histories, precepts, promises, threatenings, and prophecies contained in
the Scriptures, is in evidence both of their genuineness, and of the
truth of the principal facts mentioned in them. The history of the
creation, fall, deluge, longevity of the patriarchs, dispersion of
mankind, calling of Abraham, descent of Jacob with his family into
Egypt, and the precepts of abstaining from blood, and of circumcision,
were of such concern, either to mankind in general, or to the Israelites
in particular, and some of them of so extraordinary a nature, as that it
could not be a matter of indifference to the people among whom the
account given of them in Genesis was first published, whether they
received them or not. On the supposition that this account was first
published among the Israelites by Moses, and then confirmed by clear,
universal, uninterrupted tradition, it will be easy to conceive how it
should be handed down from age to age among the Jews, and received by
them as indubitable. But, supposing the account to be false, or that
there were no such vestiges and evidences of these histories and
precepts, it will be difficult to conceive how this could have happened,
let the time of publication be what it may. If early, the people would
reject at once the account, for want of a clear tradition; if late, it
would be natural to inquire how the author was informed of things never
known before to others. As to other cosmogonies and theogonies current
among Pagans, which are evident fictions, they furnish no just objection
against the Mosaic history, because they were generally regarded merely
as amusing fictions; and yet they concealed in figures, or expressed in
plain words, some truths which agree with the book of Genesis, and
afford a strong presumptive evidence in favour of this book. With
respect to the law of Moses, this was extremely burdensome, expensive,
and severe, particularly in its reference to the crime of idolatry, to
which mankind were then extravagantly prone; and it was absurd,
according to human judgment, in the instances of prohibiting their
furnishing themselves with horses for war, and of commanding all the
males of the whole nation to appear at Jerusalem three times a year.
Nevertheless, it claims a divine authority, and appeals to facts of the
most notorious kind, and to customs and ceremonies of the most peculiar
nature, as the memorials of these facts. Can we then conceive that any
nation, with such motives to reject, and such opportunities of
detecting, the forgery of the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy, should yet receive them, and submit to this heavy yoke?
That the Jews did submit to the law of Moses in these circumstances, is
evident from the books of the Old and New Testaments, if we allow them
the least truth and genuineness, or even from profane writers, and from
the present observance of it by the Jews scattered through all the
kingdoms of the world. Should it be said that other nations have
ascribed divine authority to their lawgivers, and submitted to very
severe laws, it may be alleged in reply to this, that the pretences of
lawgivers among the Pagans to inspiration, and the submission of the
people, may be accounted for from their peculiar circumstances at the
time, without recurring to real inspiration; and more especially if we
admit the patriarchal revelations related by Moses, and his own divine
legation, as Heathen lawgivers copied after these, and hence we derive a
strong argument in their favour. Beside, no instance occurs among the
Pagans of a body of laws framed at once and remaining invariable;
whereas the body politic of the Israelites assumed a complete form at
once, and has preserved it, with little variation, to the present time,
and under many external disadvantages; thus supplying us with an
instance altogether without parallel, and showing the high opinion which
they entertained of the great importance of their law. In short, of all
the fictions or forgeries that can happen among any people, the most
improbable is that of the Jewish body of civil laws, and seems to be
utterly impossible.
