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is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of GoD spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Pet. i. 20, 21.

Divine inspiration signifies, therefore, being supernaturally influenced by the Holy Spirit, and thus the prophets of GoD are said to have spoken as they were moved or inspired. This sacred influence, however, was evidently enjoyed in different degrees, according to the duties or exigences of the several writers of the Scriptures.

Dr. Henderson defines inspiration as the "direct internal suggestion to the sacred writers, in which the recipients were wrought upon directly and immediately by the Holy Spirit, who opened their minds to perceive the things which they were to communicate to others; excited them specially to attend to them; and supplied them, as the exigences of the cases required, with the ability suitably to give expression to the matters with which they were inspired."

Dr. Olinthus Gregory defines it more largely :-" While the authors employed in the composition of the Bible exercised generally their own reason and judgment, the Spirit of God effectually stirred them up to write; appointed to each his proper portion and topic, corresponding with his natural talents, and the necessities of the church in his time; enlightened their minds, and gave them a distinct view of the truths they were to deliver; strengthened and refreshed their memories to recollect whatever they had seen or heard, the insertion of which in their writings would be beneficial; directed them to select from a multitude of facts what was proper for the edification of the church, and neither more nor less; excited afresh in their minds such images and ideas as had been laid up in their memories, and directed them to other ends and purposes than themselves would ever have done of their own accord; suggested and imprinted upon their minds such matters, words, and order, especially whenever they related to facts, discourses, or doctrines, the communication of which is the great object of Scripture, thus rendering the whole canon, at any given period, an infallible guide to true holiness and everlasting happiness."

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Inspiration, according to the Bible," says Dr. Stowe, an eminent American divine, "is just that measure of extraordinary Divine influence afforded to the sacred speakers and writers, which was necessary to secure the purpose intended, and no more. If the purpose were to excite them to write that with which they are already well acquainted, just this degree of influence was exerted. If there were the additional purpose of bringing fresh to their recollection things which had partly faded away, so much additional influence was given. If explanations and more full developments of principles were needed, the Holy Spirit gave the requisite illustrations. If truths before unknown were to be communicated, the Holy Spirit revealed them and if future events were to be foretold, the knowledge of them was imparted by the same Divine Agent. So far, also, as the mode of communicating was necessary to the purpose intended, this also was directed by the Holy Spirit."

Dr. Robinson remarks: "Whenever, and as far as, divine assistance was necessary, it was always afforded. We perceive that in different parts of Scripture were different degrees of inspiration. GOD enabled Moses to give an account of the creation of the world; Joshua to record with exactness the settlement of the Israelites in the land of Canaan; David to mingle prophetic information with the varied effusions of gratitude, contrition, and piety; Solomon to deliver wise instructions for the regulation of human life; Isaiah to deliver predictions concerning the future Saviour of mankind; and Ezra to collect the sacred Scriptures into one authentic volume: 'but all these worketh that one

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and the self same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.' 1 Cor. vii. 2. In some cases, inspiration only produced correctness and accuracy in relating occurrences, or in reciting the words of others; in other cases, it communicated ideas not only new and unknown before, but infinitely beyond the reach of unassisted human intellect; and, sometimes, inspired prophets delivered, for the use of future ages, predictions which they did not themselves comprehend, and which could not be fully understood till they were accomplished. In this restricted sense it may be asserted, that the sacred writers always wrote under the influence, or guidance, or care, of the Holy Spirit, which sufficiently established the truth and divine authority of all Scripture. Though it is evident that the sacred historians sometimes wrote under the immediate operations of the Holy Spirit, it does not follow that they derived from revelation the knowledge of those things which might be collected from the common sources of human intelligence. It is sufficient to believe, that by the general superintendence of the Holy Spirit, they were directed in the choice of their materials, enlightened to judge of the truth and importance of those accounts from which they borrowed their information, and prevented from recording any material error. These points being ascertained and allowed, it is of very little consequence whether the knowledge of a particular fact was obtained by any of the ordinary modes of information, or whether it was communicated by immediate revelation from GOD: whether any particular passage was written by the natural powers of the historian, or by the positive suggestion of the Holy Spirit."

Dr. Gill, in referring to the sacred Scriptures containing various passages or sentences, the sentiments of which are not inspired of God, remarks: "The inspiration pleaded for extends to all the books of the sacred Scriptures, and to all the writers of them, and principal speakers introduced in them; and though all that is contained in them is not of GoD, or inspired by him, as the quotations from heathen writers, the words of Satan, the speeches of bad men, and even of good men, in which some things not right are said of GoD, as by Job and his three friends; yet the writers of the books in which these sayings are were under divine impulse, inspiration, and direction, to commit these several things to writing; partly for the truth of historical facts, and partly to show the malice of devils and wicked men, as well as the weakness and frailty of good men; and all for our caution and instruction."

