EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY EPITOMISED, WITHOUT OMITTING OR WEAKENING ANY BY JOSIAH W. SMITH, B.C.L., OF TRINITY HALL, CAMBRIDGE. THE SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND IMPROVED, WITH EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. LONDON: JOHN W. PARKER, WEST STRAND. M.DCCC.XLVI. TO THE REVEREND JAMES SCHOLEFIELD, A.M., REGIUS PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, THIS ATTEMPT TO EXTEND AND FACILITATE THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY, IS WITH PERMISSION INSCRIBED, AS A SMALL TOKEN OF UNFEIGNED RESPECT. "BE READY ALWAYS TO GIVE AN ANSWER TO EVERY MAN THAT ASKETH YOU A REASON OF THE HOPE THAT IS IN YOU." 1 PETER III. 15. PREFACE. As the Gospel is the most invaluable blessing that has ever been bestowed upon man, so it is the duty of every one who is capable of appreciating the arguments which establish its claims to reception, to make himself sufficiently acquainted therewith, that he may fulfil the apostolic injunction, by being careful to "prove all things," and prepared to "hold fast that which is good," with the steadiness which arises from decided conviction consequent upon calm inquiry. Hence it is highly desirable that the Evidences of Christianity should be comprised in as condensed a form as is compatible with perspicuity and precision, in order that they may be more extensively studied, and more easily remembered. It was doubtless under this impression that Dr. Paley's work was written. Under the same impression, the following pages were penned with the design of presenting his argument in as small a compass as possible, without omitting, rendering indistinct, or weakening, any of its component points. If this has been accomplished, the present volume may not only be of service to University Students and |