the contemplation of death. Christ, on the contrary, finally INTRODUCT uniting in one person God and man, fixed the idea of spiritual life in the harmonious combination of faith and works, and left His disciples in the world, though not of it. The tree which symbolizes the Christian faith springs from earth and is a resting-place for the birds of heaven': the leaven spreads through the whole2 man; for humanity is not removed by the gospel doctrine, but clothed with a spiritual dress". of the Inspira ings. The various proofs which may be adduced in support of 4. The proofs the doctrine of the plenary inspiration of Holy Scripture, tion of writ according to the sense in which it has been already explained, are various in kind, and will necessarily appear more or less forcible at different times and to different minds. On the one hand, assuming that the writings of (a) External: the New Testament are, in part at least, the works of (a) The supermen whose Divine commission was attested by sensible mission of the miracles, we may appeal to the fact that they claim to speak in the name and by the authority of Him by whom their mighty works were wrought. Or we may collect the passages which the apostolic writers have 1 Orig. Tom. XIII. in Matt. § 5. Οὐδὲν μὲν τῶν ἀπτέρων, τὰ δὲ ἐπτερωμένα πνευματικώς. Cf. Trench, Notes on the Parables, p. 115. Olsh. in l. 2 Cf. Plat. Phæd. 64 A; 67 D. 4 The reality of an objective Inspiration of the Apostles is clearly assumed in the New Testament. i. The Gospels. Matt. xvi. 17; X. 19, 20; Mark xiii. 11; John xiv. 26; xvi. 12-15. ii. The Acts. Ch. viii. 26, 29; X. 19; xi. 12, 28; xiii. 2; xv. 28; xvi. 6, 7; xxi. II. iii. The Catholic Epistles. I Pet. i. 10-12; 2 Pet. i. 19-21; 1 John ii. 20. iv. The Pauline Epistles. I Thess. iv. 2; (2 Thess. iii. 6;) 1 Cor. ii. 10; xiv. 37; (2 Cor. iii. 18;) Gal. i. 11, 12; Rom. viii. 16; xvi. 26; Eph. WESTC. INSP. iii. 3-6; 1 Tim. iv. 1; 2 Tim. iii. The same doctrine is implied in C natural com Apostles. (B) The analogy of the Apostolic use of the Old Testament. mony of the Church. (b) Internal: INTRODUCT. quoted from the Old Testament, and comparing the spiritual lessons which they draw from them with the simplest meaning of the text, form some general conclusions as to the sense in which they regarded the words (y) The testi- of the prophets, of the prophets, as indeed the Word of God1. Or, descending still lower, we may show that the Christian Fathers with one consent affirmed in the most complete manner the inspiration of the Scriptures, placing the writings of the New Testament on the same footing with those of the Old, as soon as it was possible that the apostolic records could rise with clear preeminence above the oral tradition of the apostolic teaching. On the other hand, we may examine the character and objects of the books themselves, and put together the various facts which appear to indicate in them the presence of more than human authority and wisdom, no less in the simplicity and apparent rudeness of their general form than in the subtle harmony and marvellous connexion of their various elements. And if this method of proof is less direct and definite than the other; if it calls for calm patience and compels thought in each inquirer; it is also broader and more elastic, capable of infinite extensions and applications. Nor is it less powerful even while it is less cogent. To many perhaps the inward assurance which it creates is more satisfactory than the rigid deductions of direct argument. The Eph. i. 18, πεφωτισμένους τοὺς The distinction of τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦ Θεοῦ Rom. x. 17; Eph. vi.17; Hebr. vi. 5 ; xi. 3; 1 Pet. 1, 25 (= Is. xl. 8). The latter is more frequent: Mark vii. 13; Luke v. 1, &c.; John x. 35, &c. ; Acts iv. 31, &c.; Rom. ix. 6; Col. i. 25; Hebr. iv. 12, &c.; 1 Pet. i. 23, &c. The distinction is lost also in the Syriac and Gothic Versions. In Eph. vi. 17, Tertullian (I. p. 152) strangely reads Sermo Dei. 1 Cf. App. A. On the Quotations in the Gospels. 2 Cf. App. B. On the Primitive Doctrine of Inspiration. unlimited multiplication of convergent presumptions and INTRODUCT. analogies builds up a strong and sure conviction possessing a moral force which can never belong to a mere formal proof, even where the premises are necessary truths. spiration is To speak of the proof of the Inspiration of the Scriptures In what sense involves, indeed, an unworthy limitation of the idea itself, a proof of InIn the fullest sense of the word we cannot prove the presence possible. of life, but are simply conscious of it; and Inspiration is the manifestation of a higher life. The words of Scripture are spiritual words, and as such are spiritually discerned1. The ultimate test of the reality of Inspiration lies in the intuition of that personal