The evidences of Christianity

Preface

The following chapters contain a very condensed result of a course of study and reading, which has been reviewed and repeated several times within the space of the last fifteen years. The substance of the most of these chapters has constituted the material of a course of sermons, twice delivered, though much more expanded in detail, when publicly spoken, than as they appear in the condensed form of the present discussion. The occasion which justifies the writer, in offering the result of his labors for publication, has been, in part, the expressed wish to that effect, of a number of his friends, for whose candor and judgment he has a great respect.

It has also appeared to the writer himself, that a condensed form of scientific and systematic arguments for the evidences of Christianity, is reallj called for, by many considera-

VI PREFACE.

tions, in our own times. The large systematic works of the English, Scottish and American divines, are out of the reach of a very great portion of intelligent readers. Other smaller works on the Evidences, by English and American writers, are still too large and expensive for many? who would otherwise be induced to read a summary of argument, when presented in a very brief and comprehensible manner. There are, indeed, several short treatises on this subject, by American writers ; but instances of this kind, so far as known to the author, are restricted to some separate and striking views, presenting only one line of argument, or, at most, only a few of the leading branches in the science of Christian Evidences. For popular effect, and personal conviction, such methods are invaluable.

It has, however, come to the knowledge of the present writer, that experienced instructors of youth, especially, have often felt the necessity of a small book, which would afford a complete view of the main departments of external evidence, each in its proper measure, and in a condensed and scientific form. A Text Book for Academies, and the higher order of Female Collegiate Institutes, which could be digested and remembered from the daily recitations of

PREFACE. Vll

one academic term of ordinary length, has been considered a desideratum.

But it is chief!}' for the purpose of doing good among the general mass of reflecting persons, and especially the young, that this treatise is now offered to the public. With this view, it has been encumbered in as small a degree as was possible to avoid, with no array of critical references, or of quotations, the means for the verification of which would be out of the reach of the general reader, The sparse allusions to historical and critical authorities can, in every instance in this book, be verified by any one having access to an ordinarily well selected collegiate library.

The writer has aimed at exhibiting those topics of argument which involve the questions most interesting in view of our present historical stand- point, and the existing stage in the progress of society. Accordingly, while giving their relative importance to the successive branches of argument, there is special attention bestowed on those departments which appeal most closely to the consciousness of those who have kept up with the discoveries and the questions which are chiefly interesting to readof the present generation. The Primary Presumptions in favor of Christianity, the argument

Vlll PREFACE.

from Prophecy, and the Proof of Inspiration, are believed to be among the most prominent exponents of the history and progress of opinion, now prevailing among many classes in our own country, and in other lands.

The peculiar and primary admissions which are thus conceded to the importance of the subject under consideration, have given the advantage, in this brief work, of estimating the weight of the leading arguments which follow, without requiring the customary amount of historical and critical detail, which make up the bulk of the works on the Evidences of Christianity.

There are several specific points of illustration, moreover, which have a peculiar application to the very year, almost, in which we live, especially in the chapters on Prophecy and the Propagation of Christianity. The effort to con. dense a system of argument, at once scientific and popular, in the brief space of the following pages, has occasioned the chief embarrassment and difficulty in the present undertaking.

J. P. T.

Savannah, May 18, 1853.

Contents

Page.

Introduction, »•'----. 1_4

Chapter I

The requisite Spirit tor studying- Christianity, - 5-19 1. Distrust of the capacity and extent of human reason. 2. Candor and docility. 3. Humility. 4. Practical obedience. 5. Prayer.

Chapter II

Primary Presumptions ra favor of Christianity, - 20-46 Section I. Acknowledged necessity for a Revelation, 21-27

Section II. Presumptive indications of the truth of Christianity , which are claimed by no other religion, - - - 27-38 1. High antiquity. 2. Supernatural evidence, appealing to testimony. 3. Unprecedented Morality. 4. Relative advance of society. 5. The Bible antecedent to all beneficial changes. 6. Acknowledged adaptation to a moral and probationary state.

