23 chapters
46 hour read
Selected Chapters
23 chapters
Dedication.
Dedication.
To The Committee Of The Christian Evidence Society. My Lords and Gentlemen, Having undertaken to compose this work at your request, I beg permission to dedicate it to you. In doing so I feel that it is a duty which I owe both to you and to myself that I should state the position which we respectively occupy with regard to it. Your responsibility is confined to having requested me to compose a work in refutation of certain principles now widely disseminated, which impugn the supernatural elements
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter I. Introduction. The Position of the Controversy Between the Opponents and the Defenders of Christianity.
Chapter I. Introduction. The Position of the Controversy Between the Opponents and the Defenders of Christianity.
It is my purpose, in the course of the present work, to traverse each of these three positions, and to show: 1st. That miracles and supernatural occurrences are not impossible; and that the arguments by which this has been attempted to be established are wholly inconclusive. 2nd. That they are neither incredible, nor contrary to reason; but are entirely consistent with its dictates. 3rd, That the greatest of all the miracles which are recorded in the New Testament, and which, if an actual histor
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter II. Definitions of Terms.
Chapter II. Definitions of Terms.
First: No terms are more frequently used in this controversy than the words “nature” and “natural.” They are constantly used as if their meaning was definite and invariable. Nothing is more common than to use the expression “laws of nature,” and to speak of miracles as involving contradictions, violations, and suspensions of the laws and order of nature, as though there was no danger of our falling into fallacies of reasoning by classing wholly different orders of phenomena under a common name.
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter III. The Supernatural Elements Contained in the New Testament: In What Do They Consist? And What View Do Its Writers Take Respecting Them?
Chapter III. The Supernatural Elements Contained in the New Testament: In What Do They Consist? And What View Do Its Writers Take Respecting Them?
I shall occasionally use the term “superhuman” instead of “divine,” as applied to Jesus Christ, because for the purposes of this argument it will be unnecessary for me to define the precise degree of divine character which the evangelists intended to attribute to him. To ascertain this is the proper function of the theologian, by comparing together the facts and statements of the New Testament. It is sufficient for my present purpose to observe that the perusal of the Gospels leaves the inevitab
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter IV. Miracles, What Do They Prove?
Chapter IV. Miracles, What Do They Prove?
The manner in which Christianity claims to be a divine revelation, as we have seen in the former chapter, in its most proper and distinctive sense is that the person of Jesus Christ constitutes that revelation. It is the manifestation of the divine character and perfections by means of the various acts and deeds of his earthly life and ministry. It is a revelation of the divine shining forth in the human. I have already adduced some of the affirmations of the sacred writers on this subject. It w
3 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter V. The Antecedent Improbability of Miracles.—The Unknown and Unknowable God.
Chapter V. The Antecedent Improbability of Miracles.—The Unknown and Unknowable God.
Nor is the case altogether different with regard to pantheism. According to this system, God is only another name for nature, which works out every form of fleeting existence for itself in an unceasing round of unconscious self-evolution. The essence of its affirmation is, that God has no conscious personal existence, but that He is only another name for the blind unconscious forces of the universe. Such a being (if it is possible to conceive of it as a being at all, or as a unity) is everlastin
3 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter VI. The Objection That Miracles Are Contrary To Reason Considered.
Chapter VI. The Objection That Miracles Are Contrary To Reason Considered.
A miracle therefore may not be the result of the action of any force which falls within the range of our knowledge. It may be necessary for its performance to neutralize the action of all existing forces by the calling into energy of more powerful ones. But their operation need not even be suspended. An adequate force, or power, or cause (it matters not by what name we call it) is present to effectuate the result; viz. the power which rules the universe, i.e. God. As Mr. Mill justly observes, th
3 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter VII. The Allegation That No Testimony Can Prove The Truth Of A Supernatural Event.
Chapter VII. The Allegation That No Testimony Can Prove The Truth Of A Supernatural Event.
First: Experience consists of two kinds; 1st, That which has fallen under our own direct cognizance, which from the nature of the case must have been very limited. 2dly, The general experience of all other men, as far as we have the means of knowing it. This latter experience we become acquainted with exclusively by testimony, and it rests entirely on its validity. The two together constitute what we mean when we say that a thing is, or is not, contrary to experience. Secondly: There is a sense
3 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter VIII. The Objection That The Defenders Of Christianity Assume Certain Facts The Truth Of Which Can Only Be Known By Revelation, And Then Reason From Those Facts To The Truth Of The Bible, Considered.
