The Evidences of Christianity in Their External Or Historical Division

THE

EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY

THEIR EXTERNAL OR HISTORICAL DIVISION:

EXHIBITED IN

A COURSE OF LECTURES,

BY CHARLES PETTIT MILVAINE, D. D.

BISHOP OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE STATE OF

OHIO.

Sint castæ deliciæ meæ scripturæ tuæ; nec fallar in eis, nec fallam ex eis.

AUGUSTINE.

NINTH EDITION.

REVISED AND IMPROVED BY THE AUTHOR.

PUBLISHED BY THE

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,

150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK.

Entered by the author, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1832, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York.

Right of publishing transferred to the American Tract Society.

CONTENTS.

LECTURE I.

INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS,

The difficulty of presenting the evidences of Christianity arises, not

from any lack of arguments, but from the difficulty of a just selec-

tion and arrangement where materials are so abundant,

I. The high importance of the investigation proposed,

The question is, Is the religion of Jesus Christ, as exhibited in the New

Testament, a revelation from God, and consequently possessed of a

sovereign right to universal faith and obedience?

We must have the religion of Christ or none,

Deism, the only imaginable substitute, shown to offer no refuge, 25

The investigation urged on the experimentally convinced Christian, as

a matter of spiritual pleasure and improvement, and as a matter

of duty to the cause of truth, and to the good of his neighbor,

The same urged on the merely nominal Christian, as necessary to a

rational and steadfast belief of what he professes not to doubt, and

for a deeper impression of the solemnity of its truth,

The investigation derives additional importance from the peculiar

character of the present times, as those of licentiousness, under the

boast of freedom, in such inquiries,

It derives, also, advantage from the present times, as distinguished for

scientific research and discovery,

II. The importance of strict attention to the spirit in which this investi-

gation is conducted,

The opposition between the precepts of Christianity and the natural

dispositions of man makes the question one of feeling as well as.

evidence, and has a tendency to magnify objections, and to depre-

ciate the contrary,

The pride of human reason is often deeply offended at the claims of

Christianity,.

It is true of Christianity, as of many other very important matters of

truth, that objections are more easily invented than answered, 52

Phenomena which these considerations account for,

Docility of mind,

A deep seriousness of purpose,

gation,

And prayer, earnestly recommended as necessary to this investi-

LECTURE II.

AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT,

The study of the evidences of Christianity may be brief or extended,
according as the object is simply conviction; or, in addition to that,
the pleasure of collecting all the various lights which may be con-
centrated on this subject.

The evidences are of two general classes, namely, external, or histor-

ical, and internal,

A brief account of what each head includes,

The present course of lectures confined to the external.

The complete treatment of this division would begin with the neces-

sity of a divine revelation, as the history of mankind exhibits it, 58

We begin with the AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT,

Difference between authenticity and credibility, as used in these lec-

tures,

The question is, How does it appear that the several parts of the New

Testament were written by the men to whom they are ascribed, the

original disciples of Christ, and are therefore authentic?