The Bible and its interpretaters, its miracles and prophecies; with a conspectus of the argument and notes

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A CONSPECTUS OF THE ARGUMENT
AND NOTES.

By WILLIAM J. IRONS, D.D.,

PREBENDARY OF ST. PAUL'S, ETC.

S:i)trti ©Uttton.

LONDON :

J. T. HAYES, LYALL PLACE, EATON SQUARE.

New York: POTT AND AMERY.

^?^^.

rO THOSE

WHO, LOVING TRUTH, WILL DILIGENTLY SEEK IT
AND HAVE COUB.\GE TO ACKNOWLEDGE IT,

PUBLISHED AT THE KEQUEST

OF MANY WHO HEARD IT IN ITS FIRST FORM,

AND PUT FORTH AFTER CAREFUL CONSIDERATION,

IS NOW DEDICATED.

PEEPACE ■

THE SECOND EDITION.

Our Religion can only be reasonably and
rigbtly accepted on its own grounds. But
the generality of men neither think nor
act reasonably throughout ; yet in religion
it must be far better that they receive the
truth imperfectly than not at all. — Such
was the dilemma presented to me Avhen
this Volume first appeared. I felt the
responsibility of pressing an argument
which destroys the apparent foundation
of much that passes for Christianity with
the multitude ; and I felt the yet greater
responsibility of sanctioning false premises

( iv )

for the sake of true conclusions — being
assured that when the deception shall be
discovered, (as in the coming times it
inevitably must be, and ought to be), the
reaction against the Truth itself must be
calamitous.

I therefore have not shrunk from issuing
a Second Edition of " The Bible and its
Interpreters," now that it is called for.
But in so doing, I have endeavoured to
make the scope of the argument plainer,
by a " Conspectus " prefixed to it.

My attention has been kindly directed
to the fact that the Bishop of Natal in a
recent volume has referred to some of my
statements, as if they supported his views
of Holy Scripture. I am glad to think
that every competent reader can judge for
himself, by looking at my words in their
context, whether they do not rather de-
stroy all the grounds on which his lord-
ship bases his Scripture criticism. As to

( V )

those who will not take this trouble, (and
I hope the Bishop, with his great fairness,
will not be hereafter among the number),
further explanation would be useless.

But there is one circumstance which
must in this place be briefly dealt with, if
I would not do injustice to myself and my
subject. In the first Preface I had said (p.
xix.) that they to whom my argument had
been originally spoken acknowledged the
first three parts of it, which they called
"the destructive" parts, to be conclusive, but
they desired the fourth, or " constructive "
part, to be made plainer — a most reasonable
request, to which I hoped I had "suffi-
ciently though briefly " responded. The
same objection has, however, been re-
iterated with some monotony and persist-
ence, since the published book appeared,
by those who do not seem to perceive that
it is not possible for fair critics, with a
pruited argument before them, to deal with

b

( vi )

it thus. I speak at least of those critics
who do not cast off belief in E-evelation, or
view it ah extra, without concern. They
have admitted — for the main facts have not
been denied by any one — the " destruc-
tive " force of the first three portions of
the argument ; when they come then to
the fourth part, are they not bound, as
Christians and reasoners, to say what they
are resting on, if they reject the solution
of difficulties there offered '? Unwilling as
so many men are to think consistently,
they still will be unable honestly to evade
this. Nor, further, can the doubt be
accepted, as to the soundness of this
" constructive " argument, until some one
will grapple with the fact which con-
stitutes its main strength, viz., (pp. 146-
163,) that the proof of the Bible, and of
the Church its witness, is exactly the same
as the fundamental proof of all Theism
and all Ethics.

( vii )

It may be, indeed, that some difficulty
is honestly experienced by many in rea-
lizing the alternative offered, when the
proposed literary basis of Revelation is
showai to be impossible to them, and a
" Supernatural Book with its Supernatural
Meaning" is put before them; and for
them some explanation may yet be needed,
especially as to what the word " Super-
natural " implies. If in thus explaining, I
repeat what is elsewhere said, it is because
t is unavoidable.

In discussing the four principal theories
as to the position of Holy Scripture, in
the ensuing pages, it is intimated that there
are certain preceding questions belonging
to each of them. Thus the Popular view
presupposes, in some indefinite way, "inspi-
ration," (p. Ill); the Roman view, "in-
fallibility," (p. 48); the Literary view,
"authenticity," (p. 66); and the Catholic
view, the divine or " supernatural "

&2

( viii )

character of the Book. In the first tliree
cases, the postulates are all to some extent
of a literary kmd. It is the fourth which
we are now to explain.

It will appear indeed ultimately, that
the ways of regarding the Bible can [^be
but two ; though each way may be adopted
more or less perfectly :

1. It is either "a Book like any other
Book ;" or,

2. It is not a Book like any other^ Book,
and that is, in other words, "supernatural."
Let us without subterfuge look at this
alternative : —

1. Take the first hypothesis, (or any
modification of it which fear, or habit, or
necessity may suggest, — because the hypo-
thesis is the same in its essence under all
the modifications). It is the view of the
Bishop of Natal, and of Mr. Jowett, but
not of them alone. A man comes to his
Bible without prejudice, as he would to his

( ix )

Homer, or Plato. He ascertains its cha-
racter, genuineness, and meaning : approves
of what he thinks good in the book, doubts
what seems doubtful, and rejects what in
his judgment is erroneous. If he at all
entangles himself by the feeling that the
book is inspired, he is so far allowing that
it is different from other books, unless he
generalizes on the idea of inspiration : (but
he is still at liberty to limit the inspi-
ration to the moral and spiritual teaching
of the book, and not to its words or facts.)
Perhaps the words cannot be distinguished
by him from the truths, nor the facts from
the ethics ; he must, however, proceed with
his analysis, as in the case of any other
book. He may not arrive, indeed, at
Bishop Colenso's conclusion ; he will prefer
his own — be it what it may : but he has no
right to complain if others use the same
method, and decide also for themselves as
to the truth of all that the Bible teaches.

( X )

In fact, the most ignorant must either
do the same, or trust some to do it for
them. And in so doing they subject the
Bible to the individual judgment of the
reader.

Will any thoughtful man say that he is
satisfied with this ? Surely very few will
ultimately retain the Bible at all on this
plan '?— But what is the alternative 1

2. A man opens his Bible with an en-
tirely opposite feeling and studies it on a
totally different method. He soon becomes
aware that it has a message for him more
searching and more elevating and more
profound than any other book. He comes
upon things which he does not understand ;
— after a time some of them perhaps are
explained by further meditation or inquiry^
but some are not : some things distress,
some amaze him ; but all the while this
Book, as a whole, has a mighty power over
him, and that all the more as he uses it, and

( xi )

acts on its main teaching (pp. 117-119).
Very gradually he finds that parts which,
in the letter, are unintelligible to him,
are full of spirit and life, and suggestive
in a thousand ways. He learns that this
has been the case with the readers of this
mysterious book in all ages, and that there
is a wonderful consensus of feeling among
them. Then in fact his approach to the
Bible rises, and grows to be a devotion,
and he can with reason lay aside critical
questions for fit occasions, and be at present
content to " understand in part." Experi-
ence soon teaches him that in using it
" Scripture cannot be broken," he must
take it all, and he knows not beforehand
in which part he may next find " doctrine,
reproof, correction, or instruction in righte-
ousness." Thus more and more it becomes
to him a Divine whole, a book " unlike
every other book," a Supernatural book,
with its Supernatural meaning revealed by

( xii )

the Holy Spirit, and really in harmony with
revelations to the saints in " the Holy
Church throughout all the world."

True, a great part of this wondrous
book is wholly withdrawn by Providence
from all possible criticism. Even the ar-
chaeology of the first writing is lost. The
criticism of what we possess must remain
but for the few. Christ, however, received
Scripture under those very conditions, as a
whole, showing the literal use of some
parts, and not giving us a literal key to
other parts ; confirming the literal meaning,
for example, of the story of Noah or of
Lot, but withholding literal interpretation
from the Psalms, taking them all to Him-
self— the " Psalms concerning Me." So
all His Apostles received Scripture as a
Divine whole. So also His Church in
every age; and so will each faithful heart
in His Church for ever.

In Lord Bacon's striking fragment, the

( xiii )

*' New Atlantis,' we read of a supernatural
scripture, which every one could read as
if written in his own language : but this
happened in the "supernatural island."
It is a parable of the Bible and the
Church.

Many will doubtless refuse to accept
either side of the alternative now presented ;
for unhappily we see that it is possible for
the educated classes in this age, throughout
Europe, to subsist without faith, that is,
without clear mental conviction or fixed
judgment of anything. And in this the high-
est classes among us are the most guilty.
Not only are men growing more and more
silent when they meet, as to the right and
wrong in the great moral, social, and
religious questions of the day, but they are
startled at any one who speaks out, and in
their feebleness and irresolution they would
simply avoid him as unsafe and unrefined.
Silence as to matters of principle is be-

( xiv )

coming part of our modern civilization, and
is corrupting not only the honesty of virtue,
but individuality of thinking and reality of
faith. The few who yet think, aim to think
in parties. Truth is to have none but ano-
nymous patrons — majorities or the ballot
may decide everything. Even opinion seems
almost as if raffled for, in general society.
But let no one imagine that this can be
a permanent condition of things. This si-
lence of conscience may be ominous even
now of a coming storm. The hesitating
and insincere, like those in old Judgea,
will yet have to face a day of retribu-
tion ; and there shall be ' multitudes, mul-
titudes, in the valley of decision.' (Joel
iii. 14.)

Perhaps I ought not to send forth this
Volume in its present, I trust final, form,
without some acknowledgment of the kind-
ness of the many criticisms which I have re-

( XV )

ceived and by which I have endeavoured to
profit. With rare exceptions my reviewers
have been courteous ; and frequently ge-
nerous and careful.

Some things have, indeed, been said
which probably would not have been said,
had the writers put their names to their
writing, as I have to mine. In some cases
a mutual sympathy has been significantly
elicited among writers of widely different
schools ; the most extreme example of
which is the use made of the Westminster
Review by the organ of the most advanced
Church-Puritanism, the same passage of
my book being singled out for disapproba-
tion, with the same comment, and without
acknowledgment.

An author very quickly perceives whether
a critic has read his book ; and in this and
some few other cases I would again re-
spectfully ask to have my argument con-
sidered. One who writes only for Truth

( xvi )

must needs address himself to those alone
who love Truth ; but it is a duty to hope
that such audience is more numerous than
sometimes it seems to be.

PKEFACE.

TO

THE FIRST EDITION.

The circumstances in which the present Addi-ess
originated, though known to many, ought perhaps
to be briefly stated, lest the object of its publication
should be misapprehended, in any quarter.

Every one has felt of late, that the Bible has
come to be treated in a tone and spirit inconsistent
with that reverence which, in this country, has
hitherto been usual. Historical and scientific in-
accuracy have been freely imputed, and almost
as freely admitted, as distinctive of the Sacred
Volume; and people who had been taught to re-
gard it as the one voice of Infallible Eevelation to
man, have consequently found themselves bewil-
dered at the prospect, that henceforth the credi-
bility of the Scriptures may gradually diminish.
Having long since surrendered the idea, that the
Christian Church has any independent reahty and
truth, and only rests its claims on documentary
proof, the failure of Scripture itself leaves such
persons Avith less and less of "Revelation" every

( xviii )

day; and no wonder if the announcement of any
new discoveries in literature or science fill them,
as it does, with dismay.

For few, after all, in the "religious world" are
as yet, able to grasp the idea of a Christianity
which needs neither an entirely true Bible, nor a
Divinely-gifted Church, to rest on. All the at-
tempts made of late years to reduce Scripture to
the level " of other books, and to bring the Church
to the condition ' of other Societies,' have failed
hitherto to suggest a definite view to the many, as
to what is to he the " Theology of the Nineteenth
Century." Perhaps indistinctness in this case
may have been inevitable ; for no system, and no
men, would be intentionally obscure, unless there
were — which would be hard to attribute — obliquity
of purpose. Since every honest mind prefers to
have its meaning understood, it is fair to suppose,
that when a theory is unintelligible, it is because
its professors cannot help it. There may be such
a thing as intellectual twilight, in which men do
not plainly see what they are thinking ; and very
often there seems to be a moonlight criticism of
moral subjects, in which the light though interest-
ing, i-s pale ; and the shadows are dark and deep.

The ensuing Address, delivered in Lent of the
present year, was intended to deal with the present

( xix )

state of mind among us. Deferring to the re-
quest made to me, I laid these thoughts before
about a hundred of my brethren, chiefly clerg^^, in
London ; nor could I refuse to give to the public
what I had spoken, when the wish that I should
do so was generally expressed. Indeed, under
the circumstances, it would have looked like
faithlessness to my own convictions, aud to the
Truth itself, to suppress what I had uttered.

I am conscious, that what I have said is likely
to give pain to some who are very dear to me :
but I have avoided every word that could need-
lessly irritate. Such, at least, has been my
pm-pose, and I hope that I have attained it. The
words "EvangeKcal," "Broad Church," "Papist,"
and " Dissenter " have found no place in this
Address. Other terms, (inclusive no doubt of
these, but perhaps of more than these), have been
adopted, not only to avoid offence, but as more truly
expressmg my own meaning, and bringing out the
idea which was opposed. And there is this ad-
vantage in such general expressions : no one need
appropriate what is urged, unless it be necessary.

It was said, that the three earlier parts of this
Address were more complete than the last ; and it
was requested by many that the " constructive
portion" should be made as clear and conclusive

( XX )

as the "destructive." I am mistaken if this has
not now been sufficiently though briefly done ; yet
the delay thus occasioned, (through the pressure
of other and prior duties), is to be regretted. I
have not, however, lost a day in acceding to the
Avishes of my brethren ; and I trust that the
Address in its present state may prove as useful
as so many of them kindly anticipated. If any
further enlargement be asked for, it Avill not be
withheld.

Above all things, I earnestly request my fellow-
Christians of every class who may read these
pages, to do so with patience and fearlessness, as
in God's sight — even if the course of thought at
first seem to them very trying. For if what is
said be all simply and undeniably true — then, to
be angiy with it is but to "fight against God."
If there be any who imagine that they can defend
their faith in Christianity at all, on other grounds
than those here set forth — viz., the grounds of the
Chuech, — let them, in God's Holy Name, do it
at once, with calmness, and reasonableness, and
earnestness of heart. Bitter words, and sneers,
and persecutions, however refined, will fail. Let
the appeal be to facts — to conscience — to reason.

Yet a little while, and we must all give our
account to Him Who is the Truth.

CONSPECTUS.

The call made for some fm'tlier clearing of the
argument of this book, especially in its concluding
part, is the occasion of the " Conspectus " which
follows this brief explanation. Taken together, it
is hoped that they will bring all competent readers
to test the practical issue which has been raised.

The book was addressed to "lovers of truth,"
not to those who would dip into its pages idlj^
carelessly, or impatiently. If some unbelievers
have made ad captandum use of the facts here re-
ferred to, they have but equivocated with truth in
this argument, as they might in any other which as
a whole they feared to face. If the timid believer
has been alarmed, it may bs well that he should
ask himself whether, "if these things be so," it
can possibly harm him or the truth in the end, to
recognise that which is quite undeniable. That
misuse or misrepresentation of the argument was
easy from the first, was of course painfully e\ident,

e

xxii Conspectus.

The consternation into which the Christian
world has been thrown by the criticism brought to
bear of late on the Bible unhappily displays the
fact that the critical method is admitted, and that
nothing is complained of but the results which it
arrives at. But can anything be more unworthy
than to admit principles, act ob them as far as
they seem convenient, and upbraid those who
follow them more fully and consistently to the end?

The present argvmient shows throughout that
the critical method itself, whether in the hands of
those who would defend or of those who would
destroy the Bible, is a false method, irrational as
well as irreligious, scarcely conceivable in theory,
and in contradiction with all facts. But if this be
made clear against the rationalist, it is equally so
against the Puritan.

The principle has been asserted in our own
country, for instance, for 300 years, that eveiy
man has a right to his own private judgment of the
Bible, as to its true text, its authority, and its
meaning. At the Eeformation, in the times of the
RebeUion, of the Restoration, of the Revolution, and
of the later Georgian controversies, there may be
seen a growing assertion of this principle. Parallel
with this assertion, there has been all along
a rejection of ecclesiastical authority, becoming

Conspectus. xxiii

more definite at each crisis during those 300 years.
Had there been any true Discipline maintained in
the Church, the Doctrine coukl not have been thus
left to every man's own Biblical research. The
gradual displacement of Church discipline, the
setting aside of the " Canon Law," was thus an
inevitable condition of the working of the principle
of " Private Interpretation."

In our own days the double cKmax has been at-
tained— the assertion in its fulness of the principle
of Private Judgment, and the resistance to every
Ecclesiastical Authority.

The critical method of dealing with Scripture
and with Kevelation here reaches its lecritimate
and inevitable development. The Christian world
is thus surprised, first by Bishop Colenso's private
judgment of the " Pentateuch and the Book of
Joshua ;" and then by his resistance to the at-
tempt, made to hold him amenable to the discipline
of ecclesiastical authority. But Bishop Colenso
has surely a fair right to complain, if they who use
half way the same principles as he uses, not only
clamour at his fairly following out those princi|)les
to the best of his ability, but would overpower him
by "authority" which they, as well as he, would
in conscience disclaim.

The Churchman who, on the grounds set forth

c2

xxiv Conspectus.

by us, wholly repudiates Bishop Colenso's principle
as irrational and impossible (see pp. 107, &c.), can
rightly call him to account, and ask for authorita-
tive condemnation of such views ; as naturally as
he would, in a plain case of morals, in wliich criti-
cism and debate might be out of the question. But
every one except the Catholic Churchman is bound
to answer Bishop Colenso or leave him unmolested.
A pious Wesleyan, or Baptist, or a thoughtful
Quaker, for instance, may dislike Bishop Colenso's
conclusions ; but if " private judgment " is to bo
the rule, they have no right to interfere except by
reasoning. True, he has exceeded the limit of
thought allowed in his own communion ; but the
law must settle that. If some who hold Methodist
doctrine within the Church should find that Bishop
Colenso's views destroy the Bible, they have no
light to complain of his criticising, nor his not sub-
mitting to authority ; for they do not allow Church
authority to restrain their own views : and they
use their own judgment, as he uses his. If Church
discipline had been kept up for the last 300 years,
Congregationalists, or Quakers, or Methodists — as
they are well aware — would have had their private
judgments all to themselves, outside the Church.
The critical method, in whole or in part, might
have been excluded from our pale, by authority.

Conspectus. xxv

They, however, who have most contributed to
break down our disciphne as a Church, and yet
would evoke it against critics, have been asserters
of private judgment, for themselves, both wdthin
and without. We cannot forget, as they do, that
unless Ecclesiastical Disciphne had been long since
broken down, the critical method could never have
run among us its destructive course.

The Church of Christ, as constituted from the
first, is an organized body — and not merely a col-
lection of individuals professing opinions. The
organization of that body for its full edification and
life, was the great concern of apostles, bishops,
pastors, from the day of Pentecost till the 16th
century. Its doctrine was dealt with, " in the
Body" of the organized Church; and Creeds ex-
press it. Its Eules of Organization had been the
"Canons" of its Councils, ordered by the Spirit
of wisdom, variously, within that Body.

At the Reformation in this country, that
" Canon law " of the Church Universal was a
bond of discipline among us, subject to some limi-
tations and restraint. Our king, Henry VIII., saw
that it was necessary, in his circumstances, to
alter much of that law for his own kingdom ; he
thought to retain the Creeds, and alter the disci-
pline. He appointed thirty-two commissioners to

xxvi Conspectus.

change the discipline of the Church. He died
without accomplishing the object, and his daughter
Elizabeth received the '' Reformatio Legum " from
the Commissioners and others ; but wisely, as if
doubting her power, refused to sanction it. Mean-
while, the old Discipline and Canon Law — in
theory, of course — held on, but was necessarily
disregarded by the spirit of private judgment which
began more and more to work. New canons were,
indeed, drawn up in the 17th century; but they
could not be ultimately enforced if private judg-
ment were to rule. High Commissions and courts
of various names, however unwillingly, lowered
gradually the application and range of the canonical
discipline : the people next became Puritanized,
and all was swept slwslj.

The Restoration came, the Doctrine, the Creeds,
and the Liturgy of the Church were reinstated
with authority, and it was attempted to limit
private judgment once more, -within the pale of the
Church of England ; but no new canons, no new
discipline, could really be attempted. The 18th
century followed, and no change for the better.
The national feeling forbad ecclesiastical authority-
more and more, even for the members of the
Church. A shadow of it was retained in Eccle-
siastical Courts, which have now, however, nearly

Conspectus. xxvii

disappeared. So far as they exist, it would seem
that the clergy alone are subject to them.

Even the sects around us all put us to shame in
this, and aim at some internal discipline for
Cheist ; but we who are His Church, by all inheri-
tance, have no pervading discipline. Even our
final Court of Appeal, in matters of reUgion deemed
worthy of zealous debate at all, has become a civil
tribunal.

This course of events has surely been logical
throughout. A single individual or a single
generation may be illogical ; but the main current
of human history moves steadily towards its natural
conclusions. The critical method, of the individual
judgment brought to bear on Revelation, always
impHed the disintegration of the whole discipline
of the Church, and we have lived to see it. Bishop
Colenso is a consistent follower of Chillingworth.
He judges his Bible for himself ; and declines an
ecclesiastical judge.

The critical method, and his denial of ecclesias-
tical authority and discipline, are in harmony ; but
they both are inconsistent with the dogmatic truth
asserted and the organisation begun at the Pente-
cost. All history, no less than the reason of the
case, shows that the doctrine and the organisation
of Christianity are bound indissolubly together.

xxviii Conspectus.

It is the critical method itself which is at fault.
To set every man to find, test, prove, and interpret
the Divine Word for himself, has always led, and
mnst lead, to the countless varieties of belief which
are external to the Church. The method is a false
one ah initio. They who depart from that one
ancient organisation which has been continuously
Imown among men as "The Church," are beyond
its discipline ; they, and only they, are free to change
or set aside the one Baptism, or mutilate the Creed,
or the Canon of Scripture, or the Eucharist. The
truth only exists in that body which has continuity
promised " to the end." They who will depart,
risk their whole Christianity.

If Bishop Colenso could be induced to read and
weigh all that is here set before him, he could not
help seeing that such arguments as his, and all
such criticisms of Holy Writ, are now and for ever
impossible, as far as the basis of revealed truth is
concerned. To admit that some of his criticisms
may in themselves be allowable, and others true,
cannot touch the Churchman's foundation in the
least, any more than Adam Smith's Theory of
Moral Sentiments, or Jeremy Taylor's Ductor Du-
bitantium, or Liguori's Casuistry, can alter the
human conscience. We are absolutely independent
of the critics in every -vital matter. If Bishop

Conspectus. xxix

Coleuso has worked out the Puiitan, or Literary,
Biblicist's hypothesis ad absurdum, is he not aware
that this must recoil on the hypothesis itself?
And is it too much to hope that he may yet seek
to repair much of the evil done, by a manful if late
avowal that the literary method in religion is to be
abandoned by every man who professes to take
reason as his guide at aU ; and so submit himself
(whatever become of his future critical labours),
with humility and joy, to the Catholic truth, that
Word which conscience ever feels to be Divine ?

The Truths which are vindicated in the ensuing
argument are comprised in the following proposi-
tions : —

I. That the Bible is a Divine volume, and un-

like any other book.

II. That its origines, and frequently its literal

criticism, are withdrawn from human
scrutiny.

III. That, quite apart from criticism, it is felt by

the human conscience ;

IV. But that it is interpreted safely and truly

only in the Church.

Conspectus.

Page
The Bible regarded as a Eecord of Divine Revela-
tion 1 — 3

containing it, Objectively, 3

imparting it. Subjectively; — ,,

( — the Objective useless without the Subjective, the
Book, and a knowledge of its Meaning, going
together, for Revelation.)

FouB Views of this Written Woed :

1. That it is Revelation ; Objectively and Sub-

jectively 4

2. That it is Revelation ; but not Objectively nor

Subjectively ,,

3. That it is Revelation ; Subjectively ,,

4. That it is Revelation ; Objectively ,,

(N.B. — These four views emerge — from 15th to VdtJi

centiiry.) 5 — 8

FiEST View. (Popular.)

The Fact shrunk from, that the BIBLE is received

as a Tradition, and much of its interpretation 9

also ,,

A common persuasion that men " prove the Bible," ,,

and then " prove their Religion" from it ... . ,,

This " proving" is a mingled and uncertain process 10

— neither subjective, nor objective : since at
all events, the sense cannot be had without

the Text,

the Text must first be proved : 11

[meanwhile the sense must wait ; and

theories of inspiration also. ] „

Text of the New Testament : Traced from the
Printed English to the Printed Greek ; (by some
persons) 12

Conspectus. xxxi

Page

Traced from the Printed Greek of 19th century 12

to manuscripts, cursive and uncial, of centuries

before the Eeformation ; (by fewer persons) 13

[Middle Ages — S. Jerome — Eusebius, Origen —

Apostolic Fathers] 14 — 19

Text of the Old Testament : Traced from the
Printed English to the Printed " Hebrew ;" (by

some persons) , ,

Traced from the Printed Hebrew to unpointed
manuscripts of the early centuries : And from
them, back to a remote antiquity : And then
a necessity to trust the Jews entirely, early
Christian criticism of the Hebrew, (r.s Origen's 23

Hexapla,) being lost. — Further, both Jews and 2i

early Christians ordinarily used the Septuagint, 25

not Hebrevr ,,

The LXX. — its origin obscure— and from what 26

Hebrew translated, unknown — 200 years before
Cheist 27

The Hebrew Bible previous to the Septuagint, 300
years b.c 28

The Hebrew Bible in the days of Ezra, 500
years b.c ,,

The Hebrew Bible previous to the Capti\dty,

600 years b.c ,,

What the then extant books. Analysis 29 — 39

Scepticism the Eesult of the Popular Method, 40

So far as the Literal Text is concerned.
The Popular Biblicism, ultimately driven to Autho-
rity, ,,

Does not " prove the Text " for itself ,,

Its Evasions, disingenuous : 41 — 45

It abandons the Objective, while trying to cling to

the Subjective

And really at last surrenders its oivn idea 47

xxxii Conspectus.

Second View. [Rovian.)

Eome assigns an indefinite jjosition to the Bible —
contradicting the popular view, rather than ex-
plaining its own. It seems not to give it Objective
position, jper se — nor yet Subjective use, per se.
It claims to control and settle Scripture. [The
question of Infallibility postponed.] 48

But it has not controlled it — has not settled it, as
we shall see, if we reverse om- order of proceeding
and trace the Scripture downwards from the days
of the Apostles 49

As to the Old Testament — not Eome, nor any
Church inquired at first for the authentic re-
cords of Prophets ; 50

As to the New Testament — they thought not of
preserving the autographs of Apostles.

The Roman Church, then, took no measures to
examine the Hebrew Scriptures ; nor even to
settle the canon, by any in-imitive Councils, of
either Testament.

Yet there was, as men might deem, great need of

such settlement 51

The Bible to the end of the 3rd century, practically
in the Church an uucriticised Se2:)tuagint, and
Greek or vernacular New Testament 52 — 53

The Latin Bible, or Vulgate : Eome's first effort to
settle a Translation of Scripture : No attempt
ever made by authority for settling the originals.
The Objective position of Scripture not given by
the Church.

But the Bible makes its own Divine way, by secret
paths, and independently. (St. Jerome.)

Synodical acts concerning Scripture confined to
lists of names of the Books. The Vulgate
struggles with the old version till the 7th cen-
tury. The " Ordinary Gloss" settles the Vulgate. 55 — 57

Conspectus. xxxiii

Page

Vulgate unsettled at the Eeformatiou. Summary. 58 — 59
Rome fails to make good its own idea, of the
Church controlling Scripture, or settling it ; and
leads to Scepticism GO

Third View. (Literary.)

This implies literary capacitj' in all who are con-
cerned in Revelation : C2

Or limits the aim of Revelation 63

Four Fallacies implied in the Literary Method : ....
The true theory briefly intimated in opposition to
these 65

Modern Examples of the Literary Method :

I. The learned critic. His free handling •. 66

of the Documents — the Dogma — the Termi-
nology— Primary Theology — Ethics. — Results . 71 — 73

II. Swedenborg. III. Irving. IV. "Wesley. V. Gill.

VI. Whiston 74— 7G

Ancient Examples :

I. Novatians. II. Donatists. III. Pelagians. 77 — 7S
IV. Augustinians. V. The Schools 79

Fanatical Examples :

[Not unjustly attributed to the Literary Method.] 80 — 81

The Literary " Proof from Scripture" tested in
certain Doctrines.

The Trinity — Atonement — Original Sin — Sabbath
— Sacraments — Inspiration — Eternal Punish-
ment. [Ethical Examination of the last, as
claiming the attention of the advocates of Lite-
rary Christianity.] Result: a Fragment of Scrip-
ture, with the meaning " free " 83 — lOG

All Objective Truth being lost by the Literary
Method, the Subjective is found to be evapo-
rated into individual opinion. .,

xxxvi Conspectus.

§ It may be useful, iii fui'tber illustrating the argument,
especially that part of it which ends at p. 37, to place in juxta-
position the unwritten and the ^vritten Religious Truth of the
Old Dispensation. For this purpose a glance at the state of
facts, even as exhibited in the ordinary chronologies, will
sufl&ce. This may assist in giving more definiteness to our
ideas, whenever we find in different parts of the Old Testament
" the Word," and " Truth," and " Law" of God referred to ;
as for instance in the 119th Psalm.

4004 From the Creation to the Flood 1656

2348 „ the Flood to Noah's Death 350

1998 ,, Noah's Death to Abraham's Birth. . 2
1996 „ Abraham's Birth to the Promise . . 100

^J^l1^ Events. Time. Form of Revelation.

^'^A T. i, ^ X- _ i i, -r^ 3 ^'^A^nA Vriwritten Tradi-
--i-- -i-- 3 1 r- j-jQjjg Qf Paradise;

of the First Promise ;

Sacrifice; and Vows;

of Noah's Preaching

and Precepts ; Cir-

1896 „ The Promise to Joseph's Death 261 cumcision ; and the

1635 „ Joseph's Death to the Law 144 ' Abrahamic Promise.

[That is— previous to Written Revelation ) ot-, „„„„„„ ,

there elapsed p^^^ years.J

1491 From the Law to the Death of Mosea 40 .,

1450 „ Moses's Death to Eli's 325 „

1125 Times from Samuel to Solomon's Death . 150 1 ^j^/^fg^^J''''' ^i^'o"-

975 ,, from Solomon's Death to Elisha's . 140 „

835 ,, from Elisha to the Captivity 247 8 Proijhcts wrote.

588 „ from the Captivity to Malachi 188 8 „ „

400 „ Malachi to John the Baptist 401

4004 years

Thus the only parts of the Old Testament which could have
been put together as a Sacred Whole after the first 3000 years
would be the Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, Job, and some of
the Proverbs and Psalms. The prophets down to the death
of EUsha left no writings.

The Bible, so far as possibly possessed at any one itime
before the Captivity, may thus in some way be seen.

THE BIBLE AND ITS INTEEPEETERS.

Introduction.
^W(1^^ tlioughtM Christian can affect to be satis-
M'®ll ^^^ ^^'^^^^ ^^^^ position popularly held, at
"^^^^ present, by the Sacred Scriptures. The
periodical panics of sincere if not deeply-instructed
believers ; the jealousy among religious persons, as
to " reason and science ; " and the want of thorough-
ness in the method of even professed theologians,
are symptoms of a condition of things which cannot
really last, and ought not to be prolonged by any
honest mind.

There are facts connected with the history,
character, and contents of the Sacred Volume,
about which there is no doubt, and ought to be no
equivocation. To state them is to produce no
novelties. Sooner or later all must do something
with them. To admit but half, and wrestle against
the other half, is in no way creditable, especially
when the primary admission may have ceded the

B

2 Idea of Revelation.

only principle on wliieh an opposite intellectual
stand conld be taken. The facts of BibHcal litera-
ture must be faced by all wlio have to deal with
the Christianity of the futiu-e : the present brief
review ought not, then, to ii-ritate any who arc con-
scious in themselves that truth is dearer to them
than custom or prejudice ; and who love the Bible
because it is true.

There is, hoAvever, a considerable class of minds
capable of receiving and handling focts as if they
meant nothing. Their stores are like a museum
entu-ely imarranged, and illustrating no science.
They make admissions, and then go on as if they
had not made them. Such persons, in a sort of
self-defence, can exclaim at much which may now
be said, — " "why, you 0"wn, that there is nothing neiv^
in all this ! " They are right. The new thing is, the
attempt to make such people use the admitted
facts.

All Christians beHeve, that God has revealed
Himself specially in Cheist oiu- Lokp. — But the
idea of a "Revelation" to us imphes, that some have
Tece'ivcd that truth which God has given. " In
sundry portions, and in divers ways, God has
spoken," — and ** whoso has had ears to hear" has
received Revelation, So too, on all hands, the Scrip-

TJie ^^meaninri" of Revelation is Revelation. 3'

tures are taken among us as records of this
Revelation. Beyond this, indeed, we cannot assei-t
much uniformity. Such records have of course ne-
cessaiily been regarded, not only as "containing"
but as imparting truth : and, as truth may be sub-
jective as well as objective, the widely different re-
sults anived at among Christians practically clash
with the supposition of the " all- sufficiency " of the
Bible as a medium of truth to all classes alike.
Hence have arisen certain refinements vrhich are
found in most of our systems, as to the moral and
spiritual ' qualifications ' of the individual, necessary
for the "right reception" of Scriptm-e teaching.
There is some intellectual inconsistency here, which
should not escape examination (see p. 60, &c.) :
meanwhile it is well, all have a feeling that, in some
way, the subjective and objective must eventually be
found together. Li speaking at any time of the
"written Word," and of " God's Revelation," and of
the connection between them, we should all be more
real, and more sincere, if we would constantly remind
ourselves that the Book and its Meaning cannot be
separated. Waterland has said, that "the meaning
of Scripture is Scriptm-e ;" may we not add, that 'the
meaning of Revelation is Revelation?' True, our
primary concern, at present, is to be with the ob-
jective position of the Bible ; but let us not forget

B 2

4 Four views of the Bible

that Revelation and a reception of it, — a " de-
posit" and the "holding" of the deposit, — are cor-
relatives.

There seem to be four views of the supposed re-
lation of the -uTitten Word to Divine Revelation,
with which we have become familiar. They may
be distinguished as the Popular view, the Roman,
the Literary, and the Catholic.

The first identifies Scripture with Revelation,
making the terms precisely coextensive.

The second subordinates Scriptm-e to the li\drig
Church.

The third, ignoring a iniori the idea of "Re-
velation," accepts Scriptm-e first " like any other
book," — aftenvards estimating the contents as Re-
velation, or not, as the case may be.

The fom'th regards Scriptm'e and the Church as
co-ordinate in the mission of Revealed Truth to the
world. — Let each be compared with the facts.

On the first, or "Popular" view, the Written
Word is Revelation absolute. On the "Roman"
view, it is Revelation sub conditione. On the "Li-
terary" view, it may be Revelation per accidens.
On the last, or " Catholic" view (if the designation
may be permitted), the Written Word is Revelation
ev'TrepL'xwp'qaei, — that is, it " contains " necessary

A^oic developed. 5

truth, the Church also hanug "authority in con-
troversy."

"Without needing to say that this arrangement of
our suhject is exactly historical or scientific, (for the
three former views are, to a great extent, identical
in principle, and the last alone is essentially
distinguished fi'om the rest), it is enough that
jwactically, in om* times, the matter comes thus
before us. No doubt our insular theolog}% for three
hundred years, has bravely struggled to secm-e what
it has felt to be a true position for the Bible ; and
the controversy has presented to us, in tm-n, all
these phases. Fii-st, in the sixteenth century, with
but little criticism of the text of Scriptm-e, or of the
Canon, and without defining "inspiration," we up-
held the Divine Book as the "authority" against
Rome. Then, Rome was obliged to defend herself
against the Biblical schools, and part of her defence
at once was literary ; and necessarily so.

. A.D. 1517.

The Complutensian Polyglot soon appeared,
the noble legacy of the dying Ximenes to the Church.
It was among the earHest outbursts of that hearty
zeal for God, " God's word," God's truth, which
then stirred the heart of Christendom. Erasmus
had but just preceded Ximenes in his gi-eat work ;
and when the grand old Cardinal heard what
Erasmus had done, he exclaimed, almost as with

6 Beginnings of Criticism.

his last breath, "would God aU the Lord's people
were prophets!" The appeal to literature was
henceforth unequivocal.

Hopes at first were high, however, in Eome,
that her claims to preside over Scripture would yet
Ibe maintained. The reliance of the Reformation
divines, on the simplicity and certainty of their
Scriptui-e-foundation, was boldly assailed. Free
use was made of the difficulties of the sacred text ;
jyid at length BeUarmine, Morinus, and others on
the side of Rome, threw out critical doubts fore-
shadomng, it was said, not obscurely, a scepticism
which has shown itself openly in later days. Our
theologians, thus driven more and more to literaiy
ground, had to ascertain the "true text" of both
the Hebrew and Greek. Gradually, but surely,
it became the business of critics to settle this
foundation -point ; without any suspicion expressed,
as to the method itself, to which all parties were
being committed.

The matter could not stop where it was now

s. Awj; brought. Hitherto the Sacred Book had
lib. ii. cap. % been commonly regarded as a ivliole ; the

s. Jer., EnoHsh Church affirming — and even the

ProLadPen. ^ ^ °.

. Roman, with St. Augustm and St. Je-

Keformatio °

leg. 5. rome, implying — that " the Hebrew verity,

and the Greek codices" constituted the real " Scrip-

Widening of its range. 7

ture . ' ' With the exception of a rough exclusion of the
"Apocrypha" from authority, criticism hitherto
had chiefly limited itself to " various readings,"
"emendations," "renderings," and " expositions,"
(which to this day still suffice for a slowly
diminishing body of theologians). But a genera-
tion had quickly passed ; and the " London
Polyglot," with its formidable "Appendix "
appeared. The range of criticism was seen to be
indefinitely widening.

Owen, at the head of the Puritans, was indignant
beyond all bounds, and openly avowed, that if such
countless uncertainties were to be popularly sus-
pected, the Protestant fomidations were utterly
cast down. He was a clear-minded man ; and his
was no merely " ilHterate " Pm-itau prejudice, (as
Chalmers has called it). — When, in another gene-
ration. Dr. Mill's "various readings" were mar-
shalled, 20,000 strong, for the Greek Testa-
ment alone — (Mill, like old Ximenes, d}dng
a few days after his work was done), — the zeal of
our own Dr. Whitby was not less signally provoked.
It was not ignorant zeal, though the vox populi
was with him. — Still more exciting was the issue,
when Kennicott's Codices of the Old

_, A.D. 1753.

lestament followed ; and Julius Bate, and

Mr. Cominge, and Dr. Fitzgerald, and "the Pteligious

8 Tlie present position.

Public " beKeved that everything dear to Christians
was openly threatened. Yet a far closer dealing
with the whole subject was really ine\itable. This
mere comparison and correction of texts seemed as
nothing, when, beyond this, the authorship, authen-
ticity, and actual contents, and history, of even)
part of Scriptm-e had to be debated in detail. But
this was the natural com-se of events. From Vol-
taire's "Histoire de la Bible" down to Davidson's
"Introduction,'''' the analysis, as every one is aware,
has gone on, -with results, it needs scarcely be
said, which would have driven to madness the
earnest Hutchinsonians of the 18th century; and
now shock the milder faith of the Anglo-Saxons of
our OATO day, which, unconsciously, is Hutchin-
sonian still.

Such is the actual position ; nor is it very digni-
fied to complain of it. From the first resistance to
" Papal LifallibiHty," doAMi to the setting up of the
"Bible Society," all om- history — no one can deny
it — converged to this, "the theology of the nine-
teenth century. " The old ChilUngworth formula,
"the Bible, and the Bible only, is the religion of
Protestants," had gradually reduced itself to — ' the
Bible as criticism may ultimately settle it.' Lideed,
one by one, the Eoman, no less than the Reformed
and the Rationalist divines, have descended to the

The Popular Theory. 9

literary arena. Meanwhile, however, the Truth
has remained the same. — Still we must needs (in
one sense) accept the controversial position : let us
examine it without any shrinking. The}^ Avho would
shut their eyes, and pretend not to see facts, will
none the less come into coUision ^\-ith them.

§1. Poimlar Theory as to the Bible.

The gi-eat majority among us happily still
accept the Bihle, as the Chm-ch gives it, reading-
it, in fact, in the only rational way, viz., in the
light of the Creeds, the Catechism, and the Litm-gj^,
— in a word, of the Christian traditions around us.
Theirs is a wise, sm-e, and edifying faith ; and finds
ultimate support in a deep and true philosophy. If a
few of us are persuaded, at times, that we "prove"
our Scriptm-e for om'selves, and then prove our doc-
trines by certain "texts," the fraus pla has hut a
limited sphere. (See p. 63, &c.) Narrower it could
scarcely he in a nation like om-s, where every one has
something of the EationaKst in him, and is compelled
by his own personal self-respect, to think that he has
tested what he beHeves. But the strength of om* ortho-
doxy, after all, never Kes in the " Scripture-proofs,"
but in the response of om- o-^ai better nature to the

10 The Bible and its Interjn'eters. •

inherited truths of Cheist, received from our fore-
fathers. The theory, however, prevails in the
minds of almost all of us, that we do, in some way,
"think for om'selves" in reHgion, with the "Bible
only" as om- authority. It is not true; but we
like to fancy so ; and this imagination is a gromng
evn. Education of some kind is advancing, and
discussion, if crude, is more and more " free ; " and
the "theologian of the nineteenth centmy" invites
us, with increasing boldness, to "look for our-
selves" into the entire teaching and structure of
Holy Scriptm-e, as fearlessly as we would look into
"any other book," Let this be the vindication of
what is now to be said. The EngUshman of
ordinary education is challenged, on Jiis own 'prin-
ciples, to the unwonted task of BibKcal examina-
tion. " The Pentateuch, and Book of Joshua," —
the "Prophecy of Daniel," and the "Epistles of
St. Paul," he is called on to explore thoroughly,
and compare with the "results" of modern science,
and the ethical system of the age. Does he shrink ,
from the task ? Does he say, ' I am content to
take the Bible in the Chm'ch's sense ? ' He does not.
He proceeds fearlessly to the new work before him ;
though in truth as a victim.

Frequently beginning with the idea that the
Bible, very much in its present state, but in what

The Popular Theory. 11

he calls " the original tongues," was given by God
to man, (that eveiy one may, in eveiy age, use it
for himself as well as he can, " in his o-^ti way"),
the "free enquirer" is troubled at the first step
with the question, 'how was the Bible given?'
He has once thought, probably, that every word
was -svritten in some way by Di\dne dictation.
He has been very different from most rehgious
persons, if he has not, on occasion, quoted "texts"
to estabHsh " his views," and consistently argued
from mere words, and even syllables. It is a
matter of every day occm-rence. But it may be,
that this enquirer, after a little experience, has grown
more liberal, granting— (perilous concession,) —
that not every icoixl, but only "the sense," {i.e.
apart from the words ?) could be originally " in-
spired." Still he must rely on some words. We ^\dll
say nothing at present of his idea of " inspiring."

Has he then to get " the sense" from the English
translation ? He has always heard, that it is a
very good translation. Why should it not be ?
On the face of it, it was made " by his Majesty's
" special command, and with the former translations
" diHgently compared and re"sised" by veiy learned
men. Does he know, has he even thought, as yet,
of asking, from what "originals" this translation
was made ? If he says at once, " those learned

12 The Bible and its Interpreters.

men knew better than I, and I am not likely much
to amend then- work," his act of faith in Kinsr
James's translators appears complete ; but he is in
such case, entirely out of the field as an independent
enquii-er, and he had done better to say this at
once. This, then, being impossible to such a man,
he determines to go farther into the matter. He
can "read Greek," at all events: and have his
own translation.

Comparing his Greek Testament with the common
version, he finds that they faii'ly correspond. That
was to be expected; but how is he to test this
printed Greek Testament ? how trace it back to
any ancient manuscript as a standard? He soon
ascertains, if he had not abeady known, that ' ' the
text" has been revised by difi"erent learned men all
along our history. He may mark the " various
readings," from the present scholarHke text of Dr.
Wordsworth, back to Bishop Lloyd, and Dr. Fell,
and Dr. Mill, and Bishop Walton, and the Elze\irs,
and the Stephenses, and Erasmus. Some of these
variations, perhaps, look serious ; but no one can
say that, on the whole, they destroy, or even ma-
terially alter, the general sense of the record. This
is so far satisfactory ; as far as the New Testament
is concerned.

Arrived, thus, at the Reformation times, he asks.

The Popular Theory. 13

"from what sources the Greek Testaments then
printed were derived ?" and, from those who give the
most favom-able accounts of the manuscripts then
known and used, he learns that none of them were
five hundi-ed years old ; and he has next to satisfy
himself that the Greek Testament so printed from
MSS. of the eleventh centmy, truly represents what
was AM'itten by EvangeHsts and Apostles in the
first centmy — that is, a thousand years before.

To speak briefly ; he must here commit himself
to a gi-eat literai-y investigation, if he is personally
to do any thing at all, and not fall back on some
" authority." (As to all speculation about the
meaning of this Sacred Book, that must be far off
at present. He has first to settle the external
question, "what the book is.") Most persons who
have exammed for themselves, even as far as now
suggested, will, in fact, here sun-ender the task,
conscious that they would find an ancient manu-
script harder to read than a " Greek Testament,"
and unwiUing to trust themselves to judge of the
age of papjTi, palimpsests, or parchments, uncials
or cursives ; and hearing, perhaps, that the latest
discovery of this Idnd, made by a fortunate Gemian,
has been gravely suspected to be an entirely modern
production. Should men of ordinai-y education
pause, then, at this point, and look about for some

14 The Bible and its Interpreters.

concise method of escape from the pending inquiiy,
it certainly would be hard to blame them; pro-
vided they would but own it, and honestly say, "it
is impossible that all this can be required of us, in
order to find God's Eevealed will."

The retreat is wise ; but on ivJuit are they to
retreat ? That is a question which shall not be
avoided ; but let it be postponed a little, for there
will be some who will still determine to go on with
the investigation. They will be few; but they
should be fairly dealt with : and indeed, it is in
their cases that the Popular Theory must really be
tried, and the popular method, if so be, exhausted.

The question then appears next to be, what are
the oldest existing authorities to which any one can
now trace the Greek Testament ? No actual manu-
scripts, no original versions, no autogTaphs, of
com'se, of the saints or fathers of the earliest
generations of Christians, now exist. We may get
jorinted copies, of such ancient works, as have
sm-vived the ravages of time, in various transcripts
v/hich rarely reach within hundi'eds of years of the
originals. In monasteries and libraries, some
treasm-es of the 7th, or even the 6th, centmy of our
era may be met with, by those who are happy
enough to explore them ; but little critical use has
hitherto been made of them. There remains, how-

The Poindctr Theory. 15

ever, a vast Kterature, Greek, Latin, and Oriental,
amply printed, and elaborately edited, since the 16tli
centiuy ; very corrupt, but too gi-eatly diversified to
admit of universal fabrication, and too \^idely dif-
fused, to be open to any suspicion of much collusion.
From these sources the student may arrive at the
general consent of all Christians, as to the main
featm-es of the New Testament ; and if he have
patience, he may convince himself that his Greek
Testament cannot differ materially from that used,
say, by St. Chiysostom, St. Jerome, or St. Ephrem.
Biit there are several centuries to be accounted
for, beyond their time, before the Apostolic age is
reached. St. Jerome, in the fom*th centuiy, marks
a land of Biblical era. He revised the whole of the
Latin Scriptm-es, and gave to the West that version
which has since been knovvii, in all its re^dsions, as
" the Vulgate." The cave of Bethlehem seemed,
once more, the cradle of Christianity. St. Jerome
knew monks who could repeat by heart the whole
New Testament — in their own version. His work
is full of impoiiance, even as bearing on the
Greek Text ; as he must have had access also
to manuscripts far older than any now known to
exist ; and he departed considerably from the
previously existing Latin Versions, of which he
declares plainly, that 710 tiro agreed. He says

16 The Bible and its Interpreters.

that lie had heard, that the original of the first of
the Evangelists, St. Matthew, ivas not Greeh at all,
but Hebrew. If so, it has apparently perished
and not even a copy has survived. St. Jerome's list
of canonical books is the same, however, as ours ;
except that he hesitates to accept the Epistle to
the Hebrews. Other "lists," too, of the names of
the accredited books of the New Testament, given
in less critical wi-iters of St. Jerome's time, nearly
agree with om* own. Of the identity and wide
diffusion of the Books, there is no doubt.

