but even were this not the case, in inquiring into the truth of the religion itself, we have no right to make conclusions, merely with reference to its advantage.

Connected with the fall of man we find the first of a series of promises made by the Creator to mankind, of a future salvation from the fatal consequences of that fall, the promise, unconnected with those that followed it, more calculated to give hope than information. In a succession of revelations afterwards made, we find this promise confirmed, the manner of its fulfilment shadowed out, and the consequences enlarged upon. Again, we find the whole of the dispensations of the great Governor of the world conducted with reference to its fulfilment. When the wickedness of man became so great on the earth that the most terrible destruction swept away its inhabitants, one family was spared to preserve the human race alive. When a second general corruption of mankind was taking place, one family was again severed from the rest to preserve the knowledge of the true God. Through a long course of time the descendants of that house were prepared by a necessary discipline for the accomplishment of the promise. They were separated, as a nation, from the rest of the world; were placed under a special providence; were commanded to observe a law which was designed to teach the nature and importance of the salvation hereafter to be revealed; and were made, unconsciously, the means of preserving the strongest proofs of the reality of the fulfilment of the great promise. Connected with that promise, as again and again confirmed by holy men of God, were now added a vast number of prophecies, the design of which was to fix unequivocally the truth of its accomplishment, or to develope important facts more or less connected with it.

Maria. You will bring in, then, the aid of prophecy at last: it has surprised me that you have not made use of it before.

14 What is intimately connected in scripture with the fall of man?—15 What merciful interpositions of the Almighty are on record, when the generations of men became corrupted?-16 What is recorded of the descendants of that house?-17 What were afterwards connected with the great promise of man's salvation?

Mr. B. Thus the whole of the Old Testament is preparatory to some greater dispensation which was to follow. The Christian asserts, that the New Testament contains that better covenant; that the salvation has been wrought; that the Jewish dispensation is superseded; and that no other revelation will be given from heaven till the consummation of all things; that nevertheless all is now regulated with reference to the Gospel of Christ, and of this we are to have confirmation in the fulfilment of prophecy, and in the enduring nature and excellency of his religion.

Edward. But many of these particulars require proof: some formidable objections lie against the conclusion; and a single false declaration, which professes to be of divine origin, overthrows the whole.

Mr. B. For the establishment of the general outline which I have given, the whole Bible itself is necessary; and here it seems proper to insist upon the necessity of every one, disposed to be sceptical on the subject, taking the trouble of giving the whole Bible at least one serious reading from beginning to end, before he decide against it. Every one able to do it, ought to read it in the original languages; but where this cannot be done, certainly no inquirer into truth should suffer himself to be prejudiced against any part, till he is certain that no error exists in the translation, and that he understands that translation aright.

Maria. But how can this be done?

Mr. B. For common use, there are the works of many learned men in English, in addition to our excellent translation, which may easily be referred to, and whence a pretty correct idea of the whole may be obtained. But where these books cannot be obtained, even the commonest Bible, with marginal references, when well read, will perhaps do more to confirm the faith of the believer than the best defence of Christianity extant.

18 What does the Christian assert of the two dispensations, under which God has been pleased to carry forward the purposes of his grace?-19 What objection does Edward here offer to the outline of the foregoing hypothesis?-20 For the establishment of this outline, what is needful?-21 What is said of reading the scriptures in the original languages?-22 How can this be done?

Edward. In asserting the literal interpretation of Scripture, is it meant that every expression should be understood literally?

Mr. B. Certainly not, where the nature of the language or customs of the people had established the application of one set of words to ideas beyond the literal meaning of the words. By objecting to any other than the plain and direct interpretation of Scripture, my only object is to secure that meaning which the sacred writers meant to convey, and the sense in which one understood another. If what they wrote had been written and received as figurative or allegorical, as such I would receive it in examining their claims; but when the sense conveys no other than a simple relation of facts, as such only can I understand it.

Edward. But if uncertainty as to the interpretation of prophecy exist, as I have heard it affirmed, no certain conclusions can be drawn from it; and if the writers of the New Testament understood the language of the Old in a different sense to that in which others do, who is to decide the question?

Mr. B. The interpretation of prophecy is a subject which at all times requires peculiar caution; for by the very nature of the language in which they are couched, the prophecies are frequently made only intelligible by the event; and where the fulfilment of the prophecy as well as the prediction takes place at a period greatly removed from the age in which we live, it is not surprising that some degree of obscurity should rest upon them.

