his own character, which in all things is good. He has given us
reason, or active intellectual powers capable of pursuing the truth,
and discovering his character, as a rule of our conduct. And because
reason is matured by slow degrees, and the advantages for its
improvement are unequal, he has given us a sense susceptible of the
impressions of good and evil, by which we can distinguish between
moral good and evil almost as easily, as by our natural senses we
discern the differences between light and darkness, sweetness and
bitterness; and thus has he rendered the judgment upon our own actions
almost always unavoidable. The light of nature has been confirmed by
express revelation; and because the law of nature identifies itself
with the written law of God, the obligation of both rests upon the
same foundation, the Sovereign will.
Footnote 16:
Where a covenant is, there should be the death of the devoted
_victim_.
Footnote 17:
PROPHETS BEFORE THE CAPTIVITY.
_With the order and times of their Prophecies._
Years
before
Christ.
812 Amaziah king of Judah, Jonah sent with a message. 2
Jeroboam II. king of Israel Kings xiii. 20. xiv. 25.
800 Uzziah king of Judah. Jeroboam Joel i. ii. iii.
II.
800 Jeroboam II. king of Israel. Amos i.——ix.
Uzziah king of Judah
800 Jeroboam II. Uzziah Hosea i. ii. iii.
772 Menahem I. Hosea iv.
770 Menahem II. Jonah i. ii. iii. iv.
759 Uzziah 52. Pekah 1. Isaiah vi. ii. iii. iv. v.
753 Jotham 5. Pekah 7. Micah i. ii.
742 Ahaz 1. Pekah 18. Isaiah vii.
In the same year Isaiah viii. ix. x.
In the same year Isaiah xvii.
740 Ahaz 3. Pekah 20. Isaiah i.
In the same year Isaiah xxviii.
739 Aphaz 4. Hosea v. vi.
726 Hezekiah 2. Isaiah xiv. ver. 28, &c.
In the same year Isaiah xv. xvi.
725 Hezekiah 3. Hoshea 6. Hosea vii.-xiv. Micah iii. iv.
v. vi. vii.
720 Hezekiah 7. Nahum i. ii. iii.
715 Hezekiah 13. Isaiah xxiii.-xxvii.
714 Hezekiah 14. Isaiah xxxviii. xxxix.
714 Hezekiah 14. Isaiah xxix. xxx.-xxxv.
In the same year Isaiah xxii. ver. 1-15.
In the same year Isaiah xxi.
713 Hezekiah 15. Isaiah xx.
In the same year Isaiah xviii. xix.
710 Hezekiah 18. Isaiah x. ver. 5, &c. xi. xii.
xiii. xiv. ver. 28, &c.
In the same year Isaiah xxxvi. xxxvii.
In the same year Isaiah xl.-xliii. &c.
698 Manasseh 1. Isaiah xxii. ver. 15.
628 Josiah 13. Jeremiah i. ii.
623 Josiah 18. Jeremiah xi. ver. 1-18.
Jeremiah iii.-x. xii.-xxi.
Jeremiah xi. ver. 18, &c.
611 Josiah 31. Habbakkuk i. ii. iii.
Zephaniah i. ii. iii.
610 Jehoiakim 1. Jeremiah xii. ver. 1-24.
In the same year Jeremiah xxvi.
606 Jehoiakim 4. Jeremiah xxv.
In the same year Jeremiah xxxv.
In the same year Jeremiah xlvi.
In the same year Jeremiah xxxvi. ver. 1-9.
In the same year Jeremiah xlv.
In the same year Daniel i.
605 Jehoiakim 5. Jeremiah xxxvi. ver. 9, &c.
603 Jehoiakim 7. Daniel ii.
599 Zedekiah 1. Jeremiah xxii. ver. 24, &c.
In the same year Jeremiah xxiii
In the same year Jeremiah xiii. ver. 13, &c.
In the same year Jeremiah xxiv.
