ever may have been the intentions of this learned critic, his work is calculated to produce a theological scepticism, which is but little removed from unbelief, and must, in the end, terminate in open infidelity. In this sceptical spirit one writer merely expresses a doubt respecting the inspiration of some parts of the Scriptures; another is of opinion, that a few books may safely be rejected from the canon; by some it is maintained, that certain tenets, though they may be true, need not be inculcated as of absolute importance; while by others it is asserted, that many doctrines, held sacred by the great body of Christians in all ages, are the mere offspring of narrow bigotry and prejudice, "the wretched relic of a dark and barbarous age," and, consequently, unworthy of regard in this period of reason and intellectual light.* Thus one article of our faith must be surrendered after another, till, by stripping religion of all its essentials, a broad way is prepared to the profession of undisguised and blasphemous infidelity. It behoves the friends of pure primitive Christianity to regard, with watchful eye, the progress of this insidious enemy; Those who are acquainted with the theological works of modern Germany, and with some, alas! in our own country, will easily exemplify these remarks. lest, after the outworks are severally given up, the citadel will at length be obliged to capitulate. Semler does not, in so many words, reject the book of Proverbs from the number of sacred writings; but some of his assertions are totally irreconcilable with its canonicity, and it must be apparent to the attentive reader, that the drift of his remarks is to discredit its divine authority. It is unnecessary, however, to enter into a detailed, refutation, as few of his observations are new, most of them gratuitous; and to all this general reply is sufficient, that, if the view taken of the Proverbs in this Dissertation be correct, no weight can be allowed to the sceptical doubts of Semler. To question the divine authority of any writing, or of any part of any writing in those comprised in the Bible, is to open a door for unbelief, the immediate forerunner of impiety and flagitiousness. If the Scriptures are not so far inspired as to be exempt from error, they cannot be regarded as an infallible rule of faith and manners; and if they are not so regarded, their efficacy will be no greater than that of the moral writings of Xenophon and Plutarch, of Cicero and Seneca. The inspiration of the Bible must be maintained, must be believed; otherwise it cannot be the standard of faith, of morals, and of sacred knowledge. "To deny it absolutely," says a modern writer, " and thereby to reduce the sacred writings to common history, was, with a few exceptions, reserved to our own times. If there be a doctrine to which the semper, ubique, et ab omnibus,' is applicable, it is the divine inspiration of the Old and New Testament:"* a sentiment so judicious, so pious, that it merits the approbation of every friend to the real interests of man. The book of Proverbs, then, is of canonical authority, and, with the exception of the two last chapters, is the genuine production of Solomon, king of Israel. The nature and character of the work still remain to be considered. In a critical examination of these aphorisms, the first thing that attracts our notice is, the poetical dress in which they are clothed. That they are written in metre is evident, not only from the peculiar accentuation by which the Masoretes have distinguished the metrical books of the Old Testament, but from the more certain characters of Hebrew poetry, as they have been investigated and illustrated by Bishop * Butler's Horæ Biblicæ, vol. i. p. 249, Lond. 1807. Lowth, the celebrated author of the Hebrew Prælections. The poetical form of so large a portion of the Scriptures has often excited the attention of lettered curiosity; and various reasons have been advanced to account for a circumstance which cannot but appear somewhat extraordinary to an European mind.* But, perhaps, the true reason is to be sought in the state of society, together with the manners and habits of the earlier ages. The dispensations of Providence have ever been adapted to existing circumstances; and a metrical form may have been peculiarly suited to the character and situation of those to whom the poetical part of Revelation was immediately addressed. A few reflections on this subject will not, perhaps, be deemed irrelevant to the purpose of this Dissertation. Poetical composition has been stated to be anterior to prose; and this representation accords with the condition of man in the infancy of society. The wandering savage, roused with the exultation of victory, spurred on to phrensy with wild carousal, or sunk into excessive, though transitory, grief at * See Carpzovii Introd. ad Lib. Canon. par. 2, cap. i. § 11. recent calamity, would frequently pour out the violence of his feelings in the rude, but impassioned, strains of poetry. The boldest figures and the loftiest images could alone adequately express the fervent passions of man in an uncivilized state; and nothing but the expression of ardent feeling and unrestrained imagination, accompanied with song, and, as a necessary consequence, artless versification, could ever win the attention or captivate the mind of the untutored barbarian. In song he would describe the fortune of the battle or the chase; in song he would celebrate the successful valour of his kinsman and chieftain, or lament their fall; in song he would praise and magnify his country's gods; and these songs, repeated from father to son, would form the first medium of traditionary history and knowledge. Travellers concur in describing the power and prevalence of song among the roving hordes of America.* Even after man had emerged from the state of savage wildness, and, in the progress of civilization, the predominance of the passions had been in some degree repressed, and reason had begun to raise her See Dr. Brown's History of the Rise and Progress of Poetry, and Jahn, Archæologia Biblica, § 90, 8vo. Viennæ, 1814. |