Section III. Acknowledged preparation of the world for the reception of Christianity at its first introduction, - 38-46

X CONTENTS.

1. General belief of the coming of an extraordinary person. 2. Geographical and commercial condition of the world. 3. The two great languages of the ancient world. 4. Spirit of investigation. 5. Condition of the Jewish people.

Chapter III

Authenticity of the Christian Scriptures, - Section I. Definition of Authenticity, Section II, Testimony of contemporaneous writers. Section III. Writers immediately subsequent to

the apostles, - Section IV. Critical tests of the early Christian

writers, -

Section V. Testimony of the ancient Heathen and

Jewish adversaries, - ■ ' - Section VI. Principles which disprove the claims

of all others as inspired writers,

CHAPTER IV. Credibility of the Scriptures

Section I. Definition of Credibility , - Section II. Contemporary and collateral proofs of the facts related in the New Testament, ------

Section III. The character and situation cf the Bible writers precluded the possibility of their recording falsehoods for truths, -

Page.

47-70 48-55 55-58

58-61

61-63

63-66

66-70

71-93 71-74

74-83

83-93

CHAPTER V. Miracles

Section I. Definition of Miracles, Section II. Purposes of Miracles, Section III. Credibility of Miracles,

94-118

95-97

97-103

103-114

CONTENTS. XI

Page Section IV. Miracles are to he received on testimony, 114-118

Chapter VI

Section I. Nature and design of Prophecy , - 120-134 1. The Old Testament was known to be in existence many centuries before the specific predictions, contained in them, were fulfilled. 2. Inspiration of the ancient Prophets. 3. Relation of Prophecy to Reveaied Religion. 4. Moral and remedial purposes of Prophecy. Section II. Instances of fulfilled Prophecies, - 135-148 1. Concerning the Jews. 2. Ishmaelites. 3. Egyptians. 4. Tyre. 5. Nineveh and Babylon. The four great monarchies.

Section III. Prophecies concerning Jesus Christ, 148-163 1. Proofs of a general expectation of him before his advent. 2. Predictions, concerning the time, place and personal character of Christ, at his advent. 3. Predictions concerning Christ's sufferings and death. 4. How Prophecy was applied by Christ to himself.

Chapter VII

Section I. Adequate assignable causes for the gradual establishment of Revelation previous to Christianity, - - 166-170 Section II. Existing obstacles to the extension of Christianity were sufficient to destroy it, unless it had been supernaturally aided at its introduction, 170-176 Section III. Proofs of the rapid progress of Christianity, during the first ages of its history, 176-177

Xll CONTENTS.

Page.

Section IV. The rapid progress of Christianity, a standard for attesting its divine authority, 177-180

Section V. All other religions can be adequately accounted for, by known human causes, and by known historical facts, 181-186

Introduction

In order that we may "know wherefore we believe,' 7 and be "able to give to every man that asks us a reason for our hope," it is proper that we should sometimes review and carefully examine the foundations of the christian system. This requires, not only the exhibition of the doctrines of the gospel, but also of the primary and historical evidences of the truth of Christianity, considered as a religion of facts.

There are two methods generally pursued for establishing the claims of God's revealed word ; the one, by taking the Bible just as we find it, and exhibiting the proofs of harmony in all its parts, and thus deducing what are commonly called the internal evidences of Christianity. The other method of vindicating the claims of revelation, is to follow up the several and independent sources of historical testimony, which, when all taken together, constitute what are called the external evidences of Christianity. Under the division of the internal evidences, are embraced nearly aJl of the ordinary exhi bitions of divine truth delivered from the pulpit, on the doctrines and duties of religion. Thus we practically 1

^ INTRODUCTION,

act on tie principle that the Bible stands upon its own evidence ; so that, in setting forth the claims of the gospel, we do not ordinarily regard it as needful to adduce any frequent, lengthy or detailed reference to the proofs of external evidence, at least so far as derived from the records of history, apart from the Bible.

