صور الصفحة
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النشر الإلكتروني
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TABLES OF JEWISH MONEYS, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES.

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25 43 An Ephah, or Bath
1,319 An Houser (Chomah), or Cor

A tie ah (1-wth of ditto) about

A Maneh, or Mina (50 shekels)

A Palent of Silver

Ditto of Gold

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23,309 0 * Carefully distinguish between an Omer and A Sabbath Day's Journey, about an English mile.

*** Silver is here reckoned at $1.12, and Gold at a Homer, which contains 100 Omers. $17.75, per ounce.

ROMAN MONEYS MENTIONED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. Reduced in Dollars and Cenis.

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A Common Cubit

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A Fathom

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A Mite, about equal, in our money, to

A Shekel (20 geraha)

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D. C 3

A Maped 80 shekeis)

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A Letch, or Half homer
@LA Homer, or Cor

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Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1833, by JAMES CONNER and WILLIAM R. Cooke, in the Clerk's Ofice of the District Court of the Southern District of New York.

STEREOTYPED BY CONNER & COOKE.

INTRODUCTION.

THE Sacred Volume, which we term the BIBLE, or the BOOK, by way of eminence, consists of two grand parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament; containing conjointly a variety of different compositions, historical, poetical, and judicial, moral, preceptive, and prophetical, written at various times by different persons, through a space of fifteen hundred years, and afterwards collected into a volume.

GENUINENESS.

That these books are genuine, that is, were written by those persons whose names they bear, we have the most satisfactory evidence; and have no more reason to doubt, than that the histories which we have under the Bames of HERODOTUS, XENOPHON, or TACITUS, were written by those authors. For,

1. The books of the Old Testament have always been received as genuine by the Jews, and those of the New Testament by Christians, from the earliest period to the present time; and, in addition to the earlier books being cited er alluded to by subsequent sacred writers, we have ample evidence afforded of the genuineness of the Old Testament by Jewish Translators and Writers, and of that of the New, by a regular succession of Christian Writers, who quote or allude to a number of passages as we now read them, from the tices of the Apostles to the present hour; nor was their genuineness ever impagned by the most determined and acute Jewish or heathen adversaries, or heretics.

2. The language and style of writing, both in the Old and New Testaments, prove them to have been composed at the time and by the persons to whom they are ascribed. Their diversity of style proves them to have been the work of various authors; and competent Hebrew scholars have shown, that the difference of character and style of the language in the Old Testament, as well as the introduction of certain foreign words, can only be accounted for by the supposition that they were composed at different and distant periods, and by the authors to whom they are attributed; while the Greek, in which the New Testament is written, which is intermixed with many Hobrew, Chaldee, Syriac, and Latin words and idioms, accords only with the time, situation, country, and circumstances, of the persons to whom it is ascribed.

2. The moral impossibility of their being forgeries is an additional evidence of their genuineness; for, it is impossible to establish forged writings as genuine in any place where there are persons strongly inclined, and well ualified, to detect the fraud. Now, if the books of the Old Testament be forgeries, they must have been invented either by Gentiles, Jews, or Christians Bat they could not have been invented by the Gentiles, because they were alike ignorant of the history and sacred rites of the Hebrews, who most unquestionably would never have given their approbation to writings invented by them, nor yet to any fabrications of the Christians, by whom, it is evident, they could not have been forged, as they were extant long before the Christian name had any existence; and it is equally certain that they were not invented by the Jews, because they contain various difficult laws and precepts, and relate all their idolatries, crimes, and punishments, which would not have been inserted if they had been forged by them. Equally impossible is it, that the books of the New Testament were forged; for the Jews were the most violent enemies of Christianity; they put its founder to death; and both Jews and Gentiles persecuted his disciples with implacable hatred, Hence, if the New Testament had been forged, the Jews would certainly have detected the imposture; and the inhabitants of Palestine would not have received the Gospels, nor the churches of Rome and Corinth acknowledged the epistles addressed to them, if they had not had sufficient evidence of their genuineness. In fact, these arguments are so strong, that if we deny the genuineness of the Sacred Writings, we may, with a thousand times more propriety, reject all the other writings in the world as spurious.

