INSPIRATION. 



tJiey mud contain a divine toftimony, or a revelation of the 

 will of God. 5. That tlie apoftles and writers of the New 

 Teftament were affiiled both in their preaching and writing 

 by the fpirit of God, is attellcd by Chriftians of all ages 

 from the beginning. 



Dr. Benfon, in his " DifTertation on Infpiration," pub- 

 lifhed in his " Commentary on the Epillles," and included in 

 tiftiDp \Valfon"s " Colleftion of Tratts," obferves, that 

 many of the difficulties and objedlions that have been raifed 

 conceniing infpiration have been very much owing to the 

 millaken accounts given by fome of the friends to revelation. 

 What he takes to be the genuine account, appears, at firit 

 view, eafy and natural, and alfo, upon examination, the moft 

 unexceptionable. It is this : as Mofes retained in his mind 

 the perfect and entire idea of the pattern (hewn him in the 

 •mount, according to wliich model he was to make aU 

 things ; fo the apoftles, and they alone, had in their minds 

 the full and complete fcheme of whatever they were to preach 

 or write concerning the Chrillian doctrine. And according 

 to that modil they were to found and erecl the Chrillian 

 church. Not that they had the whole fcheme of the Chrif- 

 tian revelation in its utmoft extent fuUy communicated to 

 them at once, tlie contrary of this is evident ; for on the day 

 oi pcntecoft, the twelve apollles of the circumcilion do not 

 appear to liave received any more than the revelation of that 

 gofpel, which they were to preach to Jews only. It was 

 tome years after that they had the particular revela- 

 tion concerning their going to the devout Gentiles, and 

 concerning the gofpel which they were to preach to them : 

 and it was a long time before the particular revelation was 

 commnnicated to the apoftles of the uncircumcifion, con- 

 cerning their going among the idolatrous Gentiles, or 

 what gofpel they were to preach to them. And finally', 

 different apoftles of buth clafles had, befides the general 

 fcheme, different revelations commiuiicated to them. What 

 is meant is this, that they had by innnediate revelation 

 the whole fcheme of what they were to preach to the 

 Jews, before they addreffed themfelves to tlie Jews ; and the 

 whole Icheme of what they were to preach to the devout or 

 idolatrous Gentiles, before they addrcifed themfelves to de- 

 vout or idolatrous Gentiles ; and that they retained in their 

 minds conftantly the complete idea of the whole fcheme, 

 after it was communicated to them. From this conftant 

 fund of knowledge, they were enabled clearly to determine 

 (as far as any cafe required) what was, or was not, the 

 Chriftian doctrine. This revelation of the whole fcheme 

 of the religion of Jefus is, as Dr. Benfon apprehends, what 

 St. Paul underftood by the word of wifdom, which ftands 

 f.rft in the order of fpiritu:d gifts ; I Cor. xii. 18. Though 

 tlie evangelills and prophets iiad fame of the inferior gifts 

 of the fpirit, yet it was what they had received from the 

 apoftles, that they were to teach and to commit to faithful 

 men, who were to teach others. The Old Teftament pro- 

 phets were not under a conftant divine infpiration, unlefs we 

 except Mofes during the time in which he was erecting all 

 things, according to the pattern ftiewn him in the mount : 

 but the apoftles had this fund of illumination conftantly 

 redding within them, from the time of its being communi- 

 cated to the end of tlieir lives. Chriftian propliets, being 

 of an order inferior to the apoftles, were neither under con- 

 ftant infpiration, nor had they at any time any more than 

 particular revelations, rehiting to particular cafes. Dr. 

 Benfon fuppofes, that the books of the New Teftament 

 derive their infanibility from their being written, taught, 

 reviewed, or approved of by fome of the apoftles, who alone 

 had this fund of knowledge conftantly refiding in them. 

 Whenever, therefore, they fpoke or wrote concerning Chrif- 

 tianity, this fund of revelation kept them right. &ut they were 



reafonable creatures as well as infpired apoftles, and th're- 

 fore could fpeak or write about common affairs, as men 

 that have the ufe of their reafon, without any infpiration, 

 can ealily do ; inftanccs of which frequently occur. Upon 

 this fyftem, fueh things only are afcribed to infpiration, a« 

 (all circumftances conlidered) required infpiration ; and 

 fuch things to human reafon, as human reafon alone was 

 capable of. 



