lawful for the Apostle, in the midst of his public labours, to attend to such minute concerns as might be for his own accommodation or use. In this view, and perhaps in other respects, both passages teach Christians useful lessons. Were it lawful to give up the inspiration of parts of Scripture according to our opinion of their importance, what a flood-gate would be opened for confusion and uncertainty! Origen, who was born in the year 185, quoting Mark x. 50, "And he, casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus," says, "Shall we say that the Evangelist wrote without thought, when he related the man's casting away his garment, and coming to Jesus, and shall we dare to say that these things were inserted in the Gospels in vain? For my part, I believe that not one jot or tittle of the Divine instruction is in vain.-Are men to say that there is any thing impertinent or superfluous in the Scriptures of the Holy Spirit, though to some they may seem obscure? But we are to turn the eyes of our mind to him who commanded these things to be written, and seek of him the interpretation of them.-The sacred books came from the fulness of the Spirit, so that there is nothing in the Prophets, or the law, or the Gospel, or the Apostles, which descends not from the fulness of the Divine Majesty. [To be continued.] For the New Evangelical Magazine. ON THE EVIDENCES OF DIVINE REVELATION. No. III. HITHERTO we have only taken a view of the Bible, after the manner of beholding the exterior of an edifice. Its stately pillars, and its strong foundations, deeply laid in the history of past ages, have been the subjects of our limited contemplation. But, before we can have any adequate knowledge of the glory of this noble structure, we must enter its sacred porticos, and view the grandeur of its interior, where truth and holiness combine to shed a lustre divinely attractive. During a long series of revolving years, the generations of the blessed have visited this heavenly temple, and have found within its hallowed precincts the rich sources of their hope and consolation. Not all the rage of persecution could ever shake its massy walls; nor yet the bold attacks of scoffing multitudes beat down its high triumphal arches. Though sometimes beclouded with the darkening shades of vain tradition and antichristian night, yet it has always shone forth again with the pure radiance of celestial beauty and unsullied brightness. It is the peculiar blessedness of our day, to behold its rays dispelling the gloom of heathen ignorance, and causing the day-spring of salvation to arise unto the ends of the earth. Dismissing the figure, let it be observed, that the Bible furnishes to the humble inquirer abundant scope for the researches of his mind, accompanied with ample reason for its reception as the great oracle of truth. Though it be not arranged with the refinement of logical precision, or stated in the form of critical exactness, yet its plain sublimity bespeaks its origin, and opens clear its nature and design. In proceeding to point out a few evidences of its inspiration and truth, we propose to shew in the present letter, that the Bible, above all other books, gives the most exalted discovery of the perfections and glory of God. That there is a Supreme and Almighty Being, whose ineffable glory surpasses the comprehension of creatures fully and perfectly to know, is a truth which few have the audacity to deny. In the darkest periods of the world, men have evinced traces of conviction that there is a God; and, upon the admission of his existence, may be founded the firm conclusion, that there are certain distinguishing excellencies, which characterize his nature, and are peculiarly essential to himself. The Bible, claiming its origin from Him, naturally raises the expectation, that its contents will unfold some dignified display of those attributes which unitedly constitute the glory of his eternal power and Godhead. We perceive the supereminence of the Bible in accomplishing this object, only by comparing it with the theology of those who have not been directed by the doctrines of Revelation; because many truths are, in what men call Christian lands, derived from it, which those who disallow its divine character, are unwilling to admit as the sole result of its sacred instructions. Referring the comparison to the highest attainments of genius and short-lived man in the knowledge of his Creator is examined, it is only, when compared with the Bible, like the glimmering of the glow-worm before the refulgence of the mid-day sun. It is admitted, that Socrates saw clearly the vanity and degrading indignity of the Athenian idolatry, with its obscene rites and lascivious appendages, though supported by the voice of tradition and of law. He beheld its enactments, and the principles upon which it was founded, as infinitely beneath the honours due to God, the supreme and universal Lord. But, in the midst of these con learning, the conclusion will be more convincing and peremptory. Upon this principle, we ask, What were the lessons which Egypt's renowned wisdom taught respecting God?