UNCORRUPTED PRESERVATION.

the Jews were divided after their canon was closed; as well as their disper sion into every part of the globe, concurred to render any attempt at fabrica tion improbable and impossible before the time of Christ and after that period, the same books being in the hands of the Christians, they would instantly have detected the fraud of the Jews, if they had endeavoured to accomplish such a design; while the silence of the Jews, (who would not have failed to notice the attempt if it had been made,) is a clear proof that they were not corrupted by the Christians.

2. Equally satisfactory is the evidence for the integrity and incorruptness of the New Testament. The multiplication of copies, both of the original, and of translations into a variety of foreign languages, which were read, not only in private, but publicly in the religious assemblies of the early Christians; the reverence of the Christians for these writings; the variety of sects and heresies which soon arose in the Christian church, each of whom ap. pealed to the Scriptures for the truth of their doctrines, rendered any material alteration in the sacred books utterly impossible; while the silence of their acutest enemies, who would most assuredly have charged them with the attempt if it had been made, and the agreement of all the manuscripts and versions extant, are positive proofs of the integrity and incorruptness of the New Testament: which are farther attested by the agreement with it of all the quotations which occur in the writings of the Christians from the earliest age to the present time. In fact, so far from there having been any gross adulteration in the Sacred Volumes, the best and most able critics have asserted and proved that, even in lesser matters, the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament have suffered less from the injury of time, and the errors of transcribers, than any other ancient writings whatever; and that the very worst manuscript extant would not pervert one article of our faith, or destroy one moral precept.

AUTHENTICITY.

It is no less certain that the Sacred Writings are authentic, that is, relate matters of fact as they really happened; and consequently, that they are entitled to the fullest credit, and possess the greatest authority. For,

1. The Sacred Writers had the very best means of information, and could not be deceived themselves. They were, for the most part, contemporary with, and eye-witnesses of the facts they record; and those transactions which they did not see, they derived from the most certain evidences, and drew from the purest sources. Thus, in the four last books of the Pentateuch, Moses had a chief concern in all the transactions there related; and the authors of the subsequent historical books, as Joshua, Samuel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, as well as the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, relate those events of which they were witnesses; and, when they relate events that took place before their own times, they refer to certain public documents and annals, then extant, which might be appealed to by their readers. In like manner, the writers of the New Testament, as Matthew, John, Peter, James, and Jude, were the immediate disciples of our Saviour; his constant attendants and companions throughout his ministry; eye-witnesses of the facts and miracles, and ear-witnesses of the discourses they relate; and the other sacred writers, as Mark and Luke, though themselves not apostles, yet were the contemporaries and companions of apostles, and in habits of society and friendship with those who had been present at the transactions they record; as St. Luke expressly affirms in the beginning of his Gospel: 'Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of these things which are most surely believed amongst us; even as they delivered them unto us, which, from the beginning, were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me, also, having had perfeci understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee, in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed.'

2. As the sacred writers could not be deceived themselves, so they neither could nor would deceive others. They were so many in number, and lived at such a distance of time and place from each other, that it was utterly impossible for them to carry on any forgery or fraud without being detected; and the writers of the New Testament, in particular, were plain, honest, artless, unlearned men, in very humble occupations of life, and utterly inca

That the Sacred Writings are not only genuine, but have been transmitted to was entire and uncorrupted, and that they are, in all essential points, the same as they came originally from the hands of their authors, we have the most satisfactory evidence that can be required. That, in the various tran-pable of carrying on such a refined and complicated system of fraud, as the scripts of these writings, as in all other ancient books, a few letters, syllables, or even words, may have been changed, we do not pretend to deny ; but that there has been any designed or fraudulent corruption of any considerable part, especially of any doctrine, or important part of history or prophecy, no one has ever attempted to prove.

