150 LECTURE VII. DIVINE AUTHORITY OF CHRISTIANITY. MARK II. 10—12. But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. THE arguments in our former Lectures have been directed to prove the authenticity and credibility of the books of the New Testament. In order to ascertain these points, we have examined them by the strictest rules of historical testimony, and we have found them to be established by far stronger proofs than men uniformly consider as satisfactory on similar subjects. During this inquiry, we have deferred the consi deration of the divine authority of the religion of which they treat. It is, however, time to enter upon this topic. We now open the sacred books with the fullest confidence and repose of mind, as having been really written by the persons whose names they bear, and as entitled, beyond all other writings, to credit, upon the ground of veracity and trust-worthiness. On reading them with attention, we learn that their chief design is to communicate a revelation from Almighty God to man. This is their main scope, to which all other matters are subordinate. Such being the case, we proceed to examine, with seriousness and humility of mind, the marks and evidences by which we are assured that they really contain a revelation of the divine will. These credentials we soon discover, were, in the first instance, the miracles which our Lord performed, and the prophecies which were accomplished in him. These credentials remain in substance the same in every age. They have, however, been enlarged by the lapse of time. To the miracles of our Lord are now added those of the apostles. And to the prophecies accomplished in himself, all the series of predictions which have been since fulfilled, and are now fulfilling, in the world. We now also adjoin the proofs arising from the propagation of the gospel, and the obvious benefits it has conferred on mankind. These topics will form the subject of the present and the four succeeding Lectures.1 Our Lord's doctrines and character, as well as the divine effects of his religion, will form branches of the internal evidences to be considered in a further division of our Course.? Thus we shall come to the grounds of a divine faith, arising from a divine testimony. The authen Lectures viii.-xi. 2 Lectures xiv.—xviii. ticity and credibility of our books place them on the footing of other undoubted histories; the supernatural credentials will give to the subject matter of them a divine authority. We begin with the MIRACLES of our Lord and his apostles. What, then, is a miracle? It is a visible suspension of those laws of nature, on the general constancy of which the order and preservation of the whole universe rest. These laws God alone, as the author of nature, fixed: and these laws God alone, as the governor and preserver of nature, can alter or suspend. A miracle supposes an established and generally unaltered course of things. Effects that are produced in the regular order of that course we call natural; and those which clearly and palpably depart from that order we call miraculous. Both are equally easy to God; and equally incomprehensible, in the mode of them, to us. That grains of corn sown in the earth should turn into abundant harvests, which nourish whole nations, is an astonishing act of that goodness which continually supplies our wants. it is constantly exerted; it is common, and therefore excites no extraordinary notice. That five barley loaves and a few small fishes should be multiplied instantaneously, so as to feed five thousand men, and that twelve baskets of fragments should be collected from them, is an astonishing act also. But it is rare and unexpected. It strikes us with surprise. It excites inquiry into the cause of the occurrence. It is, therefore, an act of God, fit to confirm a revelation to mankind. The usual deeds of God's power prove his being and providence; the unusual and miraculous prove the divine commission of the person at whose word they are performed. The extraordinary phenomena which we call miracles, awaken, therefore, from their infrequency, the attention of mankind; and afford, by their evident connexion with supernatural Now the question is, Did these facts take place? ORNIA. indication of the divine will. For instance, our Lord is represented in the text as having healed a man sick of the palsy. At the marriage in Cana he turned water into wine. At the same place he healed the son of a nobleman who was sick at Caper naum. On another occasion, when watched by the Pharisees, he ordered the man who had a withered hand, to stretch it forth, and it became whole as the other. Again, he restored sight to blind Bartimeus; and he raised Lazarus, and the only son of a widowed mother at Nain, to life. In each of these and the like examples of our Lord's wonderful works, there are two distinct and palpable facts, which are said to be submitted to the observation of all the people, and of which they were competent judges. The man was sick of the palsy---the man was cured, and carried away his bed. The water-pots of stone were filled with water-when the servants presented the same to the governor of the feast, it was wine. The nobleman left his son at Capernaum dying-he received on his return from our Lord, the certain tidings of his recovery. The man had indisputably a withered hand---it was afterwards whole as the other. Bartimeus was blind---his sght was restored. Lazarus and the youth at Nain were dead; the one had been interred, the other was carried out on the bier as our Lord met him---both lived again. So of all the other works which were performed by our Lord and his apostles, and which we consider to be miracles. The question is, Did these plain, intelligible facts take place? All who were present are affirmed to have witnessed and known the previous state of the sufferers---and their subsequent altered condition. Whether a miracle was performed in each case, is another question. We now merely put the Y previous inquiry. Did certain facts occur? Does the testimony to the facts of the state previous to the interference of our Lord and his apostles, and to the facts of the state subsequent to it---does this testimony deserve belief? Were the events themselves such as are recorded? These remarks may be applied to the greatest of all miracles---the resurrection of our Lord. It resolves itself likewise into two facts. Did the apostles see and know the death and burial of their Master? This is one fact. Did they see and know the same Jesus their Master alive again---did they converse with him for forty days---and behold him ascending into heaven? Thus the whole question of the truth of the gospel miracles falls back on the credibility. A few remarks will show that that credibility embraces them, and that they are indissolubly connected with the general credit due to the evangelical history. Three questions, therefore, on the whole, may be proposed: Did the wonderful actions ascribed to Christ and the apostles really take place?--Were these actions undoubtedly miraculous ?---Was there such a connexion between them and the religion they attest, as to prove that that religion was from God? If these questions are satisfactorily answered, we shall have demonstrated all that the case requires; for we shall have shown that THE FACTS WERE DONE -that THE FACTS WERE MIRACULOUS-that THE FACTS PROVE THE TRUTH OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. Let me beg the attention of every candid and sincere hearer, (for I address no other,) whilst I detail the proofs of these points, though they will necessa rily have some reference to the last lecture. Repetition on so great a topic, if unavoidable, is a small evil. I. To ask whether the wonderful actions ascribed |