SERMON VIII.

ON THE INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE.

2 TIM. iii. 16.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.

To the truth of that theory on the inspiration of the New Testament, which we have attempted to illustrate and defend in the preceding discourses, various objections have been made, derived from very different sources. Most of them, indeed, apply equally to every other opinion, which admits in any degree the inspiration of the sacred writings, but we are only concerned with those of them which appear to militate against our own hypothesis, and, as far as they do so, it is equitable and proper to consider what weight they really have.

In the first place, then, it has been asserted that, if supernatural assistance were necessary for

the composition of the sacred books, it must have been equally so for their preservation, to guard them from mutilation and corruption, either accidental or designed; and, if necessary, we must suppose it was given, whereas the various readings of the New Testament prove that it was not.

To this objection many answers might be given. First, it has been maintained by many learned and pious men that such a degree of providential care, as is here contended for, has actually been exerted for the end supposed. This opinion might seem to be countenanced by the nature of those various readings, the existence of which forms the basis of the argument; for, numerous as they are, it has been found that they affect not the authority of any one doctrine whatever, and, if this fact be accounted for on the principle just laid down, the objection itself falls to the ground.

But, not to lay any great stress on this solution of the difficulty, because it makes an assumption, which scarcely seems capable of any satisfactory proof, we appear justified in denying one of the premises of the objection itself—in denying, that is, that there was the same necessity for the interference of Divine agency to procure the subsequent preservation, as there was to direct the original composition, of the Scriptures of the New Testament. That the words of eternal life should have been committed to writing, if they

were intended to descend to successive generations, was plainly necessary, for they could have been no otherwise conveyed down to posterity except by tradition; and tradition, with regard to doctrine more especially, we know, as a matter of experience, to be little better than a nucleus for the accretion and accumulation of falsehood. They must also have been delivered in a state of perfect purity at first to constitute a Divine revelation, and this we have formerly attempted to prove would have been impossible, unless the authors of them had been divinely assisted in their task. But, when the Christian Scriptures had been once sent abroad, under the sanction of Divine authority, there was every reason to believe, from the very nature of the case, that they would be less exposed to corruption than any other kind of books; for the rapid diffusion of Christianity, within a short period after the death of its Founder, among many distinct and distant nations, the eagerness, with which Christians would every where seek after copies of a book, so valuable and dear to them as the New Testament, and the veneration which they would entertain for it, must have prevented the success of any fraudulent designs upon the sacred volume, by whomsoever attempted. The rise of numerous sects and heresies shortly afterwards would very considerably augment the difficulty, to all Christian

parties alike, of introducing any novel matter into the records of faith; and, as to heathens, they would have had no adequate motive, even if it had been in their power, which it was not, to tamper with a book, of the mere existence of which they scarcely knew, and for the religion inculcated in which they felt the most sovereign contempt; for they little suspected that the "grain of mustard seed," which had been sown in silence, would hereafter become a tree whose top should reach unto heaven; or that "the stone, which was cut out without hands," should one day break in pieces the splendid object of their own adoration, standing as it seemed to do in giant stature, and compacted of materials which might defy the inroads of time or violence. From the Jews, however, it is allowed that every unfair or dishonest practice, which could any how tend to bring the sacred books of Christ's religion into contempt in the early stages of their existence, might have been reasonably apprehended, provided that people had possessed the means of thus exerting their malice against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. But, happily, that was not the case, even previously to the destruction of Jerusalem, for our Scriptures were not in their keeping but our own; and after the dispersion of their nation,

1 Dan. ii. 31.

it would have been manifestly impossible for them to have attempted such a scheme of fabrication, requiring, as it would, combination, consultation, and unanimity; not to mention that, even had the matter been otherwise, their interpolations would have been detected and exposed the moment they came into the hands of Christians.

But, lastly, if Divine interposition be conceived necessary for the preservation of God's word, why, it may be asked, is it not equally necessary to make the advantages of it more effective than they really are,-to communicate to every one who reads it a thorough comprehension of its contents, to spread the knowledge of it into every region of the earth, and to induce men every where to obey its dictates? It is evident that we might in this way go on for ever to make fresh requisitions on the Divine power and goodness, unless we assign some certain point as the limit, beyond which we are to look for no farther assistance from above; and that, which has been already assigned, in reference to the present topic, is the most agreeable to the general principle of the Divine proceedings in the natural government of the world, where we find that God, having once put us in complete possession of natural or moral blessings, leaves it to ourselves to maintain them as well as we can;-thus He gives one man a vigorous constitution, but allows him to ruin it,