The internal evidences of Christianity embrace every thing which relates to the efficacy of the gospel and the excellence of its doctrines ; the suitableness of Christianity to the wants and condition of man, considered as a moral and an immortal being ; the equity and benevolence of the christian precepts ; the urgency of its motives, as addressed to the hopes and the fears of man ; the marks of divine authority which attest the character of the person and mission of Christ, as the founder of this religion, and the many mighty works which authenticate the inspired character of the apostles and other sacred writers ; the power of the gospel to convert and sanctify the soul, and to ameliorate the condition of every portion of the human family.

But while these internal proofs speak for themselves, in arguments which address the common sense, and the consciousness of men, there are external evidences which form the scaffolding for constructing this mighty superstructure of truth. Under this latter summary, there must be demonstrated the utter insufficiency of unaided human reason and the light of nature, and the consequent absolute necessity of a revelation, in order to teach mankind the character of God and his will, and the origin, nature, duty and destiny of men. The fact

INTRODUCTI ON, <5

of a revelation being given, it would require that the books containing it should be shown to be authentic, that is, written by the persons whose names they bear, or to whom the)' are attributed ; and that these books should be proved to be genuine, that is, the text remaining as uncorrupted now as when originally written ; and that these books are credible, as containing a true and trustworthy history ; and that their evidence has been certified by many supernatural miracles, and by the fulfilment of prophecies predicted many ages and centuries beforehand ; and that the religion thus certified, was established and propagated with^a success and prevalence, for which no secondary causes, or human agency, could be adequate to account ; and that temporal, personal, social and public benefits have followed in the train of this religion, which have never, in any similar manner, been connected with any other system pretending to be a religion.

But when we address ourselves to the study of the evidences of revealed religion, we find ourselves approaching a subject which cannot be grasped and bounded, in all its dimensions, by the compass of our limited natural understandings. It is bringing a subject clothed with infinity into contact with finite minds. The truths of revelation cannot be embraced in logical propositions. In attempting, therefore, to bring the proofs of divine revelation to our proper comprehension of them, there must be certain accompanying moral tempers and dispositions, as well for their right reception, as for our moral probation in rightly using them. In investigating the

4 INTRODU CTION.

testimony for religion, we must, first of all, fix our position and point of view, and refer to those internal conditions in ourselves, as subjects, which form the suitable preparation for such objects as are presented in a system of revealed religion.

Chapter I. The Requisite Spirit For Studying Christianity

1. The fact of a revelation being required, implies a distrust of the capacity and extent of human reason, If we were fully capable of comprehending revealed truths, previous to their being communicated, there obviously would have been no necessity for a revelation at all. God need give no assistance to man for what his own unassisted powers could attain to ; but when truth is conveyed to us from the invisible world, there must, of necessity, belong to that truth many of the features of mystery. Eevelation affirms something new and unknown, which it may not in all respects explain as to its peculiar nature or in all its remote applications. Eevelation states its facts, without explaining or reasoning upon them. We are certified of the existence of truths, but we may not penetrate their nature, or comprehend their modes of operation. The truths which the Bible conveys, especially concerning the divine existence and government, and the modes of life in the future world, cannot, from the nature of the case, be attended with full and perfect explanations, to minds of such limited experience as ours. To comprehend subjects of an infinite extent, we must have infinite capacities. In attempting, therefore, to measure the dimensions of all the subjects which are disclosed from the spiritual world, there must be a point beyond which our understandings cannot reach. We can see only the foreground of the perspective ; the horizon stretches away in dimness and distance, where neither the eye can penetrate, nor the thought can travel ; and this incapacity of our understandings would not be relieved, if additional revelations were made, to explain preceding revelations, unless we should be re-organised, or constituted with a different nature. We should cease to be men, or at least, would be no longer suited to our abode in this world, if, like angelic beings, we were brought into immediate contact with spiritual realities, apart from any medium with our corporeal natures. Situated as we now are, we should only be encumbered and diverted by additional communications, beyond w 7 hat is necessary for our present probation. Yet any revelation whatsoever, involves the idea of mystery, as it, of necessity, communicates with the regions of the invisible world.

