may it be said that the man, whose ambition not many years since disturbed the peace of Europe (and whose memory continues to be fondly cherished by millions in France), is a mythological person who never had any real existence. For the events of his career are recorded in a variety of documents, purporting to be issued by the different governments of Europe, which have been quoted or alluded to by various daily and periodical journals, as well as by contemporary historians, who profess to record the transactions of the last twenty-five years; and they are also perpetuated by structures and medals,2 which have been executed in order to commemorate particular victories or other transactions. CHAPTER IV. ALL THE BOOKS OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS ARE OF DIVINE AUTHORITY, AND THEIR AUTHORS ARE DIVINELY INSPIRED. SECTION I. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. Inspiration defined.-II. Reasonable and necessary.—III. Impossibility of the Scriptures being the contrivance or invention of man.-Extent of Inspiration.-IV. Criteria of Inspiration. and could never have been discovered by men; these, therefore, must have been delivered by divine inspiration. I. THE preceding facts have shown that the writers of the Old and New Testaments were men of the utmost integrity, and faithful historians, whose relations are entitled to the (4.) "The authoritative language of Scripture, too, argues fullest and most implicit credit. But since an honest man the necessity of inspiration, admitting the veracity of the may possibly mistake, not indeed in facts which he affirms writers. They propose things, not as matters for considerato be true upon his own knowledge, but in inferences from tion, but for adoption: they do not leave us the alternative of those facts, in precepts and doctrines, or in delivering the receiving or rejecting: they do not present us with their own sentiments of others, if we can urge nothing more in behalf thoughts, but exclaim, Thus saith the Lord, and on that of these writers, their authority will be only human. Some-ground demand our assent. They must, therefore, of necesthing further is requisite, besides a pious life and a mind pu- sity, speak and write as they were inspired by the Holy Spirified from passion and prejudice, in order to qualify them to rit, or be impostors ;" and the last supposition is precluded be teachers of a revelation from God, namely, a DIVINE IN- by the facts and reasonings which have been stated in the SPIRATION, or the imparting such a degree of divine assist- preceding pages. ance, influence, or guidance, as should enable the authors of the Scriptures to communicate religious knowledge to others, without error or mistake, whether the subjects of such communications were things then immediately revealed to those who declared them, or things with which they were before acquainted. II. That the Scriptures were actually dictated by inspiration, may be inferred both from the REASONABLENESS and from the NECESSITY of the thing. 1. "It is REASONABLE that the sentiments and doctrines, developed in the Scriptures, should be suggested to the minds of the writers by the Supreme Being himself. They relate principally to matters, concerning which the communicating of information to men is worthy of God; and the more important the information communicated, the more it is calculated to impress mankind, to preserve from moral error, to stimulate to holiness, to guide to happiness; the more reasonable is it to expect that God should make the communication free from every admixture of risk of error. Indeed, the notion of inspiration enters essentially into our ideas of a revelation from God; so that, to deny inspiration is tantamount to affirming that there is no revelation; and to doubt the possibility of inspiration, is to call in question the existence of God. And why should inspiration be denied? Is man out of the reach of him who created him? Has he, who gave to man his intellect, no means of enlarging or illuminating that intellect? And is it beyond his power to illuminate and inform, in an especial manner, the intellects of some chosen individuals; or contrary to his wisdom to preserve them from error, when they communicate to others, either orally or by writing, the knowledge he imparted to them, not merely for their own benefit, but for that of the world at large, in all generations? 2." But, further, inspiration is NECESSARY. The necessity of revelation has already been shown, from the concurrent testimony of facts, experience, and history in every age, of which we have any authentic accounts ;3 and the same reasoning and facts establish the necessity of inspiration: for, (1.) "The subjects of Scripture render inspiration necessary; for some past facts recorded in the Bible could not possibly have been known if God had not revealed them. (2.) "Many things are there recorded as future, that is, are predicted, which God alone could foreknow and foretell, which, notwithstanding, came to pass, and which, therefore, were foretold under divine inspiration. (3.) "Other things again are far above human capacity, III. As the writers of the Scriptures profess to have their doctrine from God, so it could not be the invention of men. 1. It could NOT be the contrivance of wicked men. Had they invented a religion, they would unquestionably have made it more favourable to their own inclinations, passions, and appetites: they would not have fettered themselves, or laid themselves under such restraints as are inposed by the Bible, neither would they have denounced such tremendous judgments against the evil ways which they