a mind, is in my view extremely inte- CHESHUNT COLLEGE.-Cheshunt Colresting; not merely because of the direct tege is vested in the hands of seven trusbenefit that may result from those Lec- tees. The gentlemen first engaging in tures to that part of the population, to lhe arduous and responsible duties devolvwhich my honourable friend behind meing on those who sustain this office, were has directed our attention—those who James Oldham Oldham, Esq., Messrs. think, and who speculate upon religi- William Hodson, Matthias Dupont, ous as other subjects; but I hail it es- Thomas Weatherhill, William Langston, pecially because they are the Lectures Henry Bottley, William Astle and John of a layman. I hail it as a token that Lloyd, Esqrs. With the trustees for the Biblical literature and Biblical criticism time being, rests the sole right of admitare beginning to interest and influence ting and rejecting students, and the apthe laity, and that that mere prejudice pointment or dismissal of tutors: but of past times is no longer prevailing, previously to the full admission of any inbut it is felt that any person can under-dividual as a student, the trustees are distand the Oracles of God. And I wish rected to call to their assistance in exthat in the form of Biblical associations, amining the candidate, the president of laymen as well as ministers would com- the College, together with bine for this purpose specifically-to more of the principal ministers serving prosecute a critical acquaintance with in the Connexion of the Countess of sacred Scripture. And then I am per-Huntingdon, or any other ministers suaded, Sir, it would be impossible whom the trustees shall think proper." to use such a term as fell from your lips An investigation is then to take place to talk of the ' established religion' and into the evidence of a work of Di'other religions.' The fact is, it is one vine grace in the heart of the canreligion; and the more that Book was didate, and his call to the work made the basis of our opinions and was of the ministry, and also his qualificathoroughly examined, the more I am tions for its exercise. If the result is persuaded would Christians see, that the satisfactory to the majority of the grounds on which they differ are exceed-trustees, the young man is admitted, on ingly narrow, and for the most part external to the Scriptures themselves." The Lectures above alluded to are four in number; and are to be delivered by Isaac Taylor, Esq., at the Hanover Square Rooms in March next, the object being to press upon the higher classes the nature and obligations of spiritual religion. The subjects are to be:-1. Spiritual Christianity shown to be from heaven, by a comparison with the several species of natural religion. 2. The truths peculiar to spiritual Christianity. 3. The ethical characteristics of spiritual Christianity. 4. Spiritual Christianity, the hope of the world at the present moment. 66 one or his solemnly declaring his unfeigned assent to the doctrines contained in the fifteen Articles of faith which have been already stated as subscribed at the first ordination of ministers at Spa-fields chapel. The students are boarded and educated for four years, entirely at the charge of the funds of the College; and such are the liberal principles of this institution, that every student is at full liberty, at the expiration of the period of study, to "serve in the ministry of the Gospel either in the late Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, or abroad, or in the Established Church, or in any other of the Churches of Christ." THE EVANGELICAL REGISTER. MARCH, 1841. EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. OUTLINE OF A LECTURE DELIVERED IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, BY THE REV. THOMAS CHALMERS, D.D. It is not always possible to obtain a coincidence between the facts of nature and the details of artificial science. The line of demarcation between cognate subjects is ill defined; some things belonging partly to each, and wholly to neither; just as in the case of some objects on the confines of the animal and vegetable kingdoms, or between chemistry and physics. Thus the transition is not abrupt; but the subjects are shaded into each other. They are separated, not by lines, but by margins. These observations have been suggested by a consideration of the internal and external evidences of Christianity; which have a hazy, undefined border between them. The two kinds run into each other. Thus, in the case of the evidence of the fathers, and their testimony to the truth of miracles, we must compare what is without, with that which is within the book. Again: with respect to scriptural allusions to the manners and customs of the times, there must be a comparison of that which is without, with that which is within the record. Even as to the accordance between the statements of the Bible and the state of the heart, there must be a comparison of the tablet of the former with that of the latter. Thus, although the external and internal evidences of Christianity are currently talked of as being