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cy and love prevent its ever being employed again! See Baker's History of the Inquisition; and Limborch's History of the Inquisition, translated by Chandler; a View of the Inquisition in Portugal in Geddes's Tracts; Lavalle's History of the Inquisition.

though he may differ from some others as to the terms made use of above, yet I am persuaded his arguments will be found weighty and powerful. "There are many things in the Scriptures," says Mr. Dick, "which the writers might have known, and probably did know, by ordinary means. As persons possessed of memory, judgment, and other intellectual faculties, which are common to men, they were able to relate certain events in which they had

such occasional reflections as were suggested by particular subjects and occurrences. In these cases no supernatural influence was necessary to invigorate their minds; it was only necessary that they should be infallibly preserved from error. It is with respect to such passages of Scripture alone, as did not exceed the natural ability of the writers to compose, that I would admit the notion of superintendence, if it should be admitted at all. Perhaps this word, though of established use and almost undisputed authority, should be entirely laid aside, as insufficient to express even the lowest degree of inspiration. In the passages of Scripture which we are now considering, I conceive the writers to have been not merely superintended, that they might commit no error, but likewise to have been moved or excited by the Holy Ghost to record particular events, and set down particular observations. The passages written in consequence of the direction and under the care of the Divine Spirit, may be said, in an inferior sense, to be inspired; whereas if the men had written them at the suggestion of their own spirit, they would not have possessed any more authority though they had been free from error, than those parts of profane writings which are agreeable to truth.

INSPIRATION, the conveying of certain extraordinary and supernatural notions or motions into the soul; or it denotes any supernatural influence of God upon the mind of a rational creature, whereby he is formed to any de-been personally concerned, and to make gree of intellectual improvement, to which he could not, or would not, in fact, have attained in his present circumstances in a natural way. Thus the prophets are said to have spoken by divine inspiration. 1. An inspiration of superintendency, in which God does so influence and direct the mind of any person as to keep him more secure from error in some various and complex discourse, than he would have been merely by the use of his natural faculties.-2. Plenary superintendent inspiration, which excludes any mixture of error at all from the peformance so superintended.-3. Inspiration of elevation, where the faculties act in a regu- | lar, and, as it seems, in a common manner, yet are raised to an extraordinary degree, so that the composure shall, upon the whole, have more of the true sublime or pathetic than natural genius could have given-4. Inspiration of suggestion, where the use of the faculties is superseded, and God does, as it were, speak directly to the mind, making such discoveries to it as it could not otherwise have obtained, and dicta- | ting the very words in which such discoveries are to be communicated, if they are designed as a message to others. It is generally allowed that the Scriptures were written by divine inspiration. The matter of them, the spirituality and elevation of their design, the majesty and simplicity of their style, the agreement of their various parts; their wonderful efficacy on mankind; the candour, disinterestedness, and uprightness of the penmen; their astonishing preservation; the multitude of miracles wrought in confirmation of the doctrines they contain, and the exact fulfilment of their predictions, prove this. It has been disputed, however, whether this inspiration is in the most absolute sense, plenary. As this is a subject of importance, and ought to be carefully studied by every Christian, in order that he may render a reason of the hope that is in him, I shall here subjoin the remarks of an able writer, who,

2. "There are other parts of the Scriptures in which the faculties of the writers were supernaturally invigorated and elevated. It is impossible for us, and perhaps it was not possible for the inspired person himself, to determine where nature ended and inspiration began. It is enough to know, that there are many parts of Scripture in which, though the unassisted mind might have proceeded some steps, a divine impulse was necessary to enable it to advance. I think, for example, that the evangelists could not have written the history of Christ if they had not enjoyed miraculous aid. Two of them, Matthew and John, accompanied our Saviour during the space of three

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years and a half. At the close of this faculties of an angel we could not disperiod, or rather several years after it, cover the purposes of the divine mind. when they wrote their Gospels, we may This degree of inspiration we attribute be certain that they had forgotten many to those who were empowered to reveal of his discourses and miracles; that they heavenly mysteries, which eye had not recollected others indistinctly; and that seen, and ear had not heard,' to those they would have been in danger of pro- who were sent with particular messages ducing an inaccurate and unfair account, from God to his people, and to those by confounding one thing with another. who were employed to predict future Besides, from so large a mass of par- events. The plan of redemption being ticulars, men of uncultivated minds, an effect of the sovereign councils of who were not in the habit of distin-heaven, it could not have been known guishing and classifying, could not have but by a communication from the Famade a proper selection; nor would ther of Lights. persons unskilled in the art of composition have been able to express themselves in such terms as should insure a faithful representation of doctrines and facts, and with such dignity as the nature of the subject required. A divine influence, therefore, must have been exerted on their minds, by which their memories and judgments were strengthened, and they were enabled to relate the doctrines and miracles of their Master in a manner the best fitted to impress the readers of their histories. The promise of the Holy Ghost to bring to their remembrance all things whatsoever Christ had said to them, proves, that, in writing their histories, their mental powers were endowed, by his agency, with more than usual vigour.

