tion on the subject; and these again dependent upon others; and then would come the calculation of chances of error. Judge from this one portion of what would be requisite, what the whole would be. On the other hand, such a proof as ought to convince a rational inquirer, may be soon made out; there are abundance already in circulation. Thus, when I say Christianity is the religion founded by Jesus Christ, as contained in the New Testament, which is a collection of writings of his first followers, and proves from facts which cannot be denied, and reasoning which cannot be overthrown, that the religion itself is from God; which is further established by the Scriptures of the Old Testament, by the internal evidence of the excellency of the religion, and by the history of the world,—I sum up the proof of Christianity; and if any one deny or doubt the truth of any of these assertions, I have a right to refer him to those authors whose works in detail fully prove these points. I may, to shorten his labour, give an analysis of the process used to establish each of these particulars; but it can no more be expected that I should give all the detail, than that Laplace should have first established the truth of every proposition in pure mathematics of which he makes use. EDWARD. But Laplace quotes them because they are indisputable now the proofs of the particular pro positions on which the truth of Christianity de pends are not so.. MR. B. Have they been disproved? EDWARD. Not that I know of: but many eminent men have rejected Christianity, and have written against it. MR. B. You may rely upon it, that had any actual demonstration been made out against Christianity, you would not have been ignorant of the fact; its enemies have been too active to let any thing of that kind be passed over. Now consider for a moment the extent of proof on behalf of Christianity, and from how many quarters it has been open to exposure, if false. In its statements of historical facts, in criticism, in morality, in physical truth. If it could have been positively proved, for example, that such a person as our Lord Jesus Christ never existed, or that the New Testament was a forgery, or that it was contrary to sound morality, or that it contained statements contrary to what we know to be the real state of the earth, or commanded observances impossible, in the nature of things, to be observed by all men; at the same time that it professed to be of universal obligation; in any of these cases, the question would have been set at rest for ever. You have also just asserted, that many eminent men have written against it now if they could thus have proved Christianity to be false, would they not have done it? BEATRICE. Certainly; for by their writing against it, they shewed their wish to prove it false. MR. B. Yes; and by their not writing against it in those particulars where their peculiar knowledge best enabled them to detect falsehood, they have, given us the strongest proof that there it was invulnerable. BEATRICE. So that the very fact you adduce is against you. MR. B. But there are other eminent men besides the Deists; and what do you say to the testimony which they give on the points where they were best able to determine the truth or falsity of these propositions? Why, those very men whose names stand the highest in each department are defenders of Christianity, and that because they knew, in what they were most immediately concerned with, the proof was decisive. Now, take these two facts together, and you will see there is sufficient ground for belief that the professed proofs are real proofs. But if any one is disposed to doubt further, let him examine; the whole is open to examination; but not condemn others for looking upon such points as proved, which those most inimical to Christianity, and peculiarly fitted to examine, have not disproved, as well as resting satisfied with the researches of its friends, who believed in consequence of those researches, and whose testimony in any other case would have been believed in such subjects as they were most conversant with. EDWARD. This, however, is placing the belief of many upon a lower ground than that of others. MR. B. It is, and in the nature of things it must be so. Men are placed in such an infinite variety of situations, that the great Creator of all can alone be the judge as to where guilt attaches, and where it does not. All that I contend for is, that no sufficient reason can be adduced on behalf of actual infidelity, scepticism, or latitudinarianism, to militate against the language of the New Testament. The Judge of all the earth shall surely do right; and every circumstance of birth, education, and situation in life, will have its due weight with him: but the result of much reading and reflec |