you call this manly? Oh! it is any thing but manly. It ought to make "every fibre" of your nature "quiver with shame." But, my dear brethren, we have no heart to administer reproof to such individuals. We could rather weep over their folly, and entreat them, by the mercies of God, to break loose from the trammels of this fatal delusion. If the energy and talent, which we so often witness in all classes of society, and which are so often shamefully misdirected, were only consecrated to the cause of Christ, they would make their possessor both useful here and happy hereafter, and place him high on the roll which hands down to posterity the benefactors of mankind. We entreat you, therefore, to give the Bible a welcome and cordial reception. Obey its precepts, trust its promises, and confide implicitly in that divine Redeemer whose religion brings glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to men. Thus will you fulfil the noble end of your existence, and the great God of the universe will be your father and your friend. And when the last mighty convulsion shall shake the earth, and the sea, and the sky, and the fragments of a thousand barks richly freighted with intellect and learning, are scattered on the shores of error and delusion, your vessel shall in safety outride the storm, and enter in triumph the haven of eternal rest.

APPENDIX.

INSPIRATION OF THE SACRED VOLUME.*

"ALL SCRIPTURE IS GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD."-2 Tim. iii. 16.

Recapitulation of the argument in the preceding Lecture. The divine origin of the Christian Religion, and the divine Inspiration of the sacred Authors, two separate questions,-the latter, after what has been already said, follows immediately in the way of inference from the former.—The inspiration of the books of the New Testament, also that of the Old Testament.

In the preceding lecture, we shewed, in the first place, that the books of the New Testament were written by the authors whose names they bear,-that they have come down to us genuine and uncorrupted,—and that they are entitled to credit as authentic histories; in other words, that we have reason to believe, that they contain a true account of such events as really occurred. We then examined the question of miracles, and shewed, in reply to the celebrated argument of Mr. Hume, that the miracles. of the New Testament, in the circumstances in which they are alleged to have taken place, so far from being incredible, are exactly what might be expected, and that they are therefore to be regarded as plain facts, the reality of whose occurrence must be decided by competent and credible

For an extended examination of this important subject, see Gaussen's Theopneusty, or Plenary Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures.

testimony. We then proved the competency and credibility of the witnesses who testify to the reality of these facts, and shewed that the miracles in question must have been wrought by the power of God, and are therefore unanswerable proofs of the divine origin of the Christian religion. We next called your attention to the early propagation of Christianity, and having compared it with the progress of Mohammedanism, we shewed that the circumstances in which the Christian religion was successful, were of such a nature that this could not have been the case, unless that religion were true. We then adverted to the evidence from prophecy; and lastly we argued the divine origin of Christianity from its own inherent excellence.

But it is one thing to prove that a religion is of divine. origin, and quite another to shew that the book which contains an account of that religion was written under the guidance and direction of the Spirit of God. You and I, for example, had we lived in the age of our Savior, might have witnessed certain marvellous facts, and those facts might have been very important proofs of the divine origin of Christianity, and we, as honest witnesses, might have published to the world an authentic history of these facts; but still that would not prove us to have been inspired. Our account might be substantially correct, and yet in consequence of not being under the immediate guidance and direction of the Spirit of all truth, we might have fallen into some of the honest errors incident to human infirmity. So that the divine origin of the Christian religion, and the divine inspiration of the sacred authors, you will easily perceive, are two separate questions. The former point we have already established. The latter, after what has now been said, follows immediately in the way of inference.

You will remember then, that the books of the New

Testament are entitled to credit, as genuine and authentic histories; that they were written by their professed authors; and, as you will find recorded in Luke's gospel, that all of these authors, except Mark and Luke, were apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ.* Now, on consulting the historical narrative, we learn that our Savior promised his Apostles, that when called to testify before kings and rulers, they should be inspired by the Holy Ghost.* And if they were inspired for the temporary purpose of proclaiming the truth in its purity, during their own day, is it not utterly incredible that they should be left to the errors of human infirmity, when composing a work which was to be the guide of the Church throughout succeeding ages? Then again, these writers had themselves a strong conviction, that they were inspired by the living God. t And can you believe for a moment, that when the great Head of the Church had bestowed on these men the power of working miracles, he would allow them to be deceived and deluded on a point like this? By no means.

These remarks will prove the inspiration of all the books of the New Testament, except the Gospel of St. Mark and the Gospel and Acts composed by St. Luke. These disciples, it is true, were not apostles; but then, with regard to the inspiration of their writings, it is sufficient to observe in the first place, that we have the testimony of ecclesiastical history, † that they were approved and sanctioned by St. Paul and St. Peter, who were themselves in

* See Luke vi: 13-16.

* Matt. x 18, 19. 20. Luke xii: 11, 12. John xiv: 16, 17, 26, and xvi: 12, 13.

† 1 Cor. xiv: 37. 2 Pet. iii: 16, and 2 Tim. iii: 16. 1 Cor. ii: 13. 1 Thess. iv: 8, 15. and ii: 3.

+ See Woods on Inspiration, lecture iv. pp. 81-83. Andover ed. 1829.— Gaussen in his Theopneusty, pp. 308-313, has some very valuable remarks on the inspiration of Mark and Luke. New York ed. 1842.

spired, and in the second place, that these writings were admitted to be inspired by the primitive Christians, who were exceedingly careful to inquire into the divine authority of any books, which they received into the sacred

canon.

There can be no question therefore respecting the inspiration of all the books of the New Testament; and while each of the authors was left to employ his own particular style and manner of writing, they were all under such a direction and superintendence of the Spirit of God,* in composing this instructive volume, as effectually secured them against even the honest errors of human infirmity.

Again; the inspiration of the New Testament directly proves the inspiration of the Old. For if the New Testament be inspired, then whatever is there asserted as divine truth, cannot for a moment be doubted. But upon reading the New Testament we find, that our Savior and his Apostles constantly argued from the Old Testament, as a work of divine authority; and St. Paul expressly declares that "ALL Scripture," meaning at least the Jewish Scriptures, in other words, the Old Testament,—“ all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." †

Thus, by a chain of irrefragable evidence, we arrive at the momentous conclusion, that the Bible, comprising the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the word of God.

* We mean by this, that the Holy Ghost inspired the sacred writers in the use of their own particular style and manner of composition, [see this point examined in Gaussen's Theopneusty,] in other words, in the language as well as in the subject matter of their instructions.

† 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.