian families. 
 
 It has so elevated the general standard of morality, 
 that mmatural crimes, and the grosser forms of sensu- 
 ality, which once appeared openly, and were practiced 
 and defended by philosophers, now shrink away and 
 hide themselves in the darkness. 
 
 It has diminished the frequency of wars, and miti- 
 gated their horrors. 
 
 It has introduced the principle of general benevo- 
 lence, unknown before, and led men to be willing to 
 labor, and suffer, and give their property, for the good 
 of those whom they have never seen, and never expect 
 to see in this life. 
 
 It has led men to labor for the welfare of the soul, 
 and, in connection with such labors, to provide for the 
 sufferings and for the physical wants of the poor ; and 
 it is found that these two go hand in hand, and can not 
 be separated. 
 
 If there be here and there a mistaken zealot, or a 
 Pharisaical professor of Christianity, who would seem 
 to be zealous for the spiritual wants of men, and yet 
 would say to the hungry and the naked, Be ye clothed 
 30 
 
350 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CIirwISTIANITT. 
 
 and be ye fed, — at the same time giving them nothing 
 to supply their wants, — it is also found, not only that 
 the truest regard for the present well-being of man must 
 manifest itself through a regard for his spiritual wants, 
 but also that, when a regard to those wants ceases, the 
 lower charity which cares for the body will decay with 
 it. When the tree begins to die at the top, where the 
 juices are elaborated that nourish it, it will die down. 
 Christianity alone has built hospitals for the sick and 
 for the insane, and almshouses, and houses of refuge, 
 and provided for the instruction and reformation of those 
 confined as criminals. Was there ever any thing in a 
 heathen land like what is to be seen at South ‘Boston ? 
 What book is it that the blind are taught to read ? If 
 there had been no Bible, and no such estimate of the 
 worth of man as that contains, can any one believe that 
 the great work of printing for the blind would have 
 been performed? or that the deaf and dumb would have 
 been so provided for ? When I recently saw those blind 
 children so instructed, and heard them sing, — when I 
 saw thoughts and feelings chasing each other like light 
 and shade over the speaking countenance of Laura 
 Bridgman, deaf, and dumb, and blind, — I could not 
 but feel, though the ordinary fountains of knowledge 
 were still sealed up, yet that in a high sense it might 
 be said to them and to her, as Peter said to Eneas, 
 ” Jesus Christ maketh thee whole.” 
 
 . Present effects, — And what Christianity has hitherto 
 done, it is now doing. It is to some extent embodying 
 its force in missionary operations, and it has lost none 
 of its original power. Men are found ready to take 
 their lives in their hands, to forsake their country, and 
 friends, and children, and go among the heathen, for 
 the love of J esus ; and it is found that the same simple 
 preaching of the cross, that was mighty of old to the 
 puUing down of strongholds, is still accompanied with 
 
UNSEEN EFFECTS POWER INDICATED. 
 
 351 
 
 a divine power ; and nations of idolaters, savages, can- 
 nibals, infanticides, are seen coming up out of the night 
 of paganism, and taking their place among civilized, 
 and literary, and Christian nations. 
 
 But indications of something greater. — These, and 
 such as these, are the public, visible, and undeniable 
 effects of Christianity, uniformly produced in any com- 
 munity in proportion as a pure Christianity prevails. 
 To me, however, these are rather indications of a great 
 work, than the work itself. They are but as the coral 
 reef that appears above the surface, which is as nothing 
 to the deep and concealed labors of the little ocean 
 architect. Like that architect in the ocean, Christianity 
 begins at the bottom of society, and works up. It 
 never acts successfully upon the faculties of man as an 
 external force. It must act through these faculties, and 
 hence it can change public institutions and forms of 
 government, and produce those great public effects 
 which are noticed, only as it changes individuals. How 
 immense the work, how mighty the changes, which must 
 have been wrought in individuals, before these embodied 
 and public effects could appear ! Such institutions and 
 effects are the results of a life, a vitality, a power ; and 
 they stand as the indices and monuments of its action. 
 AVhen I see the earth covered with vegetation, — when 
 I see a vast forest standing and clothed with the green 
 robes of summer, — I know there must have been an 
 amazing amount of elemental action. I think how the 
 atmosphere, and the light, and the moisture, and the 
 earth must have conspired together, and how the priii'^ 
 ciple of vegetable life must have lifted up the mass, 
 particle by particle, till at length it had formed the 
 sturdy trunk, and set his ” coronal” of green leaves 
 upon the monarch of the forest. And so, when I see 
 these results, these institutions, standing in their fresh- 
 ness and greenness, — when I see the moral desert bud- 
 