In the same year Jeremiah xlix. ver. 34, &c.
598 Zedekiah 2. Jeremiah xxix.
In the same year Jeremiah xxx. xxxi.
In the same year Jeremiah xxvii.
596 Zedekiah 4. Jeremiah xxviii.
In the same year Jeremiah l. li.
595 Zedekiah 5. Jehoiachin’s capt. Ezekiel i.-vii.
5
594 Zedekiah 6. Jehoiachin’s capt. Ezekiel viii.-xi.
6
593 Zedekiah 7. Jehoiachin’s capt. Ezekiel xii.-xix.
7
In the same year, fifth month Ezekiel xx.-xxiii.
591 Zedekiah 9. Jehoiachin’s capt. Jeremiah xxi. xxxiv ver. 1-8.
9
In the same year Jeremiah xlvii.
In the same year Jeremiah xlviii. xlix. ver.
1-34.
In the same year Ezekiel xxiv. xxv.
590 Zedekiah 10. Jehoiachin’s Jeremiah xxxvii. ver. 1-11.
capt. 10
In the same year Jeremiah xxxiv. ver. 8, &c.
In the same year Jeremiah xxxvii. ver. 11-16
In the same year Jeremiah xxxii. xxiii.
In the same year Ezekiel xxix. ver. 1-17. xxx.
In the same year Jeremiah xxxvii. ver. 17, &c.
In the same year Jeremiah xxxviii. ver. 1-14.
In the same year Jeremiah xxxix. ver. 15, &c.
In the same year Jeremiah xxxviii. ver. 14, &c.
589 Zedekiah 11. Jehoiachin’s capt Ezekiel xxxvi. xxxvii.
11. first month xxxviii.
In the same year, third month Ezekiel xxxi.
In the same year, fourth month Jeremiah xxxix. ver. 1-11.
lii. ver. 1-30.
In the same year, fifth or Jeremiah xxxix. ver. 11-15.
sixth month xl. ver. 1-7.
In the same year Jeremiah xl. ver. 7. xli.
xlii. xliii. xliv. ver. 1-8.
PROPHETS AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE, DURING THE CAPTIVITY.
588 Jehoiachin’s captivity 12. Ezekiel xxxiii.
tenth month
In the same year, twelfth Ezekiel xxxii.
month
Between the 12 and 25 Ezekiel xxxiv. xxxvi. xxxvii.
captivity xxxviii. xxxix.
In the same year Obadiah
In the same year Ezekiel xxxv.
In this year Nebuchadnezzar Daniel iii.
set up his golden image
574 Jehoiachin’s captivity 25. Ezekiel xl. xli. &c.
569 Jehoiachin’s captivity 30. Ezekiel xxxi. ver. 17, &c.
In the same year Daniel iv.
562 Jehoiachin’s captivity 37. Jeremiah lii. ver. 31, &c.
555 Belshazzar 1. Daniel vii.
553 Belshazzar 3. Daniel viii.
539 Belshazzar 17. Daniel v.
538 Darius the Mede 1. Daniel vi.
In the same year Daniel ix.
536 Cyrus 1. Ezra i. ii.
535 Cyrus 2. Ezra iii.
PROPHETS AFTER THE CAPTIVITY UNDER THE SECOND TEMPLE.
535 Cyrus 2. Ezra iv.
In the third year of Cyrus, Daniel x. xi. xii
and third after the captivity
520 Darius Hystaspis 2. sixth Haggai i. ver. 1-12.
month
In the same year and month Haggai i. ver. 12, &c. Ezra v.
In the same year, seventh Haggai ii. ver. 1-10.
month
In the same year, eighth month Zechariah i. ver. 1-7.
In the same year, ninth month Haggai ii. ver. 10, &c.
In the same year, eleventh Zechariah i. ver. 7, &c.
month ii.-vi.
516 Darius 3. Ezra v. ver. 3, &c.
518 Darius 4. Ezra vi. ver. 1-15.
In the same year, ninth month Zech. vii. viii.
