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1
2
3
1 2 3
4 5 6
CHRISTIANITY,
AND SOME OF ITS EVIDENCES
All AfldreM delivered in Knox Church, Woodstock, Oxjord County,
28rd October, 1S90, at the request of the Society oj Christian
Evdtaror, and since revi>fed.
T-
t'
Christianity,
AND
Some of ita lEvi&cncea.
Bn B^^rc00
BY
The Hon. OLIVER MOWAT,
PRKMTKR OK ONTARIO.
^ubliftljeb bit ^^yccitxi Hfitucet.
Toronto :
WILLIAMSON & COMPANY.
1890.
C.3
KiiU'ivd accmdiim to Act of I'luiiament of Canada, in the .\car one thousand
eitrht hundri'd and ninety, liy Wilua.msox & C'(l.MI'A^•^, at the Department
of Atrneuhure.
k>^
PR1NTKI) ItY
ni'NTKH, ItOHK. <Sl CO.
TORONTO.
■JIN
' A*«-.'»
'J(h
CHRISTIANITY
AND SOME OF ITS EVIDENCES.
¥ Christianity is true, the importance of
accepting it as true is unutterably great.
It claims to be a Revelation to us from
the Creator and Governor of the Universe,
the Supreme God ; through Jesus Christ, de-
scribed as the Son of God. God's only begot-
ten Son, by whom He made the worlds and all
they contain. If this claim is well founded, the
acceptance of the Revelation is a matter of the
L*<4 highest possible duty and interest. Not to accept it
would obviously be rebellion against the Almighty,
and the saddest of all possible mistakes which a
man could make against himself, and against the
loved ones whom his mistake might influence.
OCCASION OF THE LECTURE.
In early life I studied the Evidences of Christi-
anity very earnestly, and with all the care of which
I was capable, and came to the conclusion that Chris-
II
wm
IM
6
dividtianitu,
tianity was no cunningly devised fable, but was very
truth. In particular, Paley's Evidences of Chris-
tianity and Keith on the Fulfilment of Prophecy ap-
peared to me to as nearly as possible demonstrate the
principal positions which these authors undertook to
establish. Since then much has been thought and
written on both sides of the question ; many anti-
Christian publications for the learned and unlearned
have issued from the press ; and extensively circulat-
ed newspapers and magazines, on both sides of the
Atlantic, contain from time to time articles or para-
graphs referring to Christian doctrines in an anti-
Christian spirit, or treating Christianity itself as an
exploded fable. I therefore became anxious, for my
own satisfaction as well as for other reasons, to con-
sider the whole subject anew, before my intellectual
faculties should begin to show diminished vigor,
and with whatever advantage half a century of
mental training in the discharge of judicial, profes-
sional and legislative duties may have given to me.
On so momentous a subject it is most important to
know as far as we can know the exact truth, and to
be in a position to give a reason for our faith. Hav-
ing made some progress in this new investigation
before leaving home this year for a few weeks
I \
^K
wm
■ r
rtn^ «ontc of lt» <*5t>lbcttcc». 7
of rest tand recuperation among the mountains
of New Hampshire, I took with me my books, in
order that in quiet there I might continue the Htud)^
My plan in reading was, to make extracts and notes
of statements and points, pro and con, which I
thought deserved special remembrance or fur-
ther thought. It was customary at the hotel to
have an afternoon Sunday service for the guests
and employees. This service was usually con-
ducted by a distinguished clergyman from Wash-
ington, the principal of Howard University there.
On the last Sabbath of my sojourn the learned
doctor had been called away to preach else-
where, and the manager requested one or other of
the lay guests to assist in providing some substitute
for the u-sual service. After consideration, and as
nothing more satisfactory could be arranged, 1 threw
into the form of a lecture some of my extracts and
notes which showed part of the Christian side of the
evidential controversy ; and this lecture I gave with
some acceptance to the accustomed Sunday after-
noon audience, in connection with a service of song
conducted by others. It is this lecture, somewhat
revised, and with additions since made, that I give
to you to-night, at the request of the Young People's
Society of Christian Endeavor.
(»rhvlfttianit«»
My IlcIuiu at "liiuezy Hill Hoii.se," in New
HainiKshire, was my larewell to a pleasant place and
pleasant jieople, never seen before. My lecture here
is but an incident in happy relations which have
subsisted between myself and North Oxford as re-
I^resentative and constituency for eighteen years,
azid which its people a few months ago did me the
^leat honor of renewing for four years more.
PRESENT STATE OF CllHISTIAN BELIEF.
There never before was a time when so large a
proportion of tlu world's population had faith in
some form of Christianity as is the case now ; never
a time in which there were so many Christian
churches; or in which the Churches had a larger
membership than now ; never a time in which there
was more activity in Christian work ; never a time
in which the contributions to Christian objects at
home and abroad w^ere more lil)eral ; never a time in
which there were so many true and earnest believers ;
an(J never a time in which the active defenders of
Christianity were more able, more learned, more
numerous, or moie earnest. Among the educated
classes of English-speaking Europe and America,
faith in Christianity is far more general in this nine-
^'1
l'm^ »ontc of it^ C»*xiibcncco.
0
teenth century tlian it was in the ei-rliteenth, and is
more general to-day than it was .ifty years ai^o.
I read lately in one of our Ontario journals an esti-
mate taken from the New York Kvanijelist, and
prepared, it was said, with much lahorand care, to
the effect that in the Uijited States durino the last
year there had been an increase of over a million
(1,089,853) church members ; more than 4,800
(4,8G7) ministers; and mere tlian 8/^00 (8,494)
churches. There has be:3n a l?'-n-c increase in all
thes: particulars in Canada also, though 1 have
not the exact figures. By tlio last Dominion
census of Canada, 1881, it appears that out of
a population of 4,324,810, 2,(134 only were re-
turned as having no religion ; and nearly all
the rest were returned as })rofessing some form
of Christianity. I may add that 1 am not aware
of one organized society of either agnostics or infidels
in the whole Dominion, exce])t Toronto ; and I know
of but one avowedly anti-Christian journal, and
this journal does not pay the expenses of its pro-
duction, and for want of suppoit may soon die, as
I believe some former ventures diil.
But while all this is so, still bovond all doubt there
are unbelievers scattered amongst Canadians every-
10
(ii:i|xt»tianity,
I
where, as well us among all cli«ses of society in Eu-
rope and the United States ; and among both the
learned and the unlearned. No doubt some of these
unbelievei's lure and elsewhere are so because they
do not want Christianity to be true ; but that is not
the explanation of unbelief in all cases. Some dis-
believe because they honestly think, and may even
regret to tliink, that some objections against Chris-
tianity are stronger than the arguments in its favor.
Probably all of us know unbelievers who in their
social relations are upright, genial and benevolent ;
and whose lives generally are, to humar\ obser\ ation,
as irreproachable as those of average Christians. So
in classic history, we read of some non-Christians
wlio appear, as regards conduct and !>pirit, to have
been " almost Christians ; " and there are in the pre-
sent age writers who msimtain " an adverse position
towards the truth of our religion," and yet of wdiom
so eminent a defender of Christianity as Archdeacon
Farrar speaks as " men who have deepened our love
for all that is gieat in conduct and pure in thought,
and who in their stainless lives and noble utterances
give the unconscious testimony of minds ' naturally
Christian ;' " an ex})ression for which Tertullian is
quoted. Christians must profoundly regret that
atx"^ svo^nc of its ®xtibcncc»»
11
M
such men as these have not the like precious faith in
Christianity as Christians have ; and that they are
natural Christians only, or almost Christians only,
and are not altogether Christians.
It is proper to remember that for none of us here
is the (question one between the Christian religion
and some other. For us the paganism of the Greeks
and Romans is nothing ; for us Confucianism is noth-
ing' ; Brahminism is nothing ; Buddhism is nothing ;
Zoroastrianism is nothing ; Mohammedanism is noth-
ing ; and every other cult is nothing. If Christian-
ity is a delusion, the whole human race is, and has
been always, without a true religion ; men know
nothing of the world of spirits ; nothing of the rela-
tions between God and man ; the protection which
relio-ion has heretofore afforded to morality and
order is at an end ; and the whole subject of a future
life is in thick darkness.
BENEFICIAL INFLUbNCES OF CHRISTIAN ITV.
It is to be remembered, also, that, from even the
standpoint of earth and time, faith in Christianity
is not to be hastily rejected ; that faith in it is in the
interest of the human race as regards even this world ;
is in the interest ot civilisation ; in the interest of
12
(thvistti unity,
honesty, truthfulness, purity and benevolence ; in
the inteie.st of all the virtues which make life happy.
For Chi'istianity adds to all other considerations for
leading a good life, incentives, influences and helps
of its own, and these the most powerful imaginable.
Oonsidei" in this view what are some of its
PIIIN'CU'AL DOCTRINES.
An all-seeing and all-observing God ; a God of
infinite love; an infinite and lovinix Saviour; im-
mortality ; a heaven, and a hell ; heaven, with its
gradations of blessedness, as appears from the par-
able of the talents and other Scriptural statements,
but with blessings so great for those who love God
tliat we are told : " Eye hath not seen nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man, the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him;"
and hell, with its gradations of suffering, as there are
gradations of wickedness, where some may receive
few stripes, and some many, and where it n^ay be
much more tolerable, or less intolerable, for some
than for others, but which is desiixnated as beinof, for
those consigned to it for punishment, a place of fire,
of weeping and gnashing of teeth, of blackness and
darkness — words and expressions which, whether
.'
rtn^ sotitc of its («;i)ibciu*vfi*
13
taken figuratively or literally, or however interpret-
ed, are well fitted to rouse sinning sleepers from
their slee[), if anything could.
Inde])endently of religious motives, it may with
considerable truth be said that honesty is the best
policy ; that truthfulness and kindness and benevo-
lence on our part tend to beget these ([Utilities on
the part of others towards us ; that a virtuous life is
happier than a life that is not virtuous ; that mor-
ality is beautiful; that self-sacrifice is noble, etc.
But all experience shows that without the sanctions
of religion these statements have practical weight
with few. Whatever value they possess is not
excluded by the Christian system or by Chris-
tian doctrine ; but Christianity adds to these w^orld-
ly considerations others infinitely more powerful.
Of these others one
PECULIAR TO CHIIISTIANITY
is its Founder, i. Jesus himself, his Person, his Life,
and his Spirit, as all these are depicted in the New
Testament. In Christian doctrine he is the great
central truth, the great central fact, the fact of facts.
Faith in his teachings ; faith in his own relation to
those teachings; faith in him as the truest, and
14
®hri»tianity,
best, and dearest of friends ; faith that he knew all
he claimed to know, and that he was and is all that
the New Testament writings represent him to be ;
faith in him as God-man, a crucified and risen
Saviour ; who laid down his life for our sins, and
took it again, and who still lives, and still loves ;
who is One with the Father, and with whom, and
with the Father, those who believe, and trust, and
love, and serve, may hereafter dwell everlastingly —
this faith worketh by love ; is fruitful in right-liv-
ing and in all good works ; gives " victory over the
world ; " and (according to evangelical doctrine)
iustifies, sanctifies and saves.
As matter alike of Christian dogma and of actual
experience, to love Christ is to love God the Father,
and to love men everywhere, and to be ready and
eager to do good. The religion of Christ is shown
by experience to be adapted to every race, civilised
and uncivilised, and to every class and condition of
men everywhere. Jesus has had, and still has,
those who love and obey him amongst men in every
stage both of civilisation and barbarism, and in every
part of the known world ; amongst men of the
mightiest intellect and of the lowest ; amongst men
of the highest culture and of the humblest; and
atxh ftomc of \i» (^5ln^cncc&.
