spute
which might arise on these points would be confined within very narrow
limits, and would moreover be of such a character, as could not be
avoided, unless God were to make a revelation afresh in every age, and we
may add, perhaps, to every individual,--a supposition which would be
contrary to analogy, and in the highest degree improbable. Thus far
there is no practical difficulty.

Is it, however, necessary to the idea of a recorded revelation that the
exact words, neither _more nor less_, as spoken by God, or as expressing
ideas which He has called up in the mind of the person to whom He has
revealed Himself, should be written down? A recorded revelation, we must
remember, is designed chiefly for the benefit of future generations, and
it may therefore very properly leave out much which was only of passing
interest. God might have revealed many things to Abraham, which were
highly important for him to know, but in which we may have no interest.
We can easily see then that, in any record which God might authorize,
such things would very probably be omitted. Thus far again there is no
practical difficulty.

To proceed a step further. Is there any reason to expect that, in a
record of a revelation, the original words, either as spoken by God, or
as expressive of the ideas which He had called up in the mind of the
recipient, might be in any decree _altered_?--and, would every alteration
necessarily make the record less a revelation from God than it was
before? These are questions which we shall endeavour to answer.

It may be observed, in the first place, that the same train of thought
which applies to an original revelation from God, applies also, in its
main points, to the record of it. Both in the one case, and the other,
it appears reasonable to expect that God would not, to a greater extent
than was absolutely necessary, transcend or interfere with those natural
powers in man which He had Himself implanted. As the giving of a
revelation would, as already shewn, be conformed in a great degree to the
usual conditions under which knowledge is imparted, so also, it seems
reasonable to expect that the record of a revelation would as far as
possible be conformed to the usual conditions under which knowledge is
recorded.

In looking at the conditions under which a revelation must be recorded,
it is obvious that the difference of languages, which prevails in this
world, presents an insuperable obstacle to an e