Subsequent to the fourth year Zechariah ix.-xiv.
of Darius Hystaspes
515 Darius 6. Ezra vi. ver. 15, &c.
462 Ahasuerus 3. Esther i.
461 Ahasuerus 4. Esther ii. ver. 1-16.
458 Ahasuerus 7. Ezra vii.-x.
In the same year Esther ii. ver. 16-21.
457 Ahasuerus 8. Esther ii. ver. 21, &c.
453 Ahasuerus 12. Esther iii. iv. v. &c.
445 Ahasuerus 20. Nehemiah i.-iii. &c.
433 Ahasuerus 32. Nehemiah xiii. ver. 6.
429 Ahasuerus 36. Malachi i.-iv.
428 Ahasuerus 37. Nehemiah xiii. ver. 6, &c.
296 Ptolemy Soter 9. The Canon of the Old Testament
completed, by adding two books
of Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah,
Esther, and Malachi; by Simon
the Just.
DR. TAYLOR.
Footnote 18:
κοσμος is the _unregenerate world_, John vii. 7. and χωρησαι, is to
_receive kindly_, 2 Cor. vii. 2.
Footnote 19:
_Vid. Philo. Jud. de Vit. Mosis; & eund. citat. ab Euseb. in Præp.
Evang. l. viii. c. 6. & Joseph, contr. App. l. ii._
Quest. IV.
QUEST. IV. _How doth it appear that the scriptures are the word of
God?_
_Answ._ The scriptures manifest themselves to be the word of God by
their majesty and purity; by the consent of all the parts, and the
scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God; by their
light and power to convince and convert sinners, to comfort and
build up believers to salvation: but the Spirit of God bearing
witness by and with the scriptures in the heart of man, is alone
able fully to persuade it, that they are the word of God.
Before we proceed to consider the arguments here brought to prove the
scriptures to be the word of God, some things may be premised.[20]
1. When we speak of the scriptures as divine, we do not only mean that
they treat of God and divine things; to wit, his nature and works, as
referring principally to the subject matter thereof; for this may be
said of many human uninspired writings, which, in proportion to the
wisdom of their authors, tend to set forth the divine perfections. And
when, as the consequence hereof, we assert that every thing contained
therein is infallibly true, we do not deny but that there are many
things, which we receive from human testimony, of which it would be
scepticism to entertain the least doubt of the truth; notwithstanding,
when we receive a truth from human testimony, we judge of the certainty
thereof, by the credibility of the evidence, and, in proportion
thereunto, there is a degree of certainty arising from it: but when we
suppose a truth to be divine, we have the highest degree of certainty
equally applicable to every thing that is so, and that for this reason,
because it is the word of him that cannot lie. Thus we consider the holy
scriptures, as being of a divine original, or given by the inspiration
of God, or as his revealed will, designed to bind the consciences of
men; and that the penmen were not the inventers of them, but only the
instruments made use of to convey these divine oracles to us, as the
apostle says, 2 Pet. i. 21. _Prophecy came not in old time by the will
of man; but holy men of God spake, as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost_: and the apostle Paul says, Gal. i. 11, 12. _I certify unto you,
that the gospel, which was preached of me, is not after man; neither
received I it of man; neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of
Jesus Christ_: the former asserts this concerning scripture in general,
and the latter concerning that part thereof which was transmitted to us
by him: this is what we mean when we say the scripture is the word of
God.