Eusebius of Cesarea, fifty years earHer, gives us
yet more assistance. His own works on the Gospels
still survive, in fairly ancient copies. He tells us
of the useful labours of Ammonius, and Tatian the
Harmonist, and others, (which still in some form
remain to us), in days before his own. He does
not, however, express himself as sure of the autho-
rity of the Epistles of St. James and St. Jude, the
Second of St. Peter, the Second and Thu-d of St.
John, and the Apocalypse. But Eusebius is quite
confident that St. Matthew wrote his Gospel in
Hebrew. Now, to admit this, would seem to place
at a hopeless distance the chance of recovering, in
a literaiy sense, the very words of the first Gospel
teaching. Yet it were hard, here to dispute the
authority of Eusebius ; for it is startling to per-

The Popular Theory. 17

ceive, as every one must, liow mucli of all the
testimony of other Christian WTiters of the first 300
years depends on the veracity and care of that one
man, living in the fom'th age. Eusebius is the verj-
Ezra of the Christian history and law ; its chroni-
cler, critic, and defender; — though his orthodoxy
has been more than suspected.

If, indeed, the works of Origen had come down
to us in a perfect and authentic state, as Pamphi-
lus the Martyr would have had them, we should find
in them more of contemporary evidence, as to the re-
ceived " Scriptm-e " of the generations between him
and the Apostles, than in all other wiiters put
together. But the critical condition of Origen
himself, almost ueutraHzes his testimony on every
point where exactness is needed. Origen, for in-
stance, commented largely on the New Testament,
(as well as the Old, of which we have not yet spoken);
but the perpetual " 'Opiyevl^et'' of his Latin Editors
in the margin discovers the sort of treatment to which
he has been subjected. And there is a difference,
almost unaccountable on merely literaiy gi-ounds,
between what smwives of Origen, and what remains
of such a writer as Justin Martyr, only fifty years
before. Justin does not once quote any Epistle of
St. Paul, either in his Apologies, or his Dialogue. —
(Bishop Marsh thought that he was unacquainted

c

J.8 The Bible and its Interpreters.

with the Gospels, as Scripture). Origen is intimate
even with the Epistles ; yet at the beginning of the
second century, there is almost total silence in the
Church as to the formal existence of "the Gospels!"

We arrive then at the ApostoHc era. Quotations,
or even "lists of names" of Books, or certainty as
to the language of the first Evangehst, no literary
investigation has here discovered. In those copies
of the Epistles of St. Paul, which the Church in-
herits in her own sure and mysterious way, that
Apostle, though writing 30 years after the Ascension,
and mentioning in his Epistles several "sajdngs" of
om- Lord, never once seems aware of the existence
(for example) of St. Matthew, or his Gospel. The
same may be said of all the Epistolaiy writers in
the Canon, to the close of the first centmy. The
very language in which our Blessed Lord uttered
His Divine discourses, no criticism has found out.
If He spoke them in Greek, are we to suppose that
the GaHlaBan multitudes who heard Him, understood
Greek? If He spoke them in Hebrew, are the
"original words" entu*ely lost? Or, was that
which He spoke to them in Hebrew, " brought to
remembrance," 30 years afterwards, in Greek, and
written down in Greek by the Evangehsts ?

The examination gi-ows harder. There are many
"ApostoHc" Epistles, Acts, and Visions : who shall

The Popular Theory. X9

select and authenticate them ? It has been said,
indeed, that it is " no harder, after all, than the task
of tracing to earliest antiquity any other works of
former days:" which may he veiy true; hut, then,
the case is different. Other books (such as Aiistotle
and Homer) ask no examination from us as convey-
ing a Divine message to us. — We are not to suppose,
indeed, that the state of facts now glanced at, has
no explanation; but we may conclude, at once,
that such facts are out of harmony ■v^ith the Popular
Theory, that God has given this Sacred Volume as
His clear Revelation which all men may test for
themselves, and all m.ust understand. With any
such hypothesis, such facts seem utterly uTecon-
cileable : of com-se they belong to some theoiy, but
we are not at present ascertaining that.

We have advanced but little, however, towards
appreciating the whole difficulty of the Popular
View. We have not noticed the Old Testament,
which is so interwoven with the New that it is not
possible to accept the latter, without some ^Ae^Y of
the former. It is usual, indeed, (and in a certain
position quite natural), to say that the quotations
from the former Scriptm-es, made by Christ and
His Apostles, guarantee the Hebrew
Canon. The remark of St. Jerome, and on isa. ch.

. vi.

of Origen, that ' Cheist never upbraided

c 2

20 The Bible and its Interpreters.

the Jews for corruptiiig the Hebrew text,' is true,
(so far as the present Gospels inform us). Will
this, however, assist us at the present stage of the
argument ? Has the independent enquirer yet
placed the Gospels on such a footing as to justify-
that strict verbal appeal to their contents, which
alone would make them avail as evidence for the
Hebrew Canon ? And even taldng the existing
Gospels, does it appear that om* Lord quoted
from the Hebrew Scriptures ? Did He not use
the Septuagint very frequently ? and at times
employ a version different from both " the Hebrew
verity" and the Septuagint? — We must certainly
make some enquu-y, then, as to the Hebrew Scrip-
tures themselves, and learn their condition, as well
as that of the Greek.— And here, some students
may part company with us.

Time may be saved by conceding at once, (what
still would be arduous for many to go through in
detail), that for the present printed Hebrew text,
we may trace a fan- literaiy history back to the
middle ages, with some allowance for the 800 Keri
and Chetiv, (the read and the written variations).
The Jews' own copies coiTespond with ours. But
from the oldest examined manuscript, there are at
least a thousand years back to the time of those
papyri, or parchments, used and known by our

The Popular Theonj. 21

Lord and His apostles ; even if we had no need to
think of the earlier history. To follow the course
of the Hehrew Bihle through that thousand years
only, is a much harder task than when the Greek
Testament had to be considered. Versions in other
tongues, (most valuable indeed in many respects),
will not settle the Hebrew text. The Hebrew, too,
is no longer a spoken language, and it has no wide
range of literatm-e like Greek ; its meaning being
often difficult on that account. The cha-

Surenhu-

racter which is used in the Hebrew Bible is sius, pp. 140

and 37.

thought by most learned men to be not the
character used by Moses or the Prophets : and in its
present state, the "Hebrew" of the Old Testament
from Genesis to Malachi has an miiformity wdiich, on
the whole, seems best explained by the supposition
that, at some time, all the books had, (as the Jews
themselves say), passed under some one revision.

But the character used in writing the " Hebrew "
books is ancient no doubt. It reaches back beyond
that thousand years which lie between the now
known manuscripts and the Christian era. In ad-
dition, however, to this character, which is Chaldee,
there are certain " points " placed below and about
the letters, and without these " points " it would
be difficult to read the Old Testament at all, with
any certainty. These "Masoretic points," as they

22 The Bible and its Interpreters.

are called, have been part of the Hebrew Bible since
their general acceptance by the Jews in the tenth
centuiy ; but they cannot be traced to a higher an-
tiquity than the seventh century of our era; and
they probably arose, out of some previous hints and
customs in wi-iting, at that time, from a desire to pre-
serve the old traditional sense of the test, the Masora,
("tradition"), among the Western Jews. They,
after the suppression of the office of "Patriarch"
among them (a.d. 429) by the Imperial laws, were
in danger of departing from the National traditions,
still preserved in the East, under the " Prince of
the Captivity," whose authority survived at Babylon,
On this or at Bagdat, till the twelfth century;
see Houbi- and is not now wholly extinct. This

gant's "Ea- .,,..,,

cinesHe- Settlement of the " pouits is attributed

braiques,"

and semier's ^o a Karaite doctor, and to a Eabbi of

'• Apparatus '

aciv.T."&c. Tiijei-ias; and from the seventh century
to the tenth, grew into repute, and fixed the
Bible as we have it now. — Maimonides says,
that the whole sacred volume was transcribed
by Ben Asher, in the beginning of the eleventh
century ; while Ben Naphtali, in the East, was
then a much venerated authority for the sacred
text. — Walton reports in his Prolegomena the
declaration of Ivimchi, that " he had seen "
Pk,abbi Hillel's owm copy of the Divine Law, then

The Popular Theory. 23

nine himdi-ed years old. But that would be un-
pointed.

It is evident, however, that the utmost religious
care and pains were taken among the Jews to
preseiTe their Holy Books, from age to age ; and
we must trust the Jews, not only for the safe
custody and pmity {Rom. iii. 2.) of the Hebrew
writings, but also for the meaning, so far as it is
embalmed in the " points." Next, of com'se, we
have the numerous "versions" to refer to; and
the testimonies of the fathers.

Previous to the sixth century, then, the Hebrew
Bible, (we must face the fact), was read traditionally.
The Jews beheved that, together with the wiitten
word divinely imparted to Moses, there were un-
written instructions, directing both the continuance
and the interpretation of the Sacred Writings :
consequently their fathers had no need of WTitten
points, in the earHer times of their dispersion ; (and
the Jew even of the present day who reads his
unpointed law in the synagogue, strictly foUows the
same Masora). It was a living Tradition — a kind
of conscience. Two hundred years, at least, before
the points were invented, St. Jerome (for instance),
in his cell at Bethlehem, read the Old Testament,
working hard at it with his Jew by his side. His
Jew was his "tradition," to help him to read his

24 The Bible and its Interpreters.

unpointed Bible. But St. Jerome, the greatest of
early Patristic critics and commentators, gives us
no help, any more than the Jews, in settling the
letter of the Hebrew text.

Before the time of St. Jerome, the Hebrew Bible
was but little used among Christians. They were
to be content with versions. We catch a glimpse of
it two hundred years earlier indeed, (but only to be
disappointed), in the Hexapla of Origen. That
marvel of industry had in one of its columns the
Hebrew expressed in Greek letters, and compared
with the versions of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theo-
dotion ; but the principal part of the labour of the
great Alexandrian was so little cared for by his
contemporaries that it utterly perished. Whether,
indeed, some questions, both as to pronunciation
and lections, may yet be elucidated by the recovered
fragments of Origen's work, (which Mr. Field, of
Trinity, is happily editing), remains to be seen.
But at present we really have no literary guidance
worthy of the name, as to the state of the Hebrew
text, from the days of St. Jerome back to the time
of Josephus and Philo. We know Kttle more than
this — that St. Jerome went to Cesargea to examine
Origen's Hexapla ; and that in controversy with
the Jews it had been generally assumed — as for
instance by Justin Martyr with Trypho, — that the

The Popular Theory. 25

Law and tlie Prophets appealed to, were substan-
tially admitted by both Christians and Jews ;
though there were charges of " corrupting the text "
freely made on both sides.

How then stands the case, (in an ''independent"
point of view), in the first century ? — Josephus
(against Apion) declares that 'no letter of the Law
had been changed.' The Talmudists (on Levit.
xxvii. fin.) affirm, indeed, that not even a prophet
might change a letter : but as to the history of
the preservation of that letter, we shall get but Httle
help from them, or from Josephus, or Philo. And
yet, even could we attain it, looking upon Scripture
as a -^dtal message from God to man, no serious
person could wish, after following it back to the
first century, to rest its purity and certainty there, on
the Talmud, or Josephus, or Philo. In addition to
which, the Talmud is scarcely "historical," and Jose-
phus and Philo would themselves need sifting before
theii- testimony could be at all received ; nor would
it, when received, prove to be altogether orthodox. —
But it is needless to m-ge more, on a point which
will not be contested.

The striking fact, however, which next confronts
us is, that in the first century the Greek Transla-
tion of the Old Testament was more in use among
the Jeivs also, than the Hebrew ; and that this had

26 The Bible and its Interpreters.

possibly been tlie case for generations. It seemed
even to be thought by some, that this Grreek Version
fixed the sense of some passages of the Hebrew.
Anyhow, this Version lies in the pathway of the
investigation which e^sidently cannot be avoided,
between the first centm-y and the times of the old
Prophets ending with Malachi. What is this Greek
Version, or " Septuagint," as it is called? Who
made it ? From what originals was it made ?
And when ? And why ? And what is its present
state ?

It must be owned that we have here come to a
difficult though brief parenthesis — if it may be so
termed — in our examination of the Old Testament
of the Hebrew Prophets. The stoiy used to be
believed, however, that 270 years, or more, before
Chkist, some Seventy Jews were employed by
Ptolemy Philadelphus to translate " the Jewish
Scripture" into Greek: Josephus says, that it
was the Pentateuch. An account of the miracu-
lous agreement of these 70 Translators, worldng
in 70 separate cells, is found in the letter of Aris-
tseus to Philocrates. It has been respectfully re-
ferred to by Christian writers of such high name as
TertuUian and St. Jerome ; (and om- esteem for their
sagacity cannot thereby be increased). BeUarmine,
however, no more rejects it, than did Josephus and

The Popular Theory. 27

Pliilo. It has been thought not unworthy of being
" done into English," by a Dean of St. '

Dr. Donne.

Paul s. — But this letter cannot be regarded

in the 19th centmy, (any more than the Talmud

was), as " historical." We may pass it.

Strictly speaking, no one knows who made the
Septuagint. No one knows from what copies of
the originals any parts of that Version were made.
It appears to be a growth of at least two genera-
tions ; and, as might be expected, the style is not
tlie same throughout. — Has it then no authority at
all, it may be as!:3d ? Was it not used by the Jews
themselves, and bequeathed in fact by the Jewish
Chm-ch to the Christian? Yes. That, such as it is,
is the gi'oimd of its authority, for all pm'poses of
practical edification. But this does not assist our
investigation as to the literary condition of the
Hebrew Scriptm-es at that time ; unless we are to
assume that the Septuagint coiTects the sense of
ancient Hebrew manuscripts now lost ? Few would
think, however, of thus setting aside the present
Hebrew text in favom- of the Septuagint, in those
places where they now differ. The state of the text of
the Septuagint itself is far, also, from satisfactory ;
and if it is to be set up as the principal authority
for the Old Testament, the historical continuity
of the originally Written Word is given up, —

28 The Bible and its Interpreters.

One more suggestion, however, is made at times,
to assist the difficulties of the case. At a date
a little more distant than that of the Septiiagint,
and standing midway between the Babylonian Cap-
tivity and the time of Christ, we have the Samaritan
Pentateuch, which some good scholars have thought
very valuable. But it has no clear history of its
owTi, and is of no use for the pm-poses of our present
enquiry, — as to the true text of the Tlehrexo Bible. Of
the Prophets and Psalms, of com-seit tells us nothing.
If the character in which it is written be, as some
have pleaded, the ancient Hebrew used by Moses
and Isaiah, the fact that none of the old Prophets
surw^e in that character, increases the difficulty of
ascertaining the genuine Scripture so incalculably,
that it must destroy in every rational mind all hope
of defending the present verbal inspii-ation of the
Old Testament, on literary groimds.

"We now pause a moment. We set out from the
printed Hebrew Bible acknowledged by Jews and
Christians in the sixteenth century, or even earlier.
We had to trace it back, step by step, to the Sacred
writers ; we had to enquire the grounds for behev-
ing in the p)^'^ty of the text, and not merely the
general proof of the existence of Hebrew Scriptm-es.
We have arrived at the period when the last of the
Prophets lived — Malachi. We have looked at the

The Popular Theory. 29

literary evidence, as we would in the case of " any
*' other hook." — Will any one now congratulate the
ordinary student on his prospect, at this point, of oh-
taining an easy literary foundation for his EeKgion ?

Let us now proceed, to realise the position of the
Sacred Yolume anterior to the time of Malachi,
the Samaritan Pentateuch, and the Septuagint.

Another sKght hiatus, and we come to Ezra : —
again, another historical pause, and we reach the
close of the Captivity. — We may here think of the
Jews as permitted to retm-n fi-om their exile, and
some considerable number of them avaUing them-
selves of the permission to settle again in their
own land. Where, at this time, was their Sacred
Book ? — and of what did it consist ?

The Holy Volume, as Ave now have it, contains
the Law, the Prophets, the Psalms, and certain
historical and moral books — twenty-two (or twenty-
four) in nmnber. St. Jerome reckons five Books of
Moses, eight Prophets, and nine Hagiographa.
Josephus numbers the Sacred Books by the letters
of the Hebrew Alphabet. There is no question as
to what books are received among the Jews as
Divine, although they are not all received as equal
in authority and character. Nor can it be said
(\\dth some) that the Jewish Canon contained "all
tbeii" national literatm-e," on the ground of the very

30 The Bible and its Interpreters.

language being sacred. The Book of Tobit, for
instance, was not taken into the Canon ; yet it
appears to have been Hebrew, and, partly at least,
may be as old as Hezekiah. Baruch and Judith,
again, in their original form, could not have been
Greek. And some of the later books have not been
received into the Jewish Canon, (the Maccabees, for
example), though MTitten first in Hebrew, as St.
Jerome and Origen both intimate. Then at the
Retm-n from Babylon, the three latest prophets,
Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, had not begun to
prophesy, and must for the present be excepted
from the Sacred Collection. How then were these
Books then chosen, or ascertained ?

There are five sets of books, composing the
Sacred Hebrew -^litings :

1, The Pentateuch ;

2, The Historical Books ;

3, The Devotional and Ethical ;

4, The eight Prophets from Hosea to Isaiah,
who prophesied in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham,
Ahaz, and Hezekiah ;

5, And the five Prophets of the Captivity, from
Jeremiah to Zephaniah.

Of these five gi-oups of writings, we may at once
perceive plain indications that they had hitherto
been so far unconnected, that they had never yet been

The Popular Theory. 31

actually brought together, as a whole. The pro-
phets of the Capthity, Jeremiah, Ezeldel, Daniel,
Habaccuc, and Zephaniah, of course formed no part
of any of the pre-Babylonian Canon. The prophets
of Israel, Hosea and Amos, presuppose " the law "
of Moses; but do not appear to have been mixed
at aU with Isaiah, or Micah. If the gi-eater part
of the Psalms were WTitten in the days of David and
Solomon, j-et few scholars, (hlie Dr. AUix), would
now attribute them all to that era ; and if not, then
the book, (as a Canonical whole), could not have
been what it now is, much before the Captivity. — Of
the History, little can be said with Hterary cei-tainty.
When, then, we meet with a dim report among the
Jews, that the "gi-eat men of the Synagogue"
gathered together then- Sacred Books after their
National Eetm-n from Babylon, it is not easy to ap-
preciate the idea. That some effort of the kind would
be made would seem so probable, that the report is
a very natm-al one to have arisen. Yet it is notice-
able, that there is no real testimony on the subject.
Ezra in his recognised book says nothing to assure
us that the Law, the Prophets, the Psalms, and the
Histories, had ever been gathered together as a
whole before his tune. The author of *' Maccabees "
(ii. 2, 13) attributes the collection to Nehemiah.
Between the time of Ezra and Moses, there

32 The Bible and its Interpreters.

is, again, a space of about a thousand years. The
History of that time had been Avritten, we are fre-
quently told, by prophets ; and the History must be
the thread of the whole Religious life of the nation.
— Let us see briefly, ichat the Scriptures tell ns, as
to that Histoiy, from the beginning to the end of
the Monarchy.

The History of David was written by Samuel,
Nathan, and Gad- (1 Chron. xxix, 29.) — The His-
toiy of Solomon, by Nathan, Iddo, and Ahijah.
(2 Chron. ix. 29.) — The History of Rehoboam, by
Shemaiah and Iddo. (2 Chron. xii. 15.) — The
History of Rehoboam's son, Abijah, also by Iddo.
(2 Chron. xiii. 22.) — Abijah's son and successor,
Asa, was guided by the prophets Azariah, and Ha-
nani, and his History was written in the book of the
Kings of Judah and Israel. (2 Chron. xv. 1, 2 ;
xvi. 7, 11.) — The History of the next monarch,
Jehoshaphat, was written by Jehu, the son of the
previous j)rophet. (2 Chron. xx. 34.) — King
Jehoram came next; and a "writing from EHjah
the prophet" terminated his brief bad histoiy. (2
Chron. xxi. 12.) — Jehoiada the priest, and his sou
Zechariah brought up the young child of king Jeho-
ram in the temple, during the six troubled years of
Athaliah's rebelHon, and the priests had du-ection
of affaks till the death of kinec Joash : the account

The Popular Theory. 33

was written in the " story of the book of the kings"
(2 Chron. xxiv. 27). — So also "the acts of Ama-
ziah fii'st and last, in the book of the kings of Judah
and Israel" (2 Chron. xxv. 26); prophet after
prophet being sent to him. (2 Chron. xxv. 1 , 15.)
— King Uzziah came next ; and the prophet Isaiah
wrote his acts. — (2 Chron. xxvi. 22.) Next Jotham
(2 Chro)i. xxYii. 7), and then Ahaz (2 Chron. xxxiii.
26), are chronicled; and no less than eight of the
prophets were then living. — Isaiah too is expressly
said to have written the acts and character of He-
zekiah (2 Chron. xxxii. 32) ; and Chosai the stoiy of
Manasseh (xxxiii. 18). — Of king Amon's short ca-
reer there seems no history to teU. — His son Josiah
was, practically, the last of Judah's monarchs;
(the kingdom expired with his childi-eu). Hilkiah
the high priest brought him up, and guided him
(2 Chron. xxxiv. 3, &c.); and Jeremiah the prophet
wrote his elegy (2 Chron. xxxy. 25).

The writer of the Book of Chi'onicles, (who lived
after the Captivity — 2 Chron. xxx\i. 23), gives us
these statements of the authorities referred to, for
the history of his people. But he does not say
who was authorised to draw up the summaries of
the story, which now are caUed " books of Samuel"
and " Kmgs," or his own "Chronicles." — In fact,
the wiitings of Samuel, Nathan, Gad, Ahijah, She-

D

S4 The Bible and its Interpreters.

maiah, Icldo, Azariah, Hanani, Jeliu, Elijah, and
€hosai, and the Chronicles of Isaiah and others (aU
referred to as the literary basis of the national
history) have perished, without exception. The
ontHnes which survive are by another hand; and
have been drawn with a design of their own.
Nothing can exceed the plainness with which the
sacred author of the " Chronicles" acknowledges
that they who seek mere history must look for it
elsewhere. He is writing for another piu-pose, —
being guided in a way which he does not pause to
explain, or guard against misconception.

The results are simply and undeniably these :
that after the Jewish Captivity in Babylon —
(within a hundi'ed years of that event) — the merely
liistorical, as distinct from the sacred, records of
the nation having no doubt been examined, dis-
appear, and the religious books called Samuel,
Kings, and Chronicles, are fomid in their present
form. The ingenuity of popular theology among
both Jews and Christians has attributed to Ezra
the task of ''editing" the whole work. But there
is no proof that he did it ; nor is it of the least
consequence to us luho did, — unless we are anxious
to rest om* faith on some one man.

But we have been speaking of the sacred histories
of the Jewish monarchy. We have not yet touched on

The Popular Theory. 35

the story of the commomvealth, under the Judges —
aud the Eklers — and Joshua — and Moses. For
these, the Pentateuch, the books of Joshua, Judges,
and Ruth are our authorities. Again, we have not
noticed the books of Job, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, or
Canticles. Assuming these to have existed before
the Captivity, we shoukl ask, on what theory they are
supposed to have been preserved ? When the histori-
cal books were being transcribed into the uniform
Chaldee character, during the liundi*ed years follow-
ing the Captivity, who had the custody of the eight
Prophets of the time of Hezeldah ? — and who of
the five Prophets of the Captivity ? — and how came
they, too, to be all written out in the same square
letters as the rehgious outlmes of Histoiy then
di-awn up or transcribed ?

Did those who, under the authority of the " great
men of the Synagogue," copied all the Scriptures
then recognised, find them in ' sacred ' Hebrew,
and turn them all imiformly into Chaldee letters ?
— It is vei-y hard to conceive. As a Hterary hj-po-
thesis, it is not less amazing than Tertulhan's
assertion, that " the very Hebrew writings are laid
up in the temple of Serapis," — having been there
since the Septuagint of Ptolemy was made {Apol.
i. 18) ; or the idea that the Hebrew writings were
all imparted by inspiration to Ezra, — ha\ing been

d2

36 TJte B'lhle and its Interpreters.

previously burnt (4 Esdras xiv. 21, 22). — It is cer-
tainly more reasonable to think that the collected
Sacred Volume had been Divinely cared for all
along; even though no literaiy histoiy of that
preseiTation can be recovered.

In the Sacred Books, as received and authorized
among the Jews, (after their retmii with Zerubbabel
their prince in the time of Cyiiis), we have intima-
tions, though not very copious ones, of what had
been the j);rr/6»»s history of the Book of "the
Law." — What may be included in the term " Law,"
or " the Book," we cannot be sm*e. It may mean
the "two Tables written in Horeb," by the finger
of God. It may mean all the R'dncd of the Penta-
teuch. It may mean the book of Deuteronomy.
It may mean the five books called the Pentateuch.
Or finally, it may mean those parts of the five, or
four, books which were said to be \n'itten by the
hand of ]\Ioses himself. — We are told, for instance,
(E.vod. xYJi. 14) that " Moses wrote in a book " the
defeat of Amalek, for the use of Joshua. Again,
{Exod. xxiv. 7) that " Moses took the Book of the
Covenant," and read it to the peo2)le. And {Dent.
xxxi. 11, 22-26) that he " wrote the Law and put
it in the side of the Ark." The futm-e king was also
commanded to copy it. And there are indications
in many passages, that Moses wrote them ; though

The Popular Theori/. , 37

in what character, we are not told. There is a
passage in Joshua (xxiv. 26) which that great leader
of the people is said to have written : and one in
Samuel which states that that Prophet wrote a
history of the kingdom, and " laid it up before the
LoKD." There are other passages of a similar, but
fragmentary, import. — Wlien the Ark of the Cove-
nant was placed in the temple in the reign of
Solomon, we are expressly informed that the "two
Tables " were in it, and nothing else. (1 Kings
viii. 9; 2 Chron. v. 10.) ^liere the "Book of
the Law " then was, or any other Sacred book, we
are not told : nor whether any books were then
known and recognized, except the Law.

Thus during the 500 years from Moses to Solo-
mon, we have no history of the Law. About 350
years later, (\dz., in the close of the Monarchy), Hil-
kiah the high priest "found the Law and took it to
Huldah the Prophetess." It had, in some sense,
been lost for some time — probably kept out of sight
dmino- the lono- and wicked reign of Manasseh. —

Again, then, we pause, and ask, how can we, as
the popular monobibliac theory would msh, place
ourselves in thought with Moses in the wilderness,
and imagine him, or some one at his bidding,
preparing for us a " Sacred Document " to stand
jjer se, for every man's own private exposition ? —

38 The Bible and its Interpreters.

If any one can give a better accoimt of the
Cliilliug^'oi'tli foundation of the modems, let it be
done. Yet be it observed that nothing now
alleged has been stated in a way that even admits
of a moment's denial. We have conceded to the
popular investigation every advantage. We have kept
entirely to the external histoiy of the Sacred Book,
and not doubted its meaning, or the enquirer's right
and capacity to judge of it. We may further con-
cede any, or all, of the conjectures by which certain
"lost books", of prophets are " accoimted for."
We may concede * that the very copy of the Penta-
teuch, WTitten by Moses throughout, with National
Hj-mns, and some of the Psalms, and some j^ieces
of histoiy gi'adually appended, existed for ages in
Israel;' but the Sacred Autograph escapes us at
last. Or, if the " book of Jashir," for instance,
became the standard copy of " the Scriptm-es" thus
composed, — did it contain a transcript of the Divine
Writing once made in Horeb? And was that Divine
Writing lost altogether, after the Captivity ? Hav-
ing existed for 500 years, from Moses to Solomon
— and 350 more from Solomon to Hilkiah — and
then 150 years more to Ezra, — very little noticed in
all those ages, so far as the record states, — was it
really tm-ned into one uniform shape — Chaldee
letters, without the WTitten points — with only the

The Popular Theory. 39

unwiitten "Masora" to fix its meaning? — To
conceive of this as "Revelation for every man's
own verifying faculty to judge of," seems to
requii'e credulity more amazing than we can
describe.

We still waive the literaiy examination of the
contents, and the internal character of any of the
Sacred Books. The popular identification of the
" documents," as such, presents such crushing diffi-
culties to the independent enquii-er, "freely handling'
Revelation for himself," that we do not hesitate
to say that any reasonable being who would ac-
cept the Scriptures at all, must take them on
some other gi-ound. A more hopeless, "carnal,"
and eventually sceptical position, it is impossible to
conceive. We must repeat it yet again. Granting
the Hebrew Bible a safe transit from the Mediaeval
schools of Toledo back to the best manuscripts of
Bagdat ; gi-anting that the Je\vdsh Masoretic points
(whenever invented) kept all the traditional sense
handed do^n from Moses ; gi-anting that the earli-
est Jewish records (the best parts of the Mishna, or
the Targiims) give the scholar gi-ound for supporiing
a true text, till we reach Josephus and Philo, and
the Septuagint ; and gi-anting that some parts of
the Targums may, though unwritten, have been as
old as Ezra ; yet if the reproduction of the whole

40 The Bible and its Interpreters.

ancient Scriptures in a new character, interpreted
then by an unwritten " Masora," be what we come
to in Ezra's time, and the documents of the
thousand years before all vanish before investiga-
tion, it is on the gigantic gifts and inspiration of the
transcribers in Ezra's day, that we are really depend-
ing,— gifts and inspiration which yet are a mere
hj'pothesis, of which the possessors tell us no single
word ! And before Ezra's day, we are thus owning,
unmistakeably, that the documentary history of the
Old Testament is lost ! Let aU those who would
identify this with God's entire Kevelation, see to
what they have brought us.

Let us not, however, omit to notice the vei*y
probable evasions of many a man who Avill pretend
that it is mere wantonness thus to attribute to the
popular Bible-speculator aU this anxious task. He
takes the Bible, (it may now perhaps be said), on
the " authority of good scholars." " He never
pretends to judge everything for himself." He
chooses his theologians as he would his physi-
cians, taking his chance. He only judges some
things, and takes the rest on trust. He accepts
the usual results attained by the labom* of others.
Well. But does he not wish at least to know ivhat
those results are ? And that is all that we have
as yet demanded. The scholars to whom he

The Popular Theory. 41

appeals are not at all miauimoiis as to the results.
If, when scholars differ, the ordinary Christian is
bound to no decision either way, it may happen
very often that he is bound to nothing at all. And
this will very painfully appear, still fui-ther, when
we come to minuter investigations. For there are
critics, and many of them, very highly cultivated
men, who reject in turn every part of the
" written word " of the Popular faith ; and om-
enquirer does not, it seems, pretend to be quahfied
to judge between them.

But he rejoins ; " He does not mean this. He
means that he has the Bible. He possesses it, as
every one around him possesses it ; and that,
■Rdthout rehdng on any particular scholars or critics,
and without the task of choosing between them.
The Sacred Book is ' common ground ' to all who
receive it. The Chin-ch owns the Book, and may
not m-ge these difficulties against the popular
Pmitan use of it. Hoio people come to own it, is
no enquiry with which to trouble them. They do
not look at these questions, about the origin of
the Bible." That is very inteUigible ground; but
let us note what it means. Are you prepared to
shut your eyes thus to all enquiiy, and accept aiuj-
thimj as a "Bible" which nominal Christian, or
Jew, may offer you ? Are you willing simply to

42 The Bible and its Interpreters.

trust the Cliurcli of England, or the Chui'ch of
Rome, or your own sect whatever it be, as to
" what is the Bible? " for that is all we are now
considering. If yon say that you take the Bible
from your chiu'ch, or sect,— is it from the Chm-ch
itself, as the trusted authority ? or is it fi'om the
critics employed by the Chm-ch ? If the former,
you are not "thinking for yom-seif" in EeHgion —
as the pretence has hithei-to been. If the latter,
it is but the "literaiy" method again, once
removed.

Too probably, it is for the sake of the coveted
privilege of satisfying the individual mth his own
opinions and traditions, and propping them with
some sort of " authority," that the common run
of people would first grasp the Bible anyhoic.
Suppose we grant, then, for the moment, that the
monobibliac party " climb up some other way,"
and get possession of om* treasure ; we behove,
that it must prove as useless to them, in this
controversy, as the Ai-k was to the Philistines,
— (that is if they desire Tnith). It will be found
that in the presence of this Sacred Law, the Dagon
of mere opinion T\ill fall and dash itself to pieces ;
and Calvin will pick up a hand, and Luther a foot,
and Swedenborg claim the trunk ; and the Ark of
God will needs have to be put on a new cart and

The Popular Theory. 4S

sent back to its own people, — "the milch Idne
loAving as they go." It will be found, (that is)
that the Bible is actually unuseable on this
" common gi'oimd " hj-pothesis.

Put the case. A man gets the Book — Hebrew,
Greek, Latin, or English, anyhoio at first ; trusts
us, or the critics, or any one : her/ins, at least, bhndly
vdthout pre\ious free enquiry, abandoning his
Protestant self-respect and intellectual Kbei-ty. His
object then is, to examine every loord and phrase of
this accepted Look, to get its sense for himself in
his oicn icay. He goes to his trusted lexicons,
histories, and commentators ; perhaps he prays
to God to enHghten him to understand this Book,
when he has not dared to ask for the history
of the manuscript of any part of it — or even trhat
it is. Yet then, he has but placed himself in an
impossihle position. If he would accept any one
of its doctrines, he vnR find that the words of
the Scriptm-e demand careful examination ; and
thus, sooner or later, the internal structuji-e and
character of every book will have to be explored ;
and this will oblige him to know something more
of the external history of every part, and so he must
be brought face to face again with the very questions
which he had thought he had got rid of for ever !
Then, finding out enough, very soon, to make his

44 The Bible and its Interpreters.

mind uncomfoiiable, if his theories seem to be at
stake, hemaytiy once more to shut his eyes — (yes,
it is a common case that we see,) — this man of " free
and independent conscience," who mshed for no-
thing so much as an open Bible to confront all
those "narrow-minded Churchmen," who are so
notoriously " superstitious " and "ignorant !"

There is, however, one more resort of the
Popular theorist whose course we are now fol-
lowing to the end. Baffled in the pretence of
"free thought," and detected in the evasions on
" common gTound," he has recourse to hh feelings. —
" Say what you will about difficulties," he now alleges,
"I find this blessed Bible to be a sacred guide to
me. Am I to doubt that Truth which it conveys and
certifies to my soul and conscience?" Again,
however, our enquirer is wrong. Who has asked
him to dispute such felt truth ? Our investigation
has been of a different kind, \'iz., concerning his
proving for himself the correctness of the text of
Scriptm-e. If he does not want to know that, let
him say so. His feelings about any truth will
not estabHsh the accuracy of any page or line of
the Pentateuch, or Isaiah, or Daniel. To say that
Revelation is thus made to the individual, is to
appeal to the " verifying faculty " wthout reserve,
and give up the Bible. If his consciousness of a

The Popidar Theory. 45

Truth proves to liim that a book which contains it
is inspired, will he adliere to that view whenever
any book tells him what he believes to be trne ? And
will he deny the inspiration of any part of a sacred
book that he does not thus feel ? If he does not
(as some do not) feel the deep truth of the Book
of Esther, or Canticles, or Ecclesiastes, or Daniel ;
or the instructiveness of the story of Bel, or
Susanna ; or the certainty of the angel's descent at
the Pool of Bethesda ; has he a right to give them
up ? It is clear enough, indeed, that the popular
theology, notwithstanding its pretence to regard
the Bible and Kevelation as identical and co-
extensive, does, by neglect, give up a very consider-
able part of the Sacred Volume ; but it scarcely
as yet avows that it does so, on the principle of fol-
lowing its own sense of truth. In any case, the
appeal to individual feeling as the test of religious
doctrine and practice, is an abandonment, pro tanto,
of the gi'ound that the HebreAV and Greek Scrip-
ture, the " Written Word," is God's infallible
voice to mankind. His one and complete Revela-
tion. Such an appeal is a taking refuge in the
subjective, and even castmg aside the objective.

Would to God that thoughtful Christians
might, even from this brief review of the external
facts as to the Sacred Yolume, lay to heart the im-

46 The Bible and its Interpreters.

^possibility — not to say mockery — of the whole
popular method of approaching and treating it ;
and learn that if indeed the Bible is to be received
at all by reasonable men, it must be in some very
different way. Too long, by far, have we stood by,
and seen the Holy Word misused, in appeals to
the ignorance of the many. Even now there will
be not a few to deprecate the plain statement of
facts here made, as though it might be used in the
service of unbelief. They forget that an unde-
vout appeal to the Bible is unbelief. To call on
semi-Christian masses all around us, or on heathen
populations abroad, to pick out a EeKgion "from
the Bible " in the popular way, is sm*ely a most
disheartening and mistaken proceeding, if it be not
very much worse.

The Divine Word refuses to be merely explored
as human literature ; and the hearty believer in it
may recognise this, and not be afraid to speak the
truth about it. He can be devoutly thankful that
the Bible is what it is; and that, not being a hmnan
work, it defies those who would treat it as such.

As to the countless varieties of Meaning honestly
extracted from the Sacred Word, we must not
indeed be sUent. They belong rather to that
division of om* subject in which the Bible as

The Popular Theorrj. 47

" Revelation per accidens,^^ comes imder re\dew.
We have thus far principally shown how Providence
itself defeats the attempt to treat Scriptm-e as what
is called a " Documentary Revelation for eveiy man
to judge." — First get your " Document," by any of
yom- independent methods ; that is our primaiy
answer. But even were it obtained, and men went
and sat before the Oracle, "every man with his
idols in his heart," we doubt not that its own
mute but sublime answer would be found to be, —
" I will not be enquired of at all by you."

So unreasonable, however, are too many men,
that they will but recoil even from their ova\ con-
victions, if they fancy that they see before them
some conclusion which they dislike. Are we to be
led, say they, after all, to think that Scriptm-e is
subordinate to the living Church ? Is not that the
theory of Rome ?

How far it is so, is next to be seen. — At the
present moment it might well suffice to say, that it
may be better to have the Bible even on that
ground, than not possess it. And the Popular
Theoiy has not yet arrived at it at all. — But we
are by no means shut up to this alternative.

48 The Bible and its Interpreters.

§ 2. The Eomaii Theory.

The facts thus far referred to, as to the text of
Scriptiu'e, and the external proof of it, need not he
re-stated, of com-se, in the examination of the
three remaining views. We have principally to
enquire how, on each of those \iews, the admitted
truth is dealt with. Li examining this, some
shght repetition of details may he perhaps un-
avoidahle at times ; hut may, it is hoped, he borne
with, when a necessity.

There can he no question that the Komanists'
position requii-es us to admit that their Clim-ch,
the living Chm-cli of which the Pope is considered
the Head, and " infalhhle " — has actually the con-
trol and settlement of Holy Scripture, and of all
questions of salvation connected with it ; and has in
fact dealt with it as the Teacher sent for that purpose
should claim to do. (See Preface to Vulgate 1641.)

Here, as before, we shall look to the external
aspect of the case. We postpone the question of
"Infallibility," just as before, we postponed the
questions of " Inspii'ation " and "Interpretation,"
and address ourselves to the facts only.

Take at once the Hebrew, or Greek, text. It
seems almost trifling to ask it, — hut has any Pope,
or Council, or authorized Congregation, ever certified,

The Roman Theory. 49

or even examined, the Ipsissima verba of either the
Greek or Hebrew? Or to put the matter much
more closely, and more justly too, considering
that the Church of Piome claims to have alicays had
the same authority as she now asserts, — did she, in
truth, from the first, prize and preserve in some ark
of safety, the autographs of Apostles, or Evange-
lists, or make diligent search after the authentic
manuscripts of the Prophets ? — To judge of the
importance of this question, let us for a moment
suppose any of us noio to be possessed of the
authoritative copy, or the very original of any
inspired writer. How beyond all things we should
prize it ! We know the great anxiety shown for
the safety, and for a critical examination, of a manu-
script like the Vatican Codex of the sixth centm-y.
What, then, we may justly demand, was the
Koman treatment of the "Written Word,"— either
the Old Testament or the New — in the first ages
of Christianity ?

Undoubtedly, the Chm-ch of Rome expressed 710
jud[pnent ichatever at first, as to the authentic
Books of the Old Testament. Theophilus of
Antioch, Tertullian and St. Irenseus, are the three
earliest writers to whom we can at all refer on the
subject. If they may be taken as expressing the
views of the East and West as to the Canon, they

E

50 The Bible and its Interpreters.

strildngly exhibit, that neither the Eoman nor any
other Church had critically, or authoritatively in
any sense, settled the grave question as to what
Books should he admitted; or enquired at all, as
far as appears, for " authentic copies." Theophilus
of Antioch in his Apology addressed to the pagan
Autolycus seems to place the Sibyl of the Greeks
on a level mth the Hebrew prophets. Tertullian
and St. L'enaeus expressly reject the practice of
individual appeal to Scriptm*e as en-oneous in
theory ; and also refer to Apociyphal Books, such
as Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, and Bel and the Dragon,
as inspu'ed. Lideed even the Septuagint is
regarded as of Divine Authority for the Old Testa-
ment, by St. Irenteus, St. Clemens Alexandrinus
and others ; so that the accuracy of " Hebrew
verity " is not even enquired for, at that time.

As to the New Testament — if the fragment
discovered by Mm-atori {RontJi, vol. iv.) be, as the
learned Editor beHeves, as old as the end of the
second centmy, it is probably the earhest testi-
mom^ in existence as to the Books of the New
Testament received among the Latins : and it is
melancholy to mark in this the entire absence of
all such accm-ate supervision as the Roman claim
implies, if it means anj-thing. If Muratori's Canon
recognises the four Gospels, the Acts and the

The Roman Theory, 51

Pauline Epistles, it omits or misnames tlie He-
brev/s, doubts the Apocalypse, and inserts the
Book of Wisdom and the Shepherd of Hermas ;
and, ill other ways, is a most painful pictm'e of
hesitation and micertainty.

But mil any ventm-e to surmise that the need of
a minute investigation had not arisen ? Such a
supposition will not bear a moment's examination.
The Chm*ch of the second centmy had two opposite
classes of internal enemies, — the Gnostics first, and
afterwards the Montanists. The former supported
their theological philosophy by appealing to their
own interpretations of the ApostoKc Writings ;
rejecting some of those documents and arbitrarily
acknowledging others. Here was the exact occa-
sion required for the exercise of Church authority
over "the Written Word:" but instead of using
any such power, the Church rejected the heretical
method, and relied on her own traditions. The
latter, the Montanists, asserted a kind of perpetual
inspiration, practically superseding all Scripture.
Here agam was an opportunity for an authoritative
assertion of the Canon on the part of the Church.
But we do not meet with it. Even the autogi-aphs
of Evangelists and Apostles, if still existing, were
allowed to pass away without any enquiry after
the invaluable treasures ; and not a list of their

E 2

52 The Bible and its Interpreters.

works was at first guaranteed, or (apparently) as
much as thought of, for the hundred years after they
were given to the Chmxh. That the course of Mon-
tanistic and Gnostic heresy hastened the determi-
nation of the Canon between the days of Justin and
Origen, we do not question : but this was not by
any formal action of the Roman or any other
Chm-ch. If then any may be thanked for the
Canon of the New Testament, it is the Chm-ch of
Alexandria : but not even in that literary Com-
mimion have we any attempt made to preserve
or ascertain the originals of the Gospels or Epistles.
What was at all done towards exegesis was the
later work of indi\'idual minds.

If at length the uncei"tain condition of the
Sacred text, the gTowth of heresies, and tlie decay
of the Judaistic element in the Chm-ch, forced, as
they did, some more exact attention to both the
Old Testament and the New, yet the allowing such
an effort as Origen's Hexapla to be neglected and
lost, is a proof how Httle the Roman Chm-ch
recognised the position assigned to her by some in
later days, as Arbitress of Scriptm-e.

And what has been the condition of the Sacred
Word since the third century — (for all questions
as to the correction of the text slept for at least
& hundred years after Origen) — ? An uncritical

The Roman Theory. 53

Septuagint, and an uncritical Greek Testament in
the Greek Chui'ches ; the common Syiiac Version
of the thii'd centmy in the Oriental Churches ; half
a dozen different versions in the various Afi-ican
communions; the Vulgate in the West; — these
in some way sufficed the Christian world for many
ages. With some of these, the Septuagint, the
Peschito, the Syriac, and the Egyptian, the Roman
Church had nothing to do. As far as we loiow, she
never thought of examining them. If that was her
duty, she was entirely unfaithful to it. If subordi-
nate to any Church, those versions must be answered
for by others ; not by Rome. Nearly as much may
be said of the manuscripts of the Greek Testament.
The Vulgate, however, — the Bible of the West — was
in the hands of Rome from the fourth century.

St. Jerome's Revision of the Latin Scriptures
was a great gift of Providence to the Latm world.
Those of his Prologues which exist are valuable
indices of what was then known of the state of the
text or the Canon. St. Jerome's version was com-
pared to a gTeat extent with Origen's Hexapla,
preseiwed in the library of Cesargea. How long it
there remained we cannot say. Eventually St.
Jerome's whole revision was collated with the He-
brew and Greek. But the Chm-ch at large was
most unwilling to receive the Samt's work, as he

54 The Bible and its Interpreters.

bitterly complains ; and even St. Augustin was dis-
posed to accord to it qualified praise. No attempt
was made on any "hand to give Scriptm-e an inde-
pendent standing on a critical or historical basis of
its own, at that time ; nor indeed till more than a
thousand years afterwards.

The desii'e to find Synodical authority for the
Sacred Books has led to many endeavours to asso-
ciate lists of the Canonical Scriptm-es with the pro-
ceedings of the early Coimcils ; but the result is
anything but satisfactory. No one who cares for
the written Word of God would be content to find
authority for it, in such recorded evidence as is
given for the, so called, acts of Nicea, or Laodicea,
which are alleged to refer to it.

But if the utmost were conceded to the advocates
of those records, nothing would really be obtained
but a list of the names of Books. Again it was a
time surely for the Chm'ch of Eome to have spoken
out plainly on the subject; but she did nothing what-
ever in support of her present claim of authority in
respect of either Old Testament or New. Her gi-eat-
est Saints took different lines. St. Jerome, with
the encouragement of Pope Damasus, preferred to
retranslate the whole Bible from even uncriticised
Hebrew. St. Augustin adhered to the older Latin
versions. St. Hilary appeared rather to regard the

The Roman Theory. 55

Septuagint as the inspii-ed text. St. Leo and St.
Gregory were dogmatic and spiritual expositors only.
By degrees, as we reach the ninth century, we find
that the Vulgate had crept into general use, unex-
amined by Chm'ch authority. Indeed, as late as
Gregory the Great, the old Latin, the Itala, was
plainly preferred.

From that time, the "Ordinai-y Gloss" (of Strabo
Fuldensis, our own Alcuin, and others,) exhibits
the Latin Scripture received throughout Em'ope.
The Interlineary spiritual Interpretation of the
Fathers, supported by extracts from their writings,
placed in the margin, tells us how every iconl of that
Translation had come to be relied on. A hundred
names, the greatest which Christianity had kno^vn,
combined to give to this gi'eat work the highest
CathoHc Authority. It displays, as we look at it
now, with the very sensible Postils of De Lyra at
the foot of each page, the Keligion of the first
half of this dispensation, more perfectly perhaps
than any other Book. But the complete, we may
even say sublime, independence of the whole is a
direct confutation of the notion of any authority
in a Church claiming, a priori, control over
Scriptm-e. The reverent submission of every
Father and Commentator, to eveiy word and
phrase of that Latin Bible is the answer of history

56 The Bible and its Interpreters.

to the Roman theory. Wliatever else may be said,
no one worthy of attention can denj^ that the
" Ordinary Gloss " absolutely glorifies wliat it takes
to be Scriptm-e, as supreme in its own sphere. If
any should now tell us, that that was a very
defective translation, we reply, that at all events
it served WicHf very well, when he made his
English Version ; and its merits cannot be well
weighed until we know what the purity of the
Hebrew and Greek texts may be, with which it is
to be compared. But further, the Church of our
fathers did not think it corrupt. No better version
was issued at Rome. It lasted till the Reforma-
tion. The schools had used it with religious
submission. It gives us in many places, doubtless,
very sacred readings and senses, suggested by older
manuscripts than we now know. It was the light
of ages which we call " dark." Its comment, writ-
ten with a freedom which we feel to be so elevating,
was the work of holy individual minds acting in
and with the Church, to keep ahve the sacred
flame from age to age. — But no Roman council
ever criticised this " Ordinary Gloss." "VVe see in it
the Divine Scripture and the Meaning of Scripture^
shining together; and notwithstanding the varieties
of opinion which crowd its margin, we learn
unmistakeably how, unbidden by Pope or Council,

The Roman Theory. 57

the whole heart of the Chui'ch literally adored the
uncriticised Latin Bible, that Bible which penetrated
its whole life ; — but which a modern historian of the
Keformation represents Luther as " discovering !"

