this place; and enables me to conclude, as I began, with an earnest
entreaty to the younger men present, that,--whatever their future
destination in life may be,--but especially if the Ministry is to be
their high privilege, (and the blessedness of _that_ choice they can
have no idea of, until they prove it by experience!);--an entreaty, I
say, that they would _now_ be assiduous, and earnest, and regular, and
punctual, and devout, in their daily study of one chapter of the
Bible.--And while you read the Bible, read it believing that you are
reading an inspired Book:--not a Book inspired in parts only, but a Book
inspired in _every_ part:--not a Book unequally inspired, but all
inspired equally:--not a Book generally inspired,--the substance indeed
given by the Spirit, but the words left to the option of the writers;
but the words of it, as well as the matter of it, all--all given by GOD.
As it is written,--"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by _every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of GOD_."
I illustrated sufficiently, last time, in what way fulness of
Inspiration is consistent with the expression of individual character:
even while I availed myself of the ancient illustration that an inspired
writer is like an instrument in the harper's hand[403]. I did not, of
course, "intend thereby to affirm that the Writers of Holy Scripture
were _constrained_ to write, without any volition or consciousness on
their part.... ALMIGHTY GOD, while He _inspired_ the Writers of
Scripture, did not impair their moral and intellectual faculties, nor
destroy their personal identity[404]." Let me not be told therefore that
this is to advocate a mechanical theory of Interpretation. Theory I have
none[405]. The Bible comes to me as the Word of GOD; and, _as the Word
of GOD_, (the LORD being my helper!) I will receive it. I should as soon
think of holding a theory of Providence and Freewill, as of holding a
theory of Inspiration. I _believe_ in Providence. I _know_ that I am a
free agent. And that is enough for me.--The case of Inspiration seems
strictly parallel. I _believe_ in the Divine origin of the Bible. I
_see_ that the writers of the several books wrote like men.... _That_
outer circle of causation, which, leaving each individual will entirely
free, so controuls without coercing, so overrules without occasioning,
the actions of men,--that all things shall work together for good in the
end, and the great designs of GOD'S Providence find free
accomplishment;--all this, far, far transcends your and my powers of
comprehension. It is as much beyond us as Heaven is higher than the
Earth. And, in like manner, we must be content to own that
Inspiration,--the analysis of which is so favourite a problem with this
inquisitive age,--is far, far above us likewise. To St. Luke "it seemed
good" to write a Gospel; and doubtless he held high communing on the
subject,--which may, or may not, have sounded like ordinary human
converse,--with St. Paul. St. Mark in like sort, beyond a question,
enjoyed the help of St. Peter, while he wrote his Gospel. But St. Peter
and St. Mark, and St. Paul and St. Luke, were all alike,--however
unconsciously,--held by the Ancient of Days within the hollow of His
palm; and, as Augustine says,--"Whatsoever He willed that _we_ should
read concerning His acts and sayings,--_that_ He commissioned the
Evangelists to write,--as though it had been _Himself_ that wrote
it[406]."--The guidance was remote, I grant you. The mechanism which
moved the pens of those blessed writers was far above out of their
sight; and complex beyond anything which the mind of man can imagine;
(so that the publican lisped of "gold, and silver, and brass[407];"--and
the companion of St. Peter, at Rome, wrote Latin words in Greek
letters[408];--and the Physician of Antioch withheld the statement that
the woman who had spent all that she had in consulting many physicians,
"was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse[409];"--and the beloved
disciple perhaps indulged his own personal love while he recalled so
largely the discourses of his LORD:)--but, for all that, the long
sequence of cause and effect existed; and the other end of that golden
chain which terminated in the man, and the pen, and the ink, and the
paper,--the other end of it, I say, was held fast within the Hand of
GOD.--The method of Inspiration is but another of the many thousand
marvels which on every side surround me; one of the many things I cannot
fully understand, much less pretend to explain. But I may at least
believe it in silence, and adore[410].
