(3.) If they had any inclination to do this, out of malice against Christianity, it would have been to no purpose, after our Saviour’s time; for it was then translated into Greek, and this translation was in the hands of almost all Christians; so that the fallacy would soon have been detected. And if they had corrupted some copies of the Hebrew Bible, they could not have corrupted or altered them all; therefore to attempt any thing of this kind, would have been to expose themselves to no purpose.
(4.) It would not have been for their own advantage to pervert it; for, in altering the texts that make for Christianity, they would (especially if the fraud should have been detected) have weakened their own cause so far, that the reputation of scripture being hereby lost, they could not have made use of it to that advantage, to prove their own religion from it.
But, notwithstanding all this out-cry of the scriptures being perverted, they pretend to give no proof hereof, except in two or three words, which do not much affect the cause of Christianity; whereas, if the Jews had designed to pervert it, why did they not alter the fifty-third of Isaiah, and many other scriptures, which so plainly speak of the person and offices of the Messiah?
2. As to the other part of the objection, that the New Testament hath been corrupted by heretics since our Saviour’s time, whatever charge hath been brought against the Arians, and some others, of having out some words, or verses, which tend to overthrow their scheme, they have not been able, even when the empire was most favourable to their cause, to alter all the copies; so that their fallacy has been detected, and the corruption amended.
As for those various readings that there are of the same text, these consist principally in literal alterations, which do not much tend to pervert the sense thereof. It was next to impossible for so many copies of scripture to be transcribed without some mistakes, since they who were employed in this work were not under the infallible direction of the Spirit of God, as the first penmen were; yet the providence of God hath not suffered them to make notorious mistakes; and whatever mistakes there may be in one copy, they may be corrected by another; so that the scripture is not, for this reason, chargeable with the reproach cast upon it, as though it were not a perfect rule of faith.
Quest. IV.
Quest. IV. How doth it appear that the scriptures are the word of God?
Answ. The scriptures manifest themselves to be the word of God by their majesty and purity; by the consent of all the parts, and the scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God; by their light and power to convince and convert sinners, to comfort and build up believers to salvation: but the Spirit of God bearing witness by and with the scriptures in the heart of man, is alone able fully to persuade it, that they are the word of God.
Before we proceed to consider the arguments here brought to prove the scriptures to be the word of God, some things may be premised.[[20]]
1. When we speak of the scriptures as divine, we do not only mean that they treat of God and divine things; to wit, his nature and works, as referring principally to the subject matter thereof; for this may be said of many human uninspired writings, which, in proportion to the wisdom of their authors, tend to set forth the divine perfections. And when, as the consequence hereof, we assert that every thing contained therein is infallibly true, we do not deny but that there are many things, which we receive from human testimony, of which it would be scepticism to entertain the least doubt of the truth; notwithstanding, when we receive a truth from human testimony, we judge of the certainty thereof, by the credibility of the evidence, and, in proportion thereunto, there is a degree of certainty arising from it: but when we suppose a truth to be divine, we have the highest degree of certainty equally applicable to every thing that is so, and that for this reason, because it is the word of him that cannot lie. Thus we consider the holy scriptures, as being of a divine original, or given by the inspiration of God, or as his revealed will, designed to bind the consciences of men; and that the penmen were not the inventers of them, but only the instruments made use of to convey these divine oracles to us, as the apostle says, 2 Pet. i. 21. Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost: and the apostle Paul says, Gal. i. 11, 12. I certify unto you, that the gospel, which was preached of me, is not after man; neither received I it of man; neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ: the former asserts this concerning scripture in general, and the latter concerning that part thereof which was transmitted to us by him: this is what we mean when we say the scripture is the word of God.