We pass, then, to the time when the Chm-ch of
Rome could no longer pm'sue this passive career.
The appeal to Scriptm-e at the Reformation was too
m-gent to be disregarded. The Council of Trent
found itself obliged to repromulgate the Canon ;
and in so doing, it simply took the existing facts of
the Christian Hteratm-e of the previous ages —
adopting as a whole the ecclesiastical traditions.
It was the only reasonable, the only possible, com-se
in her position ; but it practically vacated much of
the Roman claim, and left, as the world would say,
to hazard, or individual zeal, decisions which needed
authority. The Council of Trent ventm-ed so far,
however, as to order a carefully revised edition of the
Vulgate. If this were sincerely meant, yet it was by
no means attended to. The Roman Church knew
the difficulties of the case ; but was herself in diffi-
culties.* Nearly half a centmy passed away, and
the task was again rapidly passing into the hands
of private doctors.

And thus the work of Lucas Brugensis had come

■" In the 100 years following the Council of Trent, the Popedom changed
hands 17 times.

58 Tlie Bible and its Interpreters.

to be nearly regarded among Eoman Catliolics as
representing the trae Vulgate ordered by the
Trentine Council ; when Sixtus V. was called to
the Papal chair. This pontiff, however, a man of
some learning and much resolution, took the matter
personally in hand ; and set forth an edition of his
own. He died in 1590 ; and that edition (declared
by his Bull to be the model of futm-e Bibles) was,
fom- years afterwards, suspended. Clement VIII.,
in 1605, "corrected," in a fashion, three thousand
errors of a predecessor. When the new Vulgate
came forth, Bellarmine had the unpleasant task of
writing the Preface, which may be seen in some
of the editions of Urban VIII. (1641).

We see by the " Eoman Corrections," now at
the end of the " Gloss," how far from perfect this
work was thought to be. But it was tolerated at
first ; then faintly praised ; and, at length, silently
acquiesced in. Eepudiated at times in almost
humiliating terms, the Vulgate of Clement and
Urban has, by use, acquired the reputation of
Infallibility ; and from it are made all the modern
translations accredited in the Eoman Communion.

Such then are the facts bearing on the claim of
the Church of Eome to ride over Scriptm-e, and sub-
ordinate it to herself. — She did nothing to the

The Roman Theory. 59

Canon for 400 j'ears : nothing, except by indiYidual,
and miicli neglected and opposed, doctors, for 500
more : nothing authoritative till the sixteenth
centmy : nothing satisfactory to herself even then :
nothing, to settle l>y authority either the Hehreic or
Greek text, till this hour ! — Any claim on her part
to paramomit authority over the Written Word- is
contrary to eveiy fact of history.

We have now looked, ah extra, at the Eoman
view of the relation of Scriptm-e and the Church.
Having never been carefully defined, the claim
itself appears, on any close examination, to be
without meaning. Yet it is not the less practically
injurious on that accomit. So to regard the
Di\ine Word is to misdirect the conscience of the
Chm-ch, and lead to the neglect of duties towards
that Word which a more dutiful and sensitive
deference would inevitably teach. The condition
of Scriptm-e criticism in the modern Eoman Com-
munion is the natm-al result of then- theory. Nor are
the common people at all helped by the Eoman
assumption. The claim to rule over the Bible is to
the mass of the people entirely irrelevant, except so
far as it is obstructive. What the people of any
Chm-ch need is a reception of the inner , or suhjective,
truth of Eevelation. Eome does not pretend that
men get this from the study of Scriptm-e even as

60 The Bible and its Interpreters.

settled by her own authority. The practical question
for all of us is the same, ' how is the individual to
become possessed of that trutli which concerns his
duty and salvation ? ' Whether to set us to discover
an infalHble Book, or an infallible Pope, will help us,
may be judged, by any who make the case their own.

An " InfaUibihty "or an " Inspiration " which we
cannot get at, is of no avail to us. Neither the
authorized Bible, nor the "Vulgate" of Kome, nor
the criticised Bible of the Popular theory, is supposed
to be the infallible means of conveying this same
truth to all of us. To keep up any such pretence is
dishonourable. Useful as it may often be found,
while vaguely hinted, — the attempt only to state
the position of Rome in this matter, at once exposes
it. The inherited forms of truth which each con-
science gi'adually adopts, and the gi-ace of the Sacra-
ments, are all that any Church can possibly promise
to the multitude. (See p. 146, &c.)

In every Church, and every system, every man's
faith is partly authoritative and traditional, and
partly literary. But the intellectual perception,
and analysis of truth must everywhere be left to
those who are capable of it. The Roman method
may satisfy a love of repose, at the expense of a
love of truth ; but it can give no intellectual satis-
faction.

The Literanj Theory. 61

§ 3. The Literary Theori/.

We have now seen, that the Popular \ie\v of
Scriptm-e became literary, per force ; and next,
that the Eoman has attempted to be literary, and
failed ; — and that both views are unreal and in-
sincere, as far as the generaHty of people are con-
cerned ; because they both really look, not to the
" ^M'itten Word," but to some Special Grace, to
convey Kehgion to the many. In other words, the
Popular, and the Roman, treatment of Scripture
end in the same way, by demanding the subjective
reception of truth by subjective means.

To a gi-eat extent, then, the simplest exposition
of the facts condemns the idea of handhng Scriptm-e
in any merely literary way. But the method itself
needs to be considered, per se, and also in its
practical working. A method which leads to wholly
contradictory, and therefore irrational, results is to
be suspected by rational beings. Let it not be sup-
posed that in deprecating this way of regarding the
" ^nitten W^ord " we are deprecating the "use of
reason," or the thorough investigation of truth. No
man unconscious of equivocation would be likely
to assign that meaning to us, after considering
om- statement. It is not of Reason that we are
suspicious ; we have appealed to it, without hesita-

62 The Bible and its Intevpreiers.

tion. "We cannot conceive of a rational creatiu'e
rightly determining to be in any thing less than
rational. Thongh it certainly provokes patience,
at times, to see some misbelievers, the least logical
of human beings, affect to stand boldly for the
''rights of the human mind," yet one soon forgives
even this. Ii-religion seems forced to soothe itself
by some delusion ; and if conscience decHnes to be
party to it, the miscalled ''intellect" is often the
self-deceiver's ally.

We are about to ui'ge, then, that while we are as
ready as any to admit the investigations of litera-
tm-e, we cannot appeal to them as sufficient to certify
or to interpret God's Eevelation to the World. Re-
velation is one thing, and Literature is another. What
has been painfully termed "book-revelation," has
been abeady seen to be not very hopeful in point of
fact; it will also be found unreasonable in ]jrmciple .

The Literary piinciple (quite as much as the
Popular position, and the Roman), only needs to
be looked at steadily, in order to be rejected.

We postpone, as before, the more superficial
rejoinders of objectors, — (such as naturally rise up
to decline an unwelcome conclusion which the pre-
mises make inevitable) — and deal first ^dth objectors
capable of being logical. The creatm-es of feeling,
and victims of prejudice, may be noticed afterwards.

The Literary Theory. 63

Granting, for the moment, that by a com-se of suc-
cessful investigation, the Bible could he reached hy
some ; we still submit, that there are e^ident falla-
cies, we "will name four, which lie beneath all this
literary treatment of Scriptm-e, as God's word to
mankind ; and vitiate its principle. For hereby,

1st. It is assumed, that God's ntal message to
conscience is definitely made in xcrltlmj: writing
being undeniably an artificial, varying (and in its
ancient form most precarious) way of conveying ideas
to those only tcho have heen taught to read; ninety-nine
persons out of every hundi-ed, since the world began,
having been unable to read. — Such an idea of "Reve-
lation " probably involves a contradiction in terms.

2ndly. It is assumed, that that "written Word "
(as it actually exists among us) is in such wise
"a Book like any other book," that we may treat
it by the same Hterary methods, and may, in
limine, ignore what has always seemed to many
its specific character. Yet if it be only possible,
that this Sacred Book stands wonderfully apart
from all hesides, (as many have felt), it is at least
gratuitous to assume the reverse, and place it at
once on the level of common hterature.

3rdly. It is assumed that the "written Word"
is not only a Divine message to some men,
but covers and includes Truth, so as to be abso-

64 The Bible and its Interpreters.

lutely conterminous with all Revelation from God
to man : hereby shutting out from authority, and
independent truthfulness, everything beside the
"written Word;" and including as of equal cer-
tainty and vahdity all that lies within it. This
assumption is suicidal, as it afEii'ms a "Revelation"
to conscience, and yet denies conscience, at the
same time.

4tlily. It is assumed, that the caj^acity to ex-
amine, and judge, such a Book as the Bible is
thus supposed to be, is adequately possessed by all
concerned in its contents. And this is contraiy to
all experience.

It seems impossible for any one who understands
the terms, to deny that these foiu' fallacies are at
the i^ery foundation of the Literary method; viz.,
this forgettmg the artificiaHty of writing, as a vehicle
of thought, — ignoring the difference between the
Bible and other books, — taking Scripture and Reve-
lation to be conterminous, — and assigning literary
capacity to all concerned in the Revelation. If the
objector denies any of these, he so far agi'ees with us
in repudiating the delusion. And if it be owned that
these assumptions belong to the literary principle, it
is equally clear that the fallacies exist, and are ob-
jections to the method, whether the Sacred Book
be well authenticated or not. They who would

The Literary Theory. 65

reasonably acknowledge the Scriptures as Di\-ine,
must do so in some way which will not depend on any
of these fallacies. The only true theory, as to re-
ceiving Scriptures which concern us all, must be
one which pro\ddes for all capacities, and for all just
and reasonable contingencies. We fully admit too
that while thus impugning the literary method as ir-
rational and impossible, we must not afterwards lean
upon it, (See pp. 107, 146, &c.), in some artificial
or limited way of om* own. " With the same measure
that we mete, let it be measm-ed to us again."

But before we advance, and speak of the true and
only intelligible way of receiving and using Holy
Scriptm-e, let us first do justice to the ordinaiy
results of that method of fourfold fallacies which
every literary behever accepts. Let us mark, as
faithfully and carefully as we can, the best and
clearest examples, as well as the commoner cases,
of men who, in some way, get the Bible, and read it
for themselves with siacerity, painstaking, and
abiUty, and let us see whether the results also do
not in every case discredit this whole method of
proceeding. Let us watch with fairness the various
examples of those of om- brethren, who, sm-ely with
uprightness equal to oui' own, have thus sought their
BeHgion in the Bible, apart from all tradition (as they
suppose) concerning its meaning. How wide the

F

66 The Bible and its Interpreters.

range is, of tliis "Literary" Christianity, the in-
stances which we shall adduce wiU instructively
show.

Take, first, the man who with learning and can-
dour and high ability, havmg weU examined the
literary history of every part of the Bible, arrives
at the conclusion — and he is thought free to do so
— that some parts of the volume are altogether
"" spurious," — some whole books of " later origin "
than they had been usually thought, — some " com-
posite,"— some "secular," — some "doubtful," —
and some still under examination. He reads these
Scriptm-es in Hebrew and Greek texts, which he
has satisfied himself are, in the true parts,
authentic. He cherishes as EeHgion for himseK
whatever these true and genuine portions of the
Bible teach, — so far as those portions appear to
him to be good. In this position he is not com-
mitted to bad Geology, or Astronomy, or Ethno-
logy, or Arithmetic, or Geography, or Demonology.
What i\\e positive or permanent element in his Reve-
lation may now be, he is not bound to say. Defini-
tion would seem "dogmatic." Can he not beHeve
•something in Scriptm-e, without saying what ? To
<;all on him to say what, in truth, he does find in the
Bible, is to ask liim to relinquish his whole position.
But will he say what he does not find '^ That too

The Literary Theory. 67

seems doubtful. Is he ready to part with, as " im-
essential," what he does not discover in the "true
l)arts" of the "authentic" and "criticised" He-
brew and Greek ? That would be painful to him
if he had been a Churchman. — Perhaps he may
conclude that he can hold these things as "toler-
able," even if not read in Scripture ?

But let us see what some of these things may
be. First there are the very sacred terms :
"Trinity," "Holy Orders," "Holy Sacrament,"—
Prayer-Book but not Bible words, — "The Christian
Sabbath," "Infant Baptism," " Daily Worship,"
— are these henceforth to be to him no more than
"tolerated" phrases, and no "essentials" of
the Ptevelation ?— The " CathoHc Chmch," the
" Liturgy," the " Creed," " Christian PubHc
Worship," " Articles," " Offices," — what is to
become of all these, to the man whose criticised
Bible is his "Kevelation," and his own conscience
his guide to interpret it, without any tradition ?

But let him proceed. He finds other terms in use
among Churchmen, which he must look at, truth-
fully, as a " Bible Christian," and honestly use,
or honestly give up ; and they are terms which have
implied no merely objective dogmas, but the subjec-
tive life, the whole inner reception of Religion.
They are such as these: "Priest," "Atonement,"

F 2

68 The Bible and its Interpreters.

"Propitiation," "Justification;" — need we name
more ?

(1.) No doubt the Prayer Book speaks of "Priests "
in the Chm*ch ; but the New Testament does not.
If we except the Epistle to the Hebrews, which is
" anonymous," and " regarded as a later docimient,
by many," (and was not relied on by some in the
primitive days), the title " priest " is withheld in
the New Testament even from om- Loed Himself, —
Christ never openly appropriates the term. None of
the Evangelists call Him "Priest," or "HighPriest."
It is a word of much meaning : can it be really
unimportant whether it be used or not ? Has the
word "Priest" been so iminfluential, that it may
be acquiesced in as of little consequence ? Shall
it be given up? Shall the "Bible-Christian"
believe that Christ was not a "Priest," — at least
till the writer to the Hebrews called Him so ?
And that His Ministers are not "j)riests," because
the Apostolic writers do not say so ?

(2.) But what is to be said of the word "Atone-
ment ? " so mysteriously dear to Christian hearts !
He cannot find it in the New Testament except
once : and then only in the sense of " Eeconcilia-
tion." He looks, perhaps, yet again, to see
some text, if possible, which shall exhibit the
"Atoning Death," in the fonn -ttith which he had

The Llterai-ij Theory. 69

long been familiar : But he finds that he has to
express the thought, if at all, hi other words.
Can he exactly render it all, by keeping only to
Bible words '? He tries, perhaps ; and then finds
that the pure Scripture language admits of other
meaning than his, — admits it, it may be, more
naturally than his o-wn accustomed meaning !
What shall he do ? Enlarge his theory of Pteve-
lation ? — or reject the term "Atonement?" —
Which ?

(3.) As to " Propitiation," he is in no less
doubt. It is a term not used by Christ, nor by the
Evangelists : not found in the Acts of the Apostles,
nor in St. Paul's Epistles, except once in a passage
of extreme and acknowledged obscurity. True, the
Chm-ch uses it, in her office for Communion when-
ever she celebrates ; but what is the New Testa-
ment sense of the word ? — Gradually, the faith of
this "literary" Christian is becoming attenuated,
more and more ; — where is the process to stop ?

(4.) Some eager friend reminds him of " Justifi-
cation by the imputed merits of Cheist;" and he
pauses a moment, perhaps, to be sm-e of the idea,
and finds that the meaning has escaped him : and
the phrase, at all events, is not in Holy Scriptm'e
anywhere ; and perhaps not the notion itself ! ' Is
it in any Christian writer for hundreds of years after

70 The Bible and its Interpreters.

the Ascension ? ' He donbts it — unless, indeed,
something- akin to it belongs to the Chui'ch's doctrine
of Sacramental Grace: but then he looks "only
to Scripture," as the record of Eevelation.

What, then, has this gifted enquirer, whom we
have supposed, gained by all his search into Scrip-
ture, after all his study, and prayers and care ?
What is the " Revelation" which rewards him in
the end ? — Neither any distinct objective truth, nor
any internal ideology of the Christian system, has
yet been gained ; nor even any part of the sup-
posed terminology of hereditary Christianity.

But are there no other Sacred questions on Avhich
a Revelation from heaven might throw light ? — Per-
haps he has gained by his method, some insight
into the primary problems of Theology? The Per-
sonality and Providence of God ; the natm-e of
choice in the All-Perfect Fiest Cause ; the Pos-
sibiHty of Real Wills, subordinate to the Supreme
Will ; the use and efficacy of Prayer, in a Uni-
verse governed by an absolutely wise Lawgiver : —
Dares he to say to himself that these " difficulties"
are solved in any of his approved fragments of
Authentic Scripture ?

Literally, then, he has nothing for all his toil.
He is disappointed. He thought at the outset that
the Bible might Reveal something to him ; but he

The Lltcvanj Tlieory. 71

ends as lie began, in a doubtful outline of Natural
Morality, which is all that he can mean by
" Natural Religion ! "

There is indeed an undefined notion of " Mercy"
which he preaches to his own conscience ; but even
of that he cannot be certam. It stands side by side
with other theories, in eveiy part of Scripture. He
has learned then to despau- of finding in " Eevela-
tion," dogma, or creed, or eyen philosophy or
theology of a scientific kind. His investigations
have failed him at every point. He must fall back
upon any " moderate " national customs of Re-
ligion, and a Benevolent MoraHty. That is all.
The Bible is not to him even " Revelation, 2)er
accidens." — Sm-ely the humble, though Little
learned child of the Cluu*ch, with most restricted
gifts, might afford to compassionate so noble a
wi-eck, as such a "Literai-y" believer must be,
and exclaim; Ah, "would to God that thou wert
almost, and altogether, such as I am, — except my
bonds !"

Now the well quahfied and upright literary
Christian, whose career we have thus traced, find-
ing it gi'ow broader and fainter as we went on, is,
be it remembered, the choicest example, the most
perfect development of the literaiy method. We
have not imagined him impatiently brealdng ofi" in

72 The Bible and Its Interpreters.

disappointment, from the pm-suit of truth, and tm-n-
ing aside to blasphemy, or moral despondency, and
its train of woes. No. He has kept heart through
all his com'se. We have supposed him, however
improbably, to retain throughout, his love of truth
(so long baffled), his habits of prayer, his traditions
of Christian faith and hope and love. There could
be but few such as he among those who adopted
his principles. And if such be the condition of the
Leader, — what is to become of the rank and file ?
What of the multitude who, attempting " the
literary " in a smaller way, accepting the Bible, in
whole or in part, without at all comprehending the
questions at issue, still "interpret" for themselves;
—or, for themselves, " make shipwreck of faith ?"
Yet let us not fancy that all enquirers, except
the highly equipped and sincere critic, are to be
looked on as contemptible. Multitudes of Chris-
tians there are, of the greatest variety, who rudely
accept the Sacred Volume as Divine, and study
it as their most bounden duty ; and having so done,
solemnly rest in their own conclusions, dra^\^l (they
believe) from that Book. We are not going to ask,
again, how they obtained the Book. They imagine
that they possess it, at all events. If they pos-
sess what may be to them a volume of enigmas,
— it is theirs to solve them. Let us look, then, at

The Literary Theory. 73

some of these well meant " solutions." Have we
not been at times somewhat hard and uncharitable,
in supposing that the conclusions drawn from
Scripture by others, were corruptly dra-\ra, because
different from om- o-\to ? Have not the thoughtful,
though divergent, interpreters of many systems, a
great deal of reason on their side, could we concede
the first principles of their method ? Have they
not often much earnestness as men, and much
goodness, and faith, and patience, and exemplari-
ness of life ? We do but harm ourselves, hardening
our own hearts in self conceit, when we roughly
assume that multitudes of enquii-ers into Scriptm-e
are right in taking to the plan of individual inter-
pretation, and yet wilfully icrong in their con-
clusions.

The method which prevails among the countless
sects of Christians is in truth always to a gi-eat ex-
tent the same, and quite as subjective as that
which the literary critic adopts. The only dif-
ference is, that some sects, and some men, adopt
it more perfectly than others. "Revelation" is
alike assimied to be latent in the Bible. You
may succeed in getting it for yourself, (say they,
in various forms), or you may fail. "Reve-
lation," then, is an accident to them. The pos-
sessing the Book, on theii- shelf, or in their hand,

7-4 The Blhle and its Tnterjrreters.

is nothing of coui'se, till they have the meaning.
The whole sectarian or literary method of necessity
thus reduces Eevelation to a chance; and the noble
and pure hearts and minds which have used this
method and failed, sufficiently and most painfully
show this. We vdll mark some examples.

There have been few more able, thoughtful,
calm, and devout, among educated men than
Emanuel Swedenborg. He found the New Testa-
ment as it is, a sufficient foundation for his "Vera
Christiana Eeligio." No candid mind can question
that Swedenborg makes out a good case. His
hearty denunciation of the Nicene decisions, as the
gTeatest misfortune of Christendom, has been lately
echoed among ourselves — perhaps by one who did
not know SAvedenborg to be his predecessor. His
system appears to be based on no wilful perversion,
at least, and no ignorant glance, but on an intelli-
gent and painstaking perusal of the Bible in the
main, as we now have it. From his literai-y and
conscience-taught point of view, it would be diffi-
cult to prove that his may not be the honest sense
of Scriptui-e. It is useless to be made angiy by a
fact like this ; and that it is a fact, any competent
student may judge for himself; -vsithout turning
Swedenborgian. On pm-ely Popidar or Literaiy
Bible-gTound it would not be easy to find that any

The, Literary Tlieory. 75

oue has fully answered Swedenborg. The account
of his death-bed can leave no doubt that he
remamed smcere to the last. The " Bible-Reve-
lation " led him to Personal Revelations, -per
accideus.

Edward Irving was one of the noblest and
truest of men. He, like Swedenborg, was a
student. His system, or that which, historically
at least, sprmig out of his beginnings, has enlisted
multitudes of the warmest Christian hearts, and
some of the most inteUigent minds. We say, that
no one can pretend that it was based on a stupid,
or ignorant, or impatient perusal of the Bible. It
seemed to him, and still seems to many, the very
truth of Divine Revelation. It has led to much
beyond the mere letter of Scriptm-e — but it arose
out of the honest reading and interpreting of the
written word, by indi\dduals. Ii'ving took the
whole Bible, as the Sects ordinarily do ; he abated
nothing — except perhaps the Apocrypha. He had
an intelligent right, on his ground, to say to
other Bible-Christians, "Answer me — or follow me."
His was a Bible-Religion acquired by the literary
method, with his OAvn feeling of truth, and earnest
prayer to God. To think of it as an irrational
fanaticism, as some affect to do, is mifair and
dishonom-able. Ir-\'ing died, almost as a martyr

76 The Bible and its Interpreters.

might, a grey and worn out man at forty-five, —
exclaiming calmly and submissively, "if I live, I
live to the Lord ; if I die, I die to the Lord ! "

If we go back to the previous generations, still
keeping to our own countrymen, we meet with
names, had in honour even now among millions, or
at least respected by the student. We may men-
tion Wesley, Gill, and Whiston, as examples.
They were all pm*e and upright men ; and learned
men too. They all honestly found their systems
in the existing English Bible. One was an
Anninian, and a believer in the sinlessness of true
Christians. One was a Supra-Lapsarian Calvinist
and a Baptist. The third was an Arian. Two of
them had commented on the whole Bible. Gill's
Commentary is both learned and pious ; and
Wesley's acute and devout. Whiston took more
pains than most men of his day to ascertain
" Primitive Christianity." The works of all these
three are valuable still. It cannot be said that
the differences between such men are even
comparatively smaU. The first would have thought
the doctrine of absolute predestination held by the
second to be incredibly blasphemous ; and he has
left that on record. The second would think the
first to be utterly a "carnal" and self-deceived
man. The thii'd would be regarded by the first

The Literarij Theory. 77

and second, as a denier of tlie foundations of
Cliiistianity. Yet a man of patient and earnest
character might at any time persuade himself, on
apparent Scriptm-e grounds, to embrace either of
these three views of revealed truth — that is, in plain
words, be either Freemller, Fatalist, or Arian, —
or Baptist with either of these three peculiarities
superadded.

Was the case at all different in the earher ages
of Christianity ? Not to refer now to the Gnostics,
or Montanists, whose history is more complicated
and whose Canon of Scriptm-e was greatly unfixed,
— let us look at the earHest developers of indi\idual
Scripture systems.

Novatian built on a few clear passages, a
doctrine of more than Pmitan strictness. He
was a good man, and his followers were perhaps
better and stricter than the Chm-ch people Avho re-
sisted them. To judge of the " Scripture proof "
on their side, let any one read writings put forth in
a very earnest spirit among ourselves, in the same
apparent direction. The present Bishop of St.
An(h-ews, Dr. Charles Wordsworth, published many
years ago a sermon entitled "Evangelical Eepen-
tance." Dr. Pusey at the same time issued
" Scriptural Views of Holy Baptism." No one can
read these works, without seeing that the Novatians

78 The Bible and its Interpreters.

may have had good prima facie reason to thhik
Scripture on their side. Of course an obstinate
and sordid person may be vexed at this being said,
but no true man can doubt it ; and the present
argmnent does not pretend of course to addi'ess
itself to either the insincere or the incompetent.

But take the next honest-looldng " heretics,"
the Donatists. They were Pmitans too. Their
Episcopal congregations had reason enough and
Scriptm-e enough for their schism, to persuade hun-
dreds of Christian bishops for a hundi-ed years. —
Or take Pelagius, a distinct heretic, beyond doubt.
He thought that the doctrine of Grace which was
in his time rising into new prominence, and ex-
pressing itself in new terms, was itself new, and
not to be proved from clear Scriptm-e. We can
easily imagine a righteous and able man, as appa-
rently Pelagius was, to convince himself then of
this. If we compare what he taught, with the
doctrines of St. Prosper, or om- Bradwardine,
can we possibly help inclining to think his -views,
Avrong as they were, excusable in a man who at all
forecast such consequences of Augustinianism ?

It is unnecessai-y to our argument to follow the
sincerities of heresy to the tribunal, the prison, and
the stake of later ages ; unnecessary to trace the
aberrations of the Schools from Damascene to Lom-

The Literary Thconj. 79

bard — from Lombard to Gabriel Biel ; or to mark
bow the noblest intellects (like Bellarmine and
Suarez,) were tbwarted by tbe use of wrong methods,
and only kept right, when right, by deference to a
higher spirit than their owii. Enough has been said
to illustrate the position, that learned and thought-
ful men, men of prayer and faith, intei-preting the
Sacred Volume, do not reach the same idea of Reve-
lation.— It might be easy even to show, that what
is now popularly thought to be in some respects
the true and only meaning of the great doctrines
of Christianit}", had no existence at all in the
earliest days, either as exegetical conclusions or as
traditions : but it might lead us too far from the
com-se of thought to which we now are keeping.

The learned men who have denied, on literary
grounds, the Trinity, the Doctrine of Grace, the
Freedom of Man, the Atonement, original Sin, and
the Possibility of Eepentance after Baptism, stand
as warnings in history, especially eloquent to men
of om- own time. But what can be said of those
who have used the same method, icithout their
learning? What fearful prodigies of beHef are
extracted out of om- blessed Bible, by the ignorant
masses, — from the fantastic excitements of English
" Re-vdvalists," and American "Jerkers," — down
to that darkest of all creeds, which seethes among

80 The Bible and its Interpreters.

our Anglo-Saxon "dangerous classes," — ^iz., that
True Eeligion is a sudden somctltinr/ to happen to
us, transferring to us at once the Righteousness
of the Redeemer, and practically excusing us from
further anxiety !

It may be said, "A'Vliy upbraid men with results
which all sensible people repudiate ?" We answer —
Is it, or is it not, a fact that the Anglo-Saxon fanati-
cisms do, as a rule, appeal to the Bible as th(3y
understand it ? The method, we have seen, is falla-
cious in principle, alike for the most literary and for
the least learned believer. And we further say,
gi-ant but the Book method, and you must take
all its actual consequences. Say you, 'it is a
corrupt use of the method ; ' — be it so ; but that
is your affair, not om-s. Your method, you think,
succeeds, or may succeed, better in your hands than
in the hands of the million. Granting it possible ;
yet in the meantime the million are called on to
adopt it ; while the method itself needs to be proj)ped,
excused, waited for, and helped, by aU the expe-
dients of personal toil and personal grace ; all the
time it is boldly reHed on, as sufficient in itself !

It is conceivable indeed, that some Literary be-
lievers may rejoice in all these diversities of thought,
as ultimately conducting to Truth. Then- hope would
seem to be, that after the Bible has been well

77«? Literary Theory. 81

criticised, and ascertained, some elevated principles
may emerge as the ultimate meaning of what may
remain of the Saqred Volume. They have a sus-
picion that they can somehow retain the inner life
of Scriptm-e, when they have disintegrated the
framework ; and they are content, till then, to let
the populace freely handle the Bible after their own
fashion. But such a result, even if attained, is
not Revelation gained from a Divine Book at all.
The result is a composite one, whatever it prove to
be at last. It is no consequence of the freely-
handled ".open Bible " — but something gained from
other quarters, varjdng with every mind.

Thus, then, the whole Literary attempt to get a
E,eligion from our Divine Scriptures, apart from
Di-sine guidance, proves as truly subjective as
either of the former methods ; it runs up at last
into the same self-contradiction. Every effort to
build to heaven in men's own way, ends in a
heavy judgment, " confusing the Tongues." The
Bible, as we commonly have it, cannot in any
way, at last, help the Chillingworth theories. Tear
the Bible from the heart of the Church-system of
which it is the very centre, and expect it to animate
some new organization, and you will find, too late,
that it does not beat to the touch : it is to the
Literary ' believer,' as if dead.

Q

82 TJie Bible and its Interpreters.

But, yet once more : Before we pass to those facts
on which the Eevelation depends, those gi'omids
of Catholic faith lying beyond the region of intelli-
gent doubt, it seems to be a duty to return and
consider, quite apart from all names and parties,
some of the Doctrines themselves, usually accepted
by millions as if they had proved them or could
prove them from Scripture, in a rational way, as
they would prove an opinion or truth from any
human author that had advanced it. Let us ear-
nestly ask for this re^iew a disimpassioned mind.
Let no man be impatient at what is said, but try
to deal with it, in truth and integiity. The points
to be thus reconsidered shall be what are commonly
called the Doctrines of the (1) Trinity; (2) Atone-
ment ; (3) Original Sin ; (4) the Sabbath ; (5) the
Sacraments ; (6) the Inspiration of the Bible ; and
(7) Eternal Pimishment.

The list might be enlarged, but these are enough
for the purpose. — (The distinctive Roman doctrines
of InfalHbility, Invocation, Purgatory, and the
like, need not now be referred to, because the
Eoman Catholic does not base his theories on
*' Scripture only.") — Now, we are not here ques-
tioning for a moment that the seven doctrines
enumerated, and held both in the Church and in the
Sects outside the Church, are true. There is a

The Literary Theory. 83^

general understanding at least concerning some of
them, that they are what is called "orthodox.""
Is it true, then, that an independent examina-
tion of Scripture, each man for himself, woidd
conduct him to orthodoxy on these points ? We
appeal to every fair mind with confidence for the
answer.

1. Let any one look at the " Scrij)tm-e-proofs ""
alleged for the Trinity. — The expression "three'
persons in one God " appears not in Scriptm-e. The
text concerning " Three that bear record in
heaven" has been much doubted; and no one
could rest iwoof of the Trinity on a suspected
verse not found in ancient manuscripts. It be-
comes, then, a necessary work of labour to bring
together the texts which appear, on the whole, to
sufforest the " Threefold " nature of the Godhead.
Dm'ing this examination, there arise texts of a
contrary kind, at least in appearance: e.g., "No
man knoweth of that Day," — (words of Christ,.
HimseK, spealdng of the day of Judgment,) —
"no not the Son, but only the Father." Upon
this the Arian has asked : Is the Son equal to
the Father ? — Again ; If, strictly, He and the
Father " are one,'" where is the Sonship ? — if,,
in some sense, "the Father is greater than the
Son," where is the Unity and Equality? — Of

G 2

84 TJiC Bihlc and its Interpreters.

course, there are orthodox explanations of such
texts. The Oneness is in the Divinity, or " Sub-
stance ;" the Distinction lies in the " Persons ;"
and so on. But these are not Bible explanations.
On the other hand, too, it is a simple fact, that
our Lord's earthly Mother is never said to have
treated Him as God, so far as the New Testa-
ment informs us. He defends for Himself,
the title "Son of God;" but it is on the
ground that some of the inspired servants of
God are "called Gods" in the Old Testament.
He commonly speaks of Himself as " Son of
Man."

We have no doubt whatever that the Cluu'ch's
doctrine of the Trinity is the Doctrine of Holy
Scripture ; but we say after this, that the Church
alone '^ proves'' it to be there. Look solemnly at
the New Testament, and see whether you might not,
if you went purely by your ovn\ judgment, arrive at
a different doctrine of the Trinity from om-s ?
Thousands have tried it — fi-om Paul of Samosata
down to Wallis and Clarke ; and many, with
the most thorough intention of being orthodox,
have become Tritheists, or Arians, or something
new, like Swedenborg. Now a scientific statement
of this Truth is very hard ; yet the truth is -v-ital.
Would St. Hilary's assertion, e.g., of the "Filial

The Literary Tlieory. 85

subordination " be intelligible and acceptable to
most of us ? — Yet tlie entii'e system of orthodoxy
is dislocated, if any new doctrine of the Trinity be
admitted.

2. Next ; Let the Christian try to state, in clear
Scriptiu-e propositions, what is the effect of the Death
of om- LoED ; or, as it is termed, the " Atonement."
— Whether His death was a Sacrifice, or an Ex-
ample ; and in what sense either ? If a Sacrifice,
was He Priest as well as Sacrifice ? He does not
say it Himself. He says that He " lays down His
life for His sheep," like a "good shepherd." But
a shepherd faithfully defending his sheep is not, as
such, an expiatoiy or atoning sacrifice. — Did our
Saviour compare Himself to Aaron ? No. — Or His
death to that of the sacrificial lamb ? St. Jolm
Baptist did so ; but not Christ. The omission is a
marvellous one, considering what is involved. — Cer-
tainly om* Blessed Lord compared His own Cruci-
fixion to the "lifting up," of the brazen serpent;
but the brazen serpent was not a sacrifice. — If we
look at the accomits given by St. Matthew, St.
Mark, or St. Luke, either of the life or death of
Christ, we cannot derive the idea of sacrifice in
any clear way. To the eye of faith, and with
the Church's blessed guidance, the Cross is every-
where, and the Atoning Mysteiy pervades the whole

"86 The Bible and its Interpreters.

story of the Incarnate ; but, reading the Gospels
" like any other book," we miss the expected
■" theory of Atonement."

Is it easier to discover it in the Epistles ? Let
any one express the doctrine in the way he may
please ; in St. Anselm's or in Calvin's ; and tiy
to put together the texts which support it.
Nothing more will be needed to convince him of
the hopelessness of his task, than any such honest
trial. Not to dwell on the obvious fact, that in
reading any work we ought fairly to aim at getting
the di-ift of the icJiole, and not to make meanmgs
for a few phrases or "texts;" yet we may safely
challenge men to find " Scrip tm-e-proofs," in any
way, of the popular orthodoxy on this point. —
Taking the conception, for example, that the
death of Cheist was an Atonement in the sense
of a " Snhstitntion^^ — (which is essential, perhaps,
to the Calvinistic idea), — the nearest that we can
approach to it is in passages which speak of His
death as a " Eedemptiou," a " Ransom," a " Price"
paid. To accept these expressions literally must
lead, however, to such a theory of absolute " sub-
stitution," or even " sm'etyship " as some call
it, that "vicarious Sacrifice" could not be made
a stronger doctrine. Hence then the Calvinists
urge that all for whom such sacrifice was ofiered.

The Literary Theory. 87

all in u'hose stead Christ so died, are in the
position of men wliose debt is paid. Hence,
too, they believe that the Elect alone are "ran-
somed" by Christ, — the Elect alone are Eedeemed
— for then- sins alone. He atoned ! This result,
however, is arrived at by a very intricate and com-
poimd process, and not by the force of single texts.
For many texts say, or seem to say, that Christ
"died for all;" and the Universalists conclude
from such texts that all icill he saved. The
Arminians, in their way taking a middle com-se,
neutralize this " doctrine of Atonement " by moral
and sphitual ideas. Justification, Sanctification,
and Grace ; amidst which, however, the notions of
Sacrifice and Priesthood may become, to a gi'eat
extent, practically extmct. — The Cahinists, in their
way, do the same.

There is one of the Epistles in which, no doubt,
our Lord's Sacerdotal character and office are
distinctly dwelt on; the Epistle to the Hebrews.
But many of the primitive ftithers and early writers
seem to ignore, or doubt, the authority of that
Epistle. Among the moderns, there have been not
a few who, (as Dr. Ai-nold so long did), reject it.
But accepting it fully, what is the Doctrine of that
Epistle as to the death of Christ ? Is it the
usual doctrine, apparently, of those who are

88 TJte Bible and its Interpreters.

accounted " oi-tliodox? " Let any one compare its
statement throughout, "vnth the cm-rent Adews, and
he will be startled at the difference. Instead of
security and confidence for the ransomed, as a
chosen few, the representation is that " Chkist
tasted death for every man,'" that this is a boon
conferred on us once for all, that it may be
accepted, or rejected by us, and that if we sin
wilfully " after knowing the truth," there is no
hope. (See and compare Hehrews ii. 9; v. 7, 8;
vi. 4 — 8; X. 26, and xii. throughout.)

In another Epistle, we find another set of
images setting forth om- Lord's work ; a parallel
is di-awn between Christ, as the " second Adam"
and the first father of manldnd. This is nearly
confined to St. Paul's writings ; and scarcely helps
us : for here it would be difficidt as matter of simple
interpretation, to evade the narrowest doctrine of
the Calviuist, i.e. if it were pressed and taken
literally. Thus, the doctrine of " Original Sin "
universally inherited from Adam, may be supposed
greatly to rest on this analogy ; but if so, might
it not be equally m-ged, that the inheritance of
Eighteousness from Christ extends to all His
spiritual posterity ? And thus might not some results
of Universalism, or of Cahinism ensue ? Now it
would be very hard to reconcile with either theoiy,

The Literary Theory. 89

that doctrine of "Vicarious Sacrifice," which is
taught hy the Chui-ch's tradition.

Affain, it is far from common for anv one to exa-
mine, how far also the usual theories of Justification
by Faith are compatible, on intellectual gi-ounds
alone, with the popular ideas of Vicarious Sacrifice.
It is gratuitously assumed, indeed, that the faith of
the offerer was essential to the acceptability of Sacri-
fice; yet were it even so, it would not follow, that
the faith of all those for whom the Sacrifice was
offered was necessary to the efiicacy of the Offering.
Try to carry out the thought, and the analogy
perishes. — Now add to all these considerations,
that this Sacred doctrine, for which no wit of man
has found a definition, is held, though crudely, by
the millions of our generation to be " the Gospel,"
" the Eevelation," the very essence of the Bible;
and the result is much too painful to be expressed.
— It is easy to apprehend, however, that if the
Church ah-eady has the true doctrine, as to the
Sacrifice of our Lord, she "^oll have no difficulty
at all in understanding these and other analogies
which abound in the "Written Word."

3. It may seem almost superfluous, after this, to
call on the theological enquirer to exhibit the doctrine
of " Original Sin" in an intelligible way, and refer
us to the texts which Divinely reveal it. Can he

90 The Bible and its Interpreters.

inform us, whether it implies a total loss of our
moral nature, as Luther consistently held at last ?
or is the loss partial only ? Is the sin transmitted
hodily ? or only in the soul ? If the former, is sin
material ? If the latter, are all our souls as well
as bodies descended from the first man by genera-
tion ? — ^No one will say, that the hereditary trans-
of''^Tmft*?°sesf i^^issiou of uioral evil is an unimportant
He7esy"'"^d^'^ matter. Is it clciuiy stated in any one
bouk.^^ "" ^^^ one place of Scripture ? Is it part of
Divine Eevelation surely explained in the written
Word ? And if so, ichere I

4. Once more. If any opinion has sunk deeply
into the popular conscience among us, it is that
which affirms the sacredness of the " Christian
Sabbath ;" "Sabbath-breaking" is a felt sin among
our people universally. The question is, Has it
become so, in consequence of statements found in
the New Testament '? If it had been the Divine
Will to lay down for Christianity any such ^mtten
law, might not some one at least of the New Testa-
ment writers have expressed it ? Might not some
have told us at least of the Duty of Public Worship
on that Day in unmistakeable words ? But none
have done so. Honest Bible-readers have even
been known to point to St. Paul's classing " Sab-
baths and new moons " together as abrogated.

The Literary Theory. 91

(Col. ii. 16, 21) and his Avarnings against touching
and tasting and handling " ordinances," as not
unreasonable palliations for the Quaker and Anti-
Sabbatarian repudiation both of Holy days and
Holy Eites — even the Sacraments — as ' not of per-
petual obligation.' If any one says that the orthodox
view is absolutely clear as Divine Eevelation, in the
" Bible only," he surely is easily satisfied.

5. The great body of Christians all over the
world receive certain rites, as " Sacraments." The
number, name, and effects of those Sacred Kites,
or the idea of Sacramental influence, can with no
certainty be obtained from Scriptm-e only. The
Baptist and the Quaker point out that no infants are
once named in Scriptm-e as partakers of Baptism ;
(and others add, that no women are mentioned as
admitted to the Lord's Supper.) The Gospels give
no account, e. g., of the Baptism of the Twelve
Apostles. The Epistles of St. Paul speak most
loftily of Baptism ; yet do not so exalt it as to
hinder his expressing his satisfaction that he had
baptized very few. (1 Cor. i. 14.) St. Peter once
mentions Baptism in his Epistles, but not the Eu-
charist ; St. John just refers to Absolution ; St.
James and St. Jude do not distinctly allude to
any Sacraments. Is it probable, then, that the
actual faith and minute practice of the whole Chm-ch

92 TJte Bible and its Interpreters.

as to these Sacred Ordinances, are traceable to the
" written Word " as we now possess it ? — The most
credulous cannot believe it.

6. And again. We have said enough to con-
vince any who are looking sincerely for opinions in
" Scripture only," that the New Testament is silent
as to the theory that it was inspired to be a
"written Word" of such and such extent, for the
sole guidance of men as to God's Revealed Will.
The straining which we see, of a phrase or two,
here and there, into an assertion of " Inspiration,"
for some unenumerated writings of St. Paul, is in
itself sufficient to shew to what straits the main-
tainers of this theory are reduced. It seems super-
fluous to add that no definition of " Inspiration "
is even pretended, which can explain the separate
existence per se of Divine writings prior to the
Living Presence, the " Spirit of Truth " abiding
in the Chm-ch for ever.

We return then to our first assertion, (p. 3), that
the Divine Book, and the Divine Meaning of it (or
" Orthodoxy"), cannot be j)arted, cannot be held
except in conjunction. We may now perhaps go
farther ; and ask any competent person to consider
whether it is even conceivable that " the Letter" is
inspired, without "the Sj)irit " at the same time
dwelling in the minds of those to whom that ' ' letter ' '

The Litem)!/ Theorij. 93

is committed '? There may perhaps he one reply to
this enquiry, and that too a very practical one.

It may he said, that in point of fact, say what we
may of this "Literary method," it is conceded that
the doctrines commonly understood as " ortho-
dox" doctrines, and "Gospel," are widely held
among English and American and other sects, on
a Bible basis, apart from Church interpretation and
authority. This, like all other alleged " arguments
from facts," is to be looked into.

Supposing the so-called orthodoxy to exist, as in
some sense it may, beyond the Chmch's pale, can
we at once conclude, that such illogical and varying
sects have elaborated this " orthodoxy" from Scrip-
tm-e ? Where are the sects to be found who hold to
any ' ' orthodoxy," — (as to the Trinity, the Atone-
ment, Grace, and so on), — except in our own at-
mosphere ? Where the Church finally fades, there
(in due time) the " orthodox sects," however strong
at first, gradually cease to be. When they first rise,
these sects may justly upbraid indeed the Church's
unfaithfulness in practice ; but they cannot outlive
her. Let them attempt to colonize, and they change :
their " Pilgiim fathers" become uncouth and strange
in a generation or two at most. Trace the results
everywhere, and they are the same. INIethodism
was really almost orthodox when it began under the

94 The Bible aiid its Interpreters.

shadow of St. Mai-y's, in Lincoln Colleg^e, Oxford ;
but in Cormvall it soon gave rise to " Eanters ;" in
Wales (wliere the Church lamp flickered) it pro-
duced "Jumpers;" in Scotland, in our day, it
spoke in tongues ; in L'eland in hysterics ; in
America it tm-ned Mormonite at last. It cannot
long leave the side of the Chm-ch without losing
itself in heterodoxy. There are certain latitudes
beyond which "orthodox sectarianism" as a species
cannot be found. There really are not various /oci
in the Di^dne creation, nor ever yet, (as Mr. Dar-
win might suppose), *' spontaneous selection " in
the spiritual world.

7. In tm-ning to the last of the seven subjects
which we proposed to dwell on, — "Eternal Pun-
ishment,"— we have to deal with ideas which are
felt on all hands to belong not to Revelation only.
They who call in question this truth, do not rely
merely on the assertion, that it is not proved from
Scripture ; for the author of the remarkable book,
"Life in Christ," may be admitted to have made
that fairly debateable : but they reason against it,
on principles apart from Scripture. The literary
believer indeed invariably diverges from his scrip-
ture-hypotheses to a iniori considerations, but no
where so consistently as here : for that precarious
literary Christianity which many plead for, as

The Literary Theory. 95

tenable if not certain, could only, we think, be
entertained on the supposition, that to be right
in Religion does not involve eternal consequences.
To deny the " dogma " of Eternal Punishment as it
is unfairly termed ( — for a "dogma" seems to many
to be an " opinion " only, perhaps disconnected from
the necessary facts of moral being, which in this case
has not been proved) — to set this aside, then, is
to affect very vitally all om* interest in Eeligious
matters. Popular Christianity is sensitively alive
to this. For the sake of all literary Christians,
then, of every class, we give more detailed notice
to the opposition made, it is supposed, on prin-
ciple, to this doctrine. All the other ques-
tions raised in our whole Address, depend for
their abiding interest on that Futm'e of joy or
sorrow, without which Religious speculation is but
amusement, and of a veiy questionable kind,
especially when we bear in mind the dark as well
as bright side of the world's religious drama.
Other Christian truths stand indeed on a real and
abiding philosophy, as Ave have intimated (p. 9) ;
but we have not been discussing such philosophy-
In reference however, to this concluding topic, we
venture, in consideration of those foundations
which are essential to all of us, to take a AAider
ranffe.

96 Tlic Bible cuid its Inicrpreters.

But first, we would explain that when it has
been admitted, that the " Eternity of Punishment "
cannot be so proved from Scriptm-e as the many
have imagined, we mean that the icord " Ever-
lasting " is not of uniform signification in the
Sacred Word ; and a reference to certain passages
will of course show this. (See Gen. xvii. 8 ;
xlviii. 4 ; xlix. 26 ; Exod. xl. 15 ; St. Matt. xxv.
46, &c., &c.) — We know, however, too little of the
nature of our coming Eternity to argue much from
this negative position. The idea of a Future world
is, to speak truly, very little explained to us at all in
Scripture. Anxious and thoughtful minds always
have had the desire for some more definite account of
what THAT world is, whether in its Hght or its dark-
ness, than the Bible literally furnishes. Its locality
(if it be " local") — its occupation (if active) its pro-
bationary character (so far as it may anywhere
be probationaiy) — its joys — its soitows — how little
can we realize ! Joy and sorrow have so much
dependence on individual capacity, as well as on
circumstances, that the most divergent views on
the subject have often appealed to Scriptm-e. It
would be contradicting facts, to say that the
written Word has here an unmistakeable teaching
for all. As to the "Eternity of the Future" of
all souls, there has been room for two opinions,

The Literary Theory, 97

whenever human ingennity has freely handled the
" letter of the Word " for itself.