15
amongst men who had previously been Hagrant sin-
ners, as well as amongst those who had always lived
decent lives Even unbelievers in him as a sui)er-
human person bow down to him as a man, for his
surpassing spiritual and moral excellences, and for
his surpassing genius also. Whatever they may
sometimes say against the churches or their creeds,
their ministers or their members, most of them have
nothing to say against the great Founder of Christ-
ianity. Of him they feel constrained to declare with
Pilate, "I find no fault in this man." He was the
one perfect man of the human race. Christians be-
lieve that, being so Grand, and Great, and Good, and
Perfect, he was more than man ; that he was the
Lord from Heaven. On this point 1 shall have
more to say hereafter.
The beneficial effect of his religion on those
who receive it is beyond question. It is within
the personal knowledge of every observer that
the best characters are made still better by it, and
that many sunk in vice and degradation have
been reformed and regenerated by its influence.
Examples of this abound in the history of all
Churches, and of all societies established for the
propagation of the Christian I'aith. Many such
Ifi
Clivtfttianitu,
cases liave occuncd imdurthe intiuence ot" tlie religi-
ons oriT^anizations of recent oriirin, as well as those
of oI«ler date; of, for exani})le, Yonni,^ Mens Chris-
tian Associations, Societies of Christian Endeavor,
the Salvation Armv, and the like. As to the Salva-
tion Army, many of its oihcers and leaders are in-
ferior in culture to the clergy of the various denom-
itiations, and yet they have liad wonderful success ;
they make up for inferiority of culture by their
strong faith in the Christian doctrines and their
deep love for the Father and the Son. This fa th
and this love have in all ages been the most effective
weapons, the Armstrong guns and Martini-Henry
rifles, in the warfare against unrighteousness.
The question is : Can it be that this mighty
power for good, which has been active for more than
eighteen centuries, rests on mere fable, and must be
given up ?
NATURE OF THE CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
The evidences of Christianity are of many kinds,
such as — (1) antecedent prophecies claimed to have
been fulfilled in Christ and subsequent history ;
(2) miracles claimed to have been wrought by Christ
and his Apostles ; (3) the character of the teachings
of Christ in connection with the life he lived, the
\-
anh ftmnc M it^ (^5t»l^cncc0.
17
death he died, and his resurrection from the dead,
as together showing him to be Divine ; (4?) the gen-
eral suitability of his religion to the circumstances
and needs of human nature everywhere ; (5) the
active and successful propagation of his religion
after his death under circumstances which could not
have been overcome if the religion had not been
true ; (G) the witness of the Spirit in the heart of
the individual Christian, according to the saying of
Jesus as given by the Apostle John : " If any man
will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine,
whether it be of God, or whether I speak from my-
self;" and (7) some other considerations which may
not come under any of these heads. I can, of course,
refer to some only of these evidences, and to any
but very briefly ; the literature on the subject con-
stitutes a large library, and anything like an ade-
quate presentation of all the evidences requires
many volumes. I shall select for my present state-
ment some of those arguments which just now im-
press most strongly my own mind, and shall notice
two or three of the principal difficulties which some-
times give uneasiness to inquirers.
It is a matter of common observation that, where
there is not some familiarity with the grounds
B
18
®:hvi«itirtnlti5«
uf an intelligent faith, the faith of education is apt
to be disturbed, and doubts are created by objections
which would otherwise have no force. It is with
honest doubters, and honest unbelievers, among ordi-
nary intelligent people, that my lecture has to do.
In these recent readings of mine I have found
that, on the one hand, Christian apologists admit
error in some of the positions of former apologists ;
and, on the other hand, some i)Ositions formerly
taken by anti- Christian writers are to all intents and
purposes abandoned now, and some material things
in the Christian argument formerly controverted
are now admitted by candid non-Christian or un-
orthodox critics. I shall mention to you,
First, what some of those things are which un-
believers and opponents of Christianity now admit ;
and these an ordinary inquirer may reasonably begin
his own investigation with assuming to be correct ;
Secondly, I shall mention Avhat some of the argu-
ments are which support the facts, or alleged facts, of
Christianity as a supernatural religion, and which
are not so admitted.
WHAT OPPONENTS ADMIT.
On the first point, I shall read to you at the start,
as a fair summary of facts, two or three sentences
^gji^ajaitm
an^ «omc of it» C[Bt^i^cncc».
19
I
from the article " Jesus Christ" in the last edition
of that great work, the Encyelopiedia Britannica: —
" From the scanty notices of heathens even, we can
derive a confirmation of the main external facts in
the life of Christ, His miracles, His parables^ His
crucifixion, and His claim to Divine honor; the
devotion, the innocence, the heroic constancy and
mutual affection of His followers, arid the progressive
victories won by His religion in despite of over-
whelming opposition, alike physical and intellectual
. . . . It is remarkable that from intensely em-
bittered Jewish sources, we derive an absolute con-
firmation of — His miracles — His crucifixion — and
even of His innocence — for not a single crime but
that of working miracles by magic, and claiming
Divine honor, is even in these sources laid to His
charge." And again:— "Even the most advanced
sceptic cannot deny that by His life and teaching
He has altered the entire current of human history,
and has raised the standard of human morality."
I shall give you now some illustrations which I
have noted of what is thus asserted, from the testi-
mony of modern sceptics and unbelievers of eminence;
and later on I shall say something of the testimony
of heathens and Jews.
so
ri)vi»tianlt»,
If
I )
The great Napoleon was a sceptic, if not worse,
as was nearly all France in his time. In his place
of banishment from Europe, speaking of Christ to
one of his attendants, he is reported to have made
these ohservations : — " Between him and whoever
else in the world, there is no possible term of com-
parison. I know men, and Jesus Christ is not a
man There is between Christ and all
other religions whatsoever the distance of infinity ;
irom the first day to the last he is the same, always
the same, majestic and simple, infinitely firm and
infinitely gentle."
Rousseau, an infidel of the French revolution, had
previously said, through a fictitious character believ-
ed to have been expressing liis own sentiments :
" If the life and death of Socrates are those of a
sage, the life and death of Jesus are those of a God ;"
a God in some sense, not of course implying that
Rousseau believed Jesus to be God in the Christian
sense.
M. Renan, an infidel writer of the present day,
whose books have been translated into English and
largely circulated in Europe and America, has said
these things of our Lord : " Jesus is unique in every-
thing. Nothing can be compared to Him. . .
atxb siomi? of lt» (•Btilbcncce.
21
The evHiiffelical Christ is the most beautiful incarna-
tion of God in tlie most beautiful of forms— which is
moral man—God in man His beauty
is eternal ; his reign will have no end." Jesus is
" the individual who has made the species take the
greatest step towards; the Divine."
Strauss, the great German Deist, spoke of Jesus
as the highest object we can possibly imagine with
respect to religion, the being without whose presence
in the mind perfect piety is impossible. Again, lie
said : " In all those natures which were only purified
by struggles and violent disruptions (think only of a
Paul, an Augustine, a Luther), the shadowy color of
this remains forever, and something hard and gloomy
clings to them all their lives; but of this in Jesus
no trace is found."
Professor Huxley , the great scientist and agnostic
in a descrii)tion of what he calls " the bright side of
Christianity," speaks of Jesus as " that ideal of man-
hood— with its strength and patience, its justice, and
its pity for human frailty ; its helpfulness, to the ex-
treme of self-sacrifice ; its ethical purity and nobility
— which Apostles have pictured, in which armies of
martyrs have placed their unshakeable faith, and
whence obscure men and women have derived the
courage to rebuke Popes and Kings."
22
(jTllvitftiattiiit)
Idr. Lcchj, the »vell-known English historian, re-
jects the superhuman part of Christianity, and gives,
notwithstanding, this account of our Lord : — " It
was reserved for Christianity to present to the world
an ideal character which, through all the changes of
eighteen centuries, has inspired the hearts of men
with an impassioned love ; has shown itself capable
of acting on all ages, nations, temperaments and con-
ditions ; has been, not only the highest pattern of
virtue, but the strongest incentive to its practice ;
and has exercised so deep an influence that it may
be truly said, the simple record of three short years
of active life has done more to regenerate and to
soften mankind than all the disquisitions of philoso-
phers and all the exhortations of moralists."
Again, the late John Stuart Mill, the author
of most learned and able woiks on logic, po-
litical economy and other subjects, was one of the
most astute of modern unbelievers in supernatural
Christianity ; yet, in his " Essays on Religion," pub-
lished after his death, he speaks of " the beauty,
and benignity, and moral greatness which so emi-
nently distinguished the sayings and character of
Christ." Again, he speaks of " the most valuable
part of the effect on character which Christian-
I
anb ftotuc of lt» OBulbcnccft.
ity has produced " beiii<,' its " holding up in a divine
person a standard of excellence and a model for
imitation ; " that this " can never more be lost to
humanity ;" that " it is the God incarnate " who
*• has taken so great and salutary a hold on modern
minds." Again : " Whatever else may be taken
away from us by rational criticism, Christ is still
left, a unique figure, not more unlike his precursors
than all his followers, even those who had the direct
benefit of his personal teaching. . . . About
the life and sayings of Jesus there is a stamp of per-
sonal originality, combined with profundity of in-
sight, which . . . must place the Prophet of
Nazareth — even in the belief of those who have no
belief in his inspiration — in the very first rank of
men of sublime genius of whom our species can
boast." The learned writer goes on to say that in
Christ " pre-eminent genius is combined with the
([ualities of probably the greatest moral reformer
and martyr to that mission who ever existed upon
earth ; " and he adds that it " would not be easy
for an unbeliever to find a better translation of the
rule of virtue from the abstract into the concrete
than to endeavor so to live that Christ would
approve our life."
I
i
-5
a
24
athri»tianft»,
One more quotation to the same effect will be my
last here. This is from another author, whose work,
entitled Supernatural Religion, is probably the
most elaborate and learned work of English author-
ship which has yet appeared against Christianity
as a revealed and supernatural religion : — " The
teaching of Jesus carried morality to the sub-
limest point attained, or even attainable, by
humanity. The influence of his spiritual religion
has been rendered doubly great by the unparalleled
purity and elevation of his own character. Sur-
passing in his sublime simplicity and earnestness
the moral grandeur of Sakya Mouni (Buddha), and
putting to the blush the somewhat sullied, though
generally admirable, teaching of Socrates and Plato,
and the whole round of Greek philosophers, he pre-
sented the rare spectacle of a life, so far as we can
estimate it, uniformly noble and consistent with his
lofty principles ; so that the ' imitation of Christ*
has become almost the final word in the preach-
ing of his relif^ion, and must continue to be one of
the most powerful elements of its performance. His
system might not be new, but it was in a high sense
the perfect development of natural morality ; and
it was final in this respect among others, that,
anh »0tne of it* ("BtJi^cnce*,
25
( '
superseding codes of law and elaborate rules of life,
it confined itself to two fundamental principles :
love to God and love to man. Whilst all previous
systems had merely sought to purify the stream,
it demanded the purification of the fountain. It
placed the evil thought on a par with the evil
action. Such morality, based upon the intelligent
and earnest acceptance of divine law and perfect
recognition of the brotherhood of man, is the high-
est conceivable by humanity; and, although its
power and influence must augment with the increase
of enlightenment, it is itself beyond development,
consisting as it does of principles unlimited in their
range, and inexhaustible in their application."
It is of our Jesus, and of the Religion which he
founded, that all these things are said by men
who, on critical grounds or because they disbelieve
all miracles, do not accept Christianity as a revealed
supernatural religion.
WHAT LEADING FACTS ADMITTED.
Call to mind here somt of the leadinc: facts
which, in view of what many distinguished un-
believers have said or admitted, as well as on other
grounds, may now be assumed as beyond reasonable
26
Chvi»tianitH»
controversy, and whether Jesus was a superhuman
person or not. These admitted facts have an im-
portant bearing on the question of his claim to a
Divine mission.
Jesus was certainly an historical person of the
period alleged. He was a Jew. His mother and
Joseph his reputed father were Jews. Joseph was
a carpenter, in humble circumstances; Jesus was
born in a stable, and a manger was his cradle. His
-education was such as was open to the class to which
he belonged, and his recorded words do not show
any other human learning. He worked at the trade
of a carpenter, and probably with Joseph, until
about thirty years of age, when he entered on his
public ministry. From that time he had no home
of his own ; the foxes had holes, and the birds of the
air had nests, but he had not where to lay his head.
