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willing on account of this to add anything further concerning the Fates, εἰ καὶ τάχα πεδάρσιος ἐγεγόνεις, μετὰ τοῦ διδασκάλου, καὶ τὰ άπóρinτα iμvýdηs, though by chance you had been lifted up on high with your teacher, and initiated into those mysteries? Hereupon, again, Critias is led to speak thus against the Christians, où γὰρ αἰθεροβατοῦντες ταῦτα ἠκηκόητε, 'for ye have not heard this by passing through the air.' But let this which the godless heathen have unholily scorned, be with us a reason of true and solid comfort. For we,' as many as believe in Christ, selves enter Paradise in Paul, and know that with him we shall there hear other words. For their (the Apostles') is and axon is ours and axon (sight and hearing), who know by the greatest reasons, that they saw and heard what they say that they saw and heard.' Thus piously speaks the celebrated Cocceius. Yea, truly on this we safely rest our hope. Neither, indeed, do we hold it needful either to feign other revelations of that kind, or easily to trust those that are feigned when they are narrated. For there are men, and were of old in great number in the Christian church, so foolish and stupid, that they sought to advance the cause of religion, or their own and others' credit, by inventions of their own deceit and trickery. Some one, indeed, under the name of Jerome, in an Epistle to Celantia, pretended that he had been caught up beyond the third heaven, and had seen more than Paul ever saw;' whom Erasmus deservedly censures as a pettifogger and deceiver.' It is difficult to excuse falsehood of this sort by any colour or pretence, yet I am inclined to believe that that fable had its origin in what Jerome himself relates in his Epistle to Eustochius (De Custodiâ Virginitatis, p. m. 52), as having happened to himself. These are his own words, more pleasing to monks of former ages than to the studious of our time. When many years ago I had cut myself off from home, parents, sister, kin, and, what is more troublesome than these, from the custom of somewhat dainty food, for the kingdom of heaven's sake, and went to Jerusalem to be a soldier, I could not be without the library which I had got together for myself at Rome with the greatest pains and toil. And thus wretched I fasted and read Tully. After frequent nightly watchings, after tears which the remembrance of past sins forced up from my lowest bowels, I would take up Plautus. If ever coming back to myself, I had begun to read the prophets, the rude style was terrible. And because with blind eyes I saw not the light, I blamed not my eyes, but the sun. Whilst in this manner the old serpent was mocking at me, about the middle of Lent, a fever spread through my marrow, attacked my weakened body, and my wretched limbs

were

[April, were so wasted without rest, which may also be hard to believe, that I scarcely clave to my bones. In the meantime the funeral is prepared, and the vital heat of life, as the whole body was now waxing cold, throbbed quickly only in my bosom ; when suddenly being caught up in spirit, I am dragged to the tribunal of the Judge; where there was so great a light, and so great a shining from the brightness of things around, that being cast to the ground, I durst not look upwards. Asked concerning my state, I answered that I was a Christian. Then He who was presiding said, "Thou liest, thou art a Ciceronian, not a Christian: for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also." Instantly I became dumb; and amid stripes, for He had ordered me to be beaten, I was more tormented by the fire of conscience, thinking over that little verse within myself, "In the grave who shall give Thee thanks?" (Ps. vi. 5) Yet I began to cry out and say, wailing, have mercy upon me, O Lord, have mercy upon me. This voice sounded amid the stripes. At length they who stood near, falling down at the knees of Him who presided, besought that He would grant forgiveness to youth, and allow to error room for repentance: exacting punishment afterwards if I should ever read books of heathen literature. I, indeed, who, drawn up in such a critical situation, would have promised even more, began to swear, and calling His name to witness, say, -Lord, if I ever have worldly books, if I read them, I have denied Thee. Being let go on these words of oath, I return to the earth, and to the wonder of everybody, open my eyes, wetted with such a shower of tears, that I convinced even the unbelieving by grief. Nor had that been sleep or empty dreams, by which we are often mocked. Witness that tribunal before which I lay; witness the sad judgment which I feared. Thus it can never happen to me to have such a doubt, that I had black and blue shoulders, that I felt the stripes after sleeping, and that from that time I read Divine things with such a relish as I had not before read human.' The intelligent and God-fearing student

of

P Neander's remarks are interesting:- Now when Jerome, in the midst of the severe ascetic discipline to which he had subjected himself, felt his conscience reproach him on account of the predilection he had hitherto shown for Pagan literature, we may easily explain how it might happen that, in a violent attack of fever, brought on by his rigid austerities and his abstinence from food during the Quadragesimal fasts, his thoughts should shape themselves into that vision which, by his own fault and that of his later antagonist Rufinus, became magnified to an undue importance.

This oath he assuredly did not consider himself bound strictly to keep, as is proved by the frequent accurate quotations from ancient authors in his writings; unless, indeed, we credit the solemn assurance of Jerome himself, in answer to the charge of perjury brought against him by Rufinus, that he made all these citations

of literature will read this narrative with such discretion, that whilst he does not think he must neglect Cicero, yet neither will he endure to compare the pleasures of reading Tully with the delights of the Divine Word.-C. W.

INSPIRATION.