And,--(forgive me for keeping you so long; but I _cannot_ let you go
until I have emptied my heart a little more on this great, and most
concerning subject;)--mark you, Sirs, however reluctant some of you may
be to admit that you agree with me, you _do_ agree with me,--almost to a
man. For, what mean your reasonings on Holy Scripture,--your sermons,
and your dissertations, and your catechizings,--your formulæ of belief,
and your definitions of Faith,--except you believe in a vast deal more
than _the substance_ of Holy Scripture? How can you pretend to expound a
text, unless you hold _the words_ of that text to be inspired? What
inferences can you venture to draw from words, the Divinity of which you
dare not affirm? O, to what endless, hopeless scepticism are you
pointing the way! What a variety of most unanswerable questionings will
you provoke! How can you hope ever to convince or convict, if you begin
by acquainting your adversary that it is only for the substantial verity
of Scripture that you claim Inspiration; the verbal details being quite
a different matter! See you not that you put into his hands a weapon
with which he will infallibly slay _yourself?_ Did the Bishops and
Doctors of the Church, when they met in solemn Council,--did _they_ hold
such a theory concerning Holy Scripture, think you, as that the matter
of it alone is Divine,--the language human? More briefly, that _the
words_ of Scripture are _not inspired?_ What then mean their weighty
definitions of Doctrine;--GOD the FATHER, "Maker of Heaven and
Earth,"--GOD the SON, "by whom all things were made:"--the SON, "=Theos
ek Theou=,"--"being of _one substance_ with the FATHER:"--"incarnate by
the HOLY GHOST of the Virgin Mary:"--who "descended into Hell"--"whose
kingdom shall have no end:"--the HOLY GHOST, "=to Kyrion kai to
xôopoion=," "who proceeded from the FATHER and the SON?"--What means
every article of that Creed to which you and I have given our unfeigned
assent, and which Athanasius would have gladly subscribed to,--the most
precious jewel in the Church's casket!--Nay, what means St. Paul's
commentary on the history of Melchizedek, if the very words _omitted_
from Holy Scripture are not a _Divine_ omission?
You will perhaps be told hereafter, (I am speaking now to the younger
men,) that quite fatal to this view of the question, is the state of the
Text of Scripture: that no one can maintain that the words of Scripture
are inspired, because no one can tell for certain what the words of
Scripture _are_; or something to that effect. Now I will not stop to
expose the falsity of this charge against the text of Scripture; (which
is implied to be a very corrupt text, whereas, on the contrary, it is
the best ascertained text of any ancient writing in the world.) Rather
let me remind you, once and for ever, how to refute this silly
sophism,--the transparent fallacy of which one would have thought
unworthy of exposure before men of trained understandings; but that one
hears it urged so often and so confidently. See you not that the state
of the text of the Bible has no more to do with the Inspiration of the
Bible, than the stains on yonder windows have to do with the light of
GOD'S Sun? Let me illustrate the matter,--(though it surely cannot need
illustration!)--by supposing the question raised whether Livy did or did
not write the history which goes under his name. _You_, (suppose,) are
persuaded that he _did_,--_I_, that he did _not_. So far, we should both
understand, and perhaps respect one another. But what if I were to go on
to condemn your opinion as untenable, because of the corrupt state of
Livy's _text?_ Would you not reply that I mistook the question entirely:
that _you_ were speaking of the _authorship of the work_,--not about the
_fate of the copies!_ ... Suppose, however, I were to contend that Livy
may indeed have furnished the matter of his history, but that the form
of expression must needs have been supplied by some one else; _still_ on
the same ground of the corrupt state of the historian's text. What would
you think of me _then?_--a man who not only confounded two things
utterly dissimilar,--(the authorship of a book, and the amount of care
with which it had been transcribed and printed;)--but who was for
distinguishing the mind of the writer from the expression of that mind;
the _thoughts_, from the _words_ which are essential to their
transmission! A hopelessly illogical person, surely!
O no, Sirs! Banish the fancy at once and for ever from your minds. You
cannot thus dissect Inspiration into substance and form. It is a mere
delusion of these last days,--prated of from man to man, until
respectable persons begin to give in to the fallacy; and persuade
themselves that they themselves believe it. They hope thus to avoid the
danger which is supposed to attach to hearty belief in the Bible as the
very Word of GOD; as well as to secure for themselves a side-door, (so
to speak,) by which to escape, whenever they are inconveniently hard
pressed. How much more faithful, to leave GOD to take care of His own!
How much more manly, to be prepared sometimes to confess ignorance!...
