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epistles of St. Paul (for at present I do not include the Epistle to the Hebrews), must be convinced that they were all written by the same author, who has so many distinguishing marks, that he is not easy to be mistaken. On all these thirteen epistles is impressed the character of a man well versed in the Greek language, and possessed of general erudition, who could use the finest and even the severest irony, without rejecting the rules of decency; but who, in consequence of his Jewish original, and his indifference with respect to style, abounded in Hebraisms and Syriasms, and sometimes borrowed from the place of his birth even the provincial expressions of Cilicia. An equal degree of similarity is to be found between the Gospel and Epistle of St. John; and the only compositions of the same author which, notwithstanding their general resemblance, betray a difference of style, are the Gospel of St. Luke and the Acts of the Apostles; his Gospel abounding with harsh and uncouth Hebraisms; while the Acts of the Apostles, though not free from Hebraisms, are written in a language that approaches nearer to purity and classical correctness. The reason of this difference will be explained at large in the Second Part."

Maria. If I understand the argument right, it would have been as impossible for any one to have produced writings of this nature, in a dialect which was, when spoken, confined to a particular district, after that dialect had become extinct, as for a person now to write in the old Norman French of the middle ages eight sets of chronicles, containing all sorts of allusions to things which had become obsolete, and preserving different styles for each set, as well as an obsolete dialect for the whole.

Mr. B. And in addition to this, you must now take into account the difference of disposition, and the general character of mind developed in these documents, only to

61 Of what must a person be convinced on reading the epistles of St. Paul?-62 What is impressed on them?-63 Which of the other books is particularised in this place, and what is said of them?-64 What illustration does Maria give of the argument?-65 In addition to this, what does Mr. B. say must be taken into the account?

be accounted for by the supposition of their being genuine. "The writings of St. John and St. Paul discover marks of an original genius, that no imitation can ever attain, which always betrays itself by the very labour excited to cover the deception; and if we consider attentively the various qualities that compose the extraordinary character of the latter apostle, we shall find it to be such as no art could ever imitate. His mind overflows with sentiment, yet he never loses sight of his principal object, but, hurried on by the rapidity of thought, discloses frequently in the middle a conclusion to be made only at the end. To a profound knowledge of the Old Testament he joins the acuteness of philosophical wisdom, which he displays in applying and expounding the sacred writings; and his explanations are therefore sometimes so new and unexpected, that superficial observers might be tempted to suppose them erroneous. The fire

of his genius and his inattention to style occasion frequently a two-fold obscurity; he being often too concise to be understood, except by those to whom he immediately wrote; and not seldom, on the other hand, so full of his subject, as to produce long and difficult parenthesis, and a repetition of the same word, even in different senses. With a talent for irony and satire, he unites the most refined sensibility, amd tempers the severity of his censures by expressions of tenderness and affection; nor does he ever forget, in the vehemence of his zeal, the rules of modesty and decorum. He is a writer, in short, of so singular a composition, that it would be difficult to find a rival. That truly sensible and sagacious philosopher, Locke, was of the same opinion, and contended that St. Paul was without an equal."

From these quotations you may judge of the strength of this argument for the genuineness of the books of the New Testament, and of the able and interesting manner in which it is developed by Michaelis.

Maria. It is very true: in reading St. Paul's Epistles,

66 What is said of the writings of St. John and St. Paul?-67 How does Mr. B. speak of St. Paul's knowledge of the Old Testament?-68 What is said further of the peculiar traits in his style?-69 What does Maria say of St. Paul's epistles?

I could not think them otherwise than his own real letters, if I were to try to do so.

Mr. B. And it is equally difficult to imagine the Gospels written by any others than eye-witnesses of what they related, or by those who put down what eye-witnesses related to them. Those who read the New Testament much, cannot be infidels, unless the mind be altogether vitiated. But when do unbelievers ever give it a

fair chance?

Edward. You have not yet brought forward any argument from the general agreement of the New Testament with other writers.

Mr. B. I could not thence immediately infer the genuineness of the books, since an impostor might take care not to deviate from facts already known; but from undesigned agreement of these different portions of their writings with each other, and with known history, an argument irresistibly strong may be drawn in their favour.

