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well as by the concurrence of some: Spirit of God. They spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Vol., 1. pp. 168-170,

of the ablest expositors. And thus it appears that the passages in question not only give no countenance to the opinion in support of which they have been often adduced, but, understood aright, tend to overturn it. Mr. Haldane sums up his reasonings and proofs on this subject in the following paragraph. "On the whole, then, we see the nature of that inspiration by which the Prophets and Apostles wrote. The manner of communicating the revelations might differ, as we learn from the Book of Numbers, xii. 6-8, but their certainty and authority was the same: For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.' Neither was it the Apostles who spoke, but it was the Spirit of their Father who spake in or by them. It is not for men, therefore, to fritter away this, truth, and to introduce distinctions in the inspiration of the servants of God, unheard of in his word, and therefore totally unwarranted and unauthorized. It is not for men to say, How can these things be? No man, can tell how, by a simple volition, he can move a finger. And shall' vain man, who would be wise, although man be born like the wild ass's colt,' stumble at the mode of the operation of the Spirit of God, either in the act of regeneration, and his effectual influence on the hearts of believers, or in that inspiration, by which he virtually makes known his pleasure? The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit.' The Lord is able to communicate his will in what way he pleases, although we cannot trace the manner of his ope ration. In the word spoken by the ass of Balaam, we have an example of this communication, through an unconscious and involuntary instrument. In Balaam himself we have an example, through one who was conscious, but involuntary, in the declarations he made respecting Israel. In Caiaphas, through one who was voluntary in what he said, but unconscious of its import. And in the writings of the Scriptures we have an example of agents, both voluntary and conscious, but equally actuated by the

We have already mentioned, as one of the chief excellencies of Mr.. Haldane's work, the circumstance of his having so constructed his plan as to admit full and clear statements of Christianity as the Gospel· of salvation. Such statements are to be found in several places in his treatise; and they appear in it, not in the shape of digressions or episodes, but so interwoven into its texture as naturally to belong to the particular places in which they respectively stand. One of these statements, equally lucid and striking, occurs in the commencement of his chapter on "The History of the Old Testament."

"The place of man's habitation is represented to have been a garden, which he was enjoined to dress and to keep. For the support of his life, he was to eat freely of all that it produced, the fruit of one tree alone excepted. This was reserved as a test of his obedience, which, every way applicable to his circumstances, would make it manifest whether or not he possessed a spirit of obedience to the will of God. Tempted by one of a superior order of beings, who had previously rebelled against God, he transgressed the command, and fell from his state of innocence and happiness. In this situation, he stood exposed to the full rigour of the punishment which he had been informed was annexed to disobedience. But God in judgment remembered mercy; and, when all hope from every other quarter was cut off, interposed in his behalf, and provided a way of salvation. This salvation was to be in all respects worthy of its Author, and such as no other could either propose or effect. Salvation was to flow to the guilty through the medium of the woman, who was first in the transgression. In this salvation the demands of justice were not to be compromised. Sin was not to go unpunished, neither was disobedience to obtain reward. The abhorrence of God against the former, was to be expressed in a manner the most awful; while eternal life and happiness, beyond the reach of forfeiture, were to be awarded, in consequence of the most perfect obedience

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to the law of God. But as, in no point of view, could the conditions of this covenant be fulfilled by man, who was already obnoxious to punishment,' God laid help,' as the Scriptures express it, on one that was mighty." In the fulness of time, he was to send forth his Son,' made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that they might receive the adoption of sons.' Thus God so loved the world that he was to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in him might not perish, but have eternal life.' He was to make him to be sin, who knew no sin, that they who should believe in his name might be made the righteousness of God in him; and by one offering, he was for ever to perfect them that are sanctified. Thus, as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.' The sentence, however, on account of disobedience, to the extent of temporal death, after a life of sorrow and trouble, was still to be carried into effect, even against those who should be heirs of the promised salvation. But although this would prove painful to flesh and blood, yet all ultimate evil arising from it was removed. The sorrows and troubles of life were to be overruled for good, to all who by faith looked to the promised Saviour; while the sting of death, which is sin, was, as to them, to be taken away, and the victory to be wrested from the grave. Death was to transmit the soul to heaven, and the grave at length to yield up the body; that all who believed might thenceforth, in soul and body, be for ever with the Lord. These great truths, confirmed by miracles, and couched under the veil of types and prophecies, were gradually developed more and more under the Old Testament dispensation, till life and immortality were clearly brought to light by the Gospel," Vol. I. pp. 175-177.

