INSPIRATION. 



yet are raifed to an extraordinary degree, fo that the com- 

 pofer dial!, upon the whole, have more of the true fublime, 

 or pathetic, than natural genius could have given ; and in- 

 fpiration of fiiggejlinn when the ufe of the faculties is 

 fuperfeded, and God does, as it were, fpcak direclly to the 

 mind, making fuch difcovorieo to it as it could not othervvife 

 liave obtained, and diftating the very words in which fuch 

 difcoveries are to be communicated, if they are defigned as a 

 meflage to others. It is generally allowed that the New 

 Teftament was written by a fuperintendent infpiration ; 

 for without this the difcourfes and doclrines of Chrill 

 could not have been faithfully recorded by the evan- 

 gelills and apoftles ; nor could they have affumed the 

 authoi-ity of fpeaking the words of Clmlt, and evinced 

 this authority by the aclual exercife of miraculous 

 powers : and befides, the facred writings bear many obvious 

 internal marks of their divine original, in the excellence of 

 their doctrines, the fpirituality and elevation of their defign, 

 the majelly and fimplicity of their llyle, the agreement of 

 their various parts, and their ef&cacy on mankind ; to which 

 inay be added, that there has been in the Chriltian church, 

 from its earliell ages, a conilant tradition, that the facred 

 books were written by the extraordinai-y- afiiftance of the 

 fpirit, which mull at lead amount to fuperintendent infpira- 

 tion. But it has been controverted whether this infpira- 

 tion extended to every minute circumftance in their writings, 

 fo as to be in the moll abfoliite fenfe plenary. Jerom, 

 Grotius, Erafmus, Epifcopius, and many others, maintain 

 that it was not ; whilll others contend, that the emphatical 

 manner in which our Lord fpeaks of the agency of the 

 fpirit upon them, and in which they themfelves fpeak of 

 their own wTitings, will juftify our believing that their in- 

 fpiration was plenary, unlefs there be very convincing evi- 

 dence brought on the other fide to prove that it was not : 

 and if wc allow, it is faid, that there were fome errors in the 

 New Teftament, as it came from the hands of the apoftles, 

 there may be great danger of fubverting the main purpofe 

 and defign of it ; iince there wiU be endlefs room to debate 

 the importance both of fatls and dodlrines. 



What has been above denominated fupu-intenjent infpira- 

 tion in the language of Dr. Doddridge, Mr. \Vhitby ex- 

 preftcs by infpiration of tHreilion : and he thus diftinguifhes 

 it from the infpiration hy fuggc/lwn. i. Where there is no 

 antecedent idea or knowledge of the things written for tlie 

 good of others, to be obtained from reafon or a former reve- 

 f;ition, an infpiration of fuggeftion muft be vouclifafed to the 

 apoftles, in order to enable them to make fuch things known 

 to the world. But where there is fuch an antecedent know- 

 ledge of the things to he mdited, it can only be neceftary 

 that God fliould immediately, or by lomc fpecial occafions, 

 excite them to indite thole things, and fhould fo carefully 

 prefide over and direct their minds, whilftT\riting, as to fug- 

 geft or to bring into tlieir memories fuch things as his wifdom 

 thought fit to be written, and Ihould not fuffer them to err 

 in the delivery of what was thus written in his name, or as 

 apoftles of God the Father and our Lord Jefus Chrift. 



2. In all their revelations of myfteries, or things which could 

 not otTierwile bo made known to them, either by natural reafon 

 or antecedent revelation, they mull be acknowledged to have 

 had them by an immediate fiiggetlion of the holy fpirit. 