Chapter VIII. The Objection That The Defenders Of Christianity Assume Certain Facts The Truth Of Which Can Only Be Known By Revelation, And Then Reason From Those Facts To The Truth Of The Bible, Considered.
The general positions laid down in this passage (omitting points of detail) are as follows: Certain incredible occurrences in the past history of man are assumed by divines to be facts on the authority of the Bible. These include the complete breaking down of the divine plan in the creation of man through the agency of a being who has frustrated the purposes of the Almighty. Next it is asserted on the same authority that another series of events has taken place which are in the highest degree co
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter IX. Demoniacal Miracles—General Considerations.
Chapter IX. Demoniacal Miracles—General Considerations.
“Does not the necessity of this theory of false miracles, of the power of God thus placed on a level with the power of Satan, in a matter where the distinct purpose is to authenticate by miraculous testimony a miraculous revelation, rather betray the unreality of miracles altogether, and indicate that the idea of such supernatural intervention originates solely from the superstitious ignorance of men in ages when every phase of nature was attributed to direct supernatural interference, and ascri
3 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter X. The Existence And Miracles Of Satan.
Chapter X. The Existence And Miracles Of Satan.
Many theists, pressed by these difficulties, have attempted to evade them by endeavouring to reduce the amount of moral evil in the universe, the existence of which they cannot deny, to indefinitely small proportions, and then affirming that it will be ultimately swallowed up in the ocean of universal good. But the mere diminishing of its amount by no means solves the difficulty. The real question is, how has it come even into temporary existence? But there is also a still more grave objection t
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XI. Possession: Is The Theory That It Was Madness Subversive Of The Historical Value Of The Gospels Or Inconsistent With The Veracity Of Christ?
Chapter XI. Possession: Is The Theory That It Was Madness Subversive Of The Historical Value Of The Gospels Or Inconsistent With The Veracity Of Christ?
It will be at once seen that the all-important point in this objection is the apparent acceptance by our Lord of demoniacal possession, as being a correct account of an objective fact. I fully agree with this writer, that those who affirm that it was madness and nothing else are bound, when they propose this solution of the difficulty, to point out distinctly how it affects the question of our Lord's veracity, and the historical character of the Gospels. In approaching this question, let me at o
3 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XII. Possession, If An Objective Reality, Neither Incredible Nor Contrary To The Ascertained Truths Of Mental Science.
Chapter XII. Possession, If An Objective Reality, Neither Incredible Nor Contrary To The Ascertained Truths Of Mental Science.
The testimony of history proves that during the century which preceded and that which followed the Advent, the state of moral corruption was extreme. Men were sated with the old, and craving for new and unheard of forms of sensual gratification. The old class of ideas, moral and religious, were gradually dying out, and men were eagerly seeking for something to fill the void. There consequently never was a time when a greater number of abnormal forms of thought burst on the human mind, which was
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XIII. The Alleged Credulity Of The Followers Of Jesus.
Chapter XIII. The Alleged Credulity Of The Followers Of Jesus.
“We have given a most imperfect sketch of some of the opinions and superstitions prevalent at the time of Jesus, and when the books of the New Testament were written. These, as we have seen, are continued with little or no modification throughout the first centuries of our era. It must however be remembered that the few details that we have given, omitting much of the grosser particulars, are the views absolutely expressed by the most educated and intelligent part of the community; and that it w
3 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XIV. The Love Of The Marvellous—Its Bearing On The Value Of Testimony To Miracles.
Chapter XIV. The Love Of The Marvellous—Its Bearing On The Value Of Testimony To Miracles.
There are certain principles deeply-seated within us, which form as definite a portion of ourselves as even our rational faculties, and which directly prompt to the belief in the supernatural, and therefore point to its existence. Among these, the faculties of imagination, wonder, reverence and awe, hold a conspicuous place. It is impossible to deny that they form portions of the actual constitution of our minds, however we may account for their origin. Is it then our duty to eradicate them beca
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XV. Our Summary Rejection Of Current Supernaturalism Considered In Its Bearing On The Evidence For Miracles.
Chapter XV. Our Summary Rejection Of Current Supernaturalism Considered In Its Bearing On The Evidence For Miracles.