12. If we farther examine the history contained in the books of Joshua,
Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, and
extending from the death of Moses to the reëstablishment of the Jews
after the Babylonish captivity by Ezra and Nehemiah, we shall find a
variety of important facts, most of which must be supposed to leave such
vestiges of themselves, either external and visible, or internal in the
minds and memories of the people, as would verify them if true, or cause
them to be rejected if false. The conquest of the land of Canaan, the
division of it, and the appointment of cities for the priests and
Levites by Joshua; the frequent slaveries of the Israelites to the
neighbouring kings, and their deliverance by the judges; the creation of
a kingdom by Samuel; the translation of this kingdom from Saul’s family
to David, with his conquests; the glory of Solomon’s kingdom; the
building of the temple; the division of the kingdom; the idolatrous
worship set up at Dan and Bethel; the captivity of the Israelites by the
kings of Assyria; the captivity of the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar; the
destruction of their temple; their return under Cyrus, rebuilding the
temple under Darius Hystaspes, and reëstablishment under Artaxerxes
Longimanus, by Ezra and Nehemiah:--these events are some of them the
most glorious, and some of them the most reproachful, that can happen to
any people. How can we reconcile forgeries of such opposite kinds, and
especially as they are interwoven together by various complicated and
necessary connections, which do not admit of separation? The facts,
indeed, are of such importance, notoriety, and permanency in their
effects, that no particular persons among the Israelites could first
project the design of feigning them, that their own people would not
concur with such a design, and that neighbouring nations would not
permit the fiction to pass. Nothing but the invincible evidence of the
facts here alleged, could induce a jealous multitude among the
Israelites or neighbouring nations to acquiesce. This must be
acknowledged upon the supposition that the several books were published
in or near the times when the facts that are recorded in them happened.
But suppose all these historical books forged by Ezra; the hypothesis is
evidently impossible. Things so important and notorious, so honourable
and so reproachful to the people for whose sake they were forged, would
have been rejected with the utmost indignation, unless there were the
strongest and most genuine traces of these things already among the
people. They must therefore, in part at least, be true. If it be said
that additions were made by Ezra, these additions must have been either
of important or trivial matters. On the first supposition, the
difficulty already stated recurs; and if the important facts are true,
what possible motive could have induced Ezra to make additions of no
importance? Beside, if any ancient writings were extant, Ezra must
either copy after them, which destroys the present supposition, or
differ from and oppose them, which would betray him. If there were no
such ancient writings, the people would be led to inquire with regard to
matters of importance, for what reason Ezra was so particular in things
of which there was neither any memory, nor account in writing. Should it
be said that the people did not regard what Ezra had thus forged, this
reduces the subject in question to matters of small or of no importance.
Beside, why should Ezra write if no one would read or regard? Farther:
Ezra must have had, like other men, friends, enemies, and rivals; and
some, or all of these, would have been a check upon him, and a security
against him, in matters of importance. If we suppose these books,
instead of having been forged at once, to have been forged successively,
at the interval of one, two, or three centuries after the facts related,
we shall involve ourselves in the same or similar difficulties. Upon the
whole, then, we may conclude, that the forgery of the annals of the
Israelites appears to be impossible, as well as that of the body of
their civil laws. It is needless to examine the books of Esther, Job,
the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Canticles; and we might proceed
to the Prophecies; but this will be resumed under the article
_Prophecy_. For the subjects comprehended in the books of the New
Testament. See GOSPEL:GOSPEL, and #CHRISTIANITY.
13. We shall here subjoin some general evidences in attestation of the
truth of the books of Scripture. That Jews and Christians have thought
their sacred books very highly important, most genuine, and true,
appears from the persecutions and sufferings which they have undergone
on account of their attachment to them, and because they would not be
prevailed upon to surrender them. The preservation of the law of Moses,
probably the first book written in any language, whilst many others of a
later date have been lost, shows the great regard that has been paid to
it; and from this circumstance we may infer that this and the other
books of the Old Testament have been preserved on account of their
importance, or from some other cause, equally evincing their genuineness
and truth. The great value set upon these books appears also from the
many early translations and paraphrases of them; and these translations
and paraphrases serve to correct errors that are unavoidable in the
lapse of time, and to secure their integrity and purity. The hesitation
and difficulty with which some few books of the New Testament were
received into the canon, show the great care and concern of the
primitive Christians about the canon, and the high importance of the
books admitted into it; and afford a strong evidence of their
genuineness and truth. The same observation is in a degree applicable to
the Jewish canon. Moreover, the religious hatred and animosity which
subsisted between the Jews and Samaritans, and between several of the
ancient sects among the Christians, convince us of what importance they
all thought their sacred books, and disposed them to watch over one
another with a jealous eye. Farther: the genuineness of the books of the
Old and New Testaments may be evinced from the language, style, and
manner of writing used in them. The Hebrew language, in which the Old
Testament was written, being the language of an ancient people, who had
little intercourse with their neighbours, would not change so fast as
modern languages have done, since different nations have been variously
blended with one another by the extension of trade, arts, and sciences;
and yet some changes must have occurred in the interval that elapsed
between the time of Moses and that of Malachi. The biblical Hebrew
corresponds so exactly to this criterion, as to afford a considerable
argument in favour of the genuineness of the books of the Old Testament.
