ON THE INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
IN my last, I endeavoured to show the necessity of a Divine revelation. In this, I shall offer evidence of the Bible being written by inspiration of God, so as to answer to this necessity. It is certain that those who wrote the books which compose the Old and New Testaments profess to have been Divinely inspired. "The Spirit of God spake by me, and his word was in my tongue: the God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me. The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, &c. Thus saith the Lord. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord." We must, therefore, either admit these writings to be the word of God, or consider them as mere imposture. To pretend to "venerate them as authentic, records of the dispensation of God," and yet deny their inspiration, is absurd; it is believing the writers in what they say of other subjects, and disbelieving them in what they say of themselves. If their writings be not what they profess them to be, they are imposture, and deserve to be rejected. There is no consistent medium between faith and unbelief.
But though all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, it does not follow that it is so in the same sense and degree. It required one degree of inspiration to foretell future events, and another to narrate facts which fell under the writers knowledge. The one required less exercise of his own judgment, the other more. Inspiration, in the latter case, might be little more than a Divine superintendence, preserving him from error, and from other defects and faults, to which ordinary historians are subject. Divine inspiration, of whatever kind or degree, must have carried in it its own evidence to the party, or he could not with propriety have declared, 'Thus saith the Lord" and, "The things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord." And it appears, in some cases, to have been equally evident to those who were present. Thus, when the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, and he foretold the overthrow of the Moabites and Ammonites, Jehoshaphat and the people appear to have been as certain that it was by inspiration of God as he himself was; and therefore fell before the Lord, and worshiped, 2 Chron. xx.
The only question is, whether that which was evident to them can be so to us, at this distance of time and place; if not in the same degree, yet with sufficient certainty to warrant our unreserved dependence upon it. Some of the principal grounds on which the affirmative may be maintained, I conceive to be the following: the truth of the things contained in the sacred writings, their consistency, their perfection, their pungency, and their utility. Let us review these particulars.
1. The truth of the things contained in the sacred writings. It requires that a book professing to be a revelation from God should contain truth, and nothing but truth such particularly must be its history, its prophecies, its miracles, and its doctrines. Now, as the Scriptures abound with these, if they be untrue, it can be no difficult undertaking to prove them so. The facts being stated, with the evidence accompanying them, it lies upon those who disbelieve them to show cause. It certainly has not been for want of adversaries, nor of adversaries of talent, that this work has never been accomplished. How is it that, out of all those who have written against the
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Bible, not an individual has soberly and modestly undertaken to answer the evidence which has been adduced for the veracity of its history, the fulfilment of its prophecies, the reality of its miracles, and the purity and consistency of its doctrines? Instead of this, many of them have meanly pretended to believe the Bible, while yet they have been deceitfully undermining it; and those who have avowed their hostility have commonly dealt in ridicule, rather than in reason. Verily, it is to the honour of the Bible to have such men for its adversaries.
2. Their consistency. A book written by more than thirty men, of different talents and stations in life, living in different ages, the greater part of whom, therefore, could have no communication with each other, must, had it not been written under the inspiration of God, have been full of contradictions. Let any other production be named which has preserved a consistency under such circumstances. To suppose a succession of writings, the work of designing impostors, or at least of weak-headed fanatics, capable of maintaining that harmony which is apparent in the sacred Scriptures, is no less absurd than the notion of Epicurus, that the world was formed by a fortuitous concourse of atoms, without a designing cause. Great as are the differences between Jews and Christians, there is none between their sacred writings. The Old and New Testaments are dictated by one and the same Spirit. Paul was hated by his unbelieving countrymen, and treated as an apostate from the religion of his ancestors; but he was not an apostate. "I thank God," says he to Timothy, "whom I serve from my forefathers." He speaks also of the same faith which was in Timothy as having dwelt first in his grandmother Lois, and then in his mother Eunice; the former of whom lived and died under the former dispensation. The same God who, "at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets," in the "last days spoke unto us by his Son." Consistency, it is true, may not in every instance be a test of truth; since error and falsehood may, in some particulars, be made to agree: but, in a subject whose bearings are multifarious and minute, they cannot escape detection; nothing but truth in such cases will be found consistent throughout.
3. Their perfection. If the Bible be of God, perfection must be one of its properties; for "He is a Rock, and his work is perfect." This property, however, belongs to it, not as having been begun and ended at once. This the work of creation was not; each day had its proper work; which, on review, was pronounced very good, and all together, when finished, formed a glorious whole. Such was the work of inspiration: the sacred Scriptures were upwards of fifteen hundred years from their commencement to their completion; but, being completed, they form a whole, and every part of them is very good. There is this peculiar property belonging to the sacred Scriptures, that if you are in possession of only a single book, you may generally learn from it the leading principles which run through all the rest. The strong language of David concerning the sacred Scriptures, such as their being "more to be desired than thousands of gold and silver, sweeter than honey and the honey-comb," and the like, could have reference to little more than the Pentateuch of Moses. Even a leaf from the sacred oracles would, in innumerable instances, teach him that should find it, and read it with a humble mind, the way to everlasting life; and this not as possessing any thing like a charm, but as containing principles which, if understood and followed, will lead the inquirer to God.
