were under. It must be acknowledged, that this is a subject which is not without its difficulties. Yet admitting the scriptures to be the Word of God in general, there is reason to apprehend, that sufficient information may be found therein, to direct our opinions as to the degree of divine influence, with which the apostles were favoured. On this subject, all just and accurate ideas must be derived from the New Testament itself. The proper mode of investigating it, is not by forming an hypothesis, and endeavouring to support it; but by an impartial and diligent appeal to the scriptures themselves, to collect from thence what the sacred writers have taught concerning their own inspiration.

The first object of inquiry, therefore, shall be, what account the writers of the New Testament give, concerning the mode in which they acquired the knowledge of christianity.

It will then be natural to consider, what just deductions and conclusions may be drawn from the account they give of the nature and extent of that divine influence, which they were under.

This may lead us to survey such arguments, as the scriptures, and the nature of the subject suggest, in support of that view of the apostolic inspiration, which is furnished by their own account.

SECTION I.

Of the manner in which the apostles received their knowledge in christianity.

IN considering this branch of the subject, it will be necessary to distinguish the case of the apostle Paul, from that of the other apostles; for as he had not been with our Lord during his ministry upon earth, he had not possessed those opportunities of receiving instruction from him, which they had enjoyed. Accordingly, we find, that the way in which he received the knowledge of the gospel was in some respects different from that in which it was communicated to them. As his conversion was extraordinary and miraculous, so it appears, from his own account, that he received the whole of his knowledge of christianity by immediate revelation. When writing to the churches of Galatia, in order to vindicate his apostolic character and mission against the insinuations of judaizing teachers, he asserts, in the most positive and unequivocal terms, his own inspiration. His words are these: "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."* Thus he bears testimony, that the gospel which he preached, was not after the invention, contrivance, or instructions of men; that he did not receive it from the declarations of other men, neither was he taught it by any of the ordinary

* Gal. i. 11, 12.

methods of instruction; but that the knowledge which he had of the gospel, had been given him by revelation of Jesus Christ. It had been immediately communicated to him from heaven, which is inspiration in the first and highest sense of the word. This did not give Paul any pre-eminence above the other apostles, but placed him upon an equality with them, or constituted him an apostle, that is, one who had received his doctrine and commission from Christ himself.

The other apostles had all been the disciples of Christ, and had constantly attended him through his ministry. If we advert to what is said concerning them in the New Testament, we shall find, that there were three sources of information, from whence they received their knowledge of christianity; and which, taken together, were sufficient to render their knowledge of it perfect, and their testimony infallible. These were the personal instructions of Christ, their being eye-witnesses of his miracles and many other facts concerning him, and the teachings of his Spirit.

I. The apostles were taught many things by our Lord's personal instructions. He was the first and chief messenger of his Father's will and grace, and "taught the way of God perfectly." The apostles, being his constant attendants, both in public and private, heard his heavenly doctrine. They were present when he taught from a mountain, from a ship by the side of the sea, in the desert, in the city, in the temple. When he testified against the vices and corruptions of the Scribes and Pharisees; when he pointed out the errors of Jewish teachers in doctrine and morality; when he taught the pure prin

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ciples of love to God, of righteousness, justice, and benevolence to man; when he represented the nature of his own character and work, that he came "to seek and to save that which was lost, and to give his life a ransom for many," the apostles were his constant hearers. Many parts of his dis in public were addressed to them, and spoken to the multitudes which followed him, by parables and similitudes, it is said, that "when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples."* By his private conversation with them, he instructed them in his doctrine, and communicated much useful religious knowledge to their minds. In several chapters of the gospel according to John,† we have an account of the edifying discourse which Christ held with them a little before his sufferings. For their encouragement, he then set before them, the peculiar and glorious hopes of the christian system; announced to them the opposition they must expect from the world; comforted their hearts in the view of it, and gave them the promise of the Spirit, to furnish them for the proper discharge of the work to which he called them. After our Lord's resurrection from the dead he was frequently seen by the apostles, and discoursed with them of the things relating to the nature, order, design, and blessings of his spiritual kingdom" Being seen of them," saith the sacred historian, "forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God."

In this familiar intercourse with Christ, from the commencement of his ministry to the time of his

*Mark iv. 34.

From the 18th to the 16th inclusive.

+ Acts i. 3..

ascension, it must necessarily be admitted, that the apostles received much religious knowledge from him who dwelt in the bosom of the Father, and came to reveal him unto men; and that they must have imbibed much of the spirit of that holy and benevolent religion which he taught. Nevertheless, it is evident, that during this period, they often did not fully understand the meaning of our Lord's instructions. Until after his resurrection, clouds of ignorance, and mists of Jewish prejudices enveloped their minds, so that they were in a considerable degree mistaken, in the apprehensions which they then entertained, of the nature and design of his character and kingdom. We cannot, indeed, ascertain the precise degree to which their knowledge of christianity extended, at the time when our Lord left them. Nor is it at all necessary that we should, because they were to have the gift of the Spirit to clear what was obscure, to correct what was mistaken, and to supply what was defective in their ideas of christianity. But it may be here remarked, that whatever religious knowledge they received from Christ, was of the same kind, and of the same divine truth and certainty, as that which they afterwards received from the Spirit. For he was "the faithful and true witness," who had the mind and will of God, and in whom was the "Spirit of wisdom and knowledge." The gift of the Spirit, which they afterwards received, was "the Spirit of Christ," which was given to supply the place of his personal instructions to them. Those parts of their religious knowledge, therefore, which they received from Christ himself, must be considered as of equal authenticity and importance with those which they