His ministry lasted for three years, during which
time he went about preaching and teaching his Gos-
pel, and healing, somehow, all manner of sickness
and all manner of disease among the people. Our
Scripture record declares that from time to time
^* they brought unto him all sick people that were
taken with divers diseases and torments, and those
which were possessed with devils, and those which
anh »otne of it* (Bv\'bcnce»*
27
were lunatic, and those that had the palsy, and he
healed them."
LEADING CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRIST.
Further, this young Jew was confessedly an ex-
traordinary and wonderful man, if he was a man,
or so far as he was a man ; he was wonderful for
his intellectual gifts ; he was a man of * profound
insight,' of * pre-eminent ' and 'sublime genius.'
He was wonderful also for the lofty moral and reli-
gious standard which he inculcated, and which he
exemplified in his own life— a standard far in ad-
vance of the orthodox and popular teachings of his
day. He was the highest possible * ideal of man-
hood ;' always ' majestic and simple ; infinitely firm
and infinitely gentle' ; unsurpassed in 'his sublime
simplicity and earnestness ' ; a man of ' unparalleled
purity and elevation of character ' ; whose ' life was
uniformly noble and consistent with his lofty prin-
ciples ' ; the grandest of all known men of the
human race in all time; 'the greatest moral re-
former who ever existed on earth'; 'the individual
who has made the species take the greatest step to-
wards the Divine ' ; a man ' between whom and any
one else in the world there is no possible term of com-
28
®ltrt0tianitH«
parison'; 'who was unique in everything *; to whom
'nothing can be compared.' In brief: he was 'the
most beautiful incarnation of God, in the most beau-
tiful of forms ; ' his ' life and death were those of a
God.'
It is further admitted to be reasonably certain,
that during the three years of his public life Jesus
was a doer of wonders of some kind ; if they are not
admitted to have been miracles, they were seeming
miracles ; and these wonders or miracles had con-
siderable prominence in his life. Even such an un-
believer in the superhuman as Kenan allows this
much, and speaks of Jesus as a thaumaturgist or
wonderworker.
The Man of whom such were the leadinsr charac-
teristics as practically admitted by many represen-
tative unbelievers and as depicted in the Gospels,
may be described further as One who loved all good
supremely and intensely ; loved God the Father
supremely and intensely ; loved men also ; and was
intensely anxious that all should love God as he
himself did, that all should love all good as he did,
and that all should in their several places consecrate
themselves to the loving service of God and the
well-beinfj of one another.
axxti «ontc of It^t (^I;t>i^cnc^;s^♦
28
SOME OF HIS PERSONAL TEACHINGS.
It was the leading purpose of Christ's earthly life,
or of that portion of it of which we have a record, to
instruct men as to the will of God and the way to
Heaven ; to make men to be in this life good, and
just and merciful ; beneficent and loving to one an-
other in all the relations of life ; and reverent, lov-
ing and obedient toward the Almighty God, whom
he represented to be a holy God of infinite mercy
and loving kindness.
Remember also that in all his teachings he spoke
as having authority, " and not as the Scribes ;" that
he taught as if, better than Scribes or any others, he
knew what the will of God was, knew the mysteries
of the Kingdom of Heaven, and knew the truth on
every subject to be what he taught. He recognised
the sacred writings of his nation as naving just
authority; and, according to the Christian records,
he announced that he had not come to destroy tlic
teachings of Old Testament Scripture but to fulfil
them. ^But he insisted that the law for men as in-
tended by the sacred writings had been made void
by traditions, to which ecclesiastical authority and
popular belief wrongly ascribed an authority equal
80
®ljvl»tia«ltjj»
or superior to that of Scripture. The lowly car-
penter denied to the traditions any authority what-
ever. He himself taught a still higher morality
than Moses had taught, or was interpreted in that
day as having taught ; and he insisted with emphasis
that this higher morality was needed in order to
obtain the favor of God and the blessings of the life
to come.
He further taught that God was a God to be loved
by those who knew him, and to be so loved with all
the heart and soul and mind and strength. He
spoke of Him lovingly as Father, as his Father, and
as the Father of those he addressed : " your Father."
He spoke of Him as a God who loves men, all men,
and not good men only. He pointed out that God
causes the rain to fall on the evil and the good, on
the just and the unjust. So, Peter denied his
Master with cursing, and yet, repenting, he was
loved and honored to the end of life. Paul at a
later period persecuted the Church, and yet, becom-
ing a Christian, he was loved and honored to the
end by the Father and the Son. The heart of tha
!nef on the cross had not turned to Christ until
;haps the last day of his life, but, according to
our Scriptures, he then received the assurance that
that night he would be with Christ in Paradise.
I
axxtf »otnc of ii» (Bvibence», 3i
CHRISTIAN DUTIES.
Jesus taught men to live for the life to come,
which is eternal, instead of living exclusively or
chiefly for the life which is now, and which, with
all its attractions, is short and fleeting. " Lay not
up for yourselves" he said, " treasures upon earth,
where moth and rust do corrupt, and where thieves
break through and steal ; but lay up for yourselves
treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust
doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break
through or steal."
With this object, he taught the duty of loving
God, and of in all respects doing God's will. He
taudit that it was the doer of God's will who
would enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and that
every doer of the Father's will was (touching
assurance) Christ's own brother and sister and
mother. The rules he gave as being the will of
God for human conduct were such as these :— Thou
Shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. All things what-
soever ye would that men should do to you, even so
do ye also unto them. Love not only those who love
you, but love your enemies, do good to them that
hate you, bless them that curse you. He taught
I
32
©htrifttimtitji.
that we are to fufil all our duties as unto God ; and
that all good done to men was accepted by God,
and rewarded by Him, as if done to Himself. He
taught further that the principle of duty lies in the
heart, and that duty did not consist in merely out-
ivard conduct ; that the heart is to be for God and
goodness ; and that where the heart is far from
Him, worship is in vain. Evil thoughts and desires
are to be put away ; evil thoughts beget evil deeds.
He further taught that without this goodness,
soundness of faith was not sufficient, nor were even
the possession and exercise of supernatuial gifts.
*'By their fruits ye shall know them. Not everyone
that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of
my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to
me on that day : Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy
by thy name [as the revised version has it], and by
thy name cast out devils, and by thy name do many
mighty works ? And then will I profess unto them
I never knew you : depart from me ye that worked
iniquity,"
Li the account which he gave of the day of
Judgment, the characteristics which distinguish the
two classes of mankind were declared to be, that
c^tt^ «t0nt« of it» QBulbcttcc*.
33
the one was kind " to these my brethren," and the
other had shown no such kindness. Givinir " to one
of these my brethren" meat when he was hungry,
drink when he was thirsty, hospitality when he
was a stranger, clothing when he was naked, or
visiting him when he was in prison — every such
kindness was the same, he said, as if rendered to
the Judge, even to Christ himself. " Inasmuch as
you did it unto one of these my brethren, even these
least, ye did it to me." Or, " Inasmuch as ye did it
not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me."
To the former class would be given eternal life, and
for the latter was everlasting punishment.
Such, as you know, were some of the doctrines
which he taught. The effect of them on Christians
was wonderful to non-Christians, and called forth
from them at an early period the testimony, " How
these Christians love one another."
If evil has sometimes been done, or is sometimes
done still, in the name of Christianity, this has
plainly been in spite of the teachings, and example,
and spirit of the Master. The devil has sown his
tares among the wheat ; but the fields would have
been all tares if no Christian wheat had been
sown.
C
n I
I
34
©hvifttirtttity.
COMMON TO ALL CIIURCEIES.
These teachings of our Lord and other important
facts and doctrines of Christianity are jomnion to
all Protestants, and to all others professing in any
manner the Christian name, including the churches
between whicli and our own the differences in other
respects are very great, as in the case of the Church
of Rome and the Greek Church. The extent to
which Protestants, Roman Catholics, and others
agree was thus stated at a recent Equal Rights meet-
ing (1st September, 1890), by so strong a Protestant
as the Reverend President of the Equal Rights Af«so-
ciation, than whom no minister of any church is held
in higher honor by the Protestants of Canada : —
" There is a great deal of Christian truth held in
common by Protestants and Roman Catholics. Do not
both Protestants and Roman Catholics believe in the
moral law ? and in saying that the Saviour became
incarnate, and died for us ? and in the Holy Spirit
our Teacher, Sanctifier, and Comforter ? and in a
future state of rewards and punishments? The
whole range of life, and the dogmas which rule life,
are common to the whole Christian world."
rtJit» 0omc of it« (!5ul^^?uccfi^.
.'}5
THK OinUSTIAX IDEAL.
Thus the Christian Ideal of character and con-
duct, as Christ set it up, and as he himself in his
own lite illustrated it, is, happily, the Ideal, to a
large extent, of all who call themselves Christians.
There are important differences between the
churches ; some of the differences being in some
sense fundamental, and some being perhaps not very
serious. So, within a church some earnest members
may not heartily maintain all its dogmas, or concur
in all its rules, or conform to all its customs. In
secular matters outside the churches, there are
like differences of opinion among earnest men.
Differences of many kinds may continue, but,
notwithstanding them all, what a world this
would be if the Christian Ideal of character and
conduct should be generally realised ; what a world
it will be when that Ideal is realised, as Christians
believe that one day it will be. Think what such
a result means. All men lovers of God and of His
Christ. All men loving one another as brothers
love, as sisters love ; and notwithstanding diversity
of condition, or culture, or color, or race. No wars ;
no national wrongs; no hostile armies; no hostile
,
36
<S;|iri«tiaitity,
tariffs. All men just and true in politicH, in busi-
ness, and in all the relations of life. No bribing
or misleading of voters ; no false charges against
governments or oppositions ; no room for true
charges. No lying vith type or tongue. No un-
faithfulness in public or in private trusts. Rich
men rich in good works. No grinding of the poor ;
no jealousy of the vi^ealthy. Employers just and
considerate to the employed ; the employed faithful
to their employers ; a fair day's work receiving
a fair day's wage ; no strikes, and no occasion for
them. No false weights or measures. No bad
wares, and no bad work. No hard creditors, and no
dishonest debtors. No crime ; no vice. No over-
reaching ; no cheating in a horse trade or any other
trade. No one seeking an unjust advantage over
another, any more than he would over his father,
or his mother, or his brother. All husbands loving
their wives ; all wives loving their husbands ; all
children dutiful and affeciionate to their parents.
All men and women kind, charitable and courteous
toward all other men and all other women. Duty
the supreme affection and supreme aim of every
one.
Such a state of things is the Ideal of Christianity.
Tt is the Kingdom of God here ; the Kingdom
i
T
of Heaven upon earth ; and, according to Christ's
doctrine, there is a still higher Heaven hereafter,
where tliere is the ever Visible Presence of the
Father and the Son. Immense progress has been
made towards the Christian Ideal since Christ died
on the cross ; the l!Hh century is far in advance of
the first ; and is in advance of every century since
the first. The goal unhappily is far from being
reached yet ; the world still abounds in selfishness
and cruelty ; but Christian Churches, Christian So-
cieties, and Christian men and women are working
for the Divine cause heartily and hopefully, never
more so, in a hundred ways in all lands ; and that
continued progress is being made in the great work
is most manifest.
THE END OF CHUIST's LIFE AND WHAT FOLLOWED.
The teachings of Jesus, his exposure of the false-
ness and hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees,
the works he did, and especially his claim to Divine
authority, excited enmity and persecution on the
part of the ecclesiastical authorities of his nation
and others. During the greater part of his minis-
try he was attended from place to place by twelve
of his early converts ; and these during his ministry
38
(<^hvi»tirtnitij,
saw what he did, hearl wliat he taught, received
from him special instructions, and assisted him in
his work of love. All of them belonged to his own
apparent clasps. After a ministry of three years he
was betrayed by one of these twelve, at the instance
of the ecclesiastical authorities whom his teachings
had offended ; and, through their influence with the
Roman Governor of Judea, he was arrested, and
was on the same day condemned and put to death ;
and to the most agonising of deaths — death by
crucifixion. It is clear, further, that his apostles
and other disciples believed that after being dead
he came to life again ; and that their faith in this
was intense.
