Tertullian-by considering that the Apocryphal books want every one of these marks of authenticity, and are branded with every criterion of spuriousness-by adverting to the style and manner of the sacred penmen; and to the unexpected confirmations which are continually arising from the most extraordinary quarters-and by observing, finally, that our sacred volume stands unparalleled in the history of the world.

Let me for one instant observe, in conclusion, that it was THE LOVE OF CHRISTIANS TO THE BIBLE, which has furnished us with the accumulated testimony which we have been reviewing. Can we fail, then, to admire that care of Divine Providence, which made the spontaneous dictate of the Christian's gratitude for redemption, the means of pouring down upon us a stream of proofs of the record by which it was conveyed? Had the cold and theoretical Christianity which now prevails, been all that the first converts knew, our religion would have expired at its birth. It was the holy ardour of love-it was the emotion of gratitude for the discoveries made in the authentic scripturesit was the astonishment excited by the mysteries of redemption; by the agony of the cross, the glory of the resurrection, the consolation of the divine Comforter-it was the light and

grace shed upon the miseries of mankind by the Sun of righteousness, which made the Bible what it was to the first Christians. This fixed it in their hearts, entwined it around their first principles of action, and connected it with their habitual language and doctrine. And it is to this we owe, under God, the copious testimonies on which our faith now rests.

Let the detail of these testimonies, then, bring us back to that simplicity of love from which they flowed. Let us delight in our Bibles. Let the discovery of our lost estate, and the proffers of exuberant grace in the sacrifice of Christ, which are there made to us, move and bear away our hearts. If professed Christians had any just measure of this devout temper, they would not need such courses of Lectures as I am now attempting. The obvious arguments for the authenticity of the sacred scriptures, would so fall in with their conviction of the excellency of the gospel, as at once to kindle admiration, obedience, joy. The scoffs of unbelief would no more affect them now, than the scorn of Celsus or Porphyry did the first Christians. They would only see, in the bitterness of adversaries, whether ancient or modern, and in the admissions they are compelled to make, further reasons for adoring that mysterious providence

which, after employing the love of friends, overrules also the wrath of enemies to the establishment of his own word. They would ascribe to its true cause, an indifference to holiness and truth, that perverse ingenuity which can overlook the most luminous evidence, to follow some cloudy sophism-which can adhere, amidst the blaze of evangelical light, to the darkness and uncertainty of human imaginations.

Unmoved by such fearful examples of disobedience against conscience, the sincere Christian will be only anxious to love his Bible more, to transcribe it into his heart and life with greater fidelity, and rise by the means of these proofs of authenticity, to that spiritual elevation of faith and joy in God, and of holy obedience to his will, which it is the end of all external evidences to produce.

LECTURE VI.

CREDIBILITY OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY.

LUKE I. 1-4.

Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a declaration of those 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.

HAVING proved that the books of the New Testament are authentic, the whole question as to the external evidence is virtually settled. In pursuance however of our design, of fixing in the susceptible heart a profound reverence for Christianity, by tracing out the steps of our

great argument, I go on to the next question in order, which is-Whether the history contained in the New Testament may be fully credited; that is, whether the sacred writers describe things as they really took place; whether their books deserve to be implicitly trusted, so that a fact ought to be accounted true, because it is found in them?

This question embraces what the critics call, the Credibility of the gospel history.

It is to this that the words of my text immediately apply. St. Luke wrote his narrative to set right, perhaps correct, the accounts given by others, to show on what foundation the things most surely believed by the first Christians rested; to do this by an appeal to those who from the beginning had been eye-witnesses and ministers of the word-and to do it as one who himself had a perfect understanding of all things from the very first-and thus to lay the firmest grounds of credibility, and teach them the certainty of those things wherein they had been instructed.

On this question, then, the natural course for us to take, is to ask, in the first place, as we did on a former occasion, How do men act in common life under similar circumstances; in what way do they ascertain the credibility of historical works?