doubted miracles and the other external evidences which attest the Christian doctrine. And then we show them the fruits of this divine religion in all who obey it. It makes man a "new creature in Christ Jesus;" it enables him to live a pure and holy and beneficent life; it strengthens him to rejoice in sufferings and death for Christ's sake. And our desire and wish is to bring others to a subjection of heart to this Saviour, that they may themselves be witnesses of the inward blessing which he bestows. Let them only attend seriously to the question with prayer for God's grace, and the divine doctrine will begin to work its own way in their hearts; they shall receive the same holy influences as ourselves, and be partakers of the same exalted hope of eternal glory."

This, we may imagine, would be the sort of reply of one who had known the apostles in the flesh, had witnessed their miracles, had heard their doctrines, and had thus seen with his own eyes the external evidences, which we receive now through the medium of authentic, history.

In the second and third centuries, the answer would somewhat vary, as the apostles themselves were no longer in person among their converts, but had left the deposit of their doctrine in the sacred gospels and epistles. The appeal, therefore, would be to these writings for the doctrine and precepts of the religion, and to the acknowledged facts of history for its external proof; but the holy effects of it on the heart and character would still be the main argument in the breast of the Christian, and would lead him to speak the same decisive language as those in the preceding century.

"We cherish the hope of a resurrection to eternal life," would the persecuted Christian converts of the Roman empire in the third age, probably say, "because the promise of it is made to us in those books which were received by our forefathers, immediately from the hands of the apostles, and which have ever

which all this rests, must, from the nature of the case, require more care and attention. The human understanding and conscience, indeed, to which the evidences are addressed, are the same as in the first age. The historians-Jewish, Pagan, Christian-contemporary with the apostles, and attesting the facts of our religion, lie open to every inquirer. The sufficiency also of the evidences contained in the authentic Christian writings, to produce conviction, is just the same. But it is obvious that the arrangement of testimonies, the statement of arguments, the marshalling of witnesses, the clearing of difficulties, the answering of objections, with regard to a subject which for eighteen hundred years has been exposed to the assaults and sophistries of a corrupt and fallen world, must demand habits of research, and the faculty of weighing and removing objections. Still the Christian may now, as in every preceding age, give in a few words the apology for the hope itself which he cherishes-not a reason of all the parts of a divine revelation, (which a finite mind is incapable of from the nature of the case,) nor an answer to every cavil which ingenuity may invent, nor an account of all the historical matters connected with Christianity-but a reason of the HOPE THAT IS IN HIM, of the practical hold he has of Christianity, of the end and scope of the religion, of the authority on which it rests, of the proofs offered by our Saviour and his apostles to Jewish and Gentile inquirers, of the blessed effects it produces, and of the test to which every one may bring it by submitting to its directions and making a trial of ts promises.

Different Christians will state this reason with different degrees of propriety and force; and the same Christian will take in a wider or narrower circuit of external testimonies, according to the charac

Bishop Hurd.

ter of the persons whom he addresses. But the object of the humble believer will ever be to bring men to the evidences arising from the inward power and efficacy of religion in renewing the human heart, kindling the love of God, raising man from the ruins of the fall, inspiring him with the noble aim of pleasing God, and communicating to him a lively hope of everlasting life. Whether the plain, unlettered Christian can enter upon the historical proofs or not, he can study the Bible itself, can follow the divine series of evidences adduced by our Lord and his disciples, can humbly sue for the promised grace of the Holy Spirit, and thus lay hold on that substantial, moral, and spiritual benefit, which speaks by its holy effects, and which surpasses in inward force and consolation all other kinds of proof.

This has turned out to be the best defence of Chris

tianity in every age. Like the sun in its noonday warmth, it is its own witness. The outward evidences should ever be introductory to the inward. Christianity is a principle of spiritual life-a divine armoury against our spiritual adversaries-our compass and chart during a tempestuous voyage-the bright morning star in a dark and doubtful night— the only means of reconciliation between a sinner and his offended God-the spring of holiness and peace and joy-the way and pledge and earnest of everlasting life. The best reason of this religion is the effects of it in the heart and conduct. With this, the external arguments assume their proper place as attesting a divine revelation; without it, they are cold and defective, and void of their most salutary and efficacious fruit.

After these remarks on the answer to be given by the Christian of the reason of his hope, I need scarcely observe, that he is never to forget "that meekness and fear" with which the apostle in the text commands him to present it.

The Christian learns from every doctrine of his religion the importance of a soft and gentle spirit. He knows the corrupt tendencies of a fallen nature generally, and therefore watches against severity, harshness, petulance, airs of superiority and contempt in his tone and manner of giving a reason of his faith. He endeavours to imitate the lowliness and meekness of his Saviour. He cultivates that benevolence and unaffected humility, which become a man who has received such benefits from the hands of God, and who is most anxious to win over his opponent to a share of those blessings which Christianity proposes.

And with this meekness towards man, he will join "fear" towards that transcendently glorious Being, whose greatest gift to a fallen world he is called to defend, lest he should injure the cause of Christianity by an indiscreet defence-lest he should dishonour those incommunicable prerogatives and attributes of the great God, which ought to inspire a holy awe, when any part of his ways is to be vindicated by a creature like man, before his fellow-worms of the earth.

A reason given of our hope on the practical grounds I have before stated, and in this spirit of "meekness and fear," will neither betray the interests of religion, nor provoke the feelings of an opponent. On the contrary, if any thing can touch the conscience of an unbeliever, it is a firm but modest testimony thus borne to the evidences of religion, connected with a pure and consistent course of life. This is our best defence, as our apostle himself declares in the words which follow the text: "Having a good conscience, that whereas they speak evil of you as evil-doers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ."

It is upon these general principles that I propose

to deliver the course of Lectures on the Evidences of Christianity, of which this is the first.

I am, indeed, far, very far from thinking that it is advisable to dwell too frequently on the evidences of our religion. The business of life is carried on, not by defending principles, but by acting on them. It is our wisdom, generally, as the ministers of religion, to take for granted the preliminary questions which have so often been proved, and to employ ourselves in the unfolding of the Christian faith, and in the application of it to the heart and conscience. But I conceive that the example of our Lord and his apostles, and the necessities of the case, make it obligatory upon us, from time to time, to give some public instructions upon the grounds of our faith. The text has the force of an universal rule. It is addressed to the Christians in common who were scattered over different provinces in Asia, and it directs them to be "always ready to give an answer to every man," whether friend or foe, "who asked a reason of the hope that was in them." We are not indeed always to enter at length upon the apology for our religion; but we are always to be ready," to be prepared with such information that we may not be taken off our guard; to have something like a facility of stating the reasons of our faith. And though this may be done briefly, where the whole subject is thoroughly understood, yet the previous information takes a wide circuit; and in a literary and inquisitive age like the present, it seems to be the duty of the minister of religion, as well as of parents and instructors of youth, to communicate the materials of such a defence, and state the chief points necessary to be attended to, and the best course of argument to be taken.

Still it is far from expedient, in the sacred temple of the Most High, and during the course of the public devotions, to enter upon the whole wide question