All that I have so far related respecting the life
and teachings of Christ we may safely take as
strictly historical facts, and as so clear and certain
that they are in substance and effect admitted by
candid critics who notwithstandinnr do not admit
thp supernatural element in Christianit3\
THE SECOND PART OF THK LECTURE — CHRIST
A DIVINE PERSON.
I come now to the second part of my subject, and
shall mention some of the proofs of material facts
not so admitted, and some of the reasons there are
__^i
an'ii &o\ne of lt«fr ©i?tin;jtcc»»
39
for believing that this exceptional man Christ Jesus
was not a mere man, but was ii Divine Person, a
Messenger '^o up from the other world, and from
the Supreme God there.
CHRIST S OWN CLAIMS.
Jesus himself averred this to be so, and aver-
red it with no earthly object to gain, but the
reverse. He averred that he was The Christ, and
moreover, that he was in a peculiar and special
sense the Son of God. That much is matter
of admitted history. According to the New Tes-
tament writings, he claimed more. He claimed,
tor example, to be greater than the prophet Jonah ;
greater than Solomon, the wise and great King of
Israel ; greater than the temple, which was the
sacred object of his nation's affection, reverence and
pride. He claimed to have power to work miracles,
and also to have power to forgive sins, which no
prophet or priest had ever claimed to have. He
claimed authority to abrogate or declare abrogated
what had been said ' by them of old time : ' "Ye
have heard that it bath been said But I
say unto you," etc. He claimed that all power had
been given to him in heaven and on earth : that all
^m
40
®hvi»ti«»«it»»
things had been delivered to him by the Father ;
that no man (perfectly) knoweth the Son but the
Father, neither knoweth anyone the Father save the
Son, and he to whomsoever the Son reveals Him. He
said that he was to be the Judge of all men at the
last day ; that he was to come for the purpose in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory ; and
that he was the One who should determine the re-
wards and punishments due to men for their good
or evil deeds.
These claims of our Lord are recorded in the Gos-
pels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, and for the pre-
sent I confine myself to these, because many unbe-
lieving writers allow to these synoptics a reliability
which they do not allow to John's Gospel. But the
expressions I have quoted show that according to
the three earlier gospels, as well as according to
John, Jesus claimed to be a Superhuman person, and
to have Superhuman power. This accords also with
all that we learn from other sources.
HIS CLAIMS WORTHY OF CREDIT.
Now, that Jesus himself believed all that he
averred respecting himself, I do not see how any
earnest inquirer can justify doubting; and few in-
i
ant* oonte of it» (&vxifsncc»*
41
quirers nowadays do doubt. His perfect purity, as
profoundly felt by all Christians and as acknow-
ledged by so many eminent non- Christians, is the
highest possible guarantee of the honesty of his
claims. Then consider the surrounding circum-
stances. His claims were most distasteful to his
countrymen, and to the ecclesiastical authorities of
the nation ; and, of all his claims, the claim that he
was the Son of God, in the sense in which he knew
his judges understood the claim, was to them and to
all orthodox Jews the greatest of his offences. The
chief priests pronounced it blasphemy ; and it was
for this claim that they unanimously condemned him
to be " worthy of death." So it is said that in the
Jewish Talmud there are tracts filled with blasphe-
mies ao-ainst Jesus, and yet that, amongst all the evil
things said, there is no charge against him of any
sin save his claim to be " the Son of God." John
Stuart Mill, sceptic as he was, admitted "a ])0ssi-
bility that Christ was actually what he supposed
himself to be ... a man charged with a spe cial
express and unique commission from God." Jesus
demonstrated his belief .in the claims he made, both
by making them and by submitting to a horrible
death in confirmation of them.
42
®hri»tianittr»
; .1.
Do we need more evidence than the facts which
I have mentioned supply, if we had no more
to justify our acceptance of the claims made by
this wonderfully pure and sober-minded teacher ?
this most loving, most unselfish, most self-sacrific-
ing, this mosl wise and wonderful of men, so far as
man he was ? If we cannot accept the testimony of
such a one as he was, and is admitted to have been,
given under the circumstances described, whose
or what testimony can we accept in regard to a mat-
ter of which men can have no personal knowledge ?
But there is much more evidence of his super-
human character and divine mission than his own
trustworthy affirmation. Another great proof is the
MIRACLE OF HIS llESURRECTION.
Did Christ rise from the dead after his crucifixion ?
It is quite certain that something or other occur-
red after the death of Jesus which gave to every one
of his apostles for the rest of their lives intense faith
in him, and supreme courage in bearing for his sake
the severest toils, privations and persecutions, and
the most frightful of deaths. I know of no respect-
able theory accounting for the course of the disciples
after Christ's death, except their confident belief
ix%tli ^i^tnc of itfir (^Bul^en^:c&»
43
that Christ had really risen and was really Divine.
It is perfectly certain that the Resurrection of
Jesus was from the beginning, and always after-
wards, the cardinal doctrine of Christianity. Let
me mention some of the considerations which show
this. Nearly all the educated unbelievers of Europe
who have studied the question seem to fully admit
the genuineness and authority of four of Paul's epis-
tles, even when they dispute the others. These four
are the epistles to the Romans, Galatians and Cor-
inthians ; all of which were written about the year
57 or 58, or about 30 years only after the crucifixion.
Now, these four epistles contain enough, without any
help from the other New Testament writings, to de-
monstrate that the miracle of the resurrection had
then the leading place in the Christian faith, was
an essential part of it, was put forward as essential
both as matter of evidence and as a fact of the
greatest moment otherwise. On this point let me re-
mind you here of what is said in one of these undis-
puted writings of the great Apostle of the Gentiles,
the First Epistle to the Corinthians : — * I delivered
unto you first of all that which I also received, how
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scrip-
tures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again
'1
p
M
I
I i
I'
^IjViotirttHly.
the third day, according to th7^ \
according to the nm. i S'="P""-e«," (that is
.Seriptores) ; ^ and TTT '" ''' "^^ ^^^-ent
(f-rUhenofthetw^C.Cr^^^P'^-
Of about 500 brethrpn n '^ "^^^ «een
P-'-ai„ „„:;;:-' 7^0. the greater
^^^-P. After that he '"""^ '^'^^^ *«"«»
antheApo.t,e.s t::;7,f^--,.t,.„of
-'«o, a,, of one born o , f ' ^'^ ^'^^^ "^ •»«
feith i« also vain ^e ' '!''""''"° ""'"' ^"'^ ^""r
nesses of (fo,; bee „ ■!""", "'^ ^''' ^°""'' f«'«« ^it-
''e raised up Chri ir ^ '"""^' °^ ^^^ ^^at
'.<>- the de'ad rir:r " ''^ --; "- "P. if so he
"ther source of MonZ "'' r'^''°'''' ^^'='- Every
"-ction of jes :rfrr :'r ^^^^^^ "'«' *>- --
be'iefof Christians and I ""' "''' ""'-'■-'
»--t and inspi^"';: ;^^ ''"''' ^" ^-l^' '^e
"- Apostles l/irt;";"*''^-"" of ..hich
^o '»>« propagation om iS ^^°'^^'">^^r «-
^linsts teachings, and willing-
rt«t> ftontc of it& ®uibc»tcc».
46
\y endured privations and sufferings, and often a
painful death, to which the avowal of their belief
subjected them.
Some of these believers had themselves seen Jesus
after his resuriection, or believed that they had seen
him. Others who had like faith in the Lord's res-
urrection had not themselves seen him after he rose,
but were more or less intimate with those who tes-
tified to having seen him, and whose testimony they
believed. Among those who thus believed were
some men of culture and large intellect, such as Paul,
and Stephen, and ApoUos, and Luke.
More is known of Paul than of any other of the
Apostles or early Christians. His four acknowledged
writings alone are sufficient to show him to have been
a man of lofty intellect. He is allowed to have also
possessed all the culture of his nation and age. Be-
fore he became a Christian he had been a man ot
great piety, as piety was then understood among
Jews of the strictest sort. He was a contemporary
of Jesus, though he had not seen him before his re-
surrection ; and he had access to all that could be
said against Christianity, or against the doctrine of
the resurrection of Jesus, if anything in those days
could be said. He had also been deeply prejudiced
ti
46
©hvtfiitrtniiu
\
against the new religion, and in favor of the Jewish,
in which he had teen educated, as taught and held
by the chief j)riests and Pharisees. In consequence
of his Jewish belief he was at first an active perse-
cutor of Christians. Afterwards he became a con-
vert to Christianity, a believer in Jesus, in his teach-
ings, his Divine authority, his resurrection and his
holy and loving character ; and he became such a
believer in the deepest sense. His writings, as well
as all our other infoimation, show that after his con-
version, and for the remainder of his life, he was an
enthusiastic lover of the crucified One, an enthusi-
astic promulgator of his doctrines, an untiring teacher
of the Gospel of 'ove — love to God, love to Christ
and love to men. To this work he devoted himself
with joy and boundless zeal for the remaining 30
years of his life, and therein gladly endured the loss
of all earthly good, bore unspeakable suffering, and
finally died a martyr's death. It is impossible under
these circumstances to doubt Paul's honesty ; and it
is difficult to see how such a man could be deceived
as to the essential facts on which was based the re-
ligion to which with so perfect a faith he devoted
himself, sacrificing tor its sake all earthly advant-
ages and comforts.
1 i
a«> isc»ntc of itfit (!5ult»cucc&.
47
The early Cliiistians, who were not themselves-
personal acquaintances of Jesus, believed with equal
faith, and showed the strength of their faith by the
same demonstrative evidence. Among these also
were some men of great intelligence, ability and
culture.
It is thus perfectly certain, that the Great Miracle
was believed by contemporaries of our Lord and
others who had thq best means of knowing or ascer-
taining the truth ; that they believed, and avowed
their belief, against every earthly motive for not be-
lieving; and that the Great Miracle was believed
also by increasing numbers in the generations which
followed.
If Jesus really rose from the dead, as was thus be-
lieved, nothing more can be needed to demand the
acceptance of what he taught ; and the only remain-
ing question for us all is, what did he teach ?
THE OTHER MIRACLES.
The resurrection of Christ, though the greatest^
was not the only Christian miracle. Many miracles
are claimed to have been performed by Jesus and
His disciples in His lifetime, and by His Apostles
afterwards. The miracles as recorded in the New
T
I
li
48
ClTvifttirtitlty,
Testament were of great variety ; most of them were
performed publicly and in the presence of foes as
well as friends ; and most of them were not mani-
festations of power merely, but were manifestations
of benevolence and sympathy with human suffering
as well. Their chief evidential value now is the
support which they give to the crowning miracle
of the resurrection of our Lord.
The great Niebuhr, described as the founder of the
acutest and most independent school of historical
criticism, has pointed out the totally different spirit
to be found in the Gospel miracles as compared with
the legends and pseudo-miracles of other religions ;
and has elsewhere made this statement : — '* The man
who does not hold Christ's earthly life with all its
miracles to be as properly and really historical as any
■event in the sphere of history, I do not consider to
be a Protestant Christian." This refers to critics
who argue that the Gospel story and its miracles
consisted of a series of myths and legends.
The fact that, both during our Lord's life, and
afterwards, he was believed both by friends and
foes to have performed miracles or wonders of some
like kind, is no*^. only so recorded in the gospels, but
is stated also in all other narratives of his life which
4
rtu5» 0omc of it» (^Bui^cucc«♦ 4»
appcp^'od in the first and second centuries, and of
which we have any information.