Still, the mysterious realities of eternity, so far as they are disclosed, are placed within the province of legitimate human evidence, and are supported by methods of human testimony. The authenticity of this testimony comes fully within the compass of our natural capacities. The truths of scripture, which were originally confirmed by miraculous agency, are conveyed to us through the vehicles of history, and they are certified by such authentic and credible witnesses, that he who believes that such an amount of testimony can be false, is unspeakably more

STUDYING CHRISTIANITY. *I

CTedulous than he who believes the miracles. But, though the testimony of supernatural evidence is inseparable from these truths, they are mainly to be received on the ground of their own moral nature and internal evidence.

On this account, we are held responsible for the right use of our understandings in ascertaining the truth, as we are for the conformity of our lives when the truth is ascertained. The evidence of the bible is in all respects sufficient for moral and accountable beings, such as we are. If the evidence of the bible were not sufficient to command our assent, no candid man would believe it; God will not require us to believe it ; and it would be a moral and mental perversity that would lead us to believe it. But, on the other hand, should the evidence for the bible be so irresistibly palpable to our senses, as, for example, a constant succession of miracles would be, our attention, in that case, would be forcibly constrained, our belief would be necessitated, and in the character of such belief, there could be no moral quality or virtuous motive; for what is forced upon us by the evidence of our senses, is simply the result of physical necessity ; or, if the proofs of the bible were of the nature of mathematical demonstration, they could form no test for moral character. And especially, if they were attended by the constant exhibitions of divine and miraculous intervention, no one could resist such belief, whatever might be his moral dispositions. There is no virtue in. believing that the sen shines; no one is made the better or the worse for believing what he cannot help believing.

If the evidence for the bible were insufficient, no one ought to believe it. But this evidence is neither deficient on the one hand, nor demonstrative on the other. As the case stands, the credentials of revelation are abundantly sufficient for every honest and candid mind ; but they come in such a way as to involve a moral disposition, as well as the action of the intellect. Belief is a mere intellectual act, considered as the work of the understanding; but the appropriate temper of mind, which should accompany the act of the understanding is what we call faith. Conformity of disposition and conduct is the proper expression of our faith in any fact, towards which we hold any personal or moral relations* But our opinions are apt to be swayed by our interest, willing or unwilling. When the eye is jaundiced, or when it looks through a discolored medium, every object will partake of the hue cast upon it by the intervening agency; so that on everything which is to be submitted to the laws of opinion, whether it be in politics, or in the arts and sciences, the views and belief of men will be governed by their prejudged interest and inclination. If, therefore,, any one loves darkness rather than light — if his inclinations, whether from pride, prejudice, ambition or education, from vanity or bigotry, or from the baser power of bad passions and dishonest intentions, impel him deliberately to evade the evidence of moral truth, there is nothing in the nature of God's truth, to leep such an one from believing a lie. The age of miracles has passed away, and even when miracles were wrought on earth, there was no such irresistible swaying of the minds of men, but what they could reject the truth attested by these miracles, if they would. Our Lord, who knew what was in men, told them, "if they believe not Moses and the prophets, neither would they believe, though one should be raised from the dead." Hence our Saviour often repeated, "he that hath ears to hear, let him hear." And the inspired admonition was often uttered, " take heed how ye hear." For, while the way of faith is so plain that " the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein," and " he who runs may read," it is yet possible, through the misleading of bad passions and selfish interests, to blind the mind and to harden the heart, and thus under the influence of a strong delusion, to believe a lie, and perish with it. When we consider, therefore, how much the heart has to do in teaching the understanding it is but a just and reasonable qualification for studying the evidences of Christianity, that we should pray to the Father of lights for that wisdom which will clear our minds from the mists of passion, and from all the prejudices which warp the judgment against the right apprehension of truth.