2. It is necessary for us to know and believe the scriptures to be the
word of God, because they are to be received by us as a rule of faith
and obedience, in whatever respects divine things, otherwise we are
destitute of a rule, and consequently our religion would be a matter of
the greatest uncertainty; and as this faith and obedience is divine, it
is a branch of religious worship, and as such, contains an entire
subjection to God, a firm and unshaken assent to whatever he reveals as
true, and a readiness to obey whatever he commands, as being influenced
by his authority; which is inconsistent with any hesitation or doubt
concerning this matter. Moreover, it is only therein that we have an
account of the way in which sinners may have access to God; the terms of
their finding acceptance in his sight, and all the promises of eternal
blessedness, on which their hope is founded, are contained therein; if
therefore we are not certain that the scriptures are the word of God,
our faith and hope are vain; it is herein that _life and immortality is
brought to light_, and, by _searching them, we think that we have
eternal life_.
3. As divine revelation is necessary, so it is not impossible, contrary
to reason or the divine perfections, for God to impart his mind and will
to men in such a way as we call inspiration: these things must be made
appear, otherwise it is a vain thing to attempt to give arguments to
prove the scriptures to be the word of God; and, in order hereto, let it
be considered,
(1.) That divine revelation is necessary; this appears because as
religion is necessary, so there are some things contained in it which
cannot be known by the light of nature, to wit, all those divine laws
and institutions, which are the result of God’s expressed will; and
these could not be known by the light of nature, or in a way of
reasoning derived from it, therefore they must be known by special
revelation. Positive laws, as opposed to those that are moral, depend
upon a different foundation; the glory of God’s sovereignty eminently
appears in the one, as that of his holiness doth in the other: now his
sovereign pleasure relating thereto could never have been known without
divine revelation, and then all that revenue of glory, which is brought
to him thereby, would have been entirely lost, and there would have been
no instituted worship in the world; and the gospel, which is called the
_unsearchable riches of Christ_, Eph. iii. 8. must have been for ever a
hidden thing, and the condition of those who bear the Christian name
would have been no better than that of the heathen, concerning whose
devotion, the apostle Paul, though speaking of the wisest and best of
them says, Acts xvii. 23. that they _ignorantly worshipped an unknown
God_: and elsewhere, 1 Cor. i. 24. that _the world by wisdom knew not
God_; and the reason is, because they were destitute of divine
revelation.
(2.) It is not impossible, contrary to reason or the divine perfections,
that God should reveal his mind and will to man, which may be argued
from hence; it contains no impossibility, for if it be possible for one
creature to impart his mind and will to another, then certainly God can
do this, for there is no excellency or perfection in the creature but
what is eminently in him; and if it be not unworthy of the divine
majesty to be omnipresent, and uphold all things by the word of his
power, it is not unbecoming his perfections to manifest himself to
intelligent creatures, who, as such, are fit to receive the discoveries
of his mind and will; and his endowing them with faculties capable of
receiving these manifestations, argues, that he designed that they
should be favoured with them; and therefore whatever displays there may
be of infinite condescension therein, yet it is not unbecoming his
perfections so to do.
(3.) As God cannot be at a loss for an expedient how to discover his
mind and will to man, and is not confined to one certain way, so he may,
if he pleases, make it known by inspiration; it is not impossible,
neither is there any thing in the subjects that should hinder him from
impressing whatever ideas he designs to impart, on the minds of men.
This a finite spirit may do; and that there is such a thing as this,
will hardly be denied by any, but those who, with the Sadducees, deny
the nature and power of spirits: it hence follows, that God can much
more impress the souls of men, or immediately communicate his mind to
them in such a way, as we call inspiration; and to deny that there is
such a thing as inspiration, is not only to deny the credibility of
scripture history, as well as its divine authority, but it is to deny
that which the heathen, by the light of nature, have universally
believed to be consonant to reason, and therefore they often represent
their gods as conversing with men; and they appear, in many of their
writings, not to have the least doubt whether there has been such a
thing as inspiration in the world.
