INTRODUCTION. INSPIRATION is confessedly a difficult subject; but, much of the difficulty that perplexes it is often of our own making. Never, perhaps, did a sincere, humble-minded Christian, studying the inspired character of Scripture and of the divine agents with no further design than to ascertain whether he has a safe rule of faith and of conduct, fail of comprehending at least enough of the subject for his purpose. Many however enter on the inquiry, not so much with a view to determine the standard of their belief and practice, as to elicit abstract principles of inspiration. Many come, in short, to the oracles of the Most High, not to consult them, but to pry into themto discover the process and machinery, as it were, by means of which those oracles have been obtained and issued; and such a speculative B |