Chapter 4. — The Character of Evidence Proper on the Subject of Revelation — Connection Between the Christian Religion And the B

CHAPTER 4. — THE CHARACTER OF EVIDENCE

PROPER ON THE SUBJECT OF REVELATION —

CONNECTION BETWEEN THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION

AND THE BIBLE.

IT may be proper, before we proceed farther in this investigation, to call attention to the degree of evidence which we have a right to expect, and with which we should be satisfied on the great question before us. And first, we remark that the evidence should be in accordance with the nature of the subject. In reference to physical subjects coming under cognizance of the exact sciences, mathematical demonstration is not only attainable, but requisite, and nothing less should satisfy the inquiring mind. But in reference to moral subjects, to which the admeasurements of the exact sciences are inapplicable, mathematical demonstration is impossible, and a reasonable mind would not demand it. For illustration, let any sane person trace the various steps in the solution of a problem in Euclid, seeing clearly the necessary links in the chain of the demonstration, and it is impossible for him to doubt the truth of the conclusion. He sees that it must be so, and cannot be otherwise. But let him turn his attention to some moral subject — let him inquire, for instance, on what day of the week and of the month, and in what month and year, Columbus first set foot on American soil. And here, although by an accumulation of testimony the mind may be conducted to a satisfactory conclusion, yet the evidence is very different in its nature from a mathematical demonstration; nor can the mind grasp the conclusion with that positive conviction that it is obliged to be so, and cannot be otherwise, which pertains to mathematical demonstration. On the subject of the evidences of Christianity, it is unphilosophical and absurd to demand mathematical demonstration. All that a rational mind can ask is, that the moral evidence be so clear and abundant as to conduct to the firm conviction that revelation is true beyond the possibility of a reasonable doubt. With this kind of evidence we have to deal on all moral subjects. By it we settle all contested points in history, and determine the sense of all statutes and laws; by it we are controlled in the daily transactions of business, and our whole course of life is guided and shaped. Discard this class of testimony as unworthy to be heeded by rational minds, and you make a fearful blank upon the pages of literature, and of all science but what is mathematical, and extinguish at a blow nine-tenths of the sum of human knowledge. Let it be admitted, as the decree of sound reason and philosophy, that we are never to go forward to action upon our convictions till we can clearly see that those convictions are founded upon mathematical demonstration, and the wheels of commerce will at once be chained, the general progress of society paralyzed, and the rippling stream of every-day life become a stagnant pool.

It is upon moral evidence, and not mathematical demonstration, that Christianity founds her claims. But this evidence is not only clear and satisfactory, but is almost infinitely cumulative and abundant. It is such that, when carefully examined, the candid, sincere and docile mind, seeing no room for a reasonable doubt, may rest upon it as satisfactory; yet it is not so overwhelming but that the captious, querulous, and malicious spirit, may demur, and doubt, and reject, and spurn it all.

Were these evidences greatly diminished, either in number or force, they might not be sufficient to produce satisfactory conviction in the mind of the sincere and humble inquirer; but were they greatly augmented, so as to amount to mathematical demonstration, then it might be absolutely impossible for even the most captious and malicious to find room for cavil or doubt. In either case the basis of man’s moral agency would be sapped; for it is essential to moral agency that man may do either right or wrong, and consequently, according to the decision of his own mind, voluntarily receive or reject Christianity. Deny him this power, and you destroy his accountability; but admit it, and he may believe to the saving of his soul, or he may reject revelation, but it will be at his own fearful peril. The Old and New Testaments contain what is understood by the Christian world to be the revelation of God. Upon these writings the Christian religion is founded. Hence it is necessary, before we enter directly upon the discussion of the more formal evidences of Christianity, that we examine the claims of these writings, and be well satisfied as to the degree of credit and authority to which they are entitled. From the connection between these Scriptures and Christianity, it is clear that if the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments be a forgery, or a mere fictitious or fabulous production, then both Moses and Christ (if such persons ever lived) were impostors, and the Jewish and Christian religions are both a manifest cheat and imposition upon the world. But on the other hand, if the genuineness, authenticity, authority, and inspiration of these Scriptures, as claimed by Christians, can be established, then it will follow that Christianity is true. If the Bible is the inspired word of God, then Christianity is a glorious and