In this way we dispose of the whole tribe of infidel writers. Who would think of listening to a blind man on the subject of light and shade? And yet such a man has much more claim to be heard than an unconverted man on the subject of inspiration. Human learning, however extensive and varied--human wisdom, however profound, cannot qualify a man to form a judgment upon the Word of God. No doubt a scholar may examine and collate MSS. simply as a matter of criticism; he may be able to form a judgment as to the question of authority for any particular reading of a passage; but this is a different matter altogether from an infidel writer undertaking to pronounce judgment upon the revelation which God has, in His infinite goodness, given to us. We maintain that no man can do this. It is only by the Spirit, who Himself inspired the holy Scriptures, that those Scriptures can be understood and appreciated. The Word of God must be received upon its own authority. If man can judge it or reason upon it, it is not the Word of God at all. Has God given us a revelation, or has He not? If He has, it must be absolutely perfect in every respect; and being such, it must be entirely beyond the range of human judgment. Man is no more competent to judge Scripture than he is to judge God. The Scriptures judge man; not man the Scriptures. This makes all the difference. Nothing can be more miserably contemptible than the books which infidels write against the Bible. Every page, every paragraph, every sentence, only goes to illustrate the truth of the apostle's statement, that "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; ... _neither can he know them_, because they are spiritually discerned." Their gross ignorance of the subject with which they undertake to deal is only equaled by their self-confidence. Of their irreverence we say nothing; for who would think of looking for reverence in the writings of infidels? We might perhaps look for a little modesty were it not that we are fully aware of the bitter _animus_ which lies at the root of all such writings, and renders them utterly unworthy of a moment's consideration. Other books may have a dispassionate examination; but the precious book of God is approached with the foregone conclusion that it is not a divine revelation, because, forsooth, infidels tell us that God could not give us a written revelation of His mind.