True American. [volume] (Steubenville [Ohio]) 1855-1861, 1855-12-12
The Credulity of Infdelity.

In a sermon by Rev. G. F. Wiswell,
il the last number of The National Preach
er, il is conclusively shown, that 'in6del-
ily is far more creduous than chrlstiani-
ty-that The man who rejects revealed re-
ligiorfmust believe far more than the
Christian-that the difficulties of infdel-
ily are far more difficult, and e-fables
of in6delily far more fabulous, than any
thing within the compass of christian doc
trine.'
The following extract is worthy Of a
place here.-W. NJ Protestant.
we claim that God not only could
make, but has made revelation of his
will, and that here in the Book we have
it. And affirm that next 10 The difficult
ty of explaining away the evidences of
God himself, from the surface and the
mysterious deeps Of the universe-next
10 this difficulty is that of accounting for
the origin and preservation from age to
age of this wonderful book, on the sup
position that il is not divine and authori-
talive from heaven. And yet this is the
difficulty of inidelly. He who rejects
the divine origin of this book is as much
bound 10 account for its existence as |
am. II will not answer TO ignore il alto.
gether. l, is here as really standing
fact, as it has been for centuries, as the
sun shines in mi,I-heaven, or The waters
that belt the world. 1t is operative among
men and ii comes knocking at the door of
infdelily. And it will not do 10 say, i
will none ofyou; | had nothing to do in
your origin, and feel no responsibility for
vour existence This will never do
The Bible. true or false, will not he shut
lled off in this unceremonious manner
II must be accounted for in some reason-
able and satisfactory way, or the minds
of men will moi be a, rest respecting it.
The believer receives it as Gods word
and rests the,e. The inGdel says it is not
Gods werd. VIII he 'el' us whence it
| is? He must believe tina, this immense
volume, containing, as even he must ack'
nowledge, such an amount and variety OF
knowledge and wisdom, applicable 10 all
human conditions in all times, is the re-
sui. of chance or the most astonishing co.
incidence, loriuiously brought about. -
He mus, believe that numerous writers,
flourishing at different periods Of the
world, and of different mental capacities
and training, by mere chance concur
renee of circumstances, wrote with refer.
ence to one and the same great end-the
revelation ofman's way Of recovery thro'
Jesus Chris from sin and death. He
must believe that the preservation of the
Scriptures, unchanged from age to age,
through so long period, in the midst OF
circumstances the most unfavorable, has
been a mele accident. He must believe
that the literal fulflment Of prophecies III
tered centuries of years before, was also
the result Of chance. lie must believe
tha, all the influence which this book has
excrted over The minds Of men for 1900
years, and the firm and tenacious hold
that it still has upon the very hearl-strings
of humanity, all this is the result of unlor'
seen circumstances. This last would be
the masterpiece of creduIily, for if the
Bible be not The word Of God, that it pro-
lesses 10 be, it is surely the most consul
mate and awful falsehood that the world
could ever imagine, it is either divine oil
it is The worst book in existence. But i:
il possible that such bundle Of prcien
sions, such a mighty conglomerailon o
lies, could have been prlmed of upon rea
soning and intelligent beings! And mucl
more is it upposable that instead of los
ing, il should strengthen its hold upon hu'
man conscience and belief with the lapse
of centuries. All This, infdelity must ac
count for and make consonant with rea
son and the common sense Of mankind
No other book has ever been written Sc
adapted 10 man, in all the stages of his be
ing and the history Of his race. O!he
books, the products of the most majestl
iniellects grow obsolate in whole or i
part. and their philosophy and system
vanish Iway. The works Of anclen
philosophers, like Aristotle and Plate
are most wholly superseded by Proddc
lions Of more modern date. Large por
: ,ions of the writings Of Lord Bacon al
a now obsolete. But not so with this boob
/. II lives on aud seems to gather fresh mear
ing and power with the steady flow
/, ages and generations /; and III its undislu
= bed depths lie embosomed truths and priI
n cipIes that viii doubtless have their lu
J. realization in that eternal future that oper
10 the eye of death. Now the credull
that can pronounce such production
n fable or the fruit of chance, is immense.
r But this is the creduIily Of lnfdelity.
r 'And my hearers, are you not eady
confess with me that 10 believe all tll
10 one must who REJECTS the word Of God,
., more difficult matter than 10 accept :