or the atonement for sin, by the substituted sufferings of another, is it to be wondered at, I say, that such a one should regard the story of Abraham offering up his son as "a thought at which the flesh creeps with horror?" But that story is in perfect harmony with the grand theme which runs through the whole Bible; and to one who believes in this doctrine, it is not only full of meaning, but exceedingly sublime and beautiful. Nor is it strange that one who rejects this doctrine should find the New Testament full of "obvious contradictions and absurdities ;" for the New Testament is full of this doctrine.

But there is a third class, who wish the Bible were not true, because they find it a restraint upon their inclinations, continually marring their pleasures. They cannot quietly take their fill of sin, while the word of God thunders its anathemas in their ears. But all these several classes are opposing themselves to God. The first treat his message with neglect and indifference; the second set up their own reason and their own will against the teachings of Infinite Wisdom; and the third say, with the fool, "No God,-no Bible,”—that is, they wish there were none.

These are all to be classed together, as the enemies of God and man. But there is another class, perhaps in many cases the dupes of these, who are to be regarded with commiseration. They have not gone so far as positively to reject the Scriptures; but they are bewildered in the fogs of skepticism; their confidence in the sacred oracles is impaired; they grope in darkness; the Bible is a sealed book to them; their minds have been thrown off their balance by

sophistry and false reason, and they cannot appreciate the evidence of its inspiration. They sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; and every effort they make to extricate themselves but sinks them deeper. We pity them. We commiserate their wretched condition. We pray God to take their feet out of the horrible pit and the miry clay, and set them on a rock. But the best advice we can give them is, to study the Bible, with the sincere purpose of ascertaining its meaning; and if they persevere in so doing they will soon be convinced that it is the word of God. We doubt whether they will pass from the book of Genesis, before this conviction will fasten strongly and irresistibly upon their minds; and we may hope also, that they will experience, by the power of that Spirit which gave the word, its efficacy in turning them from darkness to light.

PRACTICAL REMARKS.

1. From the character of God, as we have here seen it presented in his word, is to be inferred the infinite obligation which men are under to honor, adore, love, and obey him. His almighty power and majesty are worthy of all honor; his eternity of being, his omniscience and omnipresence, and his infinite wisdom, render him an object infinitely worthy of adoration; his infinite holiness is deserving of the highest love; and his exalted supremacy, our submission and sincere obedience. Whoever, therefore, fails to render to God due honor, adoration, love and

obedience, is guilty of the violation of infinite obligations.

2. From the fact that God has condescended to give us a revelation of his will, may be inferred our obligation to study, believe, and obey it. Some suppose that they are at liberty to believe what they please; and that if they do not believe the Bible, they are released from the obligation to obey it. But God will hold them accountable for their neglect of the revelation which he has made; and great indeed must be the guilt of those who neglect, contemn, or despise a revelation that God has stooped from his high and lofty throne to make to sinful man. And the guilt of such conduct is greatly enhanced by the nature of the revelation itself, it being entirely the offspring of pure benevolence, communicating a knowledge of just those truths which man needs, and pointing out the way in which he may be delivered from his wretched and miserable condition, and made eternally happy. What awful ingratitude,—what baseness, what deep and dreadful guilt,—thus to requite the condescending love, the infinite mercy of the holy and blessed God!

CHAPTER IV.

FOURTH PILLAR, IN PART.-The Bible contains prophecies, which have been fulfilled, and which are fulfilling; and the fulfilment of these prophecies demonstrates the fact of the Divine inspiration of the Bible.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

When an event is predicted, and so clearly described as to correspond exactly with the event when it transpires; when this prediction is made and published a long time before the event; and when the event transpires in such a manner as to forbid the idea that it was designedly and purposely brought about by the actors therein for the purpose of fulfilling the prophecy; then we have incontestible proof that the prediction was made by Divine revelation; for no human skill or foresight can discover events that are yet future. In the enumeration of prophecies that have been fulfilled, I shall include the threatenings and promises of the Bible; and I shall consider a book of the Bible, written many ages after the one which contains the prediction, as of good authority to show its fulfilment, especially where there is no allusion to the

prophecy fulfilled, to give countenance to the suspicion in the mind of the skeptic, that the event was recorded for the express purpose of showing the fulfilment of the prophecy; though this will by no means weaken, but the rather strengthen the evidence in the mind of the believer. Though it has recently been asserted, that the prophecies of the Bible have never been fulfilled; yet the fact is, that the predictions which have been clearly and manifestly fulfilled are so numerous that it is not possible to bring forward any thing more than a few of the most striking, within the compass allotted to this part of the subject, in the present work. The prophecies concerning Christ, will not be noticed in this connection, but taken up separately, in a subsequent chapter.

THE PENTATEUCH.

1. The first prediction which calls for our attention is, the curses pronounced upon our first parents and the serpent, at the fall, compared with facts.* Has not the condition of woman, in all ages and in all countries, corresponded exactly with the description here given? Have not the serpent tribe, the world over, crawled upon the ground and eaten the dust? And has there not always been enmity between man and the serpent, even where this curse was never read? Has there not every where been a curse upon the ground? Has not man always eaten of the fruit of the ground in sorrow? Has it not always, in every age, and in every land, brought

* Gen. iii, 14-19.