Beside, these books have too great a diversity of style to be the work
of either one Jew, or of any set of contemporary Jews. If they be
forgeries, there must have been a succession of impostors in different
ages, who concurred in the same iniquitous design. Again: the Hebrew
language ceased to be spoken, as a living language, soon after the time
of the Babylonish captivity; and it would be difficult or impossible to
forge any thing in it after it became a dead language. Hence it appears,
that all the books of the Old Testament must at least be nearly as
ancient as the Babylonish captivity; and as they could not all be
written in the same age, some must be much more ancient, and this would
reduce us to the necessity of supposing a succession of conspiring
impostors. Moreover, there is, as we have already observed, a simplicity
of style, and an unaffected manner of writing, in all the books of the
Old Testament, which is a strong evidence of their genuineness. The
style of the New Testament, in particular, is not only simple and
unaffected, but is Greek influenced by the Hebrew idiom, and exactly
answers to the circumstances of time, places, and persons. To which we
may add, that the narrations and precepts of both the Old and New
Testament are delivered without hesitation; the writers teaching as
having authority: and this circumstance is peculiar to those who unite,
with a clear knowledge of what they deliver, a perfect integrity of
heart. But a farther argument for the genuineness and truth of the
Scriptures is supplied by the very great number of particular
circumstances of time, place, persons, &c, mentioned in them. It is
needless to recount these; but they are incompatible with forged and
false accounts, that do not abound in such particularities, and the want
of which furnishes a suspicion to their discredit. Compare, in this
respect, Manetho’s account of the dynasties of Egypt, Ctesias’s of the
Assyrian kings, and those which the technical chronologers have given of
the ancient kingdoms of Greece, which are defective in such particulars,
with the history by Thucydides of the Peloponnesian war, and with
Cæsar’s of the war in Gaul, and the difference will be sufficiently
apparent. Dr. Paley’s admirable treatise, entitled, “_Horæ Paulinæ_,”
affords very valuable illustrations of this argument as it respects the
genuineness of the books of the New Testament. The agreement of the
Scriptures with history, natural and civil, is a farther proof of their
genuineness and truth. The history of the fall agrees in an eminent
manner both with the obvious facts of labour, sorrow, pain, and death,
with what we see and feel every day, and with all our philosophical
inquiries into the frame of the human mind, the nature of social life,
and the origin of evil. Natural history bears a strong testimony to
Moses’s account of the deluge. Civil history affords many evidences
which corroborate the same account. (See _Deluge_.) The Mosaic account
of the confusion of languages, of the dispersion of Noah’s sons, and of
the state of religion in the ancient postdiluvian world, is not only
rendered probable, but is in a very high degree established, by many
collateral arguments. See CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES, and DIVISION OF THE
EARTH.
14. The agreement of the books of the Old and New Testaments with
themselves and with each other, affords another argument both of their
genuineness and truth. The laws of the Israelites are contained in the
Pentateuch, and referred to, in a great variety of ways, direct and
indirect, in the historical books, in the Psalms, and in the Prophecies.
The historical facts also in the preceding books are often referred to
in those that succeed, and in the Psalms and Prophecies. In like manner,
the Gospels have the greatest harmony with each other, and the Epistles
of St. Paul with the Acts of the Apostles; and, indeed, there is
scarcely any book of either the Old or New Testament, which may not be
shown to refer to many of the rest, in one way or other. For the
illustration of this argument, let us suppose that no more remained of
the Roman writers than Livy, Tully, and Horace; would they not, by their
references to the same facts and customs, by the sameness of style in
the same writer, and difference in the different ones, and numberless
other such like circumstances of critical consideration, prove
themselves, and one another to be genuine, and the principal facts
related, or alluded to, to be true? Whoever will apply this reasoning to
the present case will perceive, that the numberless minute, direct, and
indirect agreements and coincidences, that present themselves to all
diligent readers of the Scriptures, prove their truth and genuineness
beyond all contradiction.