distinct, it is difficult to draw the line between them. But we are not obliged to reconcile facts with the arbitrary names of our predecessors. Our present object is to expound the evidence properly called " experimental;" because it does not require any literary preparation, in order to understand it; but only pre-supposes a conscience, which all have, and a Bible which all might have; and that if not able to read it, they are able to understand it, if read to them. Now it is a familiar principle, that the Bible claims the attention of all. It has an aspect of verisimilitude, sufficient to constitute a rightful claim on the further inquiry of all. It has the symptoms of veracity, before we come in contact with its truths. Its deep and decided sacredness, its accordance with our moral nature, its appearance of credibility-all this has a claim on our attention; and if we add to this the attestation of our ancestors, and weekly appeals from the pulpit, it would argue a high degree of moral hardihood to reject, and bid them away from us. Suppose the attention gained, and the regards fastened on the Bible; that it is carefully perused, pondered, and prayed over; what evidence would manifest its inspiration? The direct comparison between the objective truth there, and the subjective truth in the heart. Suppose a man quite unacquainted with science, and who knows nothing of Scripture criticism. This takes in the great majority of our population. Are they capable of only a blind and clownish acquiescence in the religion of the land? Have they no effective evidence to warrant their intelligent belief? They are called to give "a reason of the hope that is in" them ;* and the simple question is, What is that reason? I do not know a more interesting question to ministers, the guardians of a nation's Christianity. The evidence which is adapted to foil infidels, is not fitted to Christianize our peasantry. Their belief is not blind or baseless. It is not fancy, but faith; and is different from the former, as sight is from delusion. They may read and attend because they are bid; but they cannot so be made to believe. No authority can oblige them to take this last step. That must be the result of evidence. Faith without evidence is a delusive mockery; and if possible to be attained, is not the faith that is "unto salvation." This distinction between the two first and the last steps, shows the admissibility of parental authority, notwithstanding that Rousseau says "Wise unto salvation, through faith."-2 Timothy iii. 15, 1 Peter iii. 15. VOL. XIII. N that we are not to instruct a child at all, till it is of sufficient age to reason on the subject. The evidence can never come till the mind is in contact with the book; and it is well to bring it into contact. The question is-In the absence of the historical evidences, and of literary argument, what evidence is there for securing the intelligent and well-grounded faith of the reader? We reply-There is the manifestation of truth to the conscience. This is the most potent of all the internal evidences. To make the power of it more intelligible, we may direct you to the effects of human authorship. If a traveller relate the events of his journey in a region where we never went, we may believe him on account of his reputation for veracity, and because none of his assertions are inconsistent with philosophy. But if what he says relates to our own consciousness, we immediately judge for ourselves. A previous conviction of his skill or integrity, is not necessary here. It is from the agreement between what he says we are, and what we feel ourselves to be, that we believe him. He multiplies his observations on us; and from the harmony between what he says, and what we feel, we give him credit for shrewdness, and enlightened observation of character. There are many things, which remain latent in the dormitory of a man's mind, and which are never noticed till mentioned ab extra; and which, if never so addressed, would have never been present to the consciousness, through life. Old things, passed into oblivion, are conjured up. They must have been felt before, though forgotten; or else we should not recognise the truth of the representation. Hence the success of experimental writers. The first thing which draws our inquiring regards to the Bible, and leads us to acknowledge its sway, is its insight into the arcana of our own spirit. We mark its penetrating scrutiny into the mysteries of character; and we find a response from within, to the truth of its representations. No book is so interesting, as that which holds up to man a mirror of himself. Now we can imagine the proofs of this coincidence to be so multiplied, as to mount up to the conviction of a God being concerned. If a prophet were to stand before you, and tell you all you felt, that would prove the trnth of his pretensions. He might leave this on record for all ages; and thus demonstrate, to all future times, his high original. If it be a faithful picture of the heart, how quickly will the testimony of the voice without, be met by the response of the witness