Owen wrote his defence of revelation in the year 1659, before the end of the Commonwealth;--at a still earlier period in 1655, when Oliver Cromwell was on the throne, before any of the authors now mentioned had published a word upon the subject, Richard Baxter produced his _Unreasonableness of Infidelity_. It is thrown into the form of the Spirit’s witness to the truth of Christianity, so far reminding us of John Owen’s later work. Baxter, however, assigns a much higher place to the evidential force of miracles than did his contemporary; and, instead of dwelling upon the Spirit’s influence, in and through the Holy Scriptures, he resolves the Spirit’s witness into the miraculous operations of the first age. Baxter proceeds to show that the evangelists did not deceive the world, but that they published undoubted truths,--and that we have received their writings without any considerable corruption. Having gone thus far in a path much trodden since, he strangely turns aside to insist upon the doctrine of everlasting punishment, and to explain the nature of the sin against the Holy Ghost. He then refers to tradition, to the creed, to church ordinances, to the succession of religion, to the preservation of MSS., to the writings of Divines, to the laws of the Roman Empire, and the like, as evidences of the history of the New Testament. He writes, in rather a vague and confused way, upon a subject afterwards elaborated by Lardner and Paley, but to him belongs the distinction of having first entered this new field. He grapples with the objection to miracles, but not as Campbell afterwards did. The ground he takes somewhat resembles that of Bishop Douglas, when the Bishop compares with the miracles of Scripture, those recorded by Augustine and other Fathers. Baxter’s treatise did not satisfy its author; and, in 1667, he added _Reasons for the Christian Religion_. In this book, he treats of religion, both natural and supernatural, describing man as “a living wight having an active power, an understanding to guide it, and a will to command it,”--and pointing out the relations in which he stands to the Creator, as his Owner, his Governor, and his Benefactor. The difficulties of religious duty, a future life of retribution, the intrinsical evils and righteous penalties of sin, the present miserable state of the world, and the mercy of God, all come within the scope of Baxter’s observations, and are presented in the light of nature and of reason. In the second part the Author points out the need of Revelation, refers to the several religions existing in the world, illustrates the nature and “congruities” of Christianity, and proves the Divine mission of our Lord, by prophecy, by His character, by His miracles, and by His renovation of men. Confirmatory proofs, and collateral arguments follow, touching the historical grounds on which we believe in miracles, and unfolding certain curious considerations which tend to show that the world is not eternal.