1. With regard to the Old Testament, the original manuscripts were long preserved among the Jews, who were always remarkable for being most faithful guardians of their sacred books, which they transcribed repeatedly, and compared most carefully with the originals, of which they even numbered the words and letters. That the Jews have neither mutilated nor corrupted these writings, is fully proved by the silence of the prophets, as well as of Christ and his apostles, who, though they bring many heavy charges against them, never once accuse them of corrupting one of their sacred writings; and also by the agreement, in every essential point, of all the versions and manuscripts (amounting to nearly 1150) which are now extant, and which furnishes a clear proof of their uncorrupted preservation. In fact, the constant reading of their sacred books, (which were at once the rule of their faith, and of their political constitution,) in public and private; the umerous copies of the original, as well as of the Septuagint version, which was widely spread over the world; the various sects and parties into which

Christian religion must have been, if it was not true. The principal facts and everts themselves are of such a nature as totally precludes the possibility of imposition; facts which appeal to the very senses of the men to whom the histories were first addressed. Thus Moses could not have persuaded a body of six hundred thousand men (to whom he appeals for the truth and reality of those facts, De. xi. 2.) that they had seen rivers turned into blood,-frogs filling the houses of the Egyptians,-their fields destroyed by hail and locusts,-their land covered with palpable darkness,-their firstborn slain in one night,-the Red Sea forming a wall on the right hand and left for the passage of the Israelites, but overwhelming their enemies,-a pillar of cloud and fire conducting them,-manna falling down from heaven for their food,-water gushing out of the rock to quench their thirst,—and the earth opening and destroying his opponents,--if all these things had been false. Nor could the Evangelical historians have succeeded in persuading their countrymen and contemporaries, that a man, whose death was public and notorious, was risen again from the dead,-that narkness had covered the land at the time of his execution,--and that there had been an earthquake at the moment of his decease,-if all these events Iød not taken place. And, as it is thus evident, that the sacred writers cou not possibly impose upon others; so it is equally certain that they we make the

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TABLES OF JEWISH MONEYS, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES.

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Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1833, by JAMES CONNER and WILLIAM R. COOKE, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York.

STEREOTYPED BY CONNER & COOKE.

INTRODUCTION.

THE Sacred Volume, which we term the BIBLE, or the BOOK, by way of eminence, consists of two grand parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament; containing conjointly a variety of different compositions, historical, poetical, and judicial, moral, preceptive, and prophetical, written at various times by different persons, through a space of fifteen hundred years, and afterwards collected into a volume.

GENUINENESS.

That these books are genuine, that is, were written by those persons whose names they bear, we have the most satisfactory evidence; and have no more reason to doubt, than that the histories which we have under the names of HERODOTUS, XENOPHON, or TACITUS, were written by those authors. For,

1. The books of the Old Testament have always been received as genuine by the Jews, and those of the New Testament by Christians, from the earliest period to the present time; and, in addition to the earlier books being cited or alluded to by subsequent sacred writers, we have ample evidence afforded of the genuineness of the Old Testament by Jewish Translators and Writers, and of that of the New, by a regular succession of Christian Writers, who quote or allude to a number of passages as we now read them, from the times of the Apostles to the present hour; nor was their genuineness ever umpagned by the most determined and acute Jewish or heathen adversaries, or heretics.

2. Tive language and style of writing, both in the Old and New Testaments, prove them to have been composed at the time and by the persons to whom they are ascribed. Their diversity of style proves them to have been the work of various authors; and competent Hebrew scholars have shown, that the difference of character and style of the language in the Old Testament, as well as the introduction of certain foreign words, can only be accounted for by the supposition that they were composed at different and distant periods, and by the authors to whom they are attributed; while the Greek, in which the New Testament is written, which is intermixed with many Hobrew, Chaldee, Syriac, and Latin words and idioms, accords only with the time, situation, country, and circumstances, of the persons to whom it is ascribed.

3. The moral impossibility of their being forgeries is an additional evidence of their genuineness; for, it is impossible to establish forged writings as genuine in any place where there are persons strongly inclined, and well ualified, to detect the fraud. Now, if the books of the Old Testament be forgeries, they must have been invented either by Gentiles, Jews, or Christians. But they could not have been invented by the Gentiles, because they were alike ignorant of the history and sacred rites of the Hebrews, who most unquestionably would never have given their approbation to writings invented by them, nor yet to any fabrications of the Christians, by whom, it is evident, they could not have been forged, as they were extant long before the Christian name had any existence; and it is equally certain that they were not invented by the Jews, because they contain various difficult laws and precepts, and relate all their idolatries, crimes, and punishments, which would not have been inserted if they had been forged by them. Equally impossible is it, that the books of the New Testament were forged; for the Jews were the most violent enemies of Christianity; they put its founder to death; and both Jews and Gentiles persecuted his disciples with implacable hatred. Hence, if the New Testament had been forged, the Jews would certainly have detected the imposture; and the inhabitants of Palestine would not have received the Gospels, nor the churches of Rome and Corinth acknowlenged the epistles addressed to them, if they had not had sufficient evidence of their genuineness. In fact, these arguments are so strong, that if we deny the genuineness of the Sacred Writings, we may, with a thousand times more propriety, reject all the other writings in the world as spurious.

