ON THE PECULLAR EVIDENCE OF THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY, FURNISHED BY THE FOREGOING EXPLANATION OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST.

It has been the object of the former parts of this treatise to demonstrate the immediate cause and mode of the death of Christ; and the proof has chiefly consisted in showing that the explanation proposed is in exact accordance both with the laws of nature, and with all the representations made on the subject in Scripture. The design of the present section is, on the other hand, to show that the representations thus made and explained, furnish new and peculiar evidence of the truth of the Scripture, and consequently of the religion which it reveals. These representations include a circumstance which, although undoubtedly implied, is nevertheless so latent and extraordinary, that it has never yet been fully recognised; namely, that the death of Christ on the cross was induced, not as is commonly imagined, by the usual sufferings of crucifixion, but by the rupture of his heart, and the effusion of his life's blood, occasioned by his pious endurance of the divine malediction due to human depravity. This circumstance, which manifestly bears a most intimate relation to the whole circle of Christian doctrines, is found to be not only in perfect accordance, but also in necessary connexion, with all the other circumstances of the case. On many passages of Scripture it casts a new and unexpected light; and to some, which without its aid appear inexplicable, or are liable to be misunderstood, it supplies a satisfactory and useful elucidation. The argument now maintained is, that this minute and universal agreement is incompatible with delusion, imposture, or casual coincidence, and admits of no other solution than the truth of the religion to which it appertains. The several particulars of this agreement, in reference to the laws of the human body and mind, the fundamental principle of atonement, the types and prophecies of the Old Testament, and the narratives, symbols, doctrines, and precepts of the New, have already been considered at some length; but a brief recapitulation of them will here be given, in order to show their special application to the present purpose, and the irresistible evidence which results from the harmonious concurrence of the whole.

In the first place, — Mental agony, or a violent conflict between opposite and distressing emotions, naturally occasions palpitation; and, when rapidly raised to the highest degree, produces either bloody sweat, or sudden death by rupture of the heart, an event usually attended with loud cries. In the latter case, although scarcely in any other, the blood inwardly effused separates after death into its solid and liquid parts, so as to present when exposed, the appearance commonly termed blood and water. Such is precisely the view which, in the simplest form of narrative, and without note or comment, the Scripture gives of the death of Christ. In the garden of Gethsemane he was subjected for the first time to mental sufferings of overwhelming severity, which rendered his — "soul exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death;" — and, had he not received angelic succour, would apparently, without the aid of any external infliction, have proved fatal on the spot; but, having been thus seasonably counteracted, proceeded no further than to induce a bloody sweat. — "His sweat became as it were clots of blood dropping to the ground." — After a respite of some hours, during which he evinced the greatest fortitude and self-possession, these peculiar sufferings were renewed on the cross, where they again attained their highest intensity, and on this occasion were unattended with any intermission or relief. The consequence was that, after silently enduring them for three hours, he suddenly expired amidst loud and fervent exclamations, long before the outward punishment could have proved fatal; and, on his side having been afterwards pierced by a spear, — "immediately there came forth blood and water," — implying that his heart had been previously ruptured. The correspondence of the several occurrences here related to the natural order of things is sufficiently obvious; and, as amidst the wide range of possibilities many other causes and effects might have been assigned, although none of them would have possessed this necessary character, so exact and critical a correspondence between the statement and the reality, and that in reference to a transaction so singular and uncommon, must undoubtedly be regarded as a strong internal evidence of truth.