prefer and love: they would not have consulted so entirely the honour of God, and the reputation of piety, virtue, and goodness, as the Scriptures do; but they would have adapted the whole agreeably to their own evil nature, wishes, and desires. Indeed, if we could suppose them to be capable of this (which yet is to make them act contrary to nature), we cannot imagine that they should sacrifice all their worldly interests and prospects, and even their lives, for the sake of the Bible. Did ever bad men act such a part, contrive the greatest good, suffer and die to advance it? 2. Equally evident is it, that the Bible could NOT be the contrivance of good men. The supposition involves them in a guilt perfectly inconsistent with their character. They speak in the name of God, and they profess to have received their doctrine from him. Now if it was otherwise, and they were conscious of a forgery, they must be the grossest impostors in the world, which is so directly contrary to all virtue and honesty, that it can never be imputed to any man who truly deserves the name of good. Consequently, the Bible must be the word of God, INSPIRED by him, and thus given to man. Such is the Waterloo Bridge over the river Thames, which is said to commemorate the victory of Waterloo, obtained by British prowess, in 1815, in the place Vendôme, at Paris, to commemorate the victories of the French over the forces of Bonaparte. Such also is the triumphal column, erected army in Germany, in 1805, and which, according to a Latin inscription engraved thereon, is composed of the brass cannon conquered from the ene my during a campaign of three months. Of this description are the "Waterloo Medals," distributed by order of parliament, and at the expense of the British nation, to the illustrious general and the brave officers and soldiers who were engaged in the memorable battle of Waterloo; and also the beautiful series of medals struck under the direction of Mr. Mudie, to commemorate the achievements of the British army; to which may be added the series of French medals, usually called the Napoleon medals, executed for the purpose of commemorating the achievements of the French armies. See pp. 15-22. supra. Dr. O. Gregory's Letters on the Evidences of the Christian Religion, vol. i. pp. 264. 266. mean that it was all spoken by him, or that it was written by him, or that When we say that the Scripture is the inspired word of God, we do not tion subsisting between all the parts of Scripture; the miraculous preservation of the Scriptures; their tendency to promote the present and eternal happiness of mankind, as evinced by the blessed effects which are invariably produced by a cordial reception of the Bible; and the peculiar advantages possessed by the Christian Revelation over all other religions. I. SECTION II. ARE PROOFS THAT THE SCRIPTURES WERE GIVEN BY INSPIRA- IV. Since the Jewish and Christian Scriptures profess to the Scripture; the wonderful harmony and intimate connecbe given by inspiration of God, and have been recognised as such in every age! (which in itself is no mean presumptive argument that they are divinely inspired writings), and since also there have been many impostors in the world who have pretended to be divinely inspired, it is necessary that the authors of the dispensations contained in the Bible should produce satisfactory evidences of their divine mission. What then are the evidences of inspiration with which every rational creature ought to be perfectly satisfied? This important question admits of a clear and decisive answer; for, as the existence of any power is demonstrated by its operations, so the possession of supernatural knowledge is established by THE MIRACLES, RELATED IN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS, the performance of supernatural works, or miracles; or as an acquaintance with any language is manifested by speaking it with propriety and ease, so the gift of inspiration is unquestionably displayed by the foretelling of future events with precision. Miracles and Prophecy, therefore, are the two grand criteria on which most stress is laid in the Scriptures. Prophecies are the language of inspiration, and miracles are the operation of that divine agency by which the prophet is influenced. The testimony of our senses is not a more satisfactory evidence of the existence of external objects, than miracles and prophecy are of the existence of inspiration; and though both these modes of evidence are calculated, as well for us who live in remoter times, as for those who lived in the earliest, yet the evidence from miracles seems more particularly addressed to them, as that from prophecy is to us. To them, miracles would appear the best proof of the truth of a revelation, as they are addressed to the senses of the rude and the refined, and establish the truth of a religious system at once, without subtle disquisitions, for which comparatively few persons possess leisure, talents, or inclination. Miracles convince the mind at once; while prophecy does not give immediate conviction, but the means of conviction to such as in due time shall compare predictions with events. The ancients, who beheld the miracles, had reason to believe that the prophecies would be accomplished; just as the moderns, who see them fulfilled, have, besides other arguments, a strong presumption that miracles were performed. The arguments from miracles, depending on written testimony, will at all times be equally forcible, while that from prophecy (which has been termed a standing miracle) is increasing in strength through every age; and the more prophecies are fulfilled, the more testimonies