man nature continue, you must carry those
brands of infamy on your character, and daily progress from bad to
worse; sinking deeper and deeper in the contempt of all intelligent
beings; and, were there no other avenger, in the remorse and despair of
your own mind, you must experience the horrors of perdition. Jesus, able
to save to the uttermost, all that come unto God by him, is your only
hope. There is none other name given under heaven among men whereby we
must be saved. If his gospel be true, you may be saved; if it is false,
you must be damned.

If you have the shadow of a doubt of the truth of the New Testament, go
over the subject again; re-read the former chapters of this book; pray
to God for light and truth; above all, read the Book again and again;
and if, in your case, as in that of one of the most famous teachers of
German Neology--De Wette--the careful study of the New Testament impels
you to rush through all the mists of doubt to the higher standpoint of a
lofty faith, and the sunshine of real religion; and if with him you can
now say, "Only this one thing I know, that in no other name is there
salvation than in the name of Jesus Christ the crucified, and that for
humanity there is nothing higher than the incarnation of Deity set
before us in him, and the kingdom of God established by him,"[154] you
may then go on with your inquiry into the divine authority of the Old
Testament. With the Master himself before you, the Author, the Inspirer,
by whom, and for whom, the prophets spake, and to whom all the
Scriptures point, you will not think of wasting time in examining
second-hand evidence; but go direct to Jesus himself. His testimony will
not be merely so much additional testimony--another candle added to the
chandelier by whose light you have perused the evidences of the
Scriptures; it will shine out on your soul as the light of the Sun of
Righteousness with healing on his wings. Every word from his lips will
awaken in your heart the voice from heaven, "_This is my beloved Son.
Hear him._" What saith Christ, then, respecting the Old Testament?

The moment you open the New Testament to make this inquiry, you are met
by a reference to the Old. "_The book of the generation of Jesus Christ,
the Son of David, the Son of Abraham_," is its formal title; and the
most cursory perusal tells you that you have taken up, not a separate
and independent work, which you can profitably peruse and understand
without much r