The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-07-04 00:00:00

POLICE COURT -YESTERDAY

(BEFORE MR,. MANSFIELD)
STABBING BY A MAN OF COLOUR.--A coloured seaman,
named James Stones, boatswain of the North American, now
lying in the Wellington Dock, was placed at the bar,
charged with stabbing one of his messmates named Charles
Thomas. It appeared that the crew had not long been at
work on Thursday morning, when a dispute took place
between the prisoner and another of the men. The corn-
ptainant interfered, observing that the other man was no
match for the prisoner. Thereupon the prisoner drew his
knife and stabbed the complainant near the shoulder. The
wound, fortunately, was not of a dangerous character. lie
was ordered to pay a fine of £5, or in default, two months'
impr;sonment.

2%tuoGLlNG.—Alexander Wilson, master of the ship
James Lumsien, was fined £3 13s, for attempting to smuggle
a quantity of cigars and tobacco.

(BEFORE ME. F. A. HAMILTON.)
EMBEZZLEMENT.--A man named John Davis, who was
employed by Mr. Charles Every, tailor, 21, Basnett-street,
as collector, was charged by him with embezzling the sum
of £2 10s. It appeared that he had received the money,
being the amount of an account, from Mr. Jones, clothier,
of Scotland-road, and, not making any return of it, the
account was again sent in to Mr. Jones, The prison( r
admitted having received the money, and that, having by
some mischance lost it, he was unwilling to mention the
circumstance to his employer. Mr. Every said he believed
it was the first offence committed by the prisoner, and that
he was, therefore, unwilling to press bard upon him, He
was remanded for seven days for punishment.

A TASTE FOR PAINTINGS.--A woman—named Sarah
Parker, who carried a fine child in her arms, was charged
with stealing an oil-painting from Wesibrook's public-
house, Ch 104-street, on Wednesday. It appeared that the
prisoner was waiting, on the day in question, for a consider-
able time in the house, to receive, as she said, from a ship-
ping maser named Parker, a weekly allowance for her
child, and that, when she was coming down stairs, the
painting fell from her clothes, She was committed for a
month.

CHARGE OF BIGAMY AGAINST A SAILOR.—John Leah, a
sailer, was brought up on remand, charged with bigamy.
He was married on the 13th of May, 1851, at Davinhana
church Cheshire, to Ann Robinson ; but, unhappily, she
was not long true to her vow of constancy, for, on the day
after the marriage she deserted his bed and board, and only
returned in a short time to rob him of his clothes Under
those circumstances the prisoner thought he might lawfull7
again try his luck in the lottery, and he drew Rosanna
Humphreys, to whom he was married in Liverpool a short
time since. He was defended by Mr. Black. The magis-
trate considered that no jury would convict in the case, and
accordingly discharged the prisoner.

The Bank of England made no alteration in the rate
of discount at yesterday's meeting.
A public meeting of the inhabitants of Montrose was held
on Wednesday for theliereetion of a monument to Joseph
flume in his native town, representedsby him in Parliament
for twenty-five years.
NEW LINE OF STEAMERS TO MONTREAL.-A line of
first class steamers is about to be established by Messrs.
Temperless, Carter, and Darke, direct from London to
Montreal. The Chester, the first ship of the line, will
sail on the 23rd instant.

MA.CNAUGHT ON INSPIRATION

From the Westminster Review.