there are, and confirmations of the truth and certainty of divine revelation; and in this respect we have eminently the advantage over those who lived in the days of Moses and the prophets, of Christ and his apostles. They had this growing evidence in part, but to us this amazing web is still more unfolded, and more of its wonderful texture is displayed. They indeed heard the discourses of Moses and the prophets, of Christ and his apostles, and they beheld their miracles: but we have this advantage over them, that several things, which were then only foretold are now fulfilled; and what were to them only matters of faith, are become matters of FACT and CERTAINTY to us.2 The evidence furnished by miracles and prophecy is so abundantly sufficient to prove that the Bible is the word of God, that we might safely rest its divine authority on these proofs. There are, however, other internal evidences, which, though not so obviously striking as miracles and prophecy, come home to the consciences and judgments of every person, whether learned or illiterate, and which leave infidels in every situation without excuse. These internal evidences are, the sublime doctrine and excellent moral precepts revealed in every thing that is contained therein is the word of God. But a distinction is to be made between those precepts, which inculcate justice, mercy, and holiness of life, and the historical parts, which show the consequences of a life in opposition to those principles. The first are properly sacred, because they not only lead a man to happiness even in this life, but also give him an evidence of things not seen in the life to come; and thus are called the word of God, as those moral virtues can only have their origin from the fountain of all goodness. The last, that is, the historical parts, though some are the words of good men,--wicked men,-or the speeches of Satan (on which account they cannot be termed the word or words of God), have a similar tendency; as they show, on the one hand, the malice, pride, and blas. phemy of the spirit of wickedness, and on the other hand, that spirit of divine philanthrophy, which, throughout the whole Bible, breathes nothing but peace on earth, good will towards men." The nature and extent of inspiration are fully considered, infra, in No. II. of the Appendix to this volume. For the testimony of the Jews, in the time of Christ, it is sufficient to refer to the New Testament, and to Josephus against Apion, book i. $8. (See the passage in p. 30. supra.) For the belief of the modern Jews, see their confession of faith, which has been in use ever since the 13th century, in Lamy's Apparatus Biblicus, vol. i. pp. 245, 246. Dr. Whitby has collected the testimony of Christians during the first three centuries, in the General Preface to his Commentary, pp. xvii.-xx. Bp. Newton's Dissertations on the Prophecies, vol. i. pp. 3, 4. ninth edi. tion. A Miracle defined.-II. Nature of the evidence from Mira- A miracle is an effect or event, contrary to the established constitution or course of things, or a sensible suspension or controlment of, or deviation from, the known laws of nature, wrought either by the immediate act, or by the assistance, or by the permission of God, and accompanied with a previous notice or declaration that it is performed according to the purpose and by the power of God, for the proof or evidence of some particular doctrine, or in attes tation of the authority or divine mission of some particular person, Nature is the assemblage of created beings. These beings act upon each other, or by each other, agreeably to certain rules formed by Infinite Wisdom, to which God has been pleased to conform his own agency. These rules are called by philosophers the laws of nature, and in the Scriptures, the ordinances of heaven and earth. Effects which are produced by the regular operation of these laws, or which are conformable to the established course of events, are said to be natural; and every palpable suspension or controlment of, or deviation from, these laws, or rather from the progress of things according to these laws-which is accompanied with a previous notice or declaration that it is performed according to the purpose and by the power of God-is a miracle. "Thus the production of grain by vegetation is according to a law of nature; were it to fall like rain from the clouds, there would be a miracle. Or, it is a law of nature that the dead return not to life; were a dead person to become alive again, there would be a miracle. It is thus carefully to be distinguished, although the distinction be not often observed, from events of extraordinary magnificence or unusual oc currence. A miracle, indeed, must be unusual; but events may be both unusual and magnificent which are not miraculous. The appearance of a comet is unusual, and a violent • Jer. xxxiii. 25. xxxi. 35. Job xxxviii. 