THE subject of inspiration is one of primary importance, and one to which it is indispensably necessary that every Christian should turn his attention if he would be able to give a reason for the hope that is in him.' It is, in fact, the doctrine on which every other part of the Christian system depends, since if God is not the author of the Scriptures, what ground have we to believe their statements when they declare that God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them? There is perhaps no subject on which, among those who claim the name of Christian, greater diversity of opinion exists. One class maintain that the Scriptures are all inspired, but not all in the same degree; another, holding what may be called an intermittent. theory of inspiration, believe that the Scriptures are not all inspired, but only certain portions of them relating to essential religious truth; and a third adhere to the opinion that the Scriptures are verbally and plenarily inspired. On the first of these we shall not at present say more than that it has no foundation in Scripture; but, professing ourselves adherents to the plenary theory, our object in the sequel will be to take up and examine certain arguments against that opinion which appeared in a recent number of this Journal. The writer of that article has embodied his remarks under two heads-to each of which we shall briefly advert.b

I. The

simply from memory. Possibly he differed in his own judgment respecting this vision in different moods of minds, passions, and situations. Where he wished to dissuade from the reading of the heathen authors, he represented this as being a supernatural vision, and thus furnished Rufinus a good reason for accusing him of self-contradiction and of perjury. And Jerome could adduce nothing in his own vindication, except, first, that he had really read no pagan author since his conversion, and cited everything from mere memory-a statement against which Rufinus could urge many plausible objections; and secondly, that the whole was but a dream, and what was done in a dream was a thing of no account. This little trait is not without its importance, as opening a glimpse into the character of Jerome. Veracity or untrustworthiness of character is often indicated in the plainest manner by the merest trifles.'-TORREY'S Neander.-TR.

a Vol. v. No. x., April, 1850.

b In order that we may not misrepresent the author of that article, we shall quote his own statement of his opinion: We shall lay down and prove the two following

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I. The author of the article referred to has gone to Scripture itself, holding rightly that it is the only source of evidence in favour of the universal plenary theory. We cannot, however, but regret that the plan to which he restricted himself of dealing with the subject in a negative or destructive manner has prevented him from drawing proofs of his own theory from Scripture. But we conceive that such a manner of procedure may have sprung from a totally different source, viz. the entire absence of such a class of proofs. He will find many passages of Holy Writ which (to say no more at present) seem to teach the inspiration of the entire Scriptures, but we very much mistake if he will find one that even seems to teach that they are inspired only in part, or that their inspiration reaches only to the extent of essential religious truth; and had there been a passage favouring his view possessing half the force real or apparent, which the passage 2 Tim. iii. 16 has for the theory which he combats, we doubt not it would have been eagerly brought up.

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But to proceed to his remarks upon this passage. Admitting, as he ultimately does, and as every one who studies the passage thoroughly must do, that the most literal and correct rendering is-all' or 'every Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable,' etc., he affirms that it contributes little to the support of the plenary theory,' and that because, although it predicates inspiration of the Old Testament Scriptures in the aggregate, it does not necessarily affirm or intend it of every part or every topic of the whole or each of them.' This assertion he supports by an appeal to the use of universal terms in the Bible. Now we readily admit that there is a considerable number of passages in which universal terms are used in limited significations, but there are at least as many in which they are to be used in all their plenitude of meaning; so that, in point of fact, the remarks which he has made upon such terms, instead of placing this passage among the class to which he has unhesitatingly consigned it, only compel us carefully to examine to which of the two classes it ought to be assigned. But more than this, we are in another part of the article told that such terms are insufficient alone to prove the point, unless it can be shown that there is something in the particular instance requiring us to understand it universallyi. e. every universal term must be understood in a limited sense,

following propositions. There is NOT evidence adequate to prove that Inspiration extended to every chapter and verse of the Bible, and to every subject therein treated of; but the positive evidence reaches only to the extent of ESSENTIAL RELIGIOUS TRUTH. There is evidence sufficient to prove that Inspiration did not extend to the former of these, i. e. to all parts and all subjects.'

c P. 442.

unless

unless there is something in the particular instance or in its context requiring it to be taken in its universal-a canon of criticism this, which sounds as strangely as if a painter were to inform us that by black we were to understand any shade of colour whatever, no matter how nearly it may approach to white, unless there is something in the particular case, to which reference is made, which binds us to understand it as jet black. We had always thought that we were bound to take universal terms wherever they occur in Scripture in their strictly literal, and therefore intheir universal, sense, unless there is anything in the particular case which calls for limitation; and we affirm that there is nothing in the present case which necessitates the limitation of the universal term, but there is everything enforcing its literal signification. The words quoted from the Apostle confessedly apply only to the Old Testament Scriptures, which a little before he had styled ἱερὰ γράμματα, and which he now affirms to be given by inspiration of God.' It is contended, however, that the word rendered all (nãoa) does not denote absolute universality, but that it means the Old Testament Scriptures in the aggregate or as a whole. This meaning was undoubtedly frequently has, but it is not used arbitrarily, and there is generally something which points out when it is to be taken as equivalent to λos. The rule upon the subject is that when as is used denoting totality, then the singular is put with a noun having the article; but when, as in the case before us, it is put with a noun without the article, it includes the idea of plurality, and is equivalent to exaσtos, each, all, every (see Robinson's Lexicon,' sub voc.). We therefore maintain that the phrase πᾶσα γραφὴ θεόπνευστος means every writing -i.e. every part of those writings previously styled iɛpá, is inspired. To this interpretation the usus loquendi' of the language shuts us up, and the term must therefore be understood in all its universality.

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But apart from the mere syntax, we affirm that the very nature of the case requires that it be so understood. To take an example from modern custom :-The editor, suppose, of a magazine informs the public on the title-page of his publication, that for all the articles contained in it he is responsible. Now we ask what interpretation does the nature of the case require to be put upon the word 'all' in this connection? Most certainly the words mean, if they mean anything, that the editor homologates every sentiment contained in every article of the magazine, unless he should declare that in some particular case he does not. And yet this is just a case in point, and similar reasoning, applied to the passage before us, would lead to the conclusion that every sentiment of every book of the Old Testament is OEÓTVEVOTOS--God

breathed