To inquire on what account Christianity claims an ascendency over all other branches of knowledge, and what are the particular grounds upon which he believes it to be a divine Revelation, is a duty which he owes equally to his own reason, and to the dignity and importance of the subject itself.

"Revelation claims to be the voice of God, and our obligation to attend to his voice is surely moral in all cases. And as it is insisted that its evidence is conclusive, upon thorough consideration of it; so it offers itself to us with manifest obvious appearances of having something more than human in it, and therefore in all reason requires to have its claims most seriously examined into." Butler's Analogy, p. 401.

Such an examination, conducted witl: that degree of care and attention, becoming the infinite importance of the subject, will clearly prove that the Christian Religion constitutes the most useful and the most transcendant part of our knowledge. It introduces us to an acquaintance with those subjects, which are in the highest degree desirable to be known; as it opens the clearest prospect, that man in his present state can survey, of that Being, who is the essence of all perfection, the centre of infinite excellence, and the fountain of inexhaustible wisdom, goodness, and power. The knowledge of created beings is low and trivial when compared to this; for however admirable they may be in their construction, however useful in their nature and properties, and however stupendous in their frame and magnitude, they are still but faint shadows and imperfect images of the glory of their Creator. The instruction, which the Christian Religion conveys, is not only of the most excellent kind, but its acquisition is above all things to be desired, especially when we consider the Almighty, with respect to the wonders of his power, and the dispensation of his Providence-when we view him by the clear light of the Christian Revelation, not only as the Maker and Governor of the universe, but as the Father of the Saviour of the world, whom he commissioned to proclaim his divine will, to establish the certainty of a future state, and to propose everlasting happiness to mankind, on condition of faith in a Redeemer, and obedience to his commands.

To know Christianity is therefore both to understand what the Supreme Being has revealed for our greatest good, and to ascertain what conduct we ought to pursue in order to obtain his approbation and favour. How low therefore must the acquirements of learning and science sink in our opinion,

when placed in opposition to religious knowledge! But when it forms the basis, upon which they are built, they derive. additional value as well as stability from its support; they are consecrated to the best purposes, and directed to their most salutary ends. Much as the knowledge of the scholar, and the speculations of the philosopher may elevate and enlarge the mind, and much as they may improve and adorn it, they extend not our prospects beyond the world, they bound our views within the narrow limits of human life. But the knowledge of a Christian takes a more exalted and a more certain aim; it respects a degree of felicity, which exceeds our utmost powers of conception, and a situation of pleasure and delight without alloy, and without end.-It relates to a state of existence, when the spirits of the just will be made perfect, and the transcendent bliss of angels will be imparted to glorified and immortal man.

Such being the excellence of Christianity, and such the important end, which it proposes, every person, who desires to be fully acquainted with divine truth, and to build his happiness upon the most solid basis, will take, with the greatest satisfaction, a particular and distinct view of its nature and evidences. Then will he avoid the imputation of being a Christian merely in compliance with the prejudices of his parents, or the customs of his native country; and he will become one in consequence of a rational preference, and a proper examination.* His conviction of its truth will then be solid and clear; he will plainly perceive the strength of its foundations, and fully understand the extent of its advantages he will be persuaded that it bears the character and

"Were a man designed only, like a flie, to buzz about here for a time, sucking in the air, and licking the dew, then soon to vanish back into nothing, or be transformed into worms; how sorry and despicable a thing were he? And such, without religion, we should be. But it supplieth us with business of a most worthy nature, and lofty importance; it setteth us upon doing things great and noble as can be; it engageth us to free our minds from ali fond conceits, and cleanse our hearts from all corrupt affections; to curb our brutish appetites, to tame our wild passions, to correct our perverse inclinations, to conform the dispositions of our Soul and the actions of our life to the eternal laws of righteousness and goodness: it putteth us upon the imitation of God, and aiming at the resemblance of bis perfections; upon obtaining a friendship, and maintaining a correspondence with the High and Holy one; upon fitting our minds for conversation and society with the wisest and purest spirits above; upon providing for an immortal state; upon the acquist of joy and glory everlasting" Barrow's Sermons, vol. I. serm. iii. p. 36

The happy effects that result from early religious instruction are de scribed with his accustomed eloquence, by Dr. Parr, in his Discourse on Education. See p. 13, &c.

stamp of divinity, and that it has every claim to the reception of mankind, which a divine Revelation can reasonably be expected to possess.

The proofs of the truth of the Christian Revelation are numerous, clear, and conclusive. The most obvious and striking are those which arise; I. From the AUTHENTICITY OF THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENTt. II. THE CHARACTER OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR. III. THE PROPHECIES of which he was the subject, as well as those which he delivered. IV. HIS MIRACLES. V. THE SUBLIME MORALITY OF HIS PRECEPTS. And, VI. THE RAPID AND Extensive prOPAGATION Of his ReligION under circumstances the most hostile to its advancement.

I. THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE BOOKS OF THE NEW

TESTAMENT.