The gospels ^ive the fullest account of those
miracles, and, besides recording miracles by our Lord
in his lifetime, they represent him as having given
power to his Apostles to work miracles. This is the
gospel record as to what he said to his disciples when
he sent them forth in his lifetime to preach what
they had heard from him : — ** Heal the sick, raise the
dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils." In like
manner, after his resurrection he is recorded to-
have given this promise to his disciples : — " These
signs shall follow the in that believe ; in my name
shall they cast out devils ; they shall speak with new
tongues ; they sliall take up serpents ; and if they
drink any deadl}^ thing, it shall in no wise hurt
them ; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they
shall recover." Accordingly, it is said, in connection
with the preaching of the Apostles after Christ's
death : " God also bearincr them witness both with
signs and wonders and with di^'el^, miracles and
gifts of the Holy Ghost." " Many signs and wonders
were done by the Apostles" ; " By the hands of the
Apostles were many signs and wonders wrought a-
mong the people."*
*Matt. 10 : 8 ; Mark 16 : 17, 18 ; Heb. 2:4; Acts 4 : 30 ; ib. 5 ; 12.
D
1
I
i i
I
1 "
50
(!i;i)vi»limil1«,
It is not supposable that these statements would
have been thus made if when made it was not gener-
ally believed among Christians that miracles were
then being performed, or had before beei formed,
agreeably to these statements. But the fact that it
was so is demonstrated by Paul's admitted epistles ;
the fact, I mean, that miracles, or what seemed
miracles and were believed to be miracles, were then
well known incidents of Christian life. Thus, we
have in the first epistle to the Corinthians these re-
ferences to them : " To another (are given) the gifts
of healing by the same Spirit ; to another ^he work-
ing of miracles. . . . God hath set h in the
Church — first, apostles ; 2ndly, prophets ; 3rdly,
teachers ; the gifts of healing, &;c." Again, speaking
of himself, there are these statements in the admitted
epistles of the same apostle : " For I will not dare
to speak of any of those things which God hath
wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by
word and deed, through mighty signs and wonders
by the power of the Spirit of God." " Truly the
signs of an apostle were wrought among you, in all
weakness, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds."
" He therefore that ministereth to you the spirit and
a%\h sionxc of it» (!Buibvnci;».
(U
worketh miracks among you, doetli he it by the
works of the law, &c."*
With respect to the miracles both of Christ Him-
self and Hi^ apostles and disciples there was this
only known difference between Christians and non-
Christians : Chr istians ascribed the wonders or mira-
cles to the power of God; opponents ascribed them
to magic, enchantment, satanic influence and the
like.
HKATHEN TESTIMONY.
Thus Suetonius, a heathen historian of the first
century, described Christians as a " sort of men ad-
dicted to a new and magical superstition." Critias,
a subsequent heatlien author of early date, styled
the Christians " magical or conjuring men." Origen
reports of Phlegon, an opponent of Christianity who
wrote in the early part of the second century, that
" in the thirteenth or fourteenth book of his chron-
icles he ascribed to Christ the foreknowledge of some
future events and testified that the
things spoken of happened according to what he had
declared" Celsus was an opponent of Christianity
in the second century, and one of the ablest Christi-
anity has had. He spoke of Christians as a " sot' ^^y
* I Cor. 12 : 9, 10, 11, 12, 28 ; Rom. 15 : 18, 19 ; Gal. 3 : 5.
■i m
52
(iri)vi0tirtnit]a.
'. I
!jl
i l\
i f
'?Sl.
!i
I s
of magicans" ; spoke of Christ as having acquired
his power from the Egyptians, and having on the
account of them proclaimed himself a God. The
summary which Celsus gave of Christ's miracles
shows that they were those which the gospel
describes ; for according to him they were of '* cures,
resurrections of the dead, or a few loaves which fed
the multitude, many fragments being left." These
wonders Celsus, like other anti-Christians, ascribed
to magic and to conjurings ; and he classed them
with the works of magicians who, l^e said, professed
things more wonderful than those of Christ. Heathen
writers of subsequent date spoke of the Christian
miracles in the same way.
THE JEWISH ADMISSIONS
are to the same effect. Here are some of them : —
In the tract called Sanhedrim of the Talmud, Jesus
is said to have " wrought magic, seduced, and caused
Israel lo err." And again, it is allep-ed that Jesus
was executed " because He dealt in sorceries, and
seduced and instigated Israel." In the tract called
Schabbath there is this passage referring to Jesus:
" Did not the son of Stada bring enchantments out
of Egypt in an incision which was in his flesh. . .
11
axxti &0xne oi lt» (fLvihcncc»^
53
acquired
r on the
od. The
miracles
e gospel
»f ''cures,
vhich fed
" These
, ascribed
sed them
professed
Heathen
Christian
them : —
ud, Jesus
id caused
lat Jesus
ii'ies, and
act called
to Jesus:
ments out
lesh. . .
for he could not have brought them out written in
a hook, because the magicians examined all who de-
parted, lest they should carry out enchantments to
teach them to other nations." So in other anti-
Christian Jewish writings of the early centuries.
I do not find that any Jewish or heathen authors
in the early centuries after Christ took a view as to
his miracles differing from the views expressed in
these extracts.
The world has outgrown the explanations thus
given by non-Christians, heathen or Jewish, in the
first century and several subsequent centuries of
the Christian era ; and the facts consequently are
left with no other explanation from those centuries
than the Christian explanation — the superhuman
power and Divine authority of the miracle workers.
No man could have done the things which they did
unless God had been with him.
CREDIBILITY OF THF: MIRACLES.
Some nowadays endeavor to account for the
miracles by suggesting the theory that, Christ having
been an extraordinary man, and having done some
extraordinary things not miraculous, miraculous
acts came to be ascribed to him after his death, and
!l
1 1-
il
54
If
; (
! I
f ^
Ci)tri«tittnltH»
he himself came to be adored as Divine. It is sug-
gested in support of this theory, that Christ and
the workers of miracles in his name possessed a
special magnetic power, and that their laying
hands on the sick and healing them was the same
sort of thing as is now done by mesmerists, hypno-
tists and the like. But there is no historical found-
ation for this theory ; and man}^ of the miracles
would not be accounted for by it — such as the feed-
ing of the multitudes ; quieting the storm ; raising
the dead ; and cures effected without the presence
of the sufferer, as in the case of the centurion's
absent servant, and of the Syrophcenician woman's
absent daughter.
The incredibility of all miracles however estab-
lished is asserted by learned unbelievers ; but the
mass of mankind, and of learned and cultured men
as well as others, do not see the incredibility. Cer-
tainly, if we had been eye-witnesses and ear- wit-
nesses of what is recorded in the Gospels ; if we
had ourselves seen Christ and his disciples perform-
ing from time to time the miracles which they are
said to have frequently wrought ; and, above all, if
we had personal knowledge that Christ rose from
the dead, and was seen by his apostles and disci-
ani* »ome of it» ^t»i5»enci?».
65
1 *
IS sug-
st and
(ssed a
laying
e same
hypno-
found-
liracles
le feed-
raising
resence
iurion's
soman's
estab-
)ut the
ed men
. Cer-
!ar-wit-
; if we
srform-
liey are
e all, if
3e from
d disci-
ples from time to time for forty days after his res-
urrection ; that during this period he ate in their
presence, conversed with them^ gave them instruc-
tions as to their conduct in the future ; and that in
the end he was seen ascending into the heavens ;
if we had ourselves been eye and ear witnesses to
all this, our mental constitution would not permit
any of us to doubt the superhuman authority of
Christ. We were not eye-witnesses or ear- witness-
es ; nor were we so of a multitude of other facts
which, nevertheless, we believe and justly and
necessarilv believe.
Further : It is to be remembered that the occasion
for the Christian miracles (including the resurrec-
tion) affords an adequate reason for them. Miracles
are necessarily unusual and exceptional ; but if we
believe in a God of Providence and Power, miracles
with an adequate purpose do not stand on the same
footing as any others, but are as natural and fitting
as other facts, and are to be accepted on like proper
proofs. The purpose of the Christian miracles, in
connection with the Life and Mission of Christ,
was the grand one of the Redemption of the human
race, a purpose which to human reason appears as
important as Creation itself.
•Tl!*Tr-
66
®ltvi«ttlanity,
\' I
i I
ii
f
! I
i
J I
No man has a right to consider such miracles by
the Great Creator as incredible.
RELIABILITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT NARKATIVES.
So far I have endeavoured to assume for the pur-
jKJse of my investigation nothing material in regard
to the Gospels or other New Testament writings
beyond what eminent non-Christian critics have
admitted in regard to them.
So pronounced a sceptic as Rousseau has said that
*' the Gospel has characteristics of truthfulness so
striking, so perfectly inimitable, that its inventor
would have been more astonishing than its hero."
In like manner John Stuart Mill has said : " It is
of no use to say that Christ as exhibited in the
Gospels is not historical, and that we know not
how much of what is admirable has been super-
added by the tradition of his followers
Who among His disciples or among their prose-
lytes was capable of inventing the sayings ascribed
to Jesus ? or of imagining the life and character
revealed in the Gospel ? Certainly not the fisher-
men of Galilee. As certainly not St. Paul, whose
character and idiosyncracies were of a totally dif-
ferent sort. Still less the early Christian writers,
antf eoxnsof it* Q5t»lt»cucefir. 57
;les by
i-TlVES.
te pur-
Iregard
[ritings
have
id that
ness so
ventor
^ro."
" It is
in the
)w not
super-
• • •
prose-
cribed
racter
isher-
whose
ydif-
:'iters,
in whom nothing is more evident than that the
good that was in them was all derived, as they
always professed that it was, from the higher
source."
Renan has this statement : — " It is sufficient for
me to say that the more I have reflected, the more
I have been led to believe that the four books recog-
nised as canonical bring us very near the age of
Christ ; if not in their last revision, yet at least in
regard to the documents that compose them."
Again, " I admit the four canonical Gospels as seri-
ous documents. St. Matthew evidently deserves
peculiar confidence for the discourses. Here are
the oracles, the very notes taken while the memory
of the instruction of Jesus was living and definite.
. . . Mark, the most ancient, the most original,
and to which the least of later additions have been
made. . . . He is full of minute observations,
proceeding beyond doubt from an eye-witness.
There is nothing to conflict with the supposition
that this eye-witness, who had evidently followed
Jesus, v/ho had loved Him and watched Him in
close intimacy, and who had preserved a vivid im-
age of Him, was the Apostle Petei* himself, as
Papias has it. . . . As to Luke, doubt is scarce-
58
Christianity,
ly possible. . . . The author is certainly the
same as the author of the Acts of the Apostles.
Luke's Gospel was written not long after the siege
of Jerusalem, and it is extremely probable that
Luke was a disciple of Paul."
Strauss has this statement : — "The review of evi-
dence with regard to the first three Gospels gives
this result, that soon after the beginning of the
second century [that is the time he names] certain
traces are found of their existence, not indeed [he
alleges] in their present form, but still of the pre-
sence of a considerable portion of their contents,
and with every indication that the source of these
contents is derived from the country which was
the theatre of the events in question."
Other quotations to the same effect might be
added from other writers holding the same position
as these towards Christianity.
The observations which I have just quoted were
not intended to apply to the Resurrection or
other miracles as recorded in the New Testament
writings, or not to the details there given of them.
These details, if correct, are important as showing
that neither the resurrection nor the other miracles
can be reasonably explained away. It is from
anil «i?nte t»f it» (Btflhcncssi*
59
the
Jtles.
sieofe
Ithafc
evi-
ives
the
tain
[he
pre-
be
the New Testament writings alone that we obtain
direct evidence of such details. As to the Resur-
rection, for example, it is from the Gospels and Acts
we learn that Christ was not only seen by the wit-
nesses named, but repeatedly ate with his disciples •
that when his appearance frightened them, and they
thought it was or might be, not Christ whom they
saw, but a spirit, he told them (in the voice they
knew and loved so well) to handle him, as (he said)
a spirit had not flesh or bones as he had ; and that on
repeated occasions he showed them his hands, and
his feet, and his side ; the hands and the feet which
had been pierced with the nails that bound him to
the cross, and the side which had been pierced with
a soldier's spear in order to make sure that he was
dead. So, it is from the New Testament writings
we learn that Jesus spoke to the disciples from time
to time duriag 40 days after his resurrection ; that
He spoke to them concerning the Kingdom of God ;
now reproving them for the weakness of their
faith ; now giving them encouragement, and now
instruction ; showing them from the Old Testament
Scriptures that the Christ should suffer as He had
suffered, that the Christ should rise from the dead
the third day as He had risen, and that repentance
CO
©Urifttiunity*
and remission of sins should be preached in His
name unto all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem ;
and that He further prepared them, by the promise
of miraculous gifts and otherwise, for the work of
preacliing the gospel to all the world, and making
disciples of all nations.