But further: these phenomena, if natural, must belong to an order of nature which is not only unlike the visible order, but would throw its action into confusion. I am here reasoning on the supposition that the moral order of the universe is due to the action of nothing but physical forces. If this be so, it must form a portion of the existing order of nature. But the forces which, on the supposition of the truth of spiritualism, must be capable of being brought into activity, would interrupt th
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XVI. General Objections To Miracles As Credentials Of A Revelation.
Chapter XVI. General Objections To Miracles As Credentials Of A Revelation.
1. It is objected that the prevalence of supernatural beliefs renders the existence of miracles “so hackneyed as scarcely to attract the notice of the nation to whom the Christian revelation was in the first instance addressed.” ( Supernatural Religion. ) I reply that this objection contains two inaccuracies. First, it is not true that the miracles of Jesus scarcely attracted the notice of those among whom they were performed. The only authority on this point is the New Testament itself, and thi
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XVII. The Historical Evidence On Which The Great Facts Of Christianity Rest—General Considerations.
Chapter XVII. The Historical Evidence On Which The Great Facts Of Christianity Rest—General Considerations.
Again: If the Resurrection of Christ is a fact, Christianity must be a divine revelation. The perfect historical accuracy of the Gospels in minute details may be still open to question; deep thought and careful investigation may be necessary for ascertaining the precise amount of truth communicated by that revelation; past ages may have erred in its interpretation, or in their deductions from it; many questions as to the relation in which revelation stands to science or history may be open ones—
3 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XVIII. The Testimony Of The Church, And Of St. Paul's Epistles, To The Facts Of Primitive Christianity. Their Historical Value Considered.
Chapter XVIII. The Testimony Of The Church, And Of St. Paul's Epistles, To The Facts Of Primitive Christianity. Their Historical Value Considered.
Jesus did not really die, while his followers supposed that He had, and they mistook some appearance of Him after His crucifixion for a resurrection: Or they imagined that He appeared to some of them after His death, but the appearance was a delusion of their imaginations: Or He rose from the dead as an objective fact. Other alternatives there are none; and with respect to this particular miracle, the whole apparatus of myth, legend, development and compromise, which is so liberally used to acco
3 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XIX. The Evidence Furnished By The Epistles To The Facts Of Our Lord's Life, And To The Truth Of The Resurrection.
Chapter XIX. The Evidence Furnished By The Epistles To The Facts Of Our Lord's Life, And To The Truth Of The Resurrection.
The position of St. Paul, the ardour of his temperament, the fierceness of his opposition, and the intense self-sacrifice with which he afterwards consecrated himself to Jesus Christ, falling into communication as he must with persons who had witnessed His earthly ministry, are sufficient proof that the Apostle had used every available means of becoming acquainted with the facts of His life. But in the Epistles themselves, although owing to the circumstances which called them forth, they contain
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XX. The Resurrection Of Jesus Christ An Historical Fact.
Chapter XX. The Resurrection Of Jesus Christ An Historical Fact.
8. That it is an unquestionable historical fact that the belief in the Resurrection was co-eval with the restored life of the Church which had been extinguished by the crucifixion. 9. That the three pillar Apostles of the Church of Jerusalem believed that they had seen Jesus after His Resurrection, and that the entire body entertained a similar opinion. 10. That as late as a.d. 57 or 58 more than 250 persons were still living who believed that they had seen Jesus after His Resurrection; and that
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXI. The Historical Value Of The Gospels As Deduced From Previous Considerations.
Chapter XXI. The Historical Value Of The Gospels As Deduced From Previous Considerations.
This point is so important, and is so generally overlooked in the arguments both of those who affirm and of those who deny their historical character, that it will be necessary to prove it. It is not only evident from the general nature of their contents, but three of the Evangelists directly affirm it, and two of them, Luke and John, in express terms. The former distinctly asserts that he composed his Gospel in order that a person called “Theophilus” might know the certainty of the things in wh
3 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXII. The Historical Character Of The Gospels As Deduced From Their Internal Structure.
Chapter XXII. The Historical Character Of The Gospels As Deduced From Their Internal Structure.
Such are the chief phenomena. But the full extent and character of these variations, in the closest union as they are with identities of expression, can only be appreciated by a careful comparison of the parallel narrative of the Gospels. Numerous, however, as are the variations, it must be observed that they exert scarcely any appreciable influence on the general sense. They utterly negate the idea that they can have originated in any set or deliberate purpose. Let us take for example the accou
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter