erpieces of infinite wisdom and
goodness. Many of the things I said about the Bible in my debate with
Dr. Berg were true; but they amounted to nothing. Dr. Berg thought they
were serious charges, and that if they were not refuted, they would
destroy the credit and power of the Book. He was mistaken. And he never
did refute them. If I were in the place of Dr. Berg, and an opponent
were to bring forward those things in proof that the Bible was not of
God, I should say, Your statements may be true, or they may be false,
and I do not care much which they are; but they are good for nothing as
disproofs of the divine origin and practical perfection of the Bible.
The Bible is all it professes to be, and it is more and better than its
greatest admirers suppose it to be, notwithstanding its numberless
traces of innocent human imperfections. The sun has spots, but they
neither disprove its value nor its divine origin. The probability is,
that the spots in the sun have their use, and would be seen, if properly
understood, to be proofs of the wisdom and goodness of the Creator. And
it is certainly plain to me, that what you regard us defects in the
Bible, are proofs both of its divine origin, and of its real perfection.

I said some things about the Bible in my debate with Dr. Berg, which, if
they had been true, would have proved that the Bible was _not_ of divine
origin. But they were not true. All these things should have been
refuted by Dr. Berg with great promptness, and refuted so thoroughly
and plainly, that every one should have been made to see and feel that
they were refuted. But they were not. Some of them were left unnoticed.
Others were handled unskilfully. The time and strength that should have
been given to them were wasted on trifles, or unwisely spent in
offensive personalities, unseasonable witticisms, or attempts at fine
speaking.

The objections of this class, which my opponent failed to answer, or
answered unsatisfactorily, we may notice further on.

In January, 1855, while over on business, I had a public debate at
Halifax, England, with Brewin Grant, a congregational minister. This, so
far as its impression on my own mind was concerned, was the most
unfortunate discussion I ever had. My opponent was the meanest and most
unprincipled or ill-principled man I ever met. In a pamphlet which he
had published, giving instructions to those who were called to defend
the Bible and Christianity against unbelievers, he