Most important is it, therefore, to discriminate between what the inspired writers themselves teach, and what is contained in their books; as the Hon. Robert Boyle remarks, "We must carefully distinguish betwixt what the Scripture itself says, and what is only said in the Scripture. For we must not look on the Bible as an oration of GoD to men, or as a body of laws, like our English statute-book, wherein it is the legislator that all the way speaks to the people; but as a collection of composures of very differing sorts, and written at very distant times; and of such composures, that though the 'holy men of GOD' were acted by the Holy Spirit, who both excited and assisted them in penning the Scripture, yet there are many other, besides the Author and the penmen, introduced speaking there. For, besides the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, the Four Evangelists, the Acts of the Apostles, and other parts of Scripture that are evidently historical, and wont to be so called, there are in the other books many passages that deserve the same name; and many others, wherein, though they be not mere narratives of things done, many sayings and expressions are recorded that either belong not to the Author of the Scripture, or must be looked upon as such wherein his secretaries personate others."

Divine inspiration is attributed to the whole of the collection of the sacred Scriptures, as they were received by the Jews during the ministry of JESUS CHRIST. Dr. Doddridge therefore remarks: "The inspiration, and consequently the genuineness and credibility, of the Old Testament, may be certainly inferred from that of the New, because our LORD and his apostles were so far from charging the Scribes and Pharisees (who on all proper occasions are freely censured) with having introduced into the sacred volume any merely human composition; that, on the contrary, they not only recommend a diligent and constant perusal of these Scriptures as of the greatest importance to men's eternal happiness, but speak of them as divine oracles, and as written by the extraordinary influence of the Holy Spirit upon the minds of the authors."

Admitting the books of the Old Testament, which relate chiefly to the limited and temporary religion of the Israelites, to have been written under Divine inspiration, we cannot but conclude the same of the Scriptures of the New Testament; as these contain the sacred and unchanging institutes for all nations of mankind down to the end of the world. JESUS CHRIST also promised the Holy Spirit to be the infallible teacher of his apostles; to guide them into all truth, to teach them all things, to bring all things to their remembrance, and to abide with them for ever. Their miraculous endowments qualifying them to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance, to preach the gospel in all the languages of the nations among whom they fulfilled their missionary labors, confirmed the truth and divinity of the promises of CHRIST; and while we reflect upon them as the commissioned instructers of all the world, and on their perfect harmony in their saving doctrine, if we admit the genuineness and authenticity of the books ascribed to them, we must possess the strongest assurance that the writers of the New Testament were directed by the inspiration of GOD.

Dr. Gill judiciously remarks also, that "inspiration is to be understood of the Scriptures as in the original languages in which they were written, and not of translations; unless it could be thought that the translators of the Bible into the several languages of the nations into which it has been translated, were under the Divine inspiration also in translating, and were directed of God to the use of words by which they have rendered the original: but this is not reasonable to suppose. The books of the Old Testament were written chiefly in the Hebrew language, unless some few passages in Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezra, and Esther, in the Chaldee language, and the New Testament in Greek in which languages only they can be reckoned canonical and authentic for this is like the charters and diplomas of princes, the wills or testaments of men, or any deed made by them; only the original exemplar is authentic, and not translations, and transcriptions, and copies of them, though ever so perfect and to the Bible, in its original languages, is every translation to be brought, and by it to be examined, tried, and judged, and to be corrected and amended: and if this was not the case, we should have no certain and infallible rule to go by: for it must be either all the translations together, or some one of them: not all of them, because they agree not in all things; nor one, for then the contest would be between one nation and another which it should be, whether English, Dutch, French, &c.; and could one be agreed upon, it could not be read and understood by all so the Papists, they plead for their vulgate Latin version, which has been decreed authentic by the council of Trent, though it abounds with innumerable errors and mistakes."

Divine inspiration cannot be claimed for the transcribers of the original Scriptures, and perfect accuracy in the numerous copies of them, taken before the invention of printing, could not have been expected, unless a miraculous

interposition had constantly attended every transcriber: but so great is the agreement found among the existing manuscripts, in relation to all the doctrines, precepts, and facts of the Bible, as to illustrate the admirable providence of God.

DISSERTATION VIII.

GENUINENESS OF THE BOOKS OF SCRIPTURE.

Genuineness must belong to the books of Divine Revelation-The Old Testament books existed genuine in the time of CHRIST, both in Hebrew and Greek-The Jews preserved their books with jealous care-The Levites were their guardians-The New Testament books were copied, translated, and circulated in all nations-The early translations substantially agree-and the ancient manuscripts, which are numerous.