Edward. Is not this in favour of my objection? An obscure revelation is almost equivalent to no revelation at all.

Mr. B. There is no obscurity in those parts of the Scriptures which are given as express revelations of the will of God, by which we are to govern our conduct, With regard to the obscurity attendant upon prophecy, the na

23 What question does Edward ask, as to the manner of pursuing this investigation?-24 How does Mr. B. answer him?-25 On what account does Edward suppose that no certain conclusions can be drawn respecting the interpretation of prophecy?-26 Why does the interpretation of proph ecy require peculiar caution?-27 In what portions of scripture is there no obscurity?

ture of the subject, in some measure, explains it. If the Old Testament had presented a full delineation of the future, in cases where no immediate exertion of divine power was requisite, the fulfilment might have been imputed to design on the part of man, and the evidence of its divine origin thus obscured, if not destroyed. It was necessary so to present the future, as to show that all was foreseen, but that the prophecy should not be the cause of its own fulfilment. In points where no human power could fulfil the prediction, we find the declarations decisive, and developed to a very great extent.

Maria. Such I recollect is the case with regard to Isaiah's predictions of the birth of the Messiah, and of the miracles which were to be wrought at his coming

Mr. B. And even where supernatural agency was not requisite to fulfil the prophecy, we sometimes find very detailed and accurate delineations, but principally in cases where the least possible chance existed for a fulfilment arising from design, as in the circumstantial detail of the nature of the death and burial of the Messiah

Maria. In both these classes of predictions there is no appearance of any thing but a literal fulfilment being intended; and a literal fulfilment certainly took place, ac cording to the New Testament.

Mr. B. We can also produce a sufficient number of prophecies, on which no difference of opinion has existed between the Jews who lived previously to the time of our Lord, or his contemporaries, and the writers of the New Testament: with regard to others, we can certainly prove the interpretation of later times adopted by the Jews false and absurd; and in general can satisfactorily account for any difference of opinion between us and them. You will observe also, that with regard to the Jews, to whom the argument from prophecy was first

28 What difficulty would have arisen from a full delineation, in the Old Testament, of future events?-29 What was therefore necessary?-30 What case of clear prediction is remembered by Maria?-31 In what other cases may we sometimes find very detailed and accurate delineations in prophecy?-32 What does Maria remark of these two classes of predictions?-33 Are there any prophecies on which no difference of opinion has existed?—34 And what is said of other prophecies about which no reasonable difficulty is known now to exist?

addressed, "Their agreement, where we have records, is a good presumption that in the rest, where records are deficient, they were also with us in the sense of those Scriptures; to which the numbers of Jews converted to the Gospel by virtue of such Scripture testimonies gives an additional strength. For it cannot be thought by any but sceptics, that such numbers of all degrees of Jews, at that time learned, rulers, priests, scribes, of all sects, men by their profession and station obliged to know the Scriptures, should forsake the religion they were most tenacious of, upon the authority of texts that made nothing for the religion they went over to, or were evidently against it, without prospect of worldly advantage, to the certain hazard of their lives, yea, and of God's favour too after death (which they hoped for), did not they act sincerely, Fancy as you will a weakness or enthusiasm in those that set about converting the Jews in the method of impertinent citations; their weakness could not make their proofs strong, nor infuse credulity into men certainly qualified to judge of their proofs, as having the Old and New Testament in their hands, and who, after comparing them together, did yet assent to the truth of their reasoning, and became disciples.'

Maria. Whose observations are these?

Mr. B. They occur in the Introduction of Bishop Chandler's Defence of Christianity, from the Prophecies of the Old Testament; a work of great value, from the profound rabbinical learning of the author. In this work he undertakes to prove the following positions:

"1. That there was a general expectation of a Messias to come at the time that our Lord Jesus Christ appeared; which was the tradition of their ancestors from the ages before that up to the age next to the prophets themselves.

"2. To support this expectation, there were in their Scriptures express literal prophecies that singly concerned the Messiah.

“3. They had also typical prophecies to the same ef

35 What is the substance of the quotation here made?-36 What is said of the work from which it is made?-37 What are the two first proposi tions he undertakes to prove?-38 What are the third and fourth ones?