THE CHRISTIAN EXAMINER. MAY, 1842. J. Brazer. ART. I. The Authority of Jesus Christ, as a Religious Teacher. WE should think it a sad thing, here and now, in a community professedly Christian, and in the middle of the nineteenth century, to feel obliged to say a word in vindication of the Divine authority of Jesus Christ, as a Religious. Instructer, if we did not believe that it is a part of the system of Divine Providence, to permit, from time to time, objections and cavils against all revealed truth to be made, that thereby, this truth, by calling forth the efforts of its friends, should be the more fully and clearly established. As the atmosphere is purified by its storms, as the sea is kept healthful by its perpetual motion, as genuine principle is fortified by opposition, and as all that is real in character is strenghthened by trial; so we find the "Truth as it is in Jesus," in every stage of its progress, has been more firmly established, through the blind instrumentality of those who wittingly or unwittingly assail it. Irksome, then, as it may be to state anew positions that have been taken as established for ages, by the wisest and best men who have illustrated our common nature, and to reply again to objections which have been refuted a hundred times over, it is a task from which the Christian advocate should not shrink; and he is cheered in the unwilling labor by the assurance, that if he be faithful to the precious truth with which he is intrusted, he need not fear for the result. It is also to be remarked, that it is incidental to the full enjoyment of the privilege of free discussion, that speculation should often run wild; that first principles should be continually called in question; that nothing should ever be VOL. XXXII. 3D S. VOL. XIV. NO. II. 18 considered as established; that those who are not well informed should not be fully aware, that what seems original to them is quite stale to others; that some persons of an imaginative and dreamy turn of mind, and possessing small powers of ratiocination, should mistake resemblances for sequences, sparkling fragments of thought for argument, and fanciful and picturesque phraseology for eloquent discussion; and that others, reckless, ambitious of notoriety, or smitten with the love. of change, should aim at disturbing the time-hallowed foundations of human belief, and while "Most ignorant of what is most assured, * * * Play such fantastic tricks before high heaven, All this must be borne, for it is the price that must be paid for the inestimable boon of free utterance. It is to be regarded as a part of that exquisite system of compensations, which pervades the whole system of Divine Providence, by which throughout, "God hath set the one over against the other." It is further to be remembered that in the same providence of God, it is only by the struggle of opinion with opinion, argument with argument, system with system, mind with mind, that the truth can be elicited. To see it in its entireness and purity is the prerogative of God alone. While, then, in the inquiry before us, we intend, in all plainness and directness, to present those views which seem to us to be true and just, we are deeply conscious of our need of further light; and while we may feel constrained to refer to what appear to us gross and mischievous mistakes, it will be with no intentionally unkind allusion to those who hold them; and it is our most earnest and sincere prayer, that from the conflict of opinions on this, and on all subjects, a light may be stricken out purer and clearer than is now enjoyed by the advocates of any. In endeavoring to ascertain the nature and degree of the authority that belongs to Jesus Christ, as a Religious Teacher, we shall confine ourselves, in this paper, to his own declarations, and to those of his immediate disciples and apostles, in their own unquestioned words, as recorded in the books of the New Testament. If any think that they have a higher source of information than this, and one through whose aid they may sit in judgment over it and reverse it, the experiment and the re sponsibility are theirs; the clear and undisputed language of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of his own accredited apostles, is decisive with us. When we wish to know who and what this Teacher was, it is enough for us, to sit like Mary at his feet, and "hear his words." If we are sure that the words are really his, and of this, in the inquiry before us, there is no question, then we must take them in their true and full import, unless we are willing to impute to him one of two shocking charges; either, first, that of self-deception, or, second, that of an attempt to deceive others. At any rate, we say, that we "have not so learned Christ," and that we shrink with horror from both parts of the alternative. The inquiry, then, is plainly before us, -What does the unquestioned language of Jesus, and that of his earliest followers, who were taught by him, teach us concerning the nature and degree of his authority, as a Religious Teacher? It teaches, we reply, according to our best apprehension of it, that Jesus Christ fulfils, in this relation, an office that has been committed to no other being. He claims to speak on the direct authority of the Infinite and Eternal God. This, we say, he claims, not only as his high prerogative, but as his peculiar and distinctive prerogative. Other teachers may be wise to know, and skilled to instruct, and powerful to persuade; but strictly speaking, they possess no authority. Their counsels may be judicious, their exhortations powerful, their appeals subduing; but they must rest entirely on their inherent force, and of this every individual who receives them must judge for