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Farther; it must be allowed that in several passages of Scripture there is found such elevation of thought and of style, as clearly shows that the powers of the writers were raised above their ordinary pitch. If a person of moderate talents should give as elevated a descrip. tion of the majesty and attributes of God, or reason as profoundly on the mysterious doctrines of religion, as a man of the most exalted genius and extensive learning, we could not fail to be convinced that he was supernaturally assisted; and the conviction would be still stronger, if his composition should far transcend the highest efforts of the human mind. Some of the sacred writers were taken from the lowest ranks of life; and yet sentiments so dignified, and representations of divine things so grand and majestic, occur in their writings, that the noblest flights of human genius, when compared with them, appear cold and insipid.

3. "It is manifest, with respect to many passages of Scripture, that the subjects of which they treat must have been directly revealed to the writers. They could not have been known by any natural means, nor was the knowledge of them attainable by a simple elevation of the faculties. With the

called the inspiration of suggestion. It "This kind of inspiration has been is needless to dispute about a word; but suggestion seeming to express an operation on the mind, by which ideas are excited in it, is of too limited signification to denote the various modes in which the prophets and apostles were made acquainted with supernatural truths. God revealed himself to them not only by suggestion, but by dreams, visions, voices, and the ministry of angels. This degree of inspiration, in strict propriety of speech should be called revelation; a word preferable to suggestion, because it is expressive of all the ways in which God communicated new ideas to the minds of his servants. Ghost himself, to signify the discovery It is a word, too, chosen by the Holy of truths formerly unknown to the apostles. The last book of the New Testament, which is a collection of prophecies, is called the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Paul says, that he received the Gospel by revelation; that by revelation the mystery was made known to him, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it was then revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:' and in another place, having observed that 'eye had not seen, nor ear heard, neither had entered into the heart of man the things which God had prepared for them that love him,' he adds," But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit," Rev. i. 1. Gal. i. 12. Eph. ii. 5. 1 Cor. ii. 9, 10.

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other two kinds of inspiration. The I have not names to designate the names used by Doddridge, and others, gestion, do not convey the ideas stated Superintendence, Elevation, and Sugin the three preceding particulars, and are liable to other objections, besides those which have been mentioned. This account of the inspiration of the Scriptures has, I think, these two recommendations: that there is no part of Scripture which does not fall under one

or other of the foregoing heads; and that the different degrees of the agency of the Divine Spirit on the minds of the different writers are carefully discriminated.

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velation dishonoured and its author insulted, but the end for which it was given is completely defeated.

"A question of very great importance demands our attention, while we are en"Some men have adopted very deavouring to settle, with precision, the strange and dangerous notions respect- notion of the inspiration of the Scriping the inspiration of the Scriptures. tures: it relates to the words in which Dr. Priestley denies that they were the sacred writers have expressed their written by a particular divine inspira-ideas. Some think, that in the choice of tion; and asserts that the writers, though words they were left to their own dismen of the greatest probity, were falli- cretion, and that the language is human, ble, and have actually committed mis- though the matter be divine; while takes in their narrations and their rea- others believe, that in their expressions, sonings. But this man and his follow- || as well as in their sentiments, they were ers find it their interest to weaken and under the infallible direction of the set aside the authority of the Scriptures, Spirit. It is the last opinion, which apas they have adopted a system of reli- pears to be inost conformable to truth, gion from which all the distinguishing and it may be supported by the followdoctrines of revelation are excluded. ing reasoning. Others consider the Scriptures as inspired in those places where they profess to deliver the word of God; but in other places, especially in the historical parts, they ascribe to them only the same authority which is due to the writings of well informed and upright men. But as this distinction is perfectly arbitrary, having no foundation in any thing said by the sacred writers themselves, so it is liable to very material objections. It represents our Lord and his apostles, when they speak of the Old Testament, as having attested, without any exception or limitation, a number of books as divinely inspired, while some of them were partly, and some were almost entirely, human compositions: it supposes the writers of both Testaments to have profanely mixed their own productions with the dictates of the Spirit, and to have passed the unhallowed compound on the world as genuine. In fact, by denying that they were constantly under infallible guidance, it leaves us utterly at a loss to know when we should or should not believe them. If they could blend their own stories with the revelations made to them, how can I be certain that they have not, on some occasions, published, in the name of God, sentiments of their own, to which they were desirous to gain credit and authority? Who will assure me of their perfect fidelity in drawing a line of distinction between the divine and the human parts of their writings? The denial of the plenary inspiration of the Scripture tends to unsettle the foundations of our faith, involves us in doubt and perplexity, and leaves us no other method of ascertaining how much we should believe, but by an appeal to reason. But when reason is invested with the authority of a judge, not only is re