These and other details could be no illusion even
if mere appearances of Christ, without words spoken
or bodily acts done, might be illusions. Wh}' are
not these details to be believed ? If the other parts
of tlie Gospel narratives are found or admitted to
be at least substantially accurate, why are not the
supernatural parts also to be taken to be correct ?
It is admitted that the Gospels in their present
form, including what they narrate as to the resur-
rection and other miracles, were in use as early, at
all events, as the latter half of the second century,
and that these Gospels had then a sacred authority
among Christians and Christian societies generally.
Christian critics hold the Gospels to have been
originally in the same form as now, and hold the
three earliest, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, to have
been Avritten and in use several years before the
destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 09 or 70.
Opponents admit that they were in existence about
If
KH
axxb »oine of itst (DtJt^cjici.^,
(Ji
that time in some form, but do not admit tiiat thev
were the same then as now. I have ah-eady pointed
out that the fact of the Resurrection was asserted
and believed from the veiy first ; and I have men-
tioned some of the reasons why the miracles recorded
in the New Testament aie to be believed.
In connection with these observations, three
things are to be noted with reference to the narra-
tives which the Gospels and Acts contain of the
resurrection and other miracles : (1) These nar-
ratives fit in naturally with the context, and
the miracles are frequently the occasion of some of
the Saviour's most striking and characteristic say-
ings. (2) It is admitted that the miracles with their
details were believed before the middle of the second
century, and that, say, by the year 180 the narratives
containing them were in the form in which we
have them now. (.S) On the other hand, there is no
evidence that the narratives ever existed without the
miracles ; no evidence of the details of these having
ever been given differently ; no evidence that these
details as we now have them were not believed from
the first ; and no evidence of any counter tradition
in regard to them amongst anti-Chiistians, whether
Jewish or Pagan. On this last point it is to be re-
62
®Uvi»tianliij»
membered that the unbelieving Jews were always
more numerous than the Christian Jews, and that
there was always the fiercest antagonism between
them. The absence of any counter tradition regard-
inof either the fact of the miracles or the details of
the miracles, is thus of great weight.
In brief, there appears to be so much evidence in
favor of the Gospels and Acts as a whole, miracles
and all, that no man can safely or justifiably, in a
matter so momentous, refuse to accept these writ-
inofs as ffivinnf throughout a true statement, or a
substantially true statement, of the events recorded,
viz : of the life and teachings, the miracles and Res-
urrection, of the great Founder of Christianity. In
the evidences, or in some of the doctrines taught,
there may to some minds be difficulties ; but in the
rejection of Christianity and its records, there are
difficulties greater still ; and in such rejection there
is grave danger, as well as these difficulties.
THE PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY.
A further weighty argument for Christianity is
founded on the wonderful progress which the religion
made in the first and second centuries, and has con-
tinued to make. It has for many centuries been the
a«i» »ontc of its (»Bt>ibi?ncc».
relif^ion of the civilizad world. Nor has it been
accepted as matter of mere form. It is really and
truly believed in by the great majority of the people
of Christian nations, and of the most gifted men and
v/omen as regards intellectual endowment, as well
as of those least gifted. Many millions in the last
nineteen centuries have earnestly striven to make
Christianity as they understood it the guide of their
lives ; and many other millions have believed it and
made no such effort, but have been more or less re-
strained and otherwise influenced by their belief in
it. Thousands and thousands, including persons of
all races and classes, have willingly died for their
faith in this religion, and I am sure there are now
thousands in every part of Christendom who, if call-
ed on, would willingly die for its sake.
Christianity is the great power for good in the
civilized world. But it had mighty obstacles to
overcome, and especially in the early centuries. It
was hateful to the great body of the Jews. Outside
of Judea, it was despised as coming from a despised
nation. It was hateful to the great majority of the
Gentiles everywhere. Paganism was no restraint on
man's selfishness or sins. On the contrary, it encouraged
all manner of lawlessness and indecency. In Rom. 1 :
04
C'lhvioiiajiiiit*
<!i
'24; and follcwitij^* vcrse.s, Ftt. Pmil described some of
the practices which flourished under it. Pleathen-
ism had even its gods iov assisting the commission
of crime and indulgence in vice. A thief had a god
to whom he might hopefully pray for success in liis
thieving enterprises. A man impatient for the
death of a relative whose property lie expected to
inherit, had a god to whom he might pray to expe-
dite the death he desired. Far worse things than
even these characterized Roman belief and Roman
manners, as well as the beliefs and manners of other
peoples, in and before our Saviour's time, and thence-
forward until Christianity acquired sway among
the nations.
But Christianity from the earliest days of its ap-
pearance in the world began to introduce its benefi-
cence, its morality, and its spirit. The lirst recorded
organisation of Christians was for the better distri-
bution of charity to those in need ; and among the
first results of the political triumph of Christianity
in the Roman Empire, was the promulgation o law. -5
for the protection of children and slav< id laws
regulating in a more Christian spirit the datiri of
the sexes. The moral influence ot Christianity was
fuither shown in its havinor from the earliest time
ttnb »ontc oi It* ®x»i^citcc*.
65
promoted a purer liteiatiire, a higher moral life, and
a better public spirit than had previously existed ;
and in the establishment at a very early period of
buildings for the reception of strangers, almshouses
for the poor, hospitals for the sick, orphan houses
for the forsaken, and houses of refuge for helpless
old women and men. These were new institutions,
which paganism, and pagans in general however
cultured, had known nothing of and cared nothing
for. But benevolent institutions and beneficent
acts of every description are the natural and neces-
sary and immediate outcome of the teachings of
Jesus.
It has been said and I apprehend justly said, that
of the efforts which in the history of the past have
been made for the improvement of mankind and the
self-sacrifice which these efforts have evoked, nine-
tenths, and perhaps 99 per cent., have been called
forth by Christianity; by the teachings of Jesus,
and by regard for Him, his Person and his Work.
Christianity is a religion of self-denial, a religion
which forbids many things to which human nature is
inclined, and requires many things to which human
nature is disinclined. To most men in every age it is
for this reason not an agreeable religion to accept,and
E
Tz:r
66
Clljvtfftianitu,
Ir >
It !
In
i
.'1 i'
111
1,
j
■1 '
]
unless believed to be true isnot likel}^ under ordinary
circumstances to be accepted. Besides this, in
Christ's own time, and for nearly th'.ee centuries
afterwards, a confession of faith in him involved
earthly sacrifices of every kind, and sufferings, even
at times to the death, and the most excruciating and
terrible of deaths. It was in spite of all these obsta-
cles and difilculties that the religion of the young
Jewish carpenter spread immediately after his death,
and with an ever-increasing activity, tlinnigh every
part of the known world ; became in less than three
centuries the national religion of the Roman Empire,
then comprising almost the whole known world ;
and went on spreading ; and is now, and for cen-
turies has been, in some form, the religion»,of the
most civilized and most cultured nations of the
id.
w
Let us ask ourselves here : Who was the founder
of the wonderful religion which accomplished such
mighty results against such enormous obstacles and
difficulties ? Humanly speaking, he was a young
Jewish village carpenter, born in Bethlehem and
brought up in Nazareth, obscure villages of Judea,
a conquered Province of the Roman Empire, who
had been put to death by the Roman Governor as a
rtu^ fironte of tt» (^Bv>l^e^tccc^.
67
3
malefactor. How couLl such a man create a relifnon
like Christianity, in such a state of the world as then
existed ? How could such a religion, if there was
no supernatural element in it, have become, after the
founder's death and by the year 'US, the religion of
the great Roman Empire, then at the height of its
civilization and greatness and power ? and the reliti--
ion for all the centuries since of the most civilized
parts of tlie civilized world ? How could a religious
system, thought out by an obscure Jewish carjienter,
taught by his mouth for but three years, and dis-
tasteful to the masses and to their governors and
priests, become, if there was nothing superhuman
about it, the greatest power ever since inintliiencing
the institutions, and laws, and government, and
practical life of the nations ? If this religion was
from God, and attested from the first by due proofs,
its progress contains no wonder. But otherwise,
nothing surely to human reason could be more hope-
less than the chance of such a future, nothing more
out of the question, when r^he young carpenter was
put to death by the Roman Governor. If he wrought
no miracle, if he did not rise from the dead, if he was
a mere man, without superhuman intell'gence, power
or mission, the progress which his religion made after
p.
IM
f'i
u
I
68
(^ljvi»iia%\it^i
his death is a greater wonder than the wonders which
Christians believe that he wrouf^ht by superhuman
power.
Did the new religion owe its wonderful propaga-
tion, not to Jesus himself, but to its having been
taken up after the death of the teacher by the eleven
disciples who remained after the treason and suicide
of Judas ? Nowadaj^s it is not pretended that they
were impostors, or in any sense bad men, or had any
earthly object to gain by what they did ; quite the
contrary. What power had tbey to spread the re-
ligion of the crucified Jesus, if there was nothing
superhuman about it ? As Jews they were despised
by all others ; and they were Jews of humble posi-
tion and attainments. Not one was a man of educa-
tion. ]So one supposes that any of them had the
intellect or moral iorce of Jesus himself. Not one
had remarkable ability of any kind, not to speak of
ability for so mighty and exceptional an undertak-
ing. They had in the three years of the public life
of Jesus been a good deal with him, had formed con-
siderable attachment to him, and had faith in his
teachings ; but they understood many of his teach-
ings wrongly ; and they had not expected him to be
put to death, or to rise again. One of them so little
, f
■^^
ai\^ »oxnc of it* ©wibcncc*.
69
expected his resurrection, and was so incredulous in
regard to it that, when others told him that the body
of Jesus was no longer in the tomb, and that they
had seen him alive, he said he would never believe
unless he should himself see in the hands of the
supposed Jesus the print of the nails, aixd put his
own finger into the print of the nails, and put nis
own hand into the pierced side of his Lord. The
faith of all the disciples up to the time of Christ's
death is recorded to have been imperfect and
weak. Not one had bad faith and courage enough
to remain with him in his extremity. When
the soldiers came to arrest the Lord, the first im-
pulse of the impulsive Peter was to fight. That
Jesus did not permit ; and when immediately
afterwards Jesus was seized and bound by the sol-
diers, all the disciples who were then with him for-
sook him and fled. Peter and one other disciple
folio wo 1 when he was led away, but they followed
afar off'. Having got into the court to which Jesus
had been taken, Peter, in conversation there with
other bystanders and in the very presence and sight
of the Lord, denied repeatedh^,and the last time with
an oath, that he was a disciple of his, or even knew
him.
We hear of no other disciple approaching him,
:- - --:-:- - , -V -- -' --:-
70
^hvxMiatnixn*
lit
PI
even at a distance, until after lie had been nailed to
the terrible cross. Were these such men as, without
any miracle having been performed, and without any
superhuman authority or strength, could impose on
the world the religion of the crucified Jewish car-
penter ?
Everything was against such an undertaking ;
the religion was hateful to all but the few
hundred persons who had become in some sense
the disciples of Jesus during his life; his cruci-
fixion as a malefactor was to the Jews erener-
ally a stumbling block, and made the new religion
seem to the Gentiles utter foolishness. Except
the superhuman character of our Lord, the super-
human works which he had done, and had em-
powered his disciples to do, and his Resurrection
from the dead, the disciples had nothing to go upon,
either for their own encouragement or for bringing
others to believe. If Jesus had not risen from the
dead, and if he had done no work of supernatural
power, and if they had themselves no such
power, how could they possibly have succeeded in
convincing the world that his religion was Divine ?
