Whatever faults may justly be attributed to the following treatise, crudeness and precipitation will scarcely be among their number; for, since its original conception first occurred to the author, more than a quarter of a century has elapsed, during the greater part of which period it has often been the subject of his thoughts, and not unfrequently of his conversation and correspondence. In the year 1830, an outline of the present work, comprising its principal arguments and inferences, was published in the Evangelical Register, a magazine which at that time circulated in the connexion of the Countess of Huntingdon; and, having been repeatedly revised, corrected, and enlarged, the result is at length laid before the public with as much accuracy and fulness as the author has been able to impart.

Its chief object is to demonstrate an important physical fact connected with the death of Christ, and to point out its relation to the principles and practice of Christianity; but, although the subjects discussed and the conclusions deduced from them are, it is hoped, of no inconsiderable value in a devotional point of view, the treatise itself is rather argumentative than sentimental, and more concerned with the foundation of evangelical religion than with its superstructure. The fact is not indeed now announced for the first time, having been more or less correctly anticipated by several pious and excellent writers during the last century; but, as in matters of such solemn import conjecture and probability are not a sufficient ground for conviction, the author has laboured to supply a demonstration of the fact, which he trusts will be found both new and satisfactory. He has accordingly been careful not to assume anything which is not generally acknowledged; and has supported every point of the argument with proofs and evidences so combined, as apparently to leave no other alternative than that which is here maintained. Should the attempt have been successful, it will furnish a fresh proof of the value of inductive reasoning; which, like a sounding-line let down into the ocean of time, has thus, from the depth of eighteen hundred years, brought up to the surface a pearl of great price.

In executing this design, the author has derived much advantage from his medical studies, whereby he has been enabled to bring forward many anatomical and physiological details which, although absolutely necessary for the demonstration, would scarcely have been within the reach of the merely theological inquirer, however in other respects able and well-informed. Some of the facts concerned in this investigation are either of such rare occurrence, or have been so seldom verified and recorded, that a few of them only could be adduced; but, as these are fully authenticated, and free from ambiguity, they are sufficient for the end in view; and, on account of the peculiar nature of the subject, it would be alike fruitless and unreasonable to demand a much greater number. He has also introduced many quotations from authors of eminence, in order that, on all points requiring positive and special information, the reader may be furnished with valuable documents; and may, perhaps, in some instances be better satisfied of the truth and pertinency of statements, by perceiving that the original writers had no concern with the argument here pursued, and could not even have conjectured the purpose to which their remarks have been applied. He takes this opportunity of recording his acknowledgments to several friends who have supplied him with useful materials; but whose names, being for the most part inserted in the treatise itself, need not now be repeated. Should the work ever reach a second edition, he shall feel much obliged by any communications tending to its further improvement, with which he may in the mean time be favoured.

He has likewise had occasion to refer very copiously to the Scriptures, both of the Old and the New Testament. In doing this, he has, at the risk of incurring some censure for tediousness and repetition, often quoted the passages at large; fearing that, unless he adopted this plan, the effect which he was anxious to produce would in many cases have been much impaired, if not wholly defeated. Few readers can, in fact, be trusted to examine and collate a mere list of biblical references, and to make that careful and intelligent use of them which is requisite for the purpose of demonstration. It will however be generally admitted that, in enouncing the truths of Scripture, no course can be so proper as to cite the words of Scripture; which in respect to beauty, energy, and perspicuity, as well as to authority, far excel all human compositions whatsoever. In quoting from the Old Testament, he has seldom departed from the text of the English Vulgate; partly, because his acquaintance with the Hebrew language is too limited to qualify him for the task of translating from it; and partly, because it is allowed on all hands that, in this portion of the Bible, the authorized version stands in little need of improvement. But, in the New Testament which, as being the code of Christianity, is the most important part of the sacred volume, and of which the original language is more easily and more commonly acquired, he has often ventured to deviate from that version, and attempted to express with greater clearness and force the sense of the apostolical writings. For practical purposes the authorized version is sufficiently correct, and frequently indeed as perfect as could be desired; but the passages are neither few nor unimportant, more especially in the epistles, wherein, as competent judges will admit, it is susceptible of improvement, both in point of accuracy and of style. Such however is the force of long custom and early association, that a modified version, even when confessedly preferable, appears to most persons, and particularly to those who are not much accustomed to critical researches, strange and repulsive. It ought at the same time to be understood that, although some of the biblical translations here introduced may serve to elucidate and confirm the peculiar views proposed in this work, none of them is essential to their demonstration; which would have been equally certain, had the common version been exclusively employed. An early section of this treatise, describing the sufferings and death of Christ, besides being a necessary foundation for the reasonings and deductions which follow, furnishes a fair specimen of such translation, as likewise of another work, in which the author has also been for many years more or less engaged; namely, a Harmony of the Four Gospels. This he hopes before long to publish, in the first instance in Greek; and afterwards, if he has reason to hope that such a performance will be acceptable to the public, in English.

Of the subsequent portions of the treatise the professed object is to propose a peculiar, and as it were physical demonstration of the great truths of the gospel, derived from internal evidence. Such however is the variety of human characters and dispositions, that to some persons its arguments may possibly appear defective, and to others superfluous, or even presumptuous. Both parties may however be reminded that the subject is encompassed with difficulties and obscurities which, as they tend to impair its legitimate influence, it is desirable to diminish or remove. Some of these, lying entirely beyond the range of the human faculties, at least in the present stage of existence, the author has intentionally left untouched; but others, depending chiefly on confusion of ideas, or the want of sufficient information, he has endeavoured to dispel. Yet, although he trusts his arguments may have some weight, even with persons of a careless or sceptical temper, he does not profess to have written a work specifically adapted to their case. He assumes, for instance, at the outset the truth and divine origin of the canonical Scriptures; but still, in the course of the subsequent disquisition, subjects these Scriptures to so close and searching an investigation, as serves fully to justify the confidence provisionally placed in them; since, had they been spurious or erroneous, such a trial would infallibly have led to their refutation. This process is, indeed, the converse of that which is often employed in mathematical works, under the appellation of the Reductio ad ahsurdum; and, supposing the reasoning to be correct, the conclusions deduced from this source are universally allowed to be valid. On the other hand, the humble and practical Christian, whose religious convictions are chiefly founded on the direct statements of the Scriptures, and on his personal experience of their happy effects when cordially embraced, will not regret to find that, by pursuing a particular course of research, the truth and wisdom of divine revelation may be illustrated to a greater extent than he might perhaps have originally expected; and that, when carefully and rationally investigated, its salutary doctrines approve themselves no less to the understanding than to the heart. To all classes of readers the author therefore respectfully commends his treatise; and, without troubling them with any further preliminary remarks, fervently hopes that, in a matter of the highest interest and importance, it may, under the divine blessing, in some degree contribute both to their satisfaction, and their advantage.