from the labours of the learned translator of Michaelis. Whatever contradictory opinions may be entertained of the taste of Gerraan dramatic writers, there can be but one of the profound erudition of many German theologians. Excelling ra the literature of the east, patient in the investigation of every subject that claims their regard, frequently not holding any ecclesiastical character, and thus less shackled in their inquiries, and less reserved in the exposition of the results, their writings cannot fail of being highly usefel toevery inquiring student in divini ty. Weconsider Mr. Kingdon therefore as having performed an essential service to English readers, by transferring to their native language the work now before us: we regret only we have become acquainted with a part instead of with the whole of what is contained in the valuable original; and we beg leave to express our earnest wish that the circumstances to which he alludes will not long prevent the translator from completing his design of publishing in English the whole of Dr. Less's "Geschichte der Religion," or History of Religion, from the body of which the present work is taken. This work is the result of laborious and severe inquiry, instituted by the author to resolve doubts upon the important subject of divine revelation, which he had, for several years, entertained. Upon his own mind the inquiry pro duced solid, rational, and satisfactory conviction; and the same desirable effect must, we imagine, be produced upon the minds of all who shall pay a proper attention to the information which is here collected within a very narrow com pass. This excellent treatise is divided into two parts. The first part treats of the authenticity of the New Testament: the second is employed upon the proofs of its credibility. There is a little inaccuracy in the use of the term, authenticity, here and in the body of the work. The author has not made a proper distinction between the authenticity and the genuineness of a book. The first part consists of three books. The first book treats of the internal evidence. In the second book the author discusses the external, or decisive evidence for the authenticity of the New Testament, that is, the positive testimony of witnesses in the three first centuries. This is perhaps the characteristic and the most important part of the volume. The third book is devoted to the proof of the uncorrupted preservation of the New Testament. The second part is divided into two books. In the first of these it is shewn that the authors of the christian scriptures possess in a very high degree all the requisite qualities of credible witnesses: and in the second, the wonderful establishment and propagation of christianity is enlarged upon as a most convincing proof of the entire credibility of the history of the New Testament, and of the religion which it establishes. Such is the general outline of this very useful performance, in the filling up of which Dr. Less has thus proceeded : "Every one," he observes (speaking of the internal evidences) "who has been much engaged with the writings of antiquity, its modes of thinking and manners, will instantly perceive, on reading the books of the New Testament, that they are not the works of an impostor, but that they were composed about the first century of the Roman monarchy; just as a connoisseur in the fine arts will immediately see whether a painting, a statue or a gem, be the production of antiquity, an original; or merely a copy, and of a modern age. In the scriptures of the New Testament there cannot be discovered the smallest trace of deceit or for gery. On the contrary, the character of the pretended times of their compo sition, and of their pretended authors is so deeply impressed on them, that a critic, by a mere perusal, will discover their authenticity." Evidence of the most striking kind exists to prove that the writers were Jews; that they lived in the first century of the Roman monarchy; that they were immediate witnesses of what they related; that all, except one, were unlearned men. The scriptures of the New Tes tament are composed, as they must have been, if written at the period usually assigned to them, in Greek; but not in pure and elegant Greek; but with an abundant intermixture of Hebraic sig nifications, phrases and constructions, which betray authors born and educated in the Jewish religion: the style is devoid of all cultivation, and exhibits the simplicity of unlearned men. There is besides a remarkable accuracy in the relation of many individual circumstances; and certain historical observations respecting the political and religious institu tions of the world, point out incontestibly the time when these books were written, and prove that it was the first century of the Roman monarchy. Our readers will readily perceive that these topics have all been handled before. Their value, as they appear in the present work, consists in the force which they acquire from compression. The next inquiry, into the external evidence for the authenticity of the New Testament, is thus opened: "Notwithstanding what has been said above (viz. in the preceding book on the internal evidence), I confess that it is not absolutely impossible but that a man of very great talents and extensive learning might, as it were, absolutely forget himself, might, for a time, lay aside his natural modes of thinking and manners, and change himself into a perfectly different person. But the testimonies of the oldest and most credible writers place it beyond all doubt, that the books of our New Testament were written by the pretended authors, St. Matthiew, St. Mark, St. Luke, St. John, St. Paul, St. Peter, St. James, and St. Jude, and at the pretended times. In this proof I shall quote such