Or how could they have had the courage, or the de-
sire, to make the attempt ? Their success under such
II
I
an'ii »c»jneof It^ ^t>ii>ence».
71
circumstances would be a wonder as great as the
Resurrection of the crucified Christ, or as the other
miracles which are recorded to have been wrought*
It is far easier to account for the wonderful pro-
gress of Christianity in the early centuries on the
supposition that the miracles and other facts set
forth in the New Testament are true, than on any
other theory. Christians believe that they are
true.
LESSONS FOR THOSE WBO STILL DOUBT.
That the considerations which I have been stat-
ing, whether absolutely conclusive or not, have at all
events some substantial force, is undeniable. Honest
unbelievers are not always familiar with them, or
with the other evidences of Christianity, and their
unbelief sometimes arises from that cause. Other
honest unbelievers think that, strong though the
argument may be from these considerations and
others, there are grounds for disbelief in the circum-
stance of the evidences of Christianity not being
still stronger and clearer and more free from diffi-
culty than they are. Such persons cannot believe,
or some of them cannot believe, that if Christianity
were true, God would not have made the evidences
of it certain, and not merely more or less probable ;
72
®liH»tianitu,
and they think that the evidences are at the most
probable only.
As to believing in Christianity on probable evi-
dence only, we all know that in the case of many
or most other matters of importance in this world,
things are so onstituted (whatever the reason may
be) that we have to act, and do constantly act,
on probable evidence only ; and it is surely there-
fore the height of unwisdom for anyone to reject
Christianity because in his judgment the evidence
does not demonstrate its truth, or because there
may not be in its favor the kind or degree of
evidence which he would like or would expect.
How many opinions on worldly matters do we all
hold firmly, and are wise in holding, though their
truth, as we know, is not demonstrable, and may be
very far ^rom being demonstrable ? Almost every
question of politics, or legislation, or business, and
every step in life needing consideration, we have to
decide, and do decide, on probability only, or on
what on the whole may seem the probability. Fur-
ther : we know that many things are true though
they cannot be proved at all ; and that many things
are true though surrounded by the greatest improb-
abilities. We have no ground for assuming or
US
anh &0tne of it» (!Bt»lt»cnce0,
<3
asserting that this may not be so in the case of
religious evidences also.
Again, some honestly disbelieve or doubt, because
it is contrary to their notions of God that there
should be suffering in the next world, or so much of
it ; or that if a way of escaping it exists or is pro-
vided, as Christianity teaches, all men should not
have been made acquainted with that way, and all
men made by the power of God or otherwise to
avail themselves of it.
Most of those who seem influenced by either of
these objections are not atheists. Atheists nowa-
days constitute a very small portion of those who,
livincy in Christendom, are not believers in some
form of religion. Most unbelievers consider, as
Chiistians do, that the universe was not self-creat-
ed, and was not the result of blind chance. They
believe, that there is, certainly or probably, a great
First Cause, a Personal God, self-existent and eter-
nal, the Creator and Governor of all worlds, and
that He is a Being of great Goodness, and of trans-
cendent Power, and Knowledge, and Wisdom. To
any who so believe, the objections to Christianity
ought to make no difficulty as against the evidences
in its favor, for, as John Stuart Mill has testified.
li I:
74
(fihviiittitnity,
"the Christian reli<^ion is open to no objections,
either moral or intellectual, which do not apply to
the common theory of deism."
As to both grounds of doubt or disbelief which I
have mentioned, it is ever to be borne in mind that,
apart from Revelation, nothing whatever is known
of the next world except what may be logically in-
ferred from matters in this world; that the earth
is but a speck of creation ; and that God's moral
government may have reference to a million of
woilds, and to time without end. As against
Revelation, or an asserted Revelation, how can we
suppose ourselves competent to say, from our little
standpoint, and with our limitless ignorance, what
are or are n;)t the moral needs and necessities of
the Eternal Universe, as these are known to its
Creator, and omniscient Governor ? How could any
one of us justify rejecting Revelation on the
ground that its teachino-s as to a future life do not
accord with the speculations and guesses which
he may choose or may have chosen to indulge
in ?
In this instance the Christian doctrine is sup-
ported by the analogy of the earthly things
which we know something about ; for we know
I, I
ttnt» «c*mc of it» 05wt^c^tce»♦
/i>
from our own personal experience and observa-
tion, that there is much sufferin^i^ in this world,
whatever there may be in the next; that there
is suftering here in many forms affecting man,
affecting even infants of the tenderest age, and af-
fecting the lower creation also ; that the sufferings
of the human race are of all kinds, mental and
physical, and sometimes are terribly severe, and
sometimes last as long as life. We know also
that there is in this w^orld no end of vice and crime
and cruelty. We know further that there are
practical modes of avoiding much of the suffering,
that these modes are not known to all sufferers, and
that many sutler on from want of knowledge which
others may possess. We know also that there have
always been great diversities in the conditions of
men in this world as respects such suffering, and as
respects comfort and happiness generally.
What does this state of things show ? It shows
to a demonstration that, whatever the reason may
be, the constitution of the universe is certainly
such, that suffering and the suflerer's ignorance of
remedies are not inconsistent with the Power and
other Attributes which belong to the Supreme
Governor of all things, and are not inconsistent with
i
7G
®Uvi0Urtnity,
li
I
the perfect wisdom and benevolence which are
ascribed to Him both by Christians and by most
non-Christians who live in Christian lands. The
full explanations which would enable us to clearly
see the reason and to clearly perceive the consis-
tency, have not hitherto been revealed, and may re-
quire (and I dare say do require) other faculties
than we now have to understand or fully appreciate
them. But if there is certainly much suffering in
this life, the fact is material in considering what is
revealed as to there being suffering in the next life.
There is no authority whatever for our assuming
and insisting as against Christianity, that in tlie
matter of sufferinijf the case is wholly different in
the next life from what we sec and know as to this
life. Revelation, if we believe it, gives us some
insight into the spiritual world, but beyond what
we may thus learn there is utter darkness.
In reference to sufierinir in the next world, as
revealed in the Scriptures, Bishop Butler in his
great work has these observations : — " All shadow
of injustice, and indeed all harsh appearances in the
economy of Providence, would bo lost if we would
keep in mind that every merciful iiilowance shall be
made, and that no more will be required of any
anh »otne of its (!5ult>i?rtc^0.
i i
one than what might equitably be expected of him
from the circumstances in which lie was phiced, and
not what might have been expected had he been
placed under other circumstances ; that is, in Scrip-
ture language, that every man shall be accepted
accordinof to what he had, not accordinj]: to what he
had not." The rules of this moral government are
not rules of ignorant, weak and sinful man's de-
vising, but are rules of which the all-knowing, all-
just, all-holy and all-wise God is the author. Let
none of us deceive himself with a false hope of safety,
or trust his eternal life to what a sin-loving heart
may suggest; instead of earnestly and gratefully
accepting the teachings of the God-man, the Lord
from Heaven.
One consideration more on the general question.
It is a certain fact that from a period antecedent to
Cliristianitv's becoming; the national reliajion of the
Roman Empire up to the present time, the im-
mense majority of the world's thinkers have deemed
the evidences of Christianity as a supernatural reli-
gion to be sufficient to establish its character in that
respect, notwithstanding all the difficulties and
objections which have from time to time been urged
with more or less force ; and these men have felt
themselves able to^^accept the religion as true, and
I
^
rs
OrJiviftttitniUt.
witli all their hearts to receive and hoM it as Divine.
Amongst these i^reat thinkers have been sucli <:rand
men in intellectual attainment as Paul of Tarsus in
Apostolic times ; as Justin, Tertullian, Orig< n, Atlwi-
nasius and Augustine, in the early centuries ; as
Leibnitz, Descartes, Haller, Copei nicus, Kepler, Bacon ,
>Jev\rton, Cuvier, Ray, Brewster, Varaday and Agas-
siz, amongst scientists who have passed away ; as
Mr. Mivart, Sir William Thomson, and Professor
Stokes, amongst modern physicists ; as Niebuhr,
the great historian of whom I have already spoken ;
as Sir Matthew Hale, Lord Cairns and Lord Selburne
(not to name others) amongst eminent English
judges ; as Mr. Gladstone, a profound and successful
seeker after truth in many fields ; as our own Sir
Daniel Wilson and Sir Willian Dawson, both of
whom have a world-wide fame in their several de-
partments of science and learning, and are at the
same time among the most earnest and active of
Christians; and as a host of other able and learned
scientists, philosophers, historians, judges, legisla-
tors, literary men and theologians, of the highest
distinction, in all countries and ages. That the
evidences have been sufficient thus to satisfy the
great majority of cultured thinking men for many
centuries shows that there must be a good deal in
; 4
n
rtttb <n.mti? of it» (!3uibc«cc».
79
those evidences, and more than an earnest inquirer
can safely disregard.
Again : if, as against the evidences and argu-
ments in favor of Christianity, the most that an
agnostic or a sceptic can say is, that the evidences
are not sufficient to demonstrate the truth of
Christianity, or tlmt in liis judgment the proba-
bilities are outweiglied by improbabilities in
the evidences or the doctrines, his position im-
plies the at least possible truth of Christian-
ity. Indeed, the name which unbelievers now
prefer to all others, is "agnostics,'' or persons
who disclaim actual knowledge. But if Chris-
tianity is true, it is of unspeakable importance, with
reference both to an eternal life after death and to
the good of the race in this world, that Christianity
should be accepted ; while if not true, there is on
the one hand at least no harm in accepting it
heartily and unreservedly, and on the other hand
there is, beyond all doubt as regards this life, much
good. If, therefore, Christianity is even possibly
true, common sense and prudence and philanthropy
alike require its acceptance, notwithstanding argu-
ments against it which, however strong they may
seem to any, leave its truth to be a possibility. In
80
©hvi»ttmtity.
nil other affairs, prudent and sensible men so act, and
in other affairs the stake is infiaitely less than In
this matter of the Christian religion.
If, notwithstanding these considerations and
others which bear in the s';,me direction, an honest
inauirer here or elsewhere finds chat the evidences
which have satisfied the great majority of learned
thinkers for many ages fail to satisfy his under-
standing, and if he looks upon some of the arguments
against Christianity as overwhelmingly stronger
than the arguments for it, why should he endeavor
to impress this opinion on others ? Why should he
want to lessen the wonderful Teacher's influence in
the world for good ? If he is a lover of his race,
why, doubt as he may the logical sufficiency of the
evidences, should he not, in spite of his doubts, take
the side of the wise and loving Jesus, in the work
of good for which He laid down His life ? Why
should he join any hostile camp? Why, on the
contrary, and notwithstanding logical and other
difficulties if he has these, should he not leave to
those who believe the undisturbed use of Christian-
ity for the beneficent work of advancing right
living and consequent liappiness in the world ?
Very few can persuade themselves that the race
I.
■
anif 0j?mc of it^ (!5ui^cncc0♦
81
would not sufler, and sutler unspeakably, by the
blottino- out of the relij_aon of Christ. A distiri-
o-uished writer amon<x ourselves, one of Tertullian's
" natural Christians," has published eloquent words
of anxiety and warning to those who think with
him that a " collapse of faith " is at hand, that as
the result of science and criticism combined "belief
in Christianity as a revealed and supernatural reli-
gion has given way," has received a " mortal
blow." I shall read to you an extract from his
words of warning: — " What then is likely to be the
effect of this revolution on morality ? . . . What
will become of the brotherhood of men and of the
very idea of humanity ? Historically these beliefs
are evidently Christian. Will they survive the
doctrines with which in the Christian creed they are
inseparably connected of the universal fatherhood
of God, and of the fraternal relation of all men to
Christ ? ' God,' says the New Testament, * hath
made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell
on all the face of the earth.' Blot out the name of
the Creator, and on what does this assertion of the
unity and virtual equality of mankind rest ? What
principle forbids the stronger races or those that
have superior firearms to prey upon the weaker ?
