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frivolous objections? He only can reasonably hope to be stable, efficient, and joyful, who knows in whom he has believed,-who can say, on sufficient grounds, my faith does not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Indeed, it appears to me, that the Christian, in any rank of life, who does not, according to his opportunities, study the evidences of revelation, both external and internal, does great injury to himself, and disparages the wisdom of God. Why have these evidences been multiplied, and given in so many various forms, but that all the followers of Christ may become acquainted with them, and that, being acquainted with them, they may have the " strong consolation" that the Bible contains the truth, the whole truth, in regard to human redemption, that all its promises, statements, and declarations, are truths which have issued from the God that cannot lie, and that therefore they may rely on them with the most implicit and absolute confidence?

12. (IV.) It is the duty of all students, but more especially of students of divinity, to be well acquainted with the evidences of Christianity. This particular is, no doubt, included in the remark which I formerly made, that a knowledge of the evidences is a necessary branch of a liberal education. It is important, however, to place it distinctly before our view.

13. Students at a university, while yet engaged in their philosophy course, are naturally looking forward to those pursuits and professions in life which they intend to follow. Meanwhile they are laudably exerting themselves in improving their minds, and in furnishing them with the treasures of literature and science. At length their course at college terminates, and they enter into the busy pursuits of the commercial world, or on the study of law or medicine, without any other knowledge of Christianity than what they acquired under the parental roof, or have obtained from the pulpit. Of its evidence they are entirely ignorant; and the consequences of this

ignorance, in too many instances, may be melancholy and disastrous. They are thrown into the society of persons imbued with infidel principles, who sneer at Christianity, and retail some of the often-refuted but flimsy objections of Hume and Voltaire. Their faith, having no foundation to rest upon, is subverted; and if they do not renounce the profession of Christianity, they continue secretly, unless rescued by the power of divine grace, unbelievers in its truth and divine authority.

14. Now, to provide against this evil, students, while they are yet students, and before they have entered on the business and professions of life, ought to be furnished with the means of becoming well acquainted with the evidences of divine revelation. They ought to acquire that knowledge of them by which they would be able, not only to withstand gainsayers, but to adopt the most appropriate arguments for defending the cause of the Redeemer. With regard to students of divinity, it is only necessary to say, that a thorough acquaintance with this. subject is essential to their comfort, respectability, and usefulness in discharging the duties of that sacred profession for which they are candidates. They have not the credentials of apostles and inspired teachers to produce to their auditors; but they may have it in their power to show that the truths which they preach are the same which were taught by the servants of the Most High God, and that the evidences of the divine authority of these truths are various and incontestable.

15. (V.) I only notice farther, that a knowledge of the evidences is necessary for all, and more especially for the young, to guard them against those dangers to which they are exposed. What dangers? Is there no danger to those who are not fortified against it by appropriate knowledge from the objections of infidels against the Scriptures? To us, the objections made against them, on account of the mysteriousness of their doctrines, appear frivolous; but to those who are uninformed, they seem

formidable. And then, is there no danger from the bold and confident tone which infidels assume, and in which they represent the intelligence, liberality, and independence of those who have succeeded in freeing themselves from the restraints of religion, more especially from the restraints of the Bible? Is there no danger to young and ingenuous minds, without adequate and appropriate knowledge, in the scorn and ridicule with which Christianity has been, and still is, opposed, and that by men who affect great superiority in literature and science? Above all, is there no danger from the bias of human nature towards real and practical infidelity? Is it not proper that we should be fully prepared to encounter these evils; and especially that, before men enter on the business of life, they should be well instructed as to the nature of the grounds on which Christians believe and are assured that they have not followed cunningly devised fables, in receiving the doctrines of the Lord Jesus Christ.

16. With regard to the views now given of the advantages of a familiar acquaintance with Christian evidence, I am aware, it may be alleged, that repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, are not produced by the mere force of evidence. " Among all the persons," says Dr Dwight, "with whom, while they were anxiously solicitous about their salvation, I have had opportunity to converse, I do not remember even one who ever mentioned his own indisposition to repent, as in any degree derived from the want of evidence to support the truth of the Scriptures. The number of these has been so great, that, if this were a common or even a frequent case, some one must have been found among them who had been embarrassed by this difficulty." The inference deduced from this fact is, that the reason why unbelievers continue to be so, is not the want of evidence.

In this conclusion I so far agree, that I admit that the difficulty, in all cases, lies more in the heart than in the understanding. The testimony of Scripture, confirmed

by observation and experience, is, that the native disposition of the earthly mind of man is opposed to the truth; and that, therefore, though we should prove to him, by the evidence of miracles, of prophecy, and of the inherent excellency and adaptation of Heaven's communication, the divine origin of the Bible, he will nevertheless remain unbelieving, impenitent, and disobedient. It was on this ground, doubtless, that our Lord affirmed, that those who were not persuaded by Moses and the prophets to turn to God in faith and in love, would not be persuaded to do so by any evidence that might be furnished to them by one who rose from the dead. It is admitted, then, that something beside the mere power of truth and evidence, even the power of the divine Spirit, is indispensable to produce that change in the human mind, without which no man ever will receive the truth in the love of it, or really believe with the heart unto salvation.

17. But does this admission weaken or destroy the force of the remarks made in regard to the advantage and necessity of an extensive acquaintance with the evidences? Does it nullify all the arguments which I have adduced to show that such acquaintance is essential to the stability, the comfort, and usefulness of all Christians? By no

means.

First, Because these are means of arriving at the knowledge and belief of the truth which God himself has provided, and which, consequently, it is the duty as well as the privilege of all to observe. For what end has he so greatly multiplied the evidences of his own communication to mankind, surrounded it with so many proofs of its being from him, and engraven on the message itself in indelible characters the signatures of his own wisdom, and power, and goodness, but that all should examine; and, as the effect of examination, come to the knowledge of the truth, and be saved? It is, moreover, in the use of these means that God ordinarily communicates his blessing. It is the study of the nature, substance, and evidence of

divine truth that God usually renders effectual to the removal of prejudice and unbelief from the heart. It is, accordingly, to this truth in some of its forms, and through some of the channels through which it is conveyed, that all who become Christians, in the proper sense of that term, are indebted for those convictions which have issued in conversion to God.

Secondly, The admission of the unquestionable fact to which I have referred shows, to all who enter on the examination of the evidences of revelation, the necessity of carefully watching the moral disposition of their hearts, and of imploring the teaching and guidance of God's Holy Spirit. It is He alone who can produce an affinity between the objects presented in the Bible, and the mind that is directed to their contemplation. These divine objects, so perfect in all moral excellence, and surpassing in spiritual loveliness, can only be regarded with delight and complacency by him who is taught, not by flesh and blood, but by our Father who is in heaven. To all who are anxious to obtain this accordancy between the frame of their hearts, and characters, and lessons of revealed truth, how encouraging and cheering is the promise of that truth, that the Holy Spirit will be given to them that ask him!

CHAPTER II.

ON THE DESIRABLENESS AND NECESSITY OF A DIVINE
REVELATION.

1. Ir a revelation of the will of God, as to our present conduct and future happiness, be necessary, there is not in the world any book that can come in competition with the Bible. As for the Alcoran, there are things in it so manifestly contrary to the common light and reason of

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