fare of mankind: they were requisite at the time they were wrought, for the propagation of the Christian religion in the world; and are, as will appear from the following account of them, attested by such solid and satisfactory evidence, that no doubt whatever can reasonably be entertained of their reality, or of the divine authority of that holy religion, the truth of which is, on the proof of their reality, sufficiently and satisfactorily established by them.

SECTION 1.

The Evidence for the divine Authority of the New Testament, arising from the Number, Variety, and Nature of the Miracles therein recorded.

A

In the New Testament, we have accounts of more than 50 miracles which were wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ, and by his apostles, through a power which he communicated to them. These miracles were not of one or two kinds, but were extremely diversified in their nature. variety of diseases, such as lameness, deafness, dumbness, blindness, with many other evils incident to humanity, were cured by them with a touch or a word. They healed the sick, they cast out devils, they raised the dead: nature, animate and inanimate; the visible and the invisible world, were all successively the objects of their miraculous operations. But is not simply these miracles themselves which demand our notice: the witnesses before whom they were wrought, and the solidity of the proofs by which they are attested, also require our attention. Nature, it is evident from observation, is always slow in its operations: the miracles, therefore, recorded in the New Testament cannot be attributed to any combination of natural causes or fortuitous arrangement of events, because they were in general accidental in circumstances and instantaneous in operation, but always permanent in effects. Had these miracles been wrought in private, or only in the presence of those who were friendly to the doctrines they

were designed to confirm, we might, without any breach of charity, have doubted their reality. But we find, on examining the records by which they are attested, that the reverse was the case. "The works that I do" (said Christ, John v. 36, referring to the miracles which he had wrought) "bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me." And in 2 Cor. xii. 12, the apostle tells the members of that church, that the signs of an apostle (i. e. a variety of miracles) were wrought by him amongst them, " in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds." Now the persons to whom the apostle thus wrote, had called in question the truth of his apostolic mission; and to these miracles which had been wrought amongst them he referred, as a confirmation of it. The appeal of Christ to the same miraculous operations was made to those who were decidedly opposed to him, and most inveterate enemies to the religion which they were designed to establish; and yet neither in one case nor the other, do we find the truth of these miracles disputed. The uniform silence, therefore, of both parties proves that such miracles actually were wrought—that they were wrought publicly, both before friends and enemies-were open to investigation-and were so convincing and evident, as to be utterly indisputable. Several of the enemies of Christ, influenced by malice, as we are informed, Mark iii. 22, blasphemously asserted, that his miracles were wrought by the power of the devil; but the fact of their having actually been wrought, they never attempted to deny: and as the object of these men was to injure the cause of Christianity, and prevent, if possible, its spread in the world, we may be fully certain that could they in any way have denied the truth of the miracles on which its credibility rested, instead of attempting, as they did, in a thousand other ways to ruin its interests, they would at once have resorted to this, as being the most likely method of accomplishing their object. But instead of doing this, we find, that many of the men who in the first instance opposed and persecuted the gospel, on the conviction of the truth of its miracles, afterwards embraced it: on the

ground of this conviction their Christian characters were formed; and on the same principle they submitted to unheard of pains and privations, and ultimately to death itself, in order to defend its truths,and accelerate its interests. There is also another circumstance, by which the reality of the Christian miracles is abundantly confirmed, viz. their having never been denied or objected to by any of the numerous apostates from Christianity. For instance, had Christ been an impostor, or had there been any kind of deception or fraud in the miracles which he wrought, it of course must have been known to his immediate disciples, to whom the arduous task of propagating the Christian religion was delegated. We may therefore in this case reasonably suppose, that when Judas betrayed the founder of this religion, he would, in order to justify his own infamous conduct, have discovered the secret, and published the fraud to the world. Again, Constantine, Emperor of Rome, having embraced the Christian religion, his nephew Julian embraced it likewise; not (as is generally supposed) because he was convinced of its truth, but because he was heir to the throne, and considered that he would, by becoming a Christian, please the reigning prince, which, as a matter of course, would be favourable to his views of succession. He had, however, no sooner obtained possession of the imperial throne, than he threw off the mask, by renouncing Christianity, becoming on idolater: and though, in order to justify his own conduct, he opposed, and afterwards wrote against Christianity, yet he never attempted to falsify, or even to question the truth of the miracles recorded in the New Testament, nor impeached in any other way the veracity of the sacred writers. Now, had there been any fraud or duplicity connected with the history of the Christian miracles, he, having been initiated into the secrets of Christianity, must of course have been acquainted with it; and would undoubtedly, in vindication of his own conduct, have communicated this information to the world. A variety of other examples of a similar kind might also be

brought forward, as many in the days of persecution renounced the gospel, which they had previously embraced in order to save their lives: but not one single instance is left on record, of any who thus renounced it having ever impeached the veracity of the inspired penmen, or attempted to prove that the miracles recorded in the New Testament were false or fabulous statements. We are told, in the 3d chap. of John, that Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, came to Jesus by night, and said unto him: "“Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." And again, in Acts iv. 15, 16, we are informed, that when two of the disciples of Christ were brought before the Jewish Sanhedrim, the members of this court" conferred among themselves, saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell at Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it." The manner in which these rulers of the Jews and enemies of the gospel are here stated to have expressed themselves, with reference to the reality of the miracle referred to, and which is recorded in the preceding verses, is worthy of observation. Their declaration of their inability to deny it, evidently proves, that instead of conceding the truth of it in the manner they did, they would have denied it, had there been any possibility, or even plausible ground on which they could have founded the denial. It is therefore sufficiently evident, from this concession of the enemies, as well as from the testimony of the friends of Christianity, that the truth of the miracles recorded by the Evangelists is a thing which was never disputed. We have here the evidence of all parties; and this universal acknowledgment of the truth and the actual occurrence of the facts recorded, is a satisfactory and incontrovertible proof of the genuineness and authenticity of those scripture histories wherein these miracles are recorded.

The argument, therefore, which is founded upon these miracles, must, if by these observations we are prepared

to appreciate it, be acknowledged to be simple and conclusive: this argument is as follows. It is satisfactorily ascertained, by the most indubitable evidence, that the miracles recorded in the Christian scriptures were actually wrought, in exact conformity to the testimony which is there given-they were wrought in attestation of the truth and divine authority of the Christian religion—the object was connected with the greatest and best interests of man, and of sufficient importance to be worthy of the divine interposition. On these principles, therefore, we are sufficiently warranted to conclude, that Christianity is true; and to assert that the divine authority of the Bible, which contains the records of that holy religion, is by these miraculous interpositions so satisfactorily confirmed and substantiated, that all who reject it will most certainly be "punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." 2 Thess. i. 9.

Should the enquiring reader doubt the correctness of this conclusion, or be at all disposed to question the connection which there is between the reality of the Christian miracles and the truth of the Christian religion, I request his candid attention to the following illustration, which bears upon the subject, and will tend to convince him, that the inference which in this respect I have drawn is both natural and correct.-Suppose a company of wicked impostors agree to forge and circulate through the country a letter in the king's name, containing a variety of commands and instructions, to which all his subjects are required, on pain of death in case of their omission, to attend-will the king, when he hears of this circumstance, put his seal to, and confirm this infamous and deceitful letter? Will he not rather endeavour to apprehend and bring to condign punishment the villains, who have been guilty of so notorious an imposition? Now apply this illustration to the subject under investigation. The miracles which are recorded in the New Testament, and which were wrought to attest the truth of Christian