33. thunder storm is magnificent; but in neither the one nor the "No event can be justly deemed miraculous merely beother is there a suspension or alteration of any of nature's cause it is strange, or even to us unaccountable; for it may laws. All the various appearances, indeed, which material be nothing more than the regular effect of some physical or mental phenomena may, according to those laws, assume, cause operating according to an established though unknown we are, perhaps, far from knowing. But it is one thing to law of nature. In this country earthquakes happen but assume an appearance, which, although a variety, is obvious-rarely, and at no stated periods of time; and for monstrous ly, from its analogy, resolvable into a general law, and births perhaps no particular and satisfactory account can be another, to suspend or reverse the law; and it is by this given; yet an earthquake is as regular an effect of the estotal alteration, of what from ample experience and induction, tablished laws of nature as the bursting of a bomb-shell, or even we, with all our ignorance, can safely pronounce to be the movements of a steam engine; and no man doubts, but a law of nature, that a miracle must be distinguished from that, under particular circumstances unknown to him, the every other phenomenon. We ascertain these laws by an monster is nature's genuine issue. It is therefore necessary, experience so extensive and uniform, that it produces a cer- before we can pronounce an event to be a true miracle, that tainty of expectation, scarcely inferior to the certainty ac- the circumstances under which it was produced be known, companying the testimony of our senses: this undoubted and that the common course of nature be in some degree unpermanency being the foundation of all those rules of con- derstood; for in all those cases in which we are totally igduct in the affairs of life, which are the same in all genera- norant of nature, it is impossible to determine what is, or tions, and implied in all the most brilliant discoveries, and what is not, a deviation from her course. Miracles, thereprofound calculations, in the science of physics." It is fore, are not, as some have represented them, appeals to our further essential to a miracle, that it be accompanied with a ignorance. They suppose some antecedent knowledge of previous notice or declaration that it is performed according the course of nature, without which no proper judgment can to the purpose and by the power of God, for the proof or be formed concerning them; though with it their reality may evidence of some particular doctrine, or in attestation of the be so apparent as to leave no room for doubt or disputation. authority or divine mission of some particular person. "This Thus, were a physician to give instantly sight to a blind intimation is necessary, that it may not seem to happen in man, by anointing his eyes with a chemical preparation, the ordinary course of things; and it must be beyond the which we had never before seen, and to the nature and qualireach of human calculation and power, that it may neither ties of which we were absolute strangers, the cure would to appear to be the effect of foresight and science, as an eclipse, us undoubtedly be wonderful; but we could not pronounce nor the contrivance of human ingenuity and expertness, as it miraculous, because it might be the physical effect of the the feats of jugglers." operation of the unguent on the eye. But were he to give sight to his patient merely by commanding him to receive it, or by anointing his eyes with spittle, we should with the utmost confidence pronounce the cure to be a miracle; because we know perfectly that neither the human voice, nor human spittle, has, by the established constitution of things, any such power over the diseases of the eye. No one is now ignorant, that persons apparently dead are often restored to their families and friends, by being treated, during suspended animation, in the manner recommended by the Humane Society. To the vulgar, and sometimes even to men of science, these resuscitations appear very wonderful; but as they are known to be effected by physical agency, they can never be considered as miraculous deviations from the laws of nature, though they may suggest to different minds very different notions of the state of death. On the other hand, no one could doubt of his having witnessed a real miracle, who had seen a person, that had been four days dead, come alive out of the grave at the call of another, or who had even beheld a person, exhibiting all the common evidences of death, inStantly resuscitated merely by being desired to live."2 II. Nature of the EVIDENCE arising from miracles. It is commonly objected that a miracle is beyond our comprehension, and is therefore contrary to reason. ANSWER.-This is by no means the case. The possibility of miracles, such as we have described them to be, is not contrary to reason, and consequently their credibility is capable of a rational proof; and though we cannot give a mechanical account of the manner how they are done, because they are done by the unusual interposition of an invisible agent, superior both in wisdom and power to ourselves, we must not therefore deny the fact which our own senses testify to be done. Every thing we see is, in one sense, a miracle: it is beyond our comprehension. We put a twig into the ground, and in a few years find that it becomes a tree; but how it draws its nourishment from the earth, and how it increases, we know not. We look around us, and see the forest sometimes shaken by storms, at other times just yielding to the breeze; in one part of the year in full leaf, in another, naked and desolate. We all know that the seasons have an effect on these things, and philosophers will conjecture at a few immediate causes; but in what manner these causes act, and Since miracles are effects contrary to the established conhow they put nature in motion, the wisest of them know not. When the storm is up, why does it not continue to rage? stitution of things, we are certain that they will never be When the air is calm, what rouses the storm? We know not, performed on trivial occasions; for the laws, in conformity but must, after our deepest researches into first causes, rest satis- to which created beings act, being a consequence of the nafied with resolving all into the power of God. Yet, notwith-ture of