Secondly, — The doctrine of atonement, abstractedly considered, involves conditions seemingly discordant and almost incompatible, but by the scriptural account of the death of Christ is fully verified and explained. In order to reconcile the conflicting demands of justice and mercy, the malediction due to human depravity was to be diverted from its proper objects, by falling on the head of a suitable substitute. That substitute must therefore have possessed a pure and perfect human nature. The divine malediction falling on such a being must have assumed the form of a partial and temporary abandonment, and have occasioned intense mental agony ending in rupture of the heart, the extreme limit of meritorious endurance. All this is accordingly represented in Scripture, which not only affirms the general principle of atonement, but also exhibits its fulfilment. Had the Scripture announced pardon for sin without providing satisfaction to divine justice, it would, by violating the moral law, have forfeited its title to inspiration; but, by realizing all the conditions of atonement, fully establishes its claim. Several elements of the process, being spiritual and invisible, could be ascertained only by competent testimony, or by external signs and results; and both are therefore liberally supplied. The purity of Christ's human nature was announced by an angel before his conception, and ascribed to its only possible cause, the special interposition of the Holy Spirit; but it was also practically demonstrated by his surmounting every trial and temptation to which he could be exposed, and was either directly or indirectly acknowledged both by his enemies and by the Deity. That he voluntarily submitted to divine abandonment in order to make atonement for the sins of the world, was distinctly predicted by the prophets, and declared by himself; but it was also proved, as has now been shown, by the natural and destructive effects of the malediction on his body and mind, namely, by his agony and bloody sweat at Gethsemane, by his premature and sudden death on the cross, and by the effusion of blood and water which ensued on his side being afterwards pierced with a spear. The prominence thus given to the principle of atonement, and the critical agreement with that principle of the physical facts described as its results, furnish therefore a peculiar and incontestable evidence of the veracity and divine origin of the Scriptures.

Thirdly, — The numerous types and prophecies of Scripture relating to this momentous event, when separately contemplated, present difficulties and obscurities so great, and seemingly so insurmountable, that nothing but truth can account for their original introduction, and ultimate fulfilment. Of this transaction, all preceding religious ceremonies were merely shadows and representations. A covenant of reconciliation freely granted by God to fallen man, and ratified by an atoning sacrifice, was the common object which they attested and prefigured, but could not realize. The insufficiency of the ancient sacrifices for their professed purpose was proved by their intrinsic worthlessness, and obvious inability to purify the conscience, and hence by their endless repetition. They served, however, to maintain a perpetual record of the demerit of sin, to intimate the need of expiation, and to define the singular and almost inconceivable combination of circumstances required in the one great and perfect sacrifice, by which they were at length to be for ever superseded. A true atoning sacrifice implied that the divine malediction due to sin was vicariously endured by a suitable victim. As endured by Christ, it necessarily produced rupture of the heart, and effusion of the lifers blood. To indicate this reality, the life's blood of animal victims was from the earliest period made an indispensable condition of ceremonial atonement; and it was distinctly announced that — '*the sacrifices of God are a broken and a contrite heart." — For the same reason it was ordained that Christ should die the death of the cross, decreed by the Jewish Sanhedrim, but executed by a Gentile magistrate; and yet that, contrary to the usual custom in Judea, none of his bones should be broken, an exception which implied his premature dissolution on the same day; because, under all the circumstances of the case, this was the only mode of death which combined the appearance with the reality of that malediction, whereof suspension on a tree was the appointed emblem, and the Jewish hierarchy were the authorized ministers. But the punishment of crucifixion during life was not in use amongst the people of Israel; and it was therefore predicted that at the time of the Saviour's death the tribe of Judah, of which he was a member, should be subject to the Roman empire. The power of blessing and cursing was placed exclusively in the hands of the Aaronic priesthood; and it was consequently foretold that in accomplishing the death of Christ they would, although such an alliance was repugnant to their national customs and prejudices, be associated with Gentiles. His death was however occasioned, not by the ordinary sufferings of the cross, but by the divine malediction itself, through the medium of agony of mind, and rupture of the heart. A slow and lingering punishment was therefore selected, as the only one suitable for the purpose, and it was predicted that he would pour forth his life's blood unto death. This announcement determined the precise mode in which his life was to be sacrificed; since in no other mode could the punishment of the cross, which conventionally denoted malediction, have furnished that effusion of life's blood which in this case was its natural result, and without which the Scripture declared there could be no discharge of sin. It was moreover requisite that this result should be publicly demonstrated; and it was accordingly predicted, — "They shall look on him whom they pierced;" — a prophecy literally accomplished by the spear of the Roman soldier after the death of Christ, but virtually by the sin of the world, which in this very manner had proved its cause. The effusion of blood and water which followed the wound formed an essential part of the demonstration, and was therefore prefigured by the employment of blood and water as the outward seal of the first covenant; wherein the life's blood of a clean and unoffending animal, mixed with pure and running water, faintly portrayed the stupendous reality which constituted the seal of the second. The extreme complication and singularity of these conditions, which it is evident could never occur more than once, and which it seemed almost impossible should ever occur at all, their express prediction so many ages before the event, and their exact accomplishment when the proper time arrived, triumphantly prove the truth and divine origin of the religious dispensation w^hereof they form a part; a dispensation as much beyond the wisdom of men to contrive, as it was beyond their power either to execute, or to prevent.

