of the truth of Revelation, if reason finds in it truths which exceed reason. Whoever despoils his religion of such truths has as good as none; for what is a revelation which reveals nothing?"

By indirect argument, then, and by direct argument, within the field of the finite and philosophic, we not only vindicate a place for faith, but establish it upon positive and reliable grounds; and thus exclude skepticism as irrational and philosophically impossible.

As incidental to the main discussion, it is obvious to remark that the view presented, utterly precludes mere Materialism, on the one hand, and mere Idealism on the other. If this view be correct, there is both a material universe of ever-changing phenomena, produced by ever-acting causes, related to ever-during substances; and a (mental) spiritual universe, no less real, no less active, no less multifarious in phenomena.

It is also obvious to remark, that, according to this view, the final centre, around which the universe of matter and the universe of mind revolve, can not be pantheistic; for mind everywhere and always recognizes its individual personality, freedom, and responsibility-its own self-hood, separating it not only from all surrounding material objects, but also from all other minds. This very assertion of self-hood denies, with all the emphasis of endless and countless iteration, the possibility of pantheism. The centre, self-supporting, all-supporting centre, is beyond the finite and philosophic. There is not a pantheistic whole, and the centre can not be pantheistic.

ART. II.-THE HEBREW BIBLE.*

By Prof. E. A. HUNTINGTON, D.D., Auburn Theological Seminary. IT GIVES me peculiar pleasure, my dear Brother, to welcome you as a fellow teacher in the department of Biblical Science, into the vestibule of which it was my privilege to introduce you, during your course of study, begun ten years ago in this Institution. I congratulate you on your call, in the providence of God, to that division of this department which embraces the Hebrew language and literature. The Old Testament is to be your field of labor, the subject of your investigations and instructions.

A profound interest has always been felt, by true scholars, in this wonderful literature of a most wonderful people. Its high antiquity, its intrinsic and manifold excellence, its relation that of source and fountain-to almost all subsequent literature, East and West, the world over-these and the like considerations give to it a charm, a fascination, wholly independent of its divine origin, and of the divine plan of salvation which it promises and gradually unfolds.

But what makes the Old Testament invaluable to the Christian is, that it is the first, and by far the larger, volume of the revelations of God to man, the preparation for the second, and from which the second springs as the flower and fruit from the branches of the full-grown tree. It is the Word of God which he, "in many parts and in divers manners of old spake unto the fathers by the prophets," in preparation for the Word of God, which he "hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son." The New Testament begins with announcing the fulfillment of the great prophecy, with the reiteration of which the Old Testament ends: "Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare the way before thee."

Thus closely is the Old Testament linked with the New. Thus the New grows out of the Old, and is nourished and

* Address of Welcome to Rev. Willis J. Beecher, on occasion of his inauguration as Professor of the Hebrew Language and Literature in Auburn Theological Seminary, May 1871.

supported by it. The bond between them is an artery, essential to the circulation of the stream of life through both. They bear one testimony to one Saviour, besides whom there is none else. As well sever the head from the body as to separate these two Testaments, and then expect life and salvation to remain and be discoverable in either of them. They stand or fall, they sink or rise together. To discredit the Old Testament is to discredit the New. To prove the Old Testament to be the Word of God by the prophets, leaves little to be done to prove that the New Testament is the Word of God by his Son, the record of his Son's teachings, made by his disciples, as whatsoever he had said unto them was brought to their remembrance by the Holy Ghost.

This bare glance at the place and value of the Old Testament in the Christian system, is enough to show that you enter upon a work, the magnitude and importance of which to the progress and triumph of the Gospel can not be exaggerated. Your business is to keep the ministry, so far as you give direction to their education, familiar with the contents of this sacred volume, in the language in which it was written, with its interpretation and uses, and with the history of its origin and preservation.

