New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-08-12
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
THE PROPHETS AND THE MESSIAH

IL Nfa
,nouvrNr, or. Jesus Christ in tne ola m
49, rastament nv WILLIAM H. ,I,hsrs
iSmo' ID xliv,A71. Harper BRUNEI, - u,,,,ont
Professor Thomson, of the Meoic"' ~. h,s
.f the University of New-fork' cohes i" 80 tho
- Gov hihIcal studies since he is the son Va o,
n" n Tnomson the we'll known author OF INC
80 ond The Rock The great argument WHO"
10 calls Ia develop in the present WORK Is 'he S'
60 which the Apostles themselves most lre
orentlv appealed when they preached "
.bo laws The life of Jesus CHRIST 80
tbav reasoned in all its fitness Vi
events. purrose and results. was written oeloro
hand in the Hebrew Scriptures. The prophe's ~,
told not only the coming of the MESSIAH ou' o.
the manner of his coming: and although inc
had generally misinterpreted the sacreu piouie
tions there was nevertheless complete ana eAHT,
correspondence between the prophecies u 'n' nv,
Testament and the facts OF the uoSp0I
efficacy of this argument in converting .Soa
e amnIv illustrated IN the Acts of the Apostles,
But il car, be tested in our day as wen ~ II
in the first century; and TO cahu'u nl"u
:, iii no as conclusive now as was
tben The basis of modern scepticism is dehlai "a
tba possibility of miracle. and a claim that uh-
hro uniformity in the operations OF nature is an
ohsolute and demonstrated law but prophecy 10
essentially miraculous. human predlcloh 10
never ANYTHING more than guess OF results VI COLI
SEQUENCES to something in the present OF 'he ps''
:. MOVIE on,,relv ont of experience. real prophecy
on the contrary has no connection with experience
and is not conditioned by it; II Involves
foreknowledge of that which no man may KNOW
unaided. any more than unaided he can step On
the earth. Now the ancient prophecies VI
Christ have lust this distinctive note;
they are outside of any possible experience lho
life which fulfilled them could not have been
hx,b invention,
,pteIv unlike any other ideal. 1t was IN strong
contrast to the expectations fthe Jews themselves
IL then we find that every fundamental doctrine OF
the New Testament about the person Oh Jesus
Christ is contained in the ancient SCRIPTURES also'
foretold with complete statement and unmlstakaoe
intention there no resisting the cohcIuslon
that the prediction is miraculous; ana miracle
once proved the whole structure OF sceptlcSn
fails 70 the ground DR.. Thomsons task Is TO
examine the prophecies singly in order to show
that this is the exact state of the case
Before proceeding to his subject proper III
Thomson devotes an Introductory chapter to the
discussion of the authenticity of the Ola testament
Manlfestly 1t makes no difference to his argument
whether or not the books of the Hebrew Scriptures
were written by the persons whose names they
hear: il is enough TO prove that they existed for
centuries before the birth of Christ and that they
coud not have been altered in the interest of any
thing Christian at a later date The extreme care
with which the sacred text has been preserved by
the Jews and the hostility which has always sepa-
rated the Christian and Jewish parties, furnish
N sufficient guarantee that the proph-
eces have not been tempered with
since the Christian era, as to be made to agree
with their alleged fulflment. This being admit
ted, tho questions of date and authorship become
Of small consequence. 1t has been maintained that
t1,au OBJ Cfi on of two r.
ent writer's one belonging TO the eight century
r. c.. and the other to tho fifth But If the pro-
pheces of both these supposed writers really refer,
as the Apostles maintained. to Jesus Christ, are
they any tho less inspired because a part of them
were inscribed $50 years b. c., and another part
900 years b. CT Still il is a matter of great
interest alike TO the Christian ana
tho sceptic, to inquire whether the
Bible in its present form is genuine
In the strict of the term, ors only collection
Of ancient but unauthentic documents. 'Dr. Thom-
son therefore gives a careful consideration to this
branch of the subject He starts with the fact that
the Old Testament is the work of many different
authors who wrote in different ages, in different
places and even in different languages, or in differ
ent ages of the same language In each of these |
particulars therefore il affords multitude of data |
for examination and verfCatlon, such as we find |
nowhere elsein literature; while each III its turn IN
creases the difficulties of unauthentc composition"
He then presents a clear and compact summary of
the evidence collected by biblical critics, under
the heads Of diversity of style, the dependence of
later upon earlier writers, the registering OF his
torical changes correspondence with varying cir
cumstauces and conditions linguistic pecuharities
and documentary evidence.
We shall not follow out the details of the sub
stantia structure which DR.. Thomson erects upon
this we-laid foundation for the readers Of this |
notice will easily divine the method of q work |
which examines all the prophecies, from the promise
made to the pariarchs to the last recorded pTedc-
tons after the exile and points out their reaiza-
ton in Christianity. We must not omit noting, |
however, an important characteristic of his !
argument. lie does not treat the special fuhment |
of prediction as if that alone constituted the |
whole evidence for his case. To DO that would |
lower the Sacred Word to the level of the heather
oracles many of which seem to claim such confr-
nation The higher source OF MesSianc prophecy |
is shown by its unlikeness to all human opinions |
and ideals the perfect consistency of its spirit |
through long course of centuries and a wide range
of popular change, and its close correspondence
with the New Testament scheme, which, humanity
speaking the prophets coud not have anticipated
The universal brotherhood of man, tho spiritual
lingship of the Messiah, the atonement. and the
great rejection. are ideas which never could have
occurred TO the Jews TO any other people. They
were the revelations of Christianity alone; and tho
fact that We find them exactly forecast by the
long succession of prophets the strongest part of
the great argument which Dr. Thomson has so ably
set forth.