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who delighted in cavilling, and were actuated by the most inveterate envy-unless they had concurred in admitting the divine inspiration of the words of Scripture. Nay, this reasoning, we humbly presume, could not have satisfied" the faithful and true Witness" himself, by whom it was employed, unless he had known, and had intended to countenance the sentiment, that the inspiration of the Bible is complete, both in matter and diction.

Here it might have been worth while also to advert to the beautiful and instructive order in which not only entire sentences, but members of sentences, and even single terms, are arranged. Let the reader only meditate on the important ideas conveyed by the very collocation of the words in Rom. viii. 29, "Whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified;" also in 1 Cor. i. 30, 2 Pet. i. 5–7, and in many other passages, and he will see great cause to recognise the agency of the Spirit of wisdom in adjusting the style, as well as in dictating the sentiments of the sacred volume.

VII. The doctrine of Verbal Inspiration is confirmed by the intimate connexion that subsists betwixt thoughts, and the words by which they are expressed.

The reality of this connexion will be questioned by no one who has attentively reflected on the operations of his own mind. The same bountiful Creator to whom we stand indebted for reason, has also endowed us with the faculty of speech. Mankind, instead of confining themselves, like the irrational animals, to indistinct sounds, are taught by nature to express their ideas and emotions, and to hold intercourse with each other, by articulate language. How widely soever the various tongues that have ever been, or that are now spoken on the earth, may differ from one another with respect to accuracy, energy, copiousness, and beauty, every people and tribe is found to use some one language or dialect. Certain words, we admit, as denoting particular objects, qualities, or actions, are wholly arbitrary. No natural connexion can be traced, for example, between the English word book, or the corresponding term in Hebrew, Greek, or Latin, or in any other language and that object which the English people have been pleased to call book, the Hebrews DD, the Greeks BCs, and the Latins liber. Yet, whatever be the language we are taught from our infancy, we learn not only to speak,

but also to think, in that language. From the power of early habit, the words become closely associated with the ideas they have been chosen to convey; and we find it scarcely, if at all, possible to pursue a combination of thoughts, or a train of reflections in our own minds, without secretly investing them with the correspondent artificial expressions. The difficulty of changing one's mental language, it may be noticed, is great, sometimes insuperable. Individuals, for instance, to whom Gaelic is the vernacular tongue, have acknowledged that they continue to think in that language for many years after their whole conversation with those around them, owing to the change of their residence and company, had begun to be conducted in English. This well-known difficulty, however, serves rather to corroborate than to weaken our present argument. It is, at all events, an acknowledged fact, that articulate language is not merely the medium by which one man communicates his thoughts to another; but that every man feels himself strongly disposed, and, so to speak, compelled by nature to make use of words, in one language or another, as the instrument of his own mental conceptions and reasonings. Why, then, should we doubt that the sacred writers, when inspired by the Spirit of God, received from him not the bare substance, or naked ideas of what they committed to writing, but the very words in which these ideas are clothed. That the Spirit was able to communicate the thoughts in this regular and embodied state, will be conceded by all who believe the existence and omnipotence of God; nor since it is possible for a human parent who intrusts his child with a message to put words in the mouth of the child suited to his years, qualities and circumstances, ought it to be deemed incredible that the Spirit of the Most High furnished the men whom he employed as his intelligent organs to declare his will, with words adapted respectively to the genius, turn of mind, and capacities of each. The necessity of this mode of procedure, on some occasions, is undeniable. When the Spirit imparted to the penmen of Scripture, thoughts and truths altogether new, recondite, or mysterious, the vehicle of language, so far as we can apprehend, could not have been dispensed with. How these thoughts and truths could have at all entered into their minds without apposite words, seems utterly inconceivable. Even in other cases, it appears hard to imagine by what means the Prophets and Apostles could have correctly learned the mind of the Spirit, unless he had dictated the words in which it is expressed.

"We may remark," says a masterly writer, "that we cannot, even in imagination, separate verbal inspiration from the inspiration of ideas. Ideas are intelligible to the human mind, only when clothed in words; and we can conceive no way in which it was possible to suggest ideas to the minds of the Apostles but by suggesting the words which express these ideas."*

To imagine that the Spirit, by some inconceivable mode, supplied the ideas, but quite withheld the expressions—that he really inspired the holy writers with knowledge, but left it to each to choose whatever words he pleased, seems to be utterly incongruous, and to be at variance with the certain fact, that our thoughts, even in their first commencement in the mind, and the words proper to express them, are naturally and inseparably linked together.

VIII. Another proof of the Verbal Inspiration of the Scriptures arises from the indisputable excellence of their diction.