) 
 
 352 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTLINITY. 
 
 ding and blossoming, — I know there must have been 
 the play of moral life, the clear shining of truth, the 
 movement of the Spirit of God, and the deep, though, 
 it may be, silent strugglings of the spirit of man. 
 Then I know that conscience must have been aroused, 
 and that there has been the anxious questioning, and 
 the earnest struggle, and that the tear of penitence has 
 flowed, and that the secret prayer has gone up, and that 
 songs of hope and salvation have taken the place of a 
 sense of guilt and of anxious fear. Then I know that 
 there have been holy lives and happy deaths. Such 
 changes in individuals, and such results, who that lives 
 in these days has not seen ? Such changes and results 
 it is the great object of Christianity to produce. When 
 it shall produce these changes fully upon all, fitting 
 them for heaven, then, and not till then, will its ten- 
 dencies be fully carried out. Then will every thing 
 wrong in the constitution and relations of society be 
 displaced, and without violence, as the organization of 
 the chrysalis is displaced by that of the bright and 
 winged being that is infolded within it, and society 
 shall come forth in its perfect state. Then shall the 
 will of God be done; and this earth, so long tempest- 
 tossed, like a clear and peaceful lake, shall reflect the 
 image of heaven. 
 
 Summary and conclusion. — Thus, as well as I was 
 able under the severe pressure of other duties, with a 
 sincere desire to promote the views of the munificent 
 founder of these courses of Lectures, and I trust with 
 some sense of my responsibility to God, have I pre- 
 sented, separately, such arguments as the time would 
 permit for the truth of Christianity ; but, if we would 
 see the proof in all its strength, we must look at these 
 arguments in their united force. We know that an 
 argument may be framed from separate circumstances. 
 
SUMMAKY. 
 
 353 
 
 each of which may have little weight, while the force 
 of the whole combined shall amount to a moral demon- 
 stration. It is in this way that some of the separate 
 arguments for Christianity are constructed ; but it is 
 not thus that we present these separate arguments as 
 conspiring together. W e claim that there are for Chris- 
 tianity many separate infallible proofs, each of which is 
 sulhdent of itself ; but still, the general impression 
 upon the mind may be increased when they are seen 
 together. We claim that the proofs for the religion of 
 Christ are like those for his resurrection given through 
 the different senses of the disciples. Some believed 
 when they merely saw him ; some believed when they 
 saw him and heard his voice. Each of these was a sep- 
 arate and adequate proof ; but Thomas thought it neces- 
 sary, not only that he should see and hear him, but that 
 he should put his finger into the prints of the nails, and 
 thrust his hand into his side. Christ did not ask his 
 disciples to believe without proof then ; he does not 
 now. He has provided that which must satisfy, if he 
 be only fair-minded, even an unbelieving Thomas ; and 
 this proof, as it comes in from very various and inde- 
 pendent sources, is adapted to every mind. 
 
 We have seen that there was nothing in the nature 
 of the evidence, or in any conflict of the evidence of 
 testimony and of experience, to prevent our attaining 
 certainty on this sul^ject. 
 
 AVe have seen that there was no previous improba- 
 bility that a Father should speak to his own child, 
 benighted and lost ; or that he should give him the 
 evidence of miracles that he did thus speak. 
 
 AVe have heard the voice of Nature recognizing, by 
 her analogies, the affinities of the Christian religion 
 with her mysterious and complex arrangements and 
 mighty movements. 
 