As for _thoughts_ being inspired, apart from the _words_ which give them
expression,--you might as well talk of a tune without notes, or a sum
without figures. No such dream can abide the daylight for a moment. No
such theory of Inspiration, (for a theory it _is_, and a most audacious
one too!), is even intelligible. It is as illogical as it is worthless;
and cannot be too sternly put down. The philosophical mind of Greece,
(far better taught!), knew of only one word for both Reason and the
expression of it. Lodged within the chambers of the brain, or put forth
into living energy,--it was still, with them, the =Logos=.--I invite
you, as the only intelligible view of the matter,--your only
alternative, unless you resolve to run the risk of the most irrational
rationalism,--to take this high view of Inspiration: to believe,
concerning the Bible, that it is in the most literal sense imaginable,
verily and indeed, _the Word_ of GOD.
And do you,--(for I am still addressing myself to the younger
men,)--learn to put away from your souls that vile indifferentism which
is becoming the curse of this shallow and unlearned age. Be as forgiving
as you please of indignities offered to yourselves; but do not be
ashamed to be very jealous for the honour of the LORD of Hosts; and to
resent any dishonour offered to Him, with a fiery indignation utterly
unlike anything you could possibly feel for a personal wrong. Attend
ever so little to the circumstance, and you will perceive that every
form of fashionable impiety is one and the same vile thing in the
essence of it: still Antichrist, disguise it how you will. We were
reminded last Sunday that the sensualist, by following the gratification
of his own unholy desires, in bold defiance of GOD'S known Law, is in
reality setting himself up in the place of GOD, and becoming a GOD unto
himself[411]. The same is true of the Idolatry of Human Reason; and of
Physical Science: as well as of that misinformed Moral Sense which finds
in the Atonement of our LORD nothing but a stone of stumbling and a
snare. It is true of Popish error also;--for what else is this but a
setting up of the Human above the Divine,--(Tradition, the worship of
the Blessed Virgin, the casuistry of the Confessional, and the
like,)--and so, once more substituting the creature for the
Creator?--What again is the fashionable intellectual sin of the day, but
the self-same detestable offence, under quite a different disguise? The
idea of Law,--(_that_ old idea which is declared to be only now
emerging into supremacy in Science,)--takes the hideous shape of
rebellion against its Maker; and pronounces, now Miracles, now Prophecy,
now Inspiration itself, to be a thing impossible; or is content to
insinuate that the disclosures of Revelation are at least untrue. What
is this, I say, but another form of the self-same iniquity,--a setting
up of the creature before the Creator who is blessed for evermore; a
substitution of some created thing in the place of GOD!
The true antidote to all such forms of impiety, believe me, is not
controversy of any sort; but the childlike study of the Bible, each one
for himself,--not without prayer.--Humble must we be, as well as
assiduous; for the powers of the mind as well as the affections of the
heart should be prostrated before the Bible, or a man will derive little
profit from his study of it. Humble, I repeat, for mysteries,
(remember), are revealed unto the meek[412]; and the fear of the LORD is
the beginning of Wisdom[413]; and he that would understand more than the
Ancients must keep GOD'S precepts[414]; and it is the commandments of
the LORD which give light unto the eyes[415].--The dutiful student of
the Bible is permitted to see the mist melt away from many a speculative
difficulty; and is many a time reminded of that saying of his LORD,--"Do
ye not therefore err, _because ye know not the Scriptures_, neither the
power of GOD[416]?" ... The humble and attentive reader of the Bible
becomes impressed at last with a sense of its Divinity, analogous I
suppose to the conviction of Eleven of the Apostles that the Man they
walked with was none other than the SON of GOD. _That_ similarity of
allusion,--_that_ sameness of imagery,--_that_ oneness of
design,--_that_ uniformity of sentiment,--_that_ ever-recurring
anticipation of the Gospel message;--_all_ goes to produce a secret and
sure conviction that every writer, under whatever variety of
circumstances, had access to but one Treasury,--drew from but one and
the same Well of living water. Marks of purpose, shewn in the choice or
collocation of single words, often strike an attentive reader; which,
singly, might be thought fortuitous; but which, collectively, can only
be accounted for on a very different principle. The beautiful structure
of the Gospels strikes him especially; and he could as soon believe that
a song harmonized for four Angel voices had been the result of accident,
as that the Evangelists had achieved their task without special aid,
throughout, from Heaven. A lock of very complicated mechanism, which
four keys of most peculiar structure will open simultaneously,--must
have been as evidently made for them, as they for it.