passages only, wherein these writers appeal either by name, or expressly to those books; and honestly confess the doubts which, to an impartial searcher after truth, will occur in this enquiry. I shall thus hinder the enemies of christianity from using that argument which Bolingbroke has brought against it; and if in this examination no. thing be overcharged; but, on the contrary, if the love of truth, and the strictest severity of enquiry, be every where discoverable, additional weight, I trust, will be given to my proof." Page 27, 28. Upon these principles the examination. is conducted, and the result corresponds with the author's wishes. The writers examined as witnesses in the first century, are the apostolical fathers; Barnabas; Clement of Rome; Hermas; Ignatius, and Polycarp. The evidence of Barnabasis rejected; and the epistle which goes under his name is declared not to be genuine. The second epistle of Clement, Dr. Less considers as a forgery; and from the first, which he esteems a va luable ancient document," he dares not attempt to prove more, than that our first Epistle to the Corinthians is authentic." Hermas produces no testimony upon this important subject, because "we cannot discover in the Shepherd, a single scriptural book cited expressly and by name." Ignatius is "a clear evidence for the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians; and that in his time existed a collection of evangelical and apostolical writings; we may also conclude from his epistle, with probabi lity, that the Epistle to the Romans, and the first to the Corinthians, were at that period already written." Polycarp testifies the existence of several of Paul's Epistles, and perhaps of the first of Peter. Dr. Less next inquires into the testimonies of works of the first century now lost. Eusebius has preserved that of Papias only, who furnishes irrefragable evidence for the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, first Epistle of Peter, and first of John. After an introductory section concern. ing the state of christianity in the second and third centuries, the witnesses of the credibility of the books of the New Tes tament who belong to the second cen tury are examined. These are, Justin Martyr; Tatian; Irenæus; Athenagoras; Theophilus of Antioch; Clement of Alexandria; and Tertullian. All these are of great importance, as they bear their testimony either individually or collectively to the genuineness of all the books of the New Testament. The article relating to Irenæus is curious, and will afford a good specimen of the manner in which this work is conducted. Irenæus, bishop of Lyons, had not only lived very near the times of the apostles, but had enjoyed familiar intercourse with one of their immediate disciples and friends. In his five books Against Heresies he delivers very ample and clear testimonies for the historical truth of the scripures of the New Testa ment. He quotes all the evangelists of ten, and by name; relates the cause and design of their writings; and declares that there were only four gospels, viz. * In the edition of his works by Massuet, very copious information is given concerning his life, opinions, and writings, in the prefixed Dissertationes prov. ad Iren. He left many works which are named by Eusebius and Jerom. But of these, if we except a few fragments, nothing is now remaining besides his Libri V. adv. Hær. Even these have not come down to us in the Greek original, but are extant only in an ancient Latin version. The authenticity of this work has been amply proved by C. R. Walch. See Rösler's Ecclesiastical Fathers v. 204–270. those of St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John, which were accounted genuine and divine books. In opposition to the Valentinians, he proves, by many passages from the gospels of St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John, and also from the Acts of the Apostles by St. Luke, that there is but one God the creator and preserver of all things. To the writings of St. Paul he appeals yet more frequently. He proves his tenets against the heretics most commonly from St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, the two Epistles to the Corinthians, the Epistles to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, the two Epistles to the Thessalonians, those to Timothy, and the Epistle to Titus. He asserts in many places that these twelve Epistles were the genuine and divine works of St. Paul;t makes numerous and sometimes long extracts from them, evidently proving to eve y reader, that they are the very same, which we at this time possess in the New Testament.‡ In like manner he testifies also the authenticity of the 1st Epistle of St. Peter; the 1st and 2nd Epistles of St. John, and the Revelations of the same Apostle. He asserts that these writings were divine, and the sure foundation of the Christian faith. What his opinion of the other books of the New Testament was, we cannot, from his silence, determine. He appears to have considered the Epistle to the Hebrews as neither the work of St. Paul, nor a divine book. This is a proof, that the first Christians were not so credulous as modern infidels represent them. Had they received all at random, without examination, then certainly they would not have rejected so universally the apocryphal writings, and besitated to acknowledge the authenticity of some of the books of the New Testa ment. In his time collections of the evange lical and apostolical writings were already in the hands of many Christians. They were diligently studied; and in order that those who were not opulent might not be deceived by any corrupted copies, he advised them to apply to the teachers of the church. "All the divine scriptures," says he, "both prophecies and