 W e have seen the perfect coincidence of the teachings 
 
 30 ^ 
 
354 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 of natural religion with those of Christianity ; and, when 
 Christianity has transcended the limits of natural reli- 
 gion, we have seen that its teachings were still in keep- 
 ing with hers, as the revelations of the telescope are 
 with those of the naked eye. 
 
 We have seen that this religion is adapted to the 
 conscience, as it meets all its wants as a perceiving 
 power, by establishing a perfect standard. 
 
 We have seen that, though morality was not the great 
 object of the gospel, yet that there must spring up, in 
 connection with a full reception of its doctrines, a mo- 
 rality that is perfect. 
 
 We have seen that it is adapted to the intellect, to 
 the affections, to the imagination, to the conscience as 
 quickening and improving it, and to the will. 
 
 That, as a restraining power, it places its checks pre- 
 cisely where it ought, and in the wisest way ; so that, 
 as a system of excitement, of guidance, and of restraint, 
 it is all that is needed to carry human nature to its 
 highest point of perfection. 
 
 We have seen that it gives to him who practices it a 
 witness within himself. 
 
 That it is fitted, and tends, to become universal. 
 
 That it may be traced back to the beginning of 
 time. 
 
 Such a religion as this, whether Tve consider its 
 scheme, or the circumstances of its origin, or its records 
 in their simplicity and harmony, we have seen could 
 no more have been originated by man than could the 
 ocean. 
 
 We have seen the lowly circumstances, the unprece- 
 dented claims, and the wonderful character, of our 
 Saviour. 
 
 Around this religion, thus substantiated, we have seen 
 every possible form of external evidence array itself. 
 
 We have seen the authenticity of its books substan- 
 
SUMMARY. 
 
 355 
 
 tiated by every species of proof, both external and 
 internal. 
 
 We have seen that its facts and miracles were such 
 that men could not be mistaken respecting them, and 
 that the reality of those facts was not only attested,- on 
 the part of the original witnesses, by martyrdom, but 
 that it is implied in institutions and observances now 
 existing, and is the only rational account that can be 
 given of the great fact of Christendom. 
 
 We have seen, also, that the accounts given by our 
 books are confirmed by the testimony of numerous 
 Jewish and heathen writers. 
 
 And not only have we seen that miracles were wrought, 
 and that the great facts of Christianity are fully attested 
 by direct evidence, but we have heard the voice of 
 prophecy heralding the approach of Him who came 
 traveling in the greatness of his strength, and saying, 
 ” Prepare ye the way of the Lord.’^ 
 
 We have seen this religion, cast like leaven into soci- 
 ety, go on working by its mysterious but irresistible 
 agency, transforming the corrupt mass. 
 
 We have seen it taking the lead among those influ- 
 ences by which the destiny of the world is controlled, 
 so that the stone which was cut out without hands has 
 become a great mountain. 
 
 And finally, we have seen its blessed eflTects, and its 
 tendency to fill the earth with righteousness and peace. 
 
 United testimony. — These things we have seen sep- 
 arately ; and now, when we look at them as they stand 
 up together and give in their united testimony, do they 
 not produce, ought they not to produce, a full, a per- 
 fect, and abiding conviction of the truth of this religion ? 
 If such evidence as this can mislead us, have we not 
 reason to believe that the universe itself is constituted 
 on the principle of deception ? 
 
 Certainty , — ;May I not hope, then, that as we have 
 
356 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 thus gone together about our Zion, some of you, at 
 least, have felt that her towers are impregnable, — that 
 
 Walls of strength embrace her round”? 
 
 May I not hope that you have been led so to see the 
 certainty of those things in which you have been in- 
 structed, as to gain strength in your own moral conflicts, 
 and to tread with a firmer step, and gird yourselves for 
 higher exertion, in spreading this blessed religion over 
 the world? K so, I have my reward. 
 
.T: A 
 
 t 
 
 ■u 
 
 \