2. The study of the evidences of religion should be accompanied with a candid and teachable disposition.

There is a great distinction between credulity and docility. A docile and teachable disposition is the prompt and hearty yielding to the truth, as soon as it is presented, with its appropriate evidence. It is what we otherwise express by the term " candor" which, from its derivation, signifies white r or not marked by any stain or false coloring. It is a disposition to love the truth for its own sake, without respect to personal interest, and a readiness to follow it out, in all its consequences. A docile temper is, at the same time, far removed from an indifferent and sceptical disposition. Where there is an inclination always to dwell on the mere difficulties of any subject, it will result only in a habit of doubting, and of universal captiousness. Accordingly, some persons, professing to have been previously too much inclined to credit the testimony of the christian religion, and unwilling to compromise their understanding by a predisposition and bias without adequate evidence, have afterwards resolved to suppress all partial inclinations whatever, and to place themselves in a position of indifference or neutrality until they could have demonstrative proof that no objections could be found against any of the doctrines and facts of revelation. Unconsciously to themselves, a disposition of this kind, instead of resulting in candor, leads at length to universal scepticism and unbelief. If objections are looked after, rather than giving the mind to the consideration of the truth itself, and its appropriate evidence, it will only envelope the mind in the mists of doubt and obscurity, so that the mental bias, instead of being prejudged in favor of the truth, will be sure to be found in a state of variance and hostility towards it. A hesitating and wavering state of mind will unsettle the judgment of all its valid moral convictions, and will divest the affections of all their purity and sincerity.

The only candid and impartial state of mind is a love of the truth for its own sake, and a reception of it, in that peculiar childlike spirit by which the truth is received, on its appropriate evidence, without waiting for and courting objections. "Without committing ourselves, therefore, to any prejudice in favor of the bible, it is but consistent with every view of right reason, that we should seek for the suppression and purification of all untoward passions, and for a firm, open and unwavering strength of spirit which will enable us to receive the truth in the love of it.

3. The investigation of the evidences of revealed truth should be attended with the spirit of humility.

It is one of the first principles of a sound philosophy to discover the limitations of our faculties, and the extent of our available knowledge. Accordingly, he who acquires the most knowledge, is impressed by his increasing acquisitions, with the great extent of what is yet to be learned. By every new attainment, he is placed on the boundaries of knowledge un thought of, and unexplored before. The farther a rightminded man penetrates within the great storehouse of universal truth, the more does he feel the restrictions placed upon him by his own ignorance. Humility is, therefore, the appropriate temper for one who is placed in such relations to the illimitable regions of unknown truth. This world is but a speck in the vast assemblage of worlds comprised in the universe, and the longest life can only be spent in learning some of the primary lessons of what is comprised

12 THE BEQUISITE SPIRIT FOR

in this small sphere of existence. How little does the most studious and industrious man, or the keenest and profoundest mind, penetrate beyond the mere surface of things !

But it is one of the legitimate conditions for our growth in knowledge, that we are to receive into our minds the result of the attainments of those who have gone before us. Otherwise, the same slow and unavailing process must be gone over, by each person and by each generation, in their turn, without gathering up any of the treasured knowledge from preceding generations, and the attainments of every individual would forever die with himself. The race of man has been occupyng this world for several thousand years, and each generation and each individual has had to learn something, which, severally and in turn, is the result to be entailed to those born after them, and who are to make a place for others following after them. Wisdom is much the same in any one generation as in another; but it is no part of wisdom to discredit the sources of knowledge, which have been opened to us by our predecessors; and an humble and respectful deference to the wisdom of those who have lived before us, is a necessary mental qualification for our receiving aright the larger part of all attainable human knowledge.

