It cannot be doubted, I apprehend, that Dr. Arnold's remark is, to a certain extent, well founded; and that this treatise of Mr. Coleridge has done more than any modern. work to unsettle the public mind, in these countries, with respect to the authority due to the Bible considered as a whole. Independently of the high reputation and welldeserved influence of its author,-the peculiar charm of Mr. Coleridge's style and diction and the atmosphere of poetry with which his pen invests every subject on which it touches have gained for this posthumous work a celebrity which, I venture to think, is altogether disproportionate to its merits. Its leading features will be considered in the course of the following pages for the present, therefore, I content myself with referring to Mr. Coleridge's statement of what he considered to be the strength of the argument with which he had to contend:" It will, perhaps, appear a paradox," he observes, while repeating some of the popular objections to the infallibility of Scripture, "if, after all these reasons, I should avow that they weigh less in my mind against the Doctrine, than the motives usually assigned for maintaining and enjoining it. Such, for instance, are the arguments drawn from the anticipated loss and damage that would result from its abandonment; as that it would deprive the Christian world of its only infallible arbiter in questions of Faith and Duty; suppress the only common and inappellable tribunal; that the Bible is the only religious bond of union and ground of unity among Protestants, and the like."-Letter iv. Such having been his notion of the proofs which an upholder of the strict idea of Inspiration could allege in its behalf, it is not going too far to say that, of the many brilliant compositions with which he has enriched our literature, these "Letters" are the least worthy of Mr. Coleridge's genius; and that their subject was one upon which the extent of his information did not entitle him to pronounce an opinion. The other treatise to which I have, in like manner, devoted considerable attention, is that of Mr. Morell; in which he professedly undertakes to recommend to English readers the theology of Schleiermacher (see infra, p. 11, note3). No stronger proof can be given of the unsettled state of opinion respecting Inspiration prevalent even with well-informed persons, than the manner in which the observations of Mr. Morell have been accepted by Dr. Peile. Dr. Peile, in his "Annotations on the Apostolical Epistles,' when giving at length the passage of which I have cited a portion in Lecture i., page 21, introduces the quotation with the remark:-"To borrow the words of Mr. Morell, who, in his 'Philosophy of Religion,' has devoted two invaluable chapters to the elucidation of this deeply interesting subject."1 The extent to which the system of Schleiermacher strikes at the root of all objective Christianity, I have endeavored to exhibit in the following pages. I trust, however, that, while noticing Mr. Morell's adoption of Schleiermacher's views respecting Scripture, I have not expressed myself so as to appear insensible to the merits possessed by other portions of his remarks on the "Philosophy of Religion." The form which the present work has, owing to special "Annotations on the Apostolical Epistles," vol. iii. p. 178. circumstances,1 assumed, is, perhaps, attended with some inconvenience; inasmuch as certain portions of the subject which might have been more fitly conjoined have been, of necessity, considered separately. I have endeavored, however, to remedy this inconvenience, such as it is, by the adoption of a system of cross references, whereby all that is said on any particular branch of the inquiry can be taken in at a single view. I may be permitted also to observe, that a reader who does not desire to enter minutely into the different questions discussed in the following pages, can obtain a full idea of the theory of Inspiration which I have proposed from Lectures i., iv., vi., and viii. I cannot conclude without taking the opportunity of returning my warm thanks to the friends whose kindness and valuable assistance I have so repeatedly tasked during the progress of this volume through the press. W. L. DUBLIN, TRINITY COLLEGE, June, 1854. 1 This form has been imposed by the fact that the first six of the following Discourses were preached in the course of my duty as Donnellan Lecturer in this University for the year 1852. CONTENTS. REVELATION.-The LOGOS reveals. The Holy Spirit inspires. Each Book of the The Bible contains a Human as well as a Divine Element. Hence, from the un- The problem to be solved supplies two Conditions. (1.) The co-existence, in the Bible, of its Human and Divine Elements. (2.) The fact that certain portions of the Bible are not Revelations. The first Condition is satisfied by the ‘dynamical' theory of Inspiration. The second Condition is satisfied by the distinction between Revelation and Inspiration. The character and value of the proof of Inspiration founded upon "The witness THE IMMEMORIAL DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. The Canon of Scripture. Why did not the Jewish Church accept as inspired the Book of Ecclesiasticus; or the Christian Church the Epistle of S. Clement of The proofs of Inspiration supplied by the Jewish Church. The Apocrypha. The proofs of Inspiration supplied by the Christian Church. The judgment of To adduce proofs of Inspiration from Scripture itself is not a petitio principii. 91 The 'dynamical' theory of Inspiration. Not of itself sufficient to account for all the phenomena. Inspiration essential to the record of Revelation. Proofs of the 'dynamical' theory. The 'Law' generally observed in the development The Theocracy. The Prophetic Office. The "Schools of the Prophets." Pro- phetic intuition. The personal condition in which Revelations were received. The state of Ecstasy. Visions the result of Ecstasy. The function of the Imagination. Symbolic actions. Symbolic visions. The poetry and the symbolism of the Prophets. The 'perspective' character of Prophecy. How The full bearing of their predictions was not disclosed to the Prophets. The ex- neous. How was the Divine character of Revelation attested? Miracles. Prophecy. The Inspiration of Scripture specifically distinct from the ordinary influence of the Holy Spirit in the Church. Errors resulting from confounding these two senses of the term. This distinction illustrated by S. Peter's 'dissimulation' |