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    methods , and byjtyhat alone , the cram of ; tM 4 hi # o | y ? cfl | e ^ b |^ tii | . $ rs | , by pfoVing the testimony in favour of the facts to be defective jand equivocal . Secondly , By shewing the facts them- . incredible b

    selves to be . Thirty , y demonstrating , that , if the facts had taken plaqe , different consequences must have followed . fourthly , by proving that the ' existent ^ and progrefejs of ¦ Christianity ar £ to be ' attributed to

    Causes altogether inae ^ eW ^ feht of the trtith of the facts recDrdfed in th < e history tfrfdfer ponsiderati 6 ri . Jj * otder to prove the testimony to be false or deficient , it must be shewn that there is not the same reason to believe the genuineness of the books of the New Testament as of other

    books of equal antiqufty , or that the facts which are recorded in them are of such a nature as to exclude certainty of information , or that the historians had no proper opportunity of ascertaining their reality , or that , from certain rules of decision admitted in other

    cases , there is reason to conclude that the veracity of these historians may justly be called in question . But if it appear that the gospeUristory will abide the test of this inquiry , it must be concluded that no objection can be urged against the testimony , in itself

    considered . And l § t it be remarked , that this testimony , which is now supposed to have borne a fair and strict examination , is strongly corroborated by the original presumption in favour of the facts which has already been stated . And that there should be this

    concurrence of presumption and testimony in favour of a mere imposture , must be considered as very extraordinary and improbable . Thus allowing , what has never been disproved , that the testimony , in itself considered , is not objectionable ; the general evidence in favour of Christianity may be stated as follows : The New-Testament

    history possesses all the requisite marks of credibility . It contains the narrative of facts , the b 6 lfef of which prevailed and extended itself in defiance of prejudice and opposition , and finally produced the most signal and important consequences : consequences which are experienced at the present hour . ., But in opposition to this historical and presumptive evidence / it may be

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    ^ alleg ^ l ^ tjiat the facts recorded in the cMstoty | imaejr , f pfOTMPti ^ ft ^^ e in them ^ ves sto incredible , as * to berfi&admissible . upon testimony T which in itself considered appears ^ >^ elfar and unequivocal . It wiH / be tirg £ d , that miracles are in their nature so very

    extraordiuary , as to carry . ia themselves a refutation of any evidence by which they may appear . to . pe attended . - ''" . Jn ¦ r ^ flt to this obj eictioh , it is t 6 be reinarfe ^ , that a revelation is in itself a de ^ ldtioifft ^ btn the ordef of riature , or , Jn > dlhe *\ ' Witts ; " a miracle , and that it inu ^ t be confirmed by other miracles Sn order to 4 ktabKsh its truth . The

    question , then , respecting the credibility of the facts recorded in the gospelhistol-y , resolves itself into the previous ^ ttefstibn ; Is it credible that God should commUiiicate his will to mankind in an extraordinary and supernatural manner ? Now , let it be considered

    on vyhat grounds ( I mean on the principles ; of Theism ) it is possible to affirm thd" incredibility of such an interposition ; and these miist be the three that follow : that such an interposition is contrary to experience ; to the Divine perfections as discoverable by the light

    of- nature j or , to the conduct of the Divine government which acts not by special interposition , but by general laws . To say that a divine revelation is contrary to experience , unless general experience be intended , is evidently to beg the question ; and to maintain that it contradicts the

    attributes of the Deity , is to affirm much more than it would be possible to prove . And though Qpd has appointed general laws for the government of his creatures , it by no means admits of demonstration that he will never interfere in

    an extraordinary manner to effect purposes which could > not he so well accomplished by the Operation of general appointments : Thus , instead of its being" affirmed that iniracles , or a divine Revelation , are incredible 9 it ought rather to be said , that , judging

    frmn general experience and what we know of the Divine conduct , they are attended with ' * that kind of impro'ba ^ bility which it required k clear and unequivocal testimony to counterbalance To pronounce them inore ^ dtble is simply to affirm , what cttft never be proved , that the Author of nature had from th ^ fl i'st determined never to effect a

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    2 Mr . Co&an s Summary of [ the Evidences of Christianity

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1821, page 2, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2496/page/2/