It is almost treason, in truth, to the Majesty of Heaven to discuss the
Bible on the low ground which I have been hitherto forced to occupy. It
is quite monstrous, in the first University of the most favoured of
Christian lands, that a man should be compelled thus to lift up his
voice in defence of the very Inspiration of GOD'S Word. O that Divine
narrative, which is for ever rending aside the veil, and disclosing to
us the counsels of the presence-chamber of the ALMIGHTY!--O those human
characters, beset with all the infirmities of our fallen nature,--whose
words and actions yet are shadows of things heavenly and eternal!--O
that majestic retinue of types which, from the very birthday of recorded
Time, heralded the approach of the King of Glory!--O that scarlet
thread which runs through all the seemingly tangled web of Scripture, to
terminate only in the cross of CHRIST!--How do the features of the
Gospel struggle into sight through the veil of the Law! How do the holy
and humble men of heart ever and anon break out into speech, as it were,
before the time;--as if they felt the burden of silence too great to be
endured!... Whence is it that we dare to handle the pages of GOD'S Book
as if they were a common thing,--doubting, questioning, cavilling,
disbelieving, denying? Why choose for ourselves the soldiers' part, who
buffeted, reviled, smote, spat upon Him?... O my friends, far, far be
all this from you and from me! Never imagine, because this day we have
thus spoken, that such discussions are congenial to us; or that we deem
them the proper theme for addresses from the pulpit; although the
coincidence of this day's Collect seems, for once, to lend a kind of
sanction to our present endeavours. Look through the whole range of
patristic homilies, and you will not find _one_ of the kind, with which,
unhappily, our ears are grown so familiar in this place,--ingenious
attempts to evacuate Holy Writ of its fulness, on the one hand;--or
apologies of some sort for its Divinity and Inspiration, on the other.
You will take, if you are wise, far, far higher ground, in your private
study of its pages; remembering that "the most generous faith is
invariably the truest;"--nor ever stoop so low as _we_ have been this
day doing. Waste not thy precious time in cavil about the structure of
the casket which contains thy treasure; but unlock it once with the Key
of Faith, and make thyself rich indeed.--Already,--(as we were last week
reminded),--already the Judge standeth at the door; and assuredly, thou
and I, (to whom GOD hath entrusted so much!) shall have to render a very
strict account of the use we have made of the Bible,--when we shall
stand face to face with its undoubted Author. The season of the year
reminds us, as with a trumpet, of that tremendous hour when the veil
will be withdrawn from our eyes,--and the office of Faith will be
ended,--and we shall be confronted with One who hath "a vesture dipped
in blood, and whose Name is called THE WORD OF GOD." ... "I _have heard
of Thee_," (we shall, every one of us, exclaim),--"I _have heard of
Thee_, by the hearing of the ear; but _now_,--mine eye _seeth_
Thee[417]!"
SUPPLEMENT TO SERMON IV
There is yet another view of the nature and office of
Inspiration,--another 'Theory' as it would perhaps aspire to be
called,--which limits _the extent_ of the Divine help and guidance which
the writers, confessedly inspired, may be supposed to have enjoyed.
According to this view, it is admitted that Inspiration was, from first
to last, a continuous influence; exerted equally throughout: but then,
it has been suggested that perhaps _its office_ was not to protect a
Writer against a certain class of errors. The office of the Bible, (it
is argued,) is to make men wise unto Salvation. It does not follow that
Inspiration, because it guided a sacred writer so long as he wrote of
Christian Doctrine, so as to make what he wrote unerringly true, should
have protected him against slips of memory; preserved him from
inaccuracies of statement; from inconclusive reasonings; from incorrect
quotations; from mistaken inferences; from scientific errors.--This is
what is said: and because this is a view of the question which is
observed to recommend itself occasionally to candid, and even to
reverential minds, it seems to deserve distinct and careful
consideration.