Turn we then to the Church, lest tempted to err
for a moment, for its miiform interpretation. The
latent asstimption of what has heen called " or-
thodox Christianity " has always heen, and now is,
that the joys and sorrows of the Future may he
Endless. To know the Christian Church any-
where, is to know that it assumes this, — with more
or less of distinctness in special cases perhaps, yet
really assumes it. And if the Kterary heliever ask
of us some literary evidence of this, we confidently
point to the prima facie appearance at least of the
consent of the great body of om teachers from
St. Paul to Augustin — to Gregory — to Anselm — to
Bernard — to Bishops Bossuet — Andrews — Bull —
and Ken, Such consent is enough for us who be-
lieve that the Di\ine Spirit essentially leads His
Church aright. And it is at least a formidable
difficulty for opponents : for they have to suppose,
in this case, that a fundamentally false hypothesis
has pervaded the teaching of the Christianity of
1800 years : and that would tempt some to doubt
whether anything in human natm-e could be relied
on as true. If they appeal to man's instinctive
hope of mercy, as contrary to this pervading teach-
ing of the Church ; we point in reply to man's

H

98 The Bible and itn Interpreters.

instinct of Retribution also, to which Conscience
certainly refuses limits. The Chm-ch's message is
to Conscience.

On the other hand, though entii-ely assured of
this de facto assumption or interpretation of the
Church, and so of the real teaching of Holy
Scripture in this matter, we are ready to examine
what is alleged by the opponents of " Eternal
Punishment," on natural principles. For if there
be one characteristic which distinguishes the Lite-
raiy theoi-y in all its phases, it is this, — it imiformly
questions, at last, this foundation Truth ; and
persons of dim intellect, and tender sensational na-
tures, are more readily misled perhaps on this sub-
ject, than on any other. We only premise that
such arOTnaents do not touch our own foundation.

The sort of premises for a conclusion of doubt,
as to the Futm-e of the wicked, are such as these :

(1.) That no Sm can deserve Eternal Punish-
ment.

(2.) That no created being could sustain it.

(3). That all Punishment is intended to be
remedial.

(4.) That neither the mercy of the Moral Go-
vernor could permit, nor His justice requii'e, that
the pmiishment of any sin should endm-e for ever.

(5.) That we would not ourselves (if we had the

The Literanj Theory. 99

power) — inflict endless sufferings on any one ; and
much less could we imagine that God would do so.

These are, it may be thought, the entii-e pre-
mises from which some persons have been led to
question, and others to deny, " Eternal Punish-
ment." None of the usual grounds are consciously
suppressed. And we proceed to show, that these
treacherous propositions could not have been enter-
tained, had the pre\ious questions, as to irhat Sin
is, and what Punishment is, been considered.

The sense of ' Sin ' implies wherever it exists
in us a consciousness of Eesponsibility : and con-
sciousness of Eesponsibility implies some choice,
WILL, or Avhat is termed ' Moral Power.' A con-
dition in which any creatm'e is rightly responsible
for the use of moral power is what is commonly
termed a ' state of Probation.' To think of ' Sin '
apart from Eesponsibility, and Will, is but dreaming.
To think of the Pimishment of Sin as a formal
infliction only, is to make the judicial supersede
the moral idea. Take away * Will ' and the moral
idea included in the term ' Sin,' disappears »
Actions of violence, and sensual ebullitions, how-
ever dangerous and revolting to others, may have a
merely animal, or even at times a mechanical,
character, if done without choice. Eemove from
' Sin ' the (Jistinctively moral idea, and it is

H 2

100 The Bible and its Interpreters.

reduced to an * inconvenience.' In like manner, to
take from the idea of ' Punishment ' all essential
connexion -wdth the moral nature, is to change the
conception altogether. A human polity reserves
penalties for certain acts, wdthout, at times, even
considering at all their moral character. Hence the
mere la^^Ter is apt to confound right with legal ob-
ligation. The political notion of infliction of
penalty does not however (in some polities) pertain
to the higher morality at all.

Now these axiomatic positions are forgotten
entirely, in that course of thought which we have
described as distinguishing the opponents of the
unalterable tnith that ' Sin ' is an endless miseiy ;
in other words, their " dogmas " depend on what
is, strictly speaking, an immoral conception of our
whole nature, and its duties.

To do justice to these speculators we must mark
the breadth of their aim. Their objections are not
merely as to the fact in any particular case, but as
to the iiosubility of Eternal Punishment in any
case. If this be not the scope of the objections,
there is no meaning in them at all. They have
certainly so comprehensive a sweep, that they
could not tolerate the eternal ruin of but one soul,
even though all others were saved. Judas, the
** son of perdition," of whom Chkist said, " it

The Literanj Theory. 101

were good for that man if he had never heen born,"
or possibly even " the devil and his angels," for
whom hell was first " prepared," would appear to
be as much included in these speculations of
" mercy," as any of the ungodly multitudes who
are supposed to be thus protected. For if the
possibility of "Eternal Punishment" were allowed
m any case, the remaming questions as to the
persons who are to be liable to it, would be subject
to considerations of various kinds, and would not
be affected by the objections which have been
alleged.

It being unquestionable, then, that the objec-
tions, if valid at all, are levelled aginst the possi-
hilitii of this endless woe, it is obvious that no
doctrine of "Pm-gatory," such, for example, as the
Roman, can be any relief to the theorist : for the
Eomau Christian does not question that there may
be Eternal Punishment for some. We have a clear
view, then, of the question really raised.

And we conceive that it is demonstrahle — (if
any truth of Theism or ethics can be so) — that this
jMssihiUty of endless ruin for some, is undeniable
by a rational believer in God, or in any Morality —
i.e., any system of right or wrong having relation
to "will" or choice. We mean — that the deniers
of this doctrine must, in reason and consistency.

102 The B'lhle and its Interpreters.

deny tlie possibility of both Vii'tue and Vice, and
overthrow the foundations of all Morals.

Let a man ask himself, whether it was possible
for God to create a being with a real Will? —
and, has He seemed to do so? — and, is man
such a being? If he replies to himself, "no:"
" choice is but a delusion, and for a finite being
to have Will, or originate action, is impossible" — ^
we miderstand him. He destroys all Moral Respon-
sibility— all Conscience — at once. We have no
need to occupy him, or ourselves with any further
argument. He conceives that there is not, and
cannot be, more than One Agent, one Will, in the
universe. Reward or punishment, either temporal
or eternal, are then unreal terms : they are but
inaccui'ate expressions of certain consequences of
action. Whether, indeed, the One Agent, be a
Will, or not rather a Necessai-y Agent, it would be
difficult, on this view, to determine. We will only
assure such a theorist, that his own Conscience and
his neighbom'S, too, \\dll still treat him personall}''
as a Responsible Being, and award him praise or
blame for his doings. If, on the gi'ound supposed,
he persists in denying Eternal Punishment, we will
but remind him that he is but actually affirming
Universal Necessitij. Argument is at an end.

We address the man, then, who thinks himself

The Literary Theory. 103

capable of deliberate "reason," and therefore of
"choice." With liim, Conscience is a. fact. And
it needs but to be stated, to any one witli a Con-
science, that if there were no jposs'ihle alternative
of action, there could be no choice, — no selection of
right rather than wrong. Possihility of wrong thus
being a necessary condition of Moral choice — (and
the frequent enquiry about the "origin of E"vil"
being therefore absui-d) — see what follows : — Sup-
pose a Moral Agent to have made an evil choice,
and, acting on it, to have become evil ; and, after
this, to have gone on in e\i\, to the end of his
career — his character morally deteriorating of course
during this process, and becoming less and less
likely to improve probably at every step — habit
forming character, and character generating habit,
perpetually ; what is his ultimate prospect ? — Is it
pleaded, that there may be a " new-creating " of
his moral strength, — a re-invigoration ? (such as
Christians say is given by "Grace" in various
ways, — or by "Education," or "Influence," as
philosophy might urge ; ) this may be granted, —
but the man is, in this new condition, still expected
to use his re-invigorated power of choice ; — other-
wise he is ceasing to be a Moral Agent, and lapsing
into a mechanism, — which is contrary to the
supposition. Suppose, then, after any number of

104 The Bible and its Interpreters.

free trials of the Moral Agent, any where thus
strengthened again and again, (some real power of
choosing good rather than e\il heing preserved, till
the end) — suppose, we say, that his prohation
actually fails at the last; which must be possible,
and is the case of the finally impenitent Christian;
— then it is asked by some, whether in some futuie
state of existence, this man may not still pass
through some favorable change ?

We demand, in reply, is this new state to be a
Moral one ? is man supposed in it to have Will,
or choice ? — if not, his change will only be an
annihilation of his Moral Agency, and it would
simplify the statement to o'wn at once what it
means — viz., that God will annihilate the Kicked
■moral agent, and form some good mechanism
instead ! If the Will is not to be got rid of, the
Moral State, however deteriorating, is j^ossihly
Eternal. A state of Probation, icJiicli must end
at last in some one ivay, is a contradiction. It
were childish to say that God's "love" is to
interfere with this ; for that is only saying, that
He must abolish Moral Agency in those cases, and
cause " Will" to cease. If that be reckoned on, to
happen in some unspecified cases, it alters the
nature of Moral Trial in all cases. The choice of
the human Conscience would then ultimately be a

The Literary Theory. 105

choice not between Right and Wrong — but between
Obedience to a certain Law, and Annihilation, i.e.,
change into mechanical existence. This ' Obedi-
ence,— or Moral Suicide,' is not a moral option at all.
It takes away the denial of evil impHed in moral
choice. To imagine thus, that the Great Moral
Governor changes the nature of the alternative put
before Moral Agents, is equal to saying that the
original Divine desire to have Volmitary Vu'tue in
a creatm-e formed for that end, had to be changed —
— i.e. that a creatm-e with a Will ought not io have
been, — and fui-ther, that all Morality, so far as con-
nected with "Will," may have to be abandoned,
and Eesponsibility given up. " L'Eternite des
peines n'est qu'une strict consequence de la liberte
des creatm-es." (Reynaud; Terre et Ciel, p. 393.)
A created Will, as long as it exists, is called on
to choose good as such, rather than e\al as such ;
— realizing and knowing the choice. Without such
choice the highest human "Virtue" is not; — it
becomes another thing. And so long as Virtue is
voluntary, and "Will" endures', — so long as it
remains "good" that God should have made man
thus, as a moral creature, the final failure of a Will
is an Everlasting misery. To deny this possible
failm-e of a Will, is to deny Will itself. There is,
in a word, no argument against the Final Misery of

106 TIlc Bible and its Interpreters.

Moral Agents, whicli does not equally hold against
the Creation of Moral Agents ; and there is no argu-
ment against the Creation of Moral Agents, which
does not destroi/ the foundations of Voluntarij
Virtue, and all the sacred realities recognised by
Conscience between man and man.

We place before the Literary believer in God
and Conscience, this reply to his one positive article
of faith, i.e. Universal llestoration by some future
intervention of the Ceeator.

We know, indeed, that the Christian truth as
to this solemn subject is taught by no such hard
reasonings ; though we have thus reasoned for others'
sake. — It stands on Conscience, Scripture, and Tra-
dition. Om' position is quite independent of all
attempts, successful or not, to meet theoiy by
theory : and here we leave the Literaiy believer :
having shown, we trust, that his last appeal, viz.,
that to reason, is a Fallacy. —

§4. The Truth.
It is time that we tm-n from the mere exposm-e
of inadequate theories and false and unsatisfactory
methods, to some elucidation of the Church's way
of accepting as her o"\vn the Blessed Gift of her
God, the "written Word" and all His Sacred
Truth. Only our earnestness stiU prompts us to ask

The Truth. 107

any who have followed the subject with us thus far,
to look back first, (and from time to time also,)
and see what has surely been arrived at, i. e. what,
in truth we knoic, and by no guess, but by the
humblest array of imquestioned facts. We know
that the popular view is " impossible ;" the Roman
view "contrary to all history and truth;" the
literary view hoth ; as well as so clearly contra-
dicted by experience as to need to be supplemented
by various expedients, to be even intelligihle (p.
80). If these results have not been now arrived
at, let any one look back and see where the proof
fails : for we cannot see it. We have a right, then,
to deprecate hereafter a return to hypotheses,
which are strictly speaking unworthy of analysis.

We have again to deal, of com'se, with the same
subject-matter as in the three previous portions of
our argument — the same " records," the same
history. Hitherto we have seen them, for the
most part, inverted. We have looked from om-
present standing, backward through the vista of
many ages, the objects often becoming more and
more minute and indistinct with the gi-owing
distance. We shall now have to reverse the
telescope, and shall find all the facts come before
us, with reality and magnitude unappreciated
before. They stand out as Supernatural.

108 The Bible and its Interpreters.

If in the consideration of this part of our subject
we seem to be tedious, it must be remembered
that in opposing the deeply-ingi-ained obstinacy of
supposed critics, and the inveterate prejudices of
the half-taught multitude, some iteration may be
again unavoidable. Admissions made, or con-
clusions arrived at, or objections fully answered,
must be mentioned at times, if only to be dealt
with as registered facts; and this is all that will
be generally intended in fm-ther reference to them.

Let it not be thought, above all, that there has
been any exaggeration as to the details of the
history of the Written Word. Rather than enter-
tain suspicions of this kind, let all that has been
said be yet again considered before another step is
taken ; for indeed a large part of the difficulty
which besets the investigation of this Literatm-e
has been barely glanced at. We have, in the
main, treated the Old Testament (it "v\all be re-
membered) only as a whole ; and the New Tes-
tament also. We have but Hghtly touched the
circumstances, that the Bible really consists of
about fifty treatises or tracts, each of which has
or had a history of its oicn — an authorship, occa-
sion, date, structure, transmission and difficulties
of its own, all demanding examination of the
Literary believer. We have but hinted how the

The Truth. 109

books of the Hebrew part of Scripture have all,,
in some way, been reduced to a kind of imiformity,
considerably veiling the differences of both style
and language which must have existed at fiiBt —
differences, for instance, between the utterances of
Noah, Abraham, or Balaam, and those of Solomon
or Malachi. To find, for instance, as we do, a
dialogue which took place in Paradise, and a
canticle written 3000 years afterwards in Jeru-
salem, both recorded now in those same square
Chaldee letters, and pointed now on the same
Masoretic system ; — to be stopped at a kind of
great literary precipice, e. g., like the Babylonian
captivity, and told to "investigate," with the few
materials at our disposal ; — to have not dissimilar
occupation in dealing in detail with the Gospel of
St. MattheAv, the Epistle to the Hebrews, or the
Apocal}7)se ; would open a multitude of difficulties
which we have not pressed. The truth does not
need it ; more than enough has been said, (unless
men will insist on more), to show that a Literary
faith, under all its modifications, is a most hope-
less and unquestionable scepticism.

But in warning all honest minds of such in-
superable obstacles, in challenging the rationality
of the Literary idea of Revelation, and therefore
exposing the sandiness of the foundation of so much

110 The Bible and its Interpreters.

that passes for reasonable Christianity now, our
object has been, and will be, to urge all those who
would have a solid faith to rely on, to give up
unreality, and not wait till another and more
educated generation detects the hollowness of the
" theology of the 19th century." On the other
hand, we do not disguise that it becomes our duty
to make veiy plain our own. fomidation. We have
found the literary method (in all its phases) to be
fallacious : Oiu- own must be different. The faults
v/hich we point out in others, should be warnings
to om-selves.

We began by saying (p. 5) that the Catholic
view is that " the written Word," and the
" Chm'ch," are "co-ordinate in the mission of
Truth to manldnd :" and we shall not evade, or
pass lightly, any part of this proposition. We
af&rmed, in the face of the obstacles before us,
that a true ^iew of Revelation must be one which
was not open to those difficulties. It must (p. 65)
"pro\ide for all capacities, and for all just and
reasonable contingencies." And this cannot be
too much to demand of a professed Revelation-
Nothing less could suffice ; nor shoidd a Super-
natural Revelation find it too hard to attain.

The Catholic view needs not, a priori, any of that
kind of " evidence " which we have objected to, in

The Truth. Ill

(jenere. Supposing our Bible, or oui- Chui'cli, trul}-
to claim a Supeniatm-al position, the fact of course,
announces itself. Supposing any to ask, "what is
the Bible ?" — " what is the Chrn-ch ?"— we say not
that " definition " is impossible, but out of place.
It would take time and pains to give it ; and very
few of those concerned in Revelation could test a
definition, or even understand it. The multitude
who are addi-essed by Revelation, cannot be expected
to wait for previous definitions, or to ascertain
half the history of the Bible, or of the Chm-ch.
Wliether that history were so clear that "he who
runs might read it;" or whether it seemed
impenetrably obscm-e ; in either case, it is an
independent matter, and belongs as such to those
only who have the power to investigate. If it bo
alleged, as it is, that God has a Message for man
now, that is a present Fact, and not a literarj*
investigation. If the " Supematm-al " needs aid
of the kind commonly supposed, it vacates its
claim. This can be no irrelevant point ; and we
therefore dwell on it beforehand.

The distinction between a fact, and its
history, and its definition, may be seen in natural
things also. The merest child who touches or
plays with a magnet, may know, in some respects,
whether it is what it is pretended to be ; little as

112 The Bible and its Interpreters.

he was able to discover it, or to account for it, or
properly to use it. And so we are affirming it to be
with Revelation from God, to man's conscience.
The Bible and the Chm-ch (each in its own way)
will testify to Revealed truths ; and, long anterior to
any definition, in either case, each will make itself
felt, if it be the reality asserted.

We are not questioning, of com*se, that there is
some histoi-y of the Canon, and some history of the
Church ; and might not mind conceding that an
exhaustive definition of either is conceivable for the
minds of a few : but it must be understood that
Revelation is not to be confounded, in idea or in
reality, with any such definition, or any such histoiy.
It is independent, so far as it is Revelation at all,
— inscrutable in its beginnings, — inscrutable in its
life and power.

And, first, we will simply look at the facts of the
case ; as to the Written Word, and as to the Church
with her imwritten message ; for eacli of ichicli
such lofty claims are equally asserted.

The "Written Word" is before us. We
approach it at first, of course, in any Version or
Translation, or form in which it may confront us,
by what means soever we may have been introduced
to its pages. Our first business is fairly to acquaint

The rmth.' 113

ourselves with it, so far as we are able. AYe look
at it. Its story must briefly be re-told.

From whence does it immediately come ? Some
readers do not know at all. Some are soon aware
that the former part of it, or " Old Testament," was
received in an ancient language from the Jews, one
of the most mysterious and ancient people on the
earth, — a people scattered now in all lands — a
world-wide fact ; but not yet teaching us much.
The Jews take this book to be a Supernatm-al
Book, divinely transcending all the usual literature
of the world. They have certain mutilated Tradi-
tions, too, about it ; but they are dark.

We may be excused if we pause for a moment to
look at this Jewish people (if we have the oppor-
tunity,) ; we may learn at least by a passing enquiry
their o\^^l account of themselves. Their histoiy
may, or may not, correspond with this Book. They
say they are " God's witnesses " to mankind. By
a strange set of events they have for thousands of
years mingled with us all, without in the least
losing their own distinctness. Ineflaceably stamped
with a character that time does not change, they
assert for themselves a special, and undeveloped
destiny. As we look into theii' Sacred Book, it
greatly corresponds with this. — Can they tell us
anj'thing about this book ? Literally nothing

I

114 Tlie Bible and its Interpreters.

more, with any certainty, than the Book itself tells !
Helpless in a literary point of view, we soon hear
that these Jews cannot critically defend their Scrip-
tures, even though they keep them ; all this
increases the strangeness of the facts to he dealt
with. — A Reformer, like their Maimonides, or a
Pantheist like Spinosa among them, arises to change
•or deny their traditions ; hut in vain, — the attempt
just helps to confuse them — nothing more. The
Bible still is engraven on the memory, we may say
■even the countenance and heart of the Jewish race.
They cannot alter it, if they would — (as witness
their gi-eat Council of Rabbis at Ageda in Hungary
300 years ago.) We turn to the mysterious
Volume, then, once more ; and, with such powers
as we have, look at it for ourselves.

It begins with a book called "Berashith," and
■" Genesis." This sometimes has a title at the head
of it—" The first book of Moses :" but the book
itself does not say that Moses was the author. — (The
Jews affirm this, we may hear, as their tradition). —
It treats of times long anterior to Moses. In the
•earlier chapters of this book we find a gi'eat deal is
assumed at once. The Being and Personality of
One God ; and the Responsibility and Conscience of
man, are taken for granted. We do not find that
these are explained ; and we do not quite under-

The Truth. 115

stand them. But in some degree we fed tliem ;
and the assumptions do not shock om* natm-e, or
judgment. — We see, too, that the Ceeation of
heaven and earth by God " at the beginning," is
simply announced, — announced in terms morally
impressive in a very high degree, and so felt at all
times, whether by philosophers like Longinus, or
by ordinaiy unsophisticated minds. And yet what
is thus said is not (as far as we are aware) re-
ducible to any natural system. — Soon we are told
of man s Sin, his losing Innocence ; and we cannot
well understand the description. It tells us some-
thing of a loss of a garden of peace, "Paradise,"
— a forfeiture of happiness, and to a great extent,
of Divine favom-. The nature of the account here
proves to be entirely beyond us. We do not Imow
ichat the state of the " original innocence" in Para-
dise might be, — the mode of life, the powers, or
conditions. We are incapable, therefore, of gi\'ing
precisely the " literaiy interpretation" of the details;
but still once more, we feel the whole intensely,
— (very little more than that), — as, perhaps,
a Supernatural account of om* Supernatm-al son-ow.
In the fact that the world is thus in conflict with its
own conscience, and so is unhappy, alas ! there is
nothing doubtful. In the assertion that God made
this world " good," innocent and happy at first,

I 2

116 The Bible and its Interpreters.

tliere seems, too, nothing incredible. — We continue.
We come to the first great Pmiishment of the
workl's sin. It startles us, doubtless, in its gigantic
simplicity. We find again that we cannot reduce
this to any very clear literary form. The Deluge
is almost as surprising to us as the Creation.

Then we next observe that the Scripture stor}^,
(after these early chapters of the first 1600 years of
the world's life), suddenly contracts ; and for the
following 2000 years, and more, we hear but little of
any Revelation from God to this broad earth of
om's ; but chiefly of His treatment of one family,
one race — their rise, their "Exodus," their Law.
We find very obscure " Prophets," some incom-
plete Histories, and a variety of Psalms ; all
more or less Judaistic ; and, as we look steadily
at these books they prove to be of wonderful indi-
vidual and local interest ; touching the destiny
of the rest of the world just at the few points
where the Jewish story intersects that of any other
people ; and yet generally, to a great extent,
defying scrutiny when we attempt to explore the
origincs. We are growing to feel still more, that
this is a marvellous Book, as truly as that they who
hand it to us are a marvellous peo2)le.— But do we
understand it when we have read it all ? or v/hy,
if not, should we care to read it ?

The Truth. 117

Here, tlien, another fact meets us. Over this
Book, as with a strange fascination, the world has
hung, ever since it was knoT\Ti to he put together
as a whole, — {i.e. soon after the days of the latest
of its writers, Malachi). The inheritor of the
great Empire of the Greek Conqueror of the East
insisted on having this Book translated into
Greek ; that he might know what it was all ahout.
True, it seemed to address itself to Jews ; but from
Ptolemy's days till now the world has gone on
turning this Bible over and over, — unable to get rid
of the feeling that it has something to do with
this Book after all ! We pause a moment :

Is that a "Book like any other book?" we
begin at once to ask ; — or may it be Supeenatural,
as some have said ?

Yet, whatever it be, we have now discovered that
we can satisfy om'selves but little, when we try to
put it into shape, in a way of our oyai. At what
time the various parts of this Book were arranged
in this present form ? At what time each part of
it was first written ? and hy whom ? and where
preserved ? and how edited ? — It almost looks as if
some pains had been taken to hide these things !
So widely known, and yet not known ; so royally
translated, and yet, — from what ascertained origi-
nals?— "We are thwarted at every point. If we

118 The Bible and its Interpreters.

could get at the clear beginnings of but one of its
twenty-two books, it would be something literary to
start with : but no. On the other hand, we cannot get
rid of it. Neither Jew nor Gentile will let us long
forget it. — Why would not Ptolemy let it alone ?
He could not imderstand it when he had got it.
Why will the Jews keep it so firnily ? They
evidently, even with then- Masora, cannot pene-
trate it. If we take this " Masora " as we do,
we still are outside the Tradition, and cannot get its
life : while the Jews themselves are as men who
have lost tke keys to their treasure. — And there It
stands — that ''Hebrew Bible," (of which even the
Hebrew character perhaps is lost !) and it is neverthe-
less a great Fact, gi-owmg as in apocalyptic signi-
ficance; while we see the obstinate speculate, and
the thoughtful continue gazing on it ! It seems,
in some aspects, to span all our human life and
hope; and yet our eye swims, as we try to sepa-
rate its rainbow colom-s from the dark historic
cloud in which it is set !

Yes ; and there is felt to be an Inner Character
of this Book which absorbs om* interest as we come
to acquaint ourselves with it, still more. Soon,
in practice, y^e forget, (if m'O ever knew), the little
which disputers can tell us about the transmission
of the letter of this Book. We must needs leave

The Truth. 119'

to Elias Levita, and Bryan Walton, and the Bux-
torfs, and the rest, the outer history of books written
in a language which has been dead 2000 years. To
the many- — if we will but own it honestly — It is
a "Writing on the Wall," as by some "Hand"
coming forth from the obscm-e ; yet to us its mean-
ing more and more proves to be, " Mene, Mene,
Tekel, Upharsin," — above all, when the true Inter-
preter sta nds hy ! It " numbers" our earthly destiny ;
it " weighs us in the balance;" it "divides us,"
and interrupts our self-satisfied doings, and dissi-
pates for ever earth's careless revehies.

Let us turn aside and gaze, then, further and yet
more steadily at this phenomenon, — this Fact,
which we are, at times, so conscious of, — this
standing in the presence of what we feel, and are
influenced by, beyond all that we comprehend.

The first acquaintance which we have made with
this Fact justifies us in further enquiry. There is
very soon in the Book itself a suggestion beyond
itself. As we read on, we meet with so much that
has not yet heen proved to us ; and we bring to it
so many of the a priori impressions of our own
mind, and of om- own or a former age, that we find
it difficult to say how much is derived from the
Record itself, and how much 'imported into it

120 The Bible and its Interpreters.

unconsciously from other sources. It seems as
though some dim finger already pointed to the
needed Guide — the Teacher of the Inner sense.
And what is now the case with ourselves in this
respect, would natm-ally and always have been the
case with all intelligent readers of the same Scrip-
tui'e: and the less intelligent would of course be
still more subject to impressions ah extra.

Some examples may illustrate this ; and show
perhaps that the Bible actually assumes, as though
EXISTING ON OTHER GROUNDS, tlic Foundations of
Religion and Revelation throughout ; that not only
does it begin at once with God, Creation, Good,
Duty, Prohibition, Command, Conscience, Sin,
Punishment, (all " unproved," as critics might say),
but even with more special and definite Rules and
Rites, which human instincts, or sacred Traditions,
have recognised ah initio.

1. There is Sacrificial Worship taken for
granted in the earliest chapters of Genesis. —
Whence is this ? Was Abel commanded to off'er
it ? And wherein was its obligation ? — Was Cain
warned, or taught, against wrong ways of Sacri-
ficing ? Or was Noah, 1600 years later? The
Bible says nothing of it, in those ancient days. It
mentions the fact; but of its origin it gives no
account.

The Truth. 121

2. Then, again, it is unquestionable, that "the
old fathers looked not for transitory Pkomises."
St. Paul has taught us (Hehreics xi.) that the Life of
Faith had been kno^ni from the first, and that from
Abel's death, and Enoch's Translation, till now, a
Divine Future had been set before man, and had been
lived for. Anxious to find this in the letter of
Scripture, men have appealed with confidence to
what has been called the "First Promise" to oiu*
First Parents, that " the Seed of the Woman
should bruise the serpent's head." But was that pre-
diction really, to man at the time, all that it has been
taken to be ? We think that the serpent-tempter
was the devil; that the " Seed of the Woman"
was the future Deliverer from sin, the Messiah;
that the "bruising the head of the serpent" was the
moral victory of Christ over the devil, and that the
serpent's "bruising the heel" of the woman's Seed
was the death of Cheist. But no one can pretend
that all this is in the letter. Scripture gives no
sanction to such an interpretation from Genesis to
Malachi. The Prophets never once refer to these
words as a "Promise." True, indeed, the
Targums — {e.g. Jonathan's, in the generations
following the times of Malachi) — say that this
"Seed of the Woman" is Messiah. But this, as
any one can judge, is not in the letter of Scripture.

122 Tlie Bible and its Interpreters.

It first appears to 'tis as Tradition; it is useless to
deny it.

3. Other Divine Peomises of the Moral and
Spiritual Future of man doubtless may have ex-
isted, unwritten, from the beginning, to cheer
man's prospects. One such we are told of, the
"prophecy of Enoch," which lived on in some
way, written or ummtten, 4000 years, and was
appealed to by St. Jude as well known. But
the earlier books of the Old Testament have but
little, if any distinct reference in the text to a
Future Immortality for man. A critic of the
Pentateuch has even ventured to argue the "Di\dne
Legation of Moses " from the absence of all
reference to a futm-e life, in his writings. We may
at least learn from this, how faintly that is to be
seen, if at all, in the Text of the Lav;. If it
really existed then, if "Faith" meant anjiihing
from Abel to Abraham, from Abraham to the
Captivity of Israel; if the "Promises" were
known in any degTee ; then concurrently with the
Letter of Scripture, as it grew, there viust have been
all along a kind of Umvritten Creed, a sacred Tradi-
tion of Religion, interpreting and illuminating alike,
Pdte, Promise, Prophecy, Histoiy and Statute.

4. Again, every religious reader of Holy Scripture
becomes aware of the fact, that the stoiy of the Old

The Truth. ■ 125

Testament tlu-ougliout, and of every personage, and
every event, claimed from very early days special
significance. Hence, what liave been called, after
St. Paul, (1 Corinthians, x. 11,) the "Types" of
the Old Testament, have been regarded as practi-
cally prophetical. The principle on which this is
received is such as reason, and even science, may
recognize. It is as much a law of nature as of
gi'ace, that later events are developments out of the
former. There is not a doing and undoing, as such ;
not a repenting in the order of things, but an ad-
vancing. Not unfiequently the former is the mould
in Avhich the latter has gi-own, till at length it has
outgTOTWi the TUTTo?, and, in its tm-n, become a new
thing. To some extent the former has been a pro-
phecy of what was coming. In this way the former
dispensations contained crrot^eta, " rudiments,"
and " elements of this world," as the Apostle* calls
them. A true "type" is not an arbitrary invention,
as an allegory might be. Yet, evidently, the gift
which can Interpret these types, or profit by them
beforehand, is something very different from the
Eecord itself. Whether this " Gift " would ever
be found external to Revelation itself, may well be
doubted ; but it is not to be identified with a Docu-
ment anj^where. There seems always to have been
a special set of men who had discernment beyond

124 The Bible and its Interpreters.

others — a Church, or family of God, or chosen
people, with Gifts and Traditions of their ovm.
Outside that Family, there might be some know-
ledge doubtless of its Scriptures and Customs ; but
not any real understanding of its feeling and inner
life.

5. Still less can Prophecy be appreciated, when
its symbolical and highly artificial structure is left to
speak to the natiu-al mind in the "letter" only. Any
one may decide this easily for himself by turning to
any of the Prophets, such as Zechariah, or Daniel,
or Ezekiel. Nor is this a difficulty simply arising
from the antiquity of these "^Titings : for we have
traces of a recognised line of Scribes, Kabbins, and
Doctors seeking to interpret the dark sayings of the
Divine Book, from Ezra at least till Philo and the
days of the later Talmud, if not until now. The
spirit, above the letter of the law, was the object of
anxiety ; much as the letter itself was prized. The
Jews, though in rugged and artificial ways, ever
preserved the truth, that there was a " hidden life"
of their whole Nation, (seen in their " Chosidim"
most specially), and of its whole Law. The " inner
Law " was the Divine reality for which the outer
existed. And the whole scheme of Prophecy, no
less than of the Tj^^es, confirms this.

It has been doubted, and becomes a fair matter

The Truth. 125

of enquiiy, wliether there is in all the Hebrew
Scripture one such distinct Prediction of the remote
Future which concerns us, as the natural mind
would ask? As to the carnal, and frequently
immoral, idea of mere prognostic, that, at all
events, is not the Christian idea.

If we notice, for instance, a few references to the
word of Prophecy, met with at the beginning of
the New Testament, — what do we see ? Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Hosea, Micah, Zechariah, Malachi, and
"the prophets" as a body, are all quoted as "fulfilled,"
in the Gospel story ; but, in each instance, this
"fulfilling" is discovered to us by a mysterious
method, through a kind of pervading comment. —
The bit'th of "Immanuel" of a Virgin Mother,
the " Weeping iu Rama," the Flight and "Eetm-n
from Egypt," the Deliverer born " in Bethlehem
Ephrata, " the "Entry into Jerusalem," the
" Coming suddenly to the Temple," and the title of
"Nazarene," are not so \\Titten of, in these Pro-
phecies, as naturally to convince us. The meaning
found is not, in any one of these prominent instances,
the meaning which oiu- natm'al criticism would have
supposed. We find that we must " spiiitualize "
that Mother in Isaiah's vision, "spiritualize " that
lament in Piama, " spirituahze" even the musing of
Hosea, as to Egypt, and God's love to His people

126 The Bible and its Interpreters.

there : and more, we must " spiritualize" the very
l^ophecy of Micah against Assyria as to the
Bethlehem - Deliverer ; and Zechariah's exultation
of Triumph, and Malachi's sudden Epiphany, and
take the unwritten testimony of " the prophets "
as a whole, as to the Messiah's connexion ^vith
"Nazareth," of which no now-existing prophet
appears to have said one word. Reading these
quotations, or any of them, in the mere letter, (to
speak plainly), we are disappointed. And these
examples are by no means exceptional. Account for
it how we may ; together with this whole range of
Prophecies, and a hundred more, imbedded in every
line of that strange Hebrew Book — (of which we
have already found om-selves unable to say "whence
it cometh"), — there has been, as aU past experience
assures us, and as no one pretends to doubt, a
Living doctrine, a perpetual Expectation, a quick
Interpretation, far more uuAwitten than written.
Some may trace proof of it in the Christology of the
Targums, — some in the travestie of the Cabbala —
or in the growth of the Talmud, from Ezra to the
third centm-y of Christianity. We may foUow it
among the Jews from Ben Asher and Ben Naphtali,
down to the philosophic Spanish Jews, to whom
it was a stumbling-block. Maimonides, a "second
Moses," could not materially change it. Even the

The Truth. 127

infidelity of Spinosa is its witness ; and the Deism
of the "German Eefonn." Yet it is not a Litera-
ture; you might as well call conscience a literatm-e.
It is a mode of feeling ; it is an inherited thought ;
it is a Life in a Nation, 3000 years.

Some have said that it was a "secret of the Lord
among them that feared Him," though often cor-
rupted by others. Anyhow, it told uniformly, that
the law was a "shadow of things to come," alike
to Karaite and Sadducee, and to Scribe and
Pharisee, to Evangelist and Apostle. It ever re-
peated " thou shalt see greater things than these,"
to the ear of every " Israelite indeed, in whom was
no guile."

Just as the Traditions of the Old World pre-
ceded " Genesis," and the Traditions of Circum-
cision and Sacrifice and Sabbath preceded the rest
of the Pentateuch, and the Traditions of Messiah
lived on before the Writings of the Prophets, and
then lived with them, and penetrated them, and
seemed to mould and interpret them ; so also we
find, in fact, as we advance, that every part of the
History of this marvellous Bible aj)peals to '"'lost
accounts,'" within the ancient Church, as " confirm-
ing it."

Is there no philosophy of this ? Do we not all
know, that while written rules and teachings are

128 The Bible and its laterpreters.

perpetually enlarging or changing their sense, an
intangible land of animus will live on ? Even the
abiding life of certain " Secret Societies" of the
middle ages may show us this. But we may take
better analogies. Just as Common law is more
dm'able than Statute; or what is called "tone,"
however undefineable, is real and influential ; so
Faith, though invisible, may be surer than outward
Law: and " litera scripta manet " may be found
too often but the proverb of a debased and mer-
cenary theology.

Let us now look back, and again mark the position
at which we have arrived. The Bible, directly we
become acquainted \\dth it, strikes us as a book
different from all others. It challenges and fixes
attention. We feel it, and can understand it but
imperfectly. Something more than itself seems
actually needed, and always to have been had, for
its interpretation. The Bible is a fact hard to
explain, both as to its origin and its contentSo
The Tradition accompanjing the Bible is no less a
Fact, and we all, in various degrees, use it. It
is a life and a light, the possession or enjojonent
of which in no way depends on our analysis of it.
The light is reflected from a thousand objects all
around : it softens off into twilight here, and it
brightens there ; it is mysterious evei-ywhere ; and

The Truth. 129

the cross-lights may sometimes seem confusing,
and the colom-s many. To ask, however, for a
philosophy of it, or an exact history of it, or
a record that might be tested, is to ask for a
literatm-e in lieu of a vital agency. That this Life
and Light are in the Church, is but a fui-ther state-
ment of the same Fact.

Nor may we here omit to re-assert, that all
Christians have, or try to practise, a way of
reading the Sacred Scriptm-es mth otlier light
thrown on them. Apostles and Apostolic men,
saints, martyrs, doctors, and fathers, accept natur-
ally this method. Barnabas, the two Clements,
Origen, Jerome, the Gregories, Augustin, Basil —
why continue the list ? — we should have to enu-
merate all, even to the present day. It is every-
where still ; not less, though corruptly now,
among the Jews of the Synagogue in St. Mary
Axe London, than among the students wTiting
" No. 89, Tracts for the Times" in the cloisters of
Oxford. It is even painfully copied by the Puri-
tans themselves, when near enough to the clim-ch
to be so far influenced. None, we find at length,
are really going on in Religion by the letter of
Scripture.

But it may now be asked : is " the letter" of this
Book to be given up ? Is its actual truth uuim-

130 The Bible and its Interpreters.

portant ? This is a fair inquiry lying in the way, at
this point. The concession of a Spiritual sense still
leaves the " Letter" to be dealt with. Granting it to
he so, — that the " Meaning" has lived side by side
with " the letter," and in this sort of spiritual way ;
yet this "letter of Scripture," whether we "will or no,
whether we allegorize it or no, is also a fact, and
does, it is said, come into c'oUision with other facts,
hoth of history and of science, as men now state
them. This is true ; and .we must look at the
allegation very steadily, for we are dealing all along
with Facts.

It is an Episode, hut it belongs to our subject. —
Ever since the appearance of Humboldt's " Super-
position of Rocks," the nionobiblicists have been
in great anxiety about Genesis. Geology has been
through eight or ten transformations since then,
and "defenders of the Mosaic Cosmogony" have
l)een plentiful, at every tm-n. Sir Charles Lyell
has lately given us reason to suppose that recent
geological theories at present are clashing with
some of the geological facts. One thing is clear
to us, "viz., that the " Bible alone," according to
the letter, provides no one " cosmogony," about
which its literary interpreters can agree, (whether
they be "believers" or not). Honest men on
either side would sm-ely seem obliged to say

The Truth. 131

precisely wliat fact of universally, or even gene-
rally, acknowledged geology is contravened by any
clear statement of the first Chapter of Genesis ?
Christians must challenge the geologists to this ;
and on the other hand they may well challenge
the Puritan theologian to a literal statement of
some Biblical "theory of Creation" such as an
honest Bible reader would be bound to. Until
this is done, the oppositions of " science falsely
so called" to the letter of Scriptm-e are, on religious
gi'ounds, something less than childish.

Scientific men are generally men of somewhat
naiTOw education, and not gifted, as Sir W.
Hamilton hints, with very logical powers. If they
accumulate facts, they do not know how to use
them. But still they msh, in ' general, to be
thought rational. Then let them be exact, before
they are supercilious. Nothing but truth will last.
Let facts be kept to. On the other hand, let the
"Biblical" school of theologians remember, that
if they are alarmed by the progi-ess of knowledge,
Chm'chmen are not ; being under no apprehen-
sion at all, that they shall ever have to sur-
render Rationality to the Infidel, or CathoKcity to
Romanists. Let us study the literal text of Scrip-
ture by all means, and understand it if we can ;
— or else wait ; as most men needs must, on all

K 2

132 The Bible and its Interpreters.

subjects. The effort to find the literal meaning of
Genesis is considerable ; and, meanwhile, St.
Basil's Hexaemeron, or the Patristic " Gloss,"
seems quite independent of " cosmogonies."

Veiy near to the difficulty about the Creation,
there is supposed to lie a very painful one about
the Deluge.— It had been positively said, that a
"Universal Deluge" was ascertained to be an
impossibility. It would almost seem as though
some Nemesis compelled these speculations to
stultify themselves ; for the geologists had
appeared to be taldng heart, and regarded this, at
least, as a point about which they could all agi*ee.
Time, they had a troublesome task, in accounting
for the universal prevalence of the Tradition as to
such a Deluge, — a Tradition obstinately worked
into every Religion — and indeed every language of
manldnd ; but they would leave all that to be exa-
mined by the learned — in a word to be got rid of, by
others better acquainted than they with the world's
literature. To establish on the ground of their
own Geological " science" a fact evidently, as they
thought, in contradiction of a statement in the 7th
Chapter of Genesis, was all - important to some.
But suddenly their unanimity has been broken.
Eminent Mathematicians in France, and elsevdiere,
have made another discoveiy ; made it by calcula-

The Truth. 133

tion ; made it by the same means by which Adams
and Le Verrier discovered Neptune or some other
stars. Is it possible to doubt that method ? Well
then— M. Le Hon, M. Adhemer, and M. Felix
Julien have "proved" that the real difficulty is
not so much the occm-rence of the " Mosaic
Deluge," as the pretence that God sent it ; be-
cause the 'Periodical recurrence of general
Deluges in sure cycles, is a pure matter of calcu-
lation ; and, (nature being what it is), such Floods
cannot but come to pass ! ' Without affecting
then to decide between these scientific theorists
and their opponents, perhaps theologians may be
allowed to be " neutrals" for a time. The text of
Scripture, with which they are concerned, admits
of several interpretations, and " Science " has
several theories, too, on the same subject.

The Moral and Spiritual uses of the Scripture-
record of the Deluge meanwhile are not interfered
with; and we may at least accept the Chui-ch's
Religious Traditions as quite consistent mth the
world-wide traditions of all, on the same subject.
No argument here lies against the Theologian, unless
he be a Literalist who is bound to find for himself a
"rational" exposition of the text, or abandon it;
which is not exactly the case of Chm-chmen.

Passing, then, from supposed difficulties of the

134 The Bible and its Intciyreters.

Creation, and of the Flood, which cannot touch
"the text" of Scriptiu'e, until they are shown to
be definite, and the textual sense equally definite;
v,'e come next to what are termed the " Ethno-
logical" difficulties. Some of these we may evi-
dently leave, at present, in the hands of such
students as Mr. Max Milller ; and for the rest we
may be pardoned for asldng, whether they are, as
yet, quite in a scientific condition ? In any case
they do not touch the question of the actual truth
of the Text of Scriptm-e. Certain passages referred
to in these objections, may be such fragments only of
the histoiy of the human family as the Sacred Writer
had to adduce for the definite pm-poses of Divine Reve-
lation. They need not be more than this ; and the
right interpretation will alone decide, that they are
exactly what was so needed — neither less nor more.

One more difficulty as to the truthfulness of the
Text shall be glanced at, viz., that which is con-
nected with the Numbers and Dates of the Old
Testament. If we were quite sure as to the methods
and expression of the ancient Oriental Notation,
we might better gi-apple with this subject ; but at
present, it is not easy to state the difficulty * The

* If the Hebrew, the Septuagint, and the Samaritan Scriptures are all
attested by the quotations of the New Testament, are not their Chronologies
attested? What vill be said then of theh- discrepancies? {e. ;i. From Adam
to Noah, according to the ileb., 1656 years— the LXX. 2242— the Sam#lU17. )

The Truth. 135

numbers in the present copies of the Jemsh Scrip-
ture are expressed in trords ; and probably have
been so, since the time of Malachi. But how those
ancient people counted, (especially in the higher
numbers), and how they first expressed numbers
at all, it would be hard to say. At present, we
are in this position, as believers in tliis Book as it
stands, being a marvel in so many ways. These
mysterious and often unintelligible " numbers " we
find to be part of a whole whicli lias meaning of a
Religious kind which we receive from om- fathers.
We are not sure that ive know the literal meaning
of these abstractions or " numbers," — ^(the higher
numbers, we know, are fi-equently inconceivable,
even in science, and express relations piincipally).
But as we do not find om- Religion in " the Text "
we really have no practical concern, in any such
questions. They do not belong to us ; nor inter-
fere with the rigid truthfulness of om* Scrip-
tm'e. They may no doubt be ruinous to tlie
mere Bibhcist ; but his cause is a ruin already. It
has not a shadow to rest on. Let him try, if he
please, to "explain" these things. When he
succeeds, we may accept the results. When he
fails, he may try again.

Our position stands quite apart then from all
textual " discrepancies." They only exist on the

136 The Bihle and its Interpreters.

hypothesis, that the Bible is a Document for
indi\'iduals thus to handle for themselves to get a
llelujion — an hypothesis which is absurd. If we
accepted in all their detail, the 'obscurities enume-
rated— (which we do not) — yet they would be no
more to any Churchman, than the lost characters of
the old Hebrew, which we do not lament over ; no
more than the broken type, or faded parchment, or
incorrect grammar, of any human copy of the
Divine Book, or its Translations. The truth and
accm-acy of Revelation are knoAvn in the Transmitted
Life, and cannot be gauged, by the perfection of
its literaiy medium. — (What men can ever mean by
" accuracy " in human ivords, as representing ideas,
whether written, spoken, or thought, it would be
worth while for strict Document-Revelationists to
consider.) — The word of trae Revelation must
always be Spiritual. {St. John \i.) Strictly speak-
ing, without doubt, " the letter killeth ; " for to the
mere Biblicist the least verbal flaw might be as
fatal as the gi'avest collision with science or fact.

We have sufficiently dealt A\ith this subject, and
now leave oiu- Episode (p. 130) as to "the Text,"
and its Truth.

One portion of the Sacred Book however,
must have further attention. We have spoken

The Truth. 137

of the Law, the Histories and the Prophets, their
letter and their spirit. We have not much re-
ferred to the Psalms; and our %dew of the Bible
would indeed be incomplete without this.
Assuredly the Psalms will not less vindicate the
SuPERNATUEAL character of the Word of God, than
those other portions of it. Less obscure in some re-
spects, this book is far more wonderful in others, and
less to be accounted for as literature, and less to be fet-
tered by natural and historical meanings of any kind.
The very fact that 150 Psahns, all of them five
or six hundred years older than the time of our
Lord, have been the text-book of the devotions of
Jews and Christians these thousands of years
since, is arresting. For what was the state of
the world when these had all been ];)roduced ?
say, in the sixth century, or so, before Christ ? —
At that time the Old Persian Pteligion was be-
ginning to break up, and the Eeformed the-
ology of Zoroaster to take its place. At that
time the Brahminism of India was first being
shaken by the philosophy of Buddhism. At that
time in China the moral system of Confucius
disturbed the barbarism, and the philosophy of
Laotsea arose. At that time Pythagoras taught
in Italy the dim theories, which have become
unintelhgible to most men, even as theories. At

138 The Bible and its Interpreters.

that time the old Greek M}-tholog}' hegan to be
discredited, and philosophers, from Thales onward
to Aristotle, led the mind of their countrymen.
In a word ; wliat was there, previoiis to the Jewish
Captivity in Babylon, ont of which there could
natm'ally have grown a condensed and chastened
series of devotional songs which should touch the
heart of untold millions of men, probably to the
end of time ?

What can the critics say to us here ? Simply
nothing. Of the orifj'mes of these sublime utter-
ances, they generally, too, can tell nothing. The
very titles prefixed to them are subsequent guesses,
or traditions. Of the spuitual, human, individual
sense, what can they tell us ? Can they fix the
"occasions" on which they were WTitten? They
cannot : and we may even be thankful. All those
words of high devotion — of Hope, or Gratitude, or
Prayer, or Denunciation, are alilce cut off from the
" occasions," (when there were any), on which they
were "WTitten : and the Christian has been taught how
to interweave them with all his creed. He is able at
once to sing at the end of every Psalm, words which,
to the critic, and Biblicist, must be a pm-e intrusion,
and wholly incongruous ; — as the chorus or epode
of each, there is, " Glory be to the Father, and
to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost ! As it was

The Truth. 139

in tlie beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world
"without end. Amen ! "

Now the critics may call these Psalms " national
lyrics," "highly influential poems," written by
" gifted persons," under the influence of the
Zoroastrian, or other wdse men with whom the
Captivity threw them ! Can bathos go further ?
"We might at least be told how it was that the
wise men who could teach the poor captives
of Judah to write words which find their way to
human natui-e wherever they go, left no such
Psalms of their own. We also have a right siu-ely
to ask our literaiy friends to subject any other
ancient book in the world to half the processes to
which the Psalms have been subjected, and then
produce to us a parallel result. Put a careful prose
translation, e. g. of the Hymns of Homer, or the
Choruses of iEschylus or Sophocles, before ordinary
people anywhere, (or say, the extracts lately much
admired, from the Vedas), and we may defy you to
interest common readers about one line of them.
They are, to the manii, and always have been,
simply unreadable. But the Psalms ! What a
MiEACLE is that book, — if a miracle be something
difl'erent from all common facts lying round about
it, and asserting a 2)ower for itself! How this
Book finds its way, ay, in any of the Church's

140 The Bible and its Interpreters.

Translations, to the heart of man ! Render them
even badly, if she can, and still, being made with an
insight — (and how ' wooden' any scholar's rendering
is, if he has not insight ! ) — they ring through
our inner nature everywhere ! and joy, and sorrow,
and penitence, and hope, and nearness to the Living
God, will find thrilling expression in every page !
Fling them broadly on the world, and they are more
than " Sibylline leaves," that the Avind A\ill scatter,
or the Prophet himself withdraw or destroy. But
to see Chkist in them all, — to hear God spealdng
to us in them all, — to read the mystery of Grace,
and to be thrilled by it, in them all : That is the
Revelation !