those beings, and of the relations which they bear standing we cannot comprehend the most common of these to each other, are invariable. It is by them God governs the world he alone established them he alone can suspend appearances, they make no impression on us, because they are common, because they happen according to a stated course, and them; and from the course of things thus established by Inare seen every day. If they were out of the common course of finite Wisdom, no deviation can be made but by God himnature, though in themselves not more difficult to comprehend, self, or by some person to whom he has delegated his they would still appear more wonderful to us, and more immediately the work of God. Thus, when we see a child grow into a man, and, when the breath has left the body, turn to corruption, we are not in the least surprised, because we see it every day; but were we to see a man restored from sickness to health by a word, or raised to life from the dead by a mere command, though these things are not really more unaccountable, yet we call the uncommon event a miracle, merely because it is uncommon. We acknowledge, however, that both are produced by God, because it is evident that no other power can produce them. Such, then, is the nature of the evidence which arises from miracles; and we have no more reason to disbelieve them, when well attested and not repugnant to the goodness or justice of God, only because they were performed several ages ago, than we have to disbelieve the more ordinary occurrences of Providence which passed before our own time, because the same occurrences may never happen again during our lives. The ordinary course of nature proves the being and providence of God; these extraordinary acts of power prove the divine commission of that person who performs them. 1 Dr. Cook's Inquiry into the Books of the New Testament, p. 337. Edinburgh, 1821. 8vo. power. III. DESIGN of Miracles. A miracle becomes a proof of the character or mission of him by whom it was wrought, by being professedly wrought for the confirmation of either. A miracle is the testimony of God. From the perfect veracity of him, who is the Supreme Being, it irresistibly results that he never can give, nor rationally be supposed to give, his testimony to any thing but truth. When, therefore, a miracle is wrought in confirmation of any thing, or as evidence of any thing, we know that that thing is true, because God has given to it his testimony. The miracles of Moses and of Christ were wrought to prove that their mission and doctrine were from God; therefore they certainly were from God. 1. To this it has been OBJECTED, first, that believers in the Bible argue in a circle, and they prove the doctrine by the miracle, and the miracle by the doctrine; and, secondly, that miracles are asserted by the Scriptures themselves to have been wrought in confirmation of falsehood. ANSWER.-(1.) The triumph of the adversaries of Christian 2 Bp. Gleig's edition of Stackhouse's History of the Bible, vol. iii. p. 241. By Rousseau and others, whose objections have been re-echoed by more recent opposers of revelation. cles:" it is not mentioned as effected by supernatural means, or without Christ's free consent. Neither were all the kingdoms of the world exhibited to him. The Greek word acuμens, here translated world, very frequently signifies land or country, and ought to have been thus rendered in the passage just cited; the meaning being no other, than that Satan showed to Jesus Christ all the four tetrarchies or kingdoms comprised in the land of Judæa. In this transaction it will not be pretended that there was any thing miraculous. ity would indeed be complete, if we asserted that a doctrine can | is, that this transaction is not one of the "things called mirabe proved to be reasonable and worthy of God, only by miracles, and should then make use of the doctrine to prove that the miracles come from God. But this is not the case. Miracles alone cannot directly prove the truth or falsehood, the reasonableness or absurdity, of any doctrine. As miracles are appeals to our senses, so are doctrines to our reason. They are properly credentials and testimonials, which, when a man can produce openly and fairly, if he teaches nothing absurd,—much more if his doctrines and precepts appear to be good and beneficial, he ought to be obeyed. (2.) The opposers of revelation are greatly mistaken when they assert that Christians argue in a circle, in proving the doctrines first by miracles, and then the miracles again by the doctrines; and the mistake lies in this,-that men do not distinguish between the doctrines which we prove by miracles, and the doctrines by which we try miracles, for they are not the same doctrines. The great doctrines of natural religion have for their evidence the works of nature, and want not the support of miracles. God never wrought miracles to prove the difference between good and evil; and if any man were asked how he proves temperance or chastity to be duties, or murder or adultery to be sins, he would not recur to miracles for an argument. Though these and similar duties are enforced in the Gospel, they were always truths and duties before the coming of Christ; and we are in possession of them, without the help of miracles or revelation. And these are the doctrines by which we try the miracles. But when any new doctrine is published to the world, of which nature has given no notice, it is of necessity that such new doctrines should be established by new proofs. Now the doctrines which are to be proved by miracles, are the new revealed doctrines of Christianity, which neither were nor could be known to the reason of man:-such are the doctrines of salvation and redemption by Christ, of sanctification and regeneration by the Spirit of God; and who ever brought these doctrines to prove the truth or divine original of the miracles? 