Fourthly, — A similar conclusion results from the fact, that the same explanation of the death of Christ which is thus shown to be in perfect harmony with the laws of the human body and mind, with the fundamental doctrine of atonement, and with the types and prophecies of the Old Testament, is also suggested by the evangelical narratives of the New, although unnoticed, and seemingly unperceived by the evangelists themselves. Until this explanation is applied, their account of the event appears strange and mysterious. That a person in the prime of life and vigour should have died in six hours, under a punishment which rarely proved fatal in less than three days, that he should have previously sweated blood, and that, on his side being afterwards pierced by a spear, there should immediately have issued blood and water, are circumstances which savour of the marvellous, and which those inclined to cavil at revelation might reject as incredible. This very narrative is, nevertheless, found on inquiry to contain the elements of an explanation which, although entirely satisfactory, is yet so latent, that it has never hitherto been generally acknowledged, and which it is manifest the sacred writers had neither the disposition nor the capacity to invent. Although doubtless endued with good natural abilities, they were, with one exception, uneducated men, selected from the lower classes of society to be witnesses of occurrences, some of which they were unable at the time fully to comprehend. Luke, as a physician, had in this respect an advantage over his brethren, and it was perhaps owing to this peculiarity that he alone mentions the bloody sweat of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane; but, in his brief account of the Saviour's death there is no sign of his having discerned its immediate cause, and the subsequent effusion of blood and water, which was not less deserving of notice, he totally omits. At that period, indeed, physiological science was not sufficiently advanced to enable him to form a correct judgment on the subject; yet the same science, in its more improved state at the present day, recognises in these simple reports the distinct but unobtrusive traces of natural actions, remarkable for the singularity of their character and the rarity of their occurrence, by means of which every difficulty is removed, and the whole transaction is completely elucidated. That amidst a multitude of possible alternatives, the narratives of the four evangelists, although differing from each other on several minor points, should exactly agree in supplying the materials of such an explanation, which it is probable the writers themselves did not clearly understand, is a most extraordinary coincidence, which admits of no other solution than the truth of the narratives, and the reality of the events which they describe.

But, besides their characteristic reports of the death of Christ, three of the evangelists give similar accounts of two symbolical actions intimately connected with that event, namely, the institution of the Lord's Supper, and the miraculous rending of the veil in the temple during the crucifixion. These actions seem to have been expressly designed by the Deity to form a congenial supplement to the types and prophecies of the Old Testament, and to prove that the whole emblematical system exhibited in the Scripture had the same divine author, and the same ultimate object. The two essential circumstances in the death of Christ which rendered it effectual as an atoning sacrifice, were the rupture of his heart, and the effusion of his life's blood; and these were precisely the circumstances which he commanded his disciples symbolically to represent, when occasionally commemorating that sacrifice by a sacred and social repast, consisting of bread broken, and of wine poured out. The peculiar importance of these circumstances was clearly expressed by him, when founding this simple but significant rite after celebrating the paschal supper with the apostles, on the evening immediately preceding his death; for, on giving them the bread he said, — "Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me;" — and, on presenting the wine, — "This cup [is] the new covenant by my blood, which [is] shed for you [and] for many, for the discharge of sins. Do this, whenever ye drink of it, in remembrance of me." — The same circumstances were publicly signalized in the same sense on the following day by a remarkable interposition of the Deity himself. The incompetency of the annual sin-offering, as well as of all the other sacrifices under the Mosaic law, to accomplish their ostensible purpose of atonement, was intimated by the mysterious veil, which during the whole of that dispensation excluded its members on pain of death from the inner sanctuary of the tabernacle, or temple, representing the beatific presence of God. But the efficacy of the blood of Christ to procure complete reconciliation was practically acknowledged, at the very moment when owing to the rupture of his heart it was actually poured out, by the supernatural rending of the veil in the temple from the top to the bottom, implying that a living, or acceptable way of access to the divine presence was then for the first time opened, to all who are willing to avail themselves of so inestimable a benefit. The testimony respecting the immediate cause and mode of the death of Christ which by means of these two symbols is thus attributed to the Saviour, and to the Deity, is so direct and specific, so exactly in harmony with all the other alleged facts of the case, as well as with the explanation deducible from them, and so utterly incompatible with chance or imposture, that it cannot fail to be regarded as a distinct and decisive proof of the truth and divine origin of those Scriptures, whereof it forms so remarkable a feature.