3. As for thofe things Avhich they did know already, either 

 bv natural reafon, education, or antecedent revelation, they 

 needed only fuch an affiftance or direction in them, as would 

 fecure them from error in their reafoiings, or in tiie con- 

 firmation of their doQrines by pafiagcs contained in the 

 Cld Teftament ; and therefore a continual fuggcilion raull 



be neceffary in this cafe. 4. In writing the hiftoricar pp 

 of the Old Teilament, or matters of fa& relating to tl,. ■ 

 felves and others, it is only neceffary, that what is there 

 delivered as matter of fatt fhould be truly performed, as it 

 is laid to have been done ; but it is not neceffary that they 

 fhould be related in that order of time in which they were 

 performed, unlefs alfo that be affirmed of them : for this 

 muft be fufhcient to afliire us of the truth of what they thus 

 delivered. Moreover, in writing the difcourfes contained in 

 tliefe books, it i" not neceffary that tlie verv words fhould 

 be fuggelledo!- recorded, in which they we're firft fpokeii, 

 but only that the true intent and meaning of them fhould be 

 related, though in diverlity of words ; though the promife 

 made to the apoftles by our Lord, that the holy fpirit fhould 

 bring to their remembrance att things whicli he had faid 

 unto them, doth fairly plead for this exaclnefs in what they 

 have delivered of our Saviour's fermons ; it being fcarcely 

 imaginable their memory, mthout divine alTiftance, fhoaU 

 exaclly give us all that was fpoken in fuch long difcourfes. 

 Lartly, it appears, fays Dr. Wliitby, that I contend only 

 for fuch an infpiration, or divine afhftance, of the facred 

 writers of the New Teftament, as will affure us of the truth 

 of what they write, either by infpiration of fuggejliun or 

 diri-Bion only, hut not for fuch an infpiration as implies, that 

 even their words were diftated, or their phrafes fnggelled 

 to them by the Holy Ghoft. Dr. Whitby cannot allow, 



1. For any (lips of memory in the compilers of the facred 

 books of the New Teftament ; for though thefe are allowed 

 by fome in matters of fmall confequence, as they are plcafed 

 to ftyle them, yet it is of great confequence that we do not 

 own them : for, if you grant they have flipped at all, by what 

 rules can we affirm that they have not Hipped above an ico 

 times, or even in moft of their hiftorical relations ? 2. He 

 cannot grant, that the apoftles determined any matters of 

 praftice merely from rules of human prudence,' without the 

 guidance and direction of the holy fpirit. ^5. Dr. Wliitbv 

 does not allow that St. Paul dot'h nut always ufe the belt 

 arguments, but fuch as are beft fuited to the' capacities and 

 notions of tlinfe to whom he «Tites : if fo, by what rules 

 fhall we be able to diftinguifh betwixt his arguments, on 

 which we may fafely rely, as being abfolutely true, and thofe 

 which are only accommodated to the notions of thofe with 

 whom he had to do ? 



Dr. Whitby next proceeds to lav down the aro-uments 

 which prove, that the apoftles were aflifted and preferved 

 from error by the fpirit of God, and were enabled to deliver 

 to us an unerrnig rule of faith. Thefe arguments are the 

 following: I. Their affertions concerning their own writ- 

 ings, and what they fay refpeaing the declarations made, 

 the dodrines delivered, and the direclions given in them. 



2. The things whfch God fpake to his fervants the prol 

 phets are ftylcd the things which I command bv my fpirit. 

 (Zech. I. 6.) But the apoftles were thus afhfled. Peter 

 fays they preached tlie gofpel by the Holv Ghoft fent down 

 from heaven ; they fpake as they were moved bv the Holy 

 Ghoft ; they ftyle themfelves prophets and apoftles : they 

 challenge a like illumination with the ancient prophets : 

 they pretend to teach others in words tauglit them by the 

 Holy Ghoft. In all thefe fayings they mnit iiavc been guilty 

 of a falfe tefhmony concerning God, and muft impofe upon 

 the church of Chrift, if no fuch afTiftance of the holy fpirit 

 was imparted to them. 3. The infallible afiiftance granted 

 to the apoftles is uiferred from our Saviour's promife to 

 them, repeated on different occafions. 4. The faded re- 

 cords were to be a ftanding rule of faith through all ages ; 

 and therefore in all things propounded in them to our faith. 