not to record those events which lead to temporal aggrandizement; these it but touches on occasionally, and only as they stand connected with the great and only end it has in view, the coming of the Messiah, and the setting up of his kingdom." Vol. I. p. 179.

The erroneous view which has frequently been taken of the conduct and character of the Israelites, is well accounted for in the following paragraph.

"Of the character of the Israelites many form a more unfavourable opinion than is warranted by fact. Whatsoever doth make manifest is light;' and in the Scriptures, Divine truth shines forth in so conspicuous a manner, that every thing of a contrary nature is strikingly exposed. On this very account, the character of those whose histories are recorded in the Scriptures appears to be worse than that of other men. When we peruse the histories of the Greeks and Romans, we read very par tial accounts. The great facts are indeed recorded. We have a detail of battles, and abundant proof that the earth was filled with violence; but all is glossed over and concealed under the guise of false principles, denominated virtues, while the secret motives of the actors in these scenes are unknown. In the Scriptures, on the contrary, nothing is disguised or kept back. As far as relates to the subject in hand, all is impartially narrated; and the whole being brought forward in continual connexion with the purity and excellency of the Divine character, the contrast is more apparent and striking. Not attending to these things, the men of the world are often shocked with the narratives which the Scriptures contain. The character of the people of Israel appears to them to be greatly worse than that of the grossest idolaters; and the accounts given in Scripture of men whose conduct on the whole stands approved by God, seems to sink below that standard of moral rectitude, to which they suppose they themselves, and many who make no pretensions to religion, have attained: Not being accustomed to try themselves by a perfect standard, but by one reduced on principle to their own 'imperfection, as they term it, they are not aware of the real state of human nature, either "The object of Scripture history is in themselves or others; and so are

In the course of this chapter, in which our author in a most interesting manner sketches the his tory of the Old Testament, several

very

instructive remarks occur. The following is one, which it is always necessary to bear in recollection when we examine the records of the Divine word.

Abraham throughout the East. Various accounts of them, more or less distinct, as of the original form of worship by sacrifice, which tended to perpetuate them, would be preserved." Vol. II. p. 3.

misled in these respects. Christians, among the different descendants of who are all, in a degree, acquainted with the deceitfulness and desperate wickedness of the heart,' form a very different estimate of these faithful narrations in the word of God, which are to them an irrefragable testimony to its truth. Such narratives are not to be met with any where else, even in books whose principles are derived from the Scriptures. When we compare with them the biography even of the most enlightened Christians, the contrast is manifest and striking." Vol. I. pp.

197, 198.

The second volume of Mr. Haldane's work opens with a chapter on "The general Expectation of the Messiah." By means of the Old Testament Scriptures, an expectation was very generally excited that a great King would appear in Judea at the period which the prophecies foretold. Not only was the whole nation of Israel possessed with this idea, as distinctly appears from various parts of the New Testament, but it pervaded, more or less, the world at large. Nor is this at all surprising; for, as our author observes,

"By means of the Babylonish captivity, which lasted seventy years, and from which many of the Jews never returned, and in consequence of other changes which that people subsequently experienced, they became scattered all over the world. Wherever they went, they retained their religion, they carried the Scriptures with them, and read them publicly in their synagogues évery Sabbath day. The prophecies being thus repeated among their Hea then neighbours, became familiar to them, and were received as if they had been predictions of their own oracles. By this means also, the ancient traditions from the first generations of men, from whence some glimmerings of light still remained, began to be revived. Poets and others,reminded of the golden age, and adopting the magnificent ideas of Jewish prophecy, foretold that it would be again restored to the world. It is not surprising that the early pro mises concerning the Messiah, and of the important change he was to produce in the world, should have been handed down among the nations, especially

