total abandonment of the truth, and a virtual denial of the sanctity and authority of the Word of God. If we look into the Christian world, we shall find men, distinguished for their learning and piety, as widely at variance in their sentiments and interpretations of the inspired Volume as noonday differs from midnight darkness; supporting tenets of religion irrational in themselves, and diametrically opposed to each other, by the most confident appeals to its sacred pages; disputing with the bitterest acrimony about doctrines that are admitted to be mere implications, and not unfrequently distorting the plainest facts of science, and even accredited events of history, in support of favorite theological opinions. We find men, gifted with most profound powers of investigating the secret laws of nature, who can unfold, amid a blaze of demonstration, the most wonderful phenomena of physical existence, and unravel the perplexing mysteries of creation and mathematical science, but who either profess themselves embarrassed with the conflicting difficulties and obscurities of revelation, or openly avow their conviction that the Bible and nature are at variance with each other. And as facts in nature are constant and undeniable, and as it would be most absurd to suppose that the Divine Being would speak and act inconsistently, so, therefore, they at once conclude that the Bible cannot be divine cannot have God for its author.15 15 Newman lays down the following axiom and conclusions with reference to the Word of God: "1. The moral and intellectual powers of man must be acknowledged as having a right and duty to criticise the contents of the Scripture; "2. When so exerted, they condemn portions of the Scripture as erroneous and immoral; and character of Jesus, as reported in the gospels themselves, that He used uncharitable language, gave way to bad temper, and was destitute of natural affection." New Testament, p. 150. "I know of no work on the subject [the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures] that I dare place in the hands of a student of theology. I know of none which, even to a young man of ordinary acuteness, does not suggest greater difficulties than it removes." "3. The assumed infallibility of the entire-Swainson's Lectures on the Authority of the Scripture is a proved falsity, not merely as to physiology and other scientific matters, "The Scriptures are fast becoming, to a but also as to morals."-Phases of Faith, p. 115. great degree, a dead and obsolete letter; and The notorious Rev. Chas. Voysey, in his the editors of our religious journals publicly lecture on the Bible, delivered at St. George's acknowledge the mournful fact. On this Hall, London, 1871, is reported to have said, subject the Christian Examiner, one of the that "though it contained much that is most ably conducted and well-known of rebeautiful and true, yet it makes no claim ligious periodicals, has the following reto a divine origin and authority. In it there marks:- No one who is accustomed to reare absolute and irreconcilable contradic- gard with much attention the history and tions and downright falsehoods. Even the tendency of religious opinions can fail of religious and moral teaching is not uniform being convinced that the question concernor coherent, but in some places contradic- ing the inspiration of the Scriptures is soon tory of itself, and some of it degrading to to become the most absorbing question of God. There were moral blemishes in the life | Christian theology. The minds of men are Bishop Colenso, insisting vehemently on the Bible possessing a human element, and being merely " a human book," containing not only a literal sense, but one that bears no other meaning whatever, except that which lies upon the surface, says: "In this way, I repeat, the Bible becomes to us a human book, in which the thoughts of other hearts are opened to us, of men who lived in the ages long ago, and in circumstances so different from ours." "We must not blindly shut our eyes to the real history of the composition of this book, to the legendary character of its earlier portions, to the manifest contradictions and impossibilities, which rise up at once in every part of the story of the Exodus, if we persist in maintaining that it is a simple record of historical facts. We must regard it, then, as the work of men, of fellow-men like ourselves."-(Pent. and Book of Joshua, p. ii., p. 382, §§ 511, 512.) in that position in reference to this subject which cannot long be maintained. They must move one way or the other. They must attain to some sort of consistency, either by believing less or by believing more. The authority of the Scriptures, and especially those of the Old Testament, must either become! higher and stronger, or be reduced almost to nothing. It is vain to imagine that, with the present secret or open scepticism, or at least vague and unsettled notions, with which they are regarded, even by many who are defenders of a special revelation, they can be read and taught in our churches, schools, and families, as books, sui generis, so as to command much of real reverence for themselves.'"