o be its infallible head, or the authority of a general
council of the churches. Admitting for a moment the Romish doctrine of
the infallibility of the church, we could know this infallibility not
from the declaration of any man or body of men in the church, but from
Scripture alone. But this is assuming at the outset the infallibility of
Scripture, and therefore its inspiration, which is the very point at
issue. Looking at the question on all sides, we shall find for a given
book of the New Testament no valid test of the writer's inspiration
except _his relation to the Lord Jesus Christ_. This presupposes our
Lord's divine mission and character, and his supreme authority in the
church. It is necessary therefore to begin with the great central fact
of the gospel, that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, and that
through him God has made to men a revelation of his own character and
will for their salvation. This fact is to be first established according
to the ordinary rules of human evidence, as has been attempted in the
preceding chapters. After that we come naturally to the inspiration of
the record, and can establish it also on a sure foundation.

2. The great fundamental truth that Jesus is the Son of God, who dwelt
from eternity with the Father, knew all his counsels, and was sent by
him to this fallen world on a mission of love and mercy, being
established on an immovable foundation, we have a sure point of
departure from which to proceed in our inquiries respecting inspiration.
It becomes at once a self-evident proposition--the great axiom of
Christianity, we may call it--that the teaching of Jesus Christ, when he
was on earth, was truth unmixed with error. This he himself asserted in
the most explicit terms: "The Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all
things that himself doeth." John 5:20. "I am the light of the world: he
that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light
of life." John 8:12. "He that sent me is true; and I speak to the world
those things which I have heard of him." John 8:26. "I have not spoken
of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what
I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment
is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father
said unto me, so I speak." John 12:49, 50. Proceeding then from the
position of our Lord's infallibility, let us inquire whether any of his
disciples, and if so, who amon