44 
ON THE TESTIMONY OF PHILOSOPHY TO CHRIS- 
TIANITY AS A MORAL AND SPIRITUAL REVE- 
LATION. By the Be v. C. A.. Bow, M.A., M.V.I. 
1. npHIS paper is intended to be closely related to tne one 
JL which I had the honour of reading to this Society 
during the last session. Until the principles which 1 then 
laid down have been shown to be false, I shall assume taem 
to be true. It will be remembered, that one of these was 
that, to invalidate a revelation on the ground that errors 
can be found in the vehicle containing it, it is necessary that 
those errors should affect the special subject matter ot the 
revelation itself, and not be merely accessaries to its essence, or 
external to its great aim and object, and belonging merely to 
the mode of its communication. Errors, however, which are 
inherent in the special truths which the alleged revelation 
professes to communicate, are destructive of its claims o aye 
come down from Heaven. It is-evident that whatever other sub- 
ject matter may be found in the Christian Scriptures, they make 
a special claim that they were designed to enlighten men on 
points spiritual and moral. If, therefore, philosop y can prove 
their teaching on these subjects to be erroneous, the conclu- 
sion cannot be evaded, either that philosophy is .wrong an 
Christianity right, or that philosophy is true and Christianity 
false. It becomes, therefore, an inquiry, the importance of 
which it is hardly possible to exaggerate, what is the nature ot 
the testimony which philosophy bears to the moral and spiritual 
aspects of Christianity. I mention these two terms m con- 
junction because, although I am well aware that the words 
moral and spiritual are often opposed to one another m common 
religious language, I am unable to see how they ai e o oe 
separated in fact ; and I wish it to be observed, m the course 
of this paper, that if I use one separately I always mean it to 
include the other. ,i 
2. My inquiry is intended not to be theological, but strictly 
