Ghost; "For the prophecy came not in old time "by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost," (2 Pet. i. 21.) It is only in combination with each other that these passages throw light upon the inspiration of both the Old and New Testaments by the same supreme Being, and attest at the same time the unity of the three Persons in the Divine nature.

It is obvious that those who are more accustomed to the language of the uninspired advocates for the Christian doctrines than to the study of the Scriptures themselves, may not have observed the complex structure of the very proofs by which their faith was chiefly established. From the same cause they may often suppose particular doctrines to be directly asserted in texts, which in fact only imply and assume them; because the commentators, with perfect propriety as far as the truth and soundness of their argument is concerned, but incorrectly with respect to the form of the original words, quote as direct declarations of a doctrine the passages which indirectly indicate the sacred writer's belief of it.* In this manner the fifth chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans is frequently appealed to with respect to the doctrine of original sin; and yet throughout the chapter the consequences of Adam's transgression are not taught, but rather assumed by the apostle as already known to his readers, in order to argue from them to the corresponding extent of the gracious consequences of Christ's

*See for example Whitby's quotation of 1 Cor. xv. 22. in his note upon Rom. v. 12.

atonement. These are probably amongst the circumstances which occasionally conceal from the view of Christians the indirectness of Scripture with respect to several important doctrines, of the truth of which they are entirely and with the greatest justice convinced. At the same time it should be observed, that the implication of doctrinal points, or the complex character of the Scriptural proofs of them, the more convincing and satisfactory they are as modes of proof, are, however, so much the less adapted to the purpose of teaching

the doctrines themselves.

To attempt to meet the difficulty by detailing the circumstances under which the several books of the New Testament were composed is by no means satisfactory; for however natural* and just the method of them may thus be made to appear with respect to the then Christian churches or converts, the question still remains-how is such a style or method suited to our wants, which must be supposed to have been equally in the contemplation of the divine Author of the Scriptures; how can these writings be the best adapted to convey satisfactory information upon doctrinal points to Christians now, or in succeeding ages?

*See Macknight's Prelim. Essay, iii. p. 64, 65, ed. 4to. 1795. Bishop Conybeare on Scripture Difficulties, p. 112. in the Enchiridion Theologicum, vol. II., Oxford, 1812. There follows in the same place an excellent answer to the question in the text, but not sufficient for the present purpose, because it does not recognise the existence of the difficulty under consideration in these pages: the difficulties indeed of which Bishop Conybeare treats are not of the same class with that considered here, as will sufficiently appear in the sequel.

Nor will it suffice to answer, that we are frequently obliged to gather the sentiments of other writers (the heathen philosophers, for example) from a careful examination and comparison of their works; that we thus become satisfied what their sentiments were, and why not then submit to the same mode in ascertaining the opinions of the sacred writers for in fact we do throw blame on the philosopher, who obliges us to pursue such a painful method of collecting those opinions which he professes to teach the philosopher indeed may sometimes be supposed to have intended obscurity, which will not therefore detract from the authority of his writings; but the important truths of Christianity were doubtless intended to be made out with great clearness by all its professors, not to be confined to the exclusive knowledge of a favoured few. in the present case believers are supposed to admit, that they can ascertain at last the real doctrines; but they are perplexed by the obscure and indirect method adopted for teaching them truths so important; they are grieved because others seem thus induced to reject them altogether; and although they doubt not but that what the Holy Spirit has directed He has ordered for the best, they yet confess the difficulty, and are pained by its apparent con

sequences.

And

It may indeed be very possible for men of superior learning, industry, and capacity, to make out from the Scriptures without assistance many or most of the doctrines of our faith, which they may then impart to others; and this, it may be said, would be analogous to the method by which the great and beneficial discoveries of human science

have been often made by learned men, and afterwards bestowed upon the rest of mankind. But the cases do not appear altogether parallel; because here the great mass of Christians, the ignorant quite as much as the learned, are so deeply interested in the truths of Christianity, that we might expect the mode of acquiring them would originally be more level to their capacity. And besides, even the discoveries alluded to have frequently not been made until great pains and many years had been consumed in vain upon the search after them; or great truths have been long overlooked, although apparently obvious when perceived; or have met with long opposition when discovered, although they have been afterwards imparted to inferior minds with comparative facility, or at last admitted on all hands without a question. The true doctrines concerning the motions of the earth, or the theory of gravitation, how long was it before they were made out, and how difficult to establish them when first brought to light, and when many were startled by their novelty; although they could afterwards be satisfactorily explained to persons of very humble attainments. But then no similar perplexity arises here, because we feel that the world might have continued ignorant of these truths entirely without essential harm; and that in fact they never were, like the doctrines of Christianity, designed to be known and believed by the generality of mankind.

Let any man who is now convinced from Scripture of the truth of the Christian doctrines, but who has not perceived how easily they might of themselves have escaped his notice, consider only how many great truths there are in the world

quite clear and confessed at present, yet originally overlooked, or disbelieved. What can be more generally admitted now than the laws of motion, how easy to teach them even to a child, and yet how many ages passed away before they were thought of, although all the elements of these truths were present to the minds of all men from the first. Most readers will probably admit that the theory of population elucidated by Mr. Malthus is a remarkable example to the same purpose. But to take a stronger instance-how striking and convincing is the argument by which Paley has proved the genuineness of St. Paul's Epistlesand yet the materials of that argument lay unnoticed for many centuries in the hands of every Christian! And why did they so, but from that very circumstance which gives such demonstrative force to his conclusions-that the hints notices upon which the argument is raised, lie so scattered and unconnected in the substance of the History and Epistles as to exclude all possibility of forgery. Just so the method of the Christian writings affords indeed the very strongest proofs of doctrines interwoven by allusion, implication, and every indirect mode, with the texture of the sacred books; but it is often the least adapted to the purpose of teaching those doctrines, which was the end we should have expected them to have in view and some of the doctrines themselves, like the argument of Paley, might have been undiscovered possibly to the present age, had the only mode of acquiring a knowledge of them been the research of the learned, who should impart their discoveries to other men. Nay, more, it is matter

and