-What did the bold acquisitions of Grecian literature, aided by the unequalled accomplishments of poets and philosophers, bring forth respecting the Eternal? Or what the discoveries of Roman eloquence and erudition, concerning the name of Him who sits enthroned in the Heavens? Did they disclose to man any thing worthy of a God? Instead of this, they debased the inimitable perfection of Jehovah in the most impious man-victions, he still left the people to grope ner, by the gross substitution of an idolatrous Polytheism. In other words, Professing themselves wise, they became fools; and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." Whether we glance at their mythology, or search more carefully their laboured compositions, the humbling reflection rises in the mind, "That the world by wisdom knew not God." In the room of sublime discoveries of the inconceivable glories of the Deity, we are presented with what the poet justly calls, 66 "Gods partial, vengeful, passionate, unjust; Whose attributes were rage, revenge, or lust." Perhaps it may be averred, that the age of reason had not then commenced; and that men were fettered with ignorance, and a contracted knowledge of things. But, in opposition to this, we affirm, without any fear of contradiction, that Reason, unassisted by Revelation, then exerted all her energies, whilst the wisdom of the world ascended to its highest zenith. Is it possible to trace the mild philosophy of Socrates and Plato, or to read the noble strain of Cicero's words, and not be convinced that human sagacity has made its boldest flights? With them, and others of the sages of antiquity, the thread of human reason was manifestly stretched to its utmost limits; and yet, how much beneath the dignity of the true God, as exhibited in the Bible, are the most refined doctrines that they taught! When all that is estimable in their works is collected into one plain section, and its adaptedness to guide the way of in darkness, without any just display of the true character of Deity; and could only express his strong desire, that some divine teacher might appear, to open unto man a proper developement of Jehovah's will." Let the boasting advocates of modern philosophy, who despise the blessing which Socrates desired, consider, that the only reason why they are enabled to obtain a more elevated knowledge of the Deity than he did, arises solely from the principles of the Bible having become incorporated with educational habits, and mixed with the very texture of human science. Would those who pride themselves in vilifying and reproaching that Holy Book, restore back all they have unwittingly or designedly stolen from its pages, it would be no great wonder were they found worshipping the plants and insects of the earth, as Egypt did!-or seen, with Greece, poring over the entrails of a slaughtered beast, to learn the ominous indications of their future destiny! But it is time we should attempt more directly to illustrate the superior display which the Scriptures afford of the perfections and glory of God. 1. We observe that the Bible teaches the Unity of God; or shews that there is but one God. Superficially contemplating the attributes of Deity, it will appear manifest that there cannot be more than one supreme, boundless, and uncreated Being. The glory which Jehovah claims, is at once both indivisible, and incommunicable; and 50, completely precludes all possibility of consistently believing the doctrine of Polytheism. In this the Bible is con * There is a strange inconsistency between the sentiments of Socrates and his practice. He believed in a supreme God, and still worshipped other beings as deities. clusive, and furnishes the most striking vindications of the divine unity, attended with just representations of the egregious incongruity of admitting the awful thought, that there are "Gods many, and Lords many." we are not to believe in the Three who bear record in heaven, because we are not able to explain the mode of their existence, it will follow, that we must not believe that there is a God, for none can comprehend the modus of his being. If in the essence of a single pebble, or blade of tender grass, there are matters which surpass our comprehension, how much more unsearchable must be the Godhead of the Eternal! Let those who would bring the Deity to the level of finite capacity, attend to the words of a wise instructor, "Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection?" Job xi. 7. "Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out." Job xxxvii. 23. that in the One Jehovah there are Three-"the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit;" as Christ affirms, "I and the Father are One." 1 John, v. 7. John x. 30. Ignorance has insinuated that this is adopting the creed of three That Being who fills with his pre- gods. But the charge is incompatible sence the vast and immeasurable area with truth, and contrary to the express of immensity-who pervades, by the avowal of the Bible. Perverted reason penetration of a single glance, the mi- may aver, that the distinction in the nutest occurrences, or most potent Godhead is inadmissible, because it transactions of a thousand worlds-who cannot be comprehended. But the holds within the limits of his omni- same argument, if pursued, would lead potent grasp the mighty frame of univer-eventually to complete Atheism: for if sal being, from the worlds that roll on high, down to the invisible animalculæ which swarm upon the leaf.