"Every man who hath attended to the operations of his own mind, knows that we think in weis, or that, when we form a train or combination of ideas, we clothe them with words; and that the ideas which are not thus clothed, are indistinct and confused. Let a man try to think upon any subject, moral or religious, without the aid of language, and he will either experience a total cessation of thought, or, as this seems impossible, at least while we are awake, he will feel himself constrained, notwithstanding his utmost endeavours, to have recourse to words as the instrument of his mental operations. As a great part of the Scripture was suggested or revealed to the writers; as the thoughts or sentiments, which were perfectly new to them, were conveyed into their minds by the Spirit, it is plain that they must have been accompanied with words proper to express them; and, consequently, that the words were dictated by the same influences on the mind which communicated the ideas. The ideas could not have come without the words, because without them they could not have been conceived. A notion of the form and qualities of a material object may be produced by subjecting it to our senses; but there is no conceivable method of making us acquainted with new abstract truths, or with things which do not lie within the sphere of sensation, but by conveying to the mind, in some way or other, the words significant of them.-In all those passages of Scripture, therefore, which were written by revelation, it is manifest that the words were inspired; and this is still more evident with respect to those passages which the writers themselves did not understand. No man could write an intelligible discourse on

a subject which he does not understand, || unless he were furnished with the words as well as the sentiments; and that the penmen of the Scriptures did not always understand what they wrote, might be safely inferred from the comparative darkness of the dispensation under which some of them lived; and is intimated by Peter, when he says, that the prophets 'enquired and searched diligently what, and what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.' 1 Pet. i. 10, 11.

and misrepresented the truth? In this case, how could our faith have securely rested on their testimony? Would not the suspicion of error in their writings have rendered it necessary, before we received them, to try them by the standard of reason? and would not the authority and the design of revelation have thus been overthrown? We must conclude, therefore, that the words of Scripture are from God, as well as the matter; or we shall charge him with a want of wisdom in transmitting his truths through a channel by which they might have been, and most probably have been, polluted.

"In other passages of Scripture, "To the inspiration of the words, the those not excepted in which the writers difference in the style of the sacred relate such things as had fallen within writers seems to be an objection; bethe compass of their own knowledge, cause, if the Holy Ghost were the auwe shall be disposed to believe that thor of the words, the style might be the words are inspired, if we calmly expected to be uniformly the same. and seriously weigh the following con- But in answer to this objection it may be siderations. If Christ promised to his observed, that the Divine Spirit, whose disciples, that, when they were brought operations are various, might act differbefore kings and governors for his sake, ently on different persons, according to it should be given them in that same the natural turn of their minds. He hour what they should speak, and that might enable one man, for instance, to the Spirit of the Father should speak in write more sublimely than another, them. Matt. x. 19, 20. Luke xii. 11, 12. because he was naturally of a more exa promise which cannot be reasonably alted genius than the other, and the understood to signify less than that both subject assigned to him demanded more words and sentiments should be dictated elevated language; or he might proto them, it is fully as credible that they duce a difference in the style of the should be assisted in the same manner same man, by raising, at one time, his when they wrote, especially as the re- faculties above their ordinary state; and cord was to last through all ages, and by leaving them at another, to act acto be a rule of faith to all the nations of cording to their native energy under his the earth. Paul affirms that he and the inspection and controul. We should not other apostles spoke 'not in the words suppose that inspiration, even in its which man's wisdom teacheth, but higher degrees, deprived those who which the Holy Ghost taught,' 1 Cor. were the subjects of it, of the use of ii. 13. and this general assertion may be their faculties. They were, indeed, the applied to their writings as well as to organs of the Spirit; but they were their sermons. Besides, every person conscious, intelligent organs. They who hath reflected upon the subject, is were dependent, but distinct agents; aware of the importance of a proper se- and the operation of their mental lection of words in expressing our senti- powers, though elevated and directed ments; and knows how easy it is for a by superior influence, was analogous to heedless or unskilful person not only to their ordinary mode of procedure. It injure the beauty and weaken the effi- is easy, therefore, to conceive that the cacy of a discourse by the impropriety style of the writers of the Scriptures of his language, but by substituting one should differ, just as it would have difword for another, to which it seems to fered if they had not been inspired. A be equivalent, to alter the meaning, and perfect uniformity of style could not perhaps render it totally different. If, have taken place, unless they had all then, the sacred writers had not been been inspired in the same degree, and directed in the choice of words, how by inspiration their faculties had been could we have been assured that those completely suspended, so that divine which they have chosen were the most truths were conveyed by them in the proper? Is it not possible, nay, is it not same passive manner in which a pipe certain, that they would have some-affords a passage to water, or a trumpet times expressed themselves inaccurate- to the breath." See Dick's Essay on ly, as many of them were illiterate; and the Inspiration of the Scriptures; Hawby consequence would have obscured ker on Plenary Inspiration; Appen