UNCORRUPTED PRESERVATION.

That the Sacred Writings are not only genuine, but have been transmitted to us entire and uncorrupted, and that they are, in all essential points, the same as they came originally from the hands of their authors, we have the most satisfactory evidence that can be required. That, in the various transcripts of these writings, as in all other ancient books, a few letters, syllables, or even words, may have been changed, we do not pretend to deny; but that there has been any designed or fraudulent corruption of any considerable part, especially of any doctrine, or important part of history or prophecy, no one has ever attempted to prove.

L. With regard to the Old Testament, the original manuscripts were long preserved among the Jews, who were always remarkable for being most faithful guardians of their sacred books, which they transcribed repeatedly, and compared most carefully with the originals, of which they even numbered the words and letters. That the Jews have neither mutilated nor cor rupted these writings, is fully proved by the silence of the prophets, as well as of Christ and his apostles, who, though they bring many heavy charges aguast them, never once accuse them of corrupting one of their sacred writings; and also by the agreement, in every essential point, of all the versions and manuscripts (amounting to nearly 1150) which are now extant, and which furnishes a clear proof of their uncorrupted preservation. In fact, the constant reading of their sacred books, (which were at once the rule of their faith, and of their political constitution,) in public and private; the sperous copies of the original, as well as of the Septuagint version, which was widely spread over the world; the various sects and parties into which

the Jews were divided after their canon was closed; as well as their disper sion into every part of the globe, concurred to render any attempt at fabrica tion improbable and impossible before the time of Christ and after that period, the same books being in the hands of the Christians, they would instantly have detected the fraud of the Jews, if they had endeavoured to accomplish such a design; while the silence of the Jews, (who would not have failed to notice the attempt if it had been made,) is a clear proof that they were not corrupted by the Christians.

2. Equally satisfactory is the evidence for the integrity and incorruptness of the New Testament. The multiplication of copies, both of the original, and of translations into a variety of foreign languages, which were read, not only in private, but publicly in the religious assemblies of the early Christians; the reverence of the Christians for these writings; the variety of sects and heresies which soon arose in the Christian church, each of whom ap pealed to the Scriptures for the truth of their doctrines, rendered any material alteration in the sacred books utterly impossible; while the silence of their acutest enemies, who would most assuredly have charged them with the attempt if it had been made, and the agreement of all the manuscripts and versions extant, are positive proofs of the integrity and incorruptness of the New Testament: which are farther attested by the agreement with it of all the quotations which occur in the writings of the Christians from the earliest age to the present time. In fact, so far from there having been any gross adulteration in the Sacred Volumes, the best and most able critics have asserted and proved that, even in lesser matters, the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament have suffered less from the injury of time, and the errors of transcribers, than any other ancient writings whatever; and that the very worst manuscript extant would not pervert one article of our faith, or destroy one moral precept.

AUTHENTICITY.

It is no less certain that the Sacred Writings are authentic, that is, relate matters of fact as they really happened; and consequently, that they are entitled to the fullest credit, and possess the greatest authority. For,

1. The Sacred Writers had the very best means of information, and could not be deceived themselves. They were, for the most part, contemporary with, and eye-witnesses of the facts they record; and those transactions which they did not see, they derived from the most certain evidences, and drew from the purest sources. Thus, in the four last books of the Pentateuch, Moses had a chief concern in all the transactions there related; and the authors of the subsequent historical books, as Joshua, Samuel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, as well as the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, relate those events of which they were witnesses; and, when they relate events that took place before their own times, they refer to certain public documents and annals, then extant, which might be appealed to by their readers. In like manner, the writers of the New Testament, as Matthew, John, Peter, James, and Jude, were the immediate disciples of our Saviour; his constant attendants and companions throughout his ministry; eye-witnesses of the facts and miracles, and ear-witnesses of the discourses they relate; and the other sacred writers, as Mark and Luke, though themselves not apostles, yet were the contemporaries and companions of apostles, and in habits of society and friendship with those who had been present at the transactions they record; as St. Luke expressly affirms in the beginning of his Gospel: 'Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of these things which are most surely believed amongst us; even as they delivered them unto us, which, from the beginning, were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me, also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee, in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed.'