Maria. What is meant by undesigned agreement? Mr. B. If agreement subsists between two documents, it must be either the effect of design or not. If the agreement be evident, it is not improbably the effect of design; and we may have some reason, where additional suspicious circumstances are connected with it, to infer the probability of forgery; but no person attempting to palm spurious documents upon the world as genuine, would omit to make evident, in some degree, an agreement which would contribute to their reputation, since it would be useless making a coincidence of this nature unless it were apparent. But in the New Testament we have instances of coincidence and agreement which are by no means evident, and in fact so far from it, that the agreement is only ascertained after considerable research: in some cases even there has appeared, for a long time, contradiction, instead of agreement. Now his could not possibly occur if these books were otherwise than genuine; for no forger would leave difficulties

70 What does Mr. B. say of the gospels, as to their authorship?-71 From what does he say, in this place, that an argument irresistibly strong may be drawn?-72 What does he say of undesigned agreement?—73 Where have we instances of it?

likely to overthrow the credit of his forgery; no forger would fail to make the fact observable which gave credit to his statements.

Maria. And can many instances of undesigned coincidence be produced?

Mr. B. You will find some most convincing examples in Marsh's Lectures, and in the Translation of Michaelis, taken from the Gospels and the Acts; and Dr. Paley composed a book, entitled Horæ Paulinæ, entirely on this subject, in which, by comparing the life of St. Paul, given in the Acts of the Apostles with his epistles, he proves that both must have been genuine, and independent of each other, neither the epistles having been compiled from the life, nor the life from the epistles. This work of Paley's is also peculiarly valuable, inasmuch as the argument is quite independent of all others, assuming merely the existence of the books at the present time.

Maria. Will you give some examples of this kind of agreement?

Mr. B. From the very nature of it, the developement of this kind of proof would occupy more time than we can give to it; but the following may give you some idea of it:

In the third chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, John the Baptist is mentioned as giving advice to those who came to him for baptism, and, amongst others, to soldiers, when the Greek word is not that ordinarily employed, but one denoting soldiers then engaged in actual service; and for this no reason can be assigned from St. Luke.

Again, in the sixth chapter of St. Mark's Gospel we have an account of the death of John the Baptist, and what renders the circumstance singular is, that the order was given by Herod, at an entertainment at which Herodias, with her daughter was present, and the executioner was not in a civil but a military capacity; but no further light is thrown upon this peculiarity of expres

sion.

74 Which are the first two works named containing examples?-75 What is said of Paley's Hora Pauline?-76 What is the example given from the third chapter of St. Luke's gospel?-77 What one is given from the sixth chapter of St. Mark's gospel?

In the fifth chapter of the eighteenth book of the Jewish Antiquities of Josephus we however meet with the reason; for we thence learn, that Herod then marched through the very country where John was baptising, which explains the peculiarity of St. Luke's expression; and of that war Herodius was the cause, which accounts for her presence at the entertainment, and this also was given at the place where Herod shut up John in prison, Machærus, a fortress on the eastern side of Jordan, and hence it naturally followed that the executioner was such as described by. St. Mark.

Now if these gospels had not been genuine documents, it is the most improbable thing in the world that the authors of them should have been so scrupulously accurate as to use precisely the right expressions; but if they had done so, it is wholly inconceivable that they would leave them unexplained, with an appearance of inaccuracy, when by a further statement they might have so strongly recommended the correctness of their accounts.

Maria. And but for the help of Josephus it could never have been explained.

Mr. B. You will find the other instances not less interesting. I shall now give you Paley's observations upon the proof derived from the comparison of the Acts of the Apostles with the epistles. "St. Paul's epistles are connected with the history by their particularity, and by the numerous circumstances which are found in them. When we descend to an examination and comparison of these circumstances, we not only observe the history and the epistles to be independent documents unknown to, or at least unconsulted by, each other, but we find the substance, and oftentimes very minute articles of the history recognised in the epistles by allusions and references, which can neither be imputed to design, nor, without a foundation of truth, be accounted for by accident, by hints and expressions and single words, dropping, as it

78 How are these two cases explained by reference to the book of Jewish antiquities?-79 What conclusion is drawn from these two cases?→ 80 What does Maria say of them?-81 What are the remarks from Paley upon the proof derived from the comparison of the Acts of the Apostles with the epistles?

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