so bold a step, rather than seem to be wanting, in a period like the present, to their spiritual instruction.

The spirit of inquiry upon all subjects now abroad, the diffusion of education, the multiplication of readers and thinkers, call on the ministers of religion to state the Christian evidences again and again. They have no reason to be ashamed of the cause in which they are engaged. On the contrary, Christianity is the glory of our rational nature. It is the foundation of moral order, the bond of civil society, the spring of all mental improvement, the best friend of individuals and communities, the source of mercy, tenderheartedness and beneficence amongst men. And the more fully it is known in the commanding discoveries it makes of the state of man, and the remedy of that state, in the mighty redemption of Christ, the more adequately will it appear to meet all the necessities of our fallen and disordered state-every desire of the human heart. The author is deeply impressed with the persuasion, that to eradicate secret infidelity, or a coldness in the Christian cause, next to infidelity, we must unite the internal with the external evidences of Christianity, and make both to bear upon the conscience of man. Thus will Almighty God be honored in the arguments adduced for the revelation which he has given us-thus will the sacrifice of the blessed Saviour be continually adverted to as the centre truth of that revelation-thus, will the sacred influences of the Holy Spirit be exhibited as the means for the moral restoration of our nature. And thus will man-feeling all his case relieved, all his wants supplied, all his apprehensions and fears calmed, all the capacities and desires of his immortal being directed to an object of

corresponding magnitude and elevation-acquiesce with entire repose of mind, in the Christian religion, as emanating from the Fountain of all goodness and holiness, and leading him to the full and exuberant fruition of all the highest ends for which he was created.

Islington, April 12, 1828.

CONTENTS.

LECTURE I.

INTRODUCTION.-1 Peter iii. 15,

The Christian's Reason for the hope that is in him,

The meekness and fear with which he gives it,

The object of this Course of Lectures,

Suggested by various motives,

Advantages for a defence of our faith afforded by the circum-

stances of the times,

Order of Lectures,

Importance of the subject,

To be entered upon with prayer to God,

LECTURE II.

THE TEMPER OF MIND IN WHICH THE

SUBJECT SHOULD BE STUDIED.-Luke xviii.

THE ENTIRE WANT OF IT IN UNBELIEVERS,

In the literary and scientific,

Uninformed and negligent,

Low and profane,

THE INDISPENSABLE

IMPORTANCE

OF A CHILD-LIKE

SPIRIT evident from the influence of the passions over the

understanding,

From the acknowledged necessity of it in every important

investigation,

From the vast superiority of the question,

And from the demand which Christianity makes,

Unbelief condemned by its own temper,

Address to the Unbeliever,

Youthful hearer,

Believer,

LECTURE III.

THE INDISPENSABLE NECESSITY OF A DI-
VINE REVELATION SHOWN FROM THE
STATE OF MAN IN ALL AGES.-Rom. i. 19
-24,

THE HEATHEN

WORLD BEFORE THE COMING OF CHRIST

had lost the doctrine of the Being of God,

Possessed no distinct knowledge of virtue and vice,

Were destitute of moral instruction,

Impure and abominable in their religion,

Universally corrupt,

And without hope of recovery,

THE UNBELIEVERS SCATTERED NOW OVER CHRISTIAN

COUNTRIES derive their knowledge from Christianity,

But remain unfruitful,

THE HEATHEN NATIONS OF THE PRESENT DAY afford no

instance in which the light of nature has proved sufficient

to guide man to his duty and happiness. India,

Africa,

Russia, &c.

An uniformity between their vices and those of the heathen

before the promulgation of Christianity,

IN CHRISTIAN COUNTRIES, IN

PROPORTION AS DIVINE

REVELATION IS INADEQUATELY KNOWN, men decline in

piety,

Observe France, Italy, Spain,

Observe our own population where the Bible is not known,

Our own hearts when deficient in scriptural knowledge,

The general impression of the need of a revelation,

Its probability,

Infidelity blots out every hope for man,

-

The necessities of a practical student expound to him the

state of mankind,

He is thankful for his lot,
Missionary efforts,

LECTURE IV.

THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTA-
MENT.-2 Thes. iii. 17,

Authenticity important,

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS; the authenticity of the New
Testament proved in the ordinary way of ascertaining the
genuineness of other ancient works,

Not one mark of spuriousness is found in our sacred books,

The circumstances of the case make it impossible that they

should be forgeries,

Men practically act on the slightest grounds as to the au-

thenticity of writings, where the contents commend them-

selves to their judgment,

The burden of proof lies on the objector to Christianity,

The providence of God conspicuous in the evidences of au-

thenticity,

The duty of having an authentic faith in the truths of Chris-
tianity,

LECTURE V.

THE DIRECT PROOF OF THE AUTHENTICI-

TY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.-Acts xxvi. 26,

The testimony to our sacred books can be traced up from the

present time to the days of the Apostles,

The sacred canon was settled with care and discrimination,
There are all the marks of integrity and truth in the testi-
mony of ancient Christians,

Admissions of Heathen and Jewish adversaries,

Number and antiquity of our manuscripts,

None of these external proofs of authenticity can be adduced

for the Apocryphal books of the New Testament,

The style and manner of the books of the New Testament

furnish an unanswerable proof of their genuineness,

Unexpected confirmations from a Syriac version of the New

Testament,