It appears by. citations from the writings of the primitive 

 fathers, Clemens Romanus, Polycarp, .Fuftin Martyr, Cle- 

 mens Ak-xandrinos, Origen, TertuUian, &c., that moft of 

 them maintained tlie plenary fup-rintendent infpirati .n of 

 the facred writers, and particularly of the apoftle.^. Tliis 

 kind of infpiration fome have conceived neceflar)' to vin- 

 dicate the credibility of the dodtrincs and the authority of 

 the precepts which they dchvered ujider a divine commillion. 

 Others, however, have objeiited to this plenary infpiration ; 

 and allege miitakes and contradictions which occur in the 

 hiftory of their conduct and in tlieir wriiings, ft-e .Matt. x. 

 19, 20 ; Mark, xiii. 11 ; compared with Ac"ls, xxiii. 1 — 6. 

 It has been faid that the apoflles did not feem to apprehend 

 each other to be infpired, as appears by their debating with 

 each other in tlie council at Jcrufaleni (Acts, xv.), and 

 by Pairl's blaming Peter (Gal. ii. 24.); and it is farther urged, 

 that the Chriftians in thofe early days did not apprehend them 

 to be infallible, fince their conduit was in fome inilances 

 queftioned and arraigned. (Acls, xi. 2, 3. xxi. 20 — 24) 

 It has been alfo faid, that Paul, who afterts himfelf to have 

 been inferior to none of the reft of the apoftles (2 Cur. 

 xi. 5. xii. II.) fpeaks of himielf in fuch a manner, as plainly 

 to {hew that he did not apprehend himfelf under fuch a ph-nary 

 infpiration (1 Cor. vii. 10. I2. 2^. 40 2 Cor. xi. 17.); nor do 

 we find that any of the .-ipoftles introduce their difcourfes with 

 fuch claufes as the prophets ufed, to declare that they fpoke 

 as the oracles of God. To this objection, however, it 

 has been replied, that their diitinguiftiing in the cafes here 

 referred to feems ftrongly to imply, that their decili«ns in 

 ot/.vr points of doctrine and duty were by " immediate reve- 

 lation from Chrift." It has been alfo pleaded, againft the 

 plenary infpiration above ftated, that it is inconliftent with 

 that divcrftty of diction or ftyle which occurs among the 

 facred penmen. Is not the ftyle, it is faid, of all infpired 

 writers the fame, as being the ftyle of the fam€ fpirit by 

 which they were alike directed ? It is argued on the other 

 hand, that in fome fenfe the ftyle of all thofe writers is the 

 ftyle of the holy fpirit, who fpoke by theni, and was the 

 fame in them all ; but that the holy fpirit fliould always cm- 

 ploy the fame ftyle in conveying celeftial truths to men, is nn 

 more neceffary than that he fliould always ufe the fame 

 language. We have no reafon to doubt that the facred 

 writers were permitted to employ the ftyle and idiom moil 

 famihar to them, in delivering the truths with which they 

 were infpired. So far only were they over-ruled in point ut' 

 expreftlon, by the divine fpirit, that nothing could be intio- 

 duced tending in any way to obftruct the intention of the 

 whole. And fometimes, efpccially in the prediction of 

 future events, fuch terms would be fnggefted as would, even 

 beyond the prophet's apprehenfion, conduce to further that 

 end. But this dodtrine, it may be faid, is liable to an objedioii 

 from the gift of tongues conferred on the apoftles and others 

 for the promulgation of the gofpel. In the languages with 

 which thofe primitive minifters were miraculoufty furniftied, 

 it may be objected they could have no ftyle of their own, as 3 

 ftyle is purely the effect of habit, and of infenfibb imitation. 

 This objection, however, is eafily obviated; i ft, as they re-, 

 ceived by infpiration thofe tongues only of which they had 

 previoufty no knowledge, it is not probable, at leatl it is not 

 certain, that this gift had any place in the writings of the New- 

 B b z Teftament j 