dix to 3d vol. of Doddridge's Expo-ing or drinking. This is the general sitor; Calamy and Bennett on Inspi- idea of it; but we may observe, that ration; Dr. Stennett on the Authority whatever indulgence undermines the and Use of Scripture; Parry's Enquiry health, impairs the senses, inflames the into the Nature and Extent of the In- passions, clouds and sullies the reason, spiration of the Apostles; Brown's perverts the judgment, enslaves the Nat. and Rev. Relig. p. 78; and article will, or in any way disorders or debilitates CHRISTIANITY and SCRIPTURE, in this the faculties, may be ranked under this work. vice. See article TEMPERANCE.

INSTINCT, that power which acts on and impels any creature to any particular manner of conduct, not by a view of the beneficial consequences, but merely from a strong impulse sup posed necessary in its effects, and to be given them to supply the place of rea

son.

INTERCESSION OF CHRIST, his interposing for sinners. by virtue of the satisfaction he made to divine justice. 1. As to the fact itself, it is evident, from many places of Scripture, that Christ pleads with God in favour of his people, Rom. viii. 34. Heb. vii. 25. 1 John ii. 1.-2. As to the manner of it: the INSTITUTE, INSTITUTION; an appearance of the high-priest among the established custom or law; a precept, Jews, in the presence of God, on the day maxim, or principle. Institutions may of atonement, when he offered before be considered as positive, moral, and him the blood of the sin-offering, is at human. 1. Those are called positive in- | large referred to by St. Paul, as illusstitutions or precepts which are not trating the intercession of Christ, Heb. founded upon any reasons known to ix. 11, 14, 22, 26. Heb. x. 19, 21. Christ those to whom they are given, or disco- appears before God with his own body; verable by them, but which are observed but whether he intercedes vocally or not, merely because some superior has com- cannot be known: though it is most promanded them.-2. Moral are those, the bable, I think, that he does not: howreasons of which we see, and the duties ever, it is certain that he does not interof which arise out of the nature of the cede in like manner as when on earth, case itself, prior to external command. with prostration of body, cries and tears, -3. Human, are generally applied to which would be quite inconsistent with those inventions of men, or means of his state of exaltation and glory; nor as honouring God, which are not appointed supplicating an angry judge, for peace by him, and which are numerous in the is made by the blood of the cross; nor church of Rome, and too many of them as litigating a point in a court of judicain Protestant churches.-Butler's Ana- ture; but his intercession is carried on logy, p. 214; Doddridge's Lec. lect. by showing himself as having done, as 158; Robinson's Claude, 217, vol. i. and their surety, all that law and justice 258, vol. ii; Burrough's Two Dis. on could require, by representing his blood Positive Institutions; Bp. Hoadley's || and sacrifice as the ground of his peoPlain Account, p. 3. ple's acceptance with the Father, Rev. INTEGRITY, purity of mind, free v. 6. John xvii. 24.-3. The end of from any undue bias or principle, Prov. Christ's intercession is not to remind xi. 3. Many hold, that a certain artful the Divine Being of any thing which he sagacity, founded upon knowledge of would otherwise forget, nor to persuade the world, is the best conductor of every him to any thing which he is not disone who would be a successful adven- posed to do; but it may serve to illusturer in life, and that a strict attention trate the holiness and majesty of the to integrity would lead them into dan- Father, and the wisdom and grace of ger and distress. But, in answer to this the Son; not to say that it may have it is justly observed, 1. That the guid- other unknown uses with respect to the ance of integrity is the safest under inhabitants of the invisible world. He which we can be placed; that the road is represented, also, as offering up the in which it leads us is, upon the whole, prayers and praises of his people, which the freest from dangers, Prov. iii. 21, become acceptable to God through him, &c.-2. It is unquestionably the most Rev. viii. 3, 4. Heb. xiii. 15. 1 Pet. ii. 5. honourable; for integrity is the founda- He there pleads for the conversion of tion of all that is high in character his unconverted ones; and for the conamong mankind, Prov. iv. 8.-3. It is solation, preservation, and glorification the most conducive to felicity, Phil. iv. of his people, John xvii. 1 John ii. 1, 2. 6, 7. Prov. iii. 17.-4. Such a character-4. Of the properties of Christ's inter can look forward to eternity without cession we may observe, 1. That it is dismay, Rom. ii. 7. authoritative. He intercedes not withINTEMPERANCE, excess in eat-l out right, John xvii. 24. Ps. ii. 8.-2. M m

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