the coming of the Messiah. Is. xl. 10, 11. This kind of implication is very frequent in Isaiah.

The Old Testament further describes some of the most remarkable particulars of Christ's history. His miraculous conception. Is. vii. 14.

His descent from David. 2 Sam. vii. 16-29; Is. ix. 7; Jer. xxxiii. 15.

His birthplace. Micah v. 2.

The ministry of John the Baptist. Is. xl. 3; Mal. iii. 1, iv. 5, 6.

Christ's mean and unattractive condition. Is. xlix. 7, liii. 2, 3.

The places of His ministry. Is. ix. 1, 2; Hagg. ii. 7-9; Mal. iii. 1.

His beneficent miracles. Is. xxxii. 4, xxxv. 5, 6, xlii. 7.

The betrayal of Him by a treacherous friend. Ps. xli. 9; Zech. xi. 12, 13, xiii. 6.

The treatment of Him by the Roman soldiers. Ps. xxii. 18, lxix. 21; Is. 1. 6.

His vicarious death. 9, 10, 12; Dan. ix. 26;

Ps. lix. 3, 4; Is. liii. 4, 7, Zech. xii. 10, xiii. 1, 7. His Resurrection. Ps. xvi. 9-11, lxviii. 18; cxviii. 22, 23; Is. xxv. 8, liii. 10.

The early difficulties and the final triumph of His cause, especially among the Gentiles. Early difficulties:-Gen. iii. 15; Is. xlix. 4, 5, lii. 14, liii. 1—3; Zech. iii. 1. Final triumph :-Gen. iii. 15, xii. 3, xxii. 18, xxvi. 4, xlix. 10; Ps. ii. 8, lxxii. 8—11,

15, cx.; Is. ii. 2, 3, ix. 1, 2, xi. 10, xxv. 7, xli. 1-5, xlii. 4, 6, xlv. 23, xlix. 6, 7, lii. 15, liii. 11, lv. 5, lxv. 1; Jerem. xxiii. 3, 4; Dan. ii. 44, vii. 14, 27; Micah iv. 1, 2; Hagg. ii. 7; Zech. xii, 10, xiv. 8; Mal. iii. 12.

These marvellous foresketches of the character and history of Christ-for they correspond to no other personage-although in some respects unfavourable for the purposes of rhetorical argument, are yet peculiarly suitable to impress a candid searcher for truth. They have the shadowiness and imperfection which belong to prediction, yet not the less do they show that the Old and New Testaments are parts of one system of Revelation. They also afford a striking confirmation of our principle, that Revelation is not the growth of conceptions native to the soil of the mind, but is the making known of what could not otherwise have been ascertained. In this case, when we remember the worldly character of the national mind of Israel, it is impossible to believe that they could have framed for themselves the Old Testament idea of the Messiah, an idea surpassing the loftiest flights of Gentile speculation. Nor could they have guessed at the extraordinary particulars of His history, of which many are alien from the national aspirations, some are miraculous, and all essentially connected with the peculiarities of His character.

CHAPTER VI.

THE BIBLE AND THE MODERN READER.

HITHERTO We have been dealing with Revelation chiefly as it was made to the original receivers, as it was uttered by the inspired prophet, delivered by the messenger, or written in obedience to command. The Bible is regarded by Christians as the authoritative Record of these original Revelations. We have now to deal with the modern reader of the Bible; and, first, to examine what are his means of ascertaining the trustworthiness of the Record; that is, of satisfying himself that the Revelations by Speech, and by Works, human and superhuman,* were actually made; then, secondly-supposing the preliminary question decided in favour of the Record

-we have to inquire whether it becomes in any true sense a Revelation to the reader himself. But although these questions are logically distinct, yet, as some of the reasons to be mentioned are applicable to both, we need not formally divide them here. * See pp. 61, 62.

What naturally strikes us at once is, that the Bible does not come to him merely as a piece of literature or ancient history, but is commended to him by an existing Community as the Record of its origin and the charter of its privileges. This Community, the Church, has for many ages believed and taught that these venerable documents are authoritative Records of real Revelation, and has, by general consent, formally received them into the Canon of Scripture.

Of the origin of this Community no other credible account can be given than that which is in the documents. This Community has certain peculiar usages, the sacraments; and of their origin no other credible account can be given than that which is in the documents.

With the narrative of the origin of this Community the records of the Miracles of Jesus are so inextricably intertwined, that, if this element is rejected, the existence of the Community is an insoluble problem.

It is an obvious remark that a recorded Miracle, alone, cannot establish the historical trustworthiness of a document, since itself rests on that trustworthiness; yet, taken in connexion with the otherwise unaccountable origin of the Church, the recorded Miracle authenticates the history and confirms the Divine speech.

This Community has now and has formerly had

G

within it many members of exalted virtue, of virtue surpassing the choicest examples of excellence that can be found elsewhere. These good men have lived and died in the belief of Revelation and in the closest communion with the Bible. Their goodness is to be accounted for only on the supposition of the reality of Revelation.

The change produced by Christianity in the moral character of European society naturally disposes a thoughtful person in its favour, and leads him to expect something extraordinary in the records of its origin.

With all their shortcomings and faults, men of modern ages are in a better moral condition than the ancients. While they have, on the whole, more of godliness and more of humanity than of old, they have also a deeper, more uneasy and painful sense of shortcomings and faults. Combined with this uneasiness, there is an aspiration, a hopefulness; and there is much of actual progress, of moral amendment and improvement from generation to generation. This deeper moral feeling appears not only in modern life, individual and social, but in literature and the arts. Modern laws, manners, and customs are, on the whole, more moral than the ancient. There is evident in them a deeper sense of the worth and sacredness of human nature. What we may call the moral attitude of the English towards each other has often more of dignity, of