82
©hvifttianity,
'
What guards the sanctity of human life, if there is
nothing more divine in man than in any other ani-
mal ? " May we not add : What in the absence of
Christianity would guard anything which is dis-
tasteful to the natural heart, or stands in the way of
a man's desires ? But Christians do not believe
that a collapse of faith is impending ; they do not
believe that Christianity has received its mortal
blow ; they do not believe that faith in it has given
way. A prophecy of the near destruction of (yhris-
tianity ha^ been often written and often spoken,
with more or less seeming reason, since the founder
of Christianity was crucified on Mount Calvary;
but the prophecy has never come true, and Chris-
tians do not believe that it ever will. Science may
have shown errors in some former interpretations of
portions of Ihe Old Testament. Criticism may
ha\ e corrected other popular errors in the case of
both Testan.ents. It is right and desirable that
errors should be corrected ; all intelligent Christians
so hold. But as regards the essential facts and
essential doctrines of Christianity, Christians per-
ceive nothing to fear from either science or criticism.
The great majority of the ablest and most learned
scientists and critics have been Christians. In the
I IV
"C
axxti fironteoJ it© ClBui>cncc»«
83
lull light of science and criticism, Christianity, of
all beliefs positive or negative, continues to be, in
the general judgment, the best belief to live in, and
the safest belief to die in.
CONCLUDING REMARKS.
In view of the whole subject, I trust I may
say with all sincerity for myself, I know T may
say for many of you, I wish I might say for all,
that in the great uattle of Religion and Morality we
and all ours take the side of the Man of Naza-
i-eth. The history of the world has presented no
leader like him. He is tlie onlv leader worth a
thought. We gladly take him for our Leader, and
for our King, our Master, our Example, our Guide
We gladly recognise him as God-man, a Alessen-
ger from Heaven, the Redeemer of the world.
Relieving what the New Testament tells of him, we
love him dearly. In the light of his teachings, we
mourn over the imperfections and shortcomings and
sins of our lives. It is our earnest desire that
(God helping us) we and all ours should be like
Christ, should possess his spiily, should be doers of
the Father's will, and should be able to live and die
in the blessed hope that after our earthly lives are
84
C;i7rt«frtlrtnltia
over we shall be forever with the Lord who bought
us, and with those who on earth are dear to us, as
we know or believe they are dear to Him.
As patriots and philanthropists, then, as deepl}^
concerned for the earthly well-being of our families,
our friends, our country, and our race, now and m
the future ; and above all, as creatures and servants
of the most High God ; as having, ourselves and our
fellows, immortal lives to think of, and (if we can)
to provide for ; and as having|had communicated to
us a Religion of love and hope and holiness, au
Atoning Saviour, a Pardoning^ God, a Sanctifying
Holy Spirit, let us all hold fast unto the end our
Christian Faith, without wavering ; and let us con-
sider one another to provoke unto love and to all
»
food works.
f
APPEN DIX.
■■
^
Note to pages S and 37.
Ill furtlier illustration of what is said in the letjtnre as to the
present condition of religious belief, the following extracts from
the No^ih American Berifv for -luly, 1885, witli respect to llio
United States, are interesting : —
"'In the time of Aaron Burr,' says Parton, ' it was confi-
dently predicted that Christianity could not survive two more
generations.' Of the same period another writer states that,
' wild and ^ ague expectations were everywhere entertained,
especially among the young, of a new order of things about to
commence in which Christianity would be laid aside as an ob-
solete system,' Consideraldy more than a century ago V^ol-
taire said : ' liefore the beginning of the lOth century Christian-
ity will have disa])peared from the earth.' It is an instructive
coincidence that the room in which Voltaire uttered these words
has since been used as a l>ible ropositary. * * *
" In the year 1800 there were in the United States 8,030 evan-
gelical churches ; in 1850, 48,072 ; in 1870, 70,148 ; and in 1880,
97,090 ; a gain of 27,000 in ten years, ending in 1880. ... As
gleaned from the '"year-books'" and " cliurch minutes," the
nun)ber of communicants in evangelical churches in the United
Sta4;e8 has been as follows: In 18U0, 804,000; in 1850, 8,ry29,-
000 ; in 1870, «,078,O0O : ard in 1880, 10,005,000. (Jf course dur-
ing all this time there was an immense in. rease in population,
but the increase in cliuivh membership a good deal more than
kept pace with that of population. Taking the whole country
through, there wae? in T><Oi> one evangelical communicant to every
14^ inhaHitants : in !>.'»«>, inie to every 0.1 ; in 1870, one to every
n
86
^^j^jcn^i^e.
55 ; and in 1 880, one to every 5. J^^ven (luring the period since
1850, in wliich materialism and rationalism have l)een subjecting
Protestantism to so severe a strain, M'hile the increase in popula-
tion has been llfi per cent., the increase in communicants of
Protestant evangelical churches in the United Statos has been
185 per cent.
" The same pronounced drift Christianwards evinces itself if
we consider the matter of American colleges and college students.
Writing in 1810, Bishop Meade, of Vii^ginia, said : ' I can truly
say that in every educated young man in "N'irginia whom I met I
expected to find a skeptic, if not an avowed infidel." When
Dr. Dwight became president of Yale Colleges in 1745, only live
of the students were church members. In the eai-ly part of Dr.
Appleton's presidency of BoAvdoin, only one student was a pro-
fessing Christian. Ih 1880, according to returns obtained from
American colleges, 26 per cent, of the students were professing
Christians ; in 1850, 88 per cent. ; in 1865, 46 per cent. ; and in
1880, according to the year-book of the Young Men's Christian
Association, out of 12,0()8 students in 65 colleges, 6,081 , or a
little more than half, were professors of religion
" 80 far from Christianity betraying the first symptoms of ex-
haustion, I here has been no time since the Jordan baptism of J esus
when Christianity has moved with such gigantic strides and put
forth efforts so vigorous and herculean, as during these years
of our own oentury when the disciples of Voltaire and the
imitators of Paine have been most active It is
during tliis tane. in fact within the last forty years of it. that
there have lywg up all our Young Men's Christian Associa-
tions, with organizations extruding north and south, east and
west, in North America and South, Europe. Asia, the Sand-
\
^ppe%x^xx,
87
t,
wich Islands, Australia, Madagascar Our Ameri-
can Sunday schools, too, are all of them a growth of the
present century, numbering only half a million pupils in 1 S.'^O,
with an increase of six millions in the fifty years following.
It is during the last eighty years, likewise, that the American
church has shown its colossal vigor in the inauguration of its
missionary enterprises. Tieginning with the second decade of
our century with a contribution of §'200,000, the total amount
raised for home and foreign missions in this country up to 1S80
was SI '20,000,000, and 88 per cent, of that was raised during
the last thirty years ; 70,000 mission communicants in 18;i0
had become 210,000 in KSnO, and 850,000 in 1880. All of this,
to say nothing of other organizations of evangelization and
amelioration, the Bible Society, the Tract Society, and the rest
has sprung from the fecund soil of our own magnificent ( iospel
century. "
(Note fo par/e 78. j
In reminding my audience of some of the world's thinkers
whose names are more or less familiar as of men who were or
are distinguished in science, and at the same time believers in
Christianity, I named no natives of the neighboring Kepublic,
though such men abound there, but Canadians are less familiar
Avith them than with the names I have given in the lecture. After
the preceding pages were in type it occurred to me to supi)ly the
omission by getting needed information from my friend and
pastor, the Rev. Dr. Kellogg, a clei'gyman (I may observe) with a
wide and just reputation for varied and accurate learning, and a
profound thinker on all subjects with which in his active life he
has had to do. The following is from the reply which he was
kind enough to send to my application :
88
3lV^*<^w^t^**
f 1
" As for distinguished American scientists who have been or
arc decided believers in Evangelical Christianity, the following
names occur to me : Among geologists — First, Professor James
H. Dana, of Yale University, to whose authority, if I recollect
aright, Mr. Gladstone confidently appealed in one of his recent
essays in apologetics ; also, Professor (i. Frederick Wright,
of the University of ()l)erlin, a scholar whose extensive
original researclies have made him one of the leading author-
ities on the glacial age on this continent; and, again. Pro-
fessor Le Conte, of the University of California, another geolo-
gist of repiite, a decided evolutionist (»f the thuUtic type, but
therewith also a pronoimccd believer. Then might be named
Professor Young, of Princeton College, one of the first astrono-
mers in the States; and, in the medical profession, Dr. Willard
Parker, of New York, not long ago deceased, connnonly reputed
to have stood at the head of liis profession in surgery ; and the
late Dr. Agnew, for a long time one of the most distinguished
oculists in the States ; all of them decided Christian men. The
late Professor Arnold (Uiyot, of Princeton, who had an enviable
reputation as an authority in Physical Ceography and Geology on
both sides the Atlantic, it was my privilege for many years to
know as a man of the most devout evangelical spirit. I remem-
l)er well a remark which I once heard from him in a lecture to my
own class in the college, which well shows his position : ' Young
gentlemen, (iod has written two books, the book of the Word
and the book of the Rocks, and it is perfectly certain that he
has written the same thing in l)oth of these books. If, in any
case, we are not able to see this distinctly, we must consider that
it can only be because our knowledge and understanding of one
or both of the two books is as yet imperfect. ' To these names I
3C^?t»cttM5c»
89
miglit adil from a somewhat eai-lier generation, tliulat*^ Professor
Joseph Henry of the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, 1 ).('.,
and Professor Samuel Morse, whose names are holh closely con-
nected with the invention of the electric telegraph ; as also many
others ; but these will probably sulUce for your purpose."
I received a subsequent note from Dr. Kellogg, wlucli 1 have
pleasure in adding, as follows :—
^ " I had but just sent my note and enclosure to you tliis morn-
ing, when in one of my papers I found two extracts bearing on the
subject of your lecture, which arc from such authority and so
excellent, that I take the liberty to send tliem, thinking thai
possibly you might like to make use of one or both of them.
"The first is from the American poet and man of letters.
James Russell Lowell., lately U. S. Minister to (^reat llritaiu. IF
not a scientiu . man, yet his high reputation as a gentleman <.t
hicdi and broad culture, and of extensive opportunities of obser-
vaUon, will make his wor.ls to have weight witli many. On
a certain public occasion in Kngland several persons ha.l ex-
pressed themselves in a contemptuous way regarding Chnstmn-
ity, when Mr. Lowell, in his speech, said:-" When the nucro-
seopic search of scepticism has turned its attention to human
society, d found a spot on this r)lanet ten miles square
where a decent man can live in decency, comfort, and secu-
rity, supporting and educating his children uuspoded and
unpoUut/.. manhood respecte.l, womanhood honored, and
human life held in due vegard-when skeptics can *-^^ --^-^
place, ten nules square, on this globe, where the Cospel of thr..
has not gone and cleared the way, and laid the founrations, .uul
made decency and security possible, vt will then be in order for
the sceptical literati to nu.ve thither, and there ventilate then-
views.
:»:i^»iii^^-^
90
^vv««^t^♦
" Tlie second extract is from Professor MbegarJ, occupant of
the chair of philosophy in the University of Copenliagcn, who,
until recently, was regarded as one of the chief representatives
of philosophic atheism in Denmark. According to the Semeur
Vaudois, he has recently published a second edition of his works,
in the introduction to which he uses the following words : —
'The experience of life, its sufferings and griefs, have shaken
my soul, and have l)roken the foundation upon which I formerly
thought I could build. Full of faitli in the sufficiency of science,
I thought to have found in it a sure refuge from all the contin-
gencies of life. This illusion is vanished ; avIiou tlie tempest
came which plunged me in sorrow, the moorings, the cable of
science, broke like thread. Then I seized upon that lielp which
many before me have laid hold of. I sought and found peace in
God. Since then I have certainly not abantloned science, but I
have assigned to it another place in my life.' "
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