gospels, are open and clear, and may be consulted by all." And in another place, "That man will easily convince himself of this, (viz. that the Old and New Testaments came from one and the same God,) who diligently studies the divine scriptures, which are in the possession of the pres byters of the church." Besides the evangelical and apostoli. cal works above-mentioned, Irenæus acknowledges no other to be divine. He appeals indeed often, and with high panegyric, to the writings of Clement of Rome, Polycarp, Papias, Hermas, and Justin Martyr, but he never betrays any such veneration for them, as he shews for the writings of the evangelists, and apostles. Here then we have an extraordinarily important evidence for the historical truth of the greatest part of the books of the New Testament: it is the evidence of a man who lived so near the times of the apostles, who had enjoyed an intimate intercourse with one of their immediate disciples, and was therefore as capable of investigating accurately the truth of those writings, as we are of proving the historical truth of a work attributed to Grotius or Selden: it is the evidence of a man who was well read in all the works respecting christianity, both of the The most particular passages are, lib. iii. cap. i. p. 174, and cap. ii. p. 190-192. That be makes use of such strange arguments from the four winds, &c. by way of proof, is of no consequence to us in the present enquiry. It is sufficient that he expressly asserts, that in his time no other gospels but the four abovementioned, were received among the christians. For, in his quotations he makes use of the following phrases: Paul has this in his Epistle to the Romans :-Paul shews this in his 1st, or ed Epistle to the Corinthians.' He ses these or similar forms of quotation for every one of the abovementioned Epistles. Lardner has collected proofs thereof in His Credibility of Gos. Hist. vol. ii. p. 157–169. § Lib. ii. cap. xxvii. page 155. Lib. iv. cap. xxxii. p. 270. From the first view it would appear to follow from thi passage, that the copies of the sacred books were at that time exclusively in the hands of the wachers. In fact it asserts only thus much, that they possessed the copies to be depended As for the passage referred to in the note immediately preceding, together with many other reasons, will not permit us to doubt that the generality of christians also, possessed them in abundance. See Walsh on the Use of the Holy Scriptures. See Lardner, Credibility, vol. ii. p. 178-178; who has examined with mach solidity the passages in which these writings are quoted. ANY. REV. VOL. III. I orthodox and heretics; who himself doubt ed of the truth of some books of the New Testament, and consequently must be considered in this point as totally exempt from credulity. This witness, thus qualified, appeals in the face of heretics to those writings, as to works which descended incontestibly from the apostles and evangelists. We should undoubtedly, with out hesitation, pronounce every other book, resting only on a single evi dence of such weight, to be genuine. Why then should not the testimony of this witness have its full force on the scriptures of the New Testament? Upon the introducing the evidences from works of the second century, now lost, Dr. Less has the following excellent remark: "The enemies of our religion complain often and loudly of the loss of those writings against christianity, which were composed by its ancient opponents; and some of them accuse the christians, in language by no means doubtful, of having been the cause of the destruction of these works. But they do not take into consideration, that of the writings also of the ancient friends and defenders of christianity many more have been lost than have been preserved. And that, together with those writings, many important evidences for the authenticity of the New Testament have also perished." p. 134. Among those of the second century whose works are no more, are Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, Hegesippus, Melito, bishop of Sardis, Miltiades, Theophilus of Antioch, and Pantænus. Much im. portant testimony from these has been preserved by Eusebius. Some of the works of Tatian also, of Theophilus, and of Clement have perished, from which we might have derived very decisive evidence. We are now brought to the third century. Origen is the only writer of this period whose works are come down to us, whom Dr. Less cites. Caius Romanus, Hippolytus Portuensis, Ammonius and Julius Africanus, are introduced as writers, of whose works important fragments only remain. After Origen, Eusebius is cited, but not without impropriety, as belonging to the third century. We cannot but consider the work of Dr. Less (if indeed it be not the fault of the translator) as defective in this part. Either a fuller account should have been given of the evidences to be gathered from the third century, and Gregory of Neocæsarea, Dionysius of Alexandria, and Cyprian of Carthage should have occupied the place in this part of the volume to which they are entitled, or the catalogues of Origen and of Eusebius should have been separately quoted, as of themselves sufficient to shew the sentiments of the third and fourth centuries concerning the genuineness of the books of the New Testament. A very useful summary follows, by which "the reader is enabled to perceive at one view, what were the opinions during the two first centuries and a half, in every separate book of the New Testa ment." Dr. Less then proceeds to a long and particular examination of the Revelation of St. John. He acknowledges that it is very ancient-that it was known as early as the beginning of the second century after Christ; but he considers the question, Who was the author, as