-The Nineteenth Century, p. 47. "The general remarks respecting the inspiration of the Old Testament apply also to the New. . . . All the writings in the New Testament as well as the Old contain marks of human origin, of human weakness and imperfection."-Tracts for the Times, pp. 4-10. Sentiments so utterly degrading to Divine Revelation are endorsed by numbers who profess to be the moral and religious teachers of the day. They are views which seem naturally to arise out of a denial of the plenary inspiration of the Word of God. To such conclusions the reasoning of the late Rev. Baden Powell, in his work on inspiration, and of the learned clergymen who were the authors of the Essays and Reviews most certainly lead. So again Miss H. Martineau can thus speak of the Holy Gospels: "In general, it is no light work for the sincere and reverent mind to read the Gospel history, so as to come within reach of the actual voice of Jesus, and listen to it among the perplexing echoes of his place and time; to separate it from the Jew ish construction of Matthew, the traditional accretions of Mark and Luke, and the Platonising medium of John ;-a care and labor which it is profane and presumptuous to omit or make light of."-Eastern Travels, vol. iii.. p. 175. To the above, which could be extended almost indefinitely, often written in terms we should be sorry to transfer to our pages, we will add but the following conclusive answer by Swedenborg :- "The natural man, however, cannot still be persuaded to believe that the Word is Divine Truth itself, in which is Divine Wisdom and Divine Life, inasmuch as he judges of it by its style, in which no such things appear. Nevertheless, the style in which the Word is written, is a truly Divine style, with which no other style, however sublime and excellent it may seem, is at all comparable, for it is as darkness compared to light. The style of the Word is of such a nature as to contain what is holy in every verse, in every word, and in some cases in every letter; and hence the Word conjoins man with the Lord, and opens heaven." "Hence man has life by and through the Word." "Lest therefore mankind should remain any longer in doubt concerning the divinity of the Word, it has pleased the Lord to reveal to me its internal sense, which in its essence is spiritual, and which is to the external sense, which is natural, what the soul is to the body. This internal sense is the spirit which gives life to the letter: wherefore this sense will evince the divinity and sanctity of the Word, and may convince even the natural man, if he is of a disposition to be convinced."-(S. S., 1-4.) CHAPTER II DIFFICULTIES OF THE MERE LITERAL SENSE OF THE WORD STATED. THE LITERAL SENSE PROVED TO BE INDEFENSIBLE AND INEXPLICABLE IF AN INTERNAL SENSE BE DENIED. O multitudes of readers the mere letter of the sacred Scriptures often appears vague and unconnected (Isa. lx. 7-9; Jer. xix. 5; Matt. xxiv. 27-29); hard and unmeaning (Ps. cix. 13; Jer. xlviii. 11-15; Hos. xiii. 6; Mic. i. 16-21; John xxi. 2); to abound with gross absurdities and unintelligible mysteries (Gen. iv. 15; Judg. v. 20 ; Isa. vii. 20; lx. 16; Ez. xxviii. 13); to contain numerous statements which seem irrational, self-contradictory, or inconsistent with others (Ex. xx. 5, 6; xxiv. 10; Ez. xviii. 20; Isa. xliii. 3; Luke xxii. 43; John i. 18-20); to comprise many which are antagonistic to the modern discoveries in chronology, opposed to the well-known principles of the physical sciences, and discordant with the ascertained facts of profane history (Gen. i., ii.; Joshua x.; Isa. xlv. 7; Matt. xxvii. 9; Rev. xi. 8); to include narratives of violence, treachery, cruelty, uncleanness, and injustice seemingly approved by God, yet diametrically opposed to his infinite and unchangeable attributes and qualities of mercy, purity, faithfulness, and justice (Gen. xxxiv. 15; 1 Sam. xv. 33; Gen. xxvii.; Judges iv., v.); to give commands of an immoral tendency, irreconcilable with spotless perfection (Ex. xxxii. 27; Josh. viii. 21-25; Ps. cxxxvii. 9; Hos. iii. 1-3); and to be occupied with trivial circumstances and with affairs which appear too insignificant, and even revolting, to have ever claimed so much attention from the Lord of the universe (Ez. v. 12; Zech. viii. 5). How many honest people, "for lack of true knowledge," have in consequence treated the holy verities of divine revelation with the utmost derision, either as myths of barbarous ages, or fragments of falsehoods strangely blended with truth, or as a contemptible tissue of ignorance and imposture; and have not hesitated to revile all religions as systems alike of despotism, superstition, and credulity,-the delusions of priestcraft and the offspring of fanaticism and fervid im aginations. How many virtuous, intelligent, and candid minds are there who are perplexed, and distressed, and alarmed, even at their own thoughts while reading their Bibles! It is surely