2. It has also been objected that miracles are asserted, by the Scriptures themselves, to have been wrought in confirmation of falsehood;-as, for example, by the magicians in Egypt, the witch of Endor, and by Satan in the time of Christ's temptation. ANSWER. (1.) If the magicians of Egypt did work miracles, they were wrought by the permission of God, with a view to make the final triumph of his own cause, in the hands of Moses, more the object of public attention. and more striking to the view of mankind. This was done, when the magicians themselves were put to silence, and forced to confess that the works of Moses were accomplished by the finger of God. (Exod. viii. 19.) But the truth is, the magicians did NOT perform any miracles. All that they did [as the narrative of Moses expressly states] was to busy themselves in their enchantments: by which, every man now knows, that, although the weak and credulous may be deceived, miracles cannot possibly be accomplished. The proper effect, therefore, of miracles is to mark clearly the divine interposition; and the Scriptures intimate this to be their design; for both Moses and the prophets, and Jesus Christ and his apostles, appealed to them in proof of their divine mission. Hence we draw this consequence, that he who performs a miracle performs it in the name of God, and on his behalf; that is to say, in proof of a divine mission. IV. CREDIBILITY of Miracles vindicated and proved. Whatever miracles are wrought, they are matters of fact, and are capable of being proved by proper evidence, as other facts are. To those who beheld the miracles wrought by Moses and Jesus Christ, as well as by his apostles, the seeing of those miracles performed was sufficient evidence of the divine inspiration of Moses and Jesus Christ. The witnesses, however, must be supposed to be acquainted with the course of nature, so as to be able to judge that the event in question was contrary to it. With respect to the miracles recorded in the Scriptures, this cannot be doubted: for no man of ordinary understanding could be incapable of ascertaining that the event was contrary to the course of nature, when the Israelites passed through the Red Sea, and afterwards over the river Jordan, the waters being stayed in their current on either side; when diseases were healed by a word; when sight was imparted to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and the powers of speech to the dumb, merely at comnand, and without the use of any other means: especially life by the speaking of a word. when a corpse, that had begun to putrefy, was restored to But to other men, miracles, like other events, admit of the evidence of testimony. Now, as we cannot doubt the competency of witnesses to ascertain facts, their credibility is the only point to be considered; and this must be determined upon the principles on which the credibility of testimony, in general, depends. As this topic has been dexterously seized by the advocates of infidelity, in order to decry the credibility of the miracles recorded in the Bible, the following hints on the value of human testimony may be found useful in enabling the student to investigate and explain them. For estimating the value of single evidences the two following plain rules have been laid down: 1. "Any thing capable of being proved by mere testimony, is credible in proportion to the opportunity which the witness had of being well informed concerning it himself, and his freedom from any bias that might make him wish to impose upon others. If the person who gives us information appears to be a competent judge of it, and to have been in a situation in which he had the best opportunity of being rightly informed, and if there be no appearance of its being his interest to deceive us, we give our assent; but we hesitate in proportion to the doubts we entertain on either of these heads. (2) The witch of Endor neither wrought nor expected to work any miracle. (1 Sam. xxviii. 7-25.) This is clearly evident from her astonishment and alarm at the appearance of Samuel. Saul, who expected a miracle, beheld Samuel without any peculiar surprise: she, who expected none, with amazement and terror. Indeed, it does not appear from the narrative, neither is it to be supposed, that this woman had power to call up Samuel, whom Saul wished to consult. But, before the sorceress could 2. The more persons there are who relate the same transprepare her enchantments for the purpose of soothing and flat-action, of which they are equally credible witnesses, the tering Saul, the prophet Samuel, commissioned by God, appear- stronger is the evidence for it. But, the more persons there ed, to her astonishment and consternation, and denounced the are, through whose hands the same narration is conveyed to judgment of death upon Saul. We are certain that, in this us, the weaker is the evidence. case, Samuel was sent by God himself; because the message he delivered respected a future event, and it is the prerogative of God alone to declare what shall happen.2 (3.) Satan is said by the evangelists to have taken Jesus Christ up into an exceeding high mountain, and to have shown him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, in a moment of time (Matt. iv. 8. Luke iv. 5.); which transaction a late scoffing antagonist of the Scriptures has termed "the most extraordinary of all the things called miracles." But the