Periodically, moreover, ever since the Christian era was inaugurated by the finished work of the Son of God and the gift of the Holy Ghost, the enemies of the Gospel have been wont to lay systmatic plans, and to exert all their powers, to discredit the authenticity, the purity, and of course the inspiration of its documents. To this end they have almost invariably begun with the Old Testament. The Natural system of Interpretation, for example, was first applied to the miracles of the Old Testament, before the miracles of the New Testament were explained away by means of it. It was first proved that the shining of Moses' face, when he came down from Sinai, was in consequence of his having been overheated, and that the resurrection of the dead man, when cast into the sepulchre and touching the bones of Elisha, was a case of revival from a state of suspended animation, before it was proved that Lazarus also only awoke from a protracted swoon, and that the face of Jesus, on the Mount of Transfiguration, only reflected

the brilliant light of the rising sun. In like manner, the historical parts of the Old Testament were first converted into fables before the attempt was made to reduce the life of Jesus, as given by the Four Evangelists, to a myth. Hence the necessity of keeping the facts, with regard to the supernatural origin and the supernatural events of the Old Testament, fresh in the minds of the people, through a thoroughly educated and faithful ministry.

It is when these facts, respecting both Testaments, are allowed to sink into vague traditions, that those periodical attacks, to which I have just referred, upon the authenticity and inspiration of the Bible, are made. Consequently no opportunity has ever seemed more favorable, or even more eagerly seized upon, for one of these attacks, than when the study of the original Scriptures, and of their source and preservation, has fallen into neglect among the ministry. For then it is that the divine authority of the Scriptures ceases to be a faith in the public mind, founded on good and sufficient reasons, and becomes only a superstition. Then too it is, that the very facts and doctrines of Revelation are largely eradicated from the common stock of information, or, so far as retained, are misapprehended and perverted. It was of such a state of ignorance that the English deists and French infidels took advantage. Nor can it be doubted that the present alarming prevalence of skepticism, concerning the divine authority of the Bible, and, indeed, concerning the possibility of a revelation, is largely due to the substitution of a traditional faith in the Bible, for that faith which rests on a full, clear knowledge of it, sanctified by the Spirit of God in the heart. Philosophy, science, light literature, politics, commercial enterprises, and reformers themselves, leave the great majority of the people little time and less inclination for the diligent study and practical use of the Word of God. And what is thus neglected and lost sight of, is, at last, as a necessary consequence, underrated and rejected.

At this very time, therefore, there is a new call to make the Church and the world familiar with the substance and derivation of the Holy Scriptures. This was just what was

done, and all that needed to be done, by Origen and Jerome, and others like them, against the early enemies of Christianity. This was just what was done, and all that needed to be done, by Luther and Calvin, and their associates as leaders in the Reformation. The unchained Bible, translated, expounded, preached, applied, was the means of the Reformation. It liberated, enlightened, and purified the nations. This was just what was done, and all that needed to be done, by those giants of the Scotch, English, established and dissenting churches of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in that brave conflict with the English deists, by which they saved England and America from the woes which fell thenceforth, and are still falling, upon beautiful, blighted France. France harbored deism, banished from England, blown over the Channel like thistle-down, let it take root in her soil, spring up, flourish, and bring forth fruit. Romanism in France had no means of eradicating and destroying it, as it was eradicated and destroyed in England, by the Word of God in the hands of those illustrious Protestant divines to whom I have just alluded. Hence the contrast, so unfavorable to France, between her moral, religious, and political condition, and that of England and America to this day.

My young Brother, may God gird you to follow these glorious examples. A more formidable onset than ever was made before, and I trust the last, is now making upon the Word of God, as if in concert, by scientific and rationalistic unbelievers. Their deliberate aim is, to bring all the intutions of reason, and all the facts and theories of science to prove, not only that there is no revelation, but no Revealer; no revelation for the best of all reasons, because there is no personal, conscious God to make one. 'For such a time as this," you are called to a position, which furnishes you with greater facilities than almost any other, to do the important work which such a time demands; to restore, diffuse, and perpetuate, through the rising ministry, that knowledge of the Bible, which, with the gift of the Holy Ghost, will convince mankind that it is indeed the Word of God. Do this work well, and you do a vast deal toward refuting the in