[Referred to in page 109.] DANIEL ix. 25. This commandment is the beginning of of Artaxerxes be the date of the 70 weeks, which is the 445th year before A. D., and reckon 69 weeks of Chaldean years, 70 Chaldean years being equal to 69 Julian; and so 478 Julian years making 483 Chaldean, and they end in the 33rd year after Christ, or the passover following. Answer to the Grounds and Reasons, &c., p. 139. It will not perhaps be esteemed tedious, if, in illustration of this point, I refer to Dr. Gill, whose learning and industry were equal. "The Syriac version, though not a literal one, gives the true sense of the passage, rendering it, 'Unto the coming of the King Messiah,' unto which there were to be 7 and 62 weeks, or 69 weeks, which make 483 years; and these being understood of eastern years, used by the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Persians, consisting of 360 days, reckoning 30 days to a month, and 12 months to a year, there were just 483 of these from the 20th year of Artaxerxes, to the 33d year of the vulgar era of Christ, and the 19th of Tiberius Cæsar, in which he suffered." - From DR. GILL, in loc. [Referred to in page 129.] DR. KENNEDY had gone extensively through the external evidences, which contain much interesting information, but which might, nevertheless, be esteemed prolix by the general reader, especially with such books of reference as " Haldane's Evidences," "Horne's Introduction," and Erskine's excellent work. As Dr. Kennedy lived not to touch on the internal evidence-on which he placed the greatest weight-the Editor has considered that it would not be unjust to Dr. K. to omit his reasonings on the first part, with the reservation only of the following abstract: "If the Jewish books had merely contained an account that, two thousand years ago, their founder, Abraham, was a shepherd ;-that his descendants increased, and by their bravery liberated themselves from the Egyptian bondage ;-that, after leaving Egypt, they wandered in quest of new settlements and, allured by the fertility of Canaan, conquered, by their own valour, the inhabitants; extirpating some, expelling others, and reducing the remainder to subjection ;-that, tired of elective governments, they founded a monarchy;-that the nation became divided into two portions;-that the one was carried away captive by the Assyrians; and after some time, the other was taken by the Babylonians;-that the king of Babylon had, from humanity, or some other motive, reinstated them;-and that, after various vicissitudes, they became tributary to the Romans :-if their cosmogony had been as absurd as that of other nations,-had their books been filled with accounts of gods and goddesses,had their worship been directed to stones and statues,their writings would have been received with interest, and the notice they incidentally give of the Egyptians, the Edomites, Amalakites, and others little known, would have been read with pleasure, and little doubt would have been entertained of the accuracy of their historians, to whom the same degree of credit would have been attached, as to the most accredited of Greece and Rome. It would not have been deemed an objection, that other nations had not related the Jewish history, since they had not preserved their own. "Let any one consider what authority he has for believing the text of Cicero, of Aristotle, of Plato, or of any other ancient writer, and let him ask what security he has that their writings have not been altered; and let him trace by what channels they have been transmitted; how preserved, and how many there were in every age, who neither could, nor did take, any interest in them, or use any exertions to preserve the text uncorrupted. When he has collected all the information he can gain on these subjects, and after he has meditated on all the chances and probabilities of the corruption or preservation of the text, -let him compare it with the evidence that awaits his investigation, and let him acknowledge there is no such to be found in favour of any other book whatever. Be they a revelation from God, or a forgery, the evidence of the accurate transmission of these writings from the period of the Babylonish captivity, from the time of the translation of the Septuagint; and, with respect to the books of the New Testament, from the moment they were written, is of such a nature, that human prudence, had it devised, or human power, had it exerted itself, could not have produced such a variety of channels, direct or indirect; nor could it have excited such multitudes in every age, whether favourable or hostile to them, to obtain the end proposed. No such evidence ever can be produced in favour of any other book; nor is it possible that, were we to ask for a series of clear, direct, and unbroken evidence, we could hope to find it; but, to satisfy the most scrupulous mind, the series of proofs in favour of the Scriptures is unbroken, and this series commences at a very early period, before any one was interested to deny, or doubt, the genuineness of the Jewish records: two other series, also, commenced in the Samaritan and Septuagint translations: and, in the time of the preaching of the Apostles, when opposition would be made, the new series, unbroken in tenor, was opened up, and transmitted to every nation, through every age; and the great depositaries of the whole, were the Jews-who reject Christianity: the Christians-who embrace their own and the Jewish records: and the Heathen-who reject both. These contending parties preserved that which was confided to them; and the writings of each, whether as quoting from the original books to express their belief, or to confute them by reasonings, were so many additional sources of preservation and correction, -that, had the original books perished, they might have been recomposed from the writings of believers, and of unbelievers. |