Divine inspiration, according to the Christian's idea of it, must have been the source of prophecy and miracles, and implies infinite knowledge and power. Now, as Adam could not have given an account of his own origin, whoever wrote the history of the creation of the world, and of our first parents, must, if divinely inspired, have had all the particulars of the past clearly made known to him. We are told, by the New Testament writers, that "_all Scripture is given by inspiration_"; and again, that "_Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost._" Still, divine inspiration remains an inscrutable mystery as to what it is abstractly considered; and, also, with respect to the manner in which it is communicated. It seems strange, to say the least, that divine revelation should be given to the human race by the means of inspiration, and yet the mode of communication be enveloped in profound mystery. As divine inspiration and divine revelation are closely connected, the first being the avenue of conveyance, and the latter being the subject communicated, I shall define, as clearly as I can, what constitutes divine revelation; but in order, if possible, to prevent mistake, I shall first point out what it is not.
The developments and improvements which man effects by the exercise of his perceptive and reflective faculties, are results which are not obtained through the medium of divine revelation. From being a savage, and wandering in a state of destitution in the forests, he has, by the use of his varied faculties, made advances in civilization and the arts, which at first sight appear superhuman, but which were, nevertheless, unaided by divine revelation. Contrasting the present state of the wonderful and awe-inspiring science of astronomy with that when the best informed of the human race were but ignorant star-gazers, we can but feel proud that we are a part of the human family. Again, when we look back at the period when the frail little bark could not venture out of sight of land, and then contemplate the improvements in naval architecture of our present times, which have presented us with that splendid floating palace, the _Great Britain steamships_ we can but see that all this has been effected without any assistance from divine revelation. If, at some future time, by means of improvements in the telescope, inhabitants should be discovered in the moon, we should not be indebted for the discovery to divine revelation. But, the discovery not having been made, should an angel be sent from heaven to make known the fact, such information would undoubtedly constitute a divine revelation. So, then, it is dear that whatever improvement man may make, by the unaided exercise of his faculties, cannot be considered as the result of divine revelation. Divine revelation is that which man cannot know, consequently never has known, and never will know by the aid of his reasoning powers The Old and New Testaments collectively are called a divine revelation; and that the information these books contain, respecting man's duty to his Maker, came from the Almighty; Ruler of the universe, is the Christian's view of the matter.