CAN YOU PROVE IT?
HERE are persons who pride themselves on their powers of discernment, and who are very urgent in their demands for proof of the truth of the Bible.
furthermore it is very possible that you do not mean precisely what you say. You have heard ministers speak, when you had no idea that they told the truth; an.d how am I to know that your words are more truthful than theirs. Now if you have any evidence that you are an infidel, produce it. "You profess to be an infidel, it is true, but there is altogether too much professing in these days. You do not always practice infidelity; you do many things which the Bible commands; you pay your debts; you live peaceably; you work diligently; you are temperate, and quiet, and earn your own bread; you do not abuse people, or cheat them, or slan- der them; and in all these respects you obey the precepts laid down by Christ and His apostles. In fact you keep a large proportion of the commands and precepts which are in the law of Moses; now, by what rule of justice or common sense can I believe that you are an in- fidel? "There is one thing that makes me especially doubtful in your case. There have been scores and hundreds of men who were just as positive as you are that they were infidels, who have turned about and become Christians, and de- clared that all the time they were talk- ing infidelity they did not half believe what they were saying; they had se- cret doubts about the whole matter, and were never at rest in their minds until they believed and publicly professed their faith in Christ and in the Bible. Now how do I know but in the course of a month you may do the same, and may publicly confess that your infidelity was a sham? Now if a man who claims to be an infidel cannot prove that he is an infidel, to save his life, with what grace can he find fault with Christians and demand stronger proof of the truth of the Bible than he is able to give of his own pro- fession? He says he is an infidel, but we have only his word for it; his ac- tions do not always coincide with his assertions, and so we do not know what to believe. We have far better evidence that the Bible is true than we have that he speaks the truth, and so we "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ."
They must have everything proved to their satisfaction; they accept no man's "say-so." Now it is not always easy to prove things which we know to be true. Sup- pose I ask an infidel to prove that he ever had a headache, or toothache, or colic? Can he do it? Or suppose I ask an infidel to prove that he is an infidel. Can he do that? "You say you are an infidle—very well; now will you have the kindness to prove it? Assertion is one thing and proof is another, and what we need is proof There are plenty of men who say they are Christians, but they give no evidence of the fact. You say you are an infidel; now prove it. You look like a reasonable man, but infidelity seems very unreasonable; and I ques- tion whether you are so unreasonable as to be an infidel. Your mother was not an infidel; you were not brought up in an infidel family; what should cause you to become an infidel? And why should you expect me to believe that you are an infidel?" "You say you are an infidel, but there is a great deal of talk that means noth- ing People often say one thing an 1 mean another. There are plenty of peo- ple who say they are Christians, but those who know them do not believe a word of it. So, many a man has. pro- fessed to be an infidel when he was well, and has taken it all back when he was sick; and it might be just so with you. "I know you say you are an infidel, but it may be that you do not quite know yourself what an infidel is .And
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