CHRISTIANITY. 



357 



CJirirfiani- 



There i a 



pe -it liar 

 unpreMtoB 



p vf 

 the testi- 

 mony, 

 when its 

 tut'ject is 

 a tact coa- 

 nec:cd 

 with n.!i- 

 jinn. 



It may lead 

 tome to 

 over rate 

 the-trcngth 

 at me te.-ii- 

 mouy, 



others 

 to under- 

 lie it ; 



ut, upon 



the whole, 



t it unfa- 



urjble. 



Uched to it, by the very same exercise of mind which 

 we so confidently engage in. when sitting in examination 

 upon the other historical documents that have come down 

 to us from antiquity. 



1'J. If two historical documents possess equal degrees 

 of evidence, they should produce equal degrees of con- 

 viction. But if the object of the cne be to establish 

 some fact connected with our religious faith, while the 

 object of the ther is to establish some fact, about which 

 we feel no other interest, than that general curiosity 

 which is gratified by the solution of any question in lite- 

 rature, this difference in the object, produces a difference 

 of effect in the feelings and tendencies of the mind. It 

 is impossible for the mind, while it enquires into the evi- 

 dence of a Christian document, to abstain from all re- 

 ference to the important conclusion of the enquiry. And 

 this will necessarily mingle its influence with the argu- 

 ments which engage its attention. It may be of import- 

 ance to attend to the peculiar feelings which are thus 

 given to the investigation, and in how far they have af- 

 fected the impression of the Christian argument. 



1 :3. We know it to be the opinion of some, that in 

 this way an undue advantage has been given to that ar- 

 gument. Instead" t a pure question of truth, it has been 

 made a question of sentiments, and the wishes of the 

 heart have mingled with the exercise of the understanding. 

 Th re is a class of men who may feel disposed to overrate 

 its evidences, because they are anxious to give every sup- 

 port and stability to a system, which they conceive to be 

 most intimately connected with the dearest hopes and 

 wishes of humanity; because their imagination is carried 

 away by the sublimity of its doctrines, or their heart en- 

 gaged by that amiable morality which is so much calcu- 

 lated to improve and adorn the face of society. 



11. Now, we are ready to admit, that as the object of 

 the inquiry is not the character, but the truth of Chris- 

 tianity, the philosopher should be careful to protect his 

 mind from the delusion of its charms ;. he should separate 

 tin- xercise of the understanding from the tendencies of 

 the fancy or of the heart. He should be prepared to 

 follow the light of evidence, though it may lead him to 

 conclusions the most painful and melancholy. He should 

 train his mind to all the hardihood of abstract and unfeel- 

 ing intelligence. He should give up every thing to the 

 uprerracy of argument, and be able to renounce, with- 

 out a sigh, all the tenderest prepossessions of infancy, the 

 moment that truth demands of him the sacrifice. ! 

 be remembered, however, that while one species of pre- 

 judice operates in favour of Christianity, another preju- 

 dice operates agair.et it. There is a class of mer 

 are repelled from the investigation of its evidences, be- 

 cause in their minds Christianity it allied with tin- \ 

 ness of superstition ; and they feel that they are tkvcend- 

 ing, when they bring down their attention to a subject 

 which engrosses 80 much respect and admiration from the 

 vulgar. 



15. It appears to us, 'hat the peculiar feeling which 

 the sacredness of the subject gives to the enquirer, is 

 unfavourable to the impression of the Christian argu- 

 ment. Had the subject not been sacred, and had the 

 ame testimony been given to the facts that are con- 

 nected with it, we are satisfied, that the history of Jesus 

 in the New Testament, would have been looked upon 

 as the best supported by cvdt-nce of any history that 

 has come down to uf. It would assist us in appre- 

 tiating the evidence for the truth of the gospel history, 

 if we couiH conceive for a moment, that .Sesus, instead of 

 being the founder of a ne Ven merely the 



founder of a new school ol philosophy, and that the dif- 



ferent histories which have come down to us, had merely 

 represented him a an extraordinary person, who had ren- v 

 dered himself illustrious among his countrymen by the 

 wisdom of his sayings, and the beneficence of his actions. 

 We venture to say, that had this been the case, a tenth 

 part of the testimony which has actually been given, 

 would have been enough to satisfy us. Had it been a 

 question of mere erudition, where neither a predilection 

 in favour of a religion, nor an antipathy against it, could 

 have impressed a bias in any one direction, the testimony, 

 both in weight and in quantity, would have been looked 

 upon as quite unexampled in the whole compass of ancient 

 literature. 



16. To form a fair estimate of the strength and de- 

 cisiveness of the Christian argument, we should, if pos- 

 sible, divest ourselves of all reference to religion, and view 

 the truth of the gospel history, purely as a question of 

 erudition. If at the outset of the investigation we have 

 a prejudice against the Christian religion, the effect is ob- 

 vious ; and without any refinement of explanation, we M 

 at once how such a prejudice must dispose us to annex 

 suspicion and distrust to the testimony of the Christian 

 writers. But even when the prejudice is on the side of 

 Christianity, the effect is unfavourable on a mind that is 

 at all scrupulous about the rectitude of its opinions. In 

 these circumstances, the mind gets suspicious of itself. 

 It feels a predilection, and becomes apprehensive lest thi 

 predilection may have disposed it to cherish a particular 

 conclusion, independently of the evidences by which it is 

 supported. Were it a mere speculative question, ia 

 which the interests of man, and the attachments of hia 

 heart, bad no share, he would feel greater confidence in 

 the result of his investigation. But it is difficult to se- 

 parate the moral impressions of piety, and it is no leas 

 difficult to calculate their precise influence on the exer- 

 cises of the understanding. In the complex sentiment of 

 attachment and conviction, which he annexes to the Chris- 

 tian religion, he finds it difficult to say, how much is due 

 to the tendencies of the heart, and how much is due to 

 the pure and unminglcd influence of argument. His 

 very anxiety for the truth, disposes him to narrate the cir- 

 cumstances which give a bias to his understanding, and 

 through the whole process of the enquiry, he feels a sus- 

 picion and an embarrassment, which he would not have 

 felt, had it been a question of ordinary erudition. 



17. The same suspicion which he attaches to himself, 

 he will be ready to attach to all whom he conceives to be 

 in similar circumstances. Now, every author who writes 

 in defence of Christianity is supposed to be a Christian ; 

 and this, in spite of every argument to the contrary, has 

 the actual effect of weakening the impression of his testi- 

 mony. This suspicion affects, in a more remarkable de- 

 gree, the testimony of the first writers on the side of 

 Christianity. In opposition to it, you have no doubt, to 

 allege the circumstances under which the testimony wa* 

 given ; the tone of sincerity winch runs through the per- 

 formance of the author, the concurrence of other testimo- 

 nies ; the persecutions which were sustained in adhering 

 to them, ami which can ^be accounted for on no other 

 principle, than the power of conscience and conviction ; 

 and the utter impossibility of imposing a fal-e testimony 

 on the world, had they even been disposed to do it. 

 Still there is p. lurking suspicion, which often survives 

 all this strength of argument, and which it is difficult to 

 ;;< t tid oi, even jfterit has been demonstrated to be com- 

 pletely unreasonable. He is a Christian. He is one of 



ity. Am Ian infidel? I persist in distrusting 

 the testimony. Am I a Christian ? I rejoice in the 

 strength of it j but this very joy becomes matter of suv 