-That he should be viewed as not the only God, is a thought utterly repugnant to the very nature of things. It is, however, from the Bible alone that we are effectually taught this noble truth; where it stands exhibited as an obvious matter of belief, and is proved by plain argumentative deduction. When Moses solemnly addressed the people on the subject of their obedience to the Almighty, who had blessed them so richly with perpetual kindness, he directs them to honour him as the only Lord. "Hear, O Israel! The Lord, our God, is one Lord." Deut. vi. 4. Speaking also of the mighty wonders 2. The Bible ascribes to God the they had beheld, he says, "Unto thee attribute of Eternity. To circumscribe it was shewed, that thou mightest the existence of Jehovah within the know that the Lord, he is God; there narrow limits of time, is at once reis none else besides him." Deut. iv. 35. ducing him to the condition of a creaIn the Prophecy of Isaiah, we have a ture; and to form conceptions of God, striking vindication of this important as having a commencement of being, is article of faith. "I am the Lord, and derogatory to the perfection of his there is none else; there is no God be- glory. Here some of the wisest of the sides me. Look unto me, and be ye heathen wandered grossly from the path saved; for I am God, and there is of sound knowledge; whilst the prinnone else." chap. xlv. passim. The cipal part of them were left in complete apostle Paul, when instructing a society darkness. The gods they acknowledged of Christians who had been accustomed were generally idolized heroes, or deified to venerate the idols of Greece, illus- tyrants. Beings who, while upon earth, trates the subject in the most beautiful were subject to adversity and death, and manner. "We know that an idol is often the victims of ambition and ragenothing in the world; and that there is whose days were measured by a mortal none other God but one, For though generation;-that they should share the there be that are called Gods, whether honours of a God, fully shews, that in heaven or in earth; (as there be gods their worshippers had lost sight of Him, many, and lords many,) but to us there" who was, and is, and is to come"-of is but one God, the Father, of whom whom the Bible says, "From everare all things, and we in him; and one lasting to everlasting, thou art God." Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all Psal. xc. 2. If the Oriental Philosophy things, and we by him." 1 Cor. viii. did admit the eternal existence of the chief Deity, yet, by teaching the eternity of matter, and other chimerical and confused notions, it quite eclipsed 4-6. It is no disparagement of this truth, that the Scripture leads us to believe the beauty and consistency of the doc-| trine. But the Scripture opens the grandeur of this divine perfection, and preserves a subserviency of instruction on the origin of matter, by shewing that its commencement is dated from the period when the voice of Omnipotence formed it from nothing. When the mind has traced back the long chain of days, and months, and years, and arrives at the point where they first began, it is then compelled to make a final stand, because its powers are inadequate to comprehend Eternity. But even then, and from the measurement of ten thousand years anterior, yea, even from illimitable duration, Jehovah existed, in the full possession of uncreated glory. How incomparably sublime are the following passages of the Bible. "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." Deut. xxxii. 27. "Thus saith the high and lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy." Isa. lvii. 15. Thy name is from everlasting." Isa. lxiii. 16. "Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord, my God?" Hab. i. 12. "Whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting." Mic. v. 2. According to the eternal purpose, which he purposed in Christ Jesus, our Lord." Eph. iii. 11. 3. We are taught in the Scripture that God is Omnipresent, or that he possesses the perfection of Ubiquity. Locality, or a limited compass of being, is peculiar to every creature, even though they should rise highest in the scale of created things. Man, both with regard to body and soul, is confined to a certain space, and the Angels are likewise the subjects of a circumscribed existence. It is impossible for any creature to be present in two places at the same time. However rapid the progress of spirits may be, in moving through the different parts of space, yet it is contrary to just conceptions to think that even an Arch-angel could be upon earth and in heaven precisely at the same moment. Ubiquity, or infinite presence, is, therefore, an attribute only possessed by the great God. The question, then, with which we are concerned is, where this perfection of the Deity is most amply unfolded? whether in the Bible, or the learned disquisitions of Sages and Philosophers? Here let it be remembered, that the examination must be connected with days anterior to the circulation of the Bible, lest haply its enemies should be found claiming as their own, what is exclusively the fruit of its instructions. Let the whole fraternity of the wise, from Zoroaster down to Cicero, be summoned to the test; each with his voluminous productions; and let any or all of them, produce a lesson upon the Divine Omnipresence, equal in strength and beauty, with the following words of David, who was born a shepherd. "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit; or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea: Even there shall thy hand lead me, and, thy right hand shall hold ine." Psal. cxxxix. 7, 10. Though this passage is of the most emphatic description, yet it is far from being the only portion of the Bible, where the glory of God's ubiquity is exhibited. Behold the heaven, and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee." 1. Kings viii. 27. "Do not I fill heaven and earth saith the Lord." Jer. xxiii. 