While in ancient days, the old Jewish Church
had life, it could, according to its measm-e, so use
the Psalms. It falters now, and "cannot sing
the Lord's Song;" its gift of intei-pretation is
confused. But the- gift might not perish, if Truth
and Grace have life.

We pause and ask : have we now or have we not
arrived at much, concerning both om* Bible and its
Meaning? The Hebrew Scriptures speak to us other-
wise than the critics think. The Book, and its lofty
Interpretations, too, have Kved, each an insearch-
able life, side by side ; so that the Book is not trace-

The Truth. 141

able, not uscahlc, by natiu'al and literary individual
methods only. Yet that Book is a great Fact,
and the Meaning a gi-eat Fact — a Power that it
is useless to deny ; for that it has made itself felt,
wherever it has been. We said that the Eevelation
was " SuPERNATUEAL ;" — the Book Supernatural;
the Meaning Supernatm'al. Is there any honest
and rational way of avoiding this conclusion ? If
the Supernatm-al is always self-asserting — " Sol-
vitm- ambulando" — is it not so here ?

But we have greatly confined om-selves thus far to
the Old Testament. Can we equally affirm of the
New, that It likemse impresses us as altogether
different from all other Books ? — not only diiferent
in its origin, but different in its character and
contents ? — We said that the whole " wi'itteu
word" was "Supernatural." The Gospels and
Epistles must be looked at, to decide theii* own
pretensions in this respect ; looked at, not with
mere microscopic minuteness, but broadly and
natm'aUy.

As to its origin, we just know that the New
Testament must have arisen out of the vortex
of Israel's sorrows, after the Asmonsean period.
It stands thus in apparent and immediate con-
nexion with the former Scriptm-es, at that
epoch when the prophecy of Daniel, and the

142 The Bible and its Interpreters.

Book of Enoch, and the living Glosses of the
Eabbis were the chief popular literature. After
the mysteriously closed Hebrew Canon, (between
Malachi and the Baptist), there came a change
over the National mind. Certain special beliefs
as to the Providence of God, the share of
righteous Gentiles in the Divine favour, the Re-
surrection of the- body, and other spiiitual truths,
gi'adually came forth, ^^•ith no new " letter of Scrip-
ture" to inculcate them. We know that these
glorious things bm'st in full radiance at lengih in
certain documents, or discourses, wluch we fa-
miliarly speak of as the " Sermon on the Momit,"
the Sermon at Capernaum, the Sermon of the Upper
Chamber. But how came VN^e to possess them ? How
came they before the world in the first instance ?

We have already seen (pp. 14-19), that we cannot
trace these facts. What a late sceptical writer
has called the " undergi-ound beginnings" of our
Christianity escape us. All that we can first
affirm is, that the Records of the New Testament,
including the maiwellous words of Christ, are found
in the Chiu'ch. The world certainly has nothing
like them : the Church possesses them from an
early period, — when contemporai-y religious litera-
ture is all comparatively so inferior, that even the
illiterate feel that " this Scripture " is difi'erent

The Truth. 143

from otlier books. Why should we fear to o^^Tl it ?
The Hand that traced the records of the Word of
God Incarnate, and hid them, then, for nearly a
hundred years from the Churches, is as invisible
to us as the Hand that wrote on the Tables of
Horeb ; and the very language and sound of that
Di\ine Voice, once heard in Galilee and Jerusalem,
is as utterly passed avvay as are the marks and
signs on those stones which Moses brake at the
foot of the Mount. Truly, the undiscovered
origines of the Pentateuch find a strange parallel
in the origines of the Diatessaron.

Need we insist also on the parallel of difficulties
throughout ? — Will any one say e.g. that the Apo-
calj'pse of St. John is easier thanEzekiel ? Or the
Epistle to the Romans a Revelation which all honest
minds can readily interpret, in one sense ? — But yet
how every line and word of Apocalypse, Epistle,
Histoiy, and Gospel, has been felt for 1800 3-ears !
And how loftily has the whole Chm'ch contemplated
it all, as pure Spiritual Truth, with an outward
letter to guard and convey it; exactly as the Jewish
Church read Isaiah, or Moses!

But, above all, we shrink not from affirming,
that the simplest collection of the Words of our
Blessed Master Himself, even previous to all
introduction, connexion, explanation, or note,

144 The Bible and its Interpreters.

would stand out as Supernatural, and smite the
human mind and conscience wherever found ; so
that His Spirit in His Chm'ch might enter with the
welcome Interpretation.

We have found, then, this our Bible, as a whole,
the Old Testament and the Noav together, in indis-
soluble combination. Its mtness to God and to
Conscience is felt from first to last, enough to
arrest us at once. Whatever its origin, whatever
its criticism, its testimony has a dim and solemn
unity for man's conscience throughout. It sets
before us our God, and ourselves, as if one voice
had dictated its moral teaching, in whatever
language, in all the widely-separated ages. It is
God "in the beginning" Maldng heaven and
earth ; God commanding human Dut}^ and visiting
human Sin; God ordering "the seed-time and
harvest, summer and winter " of the outer world, —
and directing also the inner life of the individual,
and the races of men : God in all the human
stoiy, as it proceeds, and tells of good or of evil
"done in the sight of the Lord;" God "doing
according to His will," planning a moral future for
his earthly family, and bringing His Design of
Grace to pass in the fulness of time ! It is not a
Treatise — not a Code — not an Epic of Religion.
It is human life drawn out, and describing itself in

The Truth. 145

word and act. Its entire story implies Kevelation
— each recorded act proves to be a T}^)e — each
word of the record, however simple, a Divine
etching, if rightly used at any time. The facts
are patent — they ask no proof.

In all this survey, we have done nothing, and
attempted nothing, which presupposes an}i,hing
more than ordinary English education — and the
power to read the vernacular translation. Or
even to think about it, \ai\\ average common
sense and conscience is enough. We have
found the Bible not a natural document : but
quite unlllic any otlier hook. It has a witness
to us, though we can ascertain but little of
its meaning, without the aid of a concurrent
Tradition, which, again, is all a fact — as undeniable,
as unaccountable, as the Bible itself. We have
found it absolutely impossible, in reality, to separate
the wTitten Word from this transmitted Meaning.

In now approaching the remaining part of our sub-
ject, we next meet the deceitful enquiry — for such it
must be — What is the Church, which transmits this
Meaning together with the letter of Scripture ? —
We shall not turn from it, any more than we declined
the question — What is the Bible ? The fact of
the transmitted Meaning itself stands certain for
all men, apart from the disputes of controversy in

L

146 The Bible and its Interpreters.

the one case, or of criticism in the other. Let any
one, indeed, drop either of these Two Witnesses
for God — the Bihle, and the Church, and the ^vitness
of the other may be mutilated, if not often unin-
telligible to him. If he tries to fall back ui)on the
written Word alone, he is doing that which few
can even attempt ; and then he is unable by his o\a\
skill to assure himself of any one special trntJi —
such as the Trinity or the Atonement. As to any
notion of following the Church without the Bible,
— this is now almost as suicidal. The Bible pre-
supposes the Church in all her life ; and she uses
its substance in all her teaching. ■*

In following out the enquiry " What is the
Bible ? " we shewed two things : first, that the
multitude cannot satisfy themselves by critical
methods, which, at the best, are only \^ithin the
reach of a few : and, secondly, that the Book still
makes itself felt, in its own mysterious and various
ways, by all to whom it ever comes. (But see p. 62).

Pursue a similar (and in truth a far easier and
briefer) investigation as to the Chukch, and there
is a similar result. The multitude must needs
have such answers only to these, and aU funda-
mental enquii-ies, as they are capable of. Let
anyone reflect, whether the millions are, or ever
have been, capable of any other answers to the

The Truth. 147

primary questions of Theology aud Morals, than
these : —

1. "What is the Bible?"— the "Books-
commonly received,'" as such.

2. "What is the Chm-ch?"— the Society
" commonly received,'" as such.

3. " What is the trae idea of God ? "— " that
which is manifest in them, for God has shewn it
to them " {Rom. i. 19).

4. " What is Conscience ? " — that " inward
witness accusing or excusing" (Rom. ii. 15).

Such must be the common answers. " The
word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart ;
that is the word of faith which we preach." If
there, be any who still will demand for themselves
a lite vary proof of the Bible, or of the Chm-ch ;
of Conscience, or of God ; they must be prepared
to take a gi'eat deal of time and pains. If there
be any who reply, that some other books besides
the Bible — some other Society as well as the
Church — are felt in the world, in the same way,
let them make sure of iJie fact before they appeal
to it. If any other Book can be to the world, what
we have shewn the Bible to be, we will o\vti any
such book to be an equal wonder. If any other
Society can be to mankind, what the Church has
been, in highest or lowest estate, — we shall never

L 2

148 The Bible and its hiterpreters.

wish, nor be able to deny it. Our " non-possu-
mus " will be then as feeble, as now it is might}^
And so, too, if any system of Ethics or Theology
can anywhere ultimately supplant the existing
testimony of the conscience and the heart — we
may surrender all to scepticism. Again and again
we repeat, that we take oui- stand on facts alone :
these our " ignorance " csm feel. " Him whom we
ignorantly worship," the Church " declares unto
ns," (Acts xvii. 23) by Her Creeds, Her Sacra-
ments, Her Hierarchy, — and in them we feel her
power so to teach : just as in Holy Scripture we
feel that there is a message that concerns us, and
which the Church alone has always understood.

When the Church of Rome set people on
putting this question to themselves for controversial
purposes, " JJliat is the Church ? " she made
Religion, so far, a literary matter for her people,
(and especially for her converts, who always, there-
fore, seem unreal.) It was such an appeal to each
man as judge, as was kno^^Ti to be impossible,
and therefore immoral. It was as fallacious as
the sceptical enquiiy What is the Bible ; and
it is to be met in the same way. If we cannot
treat the Bible as literature, shall we be asked to
treat the Church as such? If it were thus ne-
cessary to "prove the Church" by some little

The Truth. 149

logic of the natural mind, her whole claim of
the Sui)ematm'al, is vacated. "VYe must repeat in
this case, as in that of Scripture ; " Solvitur
amhulando." If the world meets the Church,
and neither feels nor fears her — her claim is
disproved hy this alone. If the Philistines are in
di-ead of Samson's Supernatm'al Strength, even
though they hind him, and put out his eyes, they
own his Supernatural claim. They do not shave
the locks of Samson's companions. When it is
said, at times, with na'icctc, that the Sects call
themselves "Chm-ches," and often share with us the
" One Baptism," we may generally reply, — then-
la'ity may he om'S ; but as for their clergy no
one fears theii- claim. "Wlien off their guard,
they do not seem sure of it themselves. On
the other hand, (we say it with no boasting,) the
denials and jealousies of others cannot negative
our existing life. It is a sad sight, doubtless,
when gi-eat Baptized Communities deny one another
to be " Churches," either in the East, or the West,
or the South. That there are indeed doubtfully
baptized communities — and heretical Chm'ches — is
unhappily true : but " by theii- fruits let us know
them." Not that a ijosteriori claims can con-
stitute churches ; but deeds of faith are facts, find
them where we may. As to the appeals to gi-eat

150 The Bible and its Interpreters.

moral and spiiitual deeds apparently acliieved by
Sects, every one laiows that tliey can scarcely be
tested, in the higher sense. If they meet us in
rivalry, like the magicians before Pharaoh, how
wonderful soever their doings, we know that they
must peld at last ; om- rod must " swallow up their
rods." As for that Community which from the day
of Pentecost till now has alwaj^s been called the
Ohurch, slie cannot, if she would, alter her claims.
Look at the Church from the first, if you
will : define her, you really cannot — any more
than you can define Conscience, or Life, or
Odd Himself. Look at her, and she reaUy
claims all that her Lord said of her when he
declared : — " Ye are not of this world even as I
am not of this world." On that day of Pentecost
a Body of Men stood up in Jerusalem, found
themselves gifted with certain Supernatural Grace,
and consequently went forth to " Reveal the things
of Christ to " mankind. That Company of men
made itself felt — beyond all the probabilities of
their natural position. They included among them
'' the Twelve " who had the Traditions of their
Master's ministry. There had been a hiatus in
their body; and they filled it by choosing at once a
member of their ''Company" (Acts iv. 23), familiar
from the first with those Traditions. (Acts i.)

The Truth. 151

Tliat Company gi-aclually completed, extended, and
modified tlieii" Organization. That Company is
not alleged by any to have had any other beginning ;
nor at any time to have broken up their System.
It has continued. Their DmNE Founder had
once said to them, " I will build my Church,"
and so they soon had this name, — and have ever
since had it, — The Church. Other titles come and
go, but this abides Avherever she abides, even when
enemies refuse it. Sometimes faithful, sometimes
unfaithful to her sacred mission, this Church of
lofty Spiritual claims still abides, and faces the
world.

We are not here arguing for this, and saying
that this ought to have been ; but that it actually
was, and is. In point of fact, Christianity in no
sense first sprang from the documents of the New
Testament, but they from it— just as the Law of
Moses had been 430 years later than the Eeligion
of Abraham (Galat. iii. 17). The Baptising, the
Liturgy, the different Orders, the Laying on of
Hands in several ways, the Doctrine, the Dis-
cipline, the Excommunications, the Lord's Day,
the Membership of Infants, Exomologesis, Prayer,
the entire Christianity, came into being quite
apart from St. Matthew's Gospel, or St. Paul's
Epistle to the Ptomans, or the Eevelation of St.

152 The Bible and its Interjurters.

Jolin. We say not this, to undervalue those
Sacred Documents ; but, quite the reverse, to give
them all theii- value, and rescue them from scep-
tics and unbelievers. If Christianity was a Reve-
lation at all at tlie heg inning, then Revelation
means that which the life of the Spirit of God
expressed in the main, in that Company of Men
who were gathered at the Pentecost.

Consistently ^^itl^ her belief in her own Divine
mission as the World's Teacher, mark, then, how
this great " Chm'ch of Cheist," known everj^vhere
only by this Name, has acted towards that "AVritten
Word." Each part of it, as it rose and commended
itself to her heart, was absorbed by the minds of her
saints. Every word and phrase was assimilated.
Each voice, as it came to her, was the voice of the
" Spieit," and was welcomed "by the Beide "
{Rev. xxii., 17) as communing with Her, consoling
Her, abiding with Her, understood hy Her. Cer-
tainly she did not begin with attempting, by means
of such writings, " to pfove''^ that the Holy Ghost
had filled her at the Pentecost. She hneic that :
and the world, in its o\a\ way, Avas strangely
aware that something which " it knew not," had
taken place, which might "tmii it upside down."
{Acts xxvii. 6.) No prophets in the Chm-ch
(though there were prophets) rose up to prove or

The Truth. 153

define Her. No Evangelic writing was the pre-
liminary of Her Mission. She had powers, and
used them; for the "one Body, partakers of the
one Bread," (1 Cor. x. 17) sanctified by Tradi-
tionary words of Consecration, which we still use,
(and which are found in no Gospel precisely as we
thus inherit them). She "bound;" she "loosed;"
she "remitted;" she "retained;" and all the
while the Scriptui-e of the New Covenant was
growing. — Not that we find the Chm-cli sending
from Jerusalem a condensed inspii'ed statement of
the ef&cacious doctrine of the Atonement — or,
explaining in a treatise, the vital mystery of the
Crucifixion, to convert, e. g. Nero's household, or
become a "Eevelation" for the Indies — anymore
than a copy of Genesis had been sent of old time
by Moses to the people of China. No : but as
written words of God were gradually given to her,
she, in her own unmethodical, and indefinite, and
Supernatural way, "proved all, and held fast that
which was good."

What the Church has since then accepted as
Scripture, that has shewn itself to he Scripture.
Not that we have first to find out all our Keligion
from this Scripture, any more than the old Fathers
had to prove their immortal hopes from the Penta-

154 The Bible and its Interpreters.

tench. We have the Tnitli already; and tlien
Scriptnre edifies. The Spirit Himself writes an
interlineaiy Gloss for the faithfnl now, as trnly as
He did long centuries since, for Augustin, or
Alcuin, or Strabo, or Bernard.

Heresy and novelty began after a time to build
on texts of the New Testament. But in vain :
the Church was already built. One favorite resoi-t,
mentioned by some of the Fathers, as soon be-
ginning to be met with, was in such verses as
"where two or three are gathered together in My
name there am I.'' Even the half orthodox Ter-
tullian himself only glances at this with a smile. It
was too late. The Church scarcely nol^iced it. Her
Scriptm-e was not meant for that. False teachers,
too, very soon found this method unsatisfactory to
themselves, (and like Marcion and others), dropped
the chief part of the New Testament ; as Luther
afterwards tried to drop St. James. As to the
Canon itself, the very calmness of the Chm-ch, from
the first, is full of significance and instruction. The
Church, knowing the Scripture to be Supernatueal,
was sure of course that it was always Divinely safe :
the idea of being in the least alarmed about the
Bible " not proving true," never occurred to her.
Just as now among ourselves, with simple
and conscious self-possession, the Church says,

The Truth. 155

— we take those books which are ' commonly
received;' so it was then. The okl Tradition.al
stories about Ezra being inspired to re-write the
Okl Testament — or about the Seventy Translators
in seventy cells all coming to miraculous agree-
ment— or about the genuine Books of both
Testaments finding themselves all of a sudden
"on the Table" at a General Council, and the
spurious books underneath — fables as they are,
express in a literary way the unlettered confidence
of the ages of faith, that the Bible was Super-
natm-ally cared for in some v/ay, even " while men
slept," and they "knew not how." As to
" proving the Canon of Scriptm-e " to the outer
world, the notion never seems to have occurred to
any. Could the heathen have demanded it, the
Church might natm-ally have said, "We are not
careful to answer you in this matter." " Come
and see," and if " God be here of a truth," then
" fall domi and worship." (I. Cor. xiv., 25.) If
not, go your way and deny it by all means if
you can; and take the consequences. —

So, since the Church is true,' and has a Divine
message to men, this also is Her apostolic answer to
the world — "Come, and see ! " {St. John i., 4G.) — •
It is not only with respect to the Bible, that
the Chm-ch defies the literary appeals of the

156 Tlie Bible and its Interpreters.

secular mind. She refuses equally for her-
self. Knowing her own Supernatural claims, and
that she always has been, from the Pentecost
downwards, Supernaturally cared for, she ever
is bold to trust the Life of God which is
within her. The World, like Nebuchadnezzer,
must dream of her, as of a "stone cut out with-
out hands;" and she must "prove" herself,
by " hecoiiilng a mountain and filling the whole
earth."

Was she ever forward to Define ? Ever
eager to make a Creed ? If we look back to
the "Creeds" of the first three ages, how
"indistinct," and "fragmentary" they seem, as the
world might say ! Yet how marvellously accor-
dant, and really immutable ! Council after Council
protest, when forced into session, that they will
write no more; they even "anathematize," at the
outset any one who should add to the Creed of the
318. There were " symbols " in all the Churches,
before Nicsea; but their very variety shewed how
they were committed as little as possible to techni-
cal phraseology. The Church, possessed of the
Spirit, ever shrank from hardening Truth into
letter. The course of false doctrine forced the
Church to say a little more, and a little more ; but
always reluctantly. The greatest saints, such as

The Truth. 157

Gregoiy Nyssen, shrank even from Councils at
last, in matters of Doctrine ; and doubted if they
would do good. The fixing the letter of a
Creed was ever the Spirit's " strange work."
The process by which the result Avas attained was
often beyond scrutiny, and open, as in St. Cyiil's
history, to all misrepresentation afterwards. Some-
times, as in the case of Athanasius' creed, the
process was historically as unJnwtoi as that by
which St. Matthew's Gospel came into being. And
yet — when the Church has been ohligcd to define,
how consistent, how gi-and, has been each statement !
If the doctrine of the Trinity, or of the Incarnation
had been -wTOught out in one book, at one time, and
by One Mind, it could not have been a more perfect
Unity than it is as we find it finished, pari by part,
during a period of 500 years. It could not be
otherwise — it could not but come forth at last,
chiselled, as a perfect symmetry and purity; for
One and the same Spirit Itad been in the
Church, from Peter and Paul to Athanasius and
Leo. Yet, on other and most ^ital doctrines,
the Church which has so fixed the pm'e Theolog;v%
has steadily abstained from definition. It is not
in her nature to wish to materialize truth. Her
"Anthropology" is greatly »»fixed by creeds to this
day. Not only the deep questions as to the Will

158 The Bible and its Interpreters.

of man, and the government of God, and the nature
of Grace, and the theoiy of Atonement ; but very
practical questions, such as that raised by Cardinal
Sfondrate, and objected to by Bossuet, and referred
to the Pope, as to the condition of the unbaptized,
especially infants. Even in the Church of Kome,
the hardest and most reluctant of Churches, that
definition has been waited for in vain, for some gene-
rations ; and will wait. So also the same may be
affirmed as to the Discipline of the Chm-ch : it has
burst the restraints of the literal Canons again
and again, from the first. Even our own English
Convocation, apparently, is still longing for a
Gratian of her own, whose "Decretum" might
prove a " Concordia discordantium canonum," —
and, under God's Providence, she yearns for it
in vain !

It is time that Vv-e now brought our argument to
a close. After all that has been said, it will no
doubt still be be found, that men must be in a
certain attitude of mind to receive truths, even
though the truths assert themselves all along,
in a thousand undeniable results. Just as mathe-
maticians may perhaps mention the doctrine of
fluxions, or of limits, as among scientific mysteries
needing for their reception previous conditions,

The Truth. 15^)

and always disputable by the logician ; so, un-
doubtedly, something more is required, for a right
receiving of Eeligion, than incontrovei-tible facts
and arguments. The progress of truth is slow ;
but in the argument which is now before us, it
will be sm-e. The theory of a self-acting Bible
must go its way, like other theories. Could it
be realized, it would be a passing portent, — a
Frankenstein-creation in the Spiritual world. But
it is not conceivable. We cannot really separate
now what God has joined. The Bible and the
Church must speak in harmony. The pedigree of
the Clnu-ch, and still more of the Bible, may
not be traceable by the multitude ; but God's
" AVitnesses " will still mahe theii- presence to
be knoAMi.

The Popular Biblicist— (we use such a term to
avoid the vexation of other names) — is really respo}/-
sihlc for the modern attacks on the Bible, whicli
so affright the Popular Eeligion of our day. It
comes, too, with bad grace from him to deny (in
the interest of private judgment) appeals to man's
truthfulness and conscience, — or, as it has been
called by the "Literary" believers, the "verifying-
faculty." On the other hand, nothing can be less
Catholic, or less rational, than the Eoman jealousy
of the Scriptui'es, — a veri/ small part of xohich is

160 The Bible and its Iiiicrprctcrs.

ever once read by one person in a million. The
present and coming investigations of the Sacred
Word are the result of the treatment of it by the
Popular, the Literary, and the Roman schools. —
The position of the humble and faithful churchman
is undisturbed.

The Church gives him his Bible ; and he feels
it, loves it, kiwics it in his inmost heart, as he hears
it. The Chm-ch is God's witness to the Bible —
and its Meaning. The Bible witnesses to the
Church. Each Witness bears the light of heaven
on his brow. The Letter and the Spirit have one
origin, — and that a Divine one. Neither " esta-
blishes" the other; but, in all Revelation, the Letter
has been subsequent to, and distinct from, the
Spirit. Such is the sum of the whole matter.

Li the Old Dispensation, the Revelation existed
2500 years before Moses wrote a line. Sacrifice
like Abel's, Promises of Christ, Prophecies like
Enoch's, Priesthood like Melchisedec's, even Rites
like Circumcision, and Ordinances of Vows, and
Sabbaths, ineceded the Bible. When a chosen
people, or Church, received a written Law, they put
into it, of necessity, all those living Traditions which
had existed before it. — It is mere straining, now, if
we try to get the literal prospect of a Future life out
of Moses' law, or every Gospel doctrine from St.

The Truth. 161

Matthew. The Biblical enthusiasts must answer
for all the sceptics made by such attempts. The
literal Examples, too, of the Old Testament through-
out, are the scourge of those who, denying the
living Tradition, may easily lapse into all cmdities
— polygamy, sensualism, and darkest cruelty.

A sketch of the apparent coherence* of half a
dozen Heresies, traced by the hand of a Mohler,
would, from another point of view, converge to the
same conclusions as ours, and soon convince eveiy
reasonable man that this whole modern method of
treating the Scriptm-e involves a contradiction. —
This, however, would be another course of thought,
and we must not tarry here.

But it is not in reference to the Old Testament
alone that our argument has been urged : we refer
to the New also, as obHging the same conclusions.

The New Testament is all our own ; neverthe-
less, our Doctrine, om- Litm-gies, our Priesthood,
our Creeds, have not a literary origin there ; they

* Mohler, in liis " Symbolik," has admirably traced the in-
ternal relations of various heresies — showing how a wrong doc-
trine as to the Creation of man was allied to a wrong doctrine
as to his Fall and his Eedemption. It is suggested above
that the ScripUiral defence of each false system, as well as-
its ideal coherence, might be profitably pointed out. Take,
e. g., Gill's Calvinism, or Wesley's Arminianism — each is
made co-extensive with all Scripture in the able commentaries
of those two erroneous teachers.

M

162 The Bible and its Interpreters.

all first speak for themselves as Divine ; and then
afterwards they illuminate the letter of Gospels
and Epistles, which we grow to use entirely in the
Church's way. — The Church at the Pentecost
began to consecrate the translation of truth into
" every man's tongue wherein he was born."
"The word is nigh to us," now. "0 how precious
are Thy words unto oui- mouth, yea, sweeter than
honey to our throat!" The Christian can say,
" I rejoice in Thy word as one that findeth great
spoil! — "Thy word is the lamp of my feet and
the light of my path !" — To possess the autograph
of Moses or of Paul could not thrill us so as the
Truth itself then does, when, secure from all pos-
sible heresy, the "eyes have been opened by the
Spirit to understand the Scriptm-es," and behold,
as the Church beholds them, the "things of
Christ."

Have we not abmidantly seen that there is in-
deed no other way to Truth ? If we take texts, to
prove even the sacred Atonement of Christ by
them alone, our range is limited and we have an
imperfect and comfortless and illogical doctrine at
most, — unless we import into our theory e.g.
something of Anselm and Bernard, and not a little
that from another point of view might seem the
efflorescence of moaasticism, or hymnology, or art.

The Truth. 163

And'^are we to do all tins for ourselves ? Impos-
sible.

There can be no such task for us, as to any parts
of our Faith. Little able to define them, we must
all gi'ow to them, in the Chm'ch's atmosphere.
Some definitions which we now accept may indeed
hereafter change, but the Faith is more immutable
than such definitions ; just as truths of Morals live
on in Conscience, notwithstanding all the volumes
of casuists and moral philosophers, ever the same.

The Book, and its vital Meaning, the Bible and
the Chukch, speak to us "as man never spake."
Yet Ave own that we have these treasures in earthly-
shape. The structm-e of each Divine AYitness is
wonderful, yet, 0 how natm-al its form appears —
superhuman, yet human ! History, Legend, Pro-
verb, Idyll, Chronicle, Psalm, Vision, Dream,
Epistle, TongTie — (for how much even of the
Pauhne writing seems to be Tongue, so unlike
all besides !) — are Divinely used. We are spoken
to by the Book of God in every conceivable form
that the human conscience ever knew : And so
also every mode of human life, and every law
of human association, has no less been touched,
and made sacramental by the Chm'ch.- — Sjoiod,
Canon, Kite, and Liturgy, all reveal to us in some
way, how God is dealing with us still ; for they are

164 The Bible and its Interpreters.

the Church's acts. Though they all marvellously
belong to and support each other, and though our
very Creeds are also proved by *' sure warrant of
the written Word " — ^we chiefly know this to be
so, because the Church has so told ns. By her
help, through God's grace, we prove all things —
for she " has authority in controversies of the
Faith."

Our task is done. — ^We undertook to show, that
the "Written Word" must, on any just theory,
be dealt with in a way that should meet all
the requirements of the " wise and the unmse,"
" barbarian, Scythian, bond, or free," and provide
for all contingencies and all capacities. We were
bound to see, that even the entire absence of
the written Word, — (a possible contingency always)
— must be reckoned for, in any true theory of
Eevelation. Have we not done it? We have
appealed to Reason — we have appealed to all the
facts.

If in these pages we have unequivocally shown —
that ' The Spirit was before the Letter,' and the
Letter an instrument of the Spiiit ; that the
Letter only is not the " Revelation," nor, apart
from the Spirit, a sm-e guide to dogma; that the
Spieit was given at the Pentecost and has led

The Truth. 165

the Church into Truth ; that the Letter can
neither be certainly ascertained, nor uniformly
known or understood, as literature only ; that the
"orthodox" Meaning is a known, intelligible, sure
FACT, per se, — though never able to live out of the
Church — ijust as the Bible, though a " sealed
Book " to the natural mind, is a fact which the
world cannot account for, on any ground hut
ours ; — then, we have done all we desired : and in
doing this we may have saved some erring brethren
who may hereafter calmly read these pages, from
the ghastly disappointments of a "Literary" Chris-
tianity. We may have strengthened the hands of
many who were troubled ; and we may be permitted
without presumption, as Churchmen, finally to re-
affirm that it is demonstrated, that the " Written
Word," whenever and wherever it exists in the
Chm-ch, is " co-ordinate with the Church in the
mission of Truth to mankind."

Dark days may be before us, but God's " two
witnesses" will bear their testimony. Their future
is secm-e. And even though it were our lot, to
live to see both His witnesses assailed, and " slain
in our streets ; " all Prophecy assures us, that
there awaits them a quick resurrection, when
"the time, and times, and half a time" shall be
passed !

166 The Bible and its Interpreters.

Yet while we thus speak, let it not he thought
that we may look on all gainsayers of God's
Church, or of His Word, as alike conscious
resisters of His Truth. There will he many, to
the end, whom we may " count not as enemies,"
but plead with as brethren. In earnestly pro-
claiming the Bible as Supernatukal, and the
Chm'ch Supernatural, we may seem at first
perhaps to be doing but little to aid the faith of
those, to whom all Miracle seems in itself
incredible ; yet is not the Supernatural alone the
object of the highest Faith ?

Belief — and here we appeal to every man's con-
science— belief is something more than a perception
of the logical, or the probable, or the safe ; more
than a result either of speculation, or of marvels.
It is a direct apprehension, and has its ultimate
reason in itself. And it may be fitting here to
add that we may not think of founding our Religion
now on the literary evidence only of former Miracle,
or even of Prophecy, any more than on criticism of
Scripture. Miracles, indeed, have been often given
by our God, and are supernatural acts ; and Pro-
phecies supernatural words — belonging to another
order of being, and touching on ours to assm'e
men from time to time that God "is indeed
near to us." But they are not viev,'ed rightly from

The Truth. 167

without. They are not additional nor precedent
to Eevelation, but interwoven as parts of the record
and the life. The special use of most of the Miracles
of the ancient days was for those who witnessed
them ; the special object of the Prophecies, for those
who heard them. Indeed, the "evidential" use of
either has this inherent difficulty in it — that it is Li-
terary; and that close access to the materials is, in
most cases, now impossible. True, the ancient Pro-
phecies, grouped together in the Kght of the Church's
interpretation, have a cumulative grandem- quite over-
whelming to the mind once elevated by them to be-
hold the typical moral order of the dispensations; but
Prophecies are not maps of a futm-e moral agency,
such as the natural mind could study beforehand :*
neither is the record of former Miracles the instru-
ment for producing faith in the critical enquirer.

But we affirm that our Ptevelation is still super-
natural— one long Miracle — one long Prophecy —
from the day of Pentecost till now, fi-om now until
the end. Our Faith is a real vTrocrTacri^, "the
substance of things hoped for — the eXejxo^ of
things not seen."

* Mr. Davison's most thoughtful book on Prophecy will
assist any one greatly in reading the continuous message of
Jewish Prophecy in the Church's sense. The subject of
Miracles is discussed also in the Sequel to the^present vol.
No. I.> and Prophecy in No. II.

n2

1G8 The Bible and its Interpreters.

To know the Incarnation, — the presence of
Emmanuel, — is to know that " all things are pos-
sible." Things that " pass understanding " in the
order of nature, may utter mysteries of a higher
world ; and what is, for the time, unintelligible to
sense, may be full of diA'inest meaning to heaven-
taught faith. There is "no day like unto that in
which God hearkens to the voice of a Man," and
mysteries are silently revealed. Our Sun, "faithful
witness in our heaven," yet "stands still on Gibeon,"
our ' ' Moon in the valley of Ajalon ; " — dumb Creation
yet speaks to the prophet's ear "with man's voice;"
and the great deep of ocean is moved with the types
of the " Son of Man." Among the grand "diffi-
culties " of the Divine Presence, in His Word,
and in His Church, the child of God will hear
heaven's most solemn messages as he silently
listens ; yet he has ever a joyous fearlessness, a
sense of sacred security, among the rocks where
unguided spirits are making shipwreck, — as know-
ing "' Him Who sitteth on the water-flood and
abideth a King for ever."

ON

MIRACLES AND PROPHECY.

(WITH NOTES.)

SEQUEL, &c.

It is evident, that if it be impossible to accept
the Literary method of dealing with Holy Scrip-
tm-e, the usual mode of arguing the truth of
Revelation, ah extra, merely from what are called
" E-\ddences," — whether of Mieacles done or Pro-
phecies uttered thousands of years ago, — must also
be insufficient. The long process of ascertainment
must bar the way to proof for almost all men.
Yet Miracles and Prophecies hold a definite place
in the scheme of Divine Revelation, and stand
related to that supernatural order of things which
Revelation makes known. Miracle may often be
a link between the visible and the invisible, and
Prophecy a voice from within the veil.

The prominent sphere occupied by both Miracle
and Prophecy in rehgious controversy would also
oblige us to assign them their true place, in

172 Sequel.

an argument like the preceding, in which we have
asserted a Supernatural position for Christianity
as known in the Church. This becomes a
stronger necessity when we further bear in mind
that alleged marvels, put forward as evidences
by some, are sincerely felt by others to be objec-
tions, and to need evidence instead of giving it.

The subject is overlaid with prejudices and
popular difficulties, and the careful consideration
of it may extend the foundations of the argument
that has been pursued. We shall thus approach
the proof of Eevelation from another point of
view, but we must not be thought to be abating
our assertion, that the de facto Christianity of the
world, the present worship of the God of Israel
by the Gentiles, is, as Pascal expresses it, a fact
sufficiently evidential in itself. We could not,
e.g., allow, even though Origen and St. Chryso-
stom think it, that in so grave a case the sincerity
and zeal of Apostles could " prove Miracles," and
then the Miracles prove our Faith ; for Miracles,
as the fathers admit, may have been really done
even among and by the heathen. (Gal. i. 8 and

Sequel. 173

Deut. xiii. 3.) Yet that there were Miracles which
showed the Worker to be The Logos — we vindicate,
with St. Athanasius and all the Church.

And Prophecy no less than Miracle demands
consideration ; for the contents of the Inspired
Scriptures concern our argument quite as vitally
as the external history : and the Prophecies force
the subject of internal evidence in many ways on
the attention of all who believe in Revelation.

I.

OF MIRACLES,

AND CHIEFLY THOSE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

{Outline of the Argument.)

F1.GB

The Distinction of the Natural and the Snper-natural . . 179

Involves no contradiction : (indeed the human mind ac-
cepts no contradiction) 180

Different " orders of nature" are not contradictions. ... 181

" Miracula " not contradictions to the order of nature . . 182

A priori objection to " Miracula" thus obviated 183

A priori assumptions claimed : — Causation ; and the Di-

Tine Personality 184

[Kecent discussions : Mr. Mozley and Mr. Mansel] 185

" Miracula" thus admissible by us 186

"Miracula" of Judaism — antecedents of Christianity . . 187

Made known to us in the Old Testament Scriptures .... 188

Those Scriptures received by Chkist as a whole 189

And therefore by the Primitive Church also : and with a

special method 190

As a consequence, the Spiritual Sense chiefly attended to 191

[Spiritual Sense in Origen not exceptional] 192

176 Ou Miracles.

FA6K

The Spiritual Sense depends ou tlie Sacred Volume Leing

Supernatural 193

And independent of Literal Criticism (which indeed is

often impossible) 194

Exceptions against Scripture facts come from Literalists 195

And against facts of Judaism as " Miracula" 196

Specially against two gi-oups of those facts. [Moses'

and Elijah's] 197

First Group. Moses. Plagues of Egypt. "Miracula" 198

Principle of determination explained ,,

" Miracula" of the Magicians 200

" Miracula" in Egypt : the Principle applied ,,

" Miracula" of the Exodus : the Principle applied 202

The Supernatural and the Natural, in relation 204

Christ's Guidance herein 205

His Church's following that Guidance 28

This Guidance (1) general, or (2) special 28

Omissions of the special Guidance (of what kind) 29

Omissions (in Joshua's History and Balaam's) .... 30

" Miraculum " in Joshua's History 30

Examination of the Passage 32

(Traditions and Criticisms of Jews, Heathen, and

Christians) 35

Inspired ; and the spiritual use of the whole, plain. . 37

" Miraculum " in Balaam's Historj' 38

Examination of the Passage 39

Criticisms. [Maimonides] , 43

"Miracula" subsequent to Moses and his Successor. 45

Judges: [Samson] Inspired; a spiritual not critical use 47

On Miracles. 177

PA61

Second Group. Elijah [The School of the Prophets] . . 49

[Prophetic condition] 50

Christ's Testimony to Elijah, special. {The Principle

again applied) 52

Elijah's SuccesBor, Elisha. (The same Principle applied) 53

Recapitulation — Supeenituhal Order now 5C

ON MIRACLES.

The definition of the term Miracle must greatly
depend on what we mean to distinguish when we
contrast the " natural " and the " supernatural."

Whether indeed a general boundary line, sepa-
rating nature from that which is above nature, can
with our Kmited knowledge of things be properly
determined ; or whether the common distinction be-
tween the natural and the supernatural can, strictly
speaking, be conceived (as Spinoza and others have
doubted) ; it is nevertheless certain, that there
are facts which, at times, astonish us, as being at
variance with previous knowledge and experience, —
facts which we may have to deal with very prac-
tically ; or of which, if they are but reported to us,
we may be obliged to form an opinion : nor will our
imperfect acquaintance with all the laws of nature
excuse us in many such cases from making some
estimate of the ordinary and the extraordinary, the

180 On Miracles.

usual and the apparently abnormal, events of the
world.

Of course we are bound to be very careful in
attempting any such analysis. We cannot at once
assume that an extraordinary fact, unintelligible
to ourselves even in the highest degree, must needs
belong to an order of things distinctly above us :
for even in our own sphere we soon find a great
variety of beings ; and that which is astonishing at
first may afterwards prove to have its own proper
place in the Universe, and be in that place quite
natural. Only we must determine that there shall
be no pre-judging, no resolving roughly before-
hand, that this is incredible, or that impossible.

No doubt we are obliged, by first principles of
reason, to reject the belief of any representation
which involves a clear contradiction ; if it even
seem to do so, we naturally begin to suspend our
faith ; but beyond this, a just caution forbids hasty
decision, since all real phenomena have a fair claim
to examination.

As we gradually learn to classify things, it is not
long before we perceive, as just intimated, that what
is natural to one class is not so to the next :
and we mark the ascertained facts, and soon see
that what is below the nature of one being is above
the nature of another ; but to the last we must be

On Mii'acles. 181

very far from a position in which we could say,
that any event absolutely contradicts all the laws
of the Universe, so as in that wide sense to be
supernatural. Its very existence, if established,
asserts that it has its position in rerinn naturd,
whether we understand it or not.

It sufficiently appears, then, that whatever
may be implied in the " Miraculous," the popular
description of it, as that which is " contrary to
nature " or " an infringement of the lavv's of
nature," is, if we would speak accurately, un-
worthy of serious notice. It is often very useful
to the sciolist as enabling him to accumulate super-
ficial difficulties in the way of the ordinary Christian,
but must be rejected as much by the careful Pan-
theist as by the Christian Philosopher; the distinc-
tion of whose philosophies lies not so much in doubt-
ing the variety of classes of being, as in a different
estimate of causation. Both alike can speak of
different " orders in nature," some of them trans-
cending others ; both alike may intelligibly use
the distinction of the "Natural and the Super-
natural ;" while Christianity, by its faith in causa-
tion, has this advantage over Pantheism, that it
consistently refuses to limit the orders of various
being to the sensible and phenomenal, and admits
of various other probable orders, invisible it may

0

182 On Miracles.

he, or veiled to us at present, but equally subject
to Him Who is the One Cause of all Being, — not
only the "Father Almighty, Maker of heaven
and earth," but "of all things invisible, as well
as visible."

We find accordingly that the greatest of our
Christian thinkers, such as Augustine and Aquinas,
reject in limine the thought, which is as impossible
to the believer as to the philosopher, that a Miracle
is or can be a " violation of nature," in the usual
and coarser sense of the terms. Writing against
Faustus the Manichee, Augustine says, "id erit
cuique rei natm^ale, quod lUe fecerit a Quo est
omnis motus, numerus, ordo naturae ;" and, after
asserting this principle, he goes on to discriminate
between a law "Imown to us," ("nobis cognitam,")
and that " summam naturse legem a notitia re-
motam." In the same way Aquinas, ^'Contra
Gentiles,'^ explicitly teaches " licet Deus interdum
praBter ordinem rebus inditum aliquid operetur
nihil tamen fecit contra naturam."

In proceeding then to examine what are caUed
Miracles, defining them only in relation to some
lower rank of being, as supernatural or "praBter
ordinem rebus inditum," we find ourselves at once
relieved from a great deal of literature on the
subject, which it might be invidious to specify.

On Miracles. 183

The a priori objection to the supernatural is dis-
posed of. Our first principles, fortunately, carry
us a great way. We have, a's intimated, some prior
assumptions, as they must be called, which we are
obliged to make, — viz., a belief in Causation, and in
the existence of a personal God. These are termed
assumptions here, since it is obvious that in the
present inquiry into " Miracles " we cannot be
detained by a general vindication of Theism, or an
examination of the philosophy of Causation. We
must not be at all diverted into tempting regions of
metaphysics, (where some would not vsdsh to foUow
us,) for it is a practical and critical subject to which
our present course invites.

It must suffice us as Christians to profess that
our inevitable belief in adequate Causation lies, in
fact, at the foundation not only of all the pheno-
mena of existence and life, but of all action and
responsibility. Men we know cannot get rid of it,
though they easily equivocate about it : and so.
too, they may, (much more guiltily), wi'angle with
their own instinct concerning the Divine Perso-
nality of om- Maker and Judge, " in Whom we
live and move and have our being." But man,
wherever he dwells, will still "feel after God, if
haply he may find Him.""

* But see, further, my book " On Final Causes," 1836.

o2

184 On Miracles.

In passing, however, as we necessarily do, from
any discussions of Theism and of Causation, such
as, it is well known, have occupied two recent
Bampton Lectm^ers, so distinguished as Mr. Han-
sel and Mr. Mozley, it might be wrong if we left
it to be thought that we acquiesce in certain argu-
ments, by which the Christian position as to those
subjects has been defended. For both those great
lecturers seem to avail themselves to some extent
of the Philosophy of Scepticism (made popular by
Mr. Hume and others), taking the weapons of un-
belief to be effectual against the unbeliever. The
former attempts this in a slight degree, in com-
parison with the latter. (But see note p. 238.)

Mr. Mansel casts aside what he terms "the
forgotten foUies of scholastic realism," and reduces
our knoAvledge of God to certain "Regulative " ideas.
{Mansel, pp. 13, 45, 90.) But surely, even to aim
at a pure theology, with the old Catholic Schools,
is nobler and better, and may eventually be more
successful, than to abandon it in despair, in favour
of a " Regulative" Theology only, which might ulti-
mately correspond but little with reality and truth.

Mr. Mozley's position, as to Causation, appears
indeed much more hazardous than even this, —
though hailed by many as a triumphant logical
defence of Miracles. His words are these: "In

On Miracles. 185

the argument against Mii-acles, the first ohjection
is that they are against Law ; and this is answered
by saying we know nothing in nature of Law, in
the sense in which it prevents miracles. Law can
only prevent miracles by compeUing and making
necessary the succession of nature, i. e. in the
sense of Causation ; but science has itself pro-
claimed the truth, that we see no causes in nature,
that the whole chain of physical succession is to
the eye of reason a rope of sand, consisting of ante-
cedents and consequents, but without a rational
link, or trace of necessary connection between
them. We only know of Law in natm-e in the
sense of recurrences in nature, classes of facts, like
facts in nature — a chain of which, the junction not
being reducible to reason, the interruption is not
against reason." Mr. Mozley calls this " clearing
the ground effectually for the principle of Miracles "
(p. 50). He does indeed "clear it;" but he does
not seem to feel, that by denying the efficient con-
nection between cause and effect, he is cutting the
ground from under the argument of Theism. If
Miracles are, with all other events, " mere se-
quences," they can prove nothing. Indeed, this
argument appears, when followed out, to be based
on a denial not only of causation, but of will, or
moral-causation: unless it were intended as only

186 On Miracles.

an argumentum ad jyJdlosophum, — in which case,
however, it would he useless to the Christian,
who is quite unable to admit ''miracles" on the
understanding that they shall imply no Cause.
If, as Mr. Tyndall says, " the scientific mind can
find no repose in the registration of sequences in
nature," still less can they who cultivate the
highest science, which is Theology.

Beginning then, as we do, with the fullest
admission of " miracula," astonishing events,
which meet us, or which we hear of, in this world
of ours, — a world of efficient Causes, — a world of
many orders of being, — a world under the constant
control of a Personal Deity, it is our business to
estimate and arrange those "miracula," and ascer-
tain (as far as we are able) their true place in the
physical, and it may be in the moral, system of
things, and in Religion itself.

We know, as Christians, that in some sense our
Religion springs out of the facts and teachings of
Judaism : it cannot be really separated from the
documents of Judaism, "the Old Testament;"
and a very large part of those ancient Scriptures
records not only isolated facts, but ranges of
facts quite unusual now,- — indeed, wonders, or
" miracula." It is useless to turn aside from them.
They must be dealt with by us, and by those who

On Miracles. 187

come after us. Let us not try to persuade our-
selves that the marvels of Christianity are more
simple and intelligible than those of the elder
dispensation : they may seem to the natural mind
to rest on what may be thought stronger evi-
dence ; or some difference of internal character
may be assigned to them, answering to the
acknowledged difference of the two covenants ;
and at present they are but Kttle assailed, while
the "miracula" of the Old Testament, from what-
ever cause, have a less respectful treatment among
us than those of the New. A lingering deference
to the Evangelical records, and some regard to
the feelings of Christians as to the Miracles of
our Lord Himself, may account for this.

But a weak vindication of our Religion at best
could arise, on accepting any such distinction
between the two Testaments. Let us not sup-
pose that a successful disparagement of Miracles
under the former dispensation could stop there.
Let our defence be based on principle, and we
shall find it available thi'oughout. Let us not
hesitate to face, and justly and clearly estimate, the
facts, in all detail, and never shelter our orthodoxy
in mists and clouds of words which (however fitted
to conceal error and real unbelief) are quite un-
worthy of Him Who said, " Ye shall know the truth,

188 On Miracles.

and the truth shall make yon free." Nothing can
be more unwise in the present age than, on the
one hand, to evade inquiry, or, on the other hand,
indolently to acquiesce in existing prejudices.

Turning, then, to the Miracles of the Jewish
Scriptures, it is om* first duty to estimate the
Evidence on which we receive them.

