On no other subject have so many thoughtful volumes been written within the last hundred years, as on the Evidences of Christianity. This is true as regards both sides of the question at issue; for while the uninspired friends of Christ have never before defended his cause with ability so consummate, they have never before encountered opponents with learning so extensive or with talents of so high an order, But among the army of writers whom the deepening conflict has called into the field, very few have attempted to reduce the arguments pro and con to a form suitable for class-room instruction. Scarcely one of these writers has failed to widen the field of investigation, or to direct attention to some of the new phases which the controversy is ever assuming; but since the appearance, a century since, of Lardner's immortal work, no English author has attempted an exhaustive discussion of the whole subject. Of the few works in which a general though not exhaustive discussion of the subject has been presented with a view to the instruction of College classes, not one has continued in general use to the present day. As a consequence, instructors are now limited to the unsatisfactory method of teaching by lectures alone on this important theme.

These considerations furnish the ground on which the author excuses himself for offering to the public the work of which this volume is the first installment. The work is intended, not for those who are already proficient in the knowledge of Evidences, but for those who have given the subject little attention or none: hence its elementary character. The young persons of both sexes who make up the classes in our high schools and colleges, have been constantly before the mind of the author in preparing it, and he has enjoyed the advantage of actually testing much of the matter contained in it by the oral instruction of classes in Kentucky University. He trusts that the simplicity at which he has aimed in both style and arrangement, will bring the subject, though usually considered difficult, within the easy comprehension of every student.

The author has indulged the hope that he would be able by this time to publish the whole of his projected work; but so pressing have been the demands of other duties that in this he is disappointed, and now it is probable that several years will pass before the work is completed; he therefore sends forth the two Parts contained in this volume, in the hope that if they shall meet with a favorable reception, he may be enabled, by the kind providence which he recognizes in all the affairs of life, to finish his undertaking at some future time. He sends these forth the more willingly, because each Part presents an inquiry complete in itself, and not dependent on any other Part for its intelligibility or its value.

Subjoined to Part II. the reader will find an Index to the whole volume, which, while serving the usual purpose of such a document, will be found especially valuable as a means of readily collecting into a single view all that is said throughout Part II. on the genuineness of any book of the Now Testament.

Of the works which are cited or referred to in this volume, only a few need be mentioned here. The citations from Scrivener's Introduction to the Critical Study of the New Testament, which abound in Part I., are all taken from the third and latest edition of this invaluable work. Those from thy Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius follow the very imperfect translation of Cruse, except when otherwise indicated. For the writings of the Christian Fathers earlier than Eusebius. the author has used the Ante-Nicene Library, published by T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh; and he has used the American edition of Farrar's Early Days of Christianity.

          LEXINGTON, Ky., January, 1886.