m

upon. His hands and feet were to be pierced. He was to be cut off by a violent death"; yet he was not to see corruption, nor to be left in the power of the grave.

It is an important fact that the prophecies respecting Christ look so contradictory, that one would have said beforehand that it was impossible they could all be fulfilled in one individual. In one place he is represented as a victorious king,P-in another, as "oppressed and afflicted," and "cut off."r In one place he is "a man of ,"s and in another "the mighty God."t These, and other apparently irreconcilable, characteristics all meet and harmonize in Jesus Christ.

sorrows,

Turn now to the fifty-third chapter of the prophecies of Isaiah, and carefully read it from beginning to end. It applies to no human being except Jesus Christ; but it applies to Him with astonishing accuracy. That single chapter has convinced many who were at one period unbelievers, that the Scriptures are indeed the word of God. Let me, in particular, refer to one of the most witty, but at the same time most profligate, infidels ever known-John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester-who lived in the time of Charles II, king of England. This man long scoffed at the claims of Religion; but, before his death, he was brought to express his thorough belief in Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of men; and it is interesting to observe that the wonderful chapter now referred to, was the portion of Scripture that especially carried his conviction and melted his heart.

There are also many prophecies in the Old Testament respecting nations which are well known, and the history of which we can at once compare with the prediction, so as to test the accuracy of the latter. There are prophecies

and,

respecting the Jewish people and their, being scattered throughout all lands," yet not utterly destroyed, as many other nations have been. So it has come to pass.-There are prophecies respecting Egypt;-although one of the mightiest monarchies of ancient days, it was prophesied that it would sink into one of "the basest of kingdoms." "W This also has come to pass.-There are prophecies respecting Nineveh, the proud capital of the Assyrian empire; and the prophecies have been accomplished,-Nineveh is "a desolation and dry like a wilderness." Of Babylon, the most magnificent city of antiquity, it was foretold, "it shall never be inhabited ;" accordingly travellers tell us that throughout its ruins there reigns "a silence profound as the grave." Of Tyre, the most celebrated emporium of the ancient world, whose "merchants were princes, and her traffickers the honourable of the earth," it was said: "I will make her like the top of a rock; she shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea.' "Z Accordingly we find that the splendid harbour of Tyre has been utterly destroyed; only small fishing boats can enter, and these with difficulty; and the traveller Bruce describes Tyre as "a rock whereon fishers dry their nets."

Many other prophecies, equally remarkable for their fulfilment, might be quoted; but these will suffice.

A mathematical writer of distinction-Dr. Olinthus Gregory-has computed, on purely mathematical principles, the amount of antecedent probability against the fulfilment of the prophecies, and consequently the amount of evidence for the truth of the Scriptures if the prophecies should actually be accomplished. Suppose, he says, that ten men in ancient days claimed to be prophets, and that

u Deut. iv. 27. xxiii. 64-68.
▾ Jerem. xlvi. 27, 28.

w Ezek. xxix. 15.

x Zephaniah ii. 13.

y Isai. xiii. 20.

z Ezek. xxvi. 45.

of

each of them mentioned five independent particulars as to the place of birth, character, doctrine, &c. of a great perIsonage who was afterwards to appear. Hear, are fifty parti culars mentioned. The probability against the occurrence. of all these fifty particulars is as 1,125,000,000,000,000 to 1, that is, eleven hundred and twenty five millions of millions to unity. But this computation has no reference to time. If all these fifty particulars must be fulfilled about the same period, the probability against the occurrence of the prophecies is immensely increased. But the predictions

clearly and distinctly made in the Old Testament, which have been undoubtedly fulfilled, amount to many hundreds. Therefore, the power of numbers cannot express the force of the argument derived from the fulfilment of the prophecies for the truth of the Christian Religion.*

It seems unnecessary to occupy more time with this inquiry. We may well ask with the author I have just been quoting,—if a book supported by such evidences is not true, what is there, in the wide world, that is stable and sure? I trust, my young friend, you will not harden your heart against such convincing evidence, but will acknowledge, in the words of the Bible itself, that "Prophecy came not by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."

The following suggestions may be added to what is contained in the above Letter.

Prophecy, in the Scriptural sense, does not consist solely of prediction the Prophets often spoke as prophets without foretelling future events. Much of what they uttered was Moral or Doctrinal-without being predictive. The utterance of what is merely Moral will not necessarily prove that the Prophet is inspired.

* Gregory's Letters on the Christian Religion. Letter VI.

The Predictive part of Prophecy is of vast importance, and it is distinctly referred to in the Bible as being so. God is represented as challenging the false deities of the Heathen to foretell future events. "Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods." (Isaiah xli. 23). See also Isaiah xliv. 7.

As the Heathen nations had false miracles, so they had false prophecies. Their Oracles were famous. But no Heathen predictions that have come down to us are deserving of attention. As prophecies, they are absurd. When they were not ordinary conjectures or reckless guesses, they were either unintelligible enigmas, or else expressions cunningly contrived to be susceptible of two or more applications.

The criterion or test of Prophetic Inspiration may be simply stated thus. Three conditions are requisite: viz.

1. The prediction must be promulgated prior to the event.

2. The event must be such as human sagacity could not foresee. 3. The fulfilment must be clear.

63

LETTER VII.

INTERNAL EVIDENCE. THE BIBLE NOT FROM MAN. ITS CONSISTENCY. ITS HARMONY WITH NATURE AND PROVIDENCE.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND,

Point we have arrived at.

THE preceding letters may suffice for the External Evidences of Christianity. All I attempt to give you is an outline of the great leading arguments in favour of the New Testament; but, however brief the preceding remarks have been, I trust they are sufficient. The humble inquirer who is anxious to find out the truth and earnestly seeks for Divine teaching, will feel that even these few pages establish the truth of the Christian Revelation.

Yet our work is not half done.

You recollect that the Evidences are divided into two great heads, viz. the External Evidences, and the Internal Evidences. We are now to attend to the latter.

Internal Evidence.

The difference between the external and internal evidences has already been sufficiently explained. It is useful to note the difference; but it is not necessary to be very scrupulous in keeping the arguments distinct. Indeed it is very difficult to do so; for sometimes the same argument is partly external and partly internal.

In examining the internal evidence in favour of Christianity, we attend to the character of the religion itself. We do not ask, how was the message brought-or, who is the messenger ?—but we ask, what is the message?