THE

CHRISTIAN REMEMBRANCER.

JANUARY, 1856.

ART. I.-The Inspiration of Holy Scripture: its Nature and Proof. Eight Discourses preached before the University of Dublin. By WILLIAM LEE, M.A., Fellow and Tutor of Trinity College. London: Rivingtons, 1854.

WE should be doing great injustice to Mr. Lee, were we to withhold from him the credit of having made, in this work, a valuable and in many respects a remarkable contribution to our Biblical literature. It would, indeed, be difficult to name a more ample and varied storehouse of information, bearing upon the general question of the matter and manner of Holy Scripture. In point of range, it may really be said to be coextensive with the literature of its subject, from the earliest to the latest day; while its tone, viewing it as a controversial work, is perfectly free from asperity, and renders it almost a model of calm and dignified argument.

At the same time, we cannot forbear, at the very outset, from pointing out, that writers as well as readers of works of this class are in great danger of over-estimating, and indeed of misconceiving altogether, their bearing upon the subject to which they refer. The idea under which a treatise of this sort, making some pretensions to completeness and exhaustiveness, is taken in hand, whether by author or student, is apt to be something of the following kind :

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'Here,' it is thought, 'is a great question upon which one can' not but feel a little uneasy, and about which countless volumes 'have been written, and continue to be written daily :-here it is 'going to receive a full investigation, and, we may hope, a satis'factory settlement. So much has been said, of late years more especially, on this subject of Inspiration, that it is most desirable that we should at length come to understand the exact nature of it; and be put fully in possession of the various and irrefragable proofs that doubtless may be alleged for its existence.' Such, accordingly, is the title of Mr. Lee's volume: 'Inspiration: its Nature and Proof." Of course, this title

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might, on inquiry, be found to mean no more than that the author was about to tender such illustrations as the subject admits, of the nature of that influence under which the sacred penmen produced the Holy Scriptures. And again, the proof offered by him might turn out to be no other than that one and only kind which can be strictly so called, or properly accepted as proof; of which more presently. Such, however, is not the case. On perusal, we find that Mr. Lee's design is no less than to give a full, satisfactory, and conclusive account of what Inspiration is, or was rather; how it acted on the subjects of it, where its operation began and where ended, and the like. On these points it is assumed that we are or may be perfectly informed. Such exact knowledge is conceived to be, somehow or other, a part of the Church's heritage. A Christian has a right, it is represented, (in effect, if not in so many words,) to full satisfaction on these matters. And it is supposed to be the business of theologians and doctors of the Church to render them such satisfaction-to furnish, in a word, a full and exact Theory of Inspiration:' and that too not merely as a topic of interesting and instructive inquiry, which of course it is, but as a matter of life and death for the Church; so that if she cannot make good her 'theory' against all the world-then actum est—it is all over with her, and with Christianity.

It is not improbable that both Mr. Lee and the majority of his readers will, at first sight, think that we have not a little misrepresented him in what we have now said. But we may challenge any person, writer or reader, on calm consideration of this book as a whole, to gainsay that its entire drift, and the idea upon which it really proceeds, is apparently such as we have represented. The line taken throughout is that there are no difficulties which are not either actually solved or soluble by the application of a just method of exegesis. The preface, for example, sets forth very distinctly that the thing that needs and has long needed to be done, is to produce an absolutely unexceptionable theory. All who in time past have sought to elaborate such a theory, are by no means represented as having been mistaken in their general aim, but only unfortunate in the particular theory adopted by them.

The vagueness which too often characterises the language employed by writers who, in modern times, have treated of its Inspiration, seems to render a fundamental examination into the nature of this divine influence daily more desirable. So long, indeed, as the "mechanical" theory of Inspiration was generally maintained, there was no want of distinctness or consistency in the views put forward. So long as it was believed that each word and phrase to be found in the Bible, nay, even the order and grammatical connexion of such words and phrases, had been infused by the Holy Ghost into the minds of the sacred writers, or dictated to them

by His immediate suggestion, so long must the opinion held respecting Inspiration have been clear, intelligible, and accurately defined. But such a theory could not stand the test of close examination. The strongest

evidence against it has been supplied by the Bible itself; and each additional discovery in the criticism of the Greek or Hebrew text confirms anew the conclusion that the great doctrine of the infallibility of Holy Scripture can no longer rely upon such a principle for its defence. The "mechanical" theory having been tacitly abandoned, at least by all who are capable of appreciating the results of criticism, and no system altogether satisfactory having been proposed in its stead, there has gradually sprung up a want of definiteness, and an absence of consistency in the language used when speaking of Inspiration, owing to which those who are most sincere in maintaining the divine character of the Bible have not unfrequently been betrayed into concessions fatal to its supreme authority. And not only is there a vagueness in the language which most writers employ when approaching this topic, there is also a want of completeness in the method usually adopted when discussing. With reference to the nature of Inspiration itself, and to the possibility of reconciling the unquestionable stamp of humanity impressed upon every page of the Bible, with that undoubting belief in its perfection and infallibility which is the Christian's most precious inheritance, it may safely be maintained that in English theology almost nothing has been done; and that no effort has hitherto been made to grapple directly with the difficulties of the subject.'Preface, p. iii.

It will be observed that the desiderata intended to be supplied by the work are: a system altogether satisfactory;'completeness of method;' such a treatise, in short, as will expound the nature of Inspiration, with especial reference to the possibility of reconciling the unquestionable stamp of humanity impressed upon every page of the Bible, with an undoubting belief in its perfection and infallibility.'

