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    tisfactory , while , in the latter , it amounts to nothing ; in the

    former , her testimony is corroborated by that of others , without which it might be suspicious : in the latter , what is it but bare assertion ? So far as concerns her verdict in behalf of the Scriptures , we do not accuse the church of Rome

    of being a lying witness ; but , looking into those Scriptures , we

    affirm , that she is an unauthorized ahd falliWe interpreter . Our author would , indeed , persuade us , that it was more easy for her to corrupt the Scriptures , than the doctrine of the

    Scriptures ; since these writings were , iC for a long time , in the hands of comparatively a few persons , and those chiefly priests and monks /* ( Ib . ) But the priests and monks , although they transcribed them , were ignorant of the language in which they were written 5 * and , by the admirable and kind appointment of Divine Providence , thejr very ignorance was rendered one mean of securing the integrity of the Bible ; as ,

    hence , they were unable to make material omissions , interpolations or alterations . Thus , as well as by the jealousies of r » v&l spcts , the purity of the sacred text has been wonderfully preserved , f Dr . M . next remarks ,

    concerning the Scriptures , that Jesus Christ did not , u during hjs mortal life , set about writing then ) ; ' * . that it was not " his fiy&t

    injunction to t \} e apostles to write them ; " # " 4 that he has npt 4 provided '" for u the generality

    * Gibbon ' s Hist , of the Decl . &c . vol . xif . iip ,. and MosheittTs Eccles . Hist from the sixth down to the fifteenth century . f R , Simon docs justice , in this respect , to the ancient heretics . Hist , Cwt * dii N . T . Preface . $ John xx . 3 * . ^ te *• *— f *

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    of mankind in all ages and nations being able to read and understand them , and this in the original languages / ' ( 28 . ) True : Jesus Christ wrote no

    books . His short ministry was too much occupied to admit of that employment : and it would not to be difficult to show , that the fact adds considerable weight to the evidences of Christianity .

    What , however , is the soundness of the reasoning , which , from this circumstance , deduces the conclusion , that he did not intend that we should learn our religion from such books ? Whether he

    expressly commanded his disciples to compose any , we know not ; nor might theanjunction be necessary ; as he could not but foresee , that the apostles would leave behind them some such memorials

    of his ministry and doctrine . And the evangelist John inforfns us , that his history was drawn up for the conversion of unbelievers and the edification of Christians 4 Similar to which is the import ofLuke ' s

    preface to his gospel . § With regard to Christ ' s not having provided for the generality of m- an * kind in all ages and nations , being able to read and understand

    the books of the New Testament , it is sufficient to reply , that they are actually handed down to us in a way strictly corresponding with the nature of the divine go * vernment of rational and moral

    beings , and that there is no pei > soi ) wfyo may not so read the Bi ^ le as to become wise unto salvation . The preacher is right in stating ,

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    340 tteview . — MilnerU Consecration Sermon .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1810, page 140, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2402/page/36/