well refer to the effects, in proof of the truth of that religion which they profess. But it is one thing to refer to practical effects, and another to ground their faith on any transient feelings : This no man of reflec- tion can do : the other, no man of piety can forbear. Feelings may be excited by erroneous notions, as well as by those which are just : but holiness, radical and universal holiness, can be produced by Chris- tianity alone. We will appeal to all the religions that ever appeared upon the face of the earth, and ask, Whether any of them ever produced in their votaries such effects as were visible in Christ and his Apostles ? The reason is plain : It is the Spirit of God who sanctifies : and he is promised to those only who believe in Christ : and consequently, his sanctifying energy, in its full extent at least, can be found in them alone. I grant that it would be wrong to rest the truth of our religion on that ground only ; but surely it may properly be referred to, as an additional and corroborating proof of our religion. If this be not a proper test of our religion, whereby shall the superior excellency of Christianity be known ? If the Bible produce no better effects than the Koran, I do not hesitate to say that it is no better than the Koran : but if its effects be such as no other religion can pro- duce, then will those effects be, though not the only, yet a solid and important proof of our religion : and those who cannot enter into learned disquisitions about the credibility of the Scriptures, have reason to thank God that they have within themselves an evi- dence of the truth of Christianity, which the objec- tions of infidels can never set aside3. The error lies
a The author does not mean, that this is the only evidence which unlearned men have of the Divine authority of the Bible. They, as well as the learned, have other grounds for their faith. They see the provision, which the Bible makes for their restoration to happiness, to be precisely such as their necessities required. They see also, that the purity of its commands has a wonderful tendency to elevate their nature, and to produce universal happiness : and these two things form in their minds a strong internal evidence of the Divine origin of the Bible ; whilst the general and long-continued reception of that book amongst those who have spent their whole lives in investigating