24. By diligently reflecting on the Omnipresent Majesty of the Lord, we learn the propriety of that powerful affirmation, "My glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images." xlii. 8. Isaiah 4. In the Bible we learn, that God is infinitely Wise. Through all the gradations of intellectual or sensitive endowments, which characterize and distin guish the works of nature-from the smallest fly that floats upon the air, up to the mighty seraph which soars above the stars, we can only recognize one fountain from whence these powers of intelligence flow, and one grand cause why they do exist, (namely,) God, the Father of lights. We behold something truly amazing in the endless diversity and vast variety in which these powers are seen, among the millions upon millions of those creatures, whom the Almighty has formed, and to whom he has given a capacity to know, and feel, and think. But were all the organs of their respective faculties collected into one, in comparison with the wisdom of God, they would be only as a drop of dew, to the immeasurable ocean, or like a feeble spark compared with the brightness of the sun. To HIM the immense affairs of the whole concern of time are ever present. "All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight." Heb. iv. 13. "He beholdeth all the sons of men." Ps. xxxiii. 13. "Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering." Job. xxvi. 6. "Can any hide himself in secret places, that I shall not see him? saith the Lord." Jer. xxiii. 2-t. "There is no darkness where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves." Job.xxxiv. 22. "If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me: even the night shall be light about me; the darkness and the light are both alike to thee." Ps. cxxxix. 11, 12. God's wisdom is not only represented as pervading the whole universe, but as displaying itself above the stupendous and beautiful works of his hand. "How manifold are thy works, O Lord! in wisdom hast thou made them all." Ps. civ. 24, 5. The doctrines of the Bible shew, that God is Omnipotent. Power must be either limited or infinite. According to the nature of a being, so its power or capacity of operation. But with all created beings we perceive certain lines beyond which their power cannot possibly extend, whereby we are enabled to distinguish that which is peculiar to the power of God. The glory of Omnipotence is unfolded in the Scripture as sustaining a threefold excellence. It is spoken of as having formed all thingsas upholding all things-and as directing all things. There is something truly magnificent attaches to the thought of that almighty movement of creating energy, which called universal nature into being. Think of the lowest part of the dust of the earth-then think of earth itself-from earth rise to the rolling orbs which move around the king of day. Go higher still, and mark the distant stars, fixed permanently, in endless numbers, far beyond the scan of mortal eye. Review the wide extended scene, and ask, who gave it birth? The Bible gives the grand reply. "He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast." Ps. xxxiii. 9. " By the word of the Lord were the heavens made: and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." Ps. xxxiii. 6. "God created the heavens and the earth." Gen. i. 1. "He upholds all things. In Him we live, and move, and have our being," Acts. xvii. 28. 66 By him all things consist," Col. i. 18. "A sparrow shall VOL. VII1. not fall on the ground without your Father," Mat. x. 29. "The very hairs of your head are all numbered," ver. 6. "He upholdeth all things by the word of his power.” Heb. i. 3. God's power directs all things.-"He doeth according to his will in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth," Dan. iv. 35. "He causeth the day spring to know its place," Job xxxviii. 12. "He bindeth the sweet influences of Pleiades and looseth the bands of Orion," Job. xxxviii. 31. Well might the fables of Jupiter, the tales of Neptune, and the proud mysteries of Apollo retire and vanish when once the Bible brought to view such glorious discoveries of the blessed God. 6. By the Scripture we are instructed to know that God is holy, just, and good. Let it not be thought that justice and holiness are vague uncertain terms, implying any thing or nothing. Though ignorance may obliterate, in a great measure, man's moral sensibility, yet it can never be totally eradicated. The work of the law is written in the hearts even of those who are not blessed with revealed precepts. "Their conscience bearing witness; and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another." Rom. ii. 15. In whatever light the gods of the heathen may have been represented, the true God must be considered as possessing the essence of eternal and immaculate purity, connected with unbounded goodness. In this light the Bible speaks of his righteousness and compassion; "The Lord our God is righteous in all his works that he doeth." Dan. ix. 14. "Justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne." Ps. lxxxix. 14. "Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints," Rev. xv. 3. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts." Is. vi. 3. "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, glorious in holiness," Ex. xv. 11. "The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works. Ps. cxlv. 9: "He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." Mat. v. 45. “He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil." Luke. vi 35. 66 7. God is shewn in the Bible to be immutable. Mutability always supposes deficiency of power, or imperfection of wisdom, because consummate knowledge and infinite power preclude all possibility of change or mutation. He who sustains the honour of the "Only wise God," K |