But one portion of the matter of the Bible—its natural philosophy Appendix. -having been once excluded from the sphere of inspiration, in the I. view of so many learned and pious Christians, further doubts, on Inspiration similar grounds, have been suggested respecting the statement of of Scripture. those historical facts which belong not to sacred but to profane history. It has been justly contended that similar difficulties are obviated by excluding profane history, as by excluding natural philosophy; and that there is no more ground for maintaining the inspiration of the sacred writers in the one than in the other case. This view can scarcely yet be said to be generally established; only, perhaps, because it less frequently provokes the question, than the case of physical facts.

It would lead to much more discussion than is compatible with a mere note, to enter into the general question of what further limitations may and ought to be put on the inspired character of Scripture. I will only briefly state, that the following may, perhaps, on reflection, be found not inconsistent with the purest view of God's written word.

It may be fairly questioned, then, first, whether even its sacred history is inspired. For although wherever a point of faith or practice is involved in the historical record, inspiration must be supposed, (else the application of the record as an infallible rule must be abandoned,) yet, where this is not the case, there seems to be no necessity for supposing inspiration; and by not supposing it, several difficulties in the attempt to harmonise the sacred historians are removed.

Again, proceeding still on the principle that the truths to be believed, the material of faith, is the point to which the control or suggestions of inspiration must have been directed, and to which alone it is necessary for constituting the Bible the rule of faith, that it should be directed, the reasoning of the inspired writers may be considered safely as their own. I do not mean to impugn the reasoning of any one passage in the apostolical writings; but were any found open to it, the circumstance would not, according to this view, affect the inspired character and authority of the work. The assertions, not the proofs, are the proper objects of unqualified assent; and provided we believe implicitly all that is proposed by the sacred writers to be believed, it may be fairly questioned whether it be requisite to assent always to the method adopted by them to persuade. This has been already touched on in Note E, page 311, where the application of the prophecies in the Old Testament, by the writers of the New, was considered; and is the view adopted by Burnet in his " Exposition of the XXXIX. Articles." (Art. VI.) "When divine writers argue upon any point, we are always bound to believe the conclusions that these reasonings end in, as parts of Divine revelation; but we are not bound to be able to make out, or even assent to, all the premises made use of by them; unless it

Appendix. appears plainly that they affirm the premises as expressly as they I. do the conclusions proved by them.' See also "Paley's Evidences,' Inspiration Vol. II. Part III. Chap. 2, where Burnet's words are quoted, and of Scripture. his view supported.

K.

Technical
Terms in
Theology.

NOTE [K.] PAGE 172.

Among the internal evidence in favour of this view should be noticed the absence of technical phraseology. For technical terms in theology are evidently the result of deductions from Scripture; and generally mark the view taken by one party of Christians in opposition to another. Thus the words " Trinity,' Person," and the like, have been introduced into the Church vocabulary for the purpose of denoting the orthodox conclusion from the various passages of holy writ out of which the doctrines so expressed are elicited. These terms are, in short, the natural and spontaneous symbola of every uninspired age, in which the interpretation of Scripture is a matter of reasoning and a question. But in the age of inspiration and infallibility, whenever doubts and difficulties arose, the more direct course was to appeal to the inspired and infallible authorities; and thus there was no opportunity or time for the rise of a class of words which are, as it were, the gradual deposit and formation of contested views.

The exceptions too which do occur, in the language of the Apostles' Creed in this respect, are very remarkable. They consist of the latter clauses, "The holy Catholic Church," and "The communion of Saints;" which will appear, from the course of the inquiry, to have been additions made subsequently to the apostolic period. The latter I call an exception, because although the expression is found in the New Testament itself, and therefore not a phrase of the Church's after-devising, yet the technical and symbolical application of it is; and this indeed is the case with a very large portion of our Church vocabulary. The words have been taken from Scripture, (where they were used originally without reference to any particular heresy or question,) and made a badge of some particular tenet, to which the heresy or dispute has given a prominence. It is certainly allowable for any body of Christians so to employ the Scriptures; and yet perhaps the wiser and more judicious method is the adoption of terms and phrases altogether new. It more clearly marks in the language of Christians the human deductions, as distinguished from the inspired declarations; and if it be said that the human deductions carry more authority when given by scriptural words already sanctified, it is for this reason partly that they are not so proper. We are assuming almost too much when we make Scripture serve not only as the source from which we argue, but as the very deducer of the conclusion. It savours somewhat of the pious frauds of old, which induced some good-intentioned Christians, no doubt, to publish uninspired tracts under the sanction of an apostle's name.

K.

Technical

Certain it is, that when the point is discussed, it adds much to the Appendix. perplexity of the controversy. For the advocate of the doctrine expressed by the scriptural term almost unconsciously defends his position, not merely as if it were a fair conclusion from Scripture, Terms in but as if it were the very assertion of inspiration. On the other Theology. hand, his opponent is apt to suppose, that he has shown his adversary's assertion to be false, because he has proved it to be not the assertion of Scripture in that very language. I need scarce mention the many instances which must readily occur to every one who remembers how much of this has taken place respecting "justification, regeneration,' sanctification," and in short every established phrase of the Church which has been expressed in scriptural

99 66

terms.

On the other hand, it is impossible to deny that objections lie against the coinage or adoption of terms and phrases not scriptural. In neither case, indeed, can the terms be considered fairly as more than arbitrary marks of the Church's view of some scriptural doctrines; but then, as some of these scriptural doctrines are and must always be expressed in scriptural phrase, the others may acquire by association an authority and character equal to the scriptural assertions themselves. Whether this might be remedied, by a change from time to time of the expressions which mark the orthodox views of the Church, or by any other means, is a question well worthy of consideration.

AUTHORITIES QUOTED,

BESIDES THOSE SPECIALLY REFERRED TO IN THE TEXT AND NOTES.

BARRINGTON (LORD).—Miscellanea Sacra.

BINGHAM.-Ecclesiastical Antiquities.

BRUCKER.-Historia Critica Philosophiæ.

EPIPHANIUS.-Petavius's edition, republished at Cologne in 1682.

IRENEUS.-The folio edition of Grabe, Oxon. 1702.

JUSTIN MARTYR.-The Paris edition of 1636.

KING (LORD).—Critical History of the Apostles' Creed.

KING (LORD).—An Enquiry into the Constitution, Discipline, Unity, and Worship

of the Primitive Church. By an Impartial Hand.

MOSHEIM.-De Rebus Christianorum ante Constantinum Magnum.

SCLATER. [His Reply to Lord King's Enquiry.] An Original Draught of the Primitive Church, in answer to a Discourse, entitled, "An Enquiry," &c. By a Presbyter of the Church of England.

WARBURTON (BISHOP).-Divine Legation of Moses.

WHATELY (ARCHBISHOP).—Essays, and other publications.

INDEX.

ABGARUS, king of Edesse, his pre- | Barnabas, probably the same with