more rational, and which accords better with every principle of our fallen nature. The consequence is, that men's prejudices against the Gospel are confirmed by the authority of those who are considered to be its ablest defenders; and the great foundations of unbelief, so far from being shaken or removed, are strengthened. In a word, their writings contain a defence of Christianity at variance with the nature of Christianity itself; and where they are not positively erroneous, they are, in general, deplorably defective. These are not rash or groundless assertions. It would be easy to verify their truth, by referring to a whole host of writers, of the greatest celebrity, on the evidences of Divine Revelation.

Christianity will appear important just in proportion as its nature is understood. To him who perceives salvation to be only in Jesus Christ, its importance is inestimable. But this importance gradually diminishes with every shade of difference of opinion, through all the systems of self-righteousness, down to that which can perceive in the Lord Jesus Christ nothing but a virtuous man. Many of the writers on the Evidences of Christianity can recognise as legitimate every pretender to the honour of the name of Christian, and bandy compliments even with the infidel, while their books are meant to apply to every thing that men choose to call by that name. They make concessions that raze the very foundation of the Christian's hope.

What remains of Christianity may be useful for this life, but leaves its votaries exposed to the wrath that is to come. What, after all, then, is the aspect of their works as regards the Gospel of salvation? No number of such defences, were they ever so ably written, can be deemed, by the Christian, sufficient to supersede the necessity of defending the truth of religion, as it appears in the Bible, and of endeavouring to impress the importance of that truth, connected with its evidence, on every individual of the lost race of Adam.

In the persuasion that these writers possess a most pernicious influence, the following work, of which a new edition is now presented to the public, was undertaken with a desire of adding something to the scanty stock of books we possess on the evidences of Christianity, written according to the truth of the Gospel. To render this work as extensively useful as possible has been my constant aim. With this view, large additions have now been made. The materials collected by the authors above alluded to have been freely made use of, while at the same time it has been my study to separate the wheat from the chaff, and to avoid the errors with which their writings are so lamentably defaced. Whatever it has been judged might be useful has likewise been borrowed from other books without reserve. The remarkable harmonies of times and coincidence of events that are found in the Bible, which are introduced in this edition, are taken from a work of Jean

Despagne, which contains many others though not arranged by him in any regular order. This is a species of evidence to the authenticity of the Scriptures, and the overruling providence of their Divine Author, which appears to have been almost entirely overlooked, although our attention is called to it in both the Old Testament and the New.

The First Chapter of the book is introduced to show the necessity of a Divine revelation, with a view to make it evident, that without such a revelation nothing can be known by man respecting the way of the removal of guilt, and acceptance with God. In opposition to those who have represented what is called natural religion as a sufficient guide to eternal happiness, and extolled it in such a way as to depreciate the Bible, it is there proposed to demonstrate, by an induction of facts, that natural religion can never conduct man in his fallen condition to God; that neither the revelation which God has given of himself in the works of creation, nor that of the work of the law in the heart, when separated from the knowledge of the Gospel, can produce any other result than to render man inexcusable, and to declare his condemnation to be manifestly just. As the whole book is written mainly for the purpose of confirming the faith of Christians, proofs of the necessity of the revelation of Jesus Christ are adduced from the Scriptures themselves, in connexion with a view of the deplorable circumstances of those boasted

sages and philosophers who lived in the dark ages of Paganism, and did not enjoy the light of Christianity. Much may be said respecting this necessity even by those who are ignorant that the Christian revelation has been vouchsafed, or who are not acquainted with what it contains; but it is only from that revelation itself that the urgency of this necessity can be fully known.

The Second Chapter, on the persecuting spirit of Pagans, is intended to remove a strong objection to the admission of the general depravity of the civilized Heathens, resting on their supposed religious toleration. This is a point on which their superiority to Christians is much vaunted by infidels, and often too readily admitted by some who might be expected to reason better on the subject. Besides obviating this objection, the force of evidence arising from the Pagan persecutions, is there shown to be peculiarly striking, and to have produced a very powerful impression on the minds of the first Christians. The various proofs of the truth of the Scriptures are afterwards introduced in a regular series, in one connected point of view, arranged according to their dependence one on another, which seems the most natural order, but in which, so far as the author is aware, they have not hitherto been exhibited. The evidence arising from the correspondence between the Old Testament and the New, and the fulfilment of the former in the latter, has been particularly attended to; and, for its further eluci

dation, the chapters on the Types and Prophecies that refer to the Messiah have in this edition been greatly enlarged. The subject of the types may be abused, but, on the other hand, it has been too much neglected; and the author can by no means subscribe to the sentiment of those who are of opinion, that nothing should be received as typical in the Old Testament, but what is expressly recognised as such in the New. The types of the Old Testament possess a claim to a much greater degree of attention than they generally obtain. They furnish a proof of the truth of Divine revelation of a most peculiar and interesting description; and the Christian who does not carefully examine them is neglecting one great means of edification which God has provided in his Word.

The view that is given of the Inspiration of the Scriptures contains an irrefragable proof of their authenticity. It is altogether different from that exhibited by those authors who have treated on the question, and have followed each other in the adoption of the error which denies the verbal inspiration of the Bible. Proceeding upon that common, but dangerous and false hypothesis, it was impossible for them to avail themselves, with any adequate effect, of the argument for the truth of the Bible derived from its inspiration. It appears then more necessary to insist on this argument, since it has not hitherto been employed for this purpose by any of the writers on