It is unquestionable that traces of these original predictions existed in the second Sybilline Books. The story of the Sybils themselves, and of the manner in which Tarquin became possessed of the first books, is probably fabulous. But however this may be, the second collection of Sybilline verses, made by order of the Roman senate, after the destruction of the first by a fire which broke out in the Capitol, unquestionably contained a prediction of the appearance of a great monarch. This prediction was produced and appealed to by one of the adherents of Julius Cæsar, at the time that remarkable person, not contented with the power, was ambitious of the title, of king.

Besides these predictions of the Sybilline verses, the contents of the Jewish Scriptures were also well known at Rome. A considerable number of Jews were resident in that city, who, in consequence of the various singularities connected with their origin, their existence as a distinct people, their ritual, worship, and customs, could not fail to attract attention. The natural conmination of their sacred books, for sequence of this would be, an exawhich the greatest facility had been afforded by the translation of them into a language universally understood.

These circumstances satisfactorily explain the cause of that general expectation, which existed at Rome, of the appearance of a great King, who should establish universal empire. This expectation had long prevailed in the East, and had its origin there, according to Tacitus, in the Jewish Scriptures. The use which was made of this expectation, by pretended prodigies, and in va rious other ways, and the different

applications of it, according to the interest or wishes of those who made them, Mr. Haldane has exhibited, by a copious induction of passages from the historians and poets of that age. He closes the chapter with the following paragraph.

"Thus the fact of the general expecta

tion of the world, at the time of Christ's appearance, of the coming of a great King; that it was uniform, that it was ancient, that it was founded in what was believed to be the decree of Heaven, and contained in the sacerdotal writings; that he who should appear was to come out of Judea, and that he was to obtain the empire of the world, is established beyond all doubt. This is a point of

much importance among the testimonies of the Messiah. It explains the cause of Herod's alarm when he sent and slew the children at Bethlehem, and shews the strong reason which incited him to that violent and atrocious deed. It also furnishes the reason of the Emperor Domitian's summoning before him the relations of Jesus Christ, as we shall afterwards see, to inquire if they laid claim to empire. And it proves invin cibly, that the predictions which had been given concerning the Messiah were sufficiently clear and precise to attain the object that was designed by them; while it for ever confutes the opinion entertained by many, who, en tirely unacquainted with the subject, and hearing, it may be, of some hasty and unfounded application of the prophecies, have rashly concluded that the predictions in the Scriptures are cómpletely obscure and unintelligible."— Vol. II. p. 14.

We regret that our limits do not allow us to advert to the other chapters of this interesting volume, On the Conclusion, however, which occupies nearly a third of it, we must make a few remarks.

It commences with a recapitulation of the various testimonies to the Messiah, both before and after his appearance; in which our author briefly sketches the history of the Jewish nation; shewing, as he proceeds, how public and how striking were the various vicissitudes of that wonderful people, and mark

ing, in the end, their connexion
with the character and religion of
Christ. In adverting to the rejec-
tion and death of Christ by the
Jews, he remarks,
"Thus every

idea of collusion was cut off, which
assuredly would have been pleaded:
had he been unanimously acknow-
This is a just and very important re-
ledged by his own countrymen."

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mark. In order to be sensible to its full force, let us suppose, that, instead of rejecting Jesus, the Jewish nation had acknowledged him as their Messiah, and used their influence to advance his pretensions among the other nations of the world. What reliance, in that case, could we place on any account of him coming from Jewish authority? Suspicion and doubt must have rested on his entire history and the success and spread of a religion sanctioned and supported by a whole people, so far from being extraordinary, or furnishing any evidence of its Divine origin, would seem only the natural result of human influence and agency. Thus the charge of collusion might have been urged, and never could have been refuted: and thus that might have been ascribed to an arm of flesh, which, as the case now stands, we are able to hold forth as the achievement of the mighty power of God.