These things being premised, we are now more particularly to consider
those arguments which are brought to prove the scriptures to be the word
of God, or that they were given by divine inspiration: these are taken
either from the internal evidence we have hereof, _viz._ the subject
matter of scripture, from the majesty of the style, the purity of the
doctrines, the harmony or consent of all its parts, and the scope or
tendency of the whole to give all glory to God; or else external, taken
from the testimony which God himself gave to it, at first by miracles,
whereby the mission of the prophets, and consequently what they were
sent to deliver, was confirmed, and afterwards, in succeeding ages, by
the use which he hath made of it in convincing and converting sinners,
and building up believers to salvation. These are the arguments
mentioned in this answer, which will be distinctly considered, and some
others added, as a farther proof of this matter, to wit, those taken
from the character of the inspired writers, particularly as they were
holy men, and so they would not impose on the world, or pretend
themselves to have been inspired, if they were not; and also, as they
were plain and honest men, void of all craft and subtilty, and so could
not impose on the world; and, had they attempted to do so, they had a
great many subtle and malicious enemies, who would soon have detected
the fallacy. To this we shall also add an argument taken from the
sublimity of the doctrine, in which respect it is too great, and has too
much wisdom in it for men to have invented; and others taken from the
antiquity thereof, together with its wonderful preservation,
notwithstanding all the endeavours of its enemies to root it out of the
world; and then we shall consider how far the testimony of the church is
to be regarded, not as though it contained the principal foundation of
our faith, as the Papists suppose; but yet this may be, if duly
considered, an additional evidence to those that have been before given;
and then we shall speak something concerning the witness of the Spirit
with the scripture in the heart of man, which inclines him to be
persuaded by, and rest in the other arguments brought to support this
truth: and if all these be taken together, they will, we hope, beget a
full conviction in the minds of men, that the scriptures are the word of
God; which leads us to consider the arguments in particular.
I. From the majesty of the style in which it is written. This argument
does not equally hold good with respect to all the parts of scripture;
for there is, in many places thereof, a great plainness of speech and
familiarity of expression adapted to the meanest capacity, and sometimes
a bare relation of things, without that majesty of expression, which we
find in other places: thus in the historical books we do not observe
such a loftiness of style, as there is in Job, Psalms, Isaiah, and some
other of the prophets; so that there are arguments of another nature to
prove them to be of divine authority. However, we may observe such
expressions interspersed throughout almost the whole scripture, which
set forth the sovereignty and greatness of God; as when he is
represented speaking immediately himself in a majestic way, tending not
only to bespeak attention, but to strike those that hear or read with a
reverential fear of his divine perfections; thus, when he gives a
summons to the whole creation to give ear to his words, _Hear, O
heavens; and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken_, Isa. i. 2.
or, swears by himself, that _unto him every knee shall bow, and every
tongue shall swear_, chap. xlv. 23. or when it is said, _Thus saith the
Lord, the heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool_, chap.
lxvi. 1. and elsewhere, _The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice; let
the multitude of the isles be glad thereof. Clouds and darkness are
round about him; righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his
throne. A fire goeth before him; his lightnings enlightened the world.
The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord; at the presence
of the Lord of the whole earth_, Psal. xcvii. 1-5. And when he is
represented as casting contempt on all the great men of this world, thus
he is said _to cut off the spirit of princes, and to be terrible to the
kings of the earth_, Psal. lxxvi. 12. and to _charge_ even _his angels
with folly_, Job iv. 18. or when the prophet speaks of him, as one who
had _measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted the
heavens with a span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a
measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a
balance_; and that _the nations of the earth are as a drop of the
bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance; yea, as
nothing, less than nothing and vanity_, when compared with him, Isa. xl.
12, 15, 17. It would be almost endless to refer to the many places of
scripture, in which God speaks in such a style, as is inimitable by any
creature; of this we have several instances in the book of Job,
especially in those chapters where he is represented as answering Job
out of the whirlwind, and speaking with such a loftiness of style, as,
it may be, the like cannot be found in any human composure, Job, chap.
xxxviii. to xli. where such expressions are used, which argue the style
to be divine, great and magnificent; so that if it was not immediately
from God, it would be the most bold presumption for any creature to
speak in such a way: therefore this argument, taken from the majestic
style of scripture, is not without its proper weight; however, it may
serve to prepare us to receive those other arguments, which, together
with this, evince its divine original.