Fifthly, — In the doctrinal parts of the New Testament, Christ is represented as having suffered the death of the cross, and at the same time all the blessings of salvation are ascribed to his blood. — "He became obedient to death, even the death of the cross, . . . . . made peace by the blood of his cross, and redeemed us from the curse of the law, by being cursed on our behalf; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." — Statements of this kind frequently repeated, and strongly enforced, are at first sight not free from obscurity; for the ordinary death of the cross does not furnish the requisite effusion of blood, neither does blood abstractedly considered possess the requisite value. But for practical purposes a general comprehension of the subject is sufficient; and, therefore, in most of these cases the connexion between the means and the end is assumed by the Scripture, and not improperly admitted by the majority of Christians. Yet, a clear explanation, besides being manifestly conformable to the divine intentions, is highly desirable, not only to remove objections, but also because it may reasonably be expected that evangelical doctrines will be more efficacious in proportion as they are better understood. The demonstration now given of the immediate cause and mode of the death of Christ answer& this purpose, and shows that the remarkable statements made in Scripture respecting that cardinal event, instead of being referrible, as some have supposed, to poetical or figurative language,, are strictly accurate and true, and that the more closely they are scrutinized the more weighty and affecting do they appear. As the natural expression and result of superlative moral excellence, perfect obedience towards God, unbounded benevolence towards man, and voluntary endurance of the malediction due to human depravity, the life's blood of Christ flowing from a heart ruptured by an agony of pious grief, was at once the blood of atonement, and the blood of the cross. Viewed in this connexion, it is evidently well adapted to fulfil all the important functions assigned to it. As the blood of propitiation, it renders satisfaction to divine justice, and expiates the sins of the world. As the blood of the new covenant, it is the medium whereby God reconciles mankind to himself, not imputing to them their transgressions. As the blood of sprinkling, it purifies the conscience from dead works, to serve the living God. As the blood of redemption, it ransoms those who claim its protection from the primeval curse, and the consequent bondage of Satan, sin, and death, and exalts them to the glorious liberty of the children of God. The blood of Christ is thus perceived to be the only effectual instrument of conversion and sanctification. Had mankind retained their original innocence, the ordinary manifestations of the character of God, in his works of nature and providence, would have been sufficient to maintain them in an undeviating course of piety and virtue; but, after they had fallen from their integrity, a far more impressive display of the divine character became necessary for their moral regeneration; and this is supplied by the plan ox salvation revealed in Scripture, and of which the blood of Christ is the natural emblem and expression. Ordained by the Father, provided by the Son, and applied by the Spirit, this blood exhibits the triune Deity engaged in the work of human restoration. Wisdom and power make the necessary arrangements, and, without violating in the slightest degree the laws of rectitude and order, overcome difficulties apparently invincible, and realize conditions which might have been supposed unattainable. Mercy and justice combine to prove that God is just, even in justifying the guilty, on their cordially embracing the covenant of reconciliation. Transfused as it were from the heart of Christ to that of the convert, this blood dissolves its enmity, heals its barrenness, and imbues it with those filial sentiments of veneration, gratitude, and love towards a reconciled God and father, which constitute the germ of the regenerate character, and the root of evangelical religion. A method of instruction which provides ample information of a general nature for all, but at the same time reserves for those who more deeply investigate the subject the means of obtaining still clearer views of the fundamental truths of the gospel, by which their reality and mutual relation are rendered more manifest and more impressive, bears unequivocal marks of divine origin and design. The natural connexion which is thus discovered to exist between the death of Christ on the cross, and its various applications in Scripture to doctrinal and practical purposes, presents a minute consistency, an adaptation of means to ends, and a conformity with the principles of morality, and the constitution of the human mind, which furnish a peculiar and undeniable evidence of truth. And, if either of the evidences here adduced would separately be sufficient for the purpose of demonstration, the conclusion resulting from the harmonious concurrence of the whole of them to the same end can be none other than that expressed in the words of the apostle Paul, — "It is an infallible declaration, and worthy of universal acceptance, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, and to cancel sin, by the sacrifice of himself."