2. As the sacred writers could not be deceived themselves, so they neither could nor would deceive others. They were so many in number, and lived at such a distance of time and place from each other, that it was utterly impossible for them to carry on any forgery or frand without being detected; and the writers of the New Testament, in particular, were plain, honest, artless, unlearned men, in very humble occupations of life, and utterly incapable of carrying on such a refined and complicated system of fraud, as the Christian religion must have been, if it was not true. The principal facts and events themselves are of such a nature as totally precludes the possibility of imposition; facts which appeal to the very senses of the men to whom the histories were first addressed. Thus Moses could not have persuaded a body of six hundred thousand men (to whom he appeals for the truth and reality of those facts, De. xi. 2.) that they had seen rivers turned into blood,-frogs filling the houses of the Egyptians,-their fields destroyed by hail and locusts,-their land covered with palpable darkness,—their firstborn slain in one night,-the Red Sea forming a wall on the right hand and left for the passage of the Israelites, but overwhelming their enemies,--a pillar of cloud and fire conducting them,-manna falling down from heaven for their food,-water gushing out of the rock to quench their thirst,-and the earth opening and destroying his opponents,-if all these things had been false. Nor could the Evangelical historians have succeeded in per suading their countrymen and contemporaries, that a man, whose death was public and notorious, was risen again from the dead,-that narkness had covered the land at the time of his execution,-and that there had been an earthquake at the moment of his decease,-if all these events Iød not taken place. And, as it is thus evident, that the sacred writers cou not possibly impose upon others; so it is equally certain that they we make the

INTRODUCTION.

of the Gentiles, and the bigotry of the Jews, and extended its conquests over the whole Roman empire, which then comprised nearly the whole known world. Nothing, indeed, but the plainest matter of fact could induce so many thousands of prejudiced and persecuted Jews, to embrace the humiliating and self-denying doctrines of the Gospel, which they had held in such detestation and abhorrence; nor could any thing but the clearest evidence, arising from undoubted truth, make multitudes of lawless and luxurious

tings of the apostles; especially at a time when the vanity of their pretensions to miracles, and to the gift of tongues, could have been easily detected, had they been impostors; and at a time when the profession of Christianity exposed persons of all ranks and ages to the greatest contempt, and to the most imminent danger.

attempt. The whole tenor of their lives demonstrated, as even their bitterest | of the magistrate, and the subtleties of the philosopher, over the prejudices enemies have confessed, that they were men of piety and integrity; and they could have no possible motive to induce them to propagate a deliberate falsehood. They sought neither riches nor glory; and their writings bear the most unequivocal marks of veracity, candour, and impartiality. They ase no panegyric or flattery; they offer no palliation for their own frailties and follies; they conceal nothing; they alter nothing, however disgraceful to their heroes and sovereigns, to their own nation, or to themselves. How then can they be supposed capable of so gross an imposition as that of as-heathens receive, follow, and transmit to posterity, the doctrines and wri serting and propagating the most impudent fictions? The writers of the New Testament especially could gain by it neither pleasure, profit, nor power. On the contrary, it brought upon them the most dreadful evils, and øven death itself. If, therefore, they were cheats, they were cheats without any motive, and without any advantage; nay, contrary to every motive and every advantage that usually influence the actions of men. They preached a religion which forbids falsehood under pain of eternal punishment and misery; and yet, on this supposition, they supported that religion by false-corded in them are confirmed by the accounts of ancient heathen authors hood; and, whilst guilty of the basest and most useless knavery themselves, they were taking infinite pains, and enduring the greatest labour and suffer. ing, in order to teach mankind honesty. This is a mode of acting so contrary to all experience, to all the principles of human nature, and to all the motives of human conduct, as to exceed the bounds of belief, and to compel every reasonable being at once to reject such a supposition as absurd and monstrous. Hence the facts related in the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, especially, even those evidently miraculous, must be true; for the testimony of those who die for what they assert, and of which they are competent judges, is sufficient evidence to support any miracle whatever.