In

An appeal was formerly made to the unrivalled worth of the matter contained in the sacred volume, particularly to its doctrines and morals, as affording satisfactory evidence of its divine original. We now advert to the superior excellence of its language, as fitted to strengthen our belief of its verbal inspiration. Several parts of Scripture, as has been allowed, are necessarily of such a complexion that, whilst they betray nothing incompatible with this high origin, it cannot be affirmed that they present in themselves any positive proof that, in their ideas and words, they are indited by the Spirit. reference to portions of this description, the external evidence by which they are supported, and their coinciding in their general purport and tendency with the tenor of the whole book of God, ought to be judged sufficient. The Scriptures of both Testaments, however, exhibit numerous passages, in which sublimity softened by pathos, and dignity chastened by simplicity, so characterize at once the sentiment and the style, that the unbiassed reader feels himself obliged to say, "This is the voice of God, and not of man." The unpolished and illiterate, influenced by sensibilities that belong to human nature, like the Roman soldiers, who said of Jesus, "Never man spake like this man," have been compelled to exclaim with regard to the sacred penmen, Never did men write like these

* Review of the Rev. S. Noble on Inspiration, in Christian Instructor, vol. xxv. p. 107.

Chap. i. sect. vi. 3, 4.

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men! Nay, a considerable proportion of the most learned and refined, after accomplishing an extensive course of reading in a variety of languages, and after perusing the most admired historians, philosophers, and poets, both ancient and modern, have acknowledged the superior majesty and beauty of holy writ. In the most decided terms, they have spontaneously transferred the palm from Homer, Xenophon, Cicero, and Milton, to Moses, David, Solomon, and Isaiah. That spiritual discernment which, in a higher or a lower measure, is the privilege of all that are taught of God and blessed with "an unction from the Holy One," is, however, a more excellent and penetrating faculty than either the natural sensibility which may be found amongst men of every grade, or that elegant taste which is the boast of polite and literary classes. The real Christian, owing to this gracious discernment, has a peculiar relish both for the sacred truths and precepts, and for the divine expressions of the Bible, not less beneficial in its permanent effects, than pleasing in its immediate sensations. "How sweet are thy words unto my taste!" says the Psalmist, "yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through thy precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.'

Amongst the numerous sublime and beautiful portions of Scripture, we may specify the few following:-Exodus xv.; Job iv. xxxvii. xxxviii.; Psalm exxxix.; Isaiah xiv. xl.; Habbakkuk iii.; 1 Corinthians xiii.; 2 Peter iii.; Revelation i. xx.

One consideration particularly merits our attention. The language in which the sacred writers clothe their ideas, is in various instances far superior to that which their early education and habits might have led us to expect. We can recognise traits of grandeur, not only in the writings of Isaiah, who most probably was educated in a manner befitting a youth nearly allied to the throne, but also in those of Amos, who was taken from gathering sycamores and tending the flock. How lofty is the following description of the Almighty, supplied by this prophet!" Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel; for, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, Jehovah, the God of Hosts is his name."† Many have noticed the allusions of Amos to the humble scenes of the pastoral life, to which he had been habituated from his youth; but the examples of sublimity in conception and language, that his prophecies present, should not be overlooked. In perusing

Psalm cxix. 103, 104.

Amos iv. 12, 13.

the New Testament, too, we are struck with the touches of natural eloquence, not only in the writings of Paul, whose education was somewhat liberal, but in those of Matthew, who was originally a tax-gatherer, and of Peter and John, who had pursued the lowly occupation of fishermen. Not to mention the lofty visions and splendid imagery which adorn the Apocalypse, we should conclude, that full verbal inspiration was indispensably necessary to enable Matthew and John to detail the transactions of our Saviour's life in a style, which, though having no pretensions to Attic elegance, is excellently suited to the glorious theme; equally adapted to the instruction of rich and poor; and powerfully calculated, by the divine blessing, to interest every heart, and to bring all men to the knowledge of him who is " the way, the truth, and the life."

IX. Once more: Plenary and Verbal Inspiration was essential to the design of the Scriptures, as an infallible and perpetual rule of faith and practice.

The purposes for which the sacred volume was given to the world are most gracious and important. It was intended to display the character and perfections of God; to instruct, sanctify, and save mankind; and to serve as the accredited standard of truth and duty. It is a standard, canon, or rule, characterized by attributes peculiar to itself. Infallible, it cannot err; it can, in no instance, deceive or mislead. Supreme, it has authority to try every other standard, while it is itself liable to be tried and corrected by none. Universal, its dominion extends, and its salutary lessons are adapted alike to Jew and Gentile, high and low, learned and unlearned, bond and free. Perpetual, it is appointed to regulate the sentiments and conduct, the fears and hopes of mankind in all ages, to the end of the world. Prepared by that Spirit who "searcheth all things," and to whom all things past, present, and to come, are continually naked and open, it is admirably suited to every state of things that can possibly arise in any country, and in any age. Though local and incidental circumstances originally gave occasion to the writing of particular passages, or even of the whole Books of Scripture, those very passages and books are found of extensive application for the benefit of men; for "He fashioneth their hearts alike;"* and in times and places widely distant from each other, similar necessities, obligations, difficulties, and trials, often occur among Christians, both in an individual and a social capacity.

Psalm xxxiii. 15.

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