truth Dr. Dwight's System of Theology, vol. ii. p. 508. That the Egyptian magicians did not work miracles, has been proved at considerable length by Dr. Farmer, in his Dissertation on Miracles. Chapter iv. Sect. i. Dr. Graves has given the chief part of Dr. Fariner's Observations, with some additional remarks, in his Lectures on the Four last Books of the Pentateuch, vol. i. Appendix, Sect. ii. On this subject the reader will find a well-written and satisfactory communication in the London Christian Instructor for 1818. Vol. i. pp. 641-618. In this latter case, the witnesses are called dependent ones; but in the former, they are said to be independent. Whatever imperfection there may be in any one of a number of independent witnesses, it is in part removed by the testimony of others; but every imperfection is increased in proportion to the number of dependent witnesses, through whose hands the same story is transmitted." by a number of independent witnesses of full credit, is their 3. The proper mark or criterion of a story being related complete agreement in the principal arguments, and their disagreement with respect to things of less consequence, or at least variety, or diversity, in their manner of relating the same story. That the above is the proper rendering of oxoUMEVE, is fully proved by Dr. Lardner. Works, vol. i. pp. 211. 255, 256. 8vo.; or vol. i. pp. 132. 139, 110. 40. them. "The reason of this is, that to things of principal importance to the ordinary affairs of human life, it has been laid down they will all equally attend, and therefore they will have their by some persons as a maxim, that no human testimony is minds equally impressed with the ideas of them; but that to sufficient to prove a miracle. This assertion was first made things of less consequence they will not give the same attention, by a late celebrated philosopher, whose notions have been and therefore they will be apt to conceive differently concerning adopted by all later deists, and whose argument in substance is this: Experience, which in some things is variable, in "If a number of persons agree very minutely with respect to others is uniform, is our only guide in reasoning concerning all the facts of any narrative, general and particular, and also in matters of fact. Variable experience gives rise to probabithe order and manner of their narration, it will amount to a lity only: an uniform experience amounts to proof. Our proof that they have agreed together to tell the same story; and belief of any fact, from the testimony of eye-witnesses, is in this they will be supposed to have been influenced by some derived from no other principle than our experience of the motive not favourable to the value of their testimony; and be- veracity of human testimony. If the fact attested be mirasides, having learned circumstances one of another, they cannot culous, there arises a contest of two opposite experiences, or be considered as independent of one another. All the histories proof against proof. Now, a miracle is a violation of the which have been written by persons in every respect equally laws of nature and as a firm and unalterable experience has credible, agree in the main things, but they are as certainly found established these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the complete to differ with regard to things of less consequence. We like- very nature of the fact, is as as any argument from wise distinguish with respect to the nature of the fact to which experience can possibly be imagined; and if so, it is an undeniable consequence, that it cannot be surmounted by any our assent is required; for we expect more numerous, more express, and, in all points, more unexceptionable evidence, accord-proof whatever derived from human testimony." ing to the degree of its previous improbability, arising from its tial parts of it, several decisive answers have been or may be Now, to this reasoning, or the most prominent and essenwant of analogy to other facts already known: and in this there given. A few of these may properly find a place here. is a gradation from things which are antecedently highly probable, and therefore require but little positive evidence, to things Miracles,' shows the fallacy of Mr. Hume's argument thus:(1.) "Dr. Campbell, in his celebrated Dissertation on which are utterly incredible, being so contrary to what we already The evidence arising from human testimony is not derived know of the course of nature and the author of it, that no evi- solely from experience: on the contrary, testimony has a natural influence on belief, antecedent to experience. dence could convince us of it." For instance, "if my servant should tell me that, as he was passing through a certain place, he saw a friend of mine, who (he knew) had business in that neighbourhood, and the charac dren, gradually contracts as they advance in life: it is therefore 'The early and unlimited assent given to testimony by chilis the result of experience, than that our faith in it has this more consonant to truth to say, that our diffidence in testimony foundation. Besides, the uniformity of experience in favour of any fact is not a proof against its being reversed in a particular instance. The evidence arising from the single testimony of a man of known veracity will go further to establish a belief of its being actually reversed. If his testimony be confirmed by a few the truth of it. Now, though the operations of nature are go others of the same character, we cannot withhold our assent to of our senses in favour of any violation of them; still, if in parlow-creatures, and those, too, men of strict integrity, swayed