3. Such a multitude of minutely particular circumstances of time, place, person, &c., is mentioned in the books of the Old and New Testaments, as affords a clear and unquestionable proof both of their genuineness and authenticity. No forged or false accounts of things thus superabound with particularities, and no forger, or relater of falsehoods, would mention so great a number of particulars, since this would put into his reader's hands so many criteria by which to detect him; nor, in fact, could he produce such a minute detail of circumstances. It is easy to conceive how faithful records, kept from time to time by persons concerned in the transactions, should contain such a minute account of things; but it would be a work of the highest invention, and greatest stretch of genius, to raise from nothing such numberless particulars as are almost every where to be met with in the Old and New Testaments,-particulars, the falsehood of which would most assuredly have been detected by the persons most interested in detecting them, if they had been forged or false. These accounts were published among the people who witnessed the events related by the historians, and who could, with the greatest ease, have exposed any fraud or falsehood, if there had been any, in the details of such transactions: but they did not attempt to question either the reality of the facts, or the fidelity of the narrators; and their acquiescence with them, as well as their obedience to the injunctions contained in these books, are conclusive evidence in favour both of their genuineness and authenticity, abundantly sufficient to convince every candid inquirer.

4. The authenticity of the Old and New Testaments is farther attested by the principal facts contained in them, being confirmed by certain commemorative ordinances of great celebrity, which have existed among the Jews and Christians from the time the events took place, which they are intended to commemorate, to the present day, wherever Jews or Christians are to be found. Such, among the Jews, is circumcision, the seal of the covenant with Abraham, their great progenitor;-the passover, instituted to commemorate the protection of the Israelites, when all the first-born of the Egyptians were destroyed, and their deliverance from bondage in Egypt, which was the im mediate consequence ;-the feast of tabernacles, instituted to perpetuate the sojourning of the Israelites for forty years in the wilderness;--the feast of Pentecost, which was appointed fifty days after the passover, to commemorate the delivery of the Law from Mount Sinai ;-and the feast of Purim, kept in memory of the deliverance of the Jews from the wicked machinations of Haman. Now all these institutions, which have been held sacred among the Jews in all ages since their appointment, and are solemnly and sacredly observed among them to this day, in whatever country they sojourn, bear the most unequivocal testimony to the truth of the facts which they are designed to commemorate, and which facts are inseparably interwoven with the history and laws, and even morality and prophecy, of the Old Testament. In like manner, the principal facts of the Gospels are confirmed by certain institutions which subsist to this day among Christians, and are the objects of men's senses. Such is the initiatory rite of Baptism, which is performed in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, by which those submitting to it renounce every other religious institution, and bind themselves to the profession of the Gospel alone ;-the Lord's supper, kept in commemoration of the life, sufferings, death, resurrection, and the promise of the second coming of the Founder of their religion;-and the observance of the First day of the Week, in honour of Christ's resurrection from the dead. Now, as these monuments perpetuate the memory, so they demonstrate the truth, of the facts contained in the Gospel history beyond all reasonable doubt; because, unless the events, of which the Christian rites are commemorations, had really taken place, it is impossible to conceive how these rites could have come into general use. If Jesus Christ neither lived, nor tanght, nor wrought miracles, nor died, nor rose again from the dead, it is altogether incredible that so many men, in countries so widely distant, should have conspired together to perpetuate such a series of falsehoods, by commencing the observation of the institution of Baptism, the Lord's supper, and the Lord's day and it is equally incredible that, by continuing to observe them, they should have imposed these falsehoods on posterity.

5. The wonderful establishment and propagation of Christianity is a most onvincing proof of the authenticity of the New Testament; and, consequently, of that of the Old Testament, with which it is intimately and inseparably connected. Before the second century was completed, the Christian doctrine,-unaided by any temporal power, protected by no authority, assisted by no art, not recommended by the reputation of its author, not enforced by eloquence in its advocates, but by the force of truth alone,-had triumphed over the fiercest and most determined opposition, over the tyranny

