divine inftructor and redeemer. Let the external and historical evidences of Chriftianity be put to the teft. It will undeniably appear that the Apostles and Evangelifts could not themselves have been deceived with respect to the reality of the facts which they relate that they could have no affignable motives for impofing upon others; and that, if they had made the attempt, they could not poffibly have escaped immediate and public detection. The truth of the Gospel narrative, and the completion of many prophecies recorded in the Old and New Teftaments, will likewise be found corroborated by pagan history, Let the internal marks which the Chriftian doctrine bears of a divine origin be accurately weighed. It will approve itself as providing a fuitable and efficacious remedy for all the wants and weaknesses of human nature; holding out pardon for fin, but upon terms admirably devised to prevent future offences; promifing affiftance against temptations, but on conditions adapted to call forth the utmost exertions on the part of the tempted; delivering laws and precepts enjoining the pureft virtue, and calculated to conduct every individual

B 4

vidual to the highest degree of happiness attainable in the prefent world; and enforcing the universal obfervance of them by the certain profpect of the reward of immeasurable blifs, and the penalty of unspeakable punishment, in another life never to have an end.

The narrative of the Evangelifts contains within itself many ftrong confirmations of its own authenticity. The unaffected fimplicity of the recital, even when it records the most ftupendous miracles; the openness with which the writers relate the infirmities and tranfgreffions of themselves and their companions; the artlessness, and the perfect freedom from attempts to force compaffion, in their accounts of the indignities offered to their mafter; thefe and many other characteristics of truth have been pointed out and illuftrated by different writers. And to the class of arguments by which the Scriptures establish their own veracity, we add the numerous indirect coincidences (c) discoverable

in

(c) This extenfive line of argument has recently been opened and pursued with fingular acutenefs and felicity

by

in the Acts of the Apoftles and the Epiftles of St. Paul; coincidences capable of being fubftantiated by incontrovertible reasoning; yet often fo minute, remote, and circuitous, that it exceeds the wideft bounds of credibility to conceive that they could have been the refult of vague accident, or the deliberate contrivance of a forger. That the Scriptures have defcended uncorrupted to our hands is evinced by the numerous and fucceffive quotations from them in the writings of those who lived in the early ages of Christianity; by the watchfulness of contending sects, who, from the days of the Apostles to modern times appealing to the facred books as the ftandard of their faith, mutually restrained each other from corrupting the text; and by the uniform agreement of a multitude of exifting manuscripts, many of them of very antient date, except in obvious cafes of in

by Mr. Paley, in his " Hore Pauline;" a work deserving the serious attention of every man who doubts, or who has to defend, the truth of the Chriftian religion. To the fame author also the public has very lately become indebted for a complete view of the evidences of Chriftianity.

accuracies

accuracies on the part of the tranfcribers; inaccuracies which the collation of the manuscripts with each other feldom fails to detect, and to afford fatisfactory means of removing.

By pursuing the investigations of which a brief outline has here been traced, let the candidate for the clerical office impress on his own mind, and qualify himself to defend against every attack, the truth of that religion of which he defires to be a Minifter. In the mean time the Scriptures themselves are to be ftudied by him with diligent and ferious attention, for the purpose of improvement in religious knowledge (d). The New Tefta

(d) The account given by Bishop Burnet of the astonishing ignorance, as to fcriptural learning and religion, of the greater part of those who applied to him for ordination, is fuch as would almost have exceeded belief, had he not been a man of acknowledged piety and veracity. The folemn affeverations with which he introduces that account are extremely ftriking.-See the paffage alluded to, beginning with the words " I am now in the seventieth year of my age," page 22 of his Preface to the Paftoral Care, Glasgow, 1762; and occupying the two subfequent pages.

ment

ment in particular must be perufed in the original language, with the most useful helps that can be procured towards understanding it, more especially with the commentaries of able expofitors. By balancing their interpretations, and comparing one part of holy writ with another, let the student satisfy himself to the best of his abilities concerning the meaning of obfcure and difficult paffages; and accuftom himself concisely to fum up in his own mind the arguments in favour of the different explanations propofed, and briefly to note them down, that he may be able to recur to them on future occafions. Let him carry on his researches with a pious, humble, teachable, and impartial spirit; guarding against preconceived opinions haftily adopted; againft bigotry for particular fyftems; blind prepoffeffions in favour of a particular interpreter; and the prejudices of habit, of his place of education or ftudy, of his relations and friends, and of his expected patrons. To earnest prayer for the fuperintending guidance of the Supreme Being let him join his own affiduous exertions; and follow the path of truth whitherfoever it may lead him.

Some