We are unable to examine each document of
the Hebrew Scriptm'es separately ; and are aware
that intervals of many ages separate the author-
ship of the various books ; though, in fact, they
now only exist to the world as one collection.
The literary history of each book from its begin-
ning, and through all its phases, we leave (as else-
where* said) to the literary believer — if he can find
it. Our Divine Master accepted the Old Testa-
ment as read in the synagogues of Palestine, and
He freely used it, as a wliole, without any criticism
as far as we know. Sometimes, indeed. His refer-
ences to it were special, and there our guidance as
His followers becomes special : but He did not
always quote from the Hebrew, or from the Sep-
tuagint, or from any other now known version. He
refers, in a general manner, to the " Law, the Pro-
phets, and the Psalms," and gives no further rule.

* See the third part of the argument of "The Bible and
its Interpreters."

On Miracles. 189

St. Jerome, indeed, in his controversial way,
rather rejoices in the inexactness of the references
in the Gospel to the Old Testament ; and upbraids
those who expect precision : " Accusent Apos-
tolum falsitatis, quod nee cum Hebraico, nee cum
Septuaginta congruat translatoribus : et quod his
majus est, ei-ret in nomine, pro Zacharia quippe
Jeremiam posuit. Sed absit hoc de pedissequo
Christi dicere, Cui curae fuit non verba et syllabas
aucupari, sed sententias dogmatum ponere." (Ep.
ad Pammachium, 57.)

Among the Jews themselves there was in our
Loed's time a diversity of opinion as to their own
Scriptures : the Pharisees using the whole Hebrew
Literature, with their Kabbins' glosses ; the Saddu-
cees attributing special sacredness to "the Law "
only; and the question between them, or the
general question as to the state of the Canon oi
Scripture, seems not to have been formally enter-
tained by Cheist or His Apostles. We may
notice, perhaps, that our Lord, when discoursing
with the Pharisees, referred to their threefold di-
vision of the Canon ; and, when reasoning with
Sadducees, rather quoted " the Law." At times
He used in some degree a method of interpretation
common to the former in the synagogue ; at times
He strongly rebuked it. He upbraided then' tra-

190 On Miracles.

dition when He exposed the rule of " Corban."
He adopted it, when He said, as they did, that the
universe should perish, rather than a "jot or tittle
of the Law." Between the traditional and popular
view of the Pharisees, and the narrower and literal
view of the Sadducees, we can scarcely say that
He gives any decision. Whether the post-Baby-
lonian Hebrew, or the Alexandrian Pentateuch, or
the version of the LXX. throughout, were to be
adhered to, our Master, we repeat, does not say.

If we refer to the guidance of the Church of the
Apostolic and post-Apostolic time, we might in-
cline to prefer the Septuagint ; only that its con-
dition was so corrupt, that the fathers of the fourth
age say the strongest things against it, even after
all the labours of Origen ; and St. Jerome reverts
finally to the Hebrew in every case. There was
no doubt among Christians from the first that to
the Jews were " committed the oracles of God,"
that God "spake to the fathers by the prophets,"
that " holy men of God spake of old as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost ; " but all this was
general, and the Primitive Church no more fur-
nished a criticism of the canon than did the
Apostles, or our Blessed Lord Himself, Eegard-
ing the Sacred Word as Divine, it would have
seemed impossible so to treat the Supernatural

On Miracles. 191

Book "like any other book." (>S^ Greg. M. in
Pref. Lib. Beg.)

In turning, then, to this little-defined but Divine
record of all the "Evidence" we have of the
Mu-acles of Judaism, we must use it as Christ
and His Ajjostles used it; and not attempt to
stretch every portion of it upon the rack of a
minute and carnal exegesis, of which Apostles and
Saints give no example. We must remember,
that the Sadducsean method of merely Kteral and
historical reading has had but little favom* in the
Church of the best days, and that a spiritualising
tradition was well-nigh universal for ages. It was
held that the Supernatm-al Word of God was
" spiritually discerned." In aU the great writers
of the Christian Church there is a mingled literal
and spiritual interpretation, the limits of which we
often cannot define ; though the Catholic mind
quickly feels whenever they are transgressed.
There is a sensitiveness of Divine grace in the
Saints, analogous in a lofty way to what is called
good taste in things natm'al, so that error is
sacredly warded off.

It may be thought that the example of Origen —
though his name is not found in the calendar of saints
— is in contradiction of this. It is certainly the
fashion to refer to him as an instance of extravagance

192 On Miracles.

in spiritual exposition ; but this is unfair. Origen
was not commonly thought in his time to have
transgressed the rules of interpretation. If indeed
his later commentators throw in a caution here and
there, as if fearing that the entire fabric of historical
fact might be imperilled, no one of them questions
Origen's pervading assumption, that the framework
of the Pentateuch, Psalms, and Prophets through-
out, is really constructed, and must be interpreted,
in the interest of certain Gospel truths, which the
Holy Spirit enables the Church there to discern.

St. Jerome himself is the admiring editor of
Origen on the Song of Songs — a part of Scripture
of very uniform spiritual use, onwards to St. Ber-
nard's days and our own, and which has no fixed
literal meaning as yet. Everywhere we see the
same spiritual uses made of it. Just as our Lord
had said that John Baptist's death was " written "
of him, i. e. spiritually, though no literal prophecy
of old foretells it; just as St. Paul found an alle-
gory of the Church in Mount Sina and Agar ; just
as Barnabas draws a parallel between the scape-
goat and Christ, (an illustration which has taken
so permanent a place in exegesis) ; just as Clement
finds in the wrestling of Jacob with the angel a
picture of our Saviour's struggle in elevating and
blessing this world ; so Origen is beyond blame, even

On Miracles. 193

in his asking of a passage in Isaac's history, e. g.,
" has fabulas putatis esse et historias narrare in
Scripturis Spiiitum Sanctum ?'^ (Gen. xxiv. Hom.x.);
or, again, in his spiritualizing of all the wars of
Joshua. The principle is identical throughout.

We have the same latitude of construction then,
in examining Scripture and estimating its facts,
natural or supernatural, as our Christian fathers
claimed ; a latitude so wide as to be only Hmited
on the one side by the Church's divine tradition,
and on the other by all the apparent facts, however
fragmentary.

Looking, thus, at the Old Testament in the
Church's way as a whole, (and previous to our concen-
trating attention on any parts as of a more unusual
character, or in the vulgar sense " miraculous,") we
at once confess with St. Gregory, that this Bible is
all " mu-acle," all "wonderful " in its matter and
structure ; and that it is also presented to the
world in a most secret and wonderful manner; as
the least examination proves. On opening it, we
find that it deals with that Kevelation of Himself
which God has been pleased to give to man,
unfolding so much to us, from our Beginning to
our Apocalypse, which our ordinary natural powers
could not have ascertained. The Book strilces us
as different at once from all that we have elsewhere

194 0)1 Miracles.

known, and itself belongs to another order of
things. What it tells us from the first, of our
creation — the beginning of sin — its increase, and
its punishment, is all wonderful. All, however,
that is so far said relates to a state of things in
the past, and out of analogy with our present ex-
perience ; and whether contradictory to the laws of
the world, under the conditions supposed, we are
in no position to affirm or deny.

Some half-dozen chapters span the world's first
1600 years, and are a link, and no more, between
us and our Primreval Paradise. The facts are so
few, and so briefly stated, that we are here unable
to say in what sense they imply the "super-
natural." Vfhether, for example, the long lives
of the antediluvians belong to another nature of
things ? or may be explicable by modifications
of existing laws ? Whether even the Translation of
Enoch were out of the order of nature ? as several
of the fathers have doubted, (see Calmet, art.
Enoch,) we lack materials for critical decision. On
the other hand, no philosophy has yet put before
us an easier general account of the early problems
of life on earth, than Genesis suggests. And
nothing in its narrative is represented as excep-
tional ; it is a usual order of things. Whatever,
indeed, there be of the supernatural, there is nothing

On Miracles. 195

certainly that comes in collision with first principles
of human knowledge, or with anything to be pro-
perly called experience, eddem materid. — The same
perhaps may be said of the account given of the
Deluge, the Dispersion, the call of Abraham, and
the intercourse of Patriarchs in \dsion with the
Divine and invisible.

We at length come to that more restricted sense
of the word " supernatural," which introduces the
difficulties of those who, conceding a higher order
of things than the present as not only possible but
impKed in all Revelation, yet recoil more or less
from that mixture of the historical and the wonder-
ful, or " Miraculous," presented in the subsequent
narrative portions of the ancient Scripture.

In this familiar and limited use of the term by
literahsts, the proper " Miracles " of the Old Testa-
ment are mainly in connection with the history of
the Hebrew nation. — ^Now the separate and sus-
tained existence of that people, with its elevated tra-
ditions and hopes, is a fact, indeed a kind of standing
Miracle, occupying, in its mysterious way, the 4000
years from the days of the sons of Noah to om- own ;
and it ought to fix the attention of all who attempt
any philosophy of religion, or of man. Judaism as
a Religion, as well as a nationality, touched human
history at such countless points that the sceptic is

196 On Miracles.

as niucli bound to deal with it as the Christian ;
and in the absence of other hypotheses, (see Let-
tres de quelques Juifs a Voltaire; and the Itevue
des Deux Mondes, Sep. 15, 1867, art. Jnifs,) we
may be excused for thinking the facts of their
story, as alleged by their own books, to be at least
generally admissible.

But here the question arises, is this admission
of the main outline to oblige the acceptance of
every detail of those documents ? — for some of them
are strongly excepted against. We may not answer
this carelessly. We must define, if we can, the
special points at which exception is taken ; for all
the chief features of the Jewish history, from
Abraham downwards, are as well authenticated at
least as any part of the history of mankind. It
would be possible, indeed, to write a story of that
nation, quite consistent with itself, and with all
otherwise known facts, which might leave out
every exceptional passage which the wilfulness of
man has ever stumbled at. But we are not pre-
pared for a culpable surrender like this.

Looldng at this history as a whole, it is notice-
able that the more extraordinary incidents are
found within a comparatively limited area, and also
in connection with the special purposes or epochs
of Revelation. Just as there is no clearly-stated

On Miracles. 197

mutation of any "law of nature," as such, from
Adam to Noah, nor from Noah to Abraham, so in
the 2000 years from Abraham to Cheist, the
ordinary course of things is only at times in-
terrupted by exceptional facts. These facts, the
commonly called Miracles, we find to be chiefly
•grouped around the history of the two great pro-
phets of Horeb, Moses the giver of God's Law,
and his successors, and Elijah the Tishbite and his
successors, the vindicators of that same Law, after
the apostasy of the ten tribes. Nearly all, except
what fall within those times, (of about a century
each), might perhaps to the outer observer have
seemed to be ordinary history.

To these two groups, then, we must give our
careful attention, and so arrive at our estimate of
the details of this history.

The life and career of those two greatest
ministers of Judaism, and the departure of each
from this world, (Moses by a Divine burial and
Elijah by a Divine ascension), will be admitted
by all to be so interwoven with the former Eevela-
tion, as well as with our Christianity, both in fact
and type, that we are bound to regard them in
their true position, if we can. It is not for us to
receive or reject in a blind way, what at first sight
may seem to come before us. We have neither to

p

198 On Miracles.

be jealous of the supernatural, nor to be eager for
it ; but to take the facts as sacredly given, and as
understood by the best and most careful thinkers,
and, when possible, as warranted to us by our
Divine Master Himself. The dii-ect attestation
of Christ and His Apostles must, when attainable,
be final with all those who believe their words to be
truly reported in the New Testament ; and as to any
who question that, it is obvious that this is not the
place in which their difficulties can be discussed.

To proceed, then, to the history of the mission
of Moses. The Miracle which inaugurated the
great Religious era which then began was that
which took place at the Burning Bush.

The inter-view there with the Divine Being we
can have no doubt was more than ordinary, and was
certified and accompanied by " the sign " of the
serpent-rod and the leprous hand ; but whether
the Flaming Bush implied an interference with
natural laws or not, we are not told, nor can
it concern us. The nature of that marvellous
appearance, or the result of it naturally, we do
not know. Yet as to the fact itself, we have
Christ's special authority — " God spake to Moses
at the bush." {St. Luke xx. 37.) This is recorded
in all the Synoptical Gospels, (the same being
mentioned afterwards by St. Stephen, the proto-

On Miracles. 199*

martyr of the Faith, Acts vii. 37) ; and reverence
to our Divine Teacher may well oblige us to think
that He guarantees to us the whole of that account,
with all its attendant marvels {Exod. iii., iv. 1 — 9).

On Moses' arrival in Egypt, the God of Israel
enabled him to perform certain " signs and
wonders," including the repetition of the Serpent-
Miracle, in the sight of Pharaoh and his people.

Ten wonders, which are specially marked as the
" Plagues," were then inflicted as just punishments
on Egypt, as well as used for instruments of deli-
verance for Israel. There was first a Plague on the
river Nile, then a Plague of swarming Frogs, then
of Lice, of Flies, of Murrain, of Boils, of Storm,
of Locusts, of Darkness, and finally of the death
of the Firstborn. Could aU these Plagues have
possibly been merely natural events ?

They all are attributed by Dr. Geddes, cer-
tainly, in his comment on the 12th of Exodus,
to natural causes. Dean Milman, in his History,
explains some of them in the same way, and
connects them all, (as Jacob Bryant does very
minutely), with Egyptian idolatry. Eichhorn and
others take the same view as Dr. Geddes. —
But without sympathising with these writers,
we may believe that these wonders may have
been Divinely elicited at all events in conformity

p 2

200 On Miracles.

with existing law; and we may readily concede
to Eosenmliller and a more moderate scliool, that
some of the Plagues were intensifications of known
natural conditions, which historically mark the land
of Egypt. But this by no means explains to us
any of these marvels of Divine interposition.

And there is an additional circumstance in this
remarkable narrative to which we are bound to
attend, and without which our view of the whole
must be unsatisfactory.

We are told, that the magicians of Pharaoh
performed, before the king and Moses, some of
the very same Miracles as the Hebrew prophet did.
" Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses," on his
OAvn gi-ound of the supernatural, from the time
Aaron's rod became a serpent until the second
Plague had been inflicted. — Dean Milman thinks,
that the magicians by dexterity appeared to work
the marvels, but did not really perform them.
The doctrine of Aquinas, that God alone performs
real Miracles, may seem to be in harmony with this
opinion of Milman ; but the question still may
remain, whether powerful agencies, unseen by
us, may not be permitted by God so to work?
Such an admission may mar, perhaps, what is
called the "evidence of Miracles;" but to refuse
it might greatly undermine the "credibility of

On Miracles. 201

Testimony ; " for evil Miracles are well attested at
times in the heathen world, from the days of these
magicians to those of the soothsayers of Chaldfea,
or from Apollonius of Tyana dowTi to the Hin-
doo marvels of later ages. Then the evidence
for the Mii'acles of the magicians is exactly the
same as that for the wonders done by Moses and
Aaron ; and, on the whole, it seems difficult, and
unnecessary too, to dispute the reality of that
which the magicians did, appearing, as they do in
the narrative, to have been strictly under Di^-ine
control, and themselves at last to have owned "the
finger of God." {Exod. viii. 19.)

The only serious question, then, that arises as
yet on the whole narrative is, whether, taken in all
its details, it is a complete, and as men say
" historically exact," representation ? — or whether,
waving that, we have gi'ound and a right, as
Christians, to accept the general facts without
precise explanation, and even learn from them
spiritual mysteries ? — discern not only in the
brazen Sei"pent, (perverted as it was to idolatrous
uses, 2 Kings xviii.) but in the rod of Aaron also,
the Cross of Christ ? — in the judgment on Eg}-pt
the victory over the world ? — and perhaps in the
ten plagues find ten commandments ? — as Origen
does in his tract.

'202 On Miracles.

To assist us in this, and in all such questions,
we have the later traditions of Holy Scripture, and
the testimony of our Loed Himself to guide us ;
and, finally, we are at liberty (though not as at all
vital to the matter) to use our best criticism ; or
(if we prefer it) to pause till we have further light.

We ask then — what says the Scripture further
•on as to the Plagues of Egypt ?

We find that the 78th and 105th Psalms recall
as facts these Plagues divinely inflicted ; though
in the later allusions to them the details vary a
little, both by omission and addition. Then the
former of these Psalms is so quoted by our Lord
as to give it an imprimatur of a more than general
kind, for He seems to regard all its facts and
language as suggestive of " Parables " for His
people {St. Matt. xiii. 35). — Next, the Book of
Wisdom (xi. 1-19) also refers to some legends
of the Exodus which may enlarge our interpre-
tations. And thus of the general facts we have
certainly the best evidence possible. If after this
there be to any of us difficulties of detail "in the
letter," we are permitted to say, with St. Jerome
in another place, " In hoc, et in aliis Scripturarum
locis quae non possent stare juxta historiam ; ut
rerum necessitate cogamm' altiorem intelligentiam
quEerere." {In Esa. lib. vii. c. xix.)

On Miracles. 203

For the minute literary sense of Scripture, even
when to be had, is to us of secondary consequence
at most, and may admit of various treatment ; and
the sooner this is frankly understood the better.
The principle which is here strictly applicable, and
on which the Catholic Christian always proceeds,
is this : That Scripture is a Divine whole, and
received from Christ, quite apart from criticism.
Even granting that its literary import were often
as impenetrable as we know its literary origin to
be, "howbeit in the Spirit it speaketh mysteries"
to the Church.

Advancing, however, beyond these Egyptian won-
ders to those of the Red Sea (fl-"iD Sea of weeds),
the Wilderness, and the passage of the Jordan, it
behoves us simply to mark how our principle will
bear to be applied throughout. These, it will be
urged, cannot be evaded by generalization ; these,
it will be truly said, are clearly exceptional ; these
are vital also to the truth of the narrative ; the
literal and historical meaning cannot be all subor-
dinated to the spiritual. In vindicating this, how-
however, most fully, we still, for clearness' sake,
must pause, and discriminate.

Looking at the forty years which elapsed between
the departure from Egypt and the entrance into
Canaan, Scriptm-e, we observe, is quite silent as to

204 On Miracles.

most of tlie details, except in the first year and
in the last. Thirty-eight years are passed over.
Many of the events of this whole time must have
been quite natm-al, and many exceptional ; but it
has pleased God to inform us of a few only, and for
the rest, we must be content, till more is known,
to think of " all our fathers " of that time as
" imder the cloud " of a perpetual Divine Presence
and guidance.

Of some, however, of even the more remarkable
events it may be and has been said, that natural
causes may have been employed in them. Jose-
phus, among the ancients, conceives this (Antiq.
II., lib. xvi. c. 5) to have been the case even at the
Passage of the Eed Sea, to which he even sug-
gests historical parallels ; and Dean Milman, among
the moderns, speaks in the same tone of some
other of the marvels, — such as the sweetening of
the waters of Marah by wood, fifteen days after
Israel's leaving Egypt {Exod. xv. 25).

But we turn to wonders, emphatically spoken of
in Scripture itself, in later books, as distinctly of
Divine causation, and as to which such suggestions
cannot apply. The principle then which we have
asserted must be tried here. — The guidance of the
pillar of cloud and fire, and the supply of manna
daily, may, for example, be quoted as wonders ac-

On Miracles. 205

companying Israel for forty years; and they are
referred to veiy expressly in the Psalms, the Pro-
phets, and the New Testament, as facts of Israel's
history. If, indeed, as has been suggested by the
Dean of St. Paul's and others, the manna was a
natm-al production, it still had some marvellous
character about it, which made the people ask
''what is it?" C'Man-na?") and a portion of
it was laid up for a memorial in the ark. The
Psalmist sings of it, " man did eat angels' food."
Our Blessed Loed, in His discourse at Caper-
naum, says emphatically, "My Father gave you
that Bread from Heaven." Supposing it indeed
to be possibly true, that no natm-al law was
broken to bring this wonder to pass, yet it is
certain to all who beheve Christ's words, that a
higher law was put into operation at God's bid-
ding. The fact, as a whole, was superuatm-al,
and Divinely ordered, since the record is true,
which we unhesitatingly believe.

But while affirming this, we also affirm that on
our principle the belief, whether it be general in
some cases, or special as in this, rests not on the
literary evidence, but ultimately on our belief in
Christ. And while we maintain the truth of
the " exceptional facts," as they may be deemed
even in a history aU so supernaturally ordered as

206 Or Miracles.

Israel's, we say that the marvels have a higher than
an historical value. Our Christian Scripture guides
us here as to this whole series of wonders. The
Serpent uplifted in the wilderness was miraculous ;
but our Lord's teaching is, that it was also typical
{St. John iii. 14). St. Paul, in like manner, de-
clares that all that really indeed happened to Israel
had this typical character. " All our fathers were
under the cloud, and were baptized unto Moses in
the cloud and in the sea ; did all eat of the same
spiritual meat and drank of the same spiritual
drink, for they drank of that spiritual Eock that
followed them, and that Eock was Christ." — Our
principle then covers the whole class of facts so
pointed to.

The Apostle even goes further ; and mingles to-
gether here the marvellous facts of the Exodus,
with the marvellous gloss of the Eabbins, as to
the " Eock that followed," (1 Cor. x. 4) ; and
regards the whole — the traditional letter and the
traditional meaning — from a mystical point of view.
Certain facts are acknowledged, but rather, even so,
for their spiritual value. To St. Paul, the inspired
teacher of the nations, the delineation of Israel's
story was in no part a mere worldly literature :
no dead photograph of departed events, but a glo-
rious cartoon of highest truth, fiUed by the more

On Miracles. 207

than genius of the heaven-taught artist. To the
Apostle's faith, the whole life of his sacred
nation, the life of all its spiritual fathers and
heroes, was supernatural. " All had happened
to them as types " {rinroi). Looking at any part
of those annals, all marvellously transmitted, he
discerned at once the grandeur of a destiny so
allied with God. Even commonest facts of their
life or law became transfigured to him. " Thou
shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the
corn" — "doth God take care for oxen?" nay,
it is altogether (Trai/rw?) "written for us." — Not
that he denied "the letter," but that he accepted
it, as the Spirit teaches the Church, with an
absolute disenthralment from the frivolity of
dictated verbalism.

But ui further marking how our acknowledg-
ment of these marvels rests on the express warrant
of Christ, and the teaching of His Spirit in the
Church ; and in discerning at times between the
general acceptance of the whole of the Old Testa-
ment, as " commonly received," (in Greek or
Hebrew or Aramaic gloss, in our Lord's time),
and the special use of certain parts only of the
Sacred Volume, in the Christian Scriptures ; we
are compelled to observe the Omission of all
notice ia these later Scriptures of some of the

On Miracles.

most striking details of the earlier books. Indeed,
the completeness of om- view depends precisely on
this.

Om- Lord, we insist, uses the Scriptm'es of the
Synagogue as a whole, in the most general way.
We do the same on His authority. He specially
mentions some parts of those Scriptures as of
spiritual significance. There, too, we follow Him.

As to the parts to which He makes no reference,
we have this alternative — either to receive them
reverently, mthout protruding them, omitting,
where we do not understand them, to dwell
on them, except spiritually, and leaving their
minute examination to the critical inquirer ; or,
to regard our Lord's use of certain Biblical
facts as specimens of interpretation, to be pri-
vately imitated by us in other cases. The latter
course involves us in the responsibility of indi-
vidual inquu-y to an extent which few will be
prepared for ; especially if, as some would have it,
the truth of Christianity itself were made to de-
pend on our successful explanation of all the Old
Testament. That the former course may be uvaser
and better, an example or two may suffice to show.

The account found in our Book of Joshua, of the
"sun standing still on Gibeon, and the moon in
the valley of Ajalon," may illustrate and test our

071 Miracles. 209

principle. It is the constant attempt of unbe-
lievers in our Religion, to represent this Miracle in
its popular interpretation as an integral part of
Revelation or its " evidences." According to us
it holds no such position, be its meaning or sig-
nificance what it may. Our ground is a plain one.
We look to the later Scripture, and to the teaching
of Christ.

We point to the Psalms, in which the greatest
wonders wi'ought by God for Israel are trium-
phantly enumerated, again and again, to rebuke the
people and glorify God : and we say, that this
Miracle as to the sun and moon, which might have
been thought the greatest of all, is not once aUuded
to. We look to the illustrious prophets, Isaiah, Je-
remiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the rest, down to Mala-
chi. How powerful a rebuke this miracle might
have been, to an unbelieving people, every one wiU
see ; but the prophets none of them refer to it — (un-
less an obscure line in Habakkuk be taken to imply
some faint tradition, — which, if examined however,
seems unlikely), A reference to it of an imperfect
kind is met Avith in the Vulgate, and in some
ancient versions of the Book of Chronicles (1 Chro7i.
iv. 22) ; but this is now missing in the Hebrew,
and in the Septuagint too — (even if St. Jerome's
copy had it). Remembering further, that Joshua,

210 On Miracles.

with whom this Miracle is connected, was, by name
and position and act, an eminent type of our Loed,
it would be natural to think that this would be re-
ferred to in the new Testament, either by our Lord
Himself or the Apostles : but we meet with no
allusion to it at all.

At this point, then, we at once pause, and find
ourselves bound to inquire somewhat further, before
we attempt to hold Christianity answerable for the
popular prominence assigned to this Miracle, es-
pecially as this seems the first Miracle in Scripture
which implies, as commonly understood, a \iolation
or infringement of the fundamental laws of nature,
and no mere addition to the facts of nature by Di-
vinely introduced facts of another order. Perhaps
there is no other miracle of the Old Testament
which is of this kind ; — (if we except that which is
found in the history of Balaam, equally unalluded
to as fact in any clear passage of subsequent
Scripture). It is a serious responsibility for any
man to claim the authority of Christ for a certain
view of a fact, and a Miracle, which Christ Him-
self passed by without notice.

If we tm-n to the passage itself, as it now stands
in the Book of Joshua, we have still further reason
for hesitation ; for the sacred writer seems not
to state the nature of the Miracle on his own

On Miracles. 211

authority ; but the reader is asked, parenthetically
{Joshua X. 13), whether this is "not written in the
Book of Jasher?" — (some collection, probably, of
national poems, compiled or written after the time
of King David, which is lost. — See 2 Sam. i. 18).
The ingenious Jacob Bryant was led from this
circumstance to a careful examination of the whole
passage in a dissertation of some length, in which,
after dwelling on the idolatry of the Sun and Moon
at Bethshemesh and Jericho, (implied in their very
names), he connects the whole narrative with that
idolatry ; and he proceeds fm-ther to indicate that
the passage is still corrupt and interpolated; of
which any reader may judge for himself by attentive
perusal of the entire chapter, with a map of Pales-
tine by his side. (The localities are pointed out by
Bryant, chiefly following Eusebius and St. Jerome
and certain ancient authorities given in his final
note.) The 15th verse of the tenth of Joshua will
be seen to be an insertion of the 43rd (and the
LXX. have omitted it) : it possibly marks the
end of the interpolated passage, for it interrupts
the whole story. Let the reader pass on from the
11th verse to the 16th, and the connection will
appear complete ; for no one probably would sup-
pose Joshua to "return to Gilgal " during these
battles, but only at the end ; nor, indeed, till

212 On Miracles.

several days later than the battle of Beth-Horon,
which is won by the end of the 11th verse. — But
this is not the place for a minuter examination of
these points. It is enough to suggest to every one
to look into the matter for himself; and pass on
to our argument.

Here it may be naturally asked — Ai-e we to think
that no celestial miracle was wrought, in addition
to the other marvels, at that series of triumphs of
Joshua and Israel? Is the statement from the
11th verse to the 15th inclusive to be eliminated,
as merely a later extract from a book compiled in
or after the days of David, the " Book of Jasher ?"
Was there no marvellous sign in the heavens at
aU ? — This by no means follows on our principle,
though Dean Milman and others seem to think it.
We know that the learned Jew Kimchi, the learned
Roman Catholic Masius, the learned foreign Pro-
testant Grotius, the learned Church of England
writer Bryant, were all of opinion that no celestial
miracle (of the kind commonly supposed) is de-
scribed in this Scripture : and Maimonides, the
most illustrious of the Jewish wi'iters, seems to
treat the idea as almost an imputation on the
dignity of Moses himself. But, on the other hand,
the Saints of the Church always, when referring to
this, regard the fact as miraculous, though its

On Miracles. 213

typical use is preferred {e. g. S. And. Crcte^isis
Bib. Max.) One of our best scholars, too, Mr.
Greswell, has directed attention not only to the
dim traditions of all nations, as implying some
remarkable perturbations of the heavenly bodies
about the time of Joshua — (traditions met with
most widely, from Etruria to Egypt, from Egypt
to China), — but also to the singular confirmation
which those traditions derive from careful astrono-
mical investigations.

That some remarkable " signs in the heavens "
are traceable both in the sixteenth century before
Christ and in the eighth — (which latter may point
to the miracle on the sundial of Ahaz, which the
King of Babylon had heard of, 2 Chr. xxxii. 31), —
we are scarcely at liberty to doubt. These "signs,"
of whatever kind they may have been, seem to
imply, too, some " lengthening of the day ;" and
whether the tradition of "the book of Jasher" as
to the " silence " of the Sun, or the tradition of
the Son of Sirach as to the Sun " going back," or
of the Song of Habakkuk as to the Sun and Moon
" standing back," ^ee Henderson's Minor Pro-
jyhets), or the allusion of Isaiah to God's "strange"
work in Gibeon, or the record of the Egyptian
tradition in Herodotus (Euterpe, 142), do not all
point to some marvellous deed in the past history

214 On Miracles.

of God's people ? — must be a question of fact,
belonging to literature, and at least not vital to
Keligion.

Indeed, Archdeacon Wordsworth, in his learned
and practical Commentary, thinks that the marvel
was entirely local. None, evidently, are capable
of entering on any such questions with scanty
knowledge ; nor are we in a position at present to
say, whether any existing law of nature was inter-
fered with, or whether, as Dr. Young suggests (in
his "Science and Nature'^), some law hitherto
unlmown by us were working the wiU of the Eternal
Lawgiver; (the latter view seeming more in ac-
cordance with what we can yet ascertain). Mean-
while, the Christian takes the general passage in
the Book of Joshua just as it stands, with its
quotation from Jasher, and the marginal correction,
and without the vulgar interpretation. Whatever
that marvel may have been, it is enough for him,
that neither Christ nor His Apostles certify to
him the nature of it, nor so much as allude to it.
The book which now contains the narrative and
the quotation made in it, is certified to him gene-
rally as part of the volume of Scripture, and that,
for all spiritual ends, the Churchman takes to be
enough.

If any one wishes for his own purposes to make

On Miracles. 215

a literal exposition of the chapter, on literary prin-
ciples, let him do it on his own responsibility. He
may, if he desires, like a true ChiUingworth, begin
by satisfying himself of the literary state of the
text, its true authorship, and clear historical
descent, from the day of the battle of Beth-Horon
till now: only let him not yet seek to bind his
investigations on us, as either "objections" or
*' evidence " to our Religion. For us there is no
difficulty in the matter.

The Divine Book actually containing this whole
chapter now, we can use it all, as the Church,
guided by the Spirit, has ever done. We may say
with Procopius, ' Our Joshua lengthens out our
day that we may destroy our enemies.' We may
say with Jerome, ' Our Joshua leads us on, com-
mands difficulties into silence, and we are con-
querors.' We may say with Theodoret, ' There
were signs in the Sun when our Joshua encoun-
tered our sins on the Cross, and there shall be
signs in heaven and distress of nations, when He
comes again to lead us to our heavenly Rest.' A
literary Christian may not feel happy in using
Scripture thus, till he has cleared up the difficulties
(if so be) of the Sacred text : but we are not litC'
rary Christians. We feel that no Miracle, however
great it might seem, would be too much for faith,

q2

216 0)1 Miracles.

if faitli in Christ be a reality at all. But in this
case our Saviour has not assured us as to the de-
tails, and the literary sense of the sacred document
itself is not clear to us ; and we are abundantly
satisfied to leave that literary sense an open ques-
tion, and use the spiritual.

One other Miracle found in the Books of Moses,
■siz., that in the history of Balaam, also unnoticed
by the rest of the Old Testament writers, and
omitted by our Divine Master and His Apostles
(except in one verse of the latest of the epistles),
we may here fitly examine before we proceed.
Implying, as it seems to do, the mutation of
natural law, it has also been a stumbling-block to
the unbeliever. — Our position, then, is, that the
narrative of Balaam's being hindered by an angel
from cursing Israel is found in a book of Holy
Scripture, which is part of the Canon generally
certified to us by Christ ; but that as it is a
passage not specially referred to by Him at all,
there is nothing to hinder our examining it for
ourselves ; but, on the contrary, such examination
may, for some, be a duty. If, on the one hand,
we ought not to, and cannot, as Christians, refuse
to accept any real statement of the Divine Word,
however marvellous, our jealousy for the honour of
God, and respect for His word, oblige us on the

On Miracles. 217

other hand to be careful as to its meaning; and
not to impute to it what it does not clearly intend,
in those cases in which we are left to our own
investigations.

The account before us is said to represent that
a conversation was really carried on between the
prophet, and the ass on which he rode; and the
principal question raised is not whether this could
and did take place, but whether Scripture says
that it did ?

Turning to the Book of Numbers, we find several
chapters devoted to the history and prophecies of
this prophet Balaam. Whether these chapters are
taken from any other record of what Balaam said
and did, and so inserted in this book by Moses ; or
whether the prophecies uttered by Balaam, the bad
prophet, were afterwards revealed by God to His
faithful servant Moses ; or whether the Moabite
princes made known to Moses all that had been
attempted against Israel, we are left to conjecture.

We find Balaam, however, to be here represented
as a man who, in some very emphatical way, had a
peculiar " vision of God," which is described as
*' falling into a trance, and having his eyes open."
This description of him is repeated {Numbers xxiv.
4, 16) again and again ; and it seems to be never
used of any one but Balaam. His communications

218 • On Miracles.

then with the Deity, possibly all of them, are in a
special kind of Vision. On being asked by the
messengers of the king of Moab to go with them,
he begs them to tarry " this night," that he might
know what God would tell him {Numbers xxii. 8,
19). He makes the same request on the second
occasion, " also this night," though then his own
behaviour varies. He tells the princes at once,
the first time (verse 13), the nature of God's
midnight answer to him. But we learn the second
time (verse 19) that Balaam only retu-es for the
night: and it is next said (verse 20) "if the men
come to call thee'' — (so that when this was said
he seems as yet in his chamber), — he is to " rise up
and go with them ;" but, it is added by God, " the
word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou
do." Balaam never tells them God's answer the
second night. Now, if we look on to the 35th
verse, we find these same words, (caught up as if
to continue the narrative), " only the word that I
shall speak unto thee that shalt thou speak. So
Balaam went with the princes of Balak," — pro-
bably implying that he went subsequent to all that
had been described between verses 20 and 35. It
is natural to suppose that those fifteen verses are a
parenthesis, describing what took place between
Balaam (this " man who had the visions with his

On Miracles. 219

eyes open") meeting the angel at night and his
going with the princes in the morning. Perhaps
Balaam was restrained so as to have no power to
tell the vision yet. (See ch. xxii. 33.)

Now let us examine this parenthesis hy itself,
the whole narrative being, (as may he seen), com-
plete and symmetrical without the parenthesis.

The angel says to Balaam, " if the men come
to call thee, rise up and go with them," but it does
not appear that they called him ; Balaam, when
the morning came, seems (verse 21) to have risen
and saddled his ass; and then he "went with the
princes of Moab : and God's anger was kindled."
If the 36th verse came next to this, the con-
nection would certainly be plain : but here we are
told of the angel rebuking and withstanding the
avarice of the disobedient Prophet. And here, in
the Yulgate, too, appears to begin a fresh para-
graph.— Now are we to think that this resistance
of the angel arresting the Prophet took place in
the company of the princes of Moab ? If Balaam
had ah-eady set out with them on the journey, it
would seem so ; but, instead of this, he is repre-
sented as having "two servants with him,"* and

* It should be noticed, too, that the grammatical structure
of the passage is some-what changed from the explanatory ''2
■which begins the parenthesis.

220 On Miracles.

apimrently no one else. The servants take no part
in what follows. They are not said to be agents,
nor hindrances, nor witnesses; they do nothing.
The ''princes of Moab" are in no way aware of
what is going on between Balaam and the angel
of God, nor does the prophet, who alone knew it,
allude to it afterwards, till he gets to Moab ; and
then he only speaks of it, if at all, as his having
seen visions of God " in a trance." (Num. xxiv.
4, 16.) It is a matter wholly confined, thus far,
to the man himself. The scene is described, too,
as none could describe it but he, as to some of the
details, impelled by the spirit that was on him.
The angel with the drawn sword approaches ; the
ass on which Balaam is riding turns aside, and
eventually speaks to Balaam ; — (some Jewish tra-
ditions prolong the dialogue ; see Jerome, De S.
Fide). Balaam shows no astonishment whatever
at this ; he actually seems to argue with the animal ;
and then deliberately addresses the angel.

Can we doubt — does he not tell Balak as much ?
— that this is the account of the Divine dealings
"in vision" with Balaam that night, (or at least
in some night during his journey to Moab) ?
(ch. xxiv. 3, 4, 10.) — But note further the kind
of trance sensation of crushing his foot, and getting
it " against the wall," and the wall of the vineyard

On Miracles. 221

being closer, and the lane narrower ; again, the
sort of incubus-feehng of some surprising dream,
and then, the Angel receding a little ; and. once
more, Balaam being not in the least sm-prised ; —
all which is so natm-al in dreams, and so impos-
sible on the supposition that he was actually at
this time on his way, with two servants, and the
princes of Moab and their retinue.

It is natural that Balaam kept to himself all
that had happened ; and he got up, without saying
what God's message had been, and went with
Balak's messengers, the next morning, as after-
wards told in the 36th verse. Neither they nor
Balak seem, we repeat, to have ever heard a word
about God's second answer, untU Balaam was
obliged to speak of it (ch. xxiv.)

The simple examination of this passage, more
than twenty years since, led us to the conclusion
now put forth. But it appears that Maimonides
and the most intelligent and learned of the Jews
are familiar with the same exposition of this
history of Balaam's Vision. And we may profit
by the way, in noticing that Maimonides does not
confine himself to this instance of explanation by
Visions. " Ita dico in negotio Baleami," &c., he
says, but he only enumerates it as one of the
prophetic "parabolae," which are visions "extra

222 On Miracles.

omnem dubitationem ;" adding Ezekiel iii. 23, viii.
1, 7, 8, 9, xxxvii. 1, and others in Genesis xv.,
Joshua v. 13, Isaiah xx. 3, Jeremiah xiii. 4, and
Daniel ix. 21, &c. " Hsec omnia in visione facta
fuisse." (More Nevochim, ii. p. 310 and 323.)

Let it not he supposed, however, that all this is
said to persuade anyone to adopt the conclusions
here proposed, if he thinks he can find better, — as
for example St. Augustin's, that the ass uttered
the sounds "without understanding them."

These two miracles of Joshua and of Balaam
have been here adduced as two exceptional cases,
which Christ and the prophets never quoted, and
which in the record betray characteristics which may
account for such silence, and leave us free to adopt
the best exegesis in our power.

We have pointed out, in each case, what appear
to be the "seams" and " joinings-on " of the
passage — the 15th and 43rd verses of Joshua x.,
and the 20th and 35th of Numbers xxii. ; —
and of the rest let every man calmly judge.
Surely a Christian critic now has as much right to
form an opinion as to this miracle of Balaam, as
St. Augustin (if the treatise be genuine) had to
deny that the witch of Endor really raised the
ghost of Samuel.

The allusion to the Vision and sin of Balaam in

On Miracles. 223

St. Peter's 2nd Epistle (ch. ii. 15), may at least
admit of the same interpretation as the foregoing —
{e^aKokovdi](Tavre<i ry oSm seems to suggest a spi-
ritual parallel to the way of Balaam) — and consist
with a belief of the state of prophetic extasis as
that in which the dialogue took place: though it
is possible that the verse in St. Peter is itself in
need of critical attention. It seems, (and it is
well to point it out), that the epistle a little
varies the history of the " Son of Bosor " — as
it calls the " Son of Beor " — and speaks of the
irapa^povta (abnormal mental condition) of the
prophet, and puts the " rebuke " into the mouth
of the animal, while the history rather says " the
angel." With this, however, we pass on. Our
argument is independent on these details.

We have now to apply the Principles which we
have explained and used, to the remaining Miracles
of the Old Testament.

The accounts which eome next in order, viz.,
those in the Book of Judges, must have been taken
by the inspu-ed writer or writers from documents
now lost, extending over three centuries at least.
Neither these documents nor the book or books of
Judges are ever referred to in the New Testament —
(unless any one be eager to press the mere mention

224 On Miracles.

of the names of *' Gideon, Barak, Samson and
Jephthae," given in an entirely different order
from the history {Heh. xi. 32), into an allusion to
the hook.)

This book contains, as might be expected, many
extraordinary incidents. No one who contemplates
the history of the Hebrew people throughout, can
in such a part of it be unprepared for marks of
the supernatural. The laws, antiquities, customs,
family rolls, songs, traditions, and, as far as
ascertainable, the veiy language, may be likely
to be touched with this character ; for Judaism is
not a mere nationality, it is a Revelation. All that
could be known of the chosen people would, in
varying degrees, be sacred ; and even the land
which was theirs be, for all time, " the holy
land." All this is implied in the entire structm-e
of the ancient Dispensation of ReHgion. There
is, therefore, no mere selection made for us now
out of the Hebrew literature ; we have it all.

Some parts of that literature have always indeed
been singled out and reverenced by the Jews them-
selves, as sacred in the highest degree ; and some
parts spoken of as " Hagiogi-apha." It would be
difficult for us to say that this should have been
otherwise. If it please God to teach us by means
whether of genealogy, or elegy, or idyll, or legend.

On Miracles. 225.

or extract of chronicles — why not? Even legend
is very often a better representation, a truer parable
of the past, than some more rigid annals. As to
the materials, however, which composed this Book
of Judges, they are wholly beyond literary analysis.
Still we shall find that here also the Christian has
no difficulty whatever in using the book in the
Church's way.

Not to dwell on points of minor importance, let
us tm-n to the more noticeable difficulties. For
the story which meets us at the beginning (Jael's),
contains nothing perhaps distinctly miraculous, —
though the prophetic ode of Deborah tells of the
"stars in their courses" fighting against Sisera.
But we are not here dealing with prophetical ex-
tasis, in which all things are regarded from a
Divine point of view. It will not, however, be
thought that we are *' evading the difficulty of our
subject " if we refer at once to the history of one of
the most remarkable of the judges — Samson. We
would see then how the Chm-ch uses that, quite
apart from criticism.

The fact taken up from Samson's history, by
the reHgious mind of Jews and Christians ahke, is
his prodigious strength; and then his patriotism
and faith. In these respects he has even been re-
garded as a type of Messiah. But every one, after

226 On Miracles.

all, shrinks from some of the details of the life of the
husband of Delilah, as quite unworthy even of those
uncouth times ; and of some as now unintelligible.
How far certain of those incidents are told us as
supernatural, or miraculous, it is hard to judge.
None could be blamed for sayuig, as we must say,
that the materials do not now exist for our under-
standing the story of the *' foxes and firebrands "
{Judges xv. 4), so as to describe at all exactly what
it meant. So the account of the slaughter of the
thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass, is,
for want of more information as to facts, nearly as
unintelligible in a literary point of view. The man
of literature may please to treat these as merely
legendary records of partly-lost facts. Christian
writers have believed them to be reserved as
parables of higher things.

Mr. Bryant's two Essays on these passages will
repay perusal ; but he seems far too anxious about
them. To call them difficulties, or treat them as
though our " Christian Evidences " were in any
way involved in them, is simply amazing. One
lesson certainly may be gathered from most of the
Judges, whose faith in their nation's sacred destiny
was so strong — viz., that faith may be very real,
and goodness at a very low mark.

None of the miraculous events in the story of

On Miracles. 227

the Book of Judges ai-e used, however, in the New
Testament at all ; they are omitted ; and therefore
as Christians, (for here our principle comes in,) we
cannot be upbraided for thinking that they may
hold in some respects a very different position from
events which are singled out and treated as typical
and prophetic by Cheist Himself.

The next great group of Mii-acles which we have
for consideration is that connected with Elijah
and his successors.

In looking at these we must mark — it is not for
us to explain — a great religious fact in Israel's
supernatural history not yet commented on — the
existence of what is called a "School of the Pro-
phets," which had been known, more or less, in
Israel since the days of Samuel, when the " open
vision" once more began (1 Sam. iv. 1). This
prophetical institution was itself a supernatural
fact, — perhaps a standing mii-acle. From all that
we can ascertain of it, it seems to have been
Divinely adopted as a check (1 Sam. ix. 9) on the
Eoyal and Sacerdotal orders in Israel ; and some
of its outward conditions resembled what have
been found in all ages among men under powerful
religious impressions, whether for good or evil.
(See Numbers xi. 27.)

228 On Miracles.

The Prophetical or extatic life implies, no doubt,
an " order of things " in addition to the visible
order to which we are accustomed ; and spirits,
both good and evil, belong to it. What has been
called the Theomantic condition of the human mind
is as much a fact as the moral condition, or the
material. When Saul went to Bethel, Eamah, and
other places, where prophets were exercising then*
functions, he himself " went on prophesying " in
a way which was beyond his control (1 Sam. x.
6, 10-13; xviii. 10; xix. 19-24). — It is a narrow
and ignorant thing to condemn at once as impos-
tm-e all that may seem to us excessive enthusiasm,
either among Jews, Christians, or heathen. The
Fakirs, the Bonses, the Gymnosophists of Asia,
the Hierophants of Egypt, the Oracles of Greece,
the Therapeuts of Palestine, or, to come nearer
to om-selves, the Corinthians mis-using the tongues,
the Fasting Hermits, the Stigmatic Religieuses,
down to the Estatica and Addolerata of later Rome,
the Revivalists of America, and some sects (better
unnamed) in Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, — all
bear witness to a possible condition of the human
life in relation with the unseen, — too often for evil,
but also, at other times, for lofty good. Indeed,
an entire absence of what may be called the Reli-
gious afflatus would be fatal very soon to any form

On Miracles. 229

of faith. — (Hence the impossibility of any merely
state-made Eeligion).

Now it is among these siipernatm*al facts, in
their sacredly recognised form, that Elijah's mi-
nistry arises. A predecessor in that prophetic
ministry, fifty years before Elijah, had denomiced
the attempt to set up a new EeHgion in Israel,
when the division into two kingdoms took place at
Solomon's death. That prophet's protest and mi-
racles had not stopped Jeroboam's new Eeligion :
and Elijah the Tishbite sprang suddenly from
among the prophets to denomice it again. It can
hardly be doubted, that the occasion for this super-
natural interference had become as m'gent as it
had been when Moses first gave the law ; for the
question practically was this — whether Judaism, as
God's Eevelation, was to be superseded by a daring
idolatry ?

But on the question of the need of Miracle
at this crisis — or on the criticism of the facts
alleged — we have not to pause, at least as yet.
Our own question at once arises : On the one
hand, are Elijah, and his ministry, only certified to
us generally, as undefined portions of the ancient
Scripture used in the synagogues by om* Lord ?
Or, on the other, did Elijah hold a conspicuous
place in the mind of those around our Master ?

K

230 On Miracles.

And did our Lord and His Apostles refer to Elijah
in any detail ?

Here, we think, there can be no doubt of the
answer. One of the earliest inquiries as to Mes-
siah's Forerunner was, whether he was Elijah ?
The belief that he would come to usher in the
Christ was founded on the latest words of the last
of the prophets. Our Master declared that John
had " come in the spirit " of Elijah ; and thus He
accepted the tradition, as spiritually fulfilled. So
again, when preaching in the synagogue His first
sermon, He refers to Elijah's greatest miracle, the
" three years' famine," (preferring the tradition of
''three years and a-half" to the literal "three
years" of the book of Kings) ; and noticing at the
same time the visit to the widow of Sarepta. {St.
Luke iv. 25).

But this is not all. The Apostle St. Paul
mentions the religious encounter of Elijah with
Baal's prophets, and the interview of Elijah with
God at Horeb (Rom. xi. 2). St. James (ch. v. 17),
and St. John (Rev. xi. 6) both notice the
" shutting of heaven three years and six months."
Our Lord also, in the mount of Transfiguration, is
visited by this great prophet, as well as by Moses,
whose death and burial had, for some reason, been
a Divine secret. Can it be a matter of surprise

On Miracles. 231

then, tliat Christians have seen in the mysterious
beginning, the ministry, the fasting, and the de-
parture of EHjah, types also of the Incarnation,
Temptation, and Ascension of Chkist ? — Even in
the points of contrast between the ministry of our
Lord and this stern prophet — as e.g. when He
rebuked the " as Elias did" {St. Luke ix. 54) of
James and John — the fact of another miracle,
Elijah's sending " fire from heaven," is incidentally
recognised. And indeed to the very last, the Jews
themselves, at the hill of Calvary, almost suspected
" Elias might come and save Him."