time, then, for Christians to inquire what is the real nature of God's Word,-to examine into the origin, sanctity, and authority of that blessed Book on which, as upon an adamantine foundation, all virtue and intelligence infallibly rest, and whence all true religion and spiritual knowledge are derived;-to investigate, earnestly and narrowly, its claims to universal reverence and obedience; and to vindicate its hallowed doctrines and its divine precepts from all contumely by a rational demonstration of its being what it professes to be, the very WORD OF GOD. And unless this be done, it needs no prophetic eye to see, no prophetic tongue to foretell, that infidelity and scepticism will soon reign triumphant, that darkness and blindness as to all spiritual knowledge, will soon cover every mind, as is described by the holy prophet Isaiah, where he says, "The Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes; the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath He covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed;16 and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned," (xxix. 10-12.) The utter destitution of all true doctrine, and a right interpretation of the Scriptures, is predicted as a consequence of the prevalence of iniquity, in these words, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. In that 16" The Hebrew word for search, signifies to dive into the sublime, profound, mystical, allegorical, and prophetical senses of Holy Scripture. 1 Cor. i. 20-where is the profound searcher."-Motives to the Study of Bib. Lit., p. 18. "The hidden wisdom of the Scripture is to be considered as treasure hid in the earth, for which men must search with that same zeal and labor with which they penetrate into a mine of gold; for when our Saviour commands us to search the Scriptures for their testimony of himself, the language of the precept implies that kind of searching by which gold and silver are discovered under ground. He who doth not search the Word of God in that manner, and with that spirit, for what is to be found underneath it, will never discover its true value."-W. Jones's Lect. on the Fig. Lang, of Holy Scrip., new ed., pp. 20-21. St. Jerome, Ep. 13, to Paulinus, says, “All that we read in the sacred books is pure and bright, even in the bark; but it is sweeter in the pith. And he that would come at the kernel, must first break the shell. 'Open mine eyes, that I may see wondrous things out of thy law.'" day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst." (Amos viii. 11-13.) In order to understand the true nature and character of divine revelation, it is essentially requisite that our reasoning faculties should be employed, that our understanding should be elevated, that our hearts should be humbled and that our lives should be purified, for not to the self-conceited, to the worldly "wise and prudent," but unto "babes" only, can genuine wisdom be "revealed." (Matt. xi. 25; Luke x. 21.) We should approach the Word with reverence and with faith. We should "put our shoes from off our feet [that is, cast aside all sensual reasonings and all carnal suggestions], because the place whereon we stand is holy ground." (Ex. iii. 5.)" This surely expresses the state of mind which we ought to cherish when we approach the Holy Word in order to profit by its sacred contents, and be prepared to meet its Divine Author there as in the temple of his presence, a state of profound humility and fervent piety,-accompanied with a desire to learn his will, that we may do his commandments. Without an humble and willing disposition of the soul, and a removal of the veil of unbelief from the mind, the glories of the inner sense cannot be made manifest unto us: "Do not my words," saith the Lord; "do good to him that walketh uprightly?" (Mic. ii. 7); and the apostle Paul testifies that "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. ii. 14). Thus the Psalmist prays, "Lord, open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law" (Ps. cxix. 18). While the Lord Jesus says, "Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of ME" (John v. 39); and after his glorious resurrection we read in Luke xxiv. 45, that "then opened He the understandings of his disciples, that they might understand the Scriptures." For, as the illustrious Swedenborg observes, "It is universally confessed that the Word is from God, is divinely inspired, and of consequence is holy; but still it has remained a secret to this day in what part of the Word its divinity resides, inasmuch as in the letter it appears like a common writing, composed in a strange style, neither so sublime nor so eloquent as that which distinguishes the best secular compositions. Hence it is that whosoever 17 To loose the sandals, slippers, or shoes | East. This is done on entering a mosque, from off the feet, as a mark of deference or pagoda, or the presence of any person of and respect, has prevailed from the earliest distinction.-See Peacock's Summary View, p. ages, as a representative custom, over the 84. |