The harmony and agreement of the several writers of the Old and New
Testament appear the more remarkable, when it is considered that their
various parts were penned by several hands in very different conditions
of life, from the throne and sceptre down to the lowest degree, and in
very distant ages, through a long interval of time; which would
naturally have led a spirit of imposture to have varied its schemes, and
to have adapted them to different stations in the world, and to the
different vicissitudes of every age. David wrote about four hundred
years after Moses, and Isaiah about two hundred and fifty after David,
and Matthew more than seven hundred years after Isaiah; and yet these
authors, with all the other Prophets and Apostles, write in perfect
harmony, confirming the authority of their predecessors, labouring to
reduce the people to the observance of their instructions, and loudly
exclaiming against the neglect and contempt of them, and denouncing the
severest judgments against such as continued disobedient. Consequently,
as the writers of the Holy Scriptures, though they all claim a divine
authority, yet write in perfect connection and harmony, mutually
confirming the doctrine and testimony of each other, and concurring to
establish the very same religious truths and principles, it is a strong
proof that they all derived their instructions from the same fountain,
the wisdom of God, and were indeed under the direction and illumination
of the same Spirit. This leads us to add, that the unity of design,
which appears in the dispensations recorded in the Scriptures, is an
argument not only of their truth and genuineness, but also of their
divine authority. In order to perceive the force of this argument, it is
only necessary to inquire what this design is, and how it is pursued by
the series of events and divine interpositions recorded in the
Scriptures. (See _Dispensation_.) It should also be considered, that the
historical evidences in favour of the genuineness, truth, and divine
authority of the Scriptures, do not become less from age to age; but, on
the contrary, it may rather be presumed that they increase. Since the
three great concurring events of printing, the reformation of religion
in these western parts, and the restoration of letters, so many more
evidences and coincidences have been discovered in favour of the Jewish
and Christian histories, as may serve, in some measure, to supply the
want of those that have been lost in the preceding times; and as this
accumulation of evidences is likely to continue, there is great reason
to hope that it will at length become irresistible to all and silence
even every gainsayer.
15. The moral characters of the Prophets, and the Apostles, prove the
truth and divine authority of the Scriptures. The characters of the
persons who are said in the Scriptures to have had divine
communications, and a divine mission, are so much superior to the
characters that occur in common life, that we can scarcely account for
the more eminent individuals, and much less so for so large a succession
of them, continued through so many ages, without allowing the divine
communications and assistance which they allege. Notwithstanding
considerable imperfections that pertained to many of these eminent
persons, and the occasional offences chargeable upon one or two of them,
yet the impartial reader should consider whether the Prophets, Apostles,
&c, were not so much superior, not only to mankind at an average, but
even to the best men among the Greeks and Romans, as is not fairly to be
accounted for by the mere powers of human nature. If this statement
should not be conceded, their characters, however, are too good to allow
the supposition of an impious fraud and imposture, which must have been
the case if they had not divine authority. Beside, it should be
recollected, that the undisguised and impartial manner in which the
imperfections and faults of the eminent persons mentioned in Scripture
are related, furnishes a remarkable additional evidence for the truth of
those parts of the Scripture history in which such relations occur,
beside such evidences as extend to the whole.
