uttered by preacher or by philosopher. "To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." The higher reason, the spiritual insight, have no part nor lot in this matter, except, if they are willing to take it, that of humble obedient listeners to the divine oracles. Man must become a little child in the presence of this excellent glory, and like Samuel, say, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth." The Confession of Faith speaks with the utmost distinctness and emphasis on this subject; and we wonder that its noble words have not been more frequently cited in these days, when Rationalism has produced a "suspense of faith" in some quarters, and an eclipse of faith in others, and a wide-spread distrust of the absolute authority and self-interpretative character of the Bible. "The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself; and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any scripture, (which is not manifold, but one,) it may be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly. The Supreme Judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture."* These statements are decisive. If accepted, they control every question pertaining to divine and spiritual subjects that arises. They send men directly to the Bible. This book settles its own meaning and tolerates no other. Its directions to preachers as the ambassadors of God, and its addresses to men, are all based on this assumption. Its utterances are authoritative and final. The word is not preached in order that men may subject it to the tests of the Practical Reason, and then approve or condemn as they please; but it is a word of immediate obligation. Men hesitate or doubt or reject it at their peril. And as they are bound here to accept it on its own authority and with its own interpretation, so this divine self-interpreting word will judge them at the last day: and any appeal which may be made in that day from this written state

* Confession of Faith, chap. i. secs. 9 and 10.

ment of the mind of God, to the decisions of the intuitional reason or any other faculty of the soul, will be regarded as an aggravation of the sin which modified or rejected that word.

The principle of interpretation which we have now stated is that of the Reformed churches. It is the only principle recognized in the Scriptures themselves: and the only one which carries with it an authority from which there is no appeal. The words of the Bible are selected by God himself, and express the truths he has revealed more perfectly than any human language possibly could. All supernatural ideas that are not covered by and conveyed in "these words which the Holy Ghost teacheth," though supposed to be seen by a direct perception as plainly as the sun is seen by the human that looks upon it, are visionary and worthless. There are, if we look at the sense of the words, no verbal contradictions in the sacred oracles. The imperfect medium of language, in the mouth of God, becomes perfect, so perfect that we may not "think out" anything for truth which those words do not teach. We only know spiritual truths as they are expressed in the words of the Holy Spirit.

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Of course, this doctrine of interpretation does not, in any manner, invalidate the importance of a just exegesis of Scripture, or affirm that no aid can be obtained from philology in understanding the meaning of the inspired word. Excellent as is our version of the Bible, we must bear in mind that it is a translation—a translation of, perchance, the hundredth copy of the original record. Most grateful, therefore, should mankind be to all those who render us any aid in discovering the exact words and their proper import, in which the Holy Spirit has revealed the Christian religion. And while in all essential matters there is no difficulty in apprehending the teachings of the Holy Spirit through our English translation, yet the view we have urged of the self-interpreting character of the Revelation God has made, only enhances the value of real scholarship and science in their applications to the sacred Scriptures. The human mind can be consecrated to no higher service than in removing whatever lets and hinderances may exist in the way of the direct intercourse of man with his Maker and Redeemer through the Bible. This book speaks

God's own mind; let us have it in as perfect a condition as is possible.

There are three maxims to be observed in the reading or study of this divine book: 1. That there is perfect unity in the Scriptures. Only one scheme or system of truth is to be found in them, and this is perfect, without any inconsistency or contradiction from the beginning to the end of the book. God's work is evermore perfect; and he has magnified his word above all his name. 2. That the substantive sense of Scripture, in all essential points, is self-evident. This appears to be an absolute necessity, upon the admission that the Bible is a divine revelation. And 3. That when there is obscurity, it is to be removed, if possible, by reference to the parts which are plain, and never understood as disagreeing with what is contained in these parts; so that the supreme authority of the Scriptures in interpretation is throughout maintained inviolate.

