To disprove that revelation, a man must do something more than
point out marks of imperfection in the Book containing it, such marks as
would not be expected in a book written directly by the hand of God. If
it could be demonstrated that the penmen who have given us the life of
Christ, were indebted to no other aid than that supplied by the good
mental and moral qualifications which any others might possess, the main
strength of Christianity as a communication of God's mind and will,
would remain untouched.
'The discrepancies between the statements of the four Evangelists,--the
indications of individual or national peculiarities,--the modes of
describing occurrences, true because well understood in the locality of
the speaker, but not strictly true in other places,--all matters which
serve to show that the same objects have been seen by different persons,
but from different points of view, are to be allowed for as reconcilable
with a truthfulness that may be implicitly relied upon. One informant
may have blundered in geography, another may have been mistaken in an
historical reference, a third may have misquoted or misapplied some
prophetical allusion, and all may have given ample proof that they were
not free from the influence of the traditions generally received in the
places to which they belonged; but unless these peculiarities and
infirmities show a want of competency as witnesses, or a lack of
integrity, they may be dismissed, as having no bearing on the main
point.
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