CHAPTER V

DIVINE AUTHORITY AND INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES.--What is to be understood by inspiration? None but an atheist can deny its possibilities. The gift of inspiration proved by the performance of supernatural works, and by the foretelling of future events with preciseness. If these signs accompanied the authors of the dispensations contained in the Old and New Testaments, it must be admitted that the Bible is a revelation from God. The performance of miracles by the authors of these dispensations attests their divine mission. A miracle defined. Mr. Hume's argument against miracles. Lord Brougham's confutation of the argument. Keith's demonstration of its fallacy. The miracles of Moses, of Jesus Christ and his apostles accompanied by evidences which cannot be brought to substantiate any pretended fact whatever. Mr. Leslie's argument in favor of this position. Mr. Olmsted's attempt to destroy the force of Mr. Leslie's argument. Exposure of the misrepresentations and falsehoods contained in Mr. Olmsted's argument. Confutation of his argument 232

SECTION I.--Mr. Leslie's criteria applied to the miracles recorded in the Scriptures. Applied to those of Moses; they all meet in his miracles. Applied to those of Jesus Christ and his apostles. Their number, their variety, and the public manner in which they were performed, attest their veracity. Miracles of Christ contrasted with those of impostors. The pretended miracles wrought by Vespasian. The pretended miracles of the Roman Catholics. Many of them have been proved to be impostors. The object of the miracles of Jesus attests their veracity. The great miracle which lies at the foundation of Christianity, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The miracle examined. Testimony of the evangelists, that Jesus during his life predicted his death and resurrection. The prediction well known to the Jewish rulers. The rulers took every necessary precaution to put his pretensions to the test. The crucifixion and death of Christ well attested. Precautions that the body should not be removed until life was extinct. The precautions of the rulers to prevent the body being stolen out of the sepulchre. The whole question at issue between Jesus and the Jewish rulers, suspended on the naked fact, whether He did or did not rise again on the third day. The Jewish rulers make their preparation on the Sabbath to produce the body on the third day. On the third day the body is missing. Different ways of accounting for the fact. The disciples alleged that Jesus had risen from the dead. Their testimony examined. The Jewish rulers asserted that the disciples stole the body. The allegation examined. Its falsehood demonstrated. Subsequent conduct of the Sanhedrin confirms the testimony of the apostles and evangelists. The adoption of the Jewish mode of accounting for the fact accompanied with many difficulties. An acknowledgment of the resurrection of Jesus involves an acknowledgment of His divine mission. Mr. Olmsted's objection on the ground that Jesus did not show Himself publicly and ascend to heaven in the presence of the whole nation. Its fallacious nature. The testimony we have of the resurrection of Jesus Christ much more satisfactory and convincing than that required by Mr. Olmsted. Insuperable difficulties attending the denial of the resurrection of Jesus Christ 279