Divines of the Gaussen and Bickersteth school have
done all they could to ruin the cause of the Bible, and to
imperil the very existence of Christianity. yheir motto
has been—all or none. Every word in the Bible is abso.
lute truth, or it is utterly worthless as an authority : a
Revelation is not to be questioned in any of its parts, and
in the case of an infallible writing, even contradictions
must be accepted as equally true. When the alternatives
have been so sharply stated, there has seemed a necessity.
either of abdicating the functions of the reason which
God has given to man,, or of abandoning altogether, as
deceptive and misleading. the " Book of books." Yet it
has; undoubtedly informed and guided many generations
for good ; around it cling, with almost all of us, many
tender memories ; it has searched the very inward life of
many heart s,—has aroused many noble purposes,—has
supported the feeble under many sorrows; and concern-
ing it there lingers, even when the coldest and most
critical of those who have been brought up in a land
where it is worshipped, many amiable prejudices, if not
heartfelt and deep impressions of respect.
When geologians, astronomers, and natural historians,
have made assaults on the infallibility of the Mosaic
record of the Creation, of the Noachian deluge, of the ass
speaking with man's voice, of the sign on the sun dial of
Ahaz—when chronologers have animadverted on contra.
dictory and impossible periods, and other observers have
pointed out internal discrepancies in Old Testament
histories and in the account of Evangelists, the
maintainers of plenary inspiration have been able only to
reply with their alternative. But another school of con-
siderable pretension to acumen has come to the rescue.
Sophists, rather than divines, they have chuckled over a
verbal distinction, and have thought that they had found
in it the solution of a grave theological question. Arch-
bishop Whately, * * * * discovered that the Scriptures
were not intended to deliver geological, astronomical, or
any other scientific truth, they might even on such sub-
jects declare errpr ; but they were intendel to teach
religious truth, and in that department their revelations
are to be received as infallible. The insufficiency of this
solution has been felt by all minds but those which mis-
take puzzle for satisfaction ; for the range of the religious
teaching of the Bible is not thereby defined, nor can it he
distinctly parted off from the conterminous regions of
morals and of mundane facts. Especially if the religious
teaching of the Bible include its morality, it is here that
it is most inconsistent with itself. And with respect to
its declarations concerning things presumed to lie
beyond human sight and experience, little reliance
can be placed upon statements incapable of verification
on the part of witnesses, who, where their testimony can
be checked, are found ignorant, defective, simple, preju-
diced, and inconsistent. Meanwhile, biblical criticism
has been continually sharpening the point of the objections
to any theory of infallible inspiration of Scripture ; and,
what is more, they have been laid before the popular
understanding in an intelligible form. The discussion of
scriptural difficulties is not now an exercitation exclu-
sively for scholars; and the reconcilement. if it be
possible, of the errors to be met with in the Bible with a
just and reverent estimation of it, is a problem in which
multitudes of thoughtful lay—people, and not a few
ministers only, now feel the deepest interest.
To the solution of this problem, the Rev. John Mae-
naught,* a clergyman beneficed in the established church,
addresses himself, in a work distinguished by a fearless
investigation of truth, an uncompromising hostility to
deception and make-believe, a sincere worship of all
which is holy and good—distinguished likewise by clear-
ness of conception, closeness of argument, purity of
expression, and completeness of arrangement. And
unless intolerance and superstition shall succeed in
smothering the work which we proceed further to notice,
it is one which will exercise a wide influence, one which
will give form and substance to thoughts which have been
floating vaguely in many men's minds ; one which will
supply a rallying point, and become in lieu of a creed to
those who are dissatisfied with traditional and untenable
theories respecting inspiration.
"The object of this Essay is to be destructive of prevailing
errors ; to be constructive of a true doctrine of inspiration; to up-
hold the highest reasonab e authority for Holy Writ ; and to give
ease and security in Christian faith, to all piously and honestly
disposed mincs."—Preface.

In the outset of the " destructive " part of his undertak-
ing, that is, the pulling down the theory of the infallible
inspiration of Scripture, Mr. Macnaught premise.:, that
although fallibility admits of degrees, infallibility admits
of none, and a few well-chosen examples of inaccuracies
and discrepancies will be sufficient to destroy the dogma
of the infallibility of Scripture. These examples the
author prefers to select from the well-known pages of the
New Testament, and rather from the class of evident
internal contradictions, than from scientific objections.
He does not open any unnecessary questions respecting
the probable authorship of the four gospels, but contents
himself with pointing out the impossibility of reconciling,
under any hypothesis of absolute truth, the conflicting
genealogies of Matthew and Luke, the conflicting accounts
oftthe residence of the holy family, the impracticability
of interpolating the flight into Egypt into the rest of the
history, the occurrence of misquotation from the Old
Testament, as when "Jeremy the prophet " is substituted
for Zechariah (Matt. xxvii. 9). Hundreds of other
instances, indeed, might have been adduced, and the
details have been more forcibly pressed, than even our
author has pressed them, and,