Looking then at all the facts, they stand apart
from criticism ; and we must, since we accept
Christ's testimony, acknowledge the whole mira-
culous career of Elijah to be specially interwoven
with our faith.

It might seem almost superfluous now to con-
tinue in many other examples the application of the
principle, and method of interpretation, hitherto
urged ; and what more is to be said shall be done
as briefly as possible.

Elisha, the successor of Elijah, is recognised by
our Lord in one place, when He recalls the
miracle wrought on "Naaman the Syrian." All
the minuter details, however, of Elisha's life, come
to us on the general warrant of the Sacred Book,

r2

232 On Miracles.

as a whole, which contains them for the edifica-
tion of the Church. Not one word, indeed, of that
Book may we consent to give up ; it all has its
Divine uses. But the literal and minute criticism
is in many details, as here, unassisted by the New
Testament. Thus Elisha's parting the Jordan
with his mantle, — his sweetening the unwholesome
waters, — his calling she -bears to destroy the forty-
two young children, — his supplying with water
three armies in distress, — his blessing the widow,
and raising her child, — his feeding a hundred men
with twenty loaves, — his heahng poisoned pottage,
—his making the iron axe-head to swim, — the
raising of a young man to life by the touch of his
bones, — are not recorded in vain, but doubtless
" for our learning." We accept them because they
are in the Divine Book, which the Church has
received as a whole from her Loed. A Church-
man is unable to separate off from it any part
whatever truly handed down. Every part in its
own way has truth in it for him. The religious
import is, in all this history of Elisha, most sig-
nificant.

If any literary examiner denomice certain parts
as incredible, or think other parts to be legendary,
a Christian well taught in his rehgion would
reply, that were they judged by the natural mind

On Miracles. 233

to be even so, they still might couvey God's truth,
if snch were His Will. Since we deny that a
purely literary foundation for Revelation can be
attained at all, even by the wisest of men, much
less could we admit for different parts of Scripture,
whether hard or easy, an independent literary
basis. If any one is displeased with this saying,
and refuses the Divine Book as a whole, in the
Church's sense, — if any one fancies that he can
trace for himself a clear literary connection between
the document, e.g., now called the "Book of
Kings," and the events therein recorded, — he is
beyond the reach of anything to be here said.

Where Chkist speaks, all is plain to om* faith,
however hard to sense. We hear Him speak of
the history of the prophet who was " three days
and three nights in the whale's belly :" and can
we hesitate to admit it '? No, indeed ; we not
only learn from Him the miraculous fact, but its
typical import also. And as to any parts of the
sacred record to which He does not in the same
way direct our faith, our principle is to follow His
guidance still.

In truth, we can rest safely on nothing but what
Christ authorises, and as He authorises it. His
Incarnate Presence has become the Miracle of
Miracles, assuring us of all we need.

234 On Miracles.

And now, if we look back on tlie course of our
argument, we may gather up the result. We
began by explaining what we mean by the " super-
natural." We m-ged that aU Eevelation implies the
supernatural. A voice has come to us from within
the veil, Avarning us of an order of things beyond
that in which the world now moves. That super-
natural order of things connected itself under the
former dispensation with one nation, whose whole
career became distinct from that of the rest of the
world, and was Divinely ordered with express re-
ference to Revelation. Out of that supernatural
order of Judaism arose the present dispensation.
The mystery of the Incarnation then began to fulfil
the long prophecy of all the ages from Abraham to
Christ. The supernatm-al order of Judaism had
been illustrated from time to time by marvels which
came athwart the natm*al order, impinged on it for
special purposes, here and there, and then seemed
to be withdrawn. Also, we believe, the super-
natural order, or " New Creation" in Christ, was
at first, and has since been, illustrated by marvels,
indicating even to the natural mind, not unfre-
quently, the presence of a Higher Power : but it
was no part of the plan of the New Dispensation
— and probably had not been of the Old — to
strew men's pathway here with sensible marvels.

On Miracles. 235

which natural ohtuseness would so soon trample
on.

A faith wliich waited till it had " signs and
wonders " was not the faith approved by our
Master; He even withheld His mighty works
*' because of men's unbeHef," and refused at Naza-
reth, and in Herod's palace, the Miracles so eagerly
demanded. Even the Jewish estimate of Miracles
was such as to need His rebuke ; and very un-
worthy therefore of our Loed's cause is the attempt
to rest it "on signs and wonders " of the past.
Few, indeed, among earnest believers ever became
so by historical examination of the marvels of the
former days. Any one may judge for himself
whether that is the ground on which he is resting
his own soul ? And whether he does not inwardly
say, *' the Mii-acle that has convinced me is Christ
Himself?"

The Incarnation of our God, with all its abiding-
mystery — " with us always " — is the mighty Fact
which the world mU feel, and that more and more,
"till all is fulfilled." The supernatural order of
things begun in Bethlehem 1800 years ago is still
existing, and expanding side by side with the
natural. There were outward marks of it at first
for that generation ; but the Miracle for the world
for all time is to be the Religion itself. So little,

236 On Miracles.

comparatively, did our Master dwell on the outer
signs which accompanied His own ministry, that
He said to His sm-prised followers, "greater
works than these shall ye do, because I go to My
Father." " Yes !" (exclaims a great prelate)
"the conversion of the world by a few fishermen
and a tent-maker is a ' greater miracle ' than
raising Lazarus ; for so with us, ' the things that
are not ' are bringing ' to nought the things that
are.' " Our Lord has wrought it : " On this Kock
I will build My Church;" behold the Miracle,
against which " the gates of hell shall not
prevail."

As to those who will still attempt to build their
so-called faith on miracles of the past, concerning
which they suppose they have fully satisfied them-
selves by candid examination, we can but look
on with amazement to see them take their " brick
for stone and slime for mortar," in the hope of
so building theu' earthly materials up to heaven.
Alas, their poor Babel will never reach the height
even of the natural conscience, much less lead up
to God* The " evidences " of Miracles which they

* Professor Baden Powel, in his early ■work on the " Evi-
dences," written, as the preface intimates, in consequence of
my book on " Final Causes," shows how his evidential process
is fundamentally sceptical, though little perceived by him pro-
bably at the time to be so.

On Miracles. 237

will have to rest on will be accessible to very few,
and the literary proof will needs be remote ; and not
distinguishable oftentimes as " evidence," from
that which other men may produce for very
different wonders. Of this let us, in conclusion,
give one example : —

The Miracle of the " Thundering Legion" has
all the " evidence " probably which would be de-
manded by the celebrated "four marks " of Leslie
in his controversy with " Deism." The sculptured
column of Marcus Antoninus at Rome records it
yet,— unchanged as when set up, except that an
Apostle's statue has displaced, very properly, the
virtuous Emperor's. Was that mnacle a con-
vincing evidence at the time to the Emperor, of the
truth of Christianity ?■ — -Will it now prove to the
lover of " evidence " anything at all, even as an
illustration of the supernatural order of things in
the Primitive Church ? —

We have said enough. They who can deter-
mine, in face of all reason, to receive Miracles for
themselves on "evidence," and the Scripture which
records the evidence " Hke any other book," must
be left to find too late that they have lost their
faith, and parted piecemeal with their Bible. The
Christian who receives all the supernatural Book,
content to " understand but in part," and in va-

238 On Miracles.

rious degrees, is the onty consistent reasoner, the
only consistent follower of His Divine Mastee.
The supernatiu-al Book, with its supernatural
Teaching, is a glorious inheritance, of which, as a
true child of God, he conies into possession.
There he finds the "light of his path:" for it
now is his Lord's gift of truth to " His Church,
which is His Body," — truth which passes on into
the eternal, " the fulness of Him that filleth all in
all."

Note. — It seems due to Mr. Mansel, after what
has been said at p. 184 in deprecation of "Regu-
lative Theology," to give what seems the opposite
view of the schoolmen. The following passage is
therefore condensed from the opening of Aquinas's
great Theological work. Technicalities of manner
being avoided, this extract adheres as nearly as
possible to the words, and entirely to the thoughts,

On Miracles. 239

of the angelical doctor. The translation is
from a MS. work on the scholastic writers, un-
published.

I. — ' Philosophy may lead us to the knowledge
of natural things, but the intellect of man has other
objects at which it aims. Our mind strives to rise
to its first Cause. The contemplation of God is
the end of man's existence ; and not the contem-
plation of God in His works, which philosophy
leads to, but of God in Himself. The former is
but imperfect and inadequate knowledge — the effect
being so infinitely inferior to the Cause of all
things, that by contemplating the effect we should
never rise to the Cause ; though such contemplation
is useful, and suitable to our present state. The
pure contemplation, then, of God Himself is that
which Theology aspires to. It originates not in
things created, but in the divine light in the soul
of man.

' That Imowledge of God governs all other
knowledge, (or is above it ;) it uses all kinds of
subordinate knowledge, as a lord uses his vassals.
Higher ends include the lower; and the end of
Philosophy is subordinate to the end of Theology.
Inferior beings may be satisfied with natm-al know-
ledge : but man is made to be a partaker of the

240 On Miracles.

glory of God, and has in him the aims and ten-
dencies thereto; to thwart which, would be un-
worthy and unreasonable.

II. — ' Human Philosophy distinguishes its ob-
jects of knowledge into separate classes — the moral,
the physical, &c. It is not so with Theology. It
is lofty and aU-comprehending. God is light, and
aU knowledge is in Him. And the divine light
in man is manifest towards all objects of know-
ledge.

' And Theological Science, though practical, is
in the highest view contemplative. We call it wis-
dom, and it is more truly so than metaphysical
science, because it comes from the inspiration of
God, and not by inductions of experience, ("rationes
ex creaturas assumptas.") It is metaphysical in-
deed as to its subject, but Divine as to its mode of
reception. And action is not its ultimate end ; but
the beholding of pure truth: " blessed are the pure
in heart, for they shall see God."

' AU science has first principles. Natural science
proceeds from such. Principles naturally implanted
in the mind are indispensable as the beginning of
knowledge. The . first principles of theological
science are articles of faith. There is, then, a
light of faith in the soul of the behever (analogous

On Miracles. ' 241

to the light of intellect in nature). From such
spiritual first principles theological science pro-
ceeds. Such first principles admit not of j^i^oof,
but only of defence against contradiction. Such
faith as may be called opinion fortified by sound
reason is subordinate to knowledge : but the light
of faith in the soul is antecedent to knowledge.'
(See ante," p. 166.)

' Again : a science has its proper subject. What
we are said to " knoiv " exists in the subject of
our knowledge. All things considered in theology
are either God Himself, or what proceeds from
Him, or what has reference to Him. In the lan-
guage of the old philosophy, a distinction was made
between the simple forms of immediate knowledge,
and the " subject " which was intimated by such
forms. But the distinction is irrelevant here ;
though the form and the subject of knowledge be
distinguishable, yet the knowledge, or science, is
not to be thought unreal on that account.

' And finally : We must ^dndicate the use of
reason and argument in theology. For though
the light of faith takes cognizance of the objects of
faith as divinely revealed, yet Revelation itself
asks for faculties in man, and the use of them.
"Faith Cometh by hearing." Nor may any of the
modes of real knowledge be refused by us. And

242 On Miracles.

as to Scripture, if we look at it as a source of
scientific knowledge in theology, the literal sense
must be taken. But the moral, the allegorical,
and the anagogic senses are to be used for edifi-
cation, though not in arguments of strict con-
troversy.'

11.— ON PROPHECY.

The common notion of Prophecy seems to be that
it is simply a declaration made beforehand of futm-e
events, and so made that by comparing the pre-
diction with the event — sometimes before and
sometimes afterwards — an honest mind may be
convinced of then- intended correspondence, and a
reverent mind should be awed into any conclusions
of a moral or practical kind demanded by the pro-
phet, or by Him who must be believed to have sent
and taught the prophet.

That there have been, in some sense, predictions
of this kind need not be questioned here ; but
that the generaHty of the Prophecies of the Old
Testament referred to in the New are at all of this
character is denied. It is a question of fact very
easily ascertained by any man, whether the prophets
of the Hebrews described the futm-e in terms so
plain as ordinarily to convince men, when the time
was fulfilled, that the result had been predicted ?

244 On Prophecy.

This common conception of Prophecy is, we
hold, thoroughly defective, and can only lead to
disappointment. The idea is, if clearly appre-
hended, fatalistic, and, as concerned mth any
remote future, might even he immoral. Yet it is
on some such idea that many have been taught to
rely for their personal belief in Christianity.

The truth is, that Prophecy is always spiritual,
always moral, never fatalistic. It is a view of the
gTand panorama of human trial, from the standing-
point of the invisible and divine. The conscience
that ever hears a real Prophecy for itself, feels it.
But that state of mind which is manifest in a
Prophetic utterance is the last that the critical
judgment of mankind would ever understand ;
hence the prodigies of ''interpretation" which
have in all ages eclipsed the prodigies of the
Prophets.

Scripture Prophecy is a Divine utterance for all
time ; but it is " of no private interj)retation " when
the immediate occasion has passed by. To read
it aright is a gift ; and the gift of Prophecy and the
gift of interpretation alike are supernatural. No
one can examine the Prophecies of the Old Testa-
ment referred to in the New, or in the Church at
large, without finding this. The Prophecy, for
example, Avhich we read on Christmas Day, of " the

On Prophecy. 245

Child bora and the Son given," "the Wonderful,
Counsellor, Mighty God," is not quoted at all in
the New Testament — (as so many others are not) ;
but the Church has found her inspired way to the
marvellous spiritual sense, which criticism alone
could never have found.

This gift of Prophecy, with its corresponding-
gifts of grace, had its fixed residence or " School"
in Israel from the days of the last of the judges to
the last of the kings. Then came the Prophets of
the captivity and of the second Temple at its rise.

At the close of the ensuing ' Table of Prophecies
quoted in the New Testament,' to which attention
must first be given, we will mark the course of
Providence as to the direction of the tradition of
the Law when Prophecy ceased, as it did from
Malachi to Christ.

There are abundant traces that in the Schools of
the Prophets, the " book of the covenant " — the
" oracles of God," the sacred odes, the genealo-
gies and traditions of the nation, and its latest
psalms, were so cared for as to secure a super-
natural keeping of the Divine teaching throughout ;
and warnings and guidance from time to time came
forth from the more exalted members of that Pro-
phetic Order.

( 246 )

PROPHETICAL QUOTATIONS

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT IN THE NEW.

Note — That the varied forms of Reference may be reduced practically
to two, viz. rh p-nBtv, which may resemble the " Keri " of the Eabbins ;
and yeypairrai, which may correspond with the " Chetiv " — ^the latter being
more exact to the letter of Scripture, the former embodying somewhat of tra-
dition, as to the use of the passage. Sm-euhusius points out indeed a great
variety of modes of quotation among the Jews, and suggests that they are
all parallel with those in the New Testament. For those readers who may
think Surenhusius's supposition too artificial and improbable, the above may
suffice. (See also Don Isaac Abrabaniel's " Praeco Salutis " for an in-
valuable comment on the chief Predictions of the " seventeen heralds of
peace.")

On Prophecy.

247

TABLE.

The Text.

I The Apparent Sense in the
1 Old Testament, if read liiie
any other book.

Use of the Passage iu the
New Testament.

St. Matt. i. 23.

" Behold-a virgin shall
be with child, and shall
bring forth a son, and
they shall call his name
Emmanuel."

(In the Hebrew: "she
shall call;" — and the
LXX. in some MSS.)

St. Matt. ii. 6.

' 'And thou Bethlehem,
in the land of Juda, art
not the least among the
princes of Juda, for out
of thee shall come a Go-
vernor, that shall rule
my people Israel."

St. Matt. ii. 15.

" Out of Egypt have I
called my son."

(The LXX. has the
plural, " sons." The
Heb. is singular.)

Isaiah says, that be-
fore the expulsion of
" both her kings," Rezin
and Pekah, a child would
be bom in the laud of
Israel, who would be
named Immanuel. — Isa.
vii. 14, &c.

Micah foretells a con-
queror to be born in
Bethlehem, who should
oppose Assyria, and
bring peace to Israel
{Micah v. 2, &c.) ;— the
elevation of language
suggesting something
beyond this.

Hosea reminds Israel
of God's love in calling
their nation out of the
bondage of Egj-pt. — IIos.
xi. 1.

The Evangelist sees
in this an historical pa-
rallel, prophetical of the
birth of our Lord Jesus
Christ of St. Mary.

He speaks of this as

Th p7]6fV.

The Evangelist sees a
prophetic parallel to this
in the fact that Christ
was born in Bethlehem.
(And the Jews expected
this parallel, and saw in.
Micah's grand words an
event shadowed forth far
greater than Assyrian
invasions, — even their
Great Deliverers Birth.)
yeypa.'jrTai.

The Evangelist notes
here a 'parallel to the
flight of Christ to
Eg_^ijt, and His return
after the death of Herod,
by a Divine call in a
dream to JosPDh.

s2

248

On Prophecy.

St. Matt. ii. 18.

" In Eama was there
a voice heard, lamenta-
tion, and weeping, and
gi'eat mourning, Bachel
weeping for her children,
and would not be com-
forted, because they are
not."

T.

,S'(. Matt. ii. 23.

" He shall be called a
Nazarene."

St. Matt. iii. 3.
St. Mark i. 3.
St. Luke iii. 4-6.

"Prepare ye the way
of the Lord, make His
paths straight. Every
valley shall be filled and
every mountain and hill
shall be brought low, and
the crooked shall be
made straight, and the
rough ways made smooth.
And all flesh shall see
the salvation of God."

The Apparent Sense in the
Old Ivstament, if read like
any other book.

Use of the Passage in the
New Testament.

Jeremiah describes the
sorrows of Israel's cap-
tivity, and promises a
return of " all the
families of Israel," {Jer.
xxxi. 1), Samaria and
Ephraim (c^r.S), to Zion,
and the drying up of
Eachel's tears.

Xo Hebrew Prophet
has left on record any
prophecy connecting the
Messiah thus with the
city or village of Naza-
reth.

It was possibly a tra-
dition of several of the
prophets, not " copied
out," as other sentences
and ' ' acts ' ' were . (Pro v .
XXV. — xxix.)

Isaiah describes the re-
turn from the Babylonian
captivity : the difiicul-
ties being overcome as
strikingly as at the Red
Sea {rer. 12), and he
says that Idolatry shall
at that time cease. Isa.
xl. 3-5, &c., and that all
the nations aromid would
be aware of the Divine
interference for Israel.

The Evangelist thinks
in connection with these
words of the sorrows of
the mothers of Bethle-
hem at the massacre of
their chilch-en by Herod.
rh prjdev.

The Evangelist does
not quote the written
word, in this case. A
sort of general expecta-
tion of the prophets (pre-
served perhaps in their
" Schools ") is said by
him to be realized in
the dwelling at Naza-
reth.

The Evangelists see iu
this an event paralleled
in the successful minis-
try of St. John Baptist
preaching in the wilder-
ness of Judea.

o p-qOus {St. Matt.)

yeypaiTTaL (SS. 3Iark and

Lukf.

On Prophecy.

249

The Text.

8t. Matt. iv. 15, 16.

" The land of Zabulon
and the land of Neph-
thalim by the way of
the sea, beyond Jordan,
Galilee of the nations ;
the people which sat in
darkness saw great light,
and to them which sat in
the region and shadow
of death light is sprung
up."

VIII.

Ht. Matt. viii. 17.
1 St. Peter ii. 2 1.

" Himself took our in-
firmities and bare our
sicknesses."

(Bendered from the
Hebrew.)

IX.

St. Matt. xi. 10.
St. Mark i. 2.
St. Luke vii. 27.

"Behold I sent my
messenger before thy
face which shall prepare
thy way before thee."

{Heh. " my face " and
"before me." So LXX.
and Vulg., &c.)

The Apparent Sense in the
Old Testament, if read like
any other book.

Isaiah says that Zabu-
lon and Naphtali had
been at first but lightly
afflicted by the Assyrian
army, but that all the
Upper Galilee was after-
wards more greviously
overrun, and from its
exposure to the enemy
became a very shadow
of death. (Such terms
were freely used by the
Eabbins to describe
Galilee long afterwards) .
Isa. ix. 1, 2.

Isaiah describes " the
servant of God," as
suffering with and for
His people. Isa. liii. 4.

Malachi foretells a
coming of Elijah — and
the Jews understood this
literally. The closing
words of the prophecy
(ch. iv. 5, 6) seem clearer
than any other predic-
tion perhaps in the Old
Testament. — Med. iii. 1 ;

Use of the Passage in the
New Testament.

The Evangelist marks
the proverbial spiritual
ignorance of Galilee, and
rejoices that Christ's
ministry began there.

The Evangelist sees
in this a description
of Christ's Miracles of
healing.

rh p7}6ev.

Three Evangelists,
taught by our Lord, re-
ferred this prediction to
John the Baptist. (The
belief that it also referred
to Elijah is retained still
by Jews and Christians).
(See St. Aug., Civ. Dei.)
yiypawrai.

250

On Propheq/.

Tho Text.

St. Matt. xii. 18—21.

" Behold my sen^ant
whom I have chosen, my
beloved in whom my soul
is well pleased; I will
put my spirit upon Him,
and He shall shew judg-
ment to the Gentiles.
He shall not strive nor
cry, neither shall any
man hear his voice in
the streets. A bruised
reed shall He not break,
and smoking flax shall
He not quench, till He
send forth judgment
unto victory ; and in His
name shall the Gentiles
trust."

XI.

St. Matt. xiii. 14, 15.
St. Mark iv. 12.
St. Luke viii. 10.
St. John xii. 40.
Acts xxviii. 26, 27..

" By hearing ye shall
hear and shall not un-
derstand ; and seeing,
&c. For this peopleV,
&&., and their, &c., &c.

St. Matt. xiii. 35.

" I will open my
mouth in parables ; I
will utter things which
have been kept secret
from the foundation of
the world."

The Apparent Sense in the
Old Testament, if read lilie
any other book.

Isaiah says that a
future " Servant of God,"
His Elect, and Beloved,
will be gentle and meek,
and extend judgment
and truth to the Gen-
tiles, — " and the isles
shall wait for His law."
Isa. xiii. 1 — i.

[The Jewish Targum
says thatthis is Messiah.]
The LXX. apply the pas-
sage to Jacob and Israel.
Grotius applies it first to
Isaiah, as xii. 27.

Isaiah describes, in
the words of Vision, the
state of the people of
Judah in the first year
of King Uzziah (Isaiah
vi. 10).

David recoimts the
past dealings of God
with Israel ; and calls
the history of early times
by these names — " para-
ble," and " proverb,"
and " dark saying." —
(Psalm Ixxviii. 24.)

Use of the Passage in the
New Testament.

The Evangelist sees a
fulfilment of this gentle
character in Christ's
charging some whom He
healed " not to make
Him known." {ver. 16.)
rh priQev.

The Evangelist re-
cords that our Blessed
Lord regarded the moral
state of the same people
in His own daj- as pa-
rallel with this. And
St. Paul does the same
[Acts xxviii. 26, 27).
Keyovaa.

The Evangelist re-
cords that Christ de-
scribes His own "Para-
bles" as similar exam-
ples of God's solemn
dealings with men.
rh p7j0ey.

On Prophecy.

261

The Text.

St. Matt. XV. 8, 6.

" This people draweth
near to me with theii*
mouth, &c."

St. Matt. xxi. 5.
St. c7o7mxii. 15.

"Tell ye the daughter
of Sion, Behold, thy
King Cometh unto thee,
meek, and sitting upon
an ass, &c. ;" and " Ho-
sanna ! &c.," ver. 9.

rh prjOev.
and ver. 13, " My house
shall be called the house
of prayer; but ye have
madeitaden of thieves,"
may refer to Jer. vii. 11.
yfypa-!TTai.

The Apparent Sense in the
Old Testament, if read like
any other book.

Isaiah thus describes
the Israel of his own
days ; and threatens
judgments on them. —
{Isa. xxix. 13.)

In Zechariah, this
message is sent to Ha-
drach (Antioch), and
mentions Damascus,
Tyre and Sidon, as im-
portant places ; also
Gaza, Ascalou, Ekron
(Cassarea) and Ashdod
(Azotus), with Philistia,
and the south coast.
The king referred to
appears to be one who
might rise in that gene-
ration. Some thought
it might be Messiah,
as the passage seemed
partly to echo Isaiah's
words. (Ixii. 11.) But
others thought it would
refer to Nehemiah or to
Judas Maccabajus. Theo-
doret says the Jews in-
terpreted it of Zerobabel :
but this seems to be un-
supported. The Targum
of Jonathan interprets
it of Messiah ; and the
Jews generally would
probably do so even now.
The difficulty lies in the
context, and not in mere
words. (See ver. 13.)
Zech. ix. 9 ; Isa. Ixii. 11.

Use of the Passage in the
New Testament.

The Evangelist tells
us that Chkist declared
his people Israel to be
just what they had been
in the time of Isaiah.

The Evangelist teach-
es that our Loeb's riding
on an ass to Jeriisalem,
a week before He died,
fulfilled this prophecy.
(And the Jews commonly
have thought that some
such action would dis-
tinguish Messiah). There
may also be an allusion
intended to the predicted
Shiloh of Gen. xlix. 10,
11. The "Hosanna"
was gradually appro-
priated as messianic
benediction, or "good
wishes." Its meaning
varied. (Lange, S. Matt
xxi. 11.)

252

On Prophecy.

The Text.

St. Matt. xxi. 16.

" Out of the mouth of
babes and sueklingsthou
hast perfected praise.

XVI.

St. Matt. xxi. 42.
St. Mark xii. 10.
St. Lxike XX. 17.
Acts iv. 11.

" The stone which the
builders rejected, the
same is become the head
of the corner. This is
the Lord's doing, and it
is marvellous in our
eyes."

T^v ypa<p7]v.

St. Matt. xxii. 44.
St. Mark xii. 36.
St. Luke XX. 42.

" The LoED said unto
my LoKD, Sit Thou on
My right hand, until I
make thine enemies thy
footstool."

Acts ii. 34, 35.

Hei. i. 13.

X4y(cv.

The Apparent Sense in the
Old Testament, if read like
any other book.

David praises God for
allowing him even in his
youth to show forth God's
glory. (Ps. viii. 2.)

The Psalmist in a
hymn of joy recounts
among other mercies his
exaltation after his pre-
vious rejection by some
of the tribes. He seems
to alludfe to himself as
the rejected stone that
became the " head of
the corner." (Ps. cxviii.
16.)

The Jewish Targums
interpret this Psalm of
David as a song of ex-
ultation at God's pro-
mising him the kingdom
after Saul. Literally
taken it might possibly
mean that. Yet the
allusion to Melchisedec
is loftier than the dignity
of David. {Ps. ex. 1.)

Use of the Passage in the
New Testament.

The Evangelist applies
it to the children's Ho-
sannas in the temple.

The Evangelists, and
St. Peter in the Acts,
all represent this as
Christ's warning to the _.
Jews that their rejection ■
of Him would be fol- ■
lowed by His exaltation.

The Evangelist as-
sures us that Christ re-
ferred to this Psalm as
vindicating to Messiah
a character beyond all
that David could claim.
And the Eijistle to the
Hebrews and the Acts
explain it as an allusion
to the Ascension.

On Prophecy.

253

The Text.

The Apparent Sense in the
Old Testament, if read like
any other book.

Use of the Passage in the
Kew Testament,

St. Matt. xxvi. 31.

" I will smite the
shepherd, and the sheep
of the flock shall be scat-
tered abroad."

yeypaTTTUL.

St. Matt. xxYii. 9, 10.

" And they took the
thirty pieces of silver,
the price of him that
was valued, ^^•hom they
of the children of Israel
did value. And gave
them for the potter's
field, as the Lokd ap-
pointed me."

.S'^ Matt, xxvii. 38.
St. John xix. 24.

" They parted my gar-
ments among them, and
upon my vesture did
they cast lots."

Some Jews apply this
to Messiah (Mashmia
Jcshua), but Zechariah
speaks obscurely : and
Calvin applies the words
to Zechariah himself ;
Grotius, Eichhorn, Bau-
er and Jahn to Judas
Maccabffius ; Hitzig to
the false prophets spoken
of in the preceding
verses. — (Zech. xiii. 7.)

The prophet speaks of
his own iDrice being
reckoned in mockery at
thirty pieces of silver,
which he threw into the
treasury : (the Septua-
giut mistakes the word
treasury for "jDotter,"
the letters being the
same and one of the
points only being diSei-
ent.)— (Zech. xi. 13.)

The Psalmist is ap-
parently describing his
own sad condition, and
is not himself conscious
of predicting the future
lot of another, so far as
appears in the letter. —
(Ps. xxii.)

The Evangelist shows
us that our Divine Lord
applies this to His own
death, and the dispersion
of the Apostles, with a
sublime certainty.

The Evangelist sees a
sufificient resemblance to
the betrayal of our Loed,
to mark the coiucidpnce
as typical.

rh prjBif.

The Evangelist re-
gards these words of the
Psalm as i3redictive of
the parting of Christ's
seamless robe among the
Eoman soldiers.
T?> prjOev

254

On Prophecy.

The Text.

XXI.

St. Mark ix. 13.

" They have done unto
Him wh:itsoever they
listed."

yeypaiTTai.

XXII.

St. Mark xv. 28.

" And He was num-
bered with the trans-
gressors."

Xeyovcra.

St. Luke i. 33.

" And of his kingdom
there shall be no end."
o &yye\os elirev.

St. Luke iv. 18, 19.

" The spirit of the
LoKD is npon me, be-
cause He hath anointed
me to preach the gospel
to the poor, &c."

St. John \n. 38.

" Out of His beUy
shall flow rivers of living
water." (Also iv. 14.)
T] ypa<p)].

The Apparent Sense in the
Old I'estanient, if read like
any other book.

No such prophecy ap-
pears in the Old Testa-
ment.

XXII.

Isaiah describes the
" Servant of the Lord "
of whom he writes as
" numbered with the
transgressors. " — [Isa.
liii.)

XXIII.

Isaiah tells of a King-
dom of David, and (ap-
parently) of this world ;
and the Jews so inter-
pret it. — Isa. ix. 8.

The prophet appears
to be speaking of his own
mission throughout [Isa.
Ixi. 1) : the building " of
the old waste places" is
to take place in this
" acceptable year of the

LOBD."

Many Scriptures re-
present God's grace and
the gift of His Spirit
under the figure of water.
Isa. xii. 3, Iv. 1, 3 ;
Ezek. xlvii. 1 ; Joel ii.
23; Zech. xiv. 8; but
no such exact form of
words is to be found.

Use of the Pass^e in the
New Testament.

Some prophecy con-
cerning St. John Baptist
seems to be alluded to.

XXII.

The Evangelist says
that this was "fulfilled "
of Ghkist.

The Angel applies
these prophetic words to
our LoBD and His spirit-
ual kingdom.

Our Divine Lord un-
erringly appropriates
these glorious words to
Himself.

Tb yiypafjifiLevov.

The Evangelist re-
cords that Christ ap-
plied such Scriptures to
His own mission and
grace.

On Prophecy.

255

The Text.

St. John xii. 38.

"Lord, who hath be-
lieved oiu" report ?"
elrre.

YXVII.

St. John xiii. 18.
„ xvii. 12.
" He that eateth bread
with Me hath Hfted up
his heel against Me."

St. John XV. 25.

" They hated Me with-
out a cause."

XXIX.

St. John xix. 28.
" I thirst."

T) 7pa(/)7?.

St. John xix. 36.

" A bone of Him shall
not be broken."
■^ ypa(pii.

The Apparent Sense in the
Old Testament, if read like
any other book.

The prophet exclaims
at Israel's unbelief of his
words. — [Isa. liii. 1.)

The Psalmist com-
plains of the betrayal of
one of his own friends. —
{Ps. xli. 9.)

XXVIII.

The Psalmist pours
out his lamentation as
to his treatment by his
enemies. — [Ps. cix. 3.)

XXIX.

Some of the Psalms
speak of the writer's en-
during thirst ; (as Ps.
Ixix. 21.)

Moses gives this di-
rection as to the pass-
over lamb [Exod. xii. 46)
— also the Psalmist men-
tions the "keeping the
bones of the righteous
unbroken." — (Ps. xxxiv.
20.)

Use of the Passage
Isew Nestament.

the

XXVI.

Our LoED applies this
exclamation to the un-
belief of the Jews of his
days.

(St. Paul does the
same.) Bom. x. 16.

Our LoED applies the
words to the betrayal by
Judas, and elsewhere
speaks of "the son of
perdition " as fulfilling

the Scripture.

Our Lord says that
His own experience is
the same. All is " ful-
filled " in His own case.

Oui- Divine Master
fulfilled some Scripture
when He uttered these
words : we know not ex-
actly the passage.

The Evangelist de-
clares that this was ful-
filled in the fact that
the Roman soldiers were
not permitted to break
the legs of our Blessed
Lord.

256

On Prophecy.

The Text.

St. John xix. 37.

" They shall look on
Him whom theypierced."
71 ypacp^.

Acts i. 20.

"Let his habitation
be desolate, &c., and his
bishoprick let another
take."

yeypaTTTai.

Acts ii. 17-21.

"I will pour out My
Spirit upon all flesh ;
and your sons and your
daughters shall pro-
phesy, &c."

rh elprifxevov.

Acts ii. 25-36.

" Thou wilt not leave
my soul in hell, &c., &c."

Also Acts xiii, 35, 36.
\fyei.

The Apparent Sense iu the
Old Testament, if read like
any other book.

Zechariah foretells a
future mourning of Is-
rael for " Him whom
they pierced." (Zech.
xii. 10.)

XXXII.

The Psalmist's words
seem to tell of the woe
due to one of his own
enemies. — (Ps. Ixix. 25.)

The Jewish writers
explain this passage of
the return of the gift of
prophecy to their na-
tion's " sons and daugh-
ters " in the latter days,
following their restora-
tion to their own land,
with " prodigies in hea-
ven and earth." — (Joel
ii. 28—31.

XXXIV.

The Psalm, if read
like any other book,
seems to be the language
of the writer concerning
himself. — {Ps. xvi. 8-
11.)

Use of the Passage in the
New Testament.

The Evangelist, after
recording that the Eo-
man soldier pierced our
Lord's side, adds that
the words of Zechariah
were or will be fulfilled
in cormection with this.

St. Peter uses this as
a type of the fall of
Judas.

St. Peter declares that
this is that which was
fulfilled at the first
Christian Pentecost.

St. Paul applies it to
the calling of the Gen-
tiles.— {Eom. X. 11.)

St. Peter denies that
this was literally true of
David ; and interprets
it of the Death, Burial,
Rising, and Ascending of
our Lord.

St. Paul does the
same at Antioch.

On Prophecy.

257

The Text.

XXXV.

Acts iii. 22-26.

' ' A prophet shall the
LoKD your God raise up
unto you, &c."

XXXVI.

Acts iii. 25.

" In thy seed shall all
the kindreds of the earth
be blessed." — {Gal. iii.
8.)

XXXVII.

Acts iv. 25, 26.

" Why did the heathen
rage, and the people,"
X-c.

elircav.
Act.i xiii. 33.

" Thou art My Sou,"
etc.

XXXVIII.

Acts viii. 32, 33.

'• He was led as a
sheep to the slaughter,"

[See also, for the
same passage or its con-
nection, or phrases —

S. Matt. viii. 17.

S. Mark xv. 28.

,S'. Luke xxii. 37.

,S'. Johji i. 29, xii. 38-
41.

Bom. X. 16.

1 Pet. ii. 21-25.]
T] ypa(pi]

The Apparent Sense in the
Old Testament, if read lil<e
any other book.

The literal interpreter,
with the Jews, would not
see in the prophecy as
Moses gave it, any inti-
mation that this great
prophet would be for all
nations. ■ — (Dent, xviii.
15-22.)

XXXVI.

The Promise to Abra-
ham is, we know, given
by God as " inheritance
of the world." Yet its
terms seem somewhat
indistinct and general. —
[Gen. xxii. 18.)

XXXVII.

The Psalmist's in-
spired song evidently
belongs to Messiah, but
is addressed, apparently,
to the generation then
living, if we are to be
guided by the letter only.
—{Ps. ii. 1-12.)

XXXVIII.

The literal sense of
the passage in the pro-
phet will be determined
by the previous ques-
tion— who is the '^Ser-
vant of God " who has
been referred to ?

The Targum says it is
Messiah. Several Jewish
writers have referred it
to Jeremiah ; with whom
agree Grotius and Bun-
sen. Many interpreta-
tions have been sug-
gested.—(/sa. liii. 1-12.)

Use of the Passage in the
New Testament.

XXXV.

St. Peter applies these
words directly to Christ :
adding that the prophecy
was not to Israel alone ;
but " to you first." —
(v. 26.)

XXXVI.

St. Peter says that
" all the Prophets, from
Samuel " downwards,
foretold of CnpasT's days
in the tone of this pro-
mise to Abraham.

XXXVII.

The Prophetic spirit
in the Church at once
apiDlied this Psalm to
the rage of our Lord's
enemies against Him.

And St. Paul at Au-
tioch did the same.

St. Philip explains
this unequivocally of
the Christ, with the
most glorious convincing
power. The New Tes-
tament teems with si-
milar uses of it ; which
it is amazing that any
Christian can refuse. —
But see Davidson, vol.
iii. pp. 62-76.

258

On Prophecy.

The Text.

Acts xiii. 34.

" I will give you the
sure mercies of David."
f'tpriKev.

Acts xiii. 41.

" Behold ye despisers,
and wonder, and perish,"
&c.

elpyjfiivov.

XLI.

Acts xiii. 47.

" I have set thee to
be a light of the Gen-
tiles," &c.

ivTeTaXrai b Kvpios.

XLII.

Acts XV. 16, 17.

" I will return and
build again the taber-
nacle of David," &c.
yiypaTrrai.

Rom. iv. 17, 18.

" I have made thee a
father of many nations,"
and " 60 shall thy seed
be."

yfypaiTTai.

The Apparent Sense In the
Old Testament, if read like
any other booK.

The words of the pro-
phet seem to promise a
renewal of covenant with
God, to His returning
and repenting people. —
{Isa. Iv. 3.)

Habakkiik uses the
words as a warning to
the Gentiles, as to the
Chaldeans coming to
scourge God's joeople. —
{Hab. i. 5.)

In the prophecy these
words seem to belong to
the Prophet Isaiah, who
utters them. — [Isa. xlix.
6.)

In the prophecy these
words appear to belong
to the conquest of Edom
by the house of David. —
{Amos ix. 11, 12.)

It seems to be a literal
promise of a numerous
progeny of nations, as
Abraham received it, —
(Gen. xvii. 4.)

Use of the Passage ia the
New Testament.

St. Paul says that this
foretold that Christ's
body should not see cor-
ruption.

St. Paul adopts this
as a fit warning to
the Jews, if they reject
Christ.

St. Paul regards this
as a ftrophecy of the
calling of the Gentiles
to Christ.

The Council of Jeru-
salem speaking by St.
James, regard' this pas-
sage as " agreeing with "
the conversion of the
Gentiles.

XLin.

St. Paul quotes it, to 'I
show that Abraham was
the spiritual parent of
all who believe.

On Prophecy.

259

The Text.

The Apparent Sense in the
Old Testament, ii read like
any other book.

Use of the Passage in the
New Testament.

XLIV.

XLIV.

XLIV.

Bom. ix. 25-26.

The prophet seems to

St. Paul sees in this

" I will call them

my

tell of the re-union of

the calhng of the Gen-

|)eople which were

not

Israel and Judah : and

tiles : and St. Peter

my people," &c.

that Jezreel, the palace

also. — (1 St. Peter ii.

Ae'-yei.

of idolatry, should be

10.)

The ensuing verses

converted and blessed.

are allusions and

ac-

— {Hosea i. 10; ii. 22-

commodations.

23.)

XLV.

XLV.

XLV.

Rom. ix. 33.

The three passages

St. Peter and St.

" Behold I lay

in

alluded to in the Epis-

Paul connect these pro-

Sion a stumbling stone,"

tles of SS. Peter and

phecies with the fall of

•tc.

Paul are Isa. viii. 14,

the Jews and the in-

yeypa-TTat.

xxviii. 16, and Ps. cxviii.

coming of the Gentiles.

Also 1 St. Peter ii

.6;

22. They all seem to

Rom. X. 11.

refer to judgments with-
in the nation of the He-
brews.

XLVI.

XL VI.

XLVI.

Rom. X. 15.

Apparently used by

Used by St. Paul in re-

" How beautiful upon

Isaiah in reference to

ference to the preachers

the mountains, &c."

the heralds of Jerusa-

of Christ's Gospel.

yiypairrai.

lem's deliverance. —
{Isa. lii. 7.)

XLTir.

XLVII

XLVII.

Rom. X. 20, 21.

The prophet appears

St. Paul understands

"I was found

of

to use both verses in

the former verse of the

them that sought

me

reference to the ancient

Gentiles, and the latter

not;" and "all day

ong

people of God ; and

of the Jews — and refers

have I stretched out

my

foretells blessing for

both to the times of the

hands," &c.

them in Palestine. —

Gospel.

\eyet.

[Isa. Ixv. 1, 2, 9.)

260

On Prophecy.

The Text.

XLVIII.

Bom. xi. 26.

" There shall come
out of Zion the De-
liverer," etc.

yiypaiTTai.

Horn. XV. 9-12.

" Eejoice ye Gentiles,"
&c., " Praise the Lord
ye Gentiles," &e., " and
in Him shall the Gen-
tiles trust."

yiypainai.

L.

Bom. XV. 21.

" To whom he was not
spoken of, they shall
see," &c.

yeypaiTTat.

LI.

1 Cor. xiv. 21.

"With men of other
tongues and other lips
will I speak to this
people," &c.

yfypaTTTai.

The Apparent Sense in the
Old Testament, if read like
any other book.

If the -whole chapter
be read like any other
book, the meaning
seems to be, that God
will return and bless
Israel when penitent.

Moses, David, and
Isaiah in the places re-
ferred to {Dent, xxxii.
43, Ps. cxvii. 1, Isa. xi.
1-10) all appear to con-
template the distinctness
of Jews and GentUes,
even though calling on
the latter to rejoice with
the former. And so in
all such passages, if read
by the unspiritual mind
with attention.

L.

In the i:)rophet, the
words here quoted seem
to express the surprise
of the surrounding
nations at Israel's re-
turn.— [Isa. lii. 15.)

In the prophet this
seems to be a message
to the people of Ephraim
and Jerusalem. — [Isa.
xxviii. 1-15.)

Use of the Passage in the
New Testament.

This is explained of
the final acceptance of
the Gospel by the Jews.

XLIX.

From these three texts
St. Paul deduces the
union of Jews and Gen-
tiles in one Church.

From this again the
calling of the Gentiles is
vindicated.

Explained of the gift
of tongues in the Church
of Corinth.

On Pro2-)hecy.

'261

The Text.

The Apparent Seuse in the
Old Testament, if read like
any other book.

1 Cor. XV. 54.

" Death is swallowed
up in victory."
(') \oy6s 6 yeypafiixevos

LIII.

Galatians iv. 27.

" Eejoice thou barren
that bearest not," &c.
jeypaTTTai.

llehrncs viii. 8-12.

" I will make a new
coveuantjWith the house
of Israel, and with the
hoiise of Judah," &c.

LV.

Hehren-s x. 37.

" Yet a little while
and he that shall come
will come," &c.

LVI.

Heb. xii. 26.

" Yet once more I
shake not the earth
only, but also heaven."
\(yaiy.

In the prophet, the
"rebuke shall be taken
away," it is said, from
long ruined Israel, and
" Moab be trodden
down." — Isa. xxv. 8-10.

Addressed by the pro-
phet to the earthly Jei-u-
salem, bidding her to
" enlarge her tent," and
inherit the Gentiles. —
{Isa. liv. 1, 2.)

Let this be read in its
entire connexion — from
verse 18 to verse 40 — and
it will appear to the un-
spiritual reader a pro-
mise of restoration, given
at length in very minute
detail to Israel and
Judah. — [Jcr. xxxi. 14,
&c.)

LV.

Used by the prophet
concerning the coming
Chaldean woe. (See Hen-
derson in loco). — (Hab.
ii. 34.)

LVI.

The prophet cn-
coiu-ages the building of
the second temple, and
promises that Messiah
shall come to it. (See
Henderson in loco.)
(Haggai ii. 6.)

U6e of the Passage in the-
New Testament.

Interpreted of the
General Eesurrectiou.

Addressed by the
Apostle to " the Jeru-
salem which is above,"
which is "free, and the
mother of us all."

This is applied with
true spiritual discern-
ment to the Christian
Church.

Sacredly interpreted
of our Blessed Lord's
second coming.

Used as aji assertion
of the irremoveableness
of the Church. Christ's
Kingdom.

262 On Prophecy.

At the close of this series of the Prophetical pas-
sages interpreted in the New Testament, it would
be natural for many to be surprised at missing
some most familiar Scriptures, of which we are
accustomed to make spiritual application.

We miss all allusion to the promise of *' bruising
the serpent's head," (which Jews interpret variously,
as well as Christians, but almost all in a Messianic
sense). We have in the New Testament no typical
use of the sacrifice of Isaac ; no quotation of Job's
hope of a " Eedeemer in the latter daj^s;" nor
of Jacob's Prediction of "the Shiloh ;" nor of
Balaam's vision of the "Star of Jacob;" nor of
Moses' teaching as to the Cities of Refuge, or the
Scape-goat, or the day of Atonement ; nor of
other facts, rites, and institutions, which we all
appropriate, as well as songs of the Prophets,
(as Isaiah Ix., Ixiii., &c.) of which the Chm-ch
so naturally makes a religious use. Who can
help seeing in all this how the Interpretation of
the Divine Word is such as the Divine Spieit
gives to the Church, and not such as the natural
Inind v/ould deduce from the letter ; nor even such
only as the New Testament points out to the
critical reader ?

These omissions become even more noticeable,
when, on the other hand, we mark how the Church

On Prophecy. 263

has naturally assumed among the Apostolic writers
a free use of extra-canonical traditions. Thus the
Alexandrine Chronicle refers us, (Bib. Pair. xii.
862) to St. Augustin, De Civ. Dei, and to St.
Jerome on the Ephesians, for notes as to the
Book of Enoch, and the Apocalypse of Moses, and
of EHas, and of Jeremiah. Quoting from
Syncellus-, it implies that St. Jude takes a passage
from Enoch ; and St. Paul (1 Cor. ii. 9) from the
Apocryphal Elias, "Eye hath not seen," &c. ; — from
an Apocryphal Book of Moses, the words, {Gal. vi.
6 and 1 Cor. vii. 19), " neither is circumcision
anything," &c., — and from the Apoc. of Jeremiah,
*' Awake thou that sleepest," &c.

In the same spirit Origen uses the argument
from Prophecy {Adv. Cels.) as based on the inter-
pretations of the Jewish Church. And how he
regards the use of merely 'Hhe letter" of Pro-
phetical Scripture, may be seen by those who will
turn to the passage " Optandum igitur ut omnes
verbi accasatores," &c. {Lib. i. c. 42.)

There is a pregnant saying among the Jews;
still — " You must understand the Hebrew before-
hand, or you will never read it."

In connection with this subject, Bp. Blomfield's
Dissertation on the " Traditional Knowledge of a
Redeemer," and Van Mildert's Boyle Lectures,

T 2

264 On Prophecy.

m

(Appendix), will be of use. The poor idea of a
naked prognostic, or foretelling, may thus be con-
trasted with the fact that the record of every
tradition, and of every history of any favoured
prophet, priest, or king, of the former covenant,
would seem as if constructed to suggest somethino-
of the coming Messiah. {Pascal, Pensees, xvii. 4.)
And now, having noticed all the Prophecies of
the Old Testament referred to expressly in the
New, every one must judge truthfully for himself
whether our statement at the outset has been made
good, and the argument in "' The Bible and its
Interpreters " (p. 125) established ?

A few words should perhaps be added, as to
the interpretation of Prophecy among the Joavs
themselves — which has been so helpful a guid-
ance to Christians.

The sustaining of the Interpretative Tradition in
the Jewish Church was one of the functions of tlie
" school of the Prophets " and their successors.

This Prophetical Institution (as we have
said, p. 57) arose at the close of the era of the
Judges, when for some time there had been " no
open vision," and the " Word of the Lord was
precious." (1 Sam. iii. 1.) We trace it through
the times of Samuel, Saul, David, and Solomon :

On Prophecy. 265

and its functions would seem to have been sub-
sidiary to the Priesthood. Such teaching and pre-
serving of the Traditions of Samuel, and Moses*
Law, as would be necessary, would naturally be
the duty of this School of Prophets, (Amos iii. 7,)
intrusted Avith the " secret service " of God.