It is the vice and infirmity of our minds, to imagine that we know very much, and that our predecessors knew very little. The modern scientific discoveries and their applications to art, such as the use of the compass, the art of printing and the use of steam, electricity, caloric and other chemical agents, for the manifold purposes of human industry, have indeed placed the world much in advance, in respect to all the material interests of civilization. But, for aught we know, some of the most important agents in nature are only now again to be reproduced and applied, which may have been used amongst the ancients, in a perfection surpassing the knowledge of science attained to by the present generation. Nineveh and Babylon, in extent and population, exceeded any cities now in the world. There have been sleeping in silence and in ruins, for twenty centuries, the remains of massive and elegant architecture, and splendid statuary, and temples and palaces, which once stood forth in a grandeur never again to be outdone. "When such immense piles as the pyramids were reared towards the clouds, and such breathing statuary was called forth from the rough marble, and such indestructible colors were laid in designs and paintings, which have survived the waste of the elements, for thousands of years, there must have been, in those ancient days, the knowledge of agents in nature, and the use of chemical and mechanical forces, compared with which, our present appliances are but the beginning of learning the arts anew. Men lived longer then, and often, doubtless, to a better purpose, than we do now, and knowledge is a* slow to be learned with us as with them, who had much longer time to live and learn.

Thus each one, in every generation, unless he humbly receives what is freely given from the past, would have to begin for himself at the beginning of things ; and we can learn nothing from the past but what we receive on testimony. That testimony can be reduced to our personal appropriation, only by our mastering the laws of evidence. It is by this medium that we are to receive the knowledge of revelation, which was made known to the ages of the past, and was gathered up, and transmitted by the written oracles, as they have been preserved and carried forward and brought down to our own hands, by the wonderworking and predisposing providence of God.

The wisdom of all past ages has tested the validity of that testimony, which, after the trial of so many successive centuries, is now submitted for our cordial acceptance and practical obedience. Standing, therefore, in the presence of such inspired testimony, so divinely certified, how does it become us to receive it with an humble and deferential frame of mind 1 Unlike the most of human tradition and testimony, whose validity often depends upon a single line of evidence, or is confirmed only by the mouth of two or three witnesses, we have here a sacred document, supported by proofs, and by principles of natural evidence, with which the best attested records of ancient secular history can scarcely be said to hold a comparison. And as these sacred records give their revelations concerning moral laws and conditions of being, which extend through distant regions of this universe, it becomes us to stand at the vestibule of such a temple with uncovered head. When we consider the limitations of our knowledge, on things so tangible as tlie material world around us, we may well distrust our own unaided ability to compass subjects lying beyond us in spiritual realms. And it is by this humble reception of what God offers us on his own testimony, that we shall know the truth by the yery fact of receiving it. " If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God." Thus the divine rule is made good, as declared by the psalmist : " the meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way."

4. The application of divine , testimony should t be attended and followed in the spirit of practical obedience. All true knowledge consists in appropriating and reducing to practice the information we acquire. Every true theory must of necessity be practical ; for theory is only the expression of facts as they exist. However many things we may learn in words, those words will remain but as a foreign language to us, unless we make the sense and substance of those things the subject of positive knowledge, by reducing them to personal practice. Obedience to a truth is the only real key to its knowledge. It is the spontaneous dictate of the conscience and understanding, that we are impelled to do whatever we know. The knowledge of a fact is a sufficient reason for our acting in conformity to it, if it comes within the range of our relations, and our possibility of action.

It is only the extension of this principle of personal experience and perception, that enables us to apprehend the wide range of those truths which are presented as the evidence of the christian system. When, therefore, the truths of revelation are presented in their practical aspects, and come within the obvious compass of our experience and observation, it is certainly the dictate of prudence that we should attentively listen to what God thus communicates. When God offers promises, and utters threatenings, there is surely nothing which men can present to disprove these declarations. Even if our reason could not see the fitness or necessity of those things which the bible declares are the necessary conditions for a future state of blessedness, it would still be the dictate of a right judgment, to credit declarations which are accompanied with all the evidences of divine authority, and to reduce those truths to our own experimental application and practical obedience.