LECTURE VIII. SUCCESS TO BE EXPECTED IN EXPLAINING 1 COR. xiii. 14. Now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” PRESUMING the errors which I noticed in some former Discourses to be avoided, and the rules which I laid down in my last Discourse to be observed; presuming also that the general laws of interpretation, when alike applicable to a sacred and a profane work, are both known and attended to, and that, when not alike applicable, they are properly modified by the theological enquirer, it becomes a curious and an interesting problem to determine; first, what degree of success he may reasonably expect in his endeavours to elucidate the difficulties of Scripture; and, secondly, whether this probable degree of success be sufficient for all the necessary purposes of a Christian's faith and practice. These are the two points which are to be investigated in the present Lecture. I. Now it seems natural to imagine that success will, in theology, as in every other kind of study, be generally proportioned to the diligence and impartiality with which we make use of our opportunities and means. If, therefore, I have been right in the principles laid down for the explanation of " things hard to be understood," and if those principles were to be employed with vigour, with fidelity, and with judgement in every case, I cannot but suppose also that there would be few of the dark passages and incidents of the Bible which might not in a great measure be illustrated and vindicated by their use. Nor can it be considered as an objection of any real weight against the probability of this extensive and general success, that so many of the "hard things" of Holy Writ have, notwithstanding the repeated and laborious efforts of its advocates, remained hitherto undefended or unexplained. No doubt, learning and ability of every kind have, in almost every period of the Church, been brought to bear upon the interpretation of the Scriptures; and yet, notwithstanding these strenuous and successive attempts, there are, perhaps, many points which still remain imperfectly accounted for and understood. I admit, for the sake of argument, this fact; but I deny that it affords any absolute reason for distrust or despair with regard to our future labours; because the failures alleged, may, in many instances, be traced to a neglect or a misapplication of the only proper rules of reasoning. Misled by those vain phantoms of speculation before which the unbeliever bows, and anxious, through pride, to encounter and defeat him on his own favourite ground, theologians, as I before observed, have been too often tempted to seize the same forbidden weapons of scholastic warfare, and, as might naturally be expected, have been foiled. If men would fight hopefully and victoriously for God, they must go to no other than God's armoury for their spear and shield and we shall, in fact, find that wherever the rules I have laid down have been duly and diligently and humbly employed, they have, in general, been successfully and triumphantly employed. There are many exceptions of course. There are cases in which previous enquirers had not that knowledge of history, of antiquities, and of languages which would have enabled them to make their modes of defence effectual, and which we now possess. There are, perhaps, cases in which they had that knowledge, and yet were unsuccessful in the application of their means. But even here we have no ground for giving up the cause as hopeless. We have advantages they could not enjoy. We have all the lessons derived from the experience of the past to guide us. We have not only the accumulated stores of preceding enquirers to apply to for materials, but we have also all the mistakes they have committed, to instruct us in the errors we should avoid, and all the partial light they have diffused over the obscurity of the Bible to conduct us through the windings of the labyrinth, and increase the brightness of that torch of learning which we hold in our own hands. Throw these considerations, however, out of the question, and still I believe, and would maintain, that we have no more reason to deem every thing inexplicable which has not hitherto been explained in the spiritual, than we have to deem every thing impossible which has not hitherto been accomplished in the natural world. In sacred literature, as in profane, a discreet boldness, a patient ingenuity, a cautious modesty, and unwearied meditation directed long and exclusively to one particular subject, may, with a less learned education, a scantier stock of independent acquirements, and fewer external advantages than men in former ages possessed, yet lead the way to discoveries in these enlightened days which men in former ages found it impossible to make. The rapid, extensive, and unexpected success which, within a few years has crowned the efforts of a single and unlearned traveller in an almost hopeless field of antiquarian research, here occurs so forcibly to recollection, and forms so very favourable an illustration of the sentiments I am endeavouring to express, that I cannot forbear, however familiar, to present it to your notice once more. Look, then, to the land of Egypt, and mark what the labours of one unaided traveller have lately done. For ages Egypt was the land of historical darkness and doubt. Mystery seemed to have taken up her everlasting abode amongst her monuments, and upon her Pyramids more especially had the conjectures of learning been exhausted in vain. The recesses of one of those mighty masses had indeed long been opened to view: but, though visited, studied, and admired by a succession of the most enterprising and enlightened travellers, few seemed to indulge a hope, and not one attempted, or, at least, succeeded in attempting, to penetrate the recesses of the sister wonders. Curiosity gazed on their magnificence with a sigh, pronounced their secrets impenetrable and withdrew. Surely, if ever there was reason to be discouraged and despair, it was here. Yet we know that what the wealth, the wishes, the science and the literature of so many before him were unable to effect, has, at length, been successfully executed by the single and un |