Their more prominent public ministry lies in
the period from the revolt of the ten tribes at
the death of Solomon, to the Captivity ; and of
the Book of the twelve minor prophets — long-
counted as one book among the Jews, — more than
half the writers appear to have lived during that
time, and to have been contemporaries of Isaiah.
Their prophecies, as literally understood, have
reference generally to the events of theii- own or
the immediately following generation ; and not
unfrequently were divinely intended to arouse the
conscience of Israel to religious faithfulness, ere
it might be too late. The remoter spiritual
meaning and promise would be interpreted by tra-
dition. The " days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and
Hezekiah," in other words, the times from the
death of Elisha till the fall of Samaria, hear the
witness of seven of these minor, who were the
' ' former ' ' prophets {Zcch . i. 4) . No writings of the
elder school — Nathan, Gad, Iddo, Hananiah, Mi-
caiah, Elijah, or Elisha, — have come down to us.

266 On Prophecy.

After the Babylonian captivity the schools of
the Scribes established by Ezra had the care of the
Sacred Law. But under the second temple there
afterwards arose no Prophet. Haggai, Zachariah,
and Malachi (identified with Ezra by many Jews,)
were the last. But the schools of sacred law pre-
served and remembered the " statutes of Moses
which God gave in Horeb " {Mai iv. 4), and
waited for God to " visit His people " once more,
while " the priest's lips retained knowledge," and
the people had the meaning "from his mouth."
The schools of the Rabbins succeeded to the scribes,
as the scribes to the Prophets — at Jabna, Sephoris,
or Zipporah, Lydda, and Tiberias, all in Galilee.

It may not be out of place, and may be con-
venient to some, here to mention that in Tiberias
arose the Mishna, or " Repetition " of the Law,
compiled by Rabbi Jehudah Hakkadosh, mainly in
Hebrew. It contains the collected opinions and
traditions of 130 Rabbins, (a.d. 190.)

On this was composed, in Chaldee, the Gemara,
or " Completion." (a.d. 270.) These together
form the Jerusalem Talmud.

The Babylonian Jews founded schools at Sura,
Pundebita, Machusa, Shebhur, and other places.
Among them Rabbi Ashe began another Gemara in
Chaldee. This, added to the text of the Hebrew

On Prophecy. 267

Mishna, forms the Babylonian Talmud, containing
the opinions of 500 Kabbins. This is what is
commonly meant as " The Talmud;" it is divided
into six parts, and sub-divided into many chapters.
(a.d. 500). After the lapse of little more than a
centm-y the Masoretic points may have begun to
be used : and the tradition of the past became
more secure.

There are also three chief Targums, or Chaldee
Paraphrases of the Law, to assist the Traditional
Sense : that of Onkelos may be as old as the time
of our Lord or even older.

The Targum on the Historical Books and the
Prophets, is by Jonathan, a disciple of Hillel.
That on the minor books, by Joseph the Blind.
Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, have no Targums.

About a hundred years after Christ, (not long
after the death of Pliilo), a Cabbalistic Commen-
tary, the Zohar, appeared : Rabbi ben Johanan
being the author.

Philo himself throws but little light on the his-
tory of tradition, or the theory of mystical inter-
pretation, though so eminently mystical in his
own views : but it must be remembered that he
passes without notice the most public facts of his
time, — indeed, nearly the whole history of the
Synagogue, and the Empire. He lived in the past.

268 On Prophry.

In the work of the Scribes, the Jews, (says M.
Eeville) "distinguish the Midrash, or attentive
study of the law; the Hahicha, or explication of
the law; the Agada, or free amplification of the
Halacha ; the Mishna, or oral law, being originally
the result of these."

The " Perushim ' ' are Scholia, with some comment .

These notes will put the reader in possession
of a true idea as to the line of Prophetical and
Traditional witness from the return from Babylon
till modern times.

It will be felt by many how our Lord's words are
found applicable to the whole Prophetical Inspira-
tion, written and unwritten, " I am come to fulfil."

To explore with care the literal sense of Pro-
phecy is truly om- duty, but it must be ever done
with humility ; while the spiritual sense is to be
held always as of paramount importance to us.
Let us take as a final example the marriage of the
prophet Hosea. Was it literal or mystical ? Dr.
Pusey quotes Theodore of Mopsuestia, S. Irenseus,
Theodoret, Cyril, and Ambrose, for the former
hypothesis. But Theodore was heretical and lite-
ralistic, and the other references are by no means
clear or conclusive. But of the mystical sense we
cannot doubt.

SOME MINOE NOTES

TO THE VOLUME ENTITLED

THE BIBLE AND ITS INTERPEETEES.

On tlie First Preface and on pp. 94, dc. —
The ESCHATOLOGY of Revelation.

Every Christian has been accustomed from the
beginning to hear so much concerning the " Four
Last Things" — Death, Judgment, Heaven, and
HeU — which in truth give to Revelation all its
ultimate value and meaning, that it seems taken
for granted that an exact behef on these over-
whelming subjects is derived from the plain tenor
of Holy Scrijjture. But it is far otherwise. On
no points more than these have the interpretations
of honest readers of the Bible, apart from the gene-
ral teaching of the Catholic Church, been so vari-
ous, indistinct, and contradictory; and even partial
speculations within the Church, in excess of her
general teaching, have been full of the same kind
of uncertainty. And yet, next to the ascertain-
ment of the Revelation itself as an Objective fact,
this part of its ultimate meaning must be of vital

270 Minor Notes.

import to us all. None can be uninterested in the
inquiry, " What will become of us after death ?
What of the righteous ? What of the ^vicked ?
What of the vast multitude between the two ex-
tremes ?" Yet it is quite certain that the natural
mind, exercising itself however carefully, critically,
and anxiously on the Old Testament or the New,
has never yet been able to agree as to the literal
teaching there, concerning the future life.

We are all familiar with the argument of Bishop
Warburton, and know how it at first startled our
18th century people to be told that the strongest
proof of the Divine legation of Moses lay in the
fact that he formed and ruled the Hebrew nation
without referring to a future life at all. This was
said, and truly, as far as the letter of the Law — the
document — was concerned, notwithstanding the
assertion, equally true, of our 7th Ai'ticle. Nor is
it only of the early Hebrews that there may be
affirmed this absence of clearly written Revelation
as to the future life. The fact, indeed, that the
transmigration of souls became in later times an
article of Jewish belief is the most striking com-
ment on this. But the whole world (we may add)
during the 2,000 years from Adam to Abraham,
had no written Revelation of a future life, so far
as Scripture tells us. There was a tree of life in

Minor Notes. 271

man's first Paradise of which it had been possible to
" eat and live for ever;" but the natural mind can
obtain from that mysterious fact no theory now of
our immortality. Indeed among the chosen people
themselves, though some at length afl&rmed, others
denied, the "resurrection, and angels, and spirits."
The representations of death in some of the Psalms
(vi. 5 ; Ixxxviii. 4, 13, &c.) the views of it even by
good men like Hezekiah {Isaiah xxxviii. 10, — 20),
and the natural meaning of the wise man's words
in Ecclesiastes (ch. iii. 16 — 22 ; ix. 2 — 10), might
seem to clash with the Christian hope and expec-
tation of the life to come.

If we look to the New Testament, and the doc-
trine gathered from it in later times, no one can
pretend that there has been any exactness or uni-
formity of literal interpretation. Whether Ave con-
template (as St. Augustine expresses the matter in
his City of God) the " prsecedentia," the " con-
comitantia," or the " sequentia," of the day of
judgment, we find in every detail the greatest
variety of opinion; but specially as to the "se-
quentia." We have no written Eevelation explain-
ing our future heaven clearer than that in our
Blessed Master's sacred words concerning the
" many mansions of the Father's house," which
S. Paul calls "the house not made with hands,

272 Minor Notes.

eternal in the heavens" — (if, indeed, those words are
to be so interpreted with certainty). The Apostle,
again, longs to depart, because " absence from the
body is presence at once with the Loed," — but this
seems to omit the judgment-day, and the inter-
mediate state of souls. Yet does not the New
Testament very greatly omit this? — and did not the
omission show itself again in the indistinct Escha-
tology of some in the early Church, especially in
their views as to the interval between death and
judgment : (the Apocalypse being little kno\m, e.g.
chap. "\di.)

No doubt the future unhappiness of the Lost is
the most definite part of the teaching as to the
future, both in the most sure and solemn words of
Christ, and in the habitual interpretations of His
Chm-ch ; yet the modern view of those who think
that the "Second Death is an eternal reign of Satan
in which he torments the wicked," is so little to be
derived from a critical reading of the New Testament,
that the most popular present expounder among us of
what is regarded as "EvangeHcal," declares that this
notion is " wholly opposed to the real teaching of
the Word of God,"— (Mr. Birks's Victory of Divine
Goodness, p. 176) ; and asks whether, when " death
and hell are cast into the lake of fire," the unhappy
ones who had been there may not expect some

Minor Notes. 273

kind of salvation ? (p. 191) — and he repeats the
well-known question, whether in their deep woe
they may not find a "lower depth of Divine com-
passion !"

If any one will endeavour for himself to trace
the progress of the attempt to alleviate our deep
instinct as to the future misery of sin, in all the
modifications of the theory of an intermediate Pur-
gatory, from S. Augustine down to the moderate
decree of the Council of Trent, he will find that
the universal tradition and feeling of Christians
has been in every sense intenser and stronger than
the written definitions. But the whole series of
writers on this awful theme appeal in their various
ways to the letter of Scripture ; and some of
the noblest and best among them, (as Aquinas,
in his Siimma, and Supplement Part III.)? will
be found more rationalistic than the tradition of
universal Christianity. Anyhow it will prove that
they who will derive for themselves from the letter
of Scripture a Doctrine of the Future State must
oscillate between the sensualism of Chiliasm on
the one side, and the Materialism of Louis of Gra-
nada on the other ; or, it may be, between the
vague spiritualism of some of the Puritans, and
the fiercest theories of Calvin or Luther.

The great difficulty of adjusting any theoiy of

274 . Minor Notes.

our future life with the facts of our present proha-
tion, is what cannot indeed be evaded by any who
would advance beyond those very generalized beliefs
which have been current from the beginning among
all Churches. It is doubtful whether, if a general
council were to be held, it could attempt to make
the doctrine of the Intermediate, or the Future
State, more definite than the Council of Trent
has left it. Yet it has been thought perfectly
allowable, within reverent limits, for Christians to
" think of these things."

In the " Dictionnaire des Droits de la Eaison
dans la Foi," the learned Editor, (Ai-t. Enfer, &c.)
has brought together certain allowed opinions in
the Church of Eome on this important subject.
The Limbus Patrum and Limbus Infantum of the
schools will seem in this examination by the Abbe
Le Noir, to be not so unreasonable as angry con-
troversialists suppose. And it may not be without
use, as showing the breadtli of this great inquiry,
to attempt to condense the process of thought (and
its results) by which some men have thus endea-
voured within the Church, by Reason, Scripture,
and Tradition combined, to solve difficulties.

The Catholic doctrine as to the Future State,
then, has been represented as arrived at in some
such way as this :

Minor Notes. 275

1. ''In my Father's House are many mansions,"
i. e. many regions; the souls most blessed being
with Christ Himself in life eternal. This "eternal
life " implies the immortality of the soul — a truth
taught by the Gospel, and also by philosophy,
relying on the universal instincts of mankind. But
this truth is to be taken in connection with two
other facts, (if we would practically understand it,)
— viz., the Fall and the liedemjition of man.

From this point we have to mark, then, the
equitable distribution of the Futm-e of man, a
creature who is at once Immortal, Fallen, and
Redeemed. And the rules of pure goodness, as
well as of exact justice, must be considered.

2. Assuming that existence is a good, we must
admit that it was an act of pure goodness or bene-
volence when God created us. God, the being who
has ever existed is good, and of necessity is perfect
good. (The opposite idea is a contradiction.) But,
in creating, it was not possible to call into existence
another God — another infinitely perfect being ; con-
sequently, all created beings vary from the Infi-
nitely Perfect Being. The creation as a whole is
the result of the will of the Perfect Being ; there-
fore it is a harmonious ivhole : but all its parts
have, originally, perfection only as parts, and must
vary indefinitely among themselves, as God wills.

276 Minor Notes.

In distributing to various creatures various
measures of being and of good, God is directed
by His own will alone. In such " diversity " of
creation God does no wrong to an inferiorly good
being by giving higher gifts to another. If God
could not make beings of different orders of good,
it would seem that He could oiot create at all, be-
cause He would then be bound to make every being
the most perfect ; and yet the most perfect possible
could not be finite or creature at all !

We regard God alone as Absolute Perfection in
all things ; but if His creation as a whole be a
perfect ivhole as a creation, there must be a variety
of perfections in its parts to constitute it. So
whether we consider the Creator or His wide
creation, a diversity of good in the creatures is
inevitable.

But the selecting or constituting higher ranks
in this creation being God's own act, it follows
that the " called," the " elect," creatures, are those
whom God's will alone has made so. And this
must be also true not only of classes of creatures,
but of individuals in each class. In fact, the whole
order and law of pro-creation which follows, and
pervades creation, asserts also the same fact —
" male and female " created He them.

The principle of variety and inequality among

Minor Notes. 277

creatures is thus not only an actual reality, but to
suppose the reverse is a contradiction.

3. Now God's goodness having been pleased to
create the higher ranks of His creation with power
to think, and will, and be righteous. His justice
must needs have relation to the will and conscience
so bestowed. He would not be so unjust as to
give conscience and will to a creature, and then
ignore the gift and its results. His justice
would needs take account, first, of the gifts
which His goodness had bestowed ; secondly, of
the use made of those gifts.

God's goodness being also pleased to form
other creatures without will and without know-
ledge of good and evil, or conscience. He has, in
His justice, entire consideration of this fact when
He deals with the future also of any such beings.

Assuming creation then, and finding it to include
rational creatures ; and as Christians, assuming
redemption — which cannot here be anal3'sed, but
which is a kind of new creation, restoring that
which had been marred by the Fall — (which re-
demption is as pure a consequence of the Divine
goodness as was the first creation) : we have to
approach the existing facts.

We find several classes of creatures in this
rational creation :

u

278 Minor Notes.

1. Those who in this life know Gtod as Creator
and Redeemer, whether by inward, or outward
i.e. revealed means.

2. Those who know God as Creator, but are
ignorant of Him as Redeemer.

3. Those who die before the knowledge of God
has at all developed in them : —

Here, then, we have Christians — Heathen, &c. —
and Infants (so dying) — three classes.

These classes must, to correspond with the facts
of human life, again be subdivided :

(a.) Those who use their gifts in the best
degree : viz., samts.

(h.) Those who utterly abuse them : viz., re-
probates.

(c.) And between these two the middle sort.

In these classes we might again doubtless dis-
tinguish different degrees.

And in the third, at least two degrees, (not
to dwell on the case of the insane and imbe-
cile,) viz., infants baptised and infants unbap-
tised.

Reason also recognises differences in all indi-
viduals even in every class ; no two created
rational creatures being in all things exactly alike
at the end of their probation.

What then may be expected of the Divine

Minor Notes. 27^

Justice — which, be it remembered, involves the
Divine mercy also — as to all this moral creation ?

Of com'se we have no power to determine
minute details ; but some general principles are
certain to us :

1st. That God, being absolutely just, could not
treat any being in a way that the strictest true
conscience could upbraid.

2nd. That reason can often perceive the con-
nection and dependence of truths and principles
deduced from Justice.

What then, we inquire, will this justice do ?

1st. We may believe that those who use their
gifts in the highest degree will hereafter be placed
in that highest abode of which Christ said,
" where I am there shall ye be also." These are
they of whom the Church has been wont to speak
as the crowned saints.

2nd. Those who wholly abuse and forfeit their
gifts as Christians will be deprived of blessedness.
These are the " cursed " of whom we read in the
Gospel.

3rd. The intermediate class, who will be treated
proportionably to their real condition, by the just
God who sees aU the circumstances. — Hence the
vulgar belief of intermediate purification.

Another class. — The good among the heathen,

u 2

280 Minor Notes.

who will be rewarded according to their works and
their capacity. In whatever manner they may be
hereafter united to Christ, whom they have not here
known, it has seemed just to believe that they may
have even the vision of God in some subordinate
sense — not according to the Christian law of super-
natural gTace, but according to their capacity, such
as it is.

Then, the utterly wicked heathen, who will lie
shut out from the abode of the happy heathen :
(yet not consigned to the far deeper perdition of
lost Christians.)

Some too, there will be, a kind of intermediate
heathen, who may have some place of eleva-
tion, and so of ultimate admission to happi-
ness.

Then we must not omit baptised infants, dying
undeveloped, and admitted to peace in Christ of a
lower bliss ; and unbaptised infants, in peace, out
of the definite grace of Christ.

And thus, finally, some Catholic theologians
have thought themselves free to look forward to
the future " of many abodes ;" arranging these
various classes as suggested by Christian reason
contemplating the goodness first, and next the
justice of God, in some such order as the fol-
io win of : —

Minor Notes. 281

I. The highest . . Saints, near to Christ.

n. Next .... Others in a state of grace,

III. Next .... Baptised infants.

IV. Next .... Good heathen.

V. Next .... Unbaptised infants.

VI. Next .... Bad heathen.

VII. and last . . . Bad Christians.

In the beginning of Christianity, ahnost as now,
the popular division was mainly twofold. The first
three of the above classes were said to be in
" heaven," the last four in " hell," i. e. external
to the kingdom of Chkist. The reason being that
the Church regarded all outside that kingdom as
" in outer darkness." The former state was " sal-
vation," the latter "damnation."

But enough has surely now been said to persuade
the most unwilling that an easy Eschatology can
no more be derived by the natural mind from the
mere letter of Scripture than an easy Theology.

The terms employed in the New Testament to
describe the conditions of the future world appear
to have been such as the Jewish Tradition had
accumulated since the captivity. The " Ge-henna,"
the " outer darkness," the " lake of fire," and the
" Paradise," the " third heaven," the " Abraham's
bosom," were expressions not unknown to those

282 Mmor Notes.

who heard them from om- Master and His fol-
lowers. They are not, however, derived generally
from the Old Testament Scriptures. The deep and
solemn significance in all these Jewish terms was
recognised when adopted under the Gospel, and
determines the meaning of many a sacred passage
to which we might not otherwise have the clue.
Let this be compared with what is reasoned con-
cerning Eternal Punishment (as a possibility under
fr*ee agency), and what has been previously said,
pp. 94—106.

Page 2. The facts of Biblical literature refen-ed
to in the text, and which are dealt with in the
argument, are those which concern the actual con-
dition in which the sacred volume now comes to us.
The criticisms of some, and the dread of criticism
in others, aHke depend on an oversight, or a fear,
of facts which cannot be questioned — as will here
be shown. The manner in which it has pleased
God to give us, for example, the Hebrew Scrip-
tures, is such as to preclude the possibility of much
of the "free-handling" of our day. The original
documents of Moses, Samuel, David, Isaiah, and
the rest, with all their individual varieties, are not
known to us. We cannot criticize them if we
would. All those Divine Scriptures were, we may

Minor Notes. 283

say, cast into the furnace of the captivity of the
Hebrew nation, and came forth burnished, and
changed for a wider than Hebrew purpose, a
world-wide use. The language of the great Empire
of the world at that time was Chaldee, and the
Divine Scriptures were transferred thenceforth, as
St. Jerome points out, into the Chaldee character.
When in coming time the empire of the world
was changed, when two centuries later the fabric
reared by Cjrus was destroyed by his successors
and a Greek dominion was set up, that Hebrew-
Chaldee document was turned into Greek by the
LXX. at Alexandria. The Greek was then the
practical Bible of the world, until another language
prevailed in another empire, which had subdued
Greece. The Latins then had need of the Bible,
and the Vulgate was the gift of Providence for the
Western world, which sufficed for a thousand years.
Another civilization, another language, is now
superseding the Latin ; and the Anglo- Saxon
Bible has its Divine Work before it, for a world
destined to know our English more widely than
Hebrew, Chaldee, or Greek, or Latin, was ever
known. Let us not fear our position with His
Revelation and His Word which God has given
us.

The long loss of the language of paradise — the

284 Minor Notes.

loss of the language and character of the ante-
diluvian or Himyaritic tribes — the loss of the words
or writing of Noah, Abraham, and his sons — the
loss of the dialect of Moses — and the putting of all
the traditions of truth, and all former Scriptures,
at length into the type of the Chaldees, three or
four centuries before Christ — instead of being a
difficulty, is the impregnable defence which God
has cast up against difficulties. Instead of putting
us at the mercy of criticism, it absolutely defies
criticism. It says to every man of courage, con-
science, and faith — this record, exactly such as it
now is, is God's record, and must show itself
Divine enough, under all circumstances, to reach
you now with its message ; and if it cannot do
this it cannot reach you at all.

And this is the triumph of Eevelation : it speaks
for itself noiv.

Anyhow, it must be wrong to attempt to close
our eyes to the real state of the case ; it shows an
inward distrust, which is dishonoming to the
sacred cause which we profess to love.

Page 6. Doubts as to the state of the Hebrew
text are boldly urged not only by Bellarmine {De
Verho Dei, ii.) and Morinus {Exerc. de Heh. et
Grce. i. 3), but by Melchior Canus {Loc. Th. v.)

Minor Notes. 285

and other leading Eoman controversialists of the
time. (And see Houbigant's Proleg.)

Page 7. Dr. Owen's Exercitationes Aj^olo-
geticcB Qiiatuor are still worth careful reading;
and also his two English treatises on the Di\ine
original of Scripture, and the integrity and purity
of the text. They will all be found in vol. xvi.
of Messrs. Clark's excellent reprint of Owen's
works. In the prefatory note of the editor the
remark of Chalmers is referred to.

The two treatises of Mr. Bates and Mr. Comings
in the following century in opposition to Hen-
nicott are more rare. Professor Fitzgerald's book
(1796) was published in Dublin, and may easily
be had.

Page 8. Mr, Bates, the ardent defender of Mr.
Hutchinson's philosophy, as the " Principia of
Moses," explains himself thus :

"No man living ever gave one reason why the
veracity of Scripture was not as much concerned to
speak the truth of things that are the objects of
our senses, as well as when it speaks of those that
are not so. In relating of common discourses it
is true the Scripture, as well as any other history,
must be writ in the dialect of the speaker. But

-286 Mmo7- Notes.

why Moses, when he Avrote a formal account of the
creation, and enumerates the works of God, and
tells us the use and design of each particular, must
give us .... a false account, puzzles me," &:c.
He also repudiates with indignation the idea "that
Moses and the Prophets wrote ad captum vidgi.'''
— Philosophical Principles of Moses asserted, &c.,
p. 3. ; ed. 1744.)

Page 13. The "fortunate German" here re-
ferred to, M. Tischendorf, has doubtless succeeded
in persuading a considerable number of literary men
that his " Sinaitic MS." is genuine, and it may be
so. Dr. Simonides, at the meeting of the Eoyal
Society of Literatm-e, however, offered to prove in
the presence of Sir H. Madden that he had written it
and could v;rite another. Judging from the evidence
on the subject of the genuineness of the Tischen-
dorf MS., as given in the journals of the day, one
would be sorry to accept as "Divine Revelation"
any documents as yet so imperfectly established.
But if in the 19th century there may be such un-
certainty, has the ordinary scholar any security
that MSS. of the 15th or 11th century, or earlier,
were better attested ? Let the inquirer who is
determined to satisfy himself personally about every-
thing see what his position really is.

Minor Notes. 287

Page 14. It is surely to be regretted that so
little eflbrt has been made to explore the monas-
teries of the East by something like authority. If
the statements made by Greeks who sometimes
visit us have the least truth in them, we are allow-
ing much ancient ecclesiastical literature to perish.

Page 15. St. Jerome's words are weU known,
in reference to the Latin Scriptures, " tot enim
sunt exemplaria paene quot codices." {InPref. SS.
Quatuor Evang.) But the sort of diversities which
he refers to may be seen in his epistle Ad Swiniav
ef Fraielam.

Page 18. The " Discussions " on the language
spoken by our Lord, in Mr. Roberts's very in-
teresting volume, are worthy of far more notice
than they have yet secured. They enable the
reader at least to see the real difficulty of the
subject.

Two exceptions may perhaps be taken to the
statement that the Epistles do not recognise the
existence of the Gospels. The first is — the passage
used by St. Paul, " The labourer is worthy of his
hire." (1 Tim. v. 18, compared with St. Luke x.
7 ; and St. Matt. x. 10.) If any one prefers to
think St. Paul to be here quoting St. Luke as

288 Minor A'otes.

Scripture, there may be no great objection to his
holding that very doubtful opinion ; the proverb,
however, is twice used by the Evangelists, with the
change of the word rpo<^rj<; in St. Matthew to /j,ia6ov
in St. Luke, the former in the mission of the Twelve,
the latter in the sending forth of the Seventy.
St. Paul uses fjna-dov. The sentence is, however,
a Rabbinical proverb founded on the law of labour
in Israel — though there is no such exact text in
the Old Testament.

The probability seems to be that it is a quo-
tation of a known proverb, alike in St. Matthew,
St. Luke, and St. Paul. — See St. James v. 4 ;
Jerem. xxii. 13 ; Malachi iii. 5.

The other exception is the passage in 1 Cor. xv.
3, 4, in which it is said twice over that Christ
died, and rose the third day " according to the
Scriptures." No direct prophecy in the Old Tes-
tament can be quoted to that effect. If the Gos-
pels were in existence when St. Paul wrote to the
Corinthians, he may have alluded of course to their
statements of the Crucifixion and Eesurrection.
Possibly, however, this reiteration " according to
the Scriptures," which we insert in the Nicene
Creed, may have been added as a gloss in later
days. Its double form looks like this. But every
one may form his own opinion in such a matter.

Minor Noh'.s. -289

Page 22. For a brief account of the " Patri-
archs of the West," and of the "Princes of the
Captivity," the reader may be referred to Miknan's
" History of the Jews," vol. iii. (early edition.)
There is also an excellent paper in the " Christian
Remembrancer" of 1862.

Page 2G. The Jews not only used the LXX.
but adopted Greek prayers in their synagogue — so
far had they departed, in the provinces of the
Roman Empire, from much of their Hebrew tra-
dition which survived the capti^dty. The hiatus
between the Hebrew of the present and of the
past thus becomes wider. See the Talmud of
Jerus. Sota, 21. b., referred to by Renan, Lrs
Apotres, p. 65.

Page 40. St. Jerome's testimony to this entire
loss of the Hebrew character is most unequivocal.
It as much perished as the writing of the Antedi-
luvians. God Himself wrote on the first tables of
stone, but that writing was never read by Israel ;
for it was broken at once through Israel's sin.
And what Moses wrote was in a character which
has passed away. (S. Jer., Prol. ad Sam., and
the testimony of Elias Levita in Buxtorf's Ti-
5.)

290 Mi7ioy Notes.

Page 50. The Fragment of Muratori has been
well printed in Mr. Westcott's excellent book on
the Canon of the New Testament. It is difficult
to assign to it so early a date as that proposed ;
but of this scholars must judge for themselves.
This is not the place to discuss it.

Page 79. The absolute non-existence of the
popular Protestantism in the early ages of Chris-
tianity is forcibly exhibited in Newman's " Roman-
ism and Popular Protestantism."

Page 80. The state of religious feeling among
the Anglo-Saxon masses, here, and in America
and in our colonies, cannot be better illustrated than
by the following extracts from the vigorous pamphlet
of one of the Church's ablest parish priests. It is
so common to hear men speak of "the good"
done by the Wesleyan Revival of the last century,
that the truth should not be suppressed :

" The notions generally entertained of religion
are very vague. The common idea is, that a
lightning-flash of conviction and conversion will
some day renovate their whole being ; they expect
to hear something that will work a miraculous
change in them, will make that a pleasure which is
now irksome, will cause that to be loved and

Minor Notes. 291

followed which is now disliked and avoided ; till
that day comes they can only pray for its arrival,
and they feel it to he a duty to attend a place of
Avorship that they may be in the way of hearing
what is to effect the mighty cure. We can scarcely
wonder that with such notions they discharge this
duty very indifferently. This seems to be the
state of mind to which the religious teaching of the
last generation has brought them, this the melan-
choly effect upon this generation of that sectarian
revival in the last, of which we are apt to speak in
terms of praise and gi'atitude. With such con-
victions it is not to be wondered at that churches
and meeting-houses are alike neglected, and in
that part of London with which I am best ac-
quainted this is the case. Sunday markets are
thronged, not because the poor are compelled to
go there through not receiving their weekly earn-
ings till late on Saturday, — for wages are now
generally paid on Friday or at mid- day on Satur-
day,— but because marketing finds them amuse-
ment."

And a little further on we have the two folloA^-ing
most truthful and graphic passages : —

" There is one influence which, so far as my ob-
servation reaches, is of almost unmixed mischief,
the ill consequences of which we are sometimes

292 Minor Notes.

made to feel — I mean that of city missionaries.
So far as my loiowledge extends, these missionaries
are sent into the parishes where the clergy are
most active, and their mission is to oppose the
Church's work where it is efficient, not to supple-
ment it where it is defective. — I knew one remark-
able illustration of this, a few years since. Two
city missionaries were mthdrawn from a parish in
which secular occupation absorbed a good deal of
the time of the incumbent, and where there was
frequently no curate, and were sent to labour in
two adjoining parishes, where the clergy, of diffe-
rent schools of opinion, took excellent care of their
people. — The evil they inflict is this, they turn
aside those who were being led to think more
seriously of their spiritual state. They dog the
footsteps of the clergy, they instil doubts about
their orthodoxy or their earnestness, and so they
lead some to draw back who otherwise might have
been brought to take Christ for their Master.
With an offensive pretence of neutrality, they really
do their best to undermine the Church's teaching,
and, in my opinion, their work is productive of
almost unmixed evil."

And again :

"I was sent for, late one evening, to see a man
who evidently had not many hours to live. His

Minor Notes. 293

tone was exultant beyond wliat I had ever heard.
So far from being afraid to die, he hailed the
approach of death with joy, as being for him the
certain admission into Paradise. He had not a
doubt about his own state ; but when I examined
him about the ground on which his confidence was
builded, it did indeed seem without foundation.
He had been in the employ of a greengrocer for
years ; his Sunday mornings had been occupied at
the shop, he was then too tired to attend any place
of public worship ; the same was his condition with
respect to private prayer after his daily toil. So
far as I could make out, he never prayed, never
studied his Bible, never went to church." — {From
the Rev. Robert Gregory, M.A., on the Organi-
zation of Metropolitan Parishes.)

Page 91. Dr. Hessey's Bampton Lectures,
whether we agree with his view or not, will veiy
amply supply to any inquirer the key to the whole
modern literature, and much of the ancient, as to
the " Sabbath." — Mr. James's Four Sermons may
also be mentioned.

Page 108. It is obvious that the Literary diffi-
culty in ascertaining the authenticity and genuine-
ness of the Old Testament is very leniently dealt

X

•294 Minor Not<j>^.

Avith, when we give the literary believer the benelit
of the fact that all our Hebrew Scriptures come
to us now, de facto, as oue collection. If we push
the argument, however, to its legitimate limits, we
must ask of the rejector of the Church's position a
clear account of each book of the Hebrew Scrip-
tures, by itself.

No one can read the late criticisms, both
(lerman and Dutch, with which M. Renan is
making the French reader familiar, without per-
ceiving the impossibility of modern Enghsh ortho-
doxy shutting its eyes to the progress of Literary
Christianity, if Christianity it may be still called.
But no more urgent reason than this can be
found for showing at once that our own reli-
gious position as Churchmen is beyond the reach
of such attacks ; and this is what our present
argument does, and no other argument even at-
tempts it.

The following table will somewhat more defi-
nitely suggest the nature of the task which the
Literary Christian undertakes when he demands a
critical foundation for the Divine ^vord.

Minor Notes.

295

The Book and its
Subject.

Date and
Anthorskip.

Its Language, and

first asijcct to us.

The Literai-y
Believer's Duty
concerning it.

Genesis — Records
the creation ; the
early genealogies ;
the deluge ; the sub-
sequent peopling of
the world ; and the
history of Abra-
ham's family to the
death of his great-
grandson Joseph.
(2316 yc;<rs)

Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers. Deute-
RONOMy, — Record
the Hebrew genea-
logies to the time of
Moses; and then the
history of Israel to
the death of that
lawgiver, including
the laws he gave.
(120 years)

Joshua, Judges,

Ruth,— Record the
story of Israel from
the death of Moses
to the birth of the
father of David.
(300 years)

Books of Samuel, They all refer to

Kings, and Chroni- many lost docu-

CLEs, — Record the ments: are all ano

story of Israel from nymous : nor do they

the beginniucs of say when, or how,

the house of David written,
to the end of the
captivity. (560 years)

Ezra, Nehemiah, Es- But they do not

THER,— Contain the profess to have been

history of Israel as written by them, nor

connected v ith ! under Divine inspi-

those personages, ration,
(150 years).

It does not say
when it was written,
nor by whom, nor
whether bj' Divine
inspiration. And in
what character it was
first expressed, we
have no means of
knowing.

These books claim
to have been -wTitten,
in part at least, by
Moses ; and to be au-
thorized by him ge-
nerally : but we know
not in what cha-
racter.

They do not saj-
by whom they were
written, nor when,
nor whether by in-
spiration, or by com-
mand of God. They
refer at times to lost
documents.

It appears first in
its present form 1200
years subsequent to
the latest of the
events which it re-
cords : all re-wrilten,
uniformly, in a cha-
racter comparatively
modern.

They first appear
in their present form
about lUUO years sub-
sequent tothe death
of Moses : and in the
same character as
Genesis.

These books first
appear in their pre-
sent form about 700
years after the latest
of the events which
they record: and in
the same character
as the preceding.

The Literary Chris-
tian must ascertain
the bistoi'ical con-
nection between this
book as found by
the post-Babylonian
Jews, and the docu-
ments as first ■WTit-
ten: and then the
connection between
those documents and
the times to which
they refer.

The Literary Chris-
tian has to connect
each book, so found,
with the original do-
cuments, and esta-
blish the authenticity
and genuineness.

The Literary Chris-
tian must show the
links which connect
the existing books
with the past, during
those 700 years, and
then the authorshij)
of the original do-
cuments, spreading
over 300 years, before
that.

These books also j The Literary Chris-
appear first in their i tian here has a simi-
present form 100 j lar task to the pro-
years after the latest | ceding,
events recorded.

They were proba-
bly written in the
same character as
that which now is
called " Hebrew."

The Literary be-
liever has only to
satisfy himself as to
their authorship, au-
thenticity, and genu-
ineness.

296

Minor Notes.

1

The Book and its
Subject.

Date and

Anthorship.

Its Language and
first aspect to us.

The Literar_\
Believer's Duty
concerning it.

Job. — A personal his-
tory of one who
lived in the land of
Uz.

Psalms. — A great
many of them were
compo.'ed appa-
rently for religious
use: partly in the
temple service and
partly in personal
devotions.

Proverbs, Ecclesi-
ASTE8, Canticles.
— These all claim
to be sacred, di-
dactic, and mys-
tical ;

Isaiah. — Written to
warn and guide Ju-
Jah, Israel, and the
nations in contact
with them : in the
days of Uzziah, Jo-
tham, Ahaz, and
Hezbkiah.

Jeremiah, Lamenta-
tions, EZEKIEL,
Daniel. — Pertain-
ing to the times of
the captivity.

The twelve " Minor
Prophets." — These
extend over the his-
tory of Israel from
the times of Elisha
to the building of
the second temple.
(300 years).

Anonymous : and It only now exists
apparently first writ- in a transcript many
ten by some one who centuries later than
knew Job and his the original,
friends. It does not |
profess to be i
spired.

The titles are
not ancient, and the
authorship frequent-
ly aijpears uncertain.
But most of them
appear written by
David or Asaph.

And to be ^\Titten
by Solomon nearly a
1000 years before
Christ.

Not all ^^Titton at
one time : nor all
professing to be ■nTit-
ten by one person :
a series of visions
and teachings all
claiming to be Di-
vinely inspired, and
some of them 750
years before our era.

Written, or vouch-
ed for, apparently by
the liNTiters whose
naines they bear ;
and claiming inspi-
ration.

They all proclaim
their own insijiration
and their author-
ship.

Collected and ar-
ranged 600 years after
Da-s-id's death in their
present form.

But we only pos-
sess them in the
same character as the
preceding books — the
unpointed Chaldeeof
the fifth century be-
fore Christ.

The book as we
possess it now is in
the Chaldee type ;
nor do we know who
transcribed it from
the writing of the
prophet.

They were first
added to the Sacred
Books in the time of
Ezra.

But we possess
them only as one
book, in one tj-pe,
and with very little
variety of language,
(if we omit the mo-
dem Masora).

Its origines should
be discovered by the
Literary believer.

Of the Literary be-
liever, we ask the
origines.

We ask. What is
their previous lite-
rary history ?

To determine the
origines of these pro-
phecies must be all-
important to tlie Li-
terary believer.

In what form they
first appeared, or
were adopted, the li-
terati must decide.

Here, too, there is
arduous work for the
Literary believer.

Minor Noten. 297

Now the Churchman has none of these diffi-
culties. While he is quite ready to benefit by any
one's critical discoveries, and to join very heartily
in them, he knows that the Divine Word stands
for itself,' speaks for itself, has its evidence for
itself, and its interpretation in the Church from
age to age. Whatever be man's judgment of any
part of the letter used by the Spirit, the truth
taught to patriarchs, prophets, apostles, saints,
and doctors, comes uniformly to the Church from
Him who may at any time use the weakest
things of our human literature to confound things
mightiest; yea, and "things that are not, to
bring to nought the things that are." Thus " all
things are ours," whether they be of Moses or any
other Prophet — or of Paul, or ApoUos, or Cephas,
or even of the world ; things past, or present, or to
come — "all are ours," for we are Christ's
Church, and Cheist is God's.

Page 109. It is surprising that the considera-
tions suggested in this paragraph should not abate
the confidence of critics who in our day still dog-
matise respecting the "style," and "internal
evidence," &c., i.e. the grammatical archaeology,
as it may be termed, of the Old Testament He-
brew.— To give an example: The prophet Jonah

298 Minor Notes.

lived in the reign of Jeroboam II., that is, b. c.
804 ; and the modern critics Ewald, Geseuius, De
Wett, Hitzig, and others, " judging from the
style," regard the Book of Jonah as one of the
latest in the Canon : but Ewald assigns it to the
fifth century before Cheist ! Hitzig says the time
of the Maccabees ! — It is to be hoped that some
■\vlio speculate on " the later style of Deutero-
nomy" may be taught to hesitate even yet.

Page 114. The Jewish Comicil of 300 Rabbis
for the discussion of the claims of Christianity
was held, after some previous debates, at Ageda
abou^ thirty leagues from Buda in Hungary, in
1650.

Pages 132, 133. Mr. Harcourt's book entitled
" The Doctrine of the Deluge ;" and the " Revolu-
tions de la Mer, Deluges Periodiques : (•2nd ed.)
Paris, Par M. J. Adhemar ; " and " Periodicity
des Grands Deluges resultant du mouvement gra-
duit de la ligne des apsides de la Terre : The-
orie prouvee par le faits Geologiques, Par M. Le
Capitaiue Le Hon," &c., are the books here re-
ferred to.

Pages 1Z5. 136. Something may be needed

Minor Note's. 299

in this place to suggest the kind of difficulty to be
overcome before the opponents of Scripture can
bring any objection against it in connection with
the numbers and chronology of the Old Testament.
Let any one who would have a brief view of this
subject, occupy himself for an hour over the article
in Rees' Cyclopaedia, "Notation," and he will
appreciate the case. Probably before the use of
writing, the memoriter notation was far from
uniform. Numbers not actually conceived by the
mind and known by experience, would often be
but a kind of natural logarithms, if it may be so
said, or relations of quantities.

The Bible chronology, so far as it depends on
generations, (rather than numbers in the modern
sense), agi-ees, as Mr. Greswell has shown, with
the results of all the Primitive Calendars, as far as
ascertained. Thei'e are no Calendars which reach
back to the time of Moses — probably none older
than the Babylonian captivity. The Arundel
marbles (sixty years after Alexander the Great)
do not notice the Olympiads. The less than
second-hand authorities of Berosus or Manetho
can help but little in the matter of chrono-
logy-. The history of Chaldea, even if we had
it, as compiled by the former, and the history of
Egypt taken by the latter from records at Memphis

300 Miliar Notes.

and Thebes, bear date about the same time as the
Septuagint.

Eratosthenes, the libiariau of Alexandria in the
reign of Ptolemy Euergetes, began a great work on
Chronology, and part of it is referred to by Clemens
Alex, in the Stromata : but it is lost.

Even in reckoning up what are called " years "
in some authors, there is difficulty in ascertaining
the exact sense at times. M. Gribert (says Rees)
shows from Macrobius, Eudoxus, Varro, Diodorus
Siculus, Pliny, Plutarch, and Augustin, that "year"
frequently means some planetary revolution, and
sometimes a "Day."

Page 160. Conchiding Note. There are some
persons to whom an illustration of the two an-
iagonistic views of Scripture — really the only two
logically conceivable — may bring the truth more
near than all the arguments which have been, or
perhaps can be, employed. At the risk of tedious-
ness, let us finally state these two views once more ;
then the illustration proposed.

I. The Puritan or literary hypothesis is, that
the Scriptures should be received after reasonable
investigation into their claims, and a thoughtful
judgment of their contents.

II. The Catholic proposition is, that the Sacred

Mhior Noics. 801

Scripture always has been, now is, and must be,
received by Faith, and has a divinity in it which
warrants such reception.

Let us look, then, at the Gospel of St. John, as
a portion of Holy Scripture, first as Literary Puri-
tans ; and next as Catholic Christians : — taking-
some MS. in the former case, and any Church
version in the latter, as, for instance, the Syriac
of the second century in the London Polyglott, or
]\Ialan's thirteen versions, or the English.

I. As Literary Puritans then we take an ancient
(ireek MS. of this Gospel, say, for example, that
which has lately been so beautifully and learnedly
edited by Mr. Scrivener, and which has been with
some a fixvourite, the well-known '' Codex Bezas."

Beza obtained it, if we may trust his statement,
from the monastery of S. Irenteus at Lyons ; and
Irenaeus was a Saint of the second centmy, and
Bishop there. The monastery founded in that city
long after his death may have had some precious
documents of the faith, and the Lyonese, we re-
member, had been zealous confessors and martyrs.
But what are the links which connect that " Codex
Beza3"with the Church of Lyons, or any early times?
Who was Beza, in the first place ?- — and had he anj^
ground for thinking this Codex to be primitive ?

302 Minor Notes.

Beza was cliaplaiu to the Huguenot army at the
battle of Dreux, aucl mentions this MS., twenty-
years afterwards, as haAdng been taken possession
of by himself, when tiie Huguenots sacked the
monastery of S. Irenans at Lyons. Beza's career
was not, as a whole, such as to induce us to
confide in him, except as a scholar of a certain
measure of merit. Born in 1519, his early life
was certainly not worth recording ; in 1548, how-
ever, he married his mistress, and was appointed
professor at Lausanne, where he continued some
ten years. His works became somewhat miscel-
laneous, but were greatly of a polemical cast.
Thus his tragi-comedy of the sacrifice of Isaac,
and his defence of the burning of Servetus by
Calvin (1553), were followed by his new version of
the Psalms and the New Testament. He was
made j)astor at Geneva, but eventually returned to
France, and was elected, (so highly was he now
esteemed), to be President of the Sjmod at Pto-
chelle in 1571. His wife, the companion of his
varied fortunes, died when he was in his seventieth
year, and he then re-married ; and at length died,
at the advanced age of eighty-six, in the year
1605, ])ursuing to the last his zealous course as a
Reformer.

We find but little in this career to connect Beza

Minor Notes. 303

with Ecclesiastical antiquity, or give weight to iiis
opiuion of the primitive value of this " Codex,"
which he does not seem to have tested at all. We
have to compare the document then with other old
MSS. and go through all the investigation of the
subject for ourselves ; till at length we find that
the material for the minute and exact criticism of
the original of the text of S. John entirely fails.
And we arrive at' the fact, which some might have
told us at the outset of our inquiry, that the origin
of this Gospel cannot he critically traced in the
first century, and that if we will not take the book
as the Chm-ch gives it, and accept it as speaking for
itself, we must suspend our judgment.

But how that Gospel, mth all its wondrous dis-
courses, came into existence at all we cannot find,
on our literary Puritan hj-pothesis; neither Beza's,
nor any other MS. vnW- bring us to any critical
conclusion.

0

II. Let us next attempt to realise the Catholic
proposition, and see the Catholic way of dealing
with this same part of the Divine Word.

This Gospel of St. John, as first met with any-
where among Christians, professes to have been
written as sufficient to lead men to the faith of
Chkist (ch. XX. 31). It is remarkable, however,

304 Minor Xotes.

how very little it tells us of the actual history of
our Master. The Annunciation, the Nativity in
Bethlehem, the Circumcision, the Epiphany, the
Temptation, the calling of the Twelve, the Mission
of the Seventy, the Transfiguration, the Ascension
— nay even the institution of the Last Supper, and
the Commission to Baptise in the name of the
Trinity, — are not noticed by St. John's Gospel.
Yet no one can deny that it puts forth the loftiest
claims for " Jesus the Son of God." It consists
very largely of Discourses pronounced by Him, in
Capernaum and Jerusalem, more than a hundred
years before the Christian Church as a body seems
to have possessed them ; for the Peschito, the
earliest of the versions, must be much more than
a century later than the ascension of Christ.

Where had been those marvellous Discourses of
Him, who is proclaimed Incarnate God, during all
that hundred years ? Had eleven apostles indeed
heard them as He spake them ? Yet no one, not
even SS. Matthew or Luke, wrote them, appa-
rently, for at least a generation. St. John alone
recorded them, it is thought by most critics, sixty
or seventy years after they were uttered ; but there
is no contemporary document of that date, nor even
for many years later, in which they are found to be
referred to. Those marvellous words — so unlike

Minor Notes. 305

all that had been known, or that is now known in
all literature — those words so suitable to the high,
claims made for om- Mastee, so contrasting with
the best of Hebrew or Greek philosophy, so ar-
resting to aU who have read them, (while Plato
and Philo have passed away) — those words of God
(e. g. ch. xiv. to xvii. of this Gospel) — must have
lived, if at all, as traditions only, for a period of
about seventy years. Has it been suggested, that
St. John or any one then on earth was capable of
so impersonating Incarnate God as to vrriie for
Him such words ? No ; to compare those words
wdth any human writing that had ever been kno\\Ti,
is to decide the case. As we contemplate them,
we are conscious that the}^ are different from every-
thing else — as different as if some hand had come
forth alone, to write them for ever on the walls of
the invisible palace of the Spirit of Truth, " the
Church of the living God."

And there is no record that the Primitive Church,
when this Gospel of St. John appeared, " examined
its claims," " sifted its authorship," " debated the
consistency" and reality of its statements, or an}^
thing of the kind. No : it was felt at once. The
first thing we find is that a Society calling itself
the Christian Church received this Gospel as
Divine ; — and we know that that Church has done

506 Minor Notes.

so for these 1700 years since, and feels that Gospel
now, through all her millions who have learned
" to believe in God and believe also in Jesus,"
with "hearts not troubled" and hopes unshaken
as to "the mansions prepared" for all believers
in " our Father's House."

Now our proposition is, that that is the way,
and the only way, of receiving Divine Revelation.
It is the way of Faith, the way of the Catholic
Church — the Church of the Creeds, the Priest-
hood, and the Sacraments.

( 307 )

May it please Iiii\r, of wliosc j^'lorious Word wc
have spoken in the foregoing pages, to grant
that the eyes of some Avho read may be opened
to see what has been really demonstrated, that
His Revelation is by His ordering, entirely above
the 2^ossihle touch of the literary criticism of men,
who will be judged for accepting or rejecting it,
" in that Day." (St. John xii. 48.) His " Light
has shined in darkness," and in His " Light we
may see light," if we close not our eyes. His
Spirit has breathed "as it hath listed," and we
may hear the sound thereof if we will, though wc
*' cannot tell whence it cometh nor whither it
goetli." His Divine Word and its Divine Mean-
ing abide in His Church, and in His Church alone,
for ever. The " Communion of His saints " in all
ages 'has possessed His truth, the letter and the
meaning, the heavenly vision and the interpreta-
tion ; and that Truth is ours, if, having been bap-
tised into Him, we abide in that Communion to
the end.

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