A Legacy to the Friends of Free Discussion: Principal Historical Facts and Personages of the Books Known as The Old and New Testament; With Remarks on the Morality of NatureOffen, Benjamin
Religion
A Legacy to the Friends of Free Discussion: Principal Historical Facts and Personages of the Books Known as The Old and New Testament; With Remarks on the Morality of Nature
Offen, Benjamin
Bible -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Divine inspiration, according to the Christian’s idea of it, must have
been the source of prophecy and miracles, and implies infinite knowledge
and power. Now, as Adam could not have given an account of his own
origin, whoever wrote the history of the creation of the world, and of
our first parents, must, if divinely inspired, have had all the
particulars of the past clearly made known to him. We are told, by the
New Testament writers, that “_all Scripture is given by inspiration_”;
and again, that “_Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost._” Still, divine inspiration remains an inscrutable mystery as to
what it is abstractly considered; and, also, with respect to the manner
in which it is communicated. It seems strange, to say the least, that
divine revelation should be given to the human race by the means of
inspiration, and yet the mode of communication be enveloped in profound
mystery. As divine inspiration and divine revelation are closely
connected, the first being the avenue of conveyance, and the latter
being the subject communicated, I shall define, as clearly as I can,
what constitutes divine revelation; but in order, if possible, to
prevent mistake, I shall first point out what it is not.
The developments and improvements which man effects by the exercise of
his perceptive and reflective faculties, are results which are not
obtained through the medium of divine revelation. From being a savage,
and wandering in a state of destitution in the forests, he has, by the
use of his varied faculties, made advances in civilization and the arts,
which at first sight appear superhuman, but which were, nevertheless,
unaided by divine revelation. Contrasting the present state of the
wonderful and awe-inspiring science of astronomy with that when the best
informed of the human race were but ignorant star-gazers, we can but
feel proud that we are a part of the human family. Again, when we look
back at the period when the frail little bark could not venture out of
sight of land, and then contemplate the improvements in naval
architecture of our present times, which have presented us with that
splendid floating palace, the _Great Britain steamships_ we can but see
that all this has been effected without any assistance from divine
revelation. If, at some future time, by means of improvements in the
telescope, inhabitants should be discovered in the moon, we should not
be indebted for the discovery to divine revelation. But, the discovery
not having been made, should an angel be sent from heaven to make known
the fact, such information would undoubtedly constitute a divine
revelation. So, then, it is dear that whatever improvement man may make,
by the unaided exercise of his faculties, cannot be considered as the
result of divine revelation. Divine revelation is that which man cannot
know, consequently never has known, and never will know by the aid of
his reasoning powers The Old and New Testaments collectively are called
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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