INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE CRITICISM. GOD's instructions to man through Nature, in relation to his duties here, are so plain and unmistakable that they cannot but be understood alike by all men, in all ages of the world. Hence the inference is irresistible that whatever is claimed to be a revelation from God in relation to man's duty, whether in and through the Bible, by miracles, or through any other means whatsover, if it be not so plain and devoid of obscurity as to be understood, in this way, by all men, cannot have emanated from God. No man is bound to accept, as true, any averment in the name of religion, which is repugnant to the dictates of his own conscience, or inconsistent with the justice and goodness of God. It was never intended that anything should be received as infallibly true, except that which we perceive intuitively, or which is palpable from observation, or subject to unmistakable demonstration. The character of the proof of the three following assumptions is such that universal assent is given to them; first, the truth of the existence of the One God, Jehovah; second, the immortality of the soul; third, that it is man's duty and interest to conform to the moral, and other laws pertaining to his being. Strong conclusions ought not to be drawn from improbable statements or imperfect premises. God requires that we should believe only so much as can be fairly deduced from the premises, or only so much as the credibility of the statement warrants. God has given us our mental faculties to enable us to discriminate between truth and error, and he who makes not this use of them arrives at truth, if at all, by mere chance. We cannot come to a full conviction of the truth of a proposition, except on evidence which we deem full and infallible. Every substantial structure must have a foundation proportionally substantial. Maintaining these axioms, we now proceed to remark upon the Bible, assuming that if in its entire scope, it be a true revelation from God, as Christian theology claims it to be-whether its contents be derived from natural or supernatural sources, or in part from each-there should be perfect harmony throughout. No one can, consistently, object to subjecting the claimed truth of the Bible to the most rigid test, either by comparing its various parts, one with the other, or with the established facts of Nature, or with the moral consciousness of man; or by any other available mode of investigation. The Bible should be able to withstand the most rigid scrutiny, when viewed in connection with whatever truths may serve to throw light upon it; and it should be proof against such logical deductions as may be brought to bear against it. We believe the Bible to be true, only so far as its teachings are in accordance with the teachings of God to all mankind, through their natural faculties, holding that there is no such thing as supernatural revelation. We believe also that all pretended deviations from the order which God established at the beginning are unproved, and have their origin and advocacy, in human ignorance VAGUENESS OF PROPHECIES. 159 or fraud. Evidence of this is furnished most abundantly in Bible record, as we shall attempt to show. Bible authority will also be claimed as legitimate, for the purpose of controverting dogmas and doctrines that are professedly founded on its contents. VAGUENESS OF PROPHECIES. All the prophecies, and most of the parables of Jesus, are so extremely vague and uncertain in their meaning (if any meaning they have) as to be susceptible of innumerable interpretations, all equally plausible, if compared one with another; and yet not one of the constructions put upon the Bible text, is sufficiently plain to be for a moment relied on as a guide to that duty, and faith upon which, the churches aver, hangs man's eternal welfare. And even those portions of the Bible, which are less obscure than some to which we have alluded, are made to have a far-fetched spiritual significance, totally at variance with the wording. This answers a double purpose. First, it rescues the dogmas, creeds, and theologies of the churches and clergy, partially from discredit and overthrow; and secondly, whenever a figurative mode of expression is substituted for the plain meaning of words, it operates so that there can be no end to equivocation and misrepresentation. Hence, each of the many sects finds material for a specious building up its respective tenets, and each can make it appear that its church is the only gate through which to pass on to eternal bliss. None are wanting in zeal in pushing their peculiar views, (all of which depart more or less from the early teachings of Jesus,) solely for the love of the dear people; and yet they are ever mindful of the toll which the wayfarer must pay at their gate. Let us look at a few examples of this mode of interpretation. The plan of salvation taught by the Churches, is through faith in the divinity of Jesus. This involves the question whether the Prophets were or were not supernaturally endowed, and enabled to designate, centuries beforehand, the identical person who afterwards was claimed to be both God and man, co-equal with Jehovah; and whether Jesus was he whom they designated as that person. In order to prove that he was, resort is had to complicated prophecies, visions, dark sayings, and dreams, all of them most vague and uncertain in their interpretation— if indeed they have any definite meaning. This very much confuses church teaching; but it holds church-goers in wonderment and awe, at the profundity of the Teacher who claims to penetrate and expound this deep, and to them unfathomable, system-a system from which it is/ claimed that most vital truths are extracted, and without a knowledge of which truths, and the aid of their Teachers, they the less knowing-are led to believe that they would be irrevocably lost. As to the visions, dreams, and prophetic utterances of mere men, as mediums for promulgating laws that are to be accepted and binding on other men, some few remarks. may be pertinent. A man declares that God has supernaturally revealed to him a new law, to be obeyed by all other men; and that God has attached to the neglect of said law the penalty of everlasting torment. Now how can we know this to be true, without supernatural revelation, to assure us that the prophet himself bears a true SUPERNATURAL INSPIRATION INCREDIBLE. 161 message from God? It is the essence of a law, that he who is commanded to obey, should have a knowledge of the authority of him who promulgates that law. But there is no intuition or natural sense within us tending to the recognition of these prophecies, utterances, dreams, and visions, as being from God. Hence we are not bound to obey what is called supernatural revelations, having no reliable evidence of their truth, further than the mere assertion of him who claims to have a message from God. Now, if God ever speaks to man supernaturally, (which we feel assured he never does,) the fact can only be known by those to whom God has so spoken. No man can possibly bring home to another's understanding, how he can have been spoken to directly and supernaturally, unless the one to whom he addresses himself has also been spoken to supernaturally. If a man perceive the course which he supposes to be proper for himself and others to pursue, through his intuition, conscience or natural sense, it is easy to explain to another how God communicated this, His will, because God has in like manner so communicated with all men. In this way we can give more or less credit to communications, coming through others, when they say that those communications were received in a natural way: yet only when they bear evidence of having been so received, and in proportion to the credibility of the person; and so far as the character of what is communicated may be consistent with reason. But if a man says he has been supernaturally inspired to communicate God's will to men, and he communicates that which is a new thing, unheard of before by any one, strange, and not in itself in conformity with man's natural reason, intuitions, instincts, and conscience—is it obli |