trade of his father. At the age of thirty we find him on the banks of the famous Jordon, seeking baptism from the hands of a prophet called John. At his baptism report says that a dove descended from heaven upon him, that then and there was there a voice heard saying; "This is my beloved son, hear ye him.” At another time, when with his disciples, on his suddenly looking up to the skies, and saying: "Father, glorify thy son," a voice is said to have been heard, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again." This Jesus lived about thirty-three years. For two or three years he went about doing good; and, as in the case of the founders of other religions, he is reported to have been a worker of miracles. He is said to have healed the sick, given sight to the blind, caused the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, and the dead to live. He is represented as professing to be the Son of God, and to have been with God from all eternity, and to have the power to forgive the sins of men. For making this profession, the Jews, supposing him guilty of blasphemy, crucified him. They said: "He being man maketh himself equal with God." After his death his body is said to have been laid in a new sepulchre, which according to report was guarded to prevent the stealing of the body away. On the third day report says an angel appeared and rolled away the stone from before the door of the sepulchre; and that thereupon the crucified Christ arose from the dead, according to promise, walked forth and remained with his disciples forty days; and that after the expiration of this period, he ascended bodily and visibly into heaven. Such is a brief and true synopsis, from the accounts given us, of the life of him who is called the

We have seen how various and wonderful are the miracles to which the Christian Church refers in proof of its claim. But can any competent judge affirm that these miracles are any more various and wonderful, or that they are better substantiated than those to which the Mohammedans refer in proof of the divine mission of Mahomet?

Speaking of the miracles in general says a competent judge and able logician :

"There is, therefore, a vast preponderance of probability against a miracle To all these considerations ought to be added the extremely imperfect nature of the testimony itself which we possess for these miracles. Take it at the best, it is the uncross-examined testimony of extremely ignorant people, credulous as such usually are, honourably credulous when the excellence of the doctrine or just reverence for the teacher makes them eager to believe; unaccustomed to draw the line between the perceptions of sense, and what is superinduced upon them by the suggestions of a lively imagination; unversed in the difficult art of deciding between appearances and reality, and between the natural and the supernatural; in times moreover when no one thought it worth while to contradict alleged miracles, because it was the belief of the age that miracles in themselves prove nothing, since they could be worked by a lying spirit as well as by the spirit of God. Such were the witnesses; and even of them we do not possess the direct testimony; the documents, of date long subsequent, even on the orthodox theory, which contain the only history of the events, very often do not even name the supposed eyewitnesses The Catholic Church, indeed, holds

as an article of faith that miracles have never ceased, and new ones continue to be now and then brought forth and believed, even in the present incredulous age yet if in an incredulous generation, certainly not among the incredulous portion of it, but always among people who, in addition to the most childish ignorance, have grown up (as all do who are educated by the Catholic clergy) trained in the persuasion that it is a duty to believe and a sin to doubt; that it is dangerous to be skeptical about anything which is tendered for belief in the name of the true religion; and that nothing is so contrary to piety as incredulity. But these miracles which no one but a Roman Catholic, and by no means every Roman Catholic believes, rest frequently upon an amount of testimony greatly surpassing that which we possess for any of the early miracles; and superior especially in one of the most essential points, that in many cases the alleged eye-witnesses are known, and we have their story at first The conclusion I draw is that miracles have no claim whatever to the character of historical facts and are wholly invalid as evidence of any revelation

hand

All the knowledge we now possess concerning the history of the human mind, tends to the conclusion that (Christianity) arose at the appointed time by natural development.

(J. S. Mill: Essays on Religion, Revelation). "As an ancient book claiming the same origin as other books the Old Testament is without a rival, but its unnatural exaltation provokes recoil and rejection." (Prof. Tyndall).

We have no doubt that the scientific world is in full accord with the opinions thus expressed by these well known and

sive claim to a divine Revelation has been, or can be, substantiated; or that Christianity is essentially different in its origin and development from other religions. But even admitting the truth of their position, it does not follow that the general principles of Christianity are, therefore, not divine.

(B): THE CHRISTIAN REVELATION:

a.

ITS NATURE AND CLAIMS:

Exaggeration is the most common and destructive vice of the age. We meet it everywhere. From the platform it goes up like sky-rockets; in the pulpit it is the terror of the ignorant, and the disgust of the wise. By it the light of the hearthstone is put out, truth obscured, and temperance put to flight. The world is full of difficulties, but no pursuit in life is so crowded with profound mysteries as is the work of the Christian minister. No thought requires such powers of mind; all thought outside of it, is not so full of difficulties. The church is a school of art, because she uses it in all her outward forms; a school of ethics, because she is the teacher of man's duty to man; a school of philosophy, because she must use it as a frame to set her ideas in; a school of science, because it helps her to interpret the finger-work of God; a school of literature, because by this she communicates what she knows and what is revealed to her; a school of theology, because her special work is to know and make known the one God and Father of all. An aptitude for books and a devout soul, forsooth, are not enough here. There is need of a rich, honorable, devout, studious, culti

of varied learning, in order to preach acceptably the Gospel of Christ, and receive the confidence of thinking men. Such men will be found in the pulpit, when mind is once more acknowledged and thought rewarded.

(a): ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES:

The greatest religious book of the world is undoubtedly the New Testament. No book is so highly esteemed; upon no other book do so many interests hang; upon no other book is so much thought expended. By some it is regarded as having a kind of magical power to declare their fortunes; by all it is held in reverence, as having centered in it so much of human faith, so much of human hope.

The reason for this unequaled esteem and reverence given to the New Testament by the most civilized people of the world, has in part at least an easy explanation. It is well known that the great host of mankind are led by the few, and that the influence over this few of the priestly power has in days gone by been dominant; and at all times it may be said to be inversely proportionate to the educational status of the people. As education advances, priestly power certainly decreases. Nothing is more capable of proof than

this:

"The New Zealand priests are regarded as ambassadors of the gods; and the title, 'messenger of the gods,' is borne