evil of the world? I do not wonder that Christians of the present day, are so filled with doubts and fears. When men can see no difference between us and others, is it not high time for us to suspect the safety of our state, and vigorously to examine whether we are in the faith? The prevalent influence of the world will make death terrible. It will plant thorns in our dying pillows. How numerous have been those, who, in the hour of dissolution, have lamented their attachment to it! How have they regretted their infatuated conduct, and warned others from following their pernicious example! How many have been obliged to exclaim, in the language of the expiring Grotius, "Alas! I have spent my life laboriously, doing nothing!" We beseech you, dear fellowprofessors, as ye regard the honour of God, the consolations of religion, the support of a dying hour, to watch against its every attack, to save yourselves from this untoward generation, to pray for preservation to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you, faultless, before the throne of his glory, with exceed ing joy. Luton. E. D. AUTHENTICITY OF THE SCRIPTURES. To the Editor of the Baptist Magazine, Sir, The following letters were written to a friend. It is by no means presumed that the arguments contained in them include all that can be advanced upon the Vol. VII. subject. In a letter to a friend, A constant Reader. I am in general averse to religious controversy. But as you have expressed your opinion that I am of late years much altered in my religious views, (although I never embraced the Socinian system, but was merely wavering and unsettled in my mind,) and as I perceive that you are anxiously enquiring after truth, I think it right to give you the grounds of my present views of the gospel. The Apostle exhorts us to be ready to give a reason of the hope that is in us, with meekness and fear and if by this means I can in any measure assist you in your enquiries, it will give me real satisfaction. Having never myself found any solid comfort from any other views of the gospel than those which set forth Christ as an Almighty Saviour, and an all-sufficient sacrifice for sin, I cannot but feel concerned that you should hold fast the faith which I believe was once delivered to the saints. The right of free enquiry is the birth-right of all; and to God only are we accountable for our religious opinions. But to him Р we have to give an awful account, to a few individuals, but to a whole nation. A few individuals might have been deceived, a whole nation could not. Supposing Moses an impostor, it would have been impossible for him to have persuaded a whole people, in possession of their senses and reason, that they had witnessed things which had never happened to them, or to have gained their belief to a history of events, occurring to their own ancestors, and in their own families, which they had never heard of before. There were likewise instituted standing memorials of the most remarkable events in their history, which they and their children were commanded by God perpetually to observe, and which are observed by the Jews to this day. It is an essential statute of their religion to hand down the history and laws of their ration from one generation to another. And this command of God, together with the jealousy of the Jews respecting their Scriptures, are a security to us that no essential alteration could have been made in them, and may assure us that they were written at the time in which they profess to be written, and by the persons to whom they are ascribed. It would be contrary to human mature for the Jews to be so attached to their scriptures, as they are, even at the present time, were they not fully convinced of their truth; considering how much their history reflects upon them as a nation, and how their own prophets denounced divine judgments upon them for their disobedience. The Jews are at this day, in a remarkable manner, a living evidence of the truth of their own history, and are daily fulfilling their own prophecies. With respect to the truth of the old testament scriptures, I have said more than I should otherwise have done, had not the severest attacks been made upon them, and were it not from their important connection with the new testament, of great consequence to have our minds established in the truth of them. With respect to the authenticity and genuineness of the new testament scriptures, they are sufficiently supported by the same kind of evidence with that on which the old testament rests. The rapid spread of the gospel the great numbers who received the books of the new testament, as they are handed down to us, in those periods when they had the best opportunities of detecting them, if impostures the different 'sects that prevailed in the apostles' days, who closely examined into the proofs of every thing they heard, and against whom the apostles themselves had to defend the gospel these are all circumstances that render any essential corruption of the books of the new testament impossible, and are, therefore, satisfactory evidences of their authenticity. That there are slight errors in the translations, and slight variations in the different manuscripts, is readily granted, but nothing of this kind has ever been brought forward, which at all affects the great doctrines of the gospel. I heard a learned biblical critic say, not long ago, that after all his labour and researches into different manuscripts and versions, he felt the utmost confidence and satisfaction in declaring, that not one mistranslation or variation in them at all affected, or obscured the fundamental truths of Christianity. The same security exists with respect to our common translation. All parties, (except the Socinians,) however they may differ in other respects, agree in their opinion of the fidelity of the common 'version, in essential points; and hold the scriptures so translated to be of divine authority. Even the Socinians are obliged, with their own translation, to give up the inspiration of the scriptures, to deny the authenticity of some parts of them, and to call in the aid of allegory, before they can get rid of their plain and obvious meaning, and bend them to their own system. Indeed, could I look at the scriptures as the Socinians do, I could not feel justified in receiving them as the word of God. A revelation of God's will to man must be intended and calculated for the benefit of men of every condition, to the end of time. For this purpose, it must (especially in the most important