Our author, in a subsequent part of this chapter, follows up a very impressive statement concerning the Divine character, and the circumstances and salvation of mankind, by some very judicious remarks on the subject of faith.

"In this salvation," he says, “every thing being finished, man cannot, and is not required to add any thing to it. He therefore enters into the enjoyment of all its blessings by faith. Now faith is the substance (or confidence) of things hoped for, and the evidence (or conviction) of things not seen :' it is the conviction of the truth or reality of

what is testified, and of what is hoped for; the testimony presenting an object of hope. When a truth testified to us

is believed, there are two distinct operations in the mind. The one is a perception or comprehension of the meaning of the declaration made: the other is a persuasion of its truth. A man, on whose veracity we depend, relates to as a fact. If we understand what he relates, we believe him in the complete -sense. But if we rely on his veracity, yet misunderstand what he testifies, in [one sense we believe him, in another we do not. In this way, many of those who saw the wonderful works of Jesus believed for a while that he was the Mes siah; but they had formed an erroneous idea of the Messiah, and therefore, .when afterwards they understood his doctrine, they forsook him, being convinced that he was not the Messiah.

Thus the Jews believed that Moses was divinely inspired, and that the Old Testament Scriptures were the word of God. They therefore trusted in Moses, and they thought that in the Scriptures they had eternal life. But they mistook their contents, and what Moses tanght; and therefore the Lord declares that they did not believe Moses, in whom they trusted. In the same manner King Agrippa believed the prophets; but in the full and proper sense he did not be. lieve them. And thus Simon Magus and others believed. In the parable of the Sower, according to the usual manner of speaking, all the four descriptions of persons are represented as believing. But it was only the last description who, strictly speaking, believed: for, in the explanation of the parable, they only are represented as understanding the word. In like manner, many, who take the name of Christian, believe the Bible to be the book of God, and they believe something which they suppose to be its meaning; but they misunderstand its meaning, and they do not believe it. With out faith, it is impossible to please God.

Faith forms the union, and is the medium of communication, with the unseen Saviour; and except through him there can be no fellowship between God and a sinner. I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh to the Father but by me.' Before this union is formed, there is nothing good or accept able in man in the sight of God." Vol. II. p. 301-303.

The connexion between faith and good works is distinctly marked and strongly insisted on by Mr. Haldane.

"Although justification be solely by faith, and till a man be justified he can do nothing acceptable to God; yet from that time good works, in other words, obedience to God, are absolutely neces sary. On this the Scriptures insist in the most peremptory manner; and declare, not only that works will be ap. pealed to at last as the proof of justification, but that they will also be taken as a measure of the reward to be ad. judged. They shall be judged every man according to their works,' and every man shall receive his own reward, according to his own labour.' Without holiness, then, no man shall see the Lord."" Vol. II. p. 310.

In the passage of which the above paragraph is the close, good works are set in a true light, and have their proper, scriptural place assigned to them. The proud pretensions of the deluded Pharisee are disallowed, and the worthlessness of his On the other hand, the true docown fancied righteousness exposed. trine of the grace of God is exhibited, such as it really is, a doctrine " according to godliness." Such a mode of presenting Divine truth, was never perhaps more necessary than in the present day of abounding religious profession. It is not now, as it has been in some periods of our history, disreputable to take a lively interest in religion and its concerns. On the contrary, owing to the concurrence of various causes, to which it is not necessary here to advert, religion, of a parți cular kind, and to a certain degree, has received the stamp of fashion. But much of this religion, it is to be feared, will not bear to be brought to its only true test. Our Lord established the test of doctrine, as well as of character, where he said,

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by their fruits ye shall know them." That doctrine is the opposite of Christianity which inculcates a reliance on good works for acceptance with God: but no less spurious is that which does not inculcate them as the necessary fruits of faith, and of that Holy Spirit which is imparted to the believer.

The account of Cornelius, with

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