The New Testament is the source, from which the knowledge of the Christian system is derived. That the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles were written by St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, nd St. John, neither Gentiles nor Jews have ever been so hardy as to deny. The second Epistle of St. Peter indeed, the Epistles of St. James and St. Jude, the two Epistles of St. John, the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the Revelation of St. John, were not received at first by all the congregations of Christians. As soon however as their authenticity was made known, they were admitted into the Canon of Scripture. That the Gospels are the same in every article of the smallest importance, as they were when first published by their respective authors, there can be no doubt; as they have been preserved through every successive age with the greatest care. From the time of the Apostles to the present hour, even those sects of Christians, that have been most at variance upon other points, have concurred in guarding them with equal diligence, and have held them in equal veneration. The proofs of their genuineness are more numerous than can be adduced in favour of any other ancient writings. Every relation of a fact is marked by the most exact detail of names, persons, times, and places, that can in any degree throw light upon the subject, and establish its truth. The history, the manners, and the opinions of the times, as they may be collected from all other accounts, harmonize with the narratives of the sacred Writers, and corroborate their general veracity. The Evangelists were placed in situations the most favourable for obtaining complete and

authentic information. St. Matthew and St. John, two of the disciples of our Lord, heard his divine instructions from his own mouth, beheld his astonishing miracles, and attended him during the whole course of his ministry. They drew their accounts from an intimate knowledge of persons, and a lively recollection of facts. St. Mark and St. Luke are entitled to all the credit of contemporary Biographers, as they were enabled to trace the truth to its source, in consequence of living in habits of the closest intimacy with those who had seen and conversed with our Lord. Few of those historians, whose works we most esteem, and whose fidelity we most respect, were so nearly connected with the subject of their writings, or possessed such ample means of genuine information. Any one of the Evangelists was perfectly well qualified to record the History of Christ, and to satisfy us as to its truth upon his own credit only; and all of them taken together, and combining their accumulated strength, form a body of evidence sufficient to remove the scruples of every candid mind, and to establish the truth upon a solid and lasting foundation.

We may assert with the most perfect confidence and truth, that so far from there being any traces extant of a History of Christ and his followers, contradictory to that of the Evangelists, there is not a contemporary, or a subsequent writer, whether Jewish or Pagan, who adverts to the subject at all, who does not confirm the leading facts of the Gospel History.

The New Testament likewise contains Epistles written by the holy persons who were engaged in preaching the Gospel immediately after the ascension of their divine Master. These Epistles refer continually to the original facts contained in the Gospels, and confirm their truth. A perfect harmony of design is evident both in the one and the other. They prescribe the same rule of faith. They inculcate the same articles to be believed, and the same precepts to be obeyed. They contain many striking references to the labours, which* St. Paul, the great Apostle of the Gentiles, underwent ; and the peculiar energy and earnestness, with which he addressed his converts, have all the marks of seriousness and sincerity, which can give to any writings whatever the stamp of originality. All these Epistles, when taken together, are not to

* See the animated and affecting description of his sufferings, 2 Cor. xi. &c.

The proofs of the genuineness of his Epistles deduced from remarkable coincidences, and close though not studied connection with the

considered as composing a single evidence only, but as containing distinct and independent attestations of the truth of Christianity; for it is evident from their contents, that they were written by different persons, at various times, and upon various occasions. Even the little circumstances in which they differ from each other have their use, as they tend to prove that there was no plan preconcerted by the writers, with a view to excite wonder, and obtain credit by any studied uniformity of representation.

He who peruses the Gospels and Epistles with attention, must be struck by a remarkable peculiarity of narrative and argument, which runs through every part of them. There is no appearance of artifice or duplicity in the sacred Writers; no endeavour to raise the reputation of friends, or depreciate the characters of enemies. There is no effort made to reconcile the mind of the reader to what is marvellous in their narrative; no studied attempt to fire his imagination, or rouse his passions in their cause. All is fair, temperate, and candid. Vain, it is true, were the search for those ornaments which distinguish the classical writers; but still in their works there is frequently a pleasing simplicity, and sometimes a sublimity of expression, although these beauties seem rather to rise naturally out of the subject, than to result from the labour of composition, or any choice or arrangement of words. One circumstance there is, in which the New Testament rises to an elevation, which no other book can reach. Here presides the majesty of pure and unsullied truth, which shines in unadorned but awful state, and never turns aside to the blandish- ́ ments of flattery, or listens to the whispers of prejudice, or defamation. Here alone she invariably supports the same dignified and uniform character, and points with equal impartiality to Peter now professing his unalterable fidelity, and now denying his Lord;-to the Apostles at one time deserting Christ, and at another, hazarding their lives by the bold profession of his Gospel. And these plain characters of truth afford the clearest evidence of the inspiration of the sacred books. The Holy Spirit, whose assistance was promised to his disciples by their heavenly Master, guarded them from Gospel History, as well as from allusions to particular incidents, persons, times, and places, are stated by Dr. Paley, with great precision and clearness. See more particularly his Hora Pauline p. 11, 14, 34, 169, 216, 312. A new argument in favour of the Epistles is drawn from the erroneous subscriptions to six of them, p. 380. He concludes with a short view of the external Evidence, p. 386, 403. And gives some striking remarks on the Talents, Character, and Conduct of St. Paul, p. 411.