Biblical commentary on the New Testament - The Christian ...

CONCLUSION. CXXr
tainly undeniable, that the former by itself decides nothing in favour
of the latter ; but still, on account of the circumstances of the
church, demonstration of such genuineness is by no means unim-
portant or indifferent. It is clear that we may regard the writings
of another religious system, the Zend-Avesta of the Parsees, or the
Koran of the Mahometans, as genuine, and as having proceeded
from the immediate circle of adherents which the founder of that
system of religion possessed, without thereby attributing to it any
internal eflS.cacy and determining power over the heart and life.
But it cannot be said that a conviction of the genuineness of the
apostolical origin of the writings of the New Testament, likewise, is
a matter of indifference. It is rather of great consequence in its
connection with the church, i. e., the great community founded by
our Saviour, and actuated and sustained by his Spirit. You may
prove the genuineness of the writings of the New Testament to him
who is not within the pale of the church, or under its spiritual in-
fluence, and he may even acknowledge it upon incontestible historical
grounds ; but, as Christ, and his apostles themselves, are of no
consequence in relation to his internal life, this proof has no more
effect upon his faith or his life, than is produced upon those of the
scholar who declares the Zend-Avesta to be a genuine work of Zo-
roaster. Far otherwise is it with him who lives in the bosom of the
Christian church. Here he cannot completely withdraw himself
from the influence of the Spirit of Christ, which operates upon his
heart from his earliest youth ; he feels himself spiritually affected,
and in a manner constrained by it. It is true that sinful man very
often strives against the influence of the Holy Spirit, it being troublesome
to him, because it does not permit him to continue sinning
so freely and peaceably as he could wish. In such case he seeks to
obtain plausible grounds on which he may evade the force of the
Spirit's influence. One such plausible ground is often presented by
the supposition that the writings of the New Testament are spuri-
ous, whereby the extraordinary character of our Saviour, with the
sublime impression he made on the hearts of men, is encompassed
with doubt, and thus its effect is diminished. To members of the
church of Christ, therefore, a firm conviction that the Scriptures are
genuine, is of the highest consequence ; the opposite opinion, yea,
uncertainty merely, in regard to the character of the sacred writings,
is ordinarily the natural concomitant of sin. Such a sentiment hin-
ders the efficacy of the Holy Spirit, which manifests itself, in a
manner not to be mistaken, to every simple, plain mind, on perusal
of the Holy Scriptures, but exhibits its full strength only when the
heart feels a quiet faith, undisturbed by any doubt. Hence the
conversion of many has taken rise from their acknowledgment of the
genuineness of the New Testament writings ; and moreover, the