in the most profound sense of the term; thereby distinguishing it from every thing which is merely human. Inspiration, in short, as the attestation of God's Spirit, in, through, and for man, belongs essentially to the organism of Scripture as the record of Revelation; and is at length unfolded to us in its full bearings in that department of it where God reveals Himself as the Spirit.

In theological language the ordinary operations of the Holy Ghost are divided into preventing, operating, co-operating; a division which may help to guide us in our conception of the manner in which the sacred writers were influenced: although their Inspiration (I would observe in passing) differs, not merely in degree, but absolutely in kind, from that ordinary operation of the Spirit usually called by the same name.' We may distinguish in the first place, the stage in which the Holy Spirit prevents; that is, prompts to the task of writing: the outward channel through which such suggestion was usually conveyed being the various occasions or motives which, in what men call the ordinary course of things, have led to the composition of most of the books of the Bible.' The task having been thus undertaken, in the second stage the Holy Spirit operates; that is, selects from the mass of materials which were at the writer's command,-whatever may have been their character, whether naturally known, or supernaturally revealed-and so disposes the course of his labors, that S. Paul could say of certain parts of the Jewish history that "they were written for our admonition.""* In the third stage, the Holy Spirit co-operates with the natural faculties of the mind, in the manner already dwelt upon when considering the first Condition of our problem; the result of this co-operation being the different books which in their combination constitute the Bible, and which have been molded into unity by the power of the Spirit.

And here we shall most fitly advert to the language employed under the influence of Inspiration. In the common course of things men of ordinary capacity have the power of clothing their thoughts and feeling in appropriate words; and from the very nature of the case we cannot but believe that the words adopted by the sacred writers must, in like manner, be 1See infra, Lecture v. 2 See infra, Lecture iv.

1 Cor. x. 11.

the adequate expression of their inward conceptions, and, therefore, of that internal life produced by the Holy Spirit. But, furthermore, the same Divine power which breathed this life into the soul must be regarded as the vital principle of the language which represents it. To this utterance of that Spirit, Whose glance penetrates the universe, Whose intimations extend to every age, and apply to every circumstance with a fullness and definiteness which embrace time and eternity-to this utterance of the Spirit there is essentially appropriated that pregnant style which in a few syllables conveys such infinitude of meaning,' which is unexhausted by all commentators, and which possesses that marvellous "capacity of translation into any dialect which has a living and human quality." The opinion, that the subject-matter alone of the Bible proceeded from the Holy Spirit, while its language was left to the unaided choice of the various writers, amounts to that fantastic notion which is the grand fallacy of many theories of Inspiration; namely, that two different spiritual agencies were in operation, one of which produced the phraseology in its outward form, while the other created within the soul the conceptions and thoughts of which such phraseology was the expression. The Holy Spirit, on the contrary, as the productive principle, embraces the entire activity of those whom He inspires, rendering their language the word of God. The entire substance and form of Scripture, whether resulting from Revelation or natural knowledge, are thus blended together into one harmonious whole: direct communications of religious truth, as well as the inferences which the sacred writers deduced therefrom; the lessons to be learned, whether from exhibitions of miraculous power, or from the facts of history; such matters, together with all the collateral details of Scripture, have been assimilated into one homogeneous organism by the vital energy of the Spirit.

1Ἀπὸ μιᾶς λέξεως ἔνεστιν ὁλόκληρον ἑυρεῖν νοῦν.-S. Chrysost. Hom. 1. in Joan. tom. viii. p. 293.

2 F. D. Maurice. "The Kingdom of Christ," vol. ii. p. 246.

An opinion held by Seb. Castalio, Episcopius, Geo. Calixtus, &c., who assert "res inspiravit Deus, voces a scriptore sunt." But see the remarks of Beck, "Propädeutische Entwicklung," s. 240.

"For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God."-1 Thess. ii. 13. Cf iv. 1, 2, 8.

Such is the aspect under which I propose, in the present investigation, to consider the question of the inspiration of Holy Scripture. In order to establish this theory, it will be necessary to prove that the two Conditions of the problem which it involves have been satisfied; one of these Conditions being defined in that expression of S. Paul which forms the text of this Discourse, "We are laborers together with God;" the other being presented by that distinction pointed out between the ideas of Revelation and Inspiration. The proof must rest, as in all departments of knowledge, upon a patient examination and induction of facts; and such is the task which lies before us. Previously to entering upon that proof, however, I would refer, once for all, to a line of argument which has often been adopted, and which has been as unduly exalted on the one hand, as it has been the subject of unmerited ridicule on the other.' I allude to what

1 Thus it is laid down in Art. IV. of the Gallican Confession of 1561:"Nous connoisons ces livres estre canoniques et reigle tres certaine de nostre Foy non tant par le commun accord et consentement de l'Eglise, que par le tesmoignage et intérieure persuasion du S. Esprit, qui les nous fait discerner d'avec les autres livres Ecclésiastiques."

So also in the "Westminster Confession," c. i. § 4, 5:

"The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or Church, but wholly upon God (who is Truth itself), the author thereof; and therefore it is to be received because it is the Word of God. * * * Our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the word in our hearts."