articles) be clear and intelligible to the most common understandings. Considering this as a most essential characteristic of a divine revelation, and believing the scriptures to be such a revelation, I feel confident that God will ever preserve them from being so corrupted, as that the great mass of mankind would be led by them into falsehood and error. Our Saviour declared that to the poor the gospel was to be preached; and, therefore, I feel the utmost confidence that for their sakes will the word of God be ever kept pure and uncorrupted. With respect to the important point of the inspiration of the scriptures, the evidence is "satisfactory that they are really the word of God. The subjects they reveal could only come from God. The morality of the scriptures is above any human standard, and its instructions and discoveries are all evidently above human invention. I need scarcely say that an authenticated miracle must, by every reasonable and ingenuous mind, be considered as decisive of the truth of any doctrine in confirmation of which it is brought. As little need I insist that prophecy, in numerous instances undoubtedly accomplished, and, in some, many ages after the prediction was delivered, is strictly miraculous; implies the communication to the prophet, of divine intelligence, and the interposition of God in appointing and arranging events by which such predictions shall be most exactly fulfilled. Nor will any reasonable mind be disposed to consider as impostors, men who, in the propagation of a religion, had nothing of this world's good to hope for, but, on the contrary, every thing to expect at which human nature is accustomed to revolt-contempt and hatred, persecution and death. Whatever such men were, we cannot, upon any common principles of judging, consider them as impostors. And as such men cannot be deemed impostors, so neither can they be looked upon as weak men, as mere fanatics and fools, if it can be shewn that they supported their pretensions and their claims, by the working of miracles, and that in the sublimity of their doctrines, in the purity of their lives, and in their general endowments, dispositions, and exertions, they uniformly supported the character they assumed, that of men divine ly inspired. Now we have only to look into the scriptures and we meet with prophecies that have been most minutely fulfilled, and some that would seem to be fulfilling at this day. Both Moses and Christ supported their respective claims by miracles, and the apostles employed to disseminate Christianity, after the ascension of their Lord, were exactly the men I have been describing, and were therefore neither vile impostors, nor weak enthusiasts, but holy men inspired of God. In consistency with this character, and corroborative of it, is the authority with which they speak and write, "Thus saith the Lord," prefaces whatever is announced by law and prophets, by evangelists and apostles. Our Lord promised inspiration to his apostles. He promised his Spirit to teach them, and to bring all things whatsoever he had said to their remembrance. He exhorted them to feel no concern when called upon to defend the Gospel before princes and rulers, as to what they should say, for that in that day they should be taught what they should say. Now the event proved exactly as they were led to expect. They were, after the time they professed to receive the Spirit, completely changed. They were endued with invincible courage and fortitude, through which they shrunk from no persecutions; and they wrought miracles, and published in every language "the wonderful works of God." Our Lord calls them his witnesses and sends them forth as teachers. And can we suppose he would send them through the world in these characters, liable to error and mistake? So far from it, we are told that after his resurrection, he instructed his apostles in things pertaining to the kingdom of God. The integrity of St. Paul cannot be doubted by any one who considers his general character, and all the circumstances of his extraordinary career: and that he, was not a mere weak enthusiast, must appear from the miracles he wrought, as well as from the astonishing eloquence and argumentative strength of his writings. But this great apostle evidently considered himself as divinely inspired, and even distinguishes what "he received of the Lord," from what was the mere suggestion of his own judgment. Must not the conclusion be irresistible, that he was inspired? Thus, my dear friend, I have endeavoured to give you a statement of those evidences of the authenticity and inspiration of the scriptures that we can judge of for ourselves, as plain and unlearned christians. The statement is brief and im perfect. But it contains argu ments which have been satisfactory to my mind, and I hope they may prove so to yours. My rea→ son for writing thus much on this subject is, that in arguing on any theological doctrine, there must be a ground common to both-a common authority to appeal to, Having, therefore, established the authenticity and inspiration of the scriptures, there can, of course, be no appeal from their testimony, either as to what we are to believe, or practise, to any other authority, either to reason, expediency, or any thing else. What they reveal must be truth, what they command must be right. In my next letter, therefore, I shall endeavour to shew what the scripture testifies, particularly with regard to the person of Christ, and the work he came to accomplish. Praying that you may be favoured with divine assistance in all your enquiries after truth, I remain, my dear friend, very affectionately yours. MISCELLANIES. SLAVERY IN AMERICA. Slaves are the most uumerous in Virginia, the two Carolinas, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tenessee. There are some in a number of the other states; but in these six, the great body of them is found, and Virginia alone, contains about three hundred thousand, almost onethird of its whole population. And I know not but the proportion is as great as in the five other states. In all the states under consideraVol. VII. tion, there are multitudes of black people and creoles who are not slaves. Some are the descendants of manumitted ancestors; many who were born slaves, have been liberated by benevolent and conscientious owners, and others have purchased their own freedom. Multitudes of the inhabitants of these states have nothing to do with slavery; some from principle, and others for the want of means to obtain them. The quakers, who are numerous |