by ticular instances we have the testimony of thousands of our felno motives of ambition or interest, and governed by the principles of common sense, that they were actually witnesses of these violations, the constitution of our nature obliges us to believe them.' (2.) "Mr. Hume's reasoning is founded upon too limited a view of the laws and course of nature. ter of my servant was such, that I had never known him to tell me a wanton lie, I should readily believe him; and, if I had any thing to do in the case, I should, without hesitation, act upon the supposition that what he told me was true. But, if the same servant should say that, coming through the same place, he saw another of my friends, whom I knew to have been dead, I should not believe him, though the thing in itself was not naturally impossible; and if ten or a dozen persons of our common acquaintance, persons of knowledge and curiosity, should, independently of one another, seriously inform me that they were present them-verned by human laws, and though we have not the testimony selves, and had no doubt of the fact, I might believe it." It follows, however, from this observation, that miracles require a much stronger testimony than common facts; and such testimony, it will be seen in the following pages, they really have. The greatest part of our knowledge, whether scientific or historical, has no other foundation than testimony. How many facts in chemistry, in physics, or other departments of science, do we receive without having seen them, only because they are attested to us; though they may seem contrary not only to our personal experience, but also to common experience? For instance, I am informed that the freshwater polype, when cut into pieces, is re-produced in each piece; that the pieces of this insect, when put end to end, intergraft and unite together; that this same insect may be turned inside out like a glove; and that it lives, grows, and multiplies, in this new state, as well as in its natural state. These are strange facts, and yet I admit them upon credible testimony.2 Again, a man who has never been out of Great Britain is, by testimony alone, as fully convinced of the existence of foreign countries as he is of the existence of the country in which he lives. No person, who has read history, has any more doubt of there being such a city as Rome or Paris, or that there formerly existed such persons as Alexander the Great and Julius Cæsar, than he has of the truth of the proposition that two and two make four, or that queen Elizabeth some time since reigned in this island, or that William the Fourth is, at present, sovereign of the British empire. The truth of these events is conveyed to us by the general and concurrent testimony of history, by which it is so firmly established, that, were a set of learned men now to arise, and, without being able to produce any ancient contradictory statements, to endeavour by specious reasonings to destroy our belief of it, it would argue the greatest folly and weakness to be moved by them. The truth of other facts is substantiated in the same manner, and upon such evidence almost the whole business and intercourse of human life is conducted. But, however applicable this reasoning may be 1 Dr. Priestley's Institutes of Natural and Revealed Religion, vol. i. pp. 274-278. On the subject of the credibility of testimony Mr. Gambier's Moral Evidence may be very advantageously consulted. 2 The curious reader will find accounts of numerous experiments on these extraordinary animals in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, vols. xlii. xliii. xliv. and xlix. So "If we consider things duly, we shall find that lifeless matter is utterly incapable of obeying any laws, or of being endued with any powers; and, therefore, what is usually called the course of nature, can be nothing else than the arbitrary will and pleasure of God, acting continually upon matter, according to certain rules of uniformity, still bearing a relation to contingencies. that it is as easy for the Supreme Being to alter what men think the course of nature, as to preserve it. Those effects, which are produced in the world regularly and indesinently, and which are usually termed the works of nature, prove the constant providence of the Deity; those, on the contrary, which, upon any extraordinary occasion, are produced in such a manner as it is manifest could not have been either by human power, or by what is called chance, prove undeniably the immediate interposition of the Deity on that special occasion. God, it must be recollected, is the governor of the moral as well as of the physi cal world; and since the moral well-being of the universe is of more consequence, than its physical order and regularity, it follows, obviously, that the laws, conformably with which the material world seems generally to be regulated, are subservient, and may occasionally yield to the laws by which the moral world is governed. Although, therefore, a miracle is contrary to the usual course of nature (and would indeed lose its beneficial effect if it were not so), it cannot thence be inferred that it is 'a violation of the laws of nature,' allowing the term to include a regard to moral tendencies. The laws by which a wise and holy God governs the world cannot, unless he is pleased to reveal them, be learnt in any other way than from testimony; since, on this supposition, nothing but testimony can bring us acquainted with the whole series of his dispensations, and this kind of knowledge is absolutely necessary previously to our co Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. i. art. Abridgment. |