16. The excellence of the doctrine contained in the Scriptures is an
additional evidence of their authority. This argument has great force
independently of all other considerations. Suppose, for instance, that
the author of the Gospel, which goes under the name of St. Matthew, was
not known, and that it was unsupported by the writers of the primitive
times; yet such are the unaffected simplicity of the narrations, the
purity of the doctrine, and the sincere piety and goodness of the
sentiments, that it carries its own authority with it. The same
observation is applicable in general to all the books of the Old and New
Testaments; so that if there was no other book in the world beside the
Bible, a man could not reasonably doubt of the truth of revealed
religion. If all other arguments were set aside, we may conclude from
this single consideration, that the authors of the books of the Old and
New Testaments, whoever they were, cannot have made a false claim to
divine authority. The Scriptures contain doctrines concerning God,
providence, a future state, the duty of man, &c, far more pure and
sublime than can in any way be accounted for from the natural powers of
men, so circumstanced as the sacred writers were. Let the reader
consider whether it can be reasonably supposed, that Jewish shepherds,
fishermen, &c, should, both before and after the rise of the Heathen
philosophy, so far exceed men of the greatest abilities and
accomplishments in other nations, by any other means than divine
communications. Indeed, no writers, from the invention of letters to the
present times, are equal to the penmen of the books of the Old and New
Testaments in true excellence, utility and dignity; and this is surely
such an internal criterion of their divine authority, as ought not to be
resisted.
17. The many and great advantages which have accrued to the world from
the patriarchal, Judaical, and Christian revelations, confirm the whole.
These advantages relate partly to the knowledge, and partly to the
practice, of religion. The internal worth and excellence of the
Scriptures, as containing the best principles of knowledge, holiness,
consolation, and hope, and their consequent utility and importance in a
moral and practical view, fully and directly demonstrate their divine
original. For an enlarged view of this branch of evidence see
CHRISTIANITY.
BIBLISTS, or BIBLICI, a term applied to certain doctors in the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries, who expounded the sacred writings in their
public schools, and endeavoured to establish their doctrines by the
authority of Scripture, in opposition to uncertain traditions, or the
speculations of the schools. Upon the same principle, the Pietists of
the seventeenth century formed what they called Biblical colleges, for
expounding the Scriptures.
BIER. See BURIAL.
BILDAD, the Shuhite, one of Job’s friends, thought by some to have
descended from Shuah, the son of Abraham, by Keturah, Job ii, 11; viii,
xviii, xxv.
BILHAH, Rachel’s handmaid, given by her to Jacob her husband, as a
concubinary wife, that, through her she might have a son, Gen. xxx, 3,
4, &c. See BARRENNESS.
BIND. To bind and loose are taken for condemning and absolving: “And I
will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever
thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou
shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven,” Matt. xvi, 19. By
binding and loosing, in the language of the Jews, is understood,
likewise, permitting and forbidding; or declaring any thing in a
judicial manner to be permitted or forbidden; and on the promotion of
their doctors, they put the keys into their hands with these words,
“Receive the power of binding and loosing.” So our Lord says, “I am not
come to destroy,” to unloose or dissolve, “the law, but to fulfil,” that
is, to confirm and establish it, Matt. v, 17. See KEYS.
BIRD, צפור, a common name for all birds, but is sometimes used for the
sparrow in particular.
Birds are distinguished by the Jewish legislator into clean and unclean.
Such as fed upon grain and seeds were allowed for food, and such as
devoured flesh and carrion were prohibited.
Moses, to inspire the Israelites with sentiments of tenderness toward
the brute creation, commands them, if they find a bird’s nest, not to
take the dam with the young, but to suffer the old one to fly away, and
to take the young only, Deut. xxii, 6. This is one of those merciful
constitutions in the law of Moses which respect the animal creation, and
tended to humanize the heart of that people, to excite in them a sense
of the divine providence extending itself to all creatures, and to teach
them to exercise their dominion over them with gentleness. Beside, the
young never knew the sweets of liberty; the dam did: they might be taken
and used for any lawful purpose; but the dam must not be brought into a
state of captivity. The poet Phocylides has a maxim, in his admonitory
poem, very similar to that in the sacred texts:--
Μηδέ τις ὄρνιθας καλιῆς ἅμα ϖάντας ἑλέσθω,
Μητερα δ’ ἐκπρολίπης, ἵν’ ἔχῃς ϖάλι τῆσδε νεοττούς.
Nor from a nest take all the birds away,
The mother spare, she’ll breed a future day.
It appears that the ancients hunted birds. Baruch, iii, 17, speaking of
the kings of Babylon, says, “They had their pastime with the fowls of
the air;” and Daniel, iii, 38, tells Nebuchadnezzar that God had made
the fowls of the air subject to him.