CONTENTS. I-THE PROPHETIC OFFICE OF CHRIST-His execution of it partly by His own immediate acts, and partly through IX-THE RELATIVE AND FINITE ONLY CONCEIVABLE BY THE HUMAN MIND-SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON'S DOCTRINE THE PROPHETIC OFFICE OF CHRIST. I. THE PROPHETIC OFFICE OF CHRIST - HIS EXECUTION OF IT, PARTLY BY HIS OWN IMMEDIATE ACTS, AND PARTLY THROUGH THE INSTRUMENTALITY OF THE SACRED WRITERS, BY THE INSPIRING AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT. IN a former volume I endeavored to state some principles which seemed to me important, both to a right understanding of the nature of Divine Inspiration, and to a defense of the doctrine of plenary verbal inspiration: as, namely, that by a law of our minds we think and are conscious of thought only in wordsthat we conceive thoughts, receive thoughts from others, are conscious of them, remember them, and express them only in words, which, when uttered, represent them to others as perfectly as we are conscious of them. This I suppose to be as true of all other intelligent agents as of man-a universal law of intellectual action. In our own case we infer it from our consciousness of thinking in words, receiving thoughts from the verbal articulations and writings of others, and remembering and expressing them in the same words. Each individual being conscious of this for himself, justly infers that the same is true of all other individuals of his race. When intelligent agents of another race-as angels-speak to man, they convey their thoughts in words, and in return receive his thoughts in words; which implies that they think, are conscious of, and remember their thoughts in words. If their words express their thoughts, they must undoubtedly be conscious of the thoughts in the words which they utter, and they must remember their own thoughts in the words they had uttered, if they truly understand the thoughts in the words uttered in reply. For how could they receive the words of man in answer to a question put by them, if they did not remember the words in which they put the question, and were not conscious of their own thoughts in the words of the question, and conscious of the thoughts returned in the words of the answer? So when the Divine Being speaks to man, His words convey His thoughts. Man receives and is conscious of His thoughts, by receiving and being conscious of His words. All that he knows of the thoughts is expressed in the words. The thoughts can not be conveyed to his understanding, or realized to his consciousness, apart from the words in which they are conceived and expressed. Without irreverence, therefore, this law of intellectual action may be regarded as of universal application. In the nature of the case the mode of thought, of intellectual action in consciously thinking, is verbal. A wordless thought is as inconceivable as a formless flower. Thinking and convey ing thoughts apart from words or signs equivalent to silent or vocal articulations, is no more possible than seeing without visual, or hearing without auditory organs. Hence I infer that the Divine thoughts conveyed to the sacred penmen, were conveyed in the very words which they wrote as Holy Scripture. 1. Because thoughts can be conveyed from one mind to another, only in words or equivalent signs. 2. Because, man is so constituted that he can not receive, and be conscious of, the thoughts of another, except in the words which properly express them. 3. Because, the writer, being conscious of the words as he received them, could not write other than those words, without resisting his consciousness, and violating his integrity. 4. Because words so conveyed, received, and written, are the very words of Him who conveyed them; whereas, other words substituted in their place would not be His. With this agrees the Scripture doctrine of Inspiration-Theopneustos-a Divine act conveying to the sacred penmen that which they uttered in writing, re alizing to their consciousness the thoughts in the words, in-breathing them in a manner analogous to the impulsion of air into the lungs. All Scripture-namely, that which the sacred penmen were appointed to write, the words which they wrote which constitute the Scriptures-was given, imparted, conveyed to them by Inspiration, the in-breathing act of God. Now all who believe the Scriptures to be of Divine authority, regard them as one of the very greatest gifts of God to man. Their relations and objects are such as to make it necessary to regard them as the word of God, the infallible expression of His thoughts, His mind and will; the only rule of faith and life. These claims on their behalf are founded on their inspiration. Their having been imparted to the writers by inspiration, the act of God, their Author. The thoughts and words existed in the Divine Mind before they were conveyed to the minds of the sacred penmen, and were consciously received and realized in their minds as the words of God before they wrote them. As written, therefore, they are the words of God. The Divine procedure in the bestowment of this gift is in harmony with its infinite importance relatively to the glory of God, and the exigencies and destinies of men. It was provided for as an esssential part of the system of moral government, and of redemption, to be manifested in the progress of events, by Him, who, as the Logos in the beginning, created all things. To Him, under the same delegated character, in His prophetic office, is to be ascribed the communication to the world of the words of God: partly by His own direct personal utterances to patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, and partly by the inspiring agency of the Spirit, through the instrumentality of the sacred penmen. It is throughout a delegated ministerial work, performed by messengers officially appointed to convey and publish the messages verbatim, which were committed to them as legates, and to which they were expressly restricted. If the Scriptures throughout were inspired, then every sentence and every word of the original texts proceeded from God, the Father of lights, through the Son as His messenger, the Spirit sent by Him, and the sacred penmen as His instruments. I shall, therefore, endeavor to show that the pro |