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And such as the preface is, such, as in duty bound, is the book. It proceeds from first to last upon the plan of stating, candidly and dispassionately, the difficulties alleged by rationalistic, or infidel, or otherwise scientific' writers, and then showing that there is, in fact, in each several instance, no difficulty at all. There are, it is represented, certain distinctions, more especially one between Revelation and Inspiration-treated in a sufficiently interesting way-by duly bearing which in mind, we shall see our way through whatever of cloud or mist may have gathered around the subject.

We trust it will be understood-and if not, we shall abundantly make it clear hereafter-that we by no means deprecate, nor have any wish to depreciate, the very interesting discussions upon which Mr. Lee has entered, and from which we ourselves, at any rate, have gathered much both of instruction and interest. The mistake against which we would most earnestly warn the reader, is that of representing the summa rei of Christianity as being at stake in these encounters. What we do deprecate is this arrière pensée with which these studies are

entered upon. For it is manifest, that to attach this degree of importance to them, is to suspend the Christian faith on the issue of a contest between human wits. This is admitted by Mr. Lee to be involved in the line taken in his volume. Speaking of the character of his work, he says:

'My object throughout has simply been to collect as many facts and results as my acquaintance with ancient and modern researches into the text or interpretation of Scripture could supply; and thence to declare what appeared to be the necessary inference. In every inquiry so conducted, the safety of the inference must, of course, depend on the extent of the induction; and, consequently, the success of the method which I have ventured to suggest is susceptible of being indefinitely increased, in proportion to the number of new facts and results, which may hereafter be accumulated by those whose learning and attainments far surpass any that I can pretend to possess.'—P. v.

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The safety of the inference,' he truly observes, must depend upon the extent of the induction.' So that, according to this view, our faith in the authority and credibility of Holy Scripture hangs upon the soundness or unsoundness of an inductive conclusion: in other words, upon the success of 'ancient and modern researches,' designed to maintain that authority and credibility. The obvious corollary is, that if, in any single case, all our research fails to give a satisfactory account of apparently contradictory phenomena in the Scriptures, we must give up our reliance upon them. It is very true that, as is here said, new facts and results' may, and in all probability will, hereafter be accumulated, of a kind favourable to the authority of Scripture. But, then, new objections may be, and are accumulated likewise; and, in striking a balance, we have no reason for saying that it will be pro rather than con. It is surely a naïve admission, and points to something defective in the whole treatment of the subject, that the success of the method' pursued in this work is susceptible of being indefinitely increased. We profess ourselves unable to comprehend a graduated success in a matter of this kind. If the proof alleged for the divine authority of Scripture is sufficient, why, it is successful, and there is an end of the matter. It may receive fresh illustrations, confirmations, and the like, but more successful it can never be.

The truth is, that in some respects the able and learned author of the book before us has, in common with many, perhaps with the great majority, of those who think about such subjects at all, suffered himself to be beguiled into placing the authority and credibility of Scripture upon a wrong issue-upon one which the Church has never accepted, nor can for a moment consent to be bound by. A few clever but unstable, and, it must be added, notwithstanding their pretensions that way, really unphilosophical men, have managed to persuade a good part of the religious and

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literary 'public' that a more formidable onslaught than the world has yet witnessed is in preparation, or indeed is in a measure already come, against the Holy Scriptures, considered as the written depositories of the Christian faith. The slogan of this onset was thus sounded by Dr. Arnold, speaking of the late S. T. Coleridge's speculations, in a letter to Mr. Justice Coleridge :

Have you seen your uncle's "Letters on Inspiration," which, I believe, are to be published? They are well fitted to break ground in the approaches to that momentous question, which involves in it so great a shock to existing notions; the greatest probably that has ever been given since the discovery of the falsehood of the Pope's infallibility.'

On this Mr. Lee remarks:

'It cannot be doubted, I apprehend, that Dr. Arnold's remark is, to a certain extent, well founded; and that this treatise of Mr. Coleridge has done more than any modern work to unsettle the public mind in these countries, with respect to the authority due to the Bible as a whole.'

Now, it may be very true that increased vehemence and some novelty of tactics have of late been displayed, and that the minds of not a few have been in a measure disquieted by this treatise of Coleridge and similar works. But what we would most strongly affirm is, that this by no means proves the real formidableness of the attack, but only the weakness and unpreparedness of the general mind. And we hasten to reassure plain people, hearers, perhaps, rather than readers of these things, that there is not the least occasion for any uneasiness. The evidence for the authenticity, inspiration, the divine origin, or call it what you will, of the Scriptures, stands exactly where it did some seventeen hundred years ago. When we come to look into the matter, we find that, vehement as the assault and battery may have been, nothing can well produce less effect than have these missiles on the real position and status of the Scriptures. To the superficial eye, they may have done somewhat of the indignity they were intended to do to the outward shell and surface, but that is all. The actual damage to the fortress is, as we shall point out presently, absolutely inappreciable. The only real mischief is not so much a material as a moral one. Such a bruit and storm has been raised about the ears of the Church's defenders, that unwary men have been prevailed upon to leave their stronghold, and to descend into a battle-field upon which they have no sort of commission or warrant for risking her

cause.

This is by no means an unnatural or an uncommon result of assaults of this nature. A special onslaught is observed to be made against some outwork or other; the defenders muster around it with an eagerness quite disproportioned to its importance, and fare as they may in the defence of it; and if in any