It would be profane to compare evidence derived directly from the Almighty, which must necessarily be irresistible, with the testimony of man, which must always be carefully weighed by taking into account the state of his knowledge, his prejudices, his interests, and his truthfulness. On the other hand, it would lead to endless confusion, and be destructive to all reasoning on the subject, to apply the same word ‘Revelation’ to things so different in their nature as—
- The immediate act of the Deity.
- The impression produced by that act on the mind of the person inspired.
- The description of it given by him in the language of the people he addressed.
- The record made of his description by those who heard it.
- The transmission of this through various languages and people to the present day.
We have now arrived at the highest external evidence man can have—the declaration of inspiration by the prophet, {400} supported by an admitted miracle performed before competent witnesses, to prove the truth of his inspiration.
〈TRANSMITTED TESTIMONY.〉
But to all who were not present, the evidence of this is entirely dependent on the truth and even upon the accuracy of human testimony.
At every step of its transmission it undergoes some variation in the words in which it is related; and without the least want of good faith at any stage, the mere imperfection of language will necessarily vary the terms by which it is described. Even when written language has conveyed it to paper as a MSS., there may be several different manuscripts by different persons. Even in the extraordinary case of two MSS. agreeing perfectly there remains a perpetual source of doubt as to the exact interpretation arising from the continually fluctuating meaning of the words themselves.
Few persons who have not reflected deeply, or had a very wide experience, are at all aware of the errors arising from this source.
〈RUSSIAN SCANDAL.〉
There is a game occasionally played in society which eminently illustrates the value of testimony transmitted with the most perfect good faith through a succession of truthful persons. It is called Russian Scandal, and is thus played:—
One of the party writes a short simple tale, perhaps a single anecdote. The original composer of the tale, whom we will call A, retires into another room with B, to whom he communicates it. A then returns to the party, and sends in C, who is told by B the tale he had just learnt. B then returns to the party and sends in D, who is informed of the anecdote by C, and so on until the story has been transmitted through twelve educated and truthful witnesses.