But we must bring this protracted discussion to a close. We have reverted to first principles, and searched among the foundations of the Christian religion. If these be destroyed, what shall the righteous do? Human philosophy cannot relieve the difficulties with which the Bible is encompassed and pervaded, in the apprehension of many minds. It cannot furnish the clew to the labyrinth. The difficulties and the obscurity are not in the Bible so much as in man himself. They are not so much intellectual, as moral. Light has come into the world, but men love darkness rather than light. The organ, not the object, of vision, is disordered; and this is remedied, not by the exercise of the intuitional faculty, or any other power belonging to the human mind, except as controlled and sanctified by the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit. The pride of human "Reason," and the perversity of the human heart, will account for nearly all the absurdities and inconsistencies which men have supposed they discovered in the teachings of the Scriptures. A single eye and an humble heart will enable us to see the light of the glory of God throughout their revelation. Men are unwilling to let God speak for himself; to hear no voice but his, when he utters his will; to allow no wisdom of theirs to mingle with his infallible declarations. Unable to ignore or set aside

the Bible, and refusing unconditional submission to its declarations, they profess faith in its mysteries "as they understand them;" and kindling the fires of their "Reason" about it, they have thought in the light of these sparks to see divine truth. Thus this one immutable oracle is made to utter the most diverse, often contradictory and absurd voices. They have speculated upon the revelations of this sacred book as though they "contained" the "germs and seeds of truth," forgetting that not the germs and seeds of truth, but perfect truth itself, is both contained in the Bible, and is the Bible; that this book contains nothing else. Rationalism, whether issuing from the ranks of avowed infidels, or from the bosom of the visible church, is the enemy that is coming in upon us like a flood. The Bible, in its divine majesty and might, is the standard which the Spirit of the Lord will lift up against it. The Bible, attested by real prophecy and miracle, selfinterpretative, and shining in its own light-this is the citadel of all true religion, against which nothing can prevail. Omniscience and Omnipotence guard it, and spread their sheltering wings over all its sacred domain.

ART. II.-The Heathen inexcusable for their Idolatry.

It is no uncommon thing to meet with those who feel much difficulty in understanding the relation of the heathen to the law of God. They see that the condemnation of those under the gospel is different from those without it. They who disobey Christ shall find that this will be the heaviest charge brought against them in the day of judgment. But they who have never known of a Saviour cannot be guilty of the sin of rejecting him. What then is the ground of their condemnation? This question is an important one, for if the heathen are not under condemnation, what is the use of sending them the gospel? If the heathen, or the greater portion of them, are to get to heaven through their ignorance, where is the neces

sity for any clearer light, which, reasoning from all past experience, the great majority will not receive? The question in fact lies still further back, as to the necessity of any gospel at all. If we, or any single individual man, could have been saved without the atonement, then righteousness would have been by that method, and Christ would not have died. The gospel however looks upon all as in a state of condemnation, and that none can hope for justification and eternal life except through the righteousness of Christ alone. This is Paul's argument in the Epistle to the Romans. All are by law guilty, condemned, and therefore they need a righteousness without the law-a righteousness which after explaining its nature, he shows must be proclaimed in all the earth; for faith, the only means by which man can be saved, comes by hearing. "How then shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach except they be sent ?" The fundamental fact then upon which rest all our efforts, is that the heathen are under condemnation and their condition hopeless without the gospel. This point the apostle argues by laying down as a fundamental principle or axiom the truth that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Whoever is guilty of ungodliness or unrighteousness is exposed to the wrath of God, that is, is guilty and under condemnation. Who then are those that are guilty? He first shows that the gentiles are. They had such a revelation of God and his character as rendered them without excuse. Though they had no written revelation, no law written on tables of stone, they had a law written upon their hearts, and enough of God revealed in the things that are made, to prove them guilty.

The two special grounds of their condemnation are, 1st. Ungodliness, or impiety; and, 2d. Immorality. The former stands as the foundation of all iniquity, from which, as from a corrupt fountain, proceeded every form of wickedness. It was because of their impiety, which manifested itself particularly in idolatry, that "God gave them up to vile affections, and as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, he gave them over to a reprobate mind." The root of their offence was forsaking God,