On the other hand, J. D. Michaelis writes as follows:

"An inward sensation of the effects of the Holy Ghost, and the consciousness of the utility of these writings in improving the heart and purifying our morals, are criterions as uncertain as the foregoing. With respect to that inward sensation, I must confess that I have never experienced it in the whole course of my life; nor are those persons who have felt it either deserving of envy or nearer the truth, since the Muhammedan feels it as well as the Christian."-Marsh's Michaelis, vol. i. part i. p. 77.

Hofmann justly observes:-"Ob ein Wort der Wahrheit, zu welchem sich der Geist bekennt, kanonisch sey oder nicht, Wort der heiligen Schrift oder Wort der Ueberlieferung, darüber sagt jenes Zeugniss des Geistes nichts, und nicht blos einem J. D. Michaelis nichts, sondern auch einem Luther beim Briefe Jacobi und der Apokalypsis." -Weissagung und Erfüllung, i. s. 44. Hofmann's allusion to Luther suggests at once the great danger of this exclusive reliance on "the witness of the Spirit" as the foundation of our belief in the Bible. "Luther," observes Olshausen, in his treatise on the "Genuineness of the Writings of the New Testament," "shows himself a determined opponent of John's Revelation. He says, in his Preface to it: 'There are various and abundant reasons why I regard this book as neither apostolical nor prophetic. * * * But let every man think of it as his spirit prompts him. My spirit cannot adapt itself to the production, and this is reason enough for me why I should not esteem it very highly.'"-Clarke's For. Theol. Lib. p. cv. For a more detailed account of Luther's opinion on this subject, see Appendix C. The distinction which is to be made between erroneous views respecting the Canon of Scripture and erroneous views respecting Inspiration is one which deserves particular attention. See infra, Lecture ii. p. 71, note, the remarks as to Theodore of Mopsuestia.

is usually termed "the witness of the Spirit," or the testimony which the Holy Ghost Himself conveys to each reader of the Scriptures. The fundamental defect of this mode of upholding Inspiration appears to consist, not in the conception itself, but in the place assigned to it in the chain of Christian evidences, when employed to prove, and not to confirm,-when addressed to the judgment of the understanding, not to the affections of the heart. If offered as the sole, or even leading proof, we can scarcely feel surprise at its rejection by the sceptic or the unbeliever. To the intellect of such persons, the alleging such a fact, as proof, must be absolutely unintelligible. As well might any of us discourse with the blind upon the varieties of colours; or a being of some higher order offer to our minds some new idea for the reception of which the proper sense was wanting. The Bible must be recognised as Divine, before such a witness can be called in confirmation of previous evidence. But to the Christian, who, with willing mind and humble acquiescence, accepts the Scriptures as the word of God, this testimony of the Holy Spirit is a precious treasure. The proof is one which is even sealed with the promise of Christ. It results from no chain of elaborate argumentation; it rests upon that living and intuitive syllogism of the heart, "If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God." The Spirit which breathes the principle of Christian life into the being of man produces, as we read the words of the sacred writers, this recognition of His own former agency; and unconsciously, like the statue of ancient story, the soul makes symphony when the ray touches it from above."

And here, if one might venture to be eclectic as to any part of Holy Scripture, and to point out any portion of it which most fitly illustrates this idea, we may, perhaps, safely refer to that discourse of the Lord, beginning at the fourteenth and ending with the seventeenth chapter of S. John's Gospel that

1'Eáv Tiç đéhŋ tò đéλ, air moleiv. S. John, vii. 17. Cf. Nitzsch, "System der Christl. Lehre," 1er Th. § 32, who justly observes that in this point of view Christianity can not be a matter of demonstration.

"Why has the Holy Scripture its peculiar adaptation to man's nature, save because it is His Word, after whose image man was originally fashioned, and who is Himself the 'true light which lighteth every man?' Therefore, when we read it, we recognise the higher rule of our original composition."-Wilberforce, On the Incarnation, 2d ed. p. 481.

Holy of Holies, as it has been aptly termed, of Christ's history; that wonderful passage from every line of which shines forth the Divinity of Him who spake, though each syllable be tinged with the sadness of a soul which even now gazed full upon the agony in the Garden, and bore, in prospect, the crown of thorns-syllables, too, which were uttered from the very shadow of the tomb! Who is there that peruses those solemn words, whose heart does not burn within him as each expression of human affection that sympathy with His earthly brethren which every tone conveys becomes the point of contact through which those Revelations of the Eternal Word reach the spirit of man? Who is there that does not recognise the impress of the Divine nature in every sentence of that discourse, which, while it announces to the Disciples the sorrows of earth, at the same time pledges to them the aid and the joys of heaven: that discourse, so commanding, while shaded with the gloom of human anguish; so sublime in its tenderness; so majestic in its repose? From this source still streams forth a light which illumines the Christian's path, and cheers him on his pilgrimage; and hence, too, if his trust be shaken, can he draw conviction unclouded and serene. When difficulties embarrass the reason, and perplexities entangle the intellect, and who is that man over whose understanding doubt has not at times cast its shadow, or whose faith the stern realities of life have not put to the trial?-the fainting soul will find its refuge in the words which introduce this series of promise and encouragement; words which still whisper to our ear the same assurance which once supported the Apostle sinking in the wind-tossed sea, "Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in Me."