faculty (aveûμa) by which inspired men once recorded the words of God, and are still able to hold communion with Him. Everything short of this leaves the great truth still without us; and that which should be a source of life is in danger of becoming a mere dogma. At the same time, it is as unfair and dangerous to reject the teaching of a formal proof as it is to rely upon it exclusively. It cannot be an indifferent matter to us to bring into harmonious combination the work and the writings of the Apostles: to follow and faithfully continue the clear outlines of scriptural criticism as traced in the writings of the New Testament: to recognize the power which the Bible has hitherto exercised upon the heart of the Church, and the depths which others have found in it. Such investigations will necessarily lead to other and more personal questions. We shall ask naturally whether we have any clear conception of the position which the first Christian teachers occupied, and the results which they accomplished? Whether we have ever fairly estimated the extent to which the different Books of Scripture are penetrated by a common spirit? Whether the fault be not in ourselves, if occasional difficulties are allowed to destroy the effect of those divine words which have been for ages a spring of I Cor. vii. 12-16. INTRODUCT. life? And thus a new field will be opened before us; and in this case ever-deepening conviction is the result and the reward of labour. For there is this essential difference between an outward and an inward—a logical and a moral -proof, that while the one can be handed down from one generation to another in all its formal completeness, gaining no fresh force and admitting of no wider application; the latter only exercises its full influence by the personal appreciation of each element of which it consists, and adapts itself to every shifting phase of thought from which it draws its strength. The internal evidence of In trated specially by To examine at length the details which suggest this inspiration illus-ternal proof of inspiration is at once useless and impossible. Their effect lies in the individual point of sight from which they are regarded, and their weight in their infinite variety. But one or two remarks on the Gospels may serve to illustrate different lines of thought which will furnish abundant materials for private study; and it is by this only that their real value can be estimated. i. The negative character of the Gospels. In the first place, the negative character of the Gospels, the absence of certain features which we should have exmentariness; pected to find in them, is too striking not to arrest attention. They are fragmentary in form. Their writers make (a) Their frag while no attempt to relate all the actions or discourses of our we know of the torically to aid our progress and determine our faith? Nor INTRODUCT can it be unworthy of notice that while the Gospels they contain evidently contain so small a selection from the works and nearly all that words of Christ, so few details unrecorded by the Evan- life of Christ. gelists should have been preserved in other ways. The interval between the Gospel of St John and the Synoptists indicates the existence of many intermediate forms of doctrine of which tradition has preserved no trace. The numerous witnesses of our Lord's works and teaching must have treasured up with affection each recollection of their past intercourse; but the cycle of the Evangelic narrative is clearly marked; and it cannot but seem that the same Power which so definitely circumscribed its limits determined its contents1. We (3) Their defimere nology. ciency in chro plicity of style. Again, the Gospels are unchronological in order. are at once cautioned against regarding them as history, and encouraged to look for some new law of arrangement in their contents, which, as I shall endeavour to prove, must result from a higher power than an unaided. instinct or an enlightened consciousness. Once more, the Gospels are brief and apparently con- (y) Their simfused in style. There is no trace in them of the anxious care or ostentatious zeal, which mark the ordinary productions of curiosity or devotion. The Evangelists write as men who see through all time, and only contemplate the events which they record in their spiritual relations. But, at the same time, there is an originality and vigour in every part of the Gospels which become a divine energy in the Gospel of St John. As mere compositions they stand out from all other histories with the noble impress of simplicity and power; and it is as if the faithful reflection of the Image of God shed a clear light on the whole narrative. The answer was once given to the Pharisees when they 1 Cf. App. C. On the Apocryphal traditions of the Lord's words and works. |