•
" In vast numbers of cases, alternative questions may be pro-
posed.—Did 23,10) die in the plague, or was it 24 000? Was the
Saviour crucified t nine in the morn ng, or was he still on trial at
mid-d ty ? Did Judas buy the Acsldama, or were the chief pries's
its purchasers ? Did the cock crow once before Peter's two last
denials, and is Mark right, or did the e,ck not crow at all till af•er
Peter's three denials, and is Maik wrong? Alternative questions
may thus be readily framed by the score ; and whichever alterna-
tive the reader accepts, the Bible alike denies Its own infallibility.
In nil such alternative questions, the conviction on near mind is,
that one or other of the inspired penmen was, in each case, mis-
taken; and, on whichever side tha error may have been, the
supposed infallibility of the Bible is equally disproved."—p. 52.
There are expedients, indeed, by which it is endeavoured
to reconcile differences, and to explain away apparent
error; but

"For ourselves, we have endured too much bitter anguish in this
to doubt that the tins itisfrictory apologies of well-meaning
Christians, whose wish it is to defend what they suppose to he
'the faith,' ha e repelled many an anxious inquirer, and driven
many an earnest heart into the bleak inhospitalities of unbelief.
Hut truth is v rily great; and although the popular mind—alike of
believers on the one side, and of unbelievers on the other—is still
far removed from logical and true views on the grand subject of
inspiration, yet there has been progress in the right direc-
tion."—p. 53.

Then we come to the admissions of some modern then.
logians, and to the palliative suggested by Whately and
others, upon which it is observed—
" The 'learned few' may he able to perceive the ni a distinctions
between the religious, and therefore infallible sections of the
as contrasted with its non-religious, and therefore fallible sect ons
or meanings; but the unlearned many will ture4 not be able to
perceive distinctly these shades of difference.

—„.
" If, on the ground of the,e recogni.ed and palpable errors in the
science, history, and morality of Scripture. our bishops had said
clearly and intelligibly, that the Bible was, however excellent, yet a
fallible hook, we should have admired their clearsightedness and
their courage even more so than we now do; but, as it is, our eccle-
siastical rulers seem to confess a great part of ;he truth, and then to
stop short, and suddenly uphold the idea of religious infallibility
in a fallible b00k.... For ourselves, we, as part of the unlearned
many, are ready to exclaim—Oh ! enviable logical perception, never
to c refound morality with religion ! and never to doubt the
mysteries of the faith, whi st all the narratives of facts on which
those mysteries are based, are avowedly open to criticism and die.
belief."—pp. 64-5.

As an instance, among others, of error in the Bible,
even in matters of religion, may be alleged the contradic-
tion between the Old and New Testaments on the subject
of Immortality and a Resurrection. The passages from
the Psalms, and from Job, which have been held by some
to point to a resurrection, are acknowledged by scholars
to have reference to the Divine interposition in this life;
whereas the despairing expressions in such places as Ps.
vi. 5, and Ps. lxxxviii. 10-12, "if they had been found in
Aristotle, instead of in the Hagiographa," would have been
taken as indubitable denials of the immortality of the
soul. The conduct of Hezekiah, under the immediate
prospect of death, together with the subsequent descrip-
tion of what his feelings had been, while ho esteemed it
imminent, further show unmistakeably, that dissolution
was regarded by the most pious of the Hebrews, before
the era of the Captivity, as the end of man, On the
other hand—

"It is quite need'ess to prove. by quotation that the New Testa-
mint scriptures con radict these sombre vi .1% sof death ; they con,
fessedly teach the immortality of the s ul. and the resurrectiol of a
glorified, spirittial body. Both these doctrines cannot be true.
Either the despairing doctrine of annihilation must be true, arid the
hopeful thought of a better world wrong; or the doctrine of immor-
tality must be true. and the thought of annihilation false. Wh,ch-
ever alternative is chosen. Vie not on of the Bible beine an lufalllble
teacher, even of religion, is alike contravened by Scripture Itself."-
1). 73.

By such examples we are brought, at the close of the first
book of the work, to the conclusion that, whatever else
may be the proper meaning of inspiration, as applied to
the scriptures, it cannot, consistently with facts, mean
suggestion of infallible teaching, either with respect to
science, history, morality, or religion.
In the ensuinc, book are reviewed the reasons which
may be alleged for expecting an inspirational infallibility
in the Bible; the circular nature of the argument from
miracles is pointed out, and the inference from the pro-
phetic inspiration is turned aside by the reflection that,
on the evidence or Scripture itself, the prophetic afflatus
was occasional, not constant. There are, elsewhere,
some exceedingly acute observations on the conditional
character of the Scripture prophecies. Then follows an
examination of canonical authority, and of the vouchers
for the infallibility of the Old Testament, which are pre-
sumed to be found in the New. We must be pardoned for
another extract from the conclusion of the second book.
" We have seen that the authority sad to be attributed to Scrip-
ture I,y Jesus, cannot be understood as implying the infallibility of
Holy Writ; and that, if it cou'd, we s"ould still need some proot,
that we had an infallible record of what Jesus bad said.
" We have seen that the amazing excellence of the Bible no more
p oyes it infallible, than similar excellence proves anytbinz else, In
which that excellence resid:s, to be tree from all error and imper-
fection.

the 11,story of the Can.prcving
`° We have seen, that instead cf
the Bible infallible, that history itself needs no investization. if
indeed it be not hopelessly da k ; so that it is rather the goodness
and approved excellence of the Oli and New Testaments which
which
warranasst oures us of their ito t 9 heirspiratai con.nonicity, than their canonicity
promises of inspiration
` We have seen that our Lord's several
may b •—if indeed we should not say must be—so Interpreted a
wholly to exude the element of infallibility from the idea of
in spiration. .. • .
.•... And, yet avain, we have seen that there is nothing in the
idea ofinspiration itse'f which renders it incompatible for errors to
exist In a person or in a book in which a measure of the Spirit of
God is i ;dwelling.....
" We have for ourselves at le,st exercised the ghost of infallibility
from the 13,b'e ; but is that volume therefore become profitless in
our eyes? Far otherwise. We value it, not bee ruse of the spurious
tinsel with which men had surrounded it, but for the real and
genuine gold which the Heavenly Father has placed therein.
" If we revere and study all the so-called uninspir,d books which
we de,m wise and good, though fallible, why because we have
abandoned an untenable and unreasonable notion of its infallibility,

* "The Doctrine of Inspiration: being sn Enquiry concerning
the Infallibility, Inspiration, and Authority of Holy Writ.' By the
Rev. John Macnaucht, M.A., Oxon, Incumbent of St. Chrysostom's
Church Evertonp Liverpool. London: Longman And Co. 1856,

should we lose one jot of veneration for that best and holiest
book, the Bible, to which many, if not all, of the greatest and wisest
men in modern times at least, have agreed in affixing the glorious
epithet ' inspired ? '"7pp. 164, ff.

Excellently well —wror;ght out is the definition of
"inspiration." elicited from the scriptural usage of terms
cognate with it, and from the application of it in Christian
literature. The definition itself is given as, that action of
the Divine Spirit by which, apart from any idea of infallibi-
lity, all that is good in man, beast, or matter, is originated
and sustained.—p. 196.
The proper authority of Scripture is then examined,
and the maxim of St. Paul, " prove all things • hold fast
that which is good," is shown to be applicable to Holy
Writ itself, inasmuch as it is a mixed material.
' In the concluding part of his work, Mr. Macnaught has
thought it advisable to provide against some objections
to his theory, which may be drawn from its supposed
dogmatical and ecclesiastical consequences. Very few
professional divines have the courage to accept the truth,
until they have cautiouslyascertained that the corollaries
derivable from it will involve nothing dangerous to their
system, or their position. Perhaps, therefore, Mr.
Macnaught has acted wisely in endeavouring to anticipate
the difficulties which may arise to him from certain
quarters. Nevertheless, in so doing he seems to have
proceeded rather upon the suggestions of friends, than
upon his own unbiassed judgment ; and the execution of
this portion, with respect to the influence of his view of
inspiration on existing dogmatical systems, is ;not alto..
gether successful. We cannot think that Book v. Chap.
1, sec. 2, will be esteemed satisfactory by those whom it
is intended to conciliate. There are many who would
willingly goad Mr. Macnaught into a profession of belief
in order to entangle him in the formularies of the Church
to which he belongs ; but there is no authority, ecclesias-
tical or civil, in this realm, whose questions, as to his
internal faith, a person in Mr. Macnaught's position is
bound to answer. There are tribunals before which the
writings of ecclesiastics may be tried, and * * but
he is not obliged to accept or to deny for himself other
men's inferences. Meanwhile, we observe with satisfac-
tion that there is a growing band of liberal theologians
in the English Church—Milman, Hampden, Wilson,
Jowett, Williams, Macnaught, of whom the last has
spoken more clearly and boldly than any who have pre-
ceded him. It is natural that such men should be bound
by many ties of affection to the communion in which they
have been brought up; that they should be unwilling to
surrender official positions; that they should hope, by
remaining where they are, to exercise an effectual influence
in the cause of truth, and to liberalise a great national
institution. Whether or not there is a likelihood that
such hopes can be realised, we are not prepared to dis-
cuss. But from whatever quarter the movement towards
it originates, by whatever influences it is advanced, there
is no exaveration in saying that the clear renunciation
of the doctrine of the inspirational infallibility of Scrip- ,
ture will have consequences, not upon a single Church,
but upon Christianity at large, as important as the
Protestant denial of the infallibility of the Pope. Creeds
can at most remain only as probable statements, when it
shall be distinctly apprehended that biblical authority
does not imply absolute truth; and articles may, without
difficulty, be accepted as " agreeable to the Word of God "
—that is, to the Bible—as fair exponents of it, although
confessed to contain, as that does, truth and error in
every possible relative admixture. When it shall be
acknowledged that those, like this, mingled together
closely, if not undistinguishably—self-evident axioms with
unfounded hypotheses, certitudes with probabilities, plain
propositions with allegories, metaphors, and ambiguities,
—they will wither, dry up, and be cast aside as useless;
churches will cease to quarrel about that s hioh they no
longer regard as indubitably true ; and Christianity will
be enabled, thenceforward, unencumbered, to make its
final essay upon the evil of the world, as a moral power.
We should recommend those who still think that they
can maintain the position of the infallibility of Scripture,
to obtain, if they can, a little book published at San Fran-
cisco, entitled "The Evidences against Christianity."'
Scriptural discrepancies, contradictions, and difficulties
collected from various sources are therein very cleverly
put together. But the result is not evidence against
Christianity, unless the defenders of Christianity are
content that it should stand or fall with the truth of the
letter of the Bible in all its parts. If the accounts are
correct which roach this country concerning the state of
society in California, we fear that the publication of this
little book, unaccompanied with any moral warning, may
be productive of immediate evil. An attempt should at
least have been made to place the moral obligations of
man on a firm basis ; and gold seekers, gamblers, and
ruffians might have been reminded that, more than any
scriptural declarations, they themselves render probable
the coming of a retribution in the world to come, for it
would not be conceivable that such as they should not
ultimately, here or hereafter, receive their deserts.

* " The Evidences against Christianity." By John S. Bitten.
San Francisco. 1858.

COUNTY MAGISTRATES' COU aT --ESTERDAY

The county mazistrates held a court in their office, Clay-
ton-square, at twelve o'clock yesterday. Capt. Aspinall and
Messrs Campbell and Chaloner were on the bench.

Postponed from This Day to Thursday. the 10th inst., at 3 o'clock.
FOR SALE BY AUCTION, On Thursday next,
the 10th 'nut., at Three o'clock, at the Brokers' sale-
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Barque PRINCESS ALICE, 603 tons o.st., 684 tons
N.Y. • length 129 feet 2-10ths, breadth 28 feet 2-10ths.
depth 21 feet 8-101 s, butt at Quebec in 1815, originally classed A 1
for five years, and continued two years; in 18;1 she was specially
surveyed and classediA 1 for Ave years, had a thorough overhaul in
Dec., 1854, rigging stPlPped, new nii7en mast and b:>wsprit, ad the iron
work *bon: the mast and spars refitted, and in 1855 was yellow
metalled and crulked a

for any
( UNA

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launched in
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AUCTION, on Th.i4rsclay next

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he Broker's

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