incapa. ble of being satisfactorily answered. The evidence which he produces for its being the genuine work of the apostle is, how ever, stronger than that which is brought to prove the contrary. After drawing some very fair and satisfactory conclusions from what has been advanced, in favour of the credibility of the books of the New Testament, our author proceeds to prove their uncorrupted preservation. The facts and the doctrines, he observes, which are contained in the books we now have, are the same as those which were known and believed, by means of the christian writings, in the two first centuries: the very state of christianity rendered a universal corruption of these writings impossible, and not the least vestige of such a corruption can be found in history: all the ancient manuscripts that have been discovered, perfectly ac cord in all essential matters; and the old versions, and the quotations by the fa thers agree with the books we now have. The second part of this excellent work relates, as we have before observed, to the credibility of the New Testament. In es tablishing this, Dr. Less shews that the authors possess every quality that can render them credible witnesses. They were immediate witnesses, and fully com petent to relate what they saw; they were neither credulous nor fanatics; on the contrary, they were men of integrity; they relate events which happened in their own times; appeal to notorious proofs; had little to expect from their evidence, but insult and persecution; actually suffered the most cruel treat ment, and even death, in support of the truth of their narration; and under all the disadvantages of their situation, brought many of their contemporaries to the same conviction of the truth of the gospel. As a further proof of the credibility of the New Testament history, our author appeals to the wonderful establishment and propagation of christianity. It was soon diffused, he observes, through the whole world; prevailed without the assistance of any temporal power, though preached by poor, inconsiderable, unlearned, and almost unknown men; compelled to struggle with many dangerous obstacles arising from the rices or the follies of some of its early professors; opposed in the most cruel manner, by almost the whole world, and itself declaring hostility to the most pow. erful inclinations, and the ruling evil passions of the human heart. Dr. Less then proves, in opposition to Voltaire, that the old world was universally intolerant, and that christianity was the first system of religion that tolerated religious articles, different from its own. He then draws a parallel between the propagation of christianity and of the religion of Mahomet; and concludes with a summary recapitulation of the arguments produced in favour of the credi bility of the books of the New Testament. Thus have we gone through this very useful work, and endeavoured, by a faithful analysis, to convey to our readers an accurate idea of its plan and execution. From this, it will, without doubt, appear an important acquisition to theological literature, and be received with pleasure by those who have not access to the original German. It will appear also, that it is not designed to supercede Lardner's voluminous collections; but may prove a very useful companion to those who examine the more numerous witnesses produced by that learned writer. Of the merit of the translation, we cannot fairly decide, as we have not an opportunity of comparing it with the original. It has the appearance of fidelity. We suspect a few errors might be found. A glaring one occurs in p. 275; where, by a strange blunder, either of the author, or of the translator, or of both; James Nayler, the unhappy quaker in the time of Cromwell, is called Jacob Maylor. ART. VIII. The Providence of God, a Norrisian Prize Essay, by JAMES GEORGE DURHAM, A. B. of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. 8vo. pp. 38. THE object of this well-written essay, is, to prove that the doctrine of a divine providence is consonant with reason; declared in the scriptures; and confirmed by experience. If the arguments be not new, the writer has, at least, the merit of stating what has been often advanced before with much energy and effect. ART. IX. The Works, theological and miscellaneous, including some Pieces not before printed, FRANCIS BLACKBURNE, M.A. late Rector of Richmond, and Archdeacon of Cleveland; with some Account of the Life and Writings of the Author by himself, completed by his Son FRANCIS BLACKBURNE, LL. B. and illustrated ly an Appendix of original Papers. In secen-volumes 8vo. SINCE the period in which archdeacon Blackburne flourished, though many years have not elapsed, great changes have taken place in the public mind; and the controversies in which he chiefly was engaged exist no longer. The most disastrous events in the political world have excited in almost every breast, such a dread of innovation, that every attempt to reform what is acknowledged to be erroneous, or to improve what is allowed to be defective, is beheld with suspicion The fear of anarchy and afering, has made every abuse, whether evil or ecclesiastical, tolerable; and every burden, by whomsoever imposed, com. paratively light. Meetings at the Fea thers Tavern, to obtain the redress of clerical grievances, have given place to meetings to secure the lives and property of peaceful citizens, from the apprehended designs of domestic and of foreign foes, or to devise the most successful means of opposing an invading army: the question concerning confessions of faith, and subscription to articles of re ligion, no longer respects the right to impose them, or the propriety of submit ting to their authority; but the due sense of the creed which is confessed, and t |