EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. LECTURE I. THE LIMITATIONS OF THE HUMAN MIND ON THE SUB JECT OF RELIGION. " I HAVE been requested to deliver a course of lectures in this seminary on the “Ely Foundation," on the “Evidences of Christianity." By the terms of that "Foundation" the course is to "comprise any topics that serve to establish the proposition that Christianity is a religion from God, or that it is the perfect and final form of religion for man." Among the subjects discussed, , as specified, may be, “The nature and need of a revelation; “The character and influence of Christ and his apostles; “The authenticity and credibility of the Scriptures: miracles and prophecy; “The diffusion and benefits of Christianity; and “The philosophy of religion in its relation to the Christian system.” The course, by the terms of the “Foundation," is to be comprised in Ten Lectures, and the general subject which I shall endeavor to illustrate in this course will be THE EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. I have selected this as being in accordance with the subjects suggested for the general course; as sufficiently comprehensive to embrace the points which can be considered in so limited a course; as suggesting important inquiries in regard to the present relation of Christianity to the world; and as leading to the discussion of topics originated or matured in our own age, and difficulties suggested in this age, which must be met by those who are, by their office and by the purposes of their lives, to be regarded as the public defenders of Christianity. Christianity now exists as among the undisputed great moral powers or forces in the world. It has a place among other powerful systems of religion, and among philosophical systems, deeply affecting the destinies of mankind. It has a history of its own—a history extending now through more than eighteen centuries, and leaving unmistakable evidence of its existence and its power on the general course of events. It is a “power” on the earth undeniably exerting a vast influence on human affairs. It is very closely connected with liberty, with domestic arrangements, with civilization, with literature, with the arts of life, with manners, customs, and laws, with the governments of the nations, with the administration of justice, with the doctrine of human rights, with prevailing views of morals, with the prospects of the world in regard to the future, and with the religious hopes of individual men. It was among the things, even in its feeble beginning, which Tacitus could not pass over wholly in silence; one of the things which demanded all the talent of Mr. Gibbon to explain, and which now, whatever may be men's individual faith in , it, must enter into every philosophical view which is taken of the present condition and prospects of the world. In regard to many or most of those things referred to - civilization, literature, arts, manners, customs, laws, governments, the administration of justice, the doctrine of human rights, the prevailing views of morals, and the hopes of men in regard to the future, it has either originated them, or it has shown a decided affinity for them, combining readily with them when suggested, enlarging their sphere of influence, and seizing upon them for its own promotion and perpetuity in the world. In this respect it is unlike all other forms of religion, and has now become so incorporated with those things, and so identified with them, that it could not be detached from them without disturbing, if not destroying, the whole frame-work of modern society. The Christian religion was fatal to many things that entered into the notions of civilization, the laws, and the governments of the ancient world, as it will be to many of those things as they exist in other lands if it is propagated among them; nor could those ancient things be restored, or those modern things be perpetuated, without an entire destruction of the Christian system. It is a perfectly fair question for any one to ask, What is the origin of this system of religion? and the question is one which the friends of the system may be held to answer. Is it of man? Is it a development or outgrowth of some former system of religion? Is it a necessary result of the progress of the race in civilization-on the same level, in this respect, with the comforts of domestic life, the blessings of liberty, the useful arts, the sciences ? Is it a well-executed imposture? for such it must be if it is an imposture at all. Is it the result of delusion and fanaticism? Is it expressive of the conscious wants of man, founded on a myth, and wrought by human wisdom into a system that commends itself to enlightened understandings, and to hearts troubled by sin and sorrow, as being all that man needs? Or is it of divine origin, as it claims to be -a true revelation from God ? The Westminster Review (January, 1866) therefore is perfectly right in asking the question, “How did Christianity originate? Did it originate as an outcoming of a natural order, or by a supernatural interference ?" The question implies that it had an“ origin,” that is, a beginning at some time since man began to exist on the earth. It is not, as is implied in the question, coeval with man. There was a time when it did not exist; when there was no trace of it on the earth. History, in each and every ancient nation, so far as those nations have a history, goes back to a period when Christianity did not exist. It was not in Egypt, in Assyria, in Babylonia, among the Chaldees, in the Teutonic nations, among the early inhabitants of the British Isles. Have the annals of any nation preserved the record of its origin, so that now, after the lapse of ages, and after it has been matured in its present form, we can understand how it made its beginning in our world ? Did the wants of men suggest it? Did the friend of men devise it? Did the wisdom of God, seeing that it was needful for man, reveal it ? It is with a view to furnishing an answer to these questions that the Course of Lectures on the “Ely Foundation" in this seminary has been established, and that the range of topics which I have indicated has been suggested as limiting the subjects to be discussed in the Lectures, and specifying the field to be occupied. The range is a wide one, and it can not be supposed, as it was not designed, that the subjects should be exhausted in a single course. It is wisely intended that the course shall be continued from year to year, not by the same lecturer, but by new lecturers, with fresh minds and hearts, with new powers, with view's taken from different stand-points, with the results of varied experience and observation, with illustrations drawn fresh from the experience of pastors in the work of the ministry,and especially with a designed reference to the wants of the world, and the state of the public mind outside the Church, as demanded by the progress of science, by new difficulties that spring up, by questions that have not before occurred that may need solution, by new forms of objection that may be made to the Bible, by new aspects of philosophy, presenting to the minds of thinking men new difficulties in regard to the Christian system. I have selected as the main topic on which I propose to address you, leaving ampler fields to those who shall follow me, The Evidences of the Truth of Christianity in the Nineteenth Century :-at a time when eighteen hundred years have passed away since the evidence of its divine origin was first submitted to the world; when it has been tried in its applications to the wants of men during those eighteen hundred eventful years; now, in an age remarkable for its advancement, and when evidence on all subjects is examined by rules unknown to the world at the time when the evidences of the divine origin of the Christian system was first submitted to mankind, and by an acuteness of investigation far in advance of that age. As Christianity convinced the men of that generation of its divine origin, it can not be improper to inquire whether the evidence that was deemed satisfactory then in regard to its origin should be |