within! It may bring to light affections of constant influence, though till now unnoticed; but when the writer has directed my attention to them, the truth of his representation is felt; and this is the manifestation of truth to the conscience. And this may reach so far into the human mind, and beyond human sagacity, as to prove that it emanated from a more sublime and searching intellect than any below. So minute, varied, and scrupulous may be the accordance between its operations and the whispers of conscience, so accurately may the voice be re-echoed, as to draw our regards to the volume, and finally to decide that it came from a higher source than man. The historical proofs, the quotations and references of other authors, &c., all proclaim the Divine authority of the Book; but all these are external evidences. They are distinct from the correct scrutiny of the Book into the arcana of the human constitution; evincing superhuman knowledge of its processes and laws. To come into contact with this evidence, the whole apparatus necessary is a Bible and a conscience. With readings of the one, we combine the reflections of the other; and we see how, in contradistinction to the former, it may be called an internal evidence. I can easily understand how a peasant may understand, better than a philosopher, some of the internal evidences; such as the doctrine of universal depravity, &c. The arguments by which a philosopher might be schooled into a belief in universal depravity, would not be understood by the peasant; and it is well he does not labour under such a delusion, as to render them necessary. He is more willing than the votary of imagination and science, to take home the guilt to himself; and thus he lays open more widely the avenue between the Book and his heart. Whether it tells of the disease or the remedy, the simplicity of his mind lays it open to the more correct application of the truth. The coincidence between the sayings of the Book and the findings of the conscience, stamps on the Bible the verisimilitude of a revelation from heaven; which verisimilitude is at last heightened into a well-founded persuasion of its veracity. There is much both of poetry and philosophy, in the following lines of Cowper : She, for her humble sphere by nature fit, Just knows, and knows no more, her Bible true; happy peasant,! O unhappy bard! AN ANTIDOTE FOR AN ANTINOMIAN ERROR. MR. EDITOR,-As the limits of your last number would not admit of the insertion of all the article I sent you on a certain Antinomian error, perhaps you will please to let the remainder of it occupy a short space in your next; and afterwards I will supply you with an antidote for another error, as specious and as pernicious as the former. And your readers will kindly bear in mind, that the specific one we are still repudiating is that, which is entertained by those, who go under the above designation, and it is as follows: that the ministers of the Gospel are not to urge upon unconverted sinners to believe in Christ, faith being (as they argue) the special gift of God. Now, before I enter again upon this question, I would here simply remark, that there is much pith and good sense in the saying of the late venerable Rowland Hill, which it is reported he made in answer to a young minister, who was mentioning to him the scruples he felt against addressing sinners on the subject under our notice. Young inan,' he said, "go on, preach to sinners with all the earnestness and energy you possess, and rest confident in this, that your gracious Master will readily forgive you if you will convert any of the non-elect." And we would say, so He will. But, ah!" Paul may plant and Apollos may water, the increase must come from God." Yes; but though the increase is to come from heaven, are we in consequence of that to desist from planting and watering on earth? or because conversion is to be effected by the omnipotent and transforming power of God alone, are we on that account to refrain from preaching according to the command of God, and from teaching sinners in the way of holiness and truth? Most assuredly not. And every true minister of Jesus Christ, who has his mind duly affected wtth the importance of his office, will feel as Paul did, when he said, "For necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is me, if I preach not the Gospel”—(i Cor. ix. 16). As to the duty of ministers to urge sinners to believe in Christ, faith being a special gift of God, I would say, that that question may be easily settled, by ascertaining what was the method the best of preachers adopted; He whom allChristian ministers ought to follow with the nicest care, the Lord Jesus Christ, who must be admitted to be an infallible guide in the faithful discharge of this most responsible office. Now they that are best acquainted with the history of the Saviour can certify, that this was positively His custom. Did He not commence His ministry by saying, Repent ye, and believe the Gospel ?" Did He not command sinners to believe in Him? Did He not condemn others for not believing? And who can read with an unprejudiced mind the sixth chapter of John's Gospel, and many other portions of the New Testament, without saying at once, Surely Jesus did it, and therefore it is the solemn duty of His ministers to follow His footsteps?" Yes, most assuredly. And with what importunity and earnestness, did Peter preach to sinners on the day of Pentecost! And the Lord 66 * See Cooper's "Truth." Dr. Chalmers has carried out the present subject to greater length, in the Fourth Volume of his Works; Book 3; Chapters 1 and 3, Pages I to 10, and 91 to 169. was pleased to bless such preaching to the conversion of many thousands of the astonished multitude. Also Paul "standing in the midst of Mars Hill" at Athens, preached in the same strain to a congregation of unconverted heathens; and what was the consequence? Why, several believed; among the which was Dionysius, the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them-(Acts xvii. 34). And why is it, that urgent appeals made to the consciences of men from the pulpit are blessed so very frequently to the awakening of sinners and rousing them to a lively concern for their souls? And how comes it to pass, that zealous ministers, that feel great anxiety for the salvation of souls, have their churches and chapels crowded to excess with attentive hearers, and their usefulness attested by the anxious inquiries of numbers of truly converted souls, while others meet with the contrary fate? The answer may appear to some to be involved in a mystery; yet the problem will find its solution here, in God having in His infinite wisdom, inseparably connected the end with the means, the kindling of the tinder with the falling of the spark, the commotion of the atmosphere with the explosion of the thunderclap, the awakening of sinners with the awakened state of the minister's mind. In fact there is always a moral adaptation existing between the means employed and the end to be accomplished by those means. But now to come to the point; which is, the minister's duty to urge sinners to believe in Christ, faith being the gift of God. Now to illustrate this, again we may ask, as we have done before, how is faith produced in the inind? We may answer as we did--it is mostly by the presentation of truth to the judgment, accompanied with the influences of the eternal Spirit. All faith, we may say, begins in persuasion, and persuasion is the result of evidence. Then is it not the duty of ministers to place evidences as clear as daylight and as strong as the rays of truth, before the minds of their audience; that so desirable a grace as faith is, should be begun by the Divine blessing in their hearts, even conviction and full persuasion of truth. For indeed a passage of Scripture might be quoted, by which we are given to understand, that the faith of the Old Testament saints consisted in persuasion, that had a holy influence in it; and I suppose, that that grace is not materially changed in our days. I refer to the eleventh of Hebrews, the thirteenth verse. I am aware, that the brethren, whose opinions on the subject under our notice we repudiate, hold the sentiment, that no human suasion whatever should be used by the minister in the sacred desk; but how futile the assertion, and how opposite to apostolical preaching, which is illustrated by Paul when he says"Knowing therefore the terrors of the Lord, we persuade men." Also, "Ye know I have kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith" (mark here)" and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ"-(Acts xx. 20, 21). This is to the point. Paul, you see, attended to this very thing, that is forbidden to ministers in our days, by a certain class of Christians. But I would not forget mentioning here, that I am also aware, that it is a custom with our opponents to fritter away numbers of Scripture passages that strongly bear on the subject in hand; but oh! let every one seriously appeal to his conscience, and ask, will this do in the sight of an all-observant God? Truth must have its weight on the consciences, especially of ministers; and it ought to have its proper force upon those of believers of every description; for there is a day at hand of scrutiny and of strict account. many From the foregoing paragraphs we see, that the anti-scriptural and false theory we have been considering forbids the use of the very means, that the all-wise God is pleased both to own and to bless. And may we not attribute to this the sterility of the churches in certain quarters? Yes, humanly speaking, we may; and the thinly attended communion table; the existence of so barren fig trees within the enclosures of Zion, and so many dead branches, that appear to hang from God's spiritual vine, that seem not to have any spiritual verdure whatever upon them? I would ask again, may we not attribute to this the ease and unconcern of so many sinners sitting for so many years in Zion under the ministry of the Gospel? Yea, the deadness and stillness, morally speaking, of the surrounding scenes in some places, where the shrill and heartfelt cry is so seldom heard, "What shall we do to be saved?" |