PREFACE.

I Do not feel that any lengthened defence is necessary for having undertaken an inquiry into the subject with which the present work is occupied. Independently of the intrinsic importance of every question connected with the elucidation of Holy Scripture-the vagueness which too often characterizes the language employed by writers who, in modern times, have treated of its Inspiration seems to render a fundamental examination into the nature of this Divine influence daily more desirable.

So long, indeed, as the 'mechanical' theory of Inspiration was generally maintained, there was no want of distinctness or consistency in the views put forward. So long as it was believed that each word and phrase to be found in the Bible-nay, even the order and grammatical connection of such words and phrases-had been infused by the Holy Ghost into the minds of the sacred writers, or dictated to them by His immediate suggestion, so long must the opinion held respecting Inspiration have been clear, intelligible, and accurately defined. But such a theory could not stand the test of close examination. The strongest evidence against it has been supplied by the Bible itself; and each additional discovery in the criticism.