II. From the purity and holiness of its doctrines, and that either, if
we consider it absolutely, or compare it with all other writings,
whereby it will appear not only to have the preference to them, but to
be truly divine, and so is deservedly styled the _holy scripture_, Rom.
i. 2. and the words thereof _pure as silver tried in a furnace, purified
seven times_, Psal. xii. 6. and to speak of _right things, in which
there is nothing froward or perverse_, Prov. viii. 6, 7, 8. Thus every
one that duly weighs the subject matter thereof, may behold therein the
displays of the glory of the holiness of God: here let us consider, that
the word of God appears to be divine from its purity and holiness,
1. As considered absolutely, or in itself. For,
(1.) It lays open the vile and detestable nature of sin, to render it
abhorred by us. Thus the apostle says, Rom. vii. 7. _I had not known
sin_; that is, I had not so fully understood the abominable nature
thereof as I do, _but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the
law had said, thou shalt not covet_; and hereupon he concludes, that
_the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good_.
(2.) It presents to our view the various instances of the divine
vengeance, and shews us how the wrath of God is revealed against the
unrighteousness of sinners to make them afraid of rebelling against him.
Thus it gives us an account how the angels hereby fell from and lost
their first habitation, and are thrust down to hell, being _reserved in
chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day_, Jude 6. And
also how man hereby lost his primitive integrity and glory, and exposed
himself to the wrath and curse of God due to sin, and all the miseries
of this life consequent thereon; and how it has destroyed flourishing
nations, and rendered them desolate. Thus it gives us an account how the
Jews were first carried into Babylon for their idolatry, and other
abominations, and afterwards cast off and made the sad monument of the
divine wrath, as at this day, for crucifying Christ, persecuting his
followers, and opposing the Gospel. It also gives an account of the
distress and terror of conscience, which wilful and presumptuous sins
have exposed particular persons to; such as Cain, Judas and others; this
is described in a very pathetic manner, when it is said of the wicked
man, who has his portion of the good things of this life, that when he
comes to die, _Terrors take hold of him as waters, a tempest stealeth
him away in the night. The east wind carrieth him away, and he
departeth, and as a storm hurleth him out of his place. For God shall
cast upon him, and not spare; he would fain flee out of his hand_, Job
xxvii. 20, 21, 22.
Moreover, the purity of the Scripture farther appears, in that it warns
sinners of that eternal ruin, which they expose themselves to in the
other world; _Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from
the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power_, 2 Thess. i.
9. All these things discover the purity and holiness of the word of God.
(3.) It never gives the least indulgence or dispensation to sin, nor in
any of its doctrines, which are pure and holy, doth it lead to
licentiousness; it not only reproves sin in the lives and outward
conversations of men, but also discovers its secret recesses in the
heart, where its chief seat is; obviates and guards against its first
motions, tending thereby to regulate the secret thoughts of men, and the
principle of all their actions, which it requires to be pure and holy.
In this the Scripture excels all other writings with respect to its
holiness.
(4.) All the blessings and benefits which it holds forth, or puts us in
mind of, as the peculiar instances of divine favour and love to man, are
urged and insisted on as motives to holiness; thus it is said, _The
goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance_, Rom. ii. 4. and when Moses
had been putting the Israelites in mind of God’s increasing them, _as
the stars of heaven for multitude_, Deut. x. 22. compared with chap. xi.
1. he adds, _therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his
charge and statutes, his judgments and commandments alway_. And when the
loving kindness of God has been abused by men, it severely reproves them
for their vile ingratitude; as when it is said, Deut. xxxii. 6. _Do ye
thus requite the Lord, oh foolish people and unwise? Is not he thy
Father that bought thee? Hath not he made thee, and established thee?_