r associated with the Canonical Books.

In drawing inferences from the above sources of information, I have
endeavoured to keep closely to the rules of induction which have
conducted to such signal discoveries in Natural Philosophy, and to
refrain from accepting any inference which the Scriptural data did not
justify. The modern advances in physical science, which have shown in
what path we must proceed in order to reach a knowledge of God's works,
indicate, it may be presumed, that an analogous method is to be pursued
in order to gain a knowledge of His word. But it will, perhaps, be
said, that if the knowledge of what is revealed in Scripture be
obtainable only by means such as those which have been exemplified in
this Essay, the considerations that must be entered into are so remote
from common apprehension, that but very few can be supposed to be
endowed with capacity for understanding them. This, it must be
admitted, is actually the case, and, besides, is in conformity with the
arbitrament according to which God grants to an elected few gifts and
graces which He withholds from the many.

Yet it seems to be the will of God to vouchsafe at {122} certain times
and places, and among certain peoples, a more than ordinary measure of
knowledge; and perhaps we shall not err in believing that the prophecy
in the Book of Daniel, "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall
be increased" (xii. 4), is being fulfilled in our time and nation.
There is also a remarkable passage in the Apocalypse, which seems to
reveal that before "the time of the end" (Dan. xii. 4), the gospel in
its most comprehensive sense will be preached among all nations: "And I
saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having the [oe]onian gospel
[i.e. the gospel pertaining to the future age] to preach to those that
dwell upon the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and
people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give Him glory because
the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him who made the heaven,
and the earth, and the sea, and fountains of waters" (Rev. xiv. 6, 7).
I cannot forbear noticing the coincidence of the plain meaning of the
words of this prophecy with the views advocated in this Essay: first,
in respect to calling the gospel "[oe]onian" and thus asserting its
applicability to the future age; next, in its announcement of the
gospel in connection with the advent of "the hour of judgment;" and,
lastly, in the loud call