But I must preface all I have to reply by remarking that "a Book cannot
[properly] be said to be inspired, or to carry with it the authority of
being GOD'S Word, if only _portions_ come from Him, and there exists no
plain and infallible sign to indicate _which_ those portions are; and
if the same Writer may give us in one verse of the Bible a revelation
from the MOST HIGH, and in the next verse a blunder of his own. How can
we be certain, that the very texts, upon which we rest our doctrines and
hopes, are not the _uninspired_ portions? What can be the meaning or
nature of an Inspiration to teach Truth, which does not guarantee its
recipient from error?"--So far a living sceptical writer.
1. Now, the first thing which strikes one in this theory, is its extreme
vagueness. We hardly know what we have to consider; for nothing is
definitely stated. Neither are we informed how many of the phenomena of
Inspiration, this view is intended to explain. Again, does the theory
apply equally to the Old Testament and to the New? If it does apply
equally to the Old Testament, (and I can see no possible reason why it
should _not_,) then, I apprehend this theory will be found _practically_
to run up into, and to identify itself with, that last described[418].
For a guidance _which has failed to guide_, has been no guidance at all;
and since whole chapters of the Old Testament will occur to every one's
memory which may be thought to have no connexion whatever with
'Christian Doctrine,'--to conduce wondrous little to the 'making men
wise unto Salvation,'--it will follow that Inspiration is, according to
this theory, in effect, of the nature already described,--namely, a
quality which can never be predicated of any passage of Scripture with
entire certainty. The larger part of the Old Testament in fact, by this
theory, is exhibited in the light of a common book; having no pretension
to be regarded as part of the Inspired Canon.
But if this theory simply shirks the question of the Old Testament,
then, those who are inclined to accept it, are bound to explain why
there should be one theory of Inspiration applicable to the Old
Testament, and another for the New:--in which difficulty, I must
candidly profess that I am not able to render any assistance at all. It
is clearly not allowable to overlook the intimate connexion which
subsists between the two great divisions of Holy Scripture; the habitual
references of the Writers of the New Testament to the writers of the
Old,--Moses, David, Isaiah, and the rest;--or rather, _to the utterance
of the_ HOLY GHOST, _speaking by the mouth of those writers_. Whatever
may have been the Inspiration of the Authors of the New Testament must
be assumed to have been that of the Authors of the Old Testament also.
2. But further,--(to confine our remarks to the Scriptures of the New
Testament; which, it is manifest, the view under consideration specially
contemplates;)--however plausible in the abstract a theory may sound,
which would account for a Chronological difficulty,--the insertion of
what seems to be a wrong name,--a quotation made with singular
license,--an unscientific statement,--the apparent inconsistency of two
or more accounts of one and the same transaction, in respect of lesser
details,--a (supposed) inconclusive remark, or specimen of reasoning
which seems to be fallacious;--on the supposition that it is not the
office of Inspiration to enlighten the understanding on points like
these, or to preserve the pen from error;--however plausible, I say,
this theory, abstractedly considered, may appear;--it will be found that
it will not bear the searching test of a practical application.
It would indeed be a great advantage to the cause of Truth, and a great
help to individual minds, as well as wonderfully promote the arriving at
a sound conclusion in this perilous department of speculative
Divinity,--if, instead of putting up with a vague theory, (like the
present,) regardless of its logical bearings and necessary issues;--men
would compel themselves to apply their view to the actual phenomena of
Holy Scripture: to carry it out to its legitimate consequences, and
steadily to contemplate the result. I venture to predict that the theory
which we are now considering, when submitted to such a test, would be
found not only inconvenient, but absolutely untenable. The inconsistency
and absurdity which results from it, can, I think, easily be made to
appear.
For if any one who is disposed to regard it with favour,--instead of
idly, (as is the way with nine-tenths of mankind,) repeating the formula
in terms more or less vague and indefinite; and straightway wincing,
falling back on generalities, and in a word shirking the point, the
instant it is proposed to bring the question to a definite issue;--if a
favourer of the present theory I say, instead of so acting, would take
up a copy of the New Testament, and proceed, with a pen in his hand, to
_apply_ the theory, by running his pen through the places, (and they
_must_ be capable of individual specification!), which he suspects of
being external to the influence of Inspiration;--or, if you please,
which he thinks have been penned without that Divine help which makes
what is written infallible;--I venture to predict that such an one will
speedily admit that his erasures are either so very few, or so very
many, as to be fatal to the theory of which they are the expression.