4. Their pungency. There is nothing in the sacred Scriptures to gratify an idle curiosity; but much that commends itself to the conscience, and that interests the heart. They are a mirror, into which he that seriously looks
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must, in a greater or less degree, see his own likeness, and discover what kind of character he is. That which was said of Jesus by the Samaritan woman, might be said of them, in thousands of instances: "He told me all that ever I did." They are "the words of the wise, which are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies." They not only prick the sinner in his heart, but stick so fast that he is incapable of extracting them. It has been remarked, that they who heard the preaching of the apostles were generally moved by it, either to repent and be converted, or to oppose the truth with bitter resentment. Their doctrine was a savour of life unto life in them that believed, and of death unto death in them that resisted. Surely, if we preached more in the spirit and power of the apostles, the effects of our ministry would more resemble theirs, and our hearers would not be able to sit year after year easy in their sins. "The word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword; piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow; and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." If our preaching be but, little adapted to produce these effects, surely it contains but little of the word of God.
5. Their utility. There is much in the sacred Scriptures that is entertaining and pleasing to the ingenious, and more to console the sorrowful: it was not, however, to please, nor merely to comfort, but to profit us that they were written. That which is given by inspiration of God is "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." Unbelievers may declaim against the Bible; but universal experience proves that, in respect of the present life only, they who believe it and form their lives on its principles are, beyond all comparison, the best members of society; while they who disbelieve and traduce it are the worst, And if to this be added the life to come, it is no longer a subject of comparison, but of contrast; for the former ordinarily die in peace and hope, the latter either blinded by insensibility, or, if awakened to reflection, in fearful forebodings of the wrath to come.
I shall conclude this letter with a few remarks on the properties and tendencies ascribed to the sacred Scriptures in the nineteenth Psalm. Having declared the glory of God, as manifested by his works, the writer proceeds to exhibit another medium of the Divine glory, less magnificent, but more suited to the cases of sinful men, namely, his word. The law, the testimony, the statutes, the commandments, the fear, and the judgments of the Lord, are but different names given to the Scriptures.
"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." The book of nature declares the eternal power and Godhead" of the Creator; but that of Scripture represents his whole character; not only as the Creator, but as the moral Governor and Saviour of men. Hence it is "able to make us wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus."
"The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." The opinions of the greatest men, formed merely from the works of nature, are full of uncertainty, and but ill adapted to instruct the illiterate part of mankind in their best interests; but the sacred Scriptures contain the true sayings of God, which may be safely depended upon.
"The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart." The principles inculcated in the sacred Scriptures accord with the nature and fitness of things. That which they require approves itself to the conscience; and that which they teach, though foolishness in the account of unbelievers, is, to those who understand and believe it, the wisdom of God. This property
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gives joy to every upright mind; for the friends of righteousness must needs rejoice in that which is right.
"The commandments of the Lord are pure, enlightening the eyes." Their freedom from every mixture of corruption renders them fit to illuminate the mind and cheer the heart. Wearied with the discordant opinions of men, we turn to the Scriptures, and, like Jonathan on tasting the honey, our eyes are enlightened.
"The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever." The worship of God, as taught in the sacred Scriptures, is chaste and uncorrupt; and therefore shall continue when idolatry, and every abomination which has passed under the name of religion, shall be no more.
"The judgments of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether." The sacred Scriptures contain the decisions of the Judge of all, both as to things and characters, from which there is no appeal: nor is it fit there should be; seeing they are not only formed in wisdom, but perfectly accord with truth and equity. "More to be desired are they than gold; yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey, and the honeycomb." There is a rich, a valuable, I might say an invaluable, quality in these writings, which is not to be found in any other; and which so interests the heart that the things most valued in the world lose all their attractions in comparison of it.
"Moreover, by them is thy servant warned; and in keeping of them there is great reward." They are adapted at the same time to preserve us from evil, and to lead us in the good and the right way; and, as we follow it, yield inexpressible satisfaction. If in reading these holy oracles we make the proper use of them, we shall, according to the remaining verses in the Psalm, perceive that our errors are innumerable; shall feel the need of keeping grace to preserve us even from the worst of crimes; and shall aspire to a conformity in our words and thoughts to the will of God.
May the blessing of God attend the various attempts to translate and circulate the sacred Scriptures. A few years ago, a certain infidel braggadocio pretended to have gone through the wood and cut down the trees, which the priests, he said, might stick in again, but they would not grow! And have the sacred Scriptures been less in request since that time than they were before? Rather have they not been much more so? Infidelity, by overacting its part, has given itself a wound; and its abettors, like Herod, have been eaten of worms, and have died. But the word of the Lord has grown and been multiplied. ===================== [From Joseph Belcher, The Complete Works of the Rev. Andrew Fuller, Volume I, 1845; rpt. 1988. Document provided by David Oldfield, Post Falls, ID. jrd]
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