himself. But Jesus claims, and it is claimed for him by those who were personally taught by him, to be heard on an authority above and beyond all this, on an authority above and beyond that which belongs to any other individual, however gifted, however in advance of his species, however distinguished above his fellows in any respect; namely, on any respect; namely, on the express and specially delegated authority of none less, and none other, than the Infinite and Eternal God. When we listen to the seers and sages of ancient or of modern times, we may be interested, instructed, delighted; we may yield to that potent sway which genius always wields; we may rejoice that such lights are cast upon our pilgrim path in life; but still we justly claim the right which belongs to us as equal, though humbler, fellow men, to weigh their claims; to estimate the value of their instructions; to receive or reject their counsels; to ac 66 cept or refuse their direction. But when Christ appears, he speaks as one having authority," and not as these scribes. Before his presence all other instructers retire immeasurably into the back-ground. He claims to speak "as never man spake;" with an authority, as we have said, above and beyond all others; with an authority before which all lettered accomplishments are worthless, all human wisdom bows in deference, and all merely human authority stands abashed. If we admit his claims, we must receive his instructions with a child-like docility, his precepts with grateful acquiescence, his assurances with an implicit faith, his commands with an unquestioning obedience. Coming, as we thus believe he did, in a high and peculiar sense, from God; commissioned, as we thus believe he was, by God; and speaking, as we believe he spoke, on the express authority of God; we receive his words as the words of God, and of none other than God. As this, then, is the great point to be established, we now proceed to adduce a sketch of the evidence by which it is supported. And here we may first observe, that the infallible and distinctive authority of the teachings of Jesus is inferable from the high and peculiar relations in reference to men, which are ascribed to him in the Christian Scriptures. Thus our Saviour says of himself,* *"all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." If this be restricted, as it doubtless should be, to the great objects of his mission, certainly teaching must be included among them, since this was one of the component and very inportant parts of this mission. So, too, Teaching, in like manner, is included in certain other of these high and peculiar relations. Thus, for example, he is revealed to us as a Saviour. "I am come," said he, "to seek and save that which was lost." Now so far as a salvation from ignorance and error was included in this assurance, and it enters essentially into the very idea of it, it must be wrought through the means of the infallible authority of his teaching. Again, he is revealed to us as our Master and Lord. Thus, said he, "One is your master, even Christ." And so far as teaching important * The passages of Scripture, which we shall cite throughout this argument, are so familiar, that we shall take leave to excuse ourselves and the printer from referring to chapter and verse. truth is connected with this relation, and it plainly makes a very important part of it, so far Jesus claims for his teaching an authoritative character. From this reference, slight as it is, to the authority which is thus in general terms ascribed to him, and to that which he asserts over his followers in certain high relations, it is obvious that his instructions come to his followers fraught with an imperative and distinctive authority. His directions in every part of doctrine and duty are to be implicitly followed by them, because they are his. However strict or burthensome they may appear to us, his disciples, we have no alternative left, but that of obedience, or disobedience. And in like manner his declarations respecting our spiritual well-being are to be received with fullest confidence, because they are his. However strange they may seem to us, however foreign from our accustomed habits of thought, we have no choice remaining, but to receive, or reject them. There is no other alternative. But we are not left to infer the authoritative character of the teachings of Jesus from the relations in which he is revealed as holding towards man. We have in addition to this his direct assertions. These are very numerous; but it must suffice to quote a few; and it is obvious that any single one, that is explicit, is decisive of the question at issue. Thus Jesus tells the Jews,-"my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me." Again, "as my Father has taught me, I speak these things." Again, "I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me commandment what I should say, and what I should speak; whatsoever I speak, therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." And once again, for it cannot be necessary to multiply quotations to the same effect, "the words I speak unto you, I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me ;" and in the same connexion he says, "the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me." The plain import of all this is, we scarcely need to observe, that Jesus, disavowing all merely personal authority as a teacher, claims to be heard on the ground of a special inspiration, and direct commission from Almighty God. We next observe, that the manner of Christ's teaching is in perfect keeping, or agreement with this high claim. This manner is very peculiar. It is distinctively his own. He relies not on any of the usual modes of instruction, or of moral suasion. There |