GENUINENESS regards the identity of the sacred books; and it cannot but be of high importance to be satisfied in this particular with respect to those of the Scriptures. Divine revelation would have been seriously or fatally injured, if the sacred writings had not been handed down to us genuine and uncorrupted: but that they have been so preserved we have the most satisfactory evidences. We admit the probability that the original writings of neither Moses, the prophets, nor the apostles, any longer exist; no one pretends that the autographs have been preserved to our times: but no well-informed student of biblical antiquities questions the substantial agreement of the sacred Scriptures now existing with the original manuscripts of their inspired authors.

That the books of the Old Testament are genuine, we have the testimony of the Jewish nation through successive ages. They existed as we possess them in the time of our LORD and his apostles, not only in the original Hebrew, but in a Greek translation, made for the use of the numerous Jews who had descended from those whom Alexander the Great had led into Egypt to people his newly-founded cities. This translation was made nearly three hundred years before the advent of CHRIST; and before that period, notwithstanding the national disobedience to the laws of GOD, and the frequently-repeated reproofs, censures, and threatenings against the people, on account of their practical infidelity, their obstinacy in idolatry, and their prevailing wickedness, they generally held the sacred books in the highest reverence as the oracles of God.

Indubitable evidence of the genuineness of these books is found in the character and circumstances of the Jews. The Rev. T. Hartwell Horne remarks: "If a Jew had forged one book of the Old Testament, he must have been impelled to so bold and dangerous an enterprise by some very powerful motive. It could not be national pride, for there is scarcely one of these books which does not severely censure the national manners. It could not be love of fame, for that passion would have taught him to flatter and extol the national character; and the punishment, if detected, would have been infamy and death. The love of wealth could not produce such a forgery, for no wealth was to be gained by it."

Further, the true knowledge of the original of these books could not easily be corrupted or lost; because the tribe of Levi was consecrated for the service of God among the Israelites, especially to watch over the preservation of the sacred writings; and there never were wanting men among the other tribes, neither before, during, or after the captivity in Babylon, who held the books in high veneration as the inspired Scriptures, being themselves descendants

from the princes, judges, and prophets, who were their authors. And although the names of some of the sacred writers are lost in oblivion, yet as the Jews confess their ignorance, such confession is an evidence that they would not have received the books if they had not been transmitted as sacred by their ancestors at the same time we have the clearest evidence that none of the books of the Old Testament were written later than the fifth century before the advent of CHRIST.

Every variety of evidence which the nature of the case admits is found in favor of the books of the Old Testament: but for perfect information on this point the reader is referred to Horne's "Introduction to the Study of the Scriptures."

Evidence equally, or perhaps more satisfactory, exists in favor of the books of the New Testament; as they were written on various occasions, and for the instruction of different churches and individuals; yet as they were not of a private nature, but relating to the grand interests of Christianity, and the spiritual welfare of all believers in the gospel, soon after the original writings were published, numerous copies were taken for the use of friends and the neighboring churches, and carried by apostolical men and evangelical missionaries wherever they went to proclaim the gospel of CHRIST. Conveyed into distant countries, they were soon translated into different languages, held sacred by the pastors of the churches, and read as the divine oracles in the public assemblies of the Christians.

Historical testimony proves the genuineness of the New Testament books, abounding through every age up to the time when they were written, and this is confirmed by numerous translations from the age of the apostles. The earliest of these translations extant is the Peschito, or literal Syriac version, which is clearly ascertained to have been made early in the second, if not in the first cen tury; and this version has been in exclusive use, and held in the highest estimation, by the several sects of Christians in Syria and the East.

Equally ancient with the Peschito was the Old Italic, or original Latin version, made for the Christians at Rome, and quoted in the second century by Tertullian. While the agreement of these versions with the existing Greek furnishes strong internal evidence, their different and independent existence as translations, affords satisfactory proof of the antiquity and genuineness of the books of the New Testament. Besides, manuscripts of these sacred books, amounting to the number of several thousands, are to be found in the several ancient libraries throughout Christendom. More than five hundred have been actually examined with great care by learned men; and it is ascertained that some of them were transcribed so early as the eighth, seventh, sixth, and even the fourth centuries; thus carrying us up to nearly the times of the first publication of the apostolic writings. When, therefore, we consider the number of these manuscripts, the distant countries in which they are found, and the agree ment of their contents with the quotations which the instructers of the Christian church have made in different ages, we have a perfect demonstration of the genuineness of the books of the New Testament.

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