6. In addition to the above evidence of the authenticity of the Sacred Scriptures, it is to be observed, that many of the facts and circumstances re

which demonstrates their perfect agreement with the most authentic records extant. Thus, in the Scriptures of the Old Testament, the first origin and creation of the world out of chaos; the completion of this great work in six days; the formation of man in the image of God, and his existence in a state of innocence; his fall, and the introduction of sin into the world; the longevity of the antediluvians; the destruction of the world by a deluge; the circumstance of the ark and the dove; the building of the tower of Babel; the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; many particulars relating to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses; the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, and their miraculous passage of the Red Sea; the giving of the law, and Jewish ritual; the fertility of Palestine; the destruction of the Canaanites by Joshua and the Israelites; Jephthah's devoting his daughter; the history of Samson; the history of Samuel and Saul; the slaying of Goliah by David; many remarkable circumstances respecting David and Solomon; the invasion of Israel by Shalmaneser, and deportation of the twelve tribes; the destruction of Sennacherib's army; the defeat of Josiah by Pharaoh-necho; the reduction of Jerusalem, and captivity of Jehoahaz; these facts, and others of the same kind, are confirmed by the testimony of profane authors, and even some of them by traditions, which still exist among heathen nations, and others by coins, medals, and other monuments. Not less striking and decisive is the testimony of both Roman historians and Jewish writers to the truth of the principal facts detailed in the New Testa ment; such as Herod's murder of the infants, under two years old, at Bethlehem; many particulars respecting John the Baptist and Herod; the life and character of our Lord; his crucifixion under Pontius Pilate; and the earthquake and miraculous darkness that attended it; the miserable death of Herod Agrippa; and many other matters of minor importance related in these writings. Nay, even many of the miracles which Jesus himself wrought, particularly in curing the blind and lame, and casting out devils, are, as to matter of fact, expressly owned and admitted by Jewish writers; and by several of the earliest and most implacable enemies of Christianity; for, though they ascribed these miracles to magic, or the assistance of evil spirits, yet they allowed that the miracles themselves were actually wrought. And this testimony of our adversaries, to the miraculous parts of the sacred history, is the strongest possible confirmation of the truth and authority of the whole. Add to this, that in the sacred history, both of the Old and New Testaments, there are continual allusions and references to things, persons, places, manners, customs, and opinions, which are perfectly conformable to the real state of things in the countries and ages to which they stand related, as represented in the most authentic records that remain; while the rise and fall of empires, the revolutions that have taken place in the world, and the grand outlines of chronology, as mentioned or referred to in the Scriptures, are coincident with those stated by the most ancient and creditable writers extant.

Such are the principal evidences, both external and internal, direct and collateral, of the authenticity and credibility of the Sacred Scriptures; and when the number, variety, and extraordinary nature of many of them are considered, it is impossible not to come to the conclusion, that the Sacred Writings contain a true relation of matters of fact as they really happened. If such a combination of evidence is not sufficient to satisfy every inquirer into truth, it is utterly impossible that any event, which passed in former times, and which we did not see with our own eyes, can ever be proved to have happened, by any degree of testimony whatever.*

INSPIRATION.

The Scriptures are not merely entitled to be received as perfectly authentic and credible, but also as containing the revealed will of God, in other words, as divinely inspired writings. By inspiration is meant such a complete and immediate communication, by the Holy Spirit, to the minds of the sacred writers, of those things which could not have been otherwise known; and such an effectual superintendence and guidance, as to those particulars concerning which they might otherwise obtain information; as was amply sufficient to enable them to communicate religious knowledge to others, with out any error or mistake, which could in the least affect any of the doctrines or precepts contained in their writings, or mislead any person, who consider ed them as a divine and infallible standard of truth and duty. Every sentence, in this view, must be considered as the sure testimony of God,' in that sense in which it is proposed as truth. Facts occurred, and words were spoken, as to the import of them, and the instruction contained in them, exactly as they are here recorded; but the morality of words and actions, recorded merely as done and spoken, must be judged of by the doctrinal and preceptive parts of the same book. The sacred writers, indeed, wrote in such language as their different talents, tempers, educations, habits, and associations suggested, or rendered natural to them; but the Holy Spirit so entirely superintended them, when writing, as to exclude every error, and every unsuitable expression, and to guide them to all those which best suited their several subjects: they are the voice, but the Divine Spirit is the

• For references to classical and other authors as to the facts stated, see notes to the Introduction of Bagster's Comprehensive Bible.

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