There is no appearance in those writings
that their authors had any extraordinary gift, or that they were free
from error or infirmity; St. Paul hesitated in difficult cases, and more
than once corrected himself; one of the gospel historians does not
profess to have been an eye-witness of the events described by him; the
evangelists do not agree as to the dwelling-place of Christ's parents,
nor concerning the circumstances of the crucifixion; they differ about
the woman who anointed our Lord's feet; and the fulfillment of the Old
Testament prophecy is not discernible in the New Testament history. To
the question, What is inspiration? there are two answers: _first_, That
idea of Scripture which we gather from the knowledge of it; and,
_second_, that any true doctrine of inspiration must conform to all the
ascertained facts of history or of science. The meaning of Scripture has
nothing to do with the question of